Francis Chan Calls Out Artificial 'Moves of God,' Says He's Done Playing Games

Pastor Francis Chan says he's tired of man-made revivals and warned the church that there's no time for "playing games" any more. Chan's comments came during a February 6 speech at Liberty University's Convocation gathering.

Chan, an avid surfer, compared man-made revivals to a wave pool—controlled and fun, but ultimately predictable and artificial. He says he came to that realization while visiting a wave pool in Waco, Texas.

"One of my favorite things to do on this earth is to surf," Chan says. "So I just go, 'OK, what is this wave pool like?' And it was really cool. It just showed these people playing on this wave that comes in and I thought 'That's kind of cool. Like every 30 seconds, you know.' Because usually when you surf, you paddle out in the water [and] you don't know if a wave is coming or not. You kind of assume, you kind of see some things, but there's so much unknown. I thought 'That's so nice. You can just paddle out to this one spot in this pool and know what wave is going to come, and you know when it's going to peak and then it's going to die out, and you just paddle back out to the exact same spot over and over and over again. That's pretty fun.'

"It's so different than going in the ocean, where it's like, 'Gosh, I don't know if something huge is going to come.' There have been times where we've driven for like an hour and just sat in the water—nothing happened. ... There's so many things that can happen in the ocean. And I thought, 'This is so nice. You can just go to a wave pool and you won't have any fear.'

"And when I looked at that thing, I thought, 'Gosh, you know, this is what church services sometimes feel like to me.' It's like this wave that you can create. You know at 9:15 this is going to happen, and you know at 9:20, and then you know at 9:40 it's going to start dying out because it has to. It's just going to happen. And you can do it over and over and over again. And I feel like for many years I've been content with that, because it's fun and everyone's having a good time. But man, don't you read the Scriptures and go 'Gosh, there was so much that was unpredictable'? Where it really was a move from God. It wasn't mad-made. It wasn't this man-made wave, but things would happen that were out of your control."

Chan says he is done with artificial moves of God and instead said he craves an authentic move of the Holy Spirit.

"I've been praying that this would be something that is not man-made, because I feel like I know how to make a wave in a room," Chan says. "And I'm just done with it. There's just no time for that anymore. I'm just done playing games."

'I Believe It's Something God Has Asked Me to Write,' Says Francis Chan on Marriage Book Co-Authored With Wife

Christian preacher Francis Chan and his wife, Lisa Chan, have written a new book for couples who may be so caught up in trying to have the perfect marriage that they have unwittingly made their union, spouse or children into idols.

"The whole idea behind it is, sometimes couples can get so wrapped up on things here to where they're not focused on the kingdom," explains Mr. Chan in a promotional video for You and Me Forever: Marriage in Light of Eternity.

In the video, Lisa Chan suggests that marriages are about a mission, and not "about how satisfied and happy are we with one another." Her husband points to 1 Corinthians 7, where the Apostle Paul discusses marriage as a potential distraction. Mr. Chan notes that "he was saying how we want to secure undistracted or undivided devotion to the Lord."

Mr. Chan, who says he felt called by God to write You and Me Forever, wants to give away as many copies of the book as possible.

"I want everyone to get this. I believe it's something God has asked me write, and so my whole burden is I've got to get it to as many people as possible. That's why we decided to self-publish because I wanted to be able to give it away for free, to everyone who needs it," he explains.

Proceeds from actual purchases of the book, however, will be used to provide food, shelter and rehabilitation for orphaned and exploited women through charitable organizations working around the globe.

According to an article on the website of Eternity Bible College, the school founded by Mr. Chan, You and Me Forever is not like the plethora of other marriage books that have already been written: "What you won't find here is a handbook of communication principles, advice to strengthen your sex life, or guidelines for handling finances."

Watch the Chans discuss You and Me Forever, available August 26, in the video player below.

You and Me Forever - Francis & Lisa Chan (Trailer) from Room 212 Productions on Vimeo.

The Chans, who have five children (with a sixth on the way), have spoken previously about God's design for marriage, with Mr. Chan saying in one sermon, "I think we've been looking at marriage in the wrong way in the Church."

He made the remark while teaching on the subject in 2011 at Cornerstone Community Church in Simi Valley, California, the congregation the Chans founded in 1994 and eventually left in 2010. In the message titled "Two People With One Mission," Mr. Chan went on to say that couples who feel inhibited about serving God because they think they first have to get their marriage together, have their priorities backwards.

"You focus on your family, you focus on your marriage, you focus on your kids because you're going, 'Man, we're not the model family. I shouldn't be leading, I shouldn't be teaching.' I'm saying, if you try to do that, it's never gonna work," said Chan.

Instead, "Being focused on the mission is actually what brings your family together," he insisted.

The Crazy Love author then rattled off typical advice newlyweds might receive about their marriage and family life.

"The first year of marriage is supposed to be just for the two of you. Don't get into ministry, focus on each other. You need to be about yourselves, get that right. Then once you have a kid it's like, well you know it's a new baby, you have to really nurture those first couple of years. Now they're in school, well until they're 18, you really have to just focus on your family,'" said Chan.

Implementing such an approach actually goes against what the Bible demands, according to Chan.

"I'm saying that's going to destroy your family and it creates a terrible model for your kids — 'Oh, OK, family comes first. Serving God, we can put that aside until it's convenient.'"

He added, "That's going to destroy you. The very thing that bonds us together is the fact that we're on this mission together. It's like Jesus said, if you seek the kingdom first ...

"When we put the family first and say, 'OK, we have to protect this, we have to guard it, we have to work on our marriage,' and that's your emphasis, then you're just like everyone else out there that just wants a happy marriage."

"Well, God says, 'You seek the kingdom first and watch what happens. Watch what happens in your family, watch what happens in your marriage, watch what happens with your kids,'" said Chan.

Since resigning from leadership of the Cornerstone Community Church, Chan has spearheaded a discipling movement with Alabama pastor David Platt called Multiply, as well as his own house-church planting movement called We Are Church.