Saturday Selections: From Our Bookshelf

A couple weeks ago, I was pleased to find myself with a free hour to read. With eagerness I fixed myself a snack, went to my room, turned on some peotic music, fluffed a few pillows and settled in. Then I opened my new copy of The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun.

I had heard that this was a good book. In fact, I had heard it was life changing. But I wasn't sure--"good book" is a broad term, and I've read quite a few of them.

The Heavenly Man goes above and beyond "good". Within three pages of the first chapter, my snack had suddenly turned to an old bowl of rice. Instead of my cozy bedroom, I was in a village in China. My pretty music no longer played, but I heard the screams of the beating that the Chinese Christians endured for their faith. I didn't lean against some fluffy pillows, but instead I felt the cold floor of a tiny prison cell, packed with one hundred people.

Brother Yun's story does more than inspire you. He doesn't make you feel sorry for his family and their circumstances. Instead, the Brother Yun's story is an example of a modern-day Paul. A modern-day Stephen, a modern-day Peter. He shows us that these lifestyles weren't just meant for the early church. They were meant to be lived by us.

We are meant to live a radical, poured out life for Jesus Christ. Yet so few do. But Brother Yun--he shows how to answer the call!

When it comes to crying while reading a book, I don't very often. I cried at the age of ten when I read Black Beauty. I stayed up late one summer night reading that one. The last few pages of Gone With the Wind made me cry--not because of Scarlet's fate, but because I had spent a month reading a book that had a terrible ending! L.M. Montgomery's always caused at least a few tears during the early teen years. (Oh, brother!)

However, more than once I found myself crying when I read about Brother Yun. His story is simply too incredible not too, his words too resounding and his experiences too amazing. If you're in the mood for some heart surgery, then I suggest The Heavenly Man.

Follow the call, dear friends--serve for the sake of Christ!

Thursday's Thoughts from Heroes of the Faith

"Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee." -Augustine

Are you an Adult?

That's what a wide-eyed, sixth grader asked me a few weeks ago during youth group.

"Well..." I faltered, "I'll be turning 18 in a few days."

My long-time, seventh grade friend and neighbor chimed in. "And she has her driver's license, and soon she can vote!"

I don't think these things make me an adult. But far too often, Christians make worldly pursuits more important than they actually are. Maybe you've got a job, a car, a nice cellphone or your own credit card.

Perhaps these achievements make you feel more like an adult. But do they bring us closer to Christ? They do not, in any way.

Jesus doesn't encourage us to get caught up in the news, our business, or our pastimes. In fact, He pointed out children!

Yes, we should be mature--but having a credit card doesn't make us mature.

But having childlike faith! That's what will bring us closer to Christ. Not all our accomplishments--Jesus isn't concerned about those. Instead, He wants your heart and your faith.

Truly, I say to you, unless you become like children, you will never enter
the kingdom of Heaven. Matthew 18:3

"I want some water!" "Well, I just parted 344 billion gallons of it..."



      I had a bad experience today. Very bad. And I may have to return to the place where this bad experience happened two more times this week.

      "God, I thought that this was where You wanted me to be!" I complained, sure that either I was misunderstanding His desires for my life or He was just whacko. "There's something wrong here. This was supposed to go wonderfully! I was supposed to really enjoy myself and do great and be well-liked by everyone I came across. Instead it felt like a bad movie."

      For some reason, whenever things go wrong, I am suddenly tunnel-visioned and forget all about everything else that God does for me every single day- not to mention the fact that He makes all things work together for the good of those who seek Him! He has proven that fact to me over and over again, yet I spurn Him the moment something doesn't go my way.

      Last night I was reading the story of Moses and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. The part that got me was not the parting and crossing of the sea, but what happened after. You see, God had just blocked the Egyptians from following His people, parted the sea, let them cross, then destroyed their enemies. A little while later, they got really thirsty. Their Father had just parted a sea of more than 344 billion gallons of water, and now they thought that He was trying to kill them by not quenching their thirst.

      I can just imagine Him rolling His eyes.

