Skip to main content

Another Book

Well, I had a lot of spare time today (I'm in Wichita at my dad's place) and therefore finished The Heavenly Man. It was an entirely easy read, even though it was a fairly long book filled with many, many stories. It was exciting to hear about the many miracles Brother Yun witnessed, and yet at the same time, it felt terribly predictable. There is a neat section near the end about the Chinese vision for evangelism called "Back to Jerusalem". Some things I didn't appreciate - Brother Yun seems to take an almost aggressive attitude toward defining doctrine, recounting how the Chinese house churches had been unified until Westerners started to send more theological literature. Also, Yun seemed perfectly content with staying in house churches permanently. He even says that he had no intention of building church buildings, because the house churches were working out so well. I think there is a time for house churches, but I don't believe this is ideal by any stretch of the imagination. Finally, he doesn't want the persecution to end. He seems to think that persecution is necessary to awaken churches. While it is true that persecution is one way to make a church's congregation members rely more on their faith in God, I again don't think this is ideal, and I will continue to pray that God eases the persecution of his people in foreign countries.

The Heavenly Man: C

Comments

Yokanchi said…
Hey, I like the new layout. How did you do that cool picture?!!
Unknown said…
Thanks! I just went into the "edit layout" screen, and for the title bar, I clicked edit. There is an option to upload a picture. However, after you upload it, you have to edit it again to tell it not to overlay the title. For this picture, I just spent a lot of time tweaking it to get the right size, and then I used GIMP to put in the text. I've been playing around with different color schemes too, but I find that white looks the classiest with a picture. By the way, this picture is from when I played Lord Capulet in "Romeo, You Idiot" in high school.
Anonymous said…
Hahaha... I loved that scene...

Popular posts from this blog

Jesus, Lover of my Soul

An old friend and spiritual mentor of mine left a comment on my last "Religious Conversation" Post . It provoked so much thought that I wanted to share it with everybody, because I know quite a few of my religious friends are reading this, and I know quite a few of you who would make a similar statement. Here it is: There is an element in this conversation that is being overlooked (at least, I presume). There is an aesthetic beauty and, more, an affection, which Steven appears to have for God. This is not illogical; in fact, all human beings exhibit it for something. It may be subjective, and it is not conclusive, but it is completely logical. And I can't imagine an argument that would refute it. It is something like a man saying, "I love my wife. I appreciate her many virtues and charms; I believe her to be the woman most worthy of my affection and lifelong commitment." If I say this and someone were to say to me, "But EVERY man says that of his bride!

After Summer Sosltice

my very first priority for the day was to sleep in as late as possible. when my foul roommate woke me up I had to shift to priority number two: be as comfortable as possible - normal routine be damned. Upon shuffling my way into the kitchen, I discovered a moth, wet-plastered to a dirty pan. "I feel your pain, buddy." Sitting on the couch next to a glass of water, I wish I could devise a way to get the water in me without having to move my arms or head. My vacant glazed gaze gathers itself toward a brochure on the coffee table:Tips 4 Teens - Alcohol Abuse I laugh (only mentally) and for a moment, the shaking stops. Jesus, it's good to be alive.

How Many Will Enter Heaven?

Check out this quote I found online: "[C]onsider this fact: fewer than 20% of people actually think they are going to hell. And yet, in answering that question, Jesus says in Matthew 7 that FEW pass through the gate that leads to eternal life. 80% doesn't sound like few to me... do some of us have the wrong idea?" There are a number of problems with this quote. First of all, you it is assuming that "few" refers to the current ratio of professing Christians to non-Christians. What's to say that Jesus isn't referring to the entire population of all the earth over all time? In that case, it's entirely plausible that 80% of people now are really Christians, as long as there are still few total Christians when all is said and done. Maybe it applies only to the people in the crowd listening to Jesus. Or, it could refer to something else entirely (as I believe). Jesus was talking to a specific people living in a specific time. We cannot decontextualize his