Chris Tomlinson - Crave: Wanting So Much More of God

In praise of Crave

Tired of fluffy books on the spiritual life? Chris Tomlinson has written a biblical, God-centered antidote. Crave takes us on a frank and honest journey through the challenges of the Christian walk in todays world. It is at once a wise, practical, and readable guide, useful for those who recognize spiritual mediocrity in themselves but want to grow beyond it.

Duane Litfin
president, Wheaton College

In this creative blend of autobiography and devotional, Chris Tomlinson paints for us a Christ who satisfies our cravings for Himself. An inspiring work from a gifted and anointed writer.

Christian George
author of Sacred Travels; Sex, Sushi, & Salvation; and Godology

Chris Tomlinson addresses the noblest and most necessary question in the most disarming style. It is the theme that engaged the best thoughts of writers from Augustine to Pascal to C.S. Lewis. It explores what Pascal called the God-shaped vacuum: How do we satisfy our hunger for God? No mortal can answer the question with finality. But this book takes us a long way in the right direction.

Ronnie Collier Stevens
Danube International Church
Budapest, Hungary

Chris Tomlinson possesses a skill rare in Christian writing today: a clean, clear, powerful perspective. Crave is deftly written, with a sneaky comedic sense, but what sets Chris apart is his heart. Hed never say it himself, but he has a lot to teach, and we have a lot to learn.

Jordan Green
editor in chief, Burnside Writers Collective

An honest exploration of doubts, fears, missteps and victories from an authentic, not-yet-arrived follower of Christ.

Rev. Joseph Pensak
campus minister, Reformed University Fellowship

Written with an enjoyable and attractive vulnerability, this book will draw many of us to places weve wanted to go in our relationships with God but have struggled to find because of the clutter of life. I love the way Crave challenges cultural and comfortable Christianity, both in how we internally experience the reality of Christ and externally express the gospel to the world around us.

David Robbins
regional director, Campus Crusade for Christ

Crave is part autobiography, part theological musing. Chris talks about God in a very personal and compelling manner. His message is clear and told through the introspective and often hilarious experiences of his own life: that God is great and should be praised. An engrossing read that not only had me laughing out loud but also thinking about my own personal beliefs, even from an atheists perspective.

Andy Wang
friend and atheist

chris tomlinson

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Verses marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189 USA. All rights reserved.

Verses marked NIV are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Verses marked nkjv are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Verses marked darby are taken from the Darby version of the Bible.

Verses marked web are taken from the World English Bible.

All emphasis in Scripture quotations is added by the author.

Cover by Left Coast Design, Portland, Oregon

Cover and interior photos Shutterstock; iStockphoto

Backcover author photo by K.W. @ www.KatWillcox.com

CRAVE

Copyright 2010 by Chris Tomlinson
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Tomlinson, Chris

Crave / Chris Tomlinson.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-7369-2693-5 (pbk.)

1. Spirituality. I. Title.

BV4501.3.T657 2010

248.4dc22

2009019089

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 / VP-NI / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Jesus Christ
Lord, may You satisfy every craving of my soul.

Writing a book seems like such an individual kind of thing. Before I wrote this one, I always imagined writers sitting alone at their typewriters, pounding out thoughts until their books were complete. And then these books magically went from the typewriters onto bookstore shelves and finally into my hands. Little did I know that it takes a team, and a large one at that, to pull together even a simple book like this one. These acknowledgments are not much of a show of my gratitude, but they will have to suffice.

First, I would like to thank Jesus for the gift of words. I love reading words, and Im finding I love writing them as well. To be able to write is a gift, and I give all the credit to the Giver.

Next, I would like to thank some of the folks who helped to start this entire process. Thanks to Donald Anderson for being the first person I can remember telling me I could and should write. Many thanks to Jordan Green and Penny Carothers for giving me space to find my voice at the beginning. Thanks also to Pam Guerrieri for some early encouragement in the writing of this book. And to some of my close friends who walked with me at the start of this journey, thank you for your patience and encouragement. These men read mercifully through the first draft of the manuscript, which had a really bad working title and not much better writing, and they provided the right kind of encouragement to put shape and form to something that desperately needed it. Thank you, Andy Black, for your encouragement to write in the first place. Thank you, James Anderson, for bringing your storytellers eye to these stories. Thank you, Billy Orme, for being a soul-deep brother who sharpens me and my writing whenever we meet. Thank you, Matt RillosMr. Encouragementfor being so excited about this book.

Id also like to thank Bill Anderson for cracking open the door. Thanks to Bob Hawkins Jr. for running a company that proclaims Jesus as the answer to every human need. I feel deeply indebted to Bob, LaRae Weikert, John Constance, Barb Sherrill, and Terry Glaspey for taking a shot with this book. I hope it merits the honor youve shown to it. To Terry, your gut-level insight into the heart of this book brought it to life. Thanks to Gene Skinner for your careful editing of this manuscript and the job you did polishing these words. And thanks to Betty Fletcher, Shane White, Katie Lane, Christianne Debysingh, Dave Bartlett, Abby Van Wormer, Elizabeth Colclough, Bryce Williamson, Daniel Hawkins, Pat Mathis, and the rest of the wonderful people at Harvest House who formed the backbone of this team.