"I hear the voices inside my head." "I must listen to the voices that are in my head." Ever heard those sayings. Usually from a crazy person or someone pretending to be crazy. Like it or not we hear a lot of voices, not saying we are crazy, but we hear it from the media and even each other. Those voices may include that we are not good enough or we wished we were never born. Some voices may come from employers saying that you are not good enough for that promotion you want.
In his book, Crash The Chatterbox, Steven Furtick wants his readers to know God's voice above all the other voices they hear day after day. Furtick mentions that God does speak and his continues to speak through the Bible. He wrote, "(God's) voice rises from the pages of His Word, which is the exact expression of His will. He speaks, not only on Sunday mornings in the sanctuary where the congregation is gathered, but also in the stillness of His works scattered across the night skies" (pg. 3). Furtick starts off really strong saying God does speak through His Word but then goes on to say that He speaks through creation. We know that general revelation is how God reveals Himself through nature. Yes, the Bible does say the heavens declare his glory and the skies proclaim his handiwork (Psalm 19:1) and the invisible attributes can be seen in nature (Romans 1:20), but general revelation is not the main means of God speaking to His people. It is through His Word.
The book is divided into four sections that deals with the issues of insecurity (God Says I Am), fear (God Says He Will), condemnation (God Says He Has), and discouragement (God Says I Can). Furtick ties his previous book Greater, which is about God making us achieve greatness that is beyond human hands, to this book saying it is to "short-curcuit the thoughts and patterns that the Enemy employs to disrupt the greatness God has initiated" (pg. 10). I know God has called all His children to evangelize the lost and proclaim His glory among the nations, but this seems to me that all Furtick cares about is achieving your own greatness so people will know who you are. God equips us to proclaim His greatness. Our call to is preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten.
The more I read this book, the more it keeps looking like something the "Word of Faith" people will be writing about while at the same time, making the Christian life all about me and what I need. I know we all struggle with insecurity, fear, condemnation, and discouragement, but how we deal with those need to be centered on the gospel of Jesus Christ. What Furtick tries to do is get the reader to hear what "the chatterbox" is saying about ourselves versus what God says about us. Yes, we are children of God and we have no condemnation because of Jesus, but Christianity is not about unlocking your greatness. We are called to proclaim God's greatness.
In short, Steven Furtick's book is filled with self-centered Christianity that has been plaguing the American church. I cannot and will not recommend this book to anyone.
Thanks Multinomah for letting me review this book.
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