As In a Mirror

I remember about a year ago I had exhausted (or so I thought) all our books. That is, more than half of them, excluding the various math books, art books, and home improvement manuals. I guess it wouldn’t have been a bad idea to read the latter, but I mean… those are things you read when you are trying to build or fix something, not the thing you’ll hunker down and read for enjoyment’s sake.

The type of books I’ve always liked to read are missionary biographies; favorites over the years are the whole series for teenagers by Geoff and Janet Benge, A Chance to Die by Elisabeth Elliot, Shadow of the Almighty by Elisabeth Elliot, Through the Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot, Jungle Pilot by Russell T. Hitt, Rescue the Captors by Russell Stendall, God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew, The Hiding Place by Corrie tenBoom, Tramp for the Lord by Corrie tenBoom, and Give Me This Mountain by Helen Roseveare.

Lately I’ve also been getting into some apologetics and theological books. I’ve read a lot of them through our homeschool program, and a few we’ve read together at home. Books by Dr. D. James Kennedy, Lee Strobel, Josh McDowell, Ray Comfort, Gary Habermas and Michael Licona are great.

So not too long ago we got The Reason for God by Timothy Keller, and I got about halfway through it. Ehe, at some point I just got to another of those points in life where I just got exhausted, and didn’t get back to reading it. I liked the book because it was addressed to believers and unbelievers alike, not just a how-to for Christian students. Keller’s philosophical and logical approach was something I also appreciated; that kind of reasoning I favor as opposed to material evidence, just because that is more subject to interpretation. However, the book fell short in the scientific realm, partially because science can’t always be approached the same way life issues and history are. In that chapter, Keller exposes the godless view and makes his case for believing in God, but thinks that God could have created the world through a guided natural selection. This was a bummer; it seemed weak to me to make a case for the inspiration of Scripture and then suggest that the historical records in Scripture don’t mean what they say. Anyway, for some reason I didn’t get back to reading it…

Maybe it’s because I helped my brothers clean out their rooms, and found under the mounds of old socks, cardboard outfits, music CDs, toy guns, and unsung works of art, books that I didn’t realize we had! So my brother graciously loaned them out to me. One of them I finished , the other three I started. One is a short biography on D. L. Moody, the other is an 1800s novel by R. M. Ballantyne (booooring), and an older biography on D. James Kennedy. Have you noticed with old books that they talk an awful lot about finances? I noticed this in Booker T. Washington’s Up From Slavery. It was a great book; his own story and the story of Tuskeegee Institute were captivating. But then for several chapters he talked about financial support for the Institute. Buuuuuh… does anybody read those chapters? So I just let my brother re-tell the best stories from the Kennedy biography.

Anywho, I’ve got a few more books on my reading list now, some are the above, and more recently I got Ray Comfort’s latest book, The Defender’s Guide for Life’s Toughest Questions. This book answers arguments and accusations from atheists creatively, simply, according to topic: humanity, the Bible, science, philosophy, and religion. Right now I’m in chapter 3; so far, as can be expected, it is awesome– both thorough and easy to read. Hopefully I’ll finish soon and write up a review.

Also, I recently won a copy of R. C. Sproul’s Defending Your Faith from Christiana at In Defense of the Christian Faith. Being in the middle of a bunch of other books at this point, I haven’t started it, but I took a sneak peak into it and it looks cool! I intend to start that book right after I finish the other book with “Defense” in the title.

I also got that great big book from Living Waters, The School of Biblical Evangelism: 101 Lessons on How to share your faith simply, effectively, biblically… the way Jesus did. I’m only on Lesson 19 right now, but let me tell you, this thing is a TREASURE CHEST. I hope to share my thoughts on it in another post sometime soon.