"Who among the gods is like You, O Lord? Who is like You— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? You stretched out Your right hand and the earth swallowed them. In Your unfailing love You will lead the people you have redeemed. In Your strength You will guide them to Your holy dwelling." Exodus 15:11-13 

     

Saturday's Selections from Our Bookshelf: Wrestling Prayer

     

      "God, if it's Your will, would you please-?"
      How often I hear prayers begun this way. Not that we shouldn't desire to have God's will reign in our lives, but Jesus never prayed prayers like those. He said, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
      What is it like in heaven? There is no sickness. There is no suffering. There is no lack of any good thing. Jesus told us to ask His Father for perfection in every area of our lives.
      This is one of the many areas explored in Eric and Leslie Ludy's Wrestling Prayer. Wrestling Prayer isn't an easy read. Lindsey and I read and discussed one chapter every week for about four months, and even then I felt as if I had only really taken in a small fraction of all it holds. It isn't an easy read for all of the right reasons, and that is what makes it exciting.
      Eric knows exactly how to get your blood pumping, and I can say that from personal experience because I'm met him. (He even signed my copy of Wrestling Prayer!) After two days at a conference with him and his wife I knew that I would never be the same, and I had the exact same experience after reading Wrestling Prayer. Take this quote for example:

"You may acknowledge intellectually that your King has power over all His enemies, but the only way that you will know this truth intimately in the depths of your soul is if you follow Him into the camp of the enemy and witness this power for yourself."

      Eric and Leslie show us that God is so much more willing and so much more able to do above and beyond what we could ever ask and think than we give Him credit for. He is ready and waiting for us to come to Him at any moment of the day and ask great things of Him. And when we ask and believe that we will receive, He truly answers us beautiful ways.
      After Lindsey and I met Eric and Leslie, we decided to pray a very specific prayer: that God would provide us with 45 Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes and enough money to ship them all. (At $7 a box, this was no small request.)
      God gave us 46 boxes and plently of shipping money! We were so filled with a joy that words could never describe.
      I highly encourage you to read Wrestling Prayer. If you are open to Him, God will use it to shape you into a prayer warrior that will toss mountains into the sea that you never could've imagined budging an inch.        

Thursday's Thoughts from Heroes of the Faith

Remember, your King is not just heroic, He is an intimate heart friend, And He longs to be an intimate heart friend with you. He is not just majesty, He is mercy. He is not just power, Her is personality. He is not just holy, He has a heart filled with love.

-Eric Ludy, Wrestling Prayer

The Light of Christ

A few mornings ago, I pulled up the shade and saw this amazing sunrise. Within minutes, I opened the window, pulled out the screen, and began snapping photos. I'm sure you understand why--it was beautiful!

D.L. Moody once wrote about a man from Scotland. After an injury at the age of fifteen, this Scottish man had been bedridden for some forty years. Despite being confined for so long, Moody said this man was like being near heaven--his faced shined so. Seldom, Moody declared, had he seen a face shine as this man's face did.

Don't you just long to have a radiance like that? To shine like one of God's magnificent sunrises? I do. What are clothes, money, pleasure and fame, compared to the joy of Christ?

The world tries to scream in your face, watch this to be happy! Wear this to fit in! Say this to be loved!

Ironically, the people who follow the world are so very un-happy. Instead, their hearts and minds are dark. They wander aimlessly, with no purpose or hope.

But those who follow Christ! Those who press on, despite the struggle--even if it is being bedridden for forty years--they are the ones that radiate with the light of Jesus.

Shine!

Saturday Selections: From Our Bookshelf

"Tortured for Christ", By Richard Wurmbrand

Have you ever been beaten for you faith? Stood on bed of nails for hours? Have you listened to men renounce the name of God for seventeen hours a day, for months straight? Put into prison for fourteen years?

For Richard Wurmbrand, this was only a taste of the torture that he experienced--all for the sake of Christ. During a congress in their Parliament the Romanian pastor and his wife, Sabina, watched four thousand pastors and bishops declare that communism and Christianity were the same, and could co-exist. Sabina could not stand it. She said, "Richard, stand up and wash away this shame from the face of Christ! They are spitting in His face."

"If I do," he told her, "you will lose your husband."

She replied, "I don't wish to have a coward as a husband."

