The first chapter is called "Someone Worth Losing Everything For." It's about how much we should love Jesus. The second chapter is "Too Hungry for Words," and it deals with how much we love God's Word. Here are some excerpts:
“This is the picture of Jesus in the gospel. He is something—someone—worth losing everything for. And if we walk away from the Jesus of the gospel, we walk away from eternal riches. The cost of nondiscipleship is profoundly greater for us than the cost of discipleship. For when we abandon the trinkets of this world and respond to the radical invitation of Jesus, we discover the infinite treasure of knowing and experiencing him.
“But is his Word enough for us?
"This is the question that often haunts me when I stand before a crowd of thousands of people in the church I pastor. What if we take away the cool music and the cushioned chairs? What if the screens are gone and the stage is no longer decorated? What if the air conditioning is off and the comforts are removed? Would his Word still be enough for his people to come together?
"[We did an experiment.] We called it Secret Church.
We set a date—one Friday night—when we could gather from six o’clock in the evening until midnight, and for six hours we would do nothing but study the Word and pray. We would interrupt the six-hour Bible study periodically to pray for our brothers and sisters around the world who are forced to gather secretly. We would also pray for ourselves, that we would learn to love the Word as they do.
(I'd love to do this sometime.)
"What is it about God’s Word that creates a hunger to hear more? And not just to hear the Word but to long for it, study it, memorize it, and follow it? What causes followers of Christ around the world literally to risk their lives in order to know it?
"We are afraid that if we stop and really look at God in the Word, we might discover that he evokes greater awe and demands deeper worship than we are ready to give him.
(I think this is SO true!)
"An old preaching professor used to take his students to a cemetery every semester. Standing on the perimeter overlooking scores of headstones, he would ask his students in all sincerity to speak over the graves and call people from the ground to rise up and live. With some embarrassment and an awkward chuckle or two, they would try it. Of course, one by one they would fail. The professor would then look at his students and remind them of a core truth in the gospel: people are spiritually dead, and only words from God can bring them to spiritual life.
(How often do I forget the power of God's Word?)
"And salvation now consists of a deep wrestling in our souls with the sinfulness of our hearts, the depth of our depravity, and the desperation of our need for his grace. Jesus is no longer one to be accepted or invited in, but one who is infinitely worthy of our immediate and total surrender.
(This is addressing how we word our invitations to salvation..."invite Him in"...Accept Him as your Savior.)
"But that gift of grace involves the gift of a new heart. New desires. New longings. For the first time, we want God. We see our need for him, and we love him."
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