Francis Chan shared his heart with the audience at Catalyst on Thursday saying that his life was outrageous and that God had answered so many of his prayers. Chan and his family leave for Asia in just days and in a recent step spurred by his wife they even sold their house-leaving everything behind on their new journey.
Speaking about his upcoming trip and his desire to follow Jesus, Chan said, “I’m so at peace I could scream!”
One of Chan’s first questions to the group of ministry leaders assembled at the Gwinnett Center in GA was, “When was the last time you bragged about God?” Quoting from Jeremiah 9:23 Chan explained that God wants his followers to brag about knowing him and nothing else.
Chan went on to share his passion and the reason for his departure-he wants to experience what the early disciples in the book of Acts experienced. Chan said that many people have labeled his resignation from Cornerstone and his decision to cut roots and travel to Asia as radical or weird but he insists that what he is doing is normal compared to the early followers of Jesus. Chan went on to say, “What’s not normal is much of what goes on in the American Church today.”
Speaking about the book of Acts, Chan said, “I want my life to fit into this book one day.” Chan also said that he never claimed to be a scholar or even an example and that his simple desire is to take the Bible for what it says and obey it. Chan then continued to read multiple passages in Scripture that call God’s people to care for the poor and needy and give up their lives for others.
Chan doesn’t know what he will do when he does return-but he wants to experience the radical faith that’s going on in the Church in Asia and see what God might teach him that he can bring back to the U.S.