So Richard stood up, and began to praise the name of Jesus. Because the congress was being broad casted, the whole country heard what he declared. "Later," he said in his book, "I had to pay for this. But it was worthwhile."

Richard and Sabina were separated for fourteen years. Their only child, Michael, was left to fend for himself at the age of nine. Sabina experienced horrible torture. The guards enjoyed throwing Sabina and other Christian women into the Danube river, then fish them out, laugh at them, then throw them in again. She was forced to dig earth in the winter, and eat grass to stay alive.

Can you imagine? All for the cross--what will we do for the sake of the cross? Can't we be willing to give up a little of our luxuries, for the sake of the cross? Is it a torture to give our money to the poor, to be kind to the people we don't like, to have a good attitude? Of course not! But look what the Wurmbrands sacrificed for the sake of their Savior. Can't we sacrifice as little as our time and money, if not our very lives?

Tortured for Christ will bring new perspective to your life. The Wurmbrands were a living example of that through suffering for Jesus, He brings joy. I encourage you to read it yourself!

Note: You can receive a free copy of this book at http://torturedforchrist.com/. It may take a bit of time for it to arrive (it did for me), but it is certainly worth the wait!

Thursday's Thoughts from Heroes of the Faith

"We are called to be women. The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of Christian, but the fact that I am a Christian does make me a different kind of woman. For I have accepted God's idea of me, and my whole life is an offering back to Him of all that I am and all that He wants me to be." -Elisabeth Elliot

You Mean to Say that God isn't Impressed with Chopin?!

                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLyumz2jMZY

      Before you read this post, I insist that you watch this video. Believe me, it's well worth a little over four minutes of your life.

      Did you watch it?
      Alright.
      About six years ago I sat in a velour seat at Chenery Auditorium- our local source of "culture" and "refinement"- and watched as the man in the video above, Krystian Zimerman, walked out on stage. A hush fell over the crowd as he flipped up his coattails and draped them over the bench as he sat down. (Well, there was only a hush if you don't count the snickering of an eleven year-old girl who had only seen such things on Looney Tunes when Bugs Bunny was mimicking concert pianists. Don't ask how I know that she was eleven...)
      For two hours the audience sat captivated as this man played Maurice Ravel and Frederic Chopin, his eyes on fire and his fingers pounding the piano keys with all their might. We left as the audience continued to applaud for several minutes after his performance. Having never heard any piano music beyond simple Mozart sonatas, I was in awe.

      Fast forward six years. Not long ago, I sat once more as a college student performed Chopin's Ballade No. 4 (the song in the video) for a master class at Western Michigan University and a snobby professor tore the song to shreds. When I found the sheet music and printed it off, I was incredulous at the piece's complexity and looked up the song on the internet, hoping to find a version of it that might bestow upon me some sort of magical powers that would allow me to play the song.
      Well, that idea didn't work, but I did find Krystian Zimerman after all those years. And, as I listened to the clip that is posted above last night, I thought about how much work he must've put into that piece. Hour after hour after hour after hour. Yes, it's beautiful, but what is the point?
      Think about how you and I spend our time- we sleep, we eat, we read, we watch, we blah, blah, blah, etc., etc., etc., but what is the point of it all?
      At the end of our days, will we kneel before the throne of our King and say, "Well, precious Lord, I spent a few hours every day in front of the computer, and one hour in front of the TV, but I went to church every week!"? Even our weekly church-going habits don't seem to glisten with radiance when we think about them in light of eternity. Yes, church is wonderful, and TV is seemingly harmless, and movies, do, on occasion, bring glory to Christ, but what are we doing with our time? It's awfully precious, you know.
      I don't know about you, but it just dawned on me how short life really is. And, if we keep putting off things that really matter until tomorrow, tomorrow will never come.

"Show me, O Lord, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before You. Each man's life is but a breath. Selah. Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it." Psalm 39:4-6   

Saturday Selections from Our Bookshelf: Chasing the Dragon

      Few complete strangers have influenced my life the way that Jackie Pullinger has. Ever since I heard that she let former prostitues and druggies sleep in her bed I have been drawn to her story. Not only is her book, Chasing the Dragon, the best book I've read all year, but I do believe that it's one of the very best books I've read in my entire life.
      Jackie was only twenty years old when she felt God calling her to China, and she was so sure of this calling that she simply got on a boat and didn't get off again until He told her to. This was only the beginning of a grand adventure that is still continuing on today. 
      Chasing the Dragon isn't one of those books that you can pick up, read, and put down again, simply saying, "That was nice," and then moving on to Beth Moore or Joel Osteen. Instead, it takes your world, turns it upside-down and inside-out, shakes it, plunges it into a vat of hot oil, then ice water, then lemon juice, and then tosses it in the trash compacter. And that's just after the first five chapters. You think that you understand poverty and the power of God until you read this book, and then you realize that what you thought was poverty was one step below suburbia.
      Jackie was called to minister to the Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong, where over 30,000 people resided. Did I mention it was on a property comprised of six acres? And it was so full of filth, crime, prostitution, drugs and everything else imaginable that the government chose to demolish it in 1993. However, from the 1960s to the demolition of the city, Jackie ministered to its residents like there was no tomorrow. And it wasn't just some mamby-pamby "God loves you and that's all" ministry- God used Jackie to literally transform everyone that she encountered, from powerful gang leaders to sixty year-old harlots.

    

      If I had to recommend one book to someone who needed a boost of faith, energy, passion and awe in their walk with Christ, I wouldn't think twice about telling them about Chasing the Dragon. Jackie writes in a simple, easy-to-understand style, but her story is as powerful as something straight out of the Bible. The best part? She tells about how ours can fit in that category, too. Talk about inspiring!

"Give me the Love that leads the way
The Faith that nothing can dismay
The Hope no disappointments tire
The Passion that'll burn like fire
Let me not sink to be a clod
Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God"
— Amy
Carmichael

Mirror, Mirror

A few days ago I read a true story that sparked my interest. It was about a man, who received a gift from his father. The gift was a embroidered wall-hanging of dragons from China, a special gift. Proudly, he hung the souvenir on his living room wall, just to admire. However, not long after, his ministry and spiritual life was attacked by the enemy. It wasn't long before he realized it was actually the dragons--a symbol for satan--that kept him away from Christ. Once he removed the wall-hanging, he became more in love and closer to Jesus.

It made me wonder if I had something in my own bedroom like this. Maybe not any dragons, but perhaps something that made me focused on myself far too much?

Later that day I was cleaning my room. (Believe it or not, I love to clean my room!) I was about to move a full-length mirror so I could vacuum under it. This mirror has been sitting in a corner for ages, after my mom couldn't find a spot for it in my parent's own bedroom. It's just one of those things that's always been around. Then, I heard His voice.

This is what you need to get rid of.

I looked down at the mirror. Suddenly, I realized how many times I had stared into it--not thinking about Jesus, but me.

In minutes, that mirror was in the basement. And you know what? No regrets. Actually, I feel so free from the bondage of me, me, me!

How wonderful freedom is...

Thursday's Thoughts from Heroes of the Faith

"With the veil removed by the rending of Jesus' flesh, with nothing on God's side to prevent us from entering, why do we tarry without? Why do we consent to abide all out days just outside the Holy of Holies and never enter at all to look upon God? We hear the Bridegroom say, 'Let Me see they countenance, let Me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice and thy countenance is comely.' (Song of Songs 2:14) We sense that the call is for us, but still we fail to draw near, and the years pass and we grow old and tired in the outer courts of the tabernacle. What hinders us?" -A. W. Tozer

Art Supplies from God

      I started painting at the beginning of the summer, and, I must say, the whole experience has done more to prove to me the existence of God than the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
      (Thank you, Mr. Chase, for making me sound really smart for a couple of seconds there.)
      Really, though, I have so many stories that I could share with you about how God has helped me learn how to paint. And today's experience was just one more to add to the list.
      My father offered to give me ten dollars with which to buy canvases and a new brush because I've been trying to save all of my money. I took the precious sum to Hobby Lobby, knowing that ten dollars doesn't get you very far in an art section. Still, I prayed that God would help me find exactly what I needed.
      I was overwhelmed by the paint aisle. Being someone who uses those bottles of acrylic that they sell for forty cents at Wal-mart, I was shocked by the fact that bottles of "fancy" acrylics cost twenty times as much.
      Finding the correct size of cheap canvases, I picked up at two pack. Thankfully, they were on sale. 
      After choosing a package of beautiful, fine-tipped brushes, I knew that I had gone way over my budget. Deciding that I would just have to spend some of my own money, I headed to the check-out.
      I remembered that I had a twenty-five percent off coupon for the brushes right before I set my treasures on the counter.
     The tired cashier rang up my purchase.
      "That'll be ten dollars."
     Ten...twenty three? I thought.
      Nope. It was exactly ten dollars.
      I had to keep myself from laughing as I handed her the bill.

"As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him." Psalm 18:30
     

Layla

      There's an adorable little girl in the church classroom that I help with twice a month. She has big, brown eyes and a beautiful smile. Today she had on a pink jumpsuit and little penguin earrings. She's all of six years old with the mind of a fifteen year-old.
      One day the classroom of 40 kindergartners and first graders was jam-packed, and I was all alone with another youth volunteer. As little girls and boys ran wild throughout the room, all control was totally lost. One group that formed was more like a clique than anything else, and Layla was in it. As I neared the fighting girls and boys, I heard phrases like, "Well, she stole my boyfriend!"
      Remember, these kids are six years old (at the oldest- some of them are five.)
      "What's the matter?" I asked, my mind going a million miles an hour trying to decide how to occupy all of the kids and solve all of the problems at once.
      "She stole my boyfriend!" Layla accused, pointing at another girl.
      "NO! No, I didn't!" the girl retorted.
      "Well, I saw her kissing a boy at school!" Layla fought back, her braids flailing.
      The other girl looked embarrassed, but denied ever having done such a thing.
      "Woah, woah, woah, woah," I interrupted the argument.
      How to begin?
      "You all are six years old!" I cried, at a loss for words. (As if reminding them of their age was going to help anything at all.) "You don't need to think about things like this for a good ten years!"
      It was no use. I knew that their entire schools must be made up of entire classrooms of itty-bitty couples who fought over each other all of the time. Not only was the thought frightening, but I was completely floored. These kids were creating problems for themselves. They were concerned with things that they shouldn't even know about at the tender age of six, and only I could understand that. There was no way to express it to them.
     
      I'm a professional worrywart. God has been trying and trying to get that out of me, yet I continue to worry.
      "But, God, You don't understand. I have problems!"

      The thought of some of the things I've worried about makes me laugh now. If God sees things that I worry about from the same perspective through which I see Layla's problems, He must simply smile and say, 

      "You know, darling, you're only creating your own problems. If you just left everything in My hands, you'd never worry again."  

      All we need to do is trust. That's all He asks, and it's all He needs. 

"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?" Luke 12:25-26   

Saturday Selections from our Bookshelf

The Autobiography of George Muller is full of inspiring stories from George Muller's own personal perspective. His story strengthened my own faith in many ways. Excerpts from this man's diary show us a thrilling timeline of his journey, full of faith and passion for Jesus Christ. I encourage you to read it yourself.

Although Muller grew up in a non-Christian home (born 1805), and lived a rebellious life in his teen years, he became friends with a man named Beta. Muller said that God had mercy on his cold heart, for Beta led him to Christ. Muller felt called to live for God alone, and willingly gave up worldly pursuits. Later, Muller went on to begin an orphanage, bringing hundreds of orphans to Christ.

What impressed my heart most was Muller's faith in prayer. Countless times he and his wife would be penniless, but desperately in need to feed several hundred orphans. God never failed to provide them with their needs--sometimes while they were still praying. A box a food would arrive on their doorstep, and many people would anonymously send funds. His life was such an example of faith!

Even if you don't get a chance to read this book, I hope that you will examine your faith in prayer. Muller never doubted that God wasn't listening--nor should we.

Do you make it your primary business and concern to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness? Are the things of God, the honor of His name, the welfare of His church, the conversion of sinners, and the profit of your own soul, your chief aim? Or does your business, your family, or your own temporal concerns primarily occupy your attention? Remember that the world will pass away, but the things of God will endure forever. -George Muller