Reflective Beauty: Book Review

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Book Review - The Heavenly Man

The Heavenly Man
By Brother Yun and Paul Hattaway

I don't read enough Christian biographies. Maybe one a year. The last one was A Severe Mercy (which my mom's reading right now), and that one was glorious. But partly its enjoyment came from the magical writing. Whether the writing is engrossing or not, I know there is a wealth of wisdom and insight waiting to be gleaned from the lives of saints who have gone before.

This book has been sitting on our shelf for years, but what finally drove me to take it down and dive in was a newly-wakened desire to get into the mind of the house church Christians in China. And let me tell you, it was eye-opening! Not amazing writing, but definitely an amazing tale.

Brother Yun's story covers his conversion as a young boy in a poor village, his frequent persecution, torture, and imprisonment, and his ministry to everyone from house church members to prison guards. It is a testimony of God's faithfulness and the joy he offers to those who embrace persecution (Matthew 5:10)

"I didn't suffer for Jesus in prison. No! I was with Jesus and I experienced His very real presence, joy, and peace every day. It's not those in prison for the sake of the gospel who suffer. The person who suffers is he who never experiences God's intimate presence."

~Brother Yun~

Posted for the March of Books on YLCF.

1 comment:

Sara Glaser12:12 PM
Wonder what that attitude could do for us as we face our own so-called "sufferings" from day to day (which pale in comparison to true persecution)? Thanks for sharing this "heavenly" perspective! - a YLCF "mom"
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To the One I want to reflect...

You are the sun
shining down on everyone,
light of the world
giving light to everything I see
beauty so brilliant
I can hardly take it in
and everywhere You are
is warmth and light

And I am the moon
with no light of my own
still You have made me
to shine
and as I glow
in this cold dark night
I know I can't be a light
unless I turn my face to You

Shine on me with Your light
Without You I'm a cold dark stone
Shine on me
I have no light of my own
You are the sun,
You are the sun,
You are the sun
And I am the moon

~Sara Groves~

Quotes on Happiness

We are halfhearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
~C. S. Lewis~

God threatens terrible things if we will not be happy.
~Jeremy Taylor~

God is the one Being in all the universe for whom seeking His own praise is the ultimately loving act. For Him, self-exaltation is the highest virtue. When He does all things "for the praise of His glory," He preserves for us and offers to us the only thing in all the world that can satisfy our longings. God is for us! And the foundation of this love is that God has been, is now, and always will be for Himself.
~John Piper~

"At the end of things, The Blessed will say, “We have never lived anywhere except in Heaven.” And the lost will say, “We were always in Hell.” And both will speak truly."
~ C.S. Lewis ~

"Who is my neighbor?"

"I think each village was meant to feel pity for its own sick and poor whom it can help and I doubt if it is the duty of any private person to fix his mind on ills which he cannot help. This may even become an escape from the works of charity we really can do to those we know. God may call any one of us to respond to some far away problem or support those who have been so called. But we are finite and he will not call us everywhere or to support every worthy cause. And real needs are not far from us."
~ C. S. Lewis ~

Beauty vs. Attractiveness

Christians reading these reports must remember that beauty and attractiveness are not the same thing. Beauty, according to the Christian worldview, is established by God himself, and is inseparable from truth and goodness. Attractiveness is the mere delight of the eyes. In a sinful world, our eyes delight in many wrong things, and many of the most beautiful realities are, to the mere eyes, unattractive.

After all, we follow our Savior who “had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.” [Isaiah 53:2]. The cross is not pretty, but it is beautiful. This is the ironic foundation of a Christian understanding of beauty. We cannot merely trust our eyes, for our eyes will lie to us, and we are to find beauty in truth.

Albert Mohler