(Cover via Amazon)

By Brother Yun with Paul Hattaway (London & Grand Rapids: Monarch Books, 2002, 351 pages)

The incredible true story of Chinese evangelist Liu Zhenying known to his Christian friends as Brother Yun. It is his own personal testimony along with the reflections of his wife Deling who supported him in the ministry and though many trials and tribulations. The ups and downs, the joys, the victories, along with the low points, failures, and all of the warts. It is there for all to read.

The story begins with the conversion of Yun and the healing of his dying father of cancer in 1974. In the process Yun, age 16 at the time, dedicates his life to Jesus and through a series of miracles is prepared, trained, and sent out as an evangelist to establish new churches and support the very few Christian groups that were still meeting in secret at the time.

The Communist government did everything they could to destroy the Christian church in China beginning in 1949 and very little visibly remained by 1970 and during that time frame Mao’s wife Jiang Qing actually proclaimed to foreign visitors that:

“Christianity in China has been confined to the history section of the museum. It is dead and buried.”

Today it is said by many including the government that there are at least 100 million Christians in the country. If the communist authorities are admitting that number than there are probably far more than that. In fact it is growing so fast that it is impossible to come up with an accurate number. What happened? The House Church Movement happened.

The story of brother Yun gives you a small taste of how that must have happened. How the Christian church relegated to the dust bin of history meeting secretly in homes rose up out of the dust and became the force it is today. It was entirely a move of God.

It really isn’t just about Yun alone but his story demonstrates how God reached out directly to thousands of people and prepared and called forth a whole generation of leaders that worked secretly and many times independently in rising up the church to where it is today. As the government would jail one leader the Lord would raise up another to replace him and the work would go on. It reads like the book of Acts.

Yun was arrested and tortured many times by the government who attempted to get him to reveal all of the leaders that he knew. On a number of occasions he refused to identify who he was and even where he came from in order not to expose others. He told them:

“I am a Heavenly Man! My home is in heaven!”

That is how he became known as the ‘heavenly man’.

The torture and prison conditions that Brother Yun suffered through and survived is beyond comprehension. During those bleak times Yun not only kept the faith but reached out to his fellow prisoners and made life more tolerable for all. He prayed for others, bringing healing to many, and brought hundreds of fellow prisoners to Christ. Not only that, he followed the example of Paul and Silas and sang songs of praise during the worst of times and conditions.

On several occasions Brother Yun miraculously escaped from the authorities. Nothing is more storied than his incredible ‘walk away’ from a maximum security prison when his legs were crushed and crippled yet in an instant he was able to walk through the numerous gates that blocked the way and right through the midst of dozens of guards who miraculously didn’t see him. later he was able to leave China for Germany on a plane when the entire country was looking for him. An incredible story.

Later in Germany he reaches out and begins a ministry to the Western church and is amazed how weak the Christian church is in countries where the church buildings are so large and Christians are actually free to follow their faith.

He is currently raising visibility and money for the house churches back in China. Also he is supporting a long time vision of the Chinese church called the ‘Back to  Jerusalem Movement’ to raise up and train missionaries and send them through every Buddhist and Muslim nation all of the way from China to Jerusalem.

However in the process he has also unfortunately become the target of critics within the Western church. Many have a hard time believing all of the healings and miracles he testifies of here.

An incredible life changing book, one that I highly recommend. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you though this book and you will never be the same. Hereafter that comfortable pew you sit in on Sunday will never be quite so comfortable again. Beware, you could actually receive a new calling and a new vision of where the lord wants to take you.            *Top 

Is the ‘prosperity gospel’ hindering revival? Pastor Michael Catt, senior pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church of Albany, Ga. believes so.

Pastor Catt makes a number of observations about revival in his new book:  “The Power of Surrender: Breaking Through to Revival”

Here’s what he has to say about Revival and the Prosperity Gospel:

“Sometimes the prosperity gospel and the feel-good gospel tell people what they want to hear, But] when you lay that by the side of Jesus’ teaching [to] take up the cross – the only reason for the cross in the first century is to die – and to die daily, to crucify your flesh then you have to think how does this fit?”

