Silence

A friend lent me the book Silence by Shusaku Endo (translated by William Johnston).  It’s about a Portuguese missionary priