Francis Chan has been a pastor for over thirty years. He is a New York Times–bestselling author of several books, including Crazy Love, Letters to the Church and his most recent Until Unity (David C Cook, April 2021). He and his wife, Lisa, have been married nearly thirty years. Currently, Francis and his family split their time between ministry and church planting in Northern California and Asia. CrazyLove.org UntilUnityBook.com
Over the years, I have learned a very important truth: a sense of family is not the same thing as a family. I was looking at the issue of poverty and orphan care through a narrow lens — believing that tangible resources were the answer to the question of how to help children in vulnerable communities thrive.
In God’s list of things He hates (Prov 6:16–19), He places greatest emphasis on “one who sows discord among brothers.” He calls it an “abomination”! That should stop you dead in your tracks. You should be examining your own life right now to see if you are guilty of something that Almighty God hates so much.
I was bothered the first time I read about God killing Uzzah just because he tried to keep the ark of the covenant from falling. Uzzah touched the ark because the cart it was riding on hit a pothole (2 Sam. 6). It seemed like a trivial mistake with good intentions. Sure, God had forbidden anyone from touching the ark, but what was Uzzah supposed to do? Let the holy ark of God fall to the ground?