“I can’t go to a guy that only has a towel around his waist and lives in a dung hut and tell him the good news you’ll get a Mercedes and you’ll go from dung to stucco because it probably won’t happen. But the power of the life changing Gospel can happen.”

The actual focus of the book is on sacrifice and revival and eliminating everything in the church that stands in the way of a new revival coming to America:

“If we’re hungry and thirsty after God, if there is a desire for more, if there is a holy dissatisfaction with the way things are, believing that surely God died for more than what we are seeing in our typical church today…”

In the book pastor Catt talks about how God is moving in his own congregation doing a sovereign work bringing many closer to God:

“We are now seeing people walk through the baptismal waters. People are being saved. Members are inviting their lost friends and unchurched neighbors. Attendance shot up. Why? Revival produces evangelism.”

Sherwood Baptist is famous for producing such movies as “Facing the Giants” and “Fireproof.”                *Top

A great devotional book based upon John 3:16. This is Max Lucado at his insprirational best. Each chapter is short enough to be read in the morning to start the day right or finish the day at night on a high note. Full of great stories and illustrations all related to the message of hope found in 3:16 and Christ centered.

At the end of the book is 40 short devotionals all about Jesus: “40 Days with the Son”, an unexpected bonus that makes this book even more of a delight. Great stuff!              *Top

The book is written by Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois. Pastor Hybels suggests that you use those things in your life which bring you the most ‘discontent’ to motivate you into taking action.

He gives several examples of people who have really made a difference and how some injustice or dissatisfaction with the status quo lead them to take action to make things better. Some started ministries, some started non-profit organizations, or went on missions.

He talks about how folks will have a ‘Popeye’ moment and then take action. The cartoon character would put up with alot until there came the proverbial straw that put him into action with his spinach. He would finally get to the point when he would say: "That’s all I can Stands!", then look out. Popeye became the most powerful man in the world.

Pastor Bill cites Moses as an example. Moses finally got to the point where he saw his people suffering and he no longer wanted to live it up in Pharaohs palace. He talks about Martin Luther King who responded to the racial oppression of his people by marching across the bridge and eating in that ‘all white’ diner, proclaiming that enough was enough. He responded to a dream that things could be different not only for his people, but for the entire country. He also writes about the story of Mother Teresa who could not bear to watch all the sick and dying in India with nowhere to go but lie in the gutter and die. Then there is the story of ‘Promiseland’ in Detroit, Michigan. A ministry to the poor, started by a mother who reacted to the dogs and fire hoses being directed toward those who were seeking a better life.

In Part II, Pastor Hybels suggests a number of ways to respond to those very things that are troubling to us and how to use those moments and situations to propel us into action. Then in the last section (Part III) of the book, Pastor Bill talks about how to keep the vision alive and how to keep on keeping on.

This is an excellent motivational book, better that that, it is inspirational and actually lets God speak personally to you about your own discontents and your own calling to actually do something to make the world a better place. *Top

A very interesting book on the real-life faith journey of Patty Kirk: a college teacher, farmer, mother, wife, daughter-in-law, and regular Christian.  She writes about her path from a simple faith in God as a child, to her tragedy induced unbelief and eventual atheism.  Then she traces her way back to God through the example of a Christian sister and the patience of a loving Christian husband.

She started life as one of six children in a Catholic family who attended church every Sunday.  Soon tragedy in the form of illness (her mother suffered from a brain tumor and survived an operation) brought suffering, strife, and division to her family.  This started her on a path of wondering where God was or even if there was such a thing.  Later a personal assault left her devastated and on a downward spiral towards unbelief and avowed atheism.

Her flight from God and her family took her on a lonesome journey around the world.  Finally, a miracle marriage to a Christian husband and the coming of children ended up bringing Patty into a new life that increasingly included God, greater engagement with real life, a mother-in-law, neighbors, a farm, and a new teaching career.

The book contains vignettes, or short word pictures, experiences, and observations which are organized according to different periods in Ms. Kirk’s life.  Her candor is refreshing and should be helpful to many.  This is not a rosy pie-in-the-sky testimony.  It is a presentation of real life, warts and all.  There are a couple of fallen preachers that could take lessons from Patty the next time they write on victorious Christian living.  The book is easy to read but not necessarily always easy to take.  She provides relevant scriptures at the end of each chapter along with other references, which I found extremely helpful.

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John Piper has some incredible thoughts in his newest book, on the teaching of Jesus.  I say incredible, because we are so use to preachers and teachers presenting and emphasizing only the barest minimum requirements for salvation as normative Christianity.  Dr. Piper goes way beyond that in this book, he actually presents all the demands that Jesus made of his followers.  Imagine that!  Demands?  Obviously he hasn’t been paying attention to the latest church growth strategies for going after the unchurched in suburbia.

Dr. Piper starts with ‘the great commission’ (Matt. 28:18-20):

 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

He points out that the ‘All authority’ includes us and really everyone else in the world.  So Jesus does have the authority to make demands (obviously).  We are supposed to go and make disciples in every nation.  What does it mean ‘make disciples’?  Obviously we are supposed to tell folk about Jesus, and when they believe, we are supposed to baptize them.  That’s about as far as many of us go.  But according to Piper and according to the words of Jesus, we are supposed to teach them to observe all the commands and demands of Jesus.

How does one observe all the commands and teachings of Jesus?  Isn’t that rather impossible?  Yes it would seem to be:  "With man it is impossible, but not with God.  For all things are possible with God" (Mark 10:27)   However, we are not alone.  He is with us all the way and he has given us his Spirit to dwell within.

The book contains 50 short chapters, each one exploring one of the demands of Jesus.  I hope to write short articles on each one.

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Ed Piorek is a long time pastor (now Pastor Emeritus of Vineyard CC Laguna Niguel Calif.), who traveled extensively with John Wimber during the 1980′s and early 90′s.  He now heads the Father Loves You Ministries (an international conference ministry) and travels occasionally with John Arnott (Toronto Airport CF).

Pastor Ed identifies the baptism of Jesus as ‘the central event’ in the ministry of our Lord.  It actually came at the beginning of his ministry, but it was a major point of empowerment and a confirmation of the Father’s love.  Two other events in the ministry of Jesus were similar; ‘The Transfiguration’, and the Mount of Olives.  Each event reminded Jesus of the Father’s love and strengthened him for the events to come.

Ed recalls different events in his own life and ministry that were similar, in calling him, centering him, and commissioning him.  Then there was a bout with cancer that found him daily leaning on and continuing in, the Father’s love for survival and for the energy to carry on.  He also introduces us to other ministers who have experienced similar events.  Some from the past, like D.L. Moody.  Others from the present like;  Rolland and Heidi Baker (Mozambique), and John and Carol Arnott;  who continue to minister depending upon the Father’s love to give them the strength and empowerment that they need to carry on.

Particularly helpful, is a teaching on the ‘prodigal Son’ and the Father.  Ed also points out the example of Jesus, who on many occasions, went out of his way to minister to just one person at a time, even in the midst of the crowd.  He demonstrates how the love and the compassion of the Father, gives us the reserves and empowerment to seek out and minister to the ‘one’ lost sheep.  There is also a  chapter on ‘contemplative prayer’ which is by itself worth the price of the book.  In contemplative prayer, one does not seek stuff, but seeks only to be close to the Father.

The following is a statement about the book, from John Arnott:

The Central Event is not only a "must read" for any of us wanting to go deeper in the things of God, it is one to be studied and meditated on regularly as you would with a devotional.  Ed Piorek is one of the foremost teachers on the subject of experiencing the love of God.  The chapter on contemplative prayer addresses the most urgent need of the Western church.  Ed’s insights have changed my life.  This book will change yours.

The book may be purchased from:  Vineyard Int. Pub., or directly from the Father Loves You Ministries.

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