Books

As usual I have been reading. And as usual, that makes me want to talk about what I have been reading.

The first of my recent readings called, The Heavenly Man, by Christian Brother Yun, with Paul Hattaway took me on a sobering journey through the physical agonies and spiritual ecstasies of one of the principle founders of the house churches in mainland China.

To the faint of heart, I do not commend Brother Yun. Being one of the fainter hearts myself, I am surprised I got all the way through to the end. But this book sounded intriguing, and once into it I kept reminding myself that if Yun could stand feeling the pain, the least I could do is stand reading about what he felt.

Because of his obedience to God’s call on his life, Christian Brother Yun in communist China confronts overwhelming challenges and endures much suffering. He is tortured with beatings and starvation, imprisonment and poverty and humiliation, much like the Apostle Paul. But the Holy Spirit is faithful to give him strength to endure. He is also faithful to teach Yun who the real hero is.

Miracles that are truly astonishing accompany Yun’s torments. There are wonders of healing, deliverance, and provision in life and death circumstance. But when Yun sees how God can transform the most depraved hearts, he knows this to be the greatest miracle of all.

Before you read this book, you might think some people are beyond even the Almighty’s ability to change. But you will witness that these can become some of Christ’s most devoted followers. And that is really what God’s work in Yun is all about.

The second book on the recent readings list is titled, I Dared to Call Him Father, written by Bilquis Sheik, with Richard H. Schneider. This is a bizarre tale of a wealthy Pakistani Muslim woman whom Christ turns from the Quran to the Bible, from Allah to Himself, from arrogance and bitterness to humility and grace. Like Brother Yun, Bilquis is subject to supernatural dealings such as dreams and visions, but in contrast to him, her heavenly Father shields her from the most potent dangers. Though her family shuns her, no actual physical attack on her person ever succeeds.

What is strangest about this story is that Jesus approaches Bilquis before she knows a single thing about Him. It is not that she is seeking Him, it is that He is seeking her. After her conversion, Jesus lets Bilquis know which way to walk by the giving or the taking away of His joyous presence. She learns this is the one thing she cannot do without.

Especially if you are woman, you will pick this book up and not want put it down until you have devoured every last page. As well as illustrating how uniquely Jesus can work in any life, told as it was in first-person, it provides intimate acquaintance with an Eastern woman’s mindset. Alike in certain ways all us women are, yet also diverse as to culture.

The third and last book is God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew, with John and Elizabeth Sherrill. Of the three this is my favorite; I hardly know where to begin. So I’ll start with culture. Because Brother Andrew is Dutch, and because I am a big fan of Corrie Ten Boom, who was also Dutch, this book made me feel like I was coming home.

I think one reason for the homey-ness of it is that the Dutch, if Corrie and Andy are true representatives of that race, have a great sense of humor. Brother Andrew does not come across as a too-saintly saint, but more like the guy down the street who just happened to be tapped on the shoulder by God. Washing across some of the most dangerous circumstances anyone could find themselves in, is this wonderful down-to-earth-ness and good humor. Brother Andrew, in derring-do for God, accomplishes something I would like to imitate. He takes God so much more seriously than he does himself.

The book begins with Andy as a young lad with his family on the Polders of Holland. The Polders are dank lands that have been reclaimed from the sea. The smallest house in the village is where Andy lives. But because his parents have a reputation for compassion; many of the even less fortunate find their door.

With himself as the main character, young Andy dreams of exploits. He is the intrepid spy behind enemy lines. The early days of the book include occupation of Holland by the Nazis. Andy prides himself on his ability to run fast, and thinking he can always get away, likes to plague his Nazi occupiers. Sometimes he escapes by a hair's breadth. But when he is seventeen and on the front lines in Indonesia, Andy learns just what a horror war really is. He comes home with a shattered ankle and a broken heart.

Andy never liked going to church, but that doesn’t stop God. He has his hand on this young life and that’s all there is to it. Andy yields up his ego one night, something his scholar friend Kees describes as crisis conversion. From there it is but a small step to Andy realizing his special calling in life is to the mission field. But he wonders how that can be possible on a crippled foot. When he decides to commit all to God’s keeping, God heals his ankle instantly and miraculously.

Ultimately Brother Andrew (the name chosen to provide a small measure of anonymity) learns that his near destiny is to Eastern Europe and Russia. In these countries under communist domination Christians are repressed in various ways, sometimes overtly and brutally, sometimes cunningly. Few Christians, including many a church pastor, of the time and place, own a Bible. And that is precisely where God and Brother Andrew step in.

God takes Brother Andrew thousands of miles, at times to meet people who themselves have traveled thousands of miles, knowing only that God has sent them. Over the years Andy sacrifices much when he smuggles hundreds of Bibles to a people who weep with joy over so precious a gift. You sense he is relishing every minute. Andy really does become the adventurous person he envisioned as a child, only for a far different purpose then a small boy would ever dream.

Somewhere about half, or maybe two-thirds of the way into the book, is a surprise. But to find out, you have to read the book.