In addition… ehe… two other Kindle books were on sale, “Has Christianity Failed You?” by Ravi Zacharias and “The Rage Against God” by Peter Hitchens (he’s the Christian brother of atheist spokesman Christopher Hitchens), so Mom got them and downloaded them to the iPod. I’m on page 81 of 210 in the Ravi Zacharias book. Part of the reason I’m so slow with that one is a competition issue with the boys… who’da thunk we’d even have an iPod, let alone brothers who get to it more often, lol. Anywho, Zacharias is great with logic, so the book is good so far. I haven’t even started the other book!

So what have y’all been reading?

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I’m still here. For a little while, I wasn’t, when we finally took a short vacation in Virginia! That is worth a WHOLE post, not just for the trip itself, but the differences in so many aspects between it and the North that we picked up in our short time there. I loved it! I miss it! I was a bit sick during the beginning, but I think it really did us all a lot of good in many ways. My mind is fresher now, and I don’t have the difficulty studying that I was having for a few months.

We went at the time when here in New York, we were still waiting for the weather to warm up, the leaves on the trees to fully develop, and the flowers to bloom. In Virginia, the trees were fully developed, flowers bloomed, and even the haying done! The weather was beautifully balmy, a good 70-80 degrees every day without the drenching humidity. For the most part it was sunny, and there were almost no flies or mosquitoes! People’s houses and properties were kept up nicely, but weeds in public grass areas were the ones flourishing; it’s about the opposite up here! And the people were so cordial! For some reason it never occurred to me that the people would have Southern accents, but they did! Genuine, bone fide Southern accents! It was so cool! The people were very pleasant, not like the cheesy girls we saw on TBN as kids; just their hospitable friendliness made me start to cry! Yah, it’s a girl thing: respect that. They can talk forever, though; that’s the thing: I never saw anybody in a real hurry, except for waiters! There would be a maintenance guy next door, who would stop to chat with Dad and the boys for a whole hour! They had a good sense of humor, they were courteous… up until they got into their cars! Lol, I’ve heard before that Southern drivers are not the best, and I guess they’re not the worst, either.

So I know I’ve been seriously neglecting this blog; it’s not that I’ve not had plenty of ideas or deep thoughts, but lacked the attention span to do it, or thought of it while I was busy and forgot and grew tired later. But nobody’s been knocking on the virtual door hollering, “Alice, are you there? Did the rapture take you? Did you get arrested?” Nope. I’m a law-abiding citizen! Except for that time I talked in the library… ehem. But, the real reason I haven’t been around is sheer lack of motivation or enthusiasm. I have been processing and studying some deep topics, but I don’t know if I will be having the gumption to hunker down and write and properly organize them.

So… is Alice quitting? No! Alice does not quit! I’ve been considering just taking video of me talking. It won’t be boring stuff, like this post; it will be the deep stuff, but with me saying it I don’t think it will be so somber. Seriously, if I said the same stuff I speculate that the effect would be different, more engaging and possible more entertaining. Of course, I will have to have at least some kind of prepared outline for two reasons 1) so that you’re not waiting 20 seconds for me to try to organize my thoughts or think of “the word” 2) so that I don’t forget what I was talking about! What do you think? If I “talked” a post, and threw in some hand motions and facial expressions, would you listen to them? I am entitled to your opinion! Let me know in the comment list!

Also I wanted to share a handful of videos, because sharing makes you feel good inside, right? Actually, I really enjoyed them; and I found them at a time when I happened to have been studying and thinking about these very topics! If you’re leaving a comment, let me know what you think of these, too!

In this first one is a clip of a message from Paul Washer on Christians who struggle to be “good enough” for God. You’ll want to check it out!

This next one is from NYC Pastor/author Timothy Keller. I recently found one of his books in a bookstore and looked into it, called The Reason for God. And it looks really good! It’s an apoligetical book that seems to really get in to the philosophical end of things. It’s not just a resource for believers, but addressed to both believers and doubters, which I think is neat. Here he talks about The New Atheists.

This one is also from Tim Keller, who emphasizes differentiating between religion and the gospel, a topic very important to Yours Truly.

So please! Let me know you’re still there! That you haven’t abandoned this lonely tranquil pond of musings, randomness, observations, and lame excuses for humor! ……….. He-llo?

Filed under : About the Blog, Books, Querky

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In End of the Spear, Steve Saint tells the story of himself and the Waodani tribe of Ecuador, the story of the son of martyred missionary Nate Saint and the very tribe that killed him. It is an amazing account of redemption and reconciliation, of how God takes the most tragic events of our lives and turns them around to do spectacular things. By miraculous circumstances which none are able to explain, the gospel has changed many of the Waodani for good. Hence, Saint came to love the very people who had killed his father and dramatically altered his life. Saint is a man who, having lived in the jungles of Ecuador as a child and then later in metropolitan America, has found himself torn between two worlds throughout his whole life. Many all over the world know of Saint’s father’s sacrifice and the Waodani’s salvation, but not many know the details of the story, or how it continues today. End of the Spear fills in those details, of what Saint himself says is a story that only God could have written.

Saint begins the book by telling of his trip back to Ecuador in 1994, to bury his Aunt Rachel Saint, who became one of the two first missionaries to the Waodani two years after her brother Nate’s death. Throughout the book, the author occasionally recounts previous events, to help the reader understand the full significance of everything told. Following Rachel Saint’s death, the Waodani asked Saint to return to their land, to teach them how to deal with the outside world and not be exploited by greedy outsiders. Thus, Saint found himself in an unlikely situation; he, the son of a man killed by primitive Indians, was now the only one qualified to represent them to the outside world, for he understood both peoples. His family came to live with the Woadani in 1995, helping them learn necessary skills to survive as an independent people, without having to rely on others to supply them with such things as medicine and tools. During his time in the jungle as an adult, Saint learned things from the Waodani about the events surrounding his father’s death that he had always yearned to know. The highlight of these events, in my opinion, is when Saint learned of what he believes were angels singing above the trees as his father and companions were dying. Tragedy certainly did not subside after Saint’s childhood; in 2000, his beloved only daughter Stephanie died of a cerebral hemorrhage. Saint shows what life is like for him and the Waodani in a realistic way, with sorrow and laughter interspersed throughout the whole. There is, for instance, unforgettable hilarity in some Waodani’s trips to the United States. While reading the book, I was once again overcome by a combination of emotions: wonder, amazement, bereavement, and joy. In the end, I was able to conclude with Saint that what took place in 1956 on the banks of the shallow Curaraye River was no accident.

The death of five missionaries was deeply traumatic to their families, but they were willing to do whatever it took to reach the people who had never been told the wonderful news of salvation in Jesus Christ. Thus, the Waodani were finally able to come to this knowledge, and many have become God-followers. But they are not the only ones touched; to this day, the past and continuing stories are reaching the lost and encouraging the saved.

End of the Spear is a first-person account of one who has seen the most traumatic experiences of his life worked out for good. It was certainly the most heart-wrenching book I have ever read, yet the overwhelming purpose made it definitely worthwhile. I find great honor in saying that I, too, have a small part in this marvelous story. I am very glad that I read this book after reading many others on the subject, for it helped me to fully understand the story that led me to Christ not many years ago. This story that is continuing through the children and grandchildren of the martyrs is another testimony to the fact that a life surrendered to God is never wasted; the Word of the Lord shall accomplish the purpose for which it was sent.

Filed under : Books, Missions

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The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun and Paul Hattaway is an account of a Chinese Christian evangelist, who has witnessed both the great suffering of the Church in China and the wonderful works God is doing in that country. Brother Yun was born again by miraculous circumstances when he was a youth, at a time when the knowledge of God was scarce in China. In sowing the seed of the gospel in his country, Yun has experienced much severe persecution, yet still testifies to the wonderful things the Holy Spirit is doing, from the churches to the prison cells. The name of the book comes from the time he was first arrested; Brother Yun was outside a home where a secret church meeting was taking place, when the secret police found him. In an effort to warn the other Christians to flee, he shouted loudly, “I am a heavenly man! I am not of this earth and I don’t know where the meetings took place!” Thus he became known among the local Christians as “the heavenly man.” In this book, Brother Yun attempts to, through his own life, tell the story of the work of the all-powerful Heavenly Man in the land of China.

Brother Yun, born to a farming family in 1958, was born again with his whole family when Jesus healed his father of a deadly illness. When Yun cried out to the Lord for a Bible, the Lord provided one for him and told him to preach from it. When he was 16 years old, he recited the book of Matthew to a crowd and saw a whole village turn to Jesus. As he grew up, Yun continued to preach the gospel despite the fact that it was an illegal practice. He became a wanted man because of his refusal to cooperate with the government-run Three-Self Patriotic Church. The secret police of the Communist government tried to hunt him down constantly, and Yun relates many instances when the Lord delivered him from their hands, and others when he was delivered into their hands. Arrested by the Chinese police on three different occasions, Yun became very associated with persecution and suffering, both physically and spiritually. Though he was brutally beaten and mocked by the guards and fellow prisoners, Yun says the hardest thing for him was to see the horrid poverty his family endured during his imprisonment. Nonetheless, God used Yun’s times in jail to bring many desperate souls to Him. Yun even pretended to be a masseur, though he was really laying his hands on sick people to pray for them! In his first and third imprisonments, God supernaturally helped Yun to escape. After his second escape, Yun fled China and moved on to Germany, then later to Myanmar, where he was imprisoned for the last time. Since his release, Yun has visited many Western countries and observed the state of the Church in every one. Though he sees that there is more freedom for Christians in the West, he also sees that there is, for the most part, a great lack of knowledge of and obedience to the Word of God. He exhorts free Christians to obey the Great Commission, live godly lives, and pray that Christians worldwide will be able to stand steadfast no matter what difficulties they face.

The Heavenly Man is filled with stories that relate the goodness of God, in trouble and in tranquility. Brother Yun tells from his own experience what is happening to our fellow Christians in the vast land of China, and urges us in free lands to pray and, most of all, to get the Word of God into the hands of hungry souls. He desires to awake the West to see that this precious call to advance the kingdom of God is under attack globally, in places like China by hardship and viscous persecution, and in places like the United States by complacency and perversion of the gospel. Brother Yun hopes to someday return to his country and fellowship with his brethren again, but for now, he is making known the reality that they live in.

This book has certainly helped me to better see the heart of the underground Church in China through the eyes of one who has seen it grow almost from the beginning. One fact in the book that I found noteworthy is that in the 1920s, a movement was started to bring the gospel from China back to Jerusalem over the footprint of the ancient Silk Road, preaching the kingdom of God “in all territories along the way.” Brother Yun and other house-church members have a great passion for this “Back to Jerusalem” movement. I was encouraged by Brother Yun’s emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit in China; people are healed and convicted, demons are cast out, and wisdom and revelations are given to believers. The Heavenly Man has shown me that God is doing marvelous works to draw people to Him despite Communism’s efforts to squelch the gospel. The Lord knows no barriers; He is mighty to save!

I understand that Brother Yun has been accused by some, even some within the Christian community. For more information, read this open letter about the book by Paul Hattaway. God bless Brother Yun and the faithful in China.

Filed under : Books, Discipleship, Missions

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This week’s Inspiring Story (first in a while!) is a video about Gracia Burnham, the missionary to the Philippines who had been held hostage with her husband by the Abu Sayaaf. Maybe you remember the story, but this 5 minute video summarizes the story that Gracia writes about in her books In the Presence of My Enemies and To Fly Again. Amazing, heart-rending story, and to think that such stories are so common, but not all of them get such media attention. God bless this faithful woman.

For more Inspiring Stories, visit In Defense of the Christian Faith.

Filed under : Books, Inspiring Story, Missions

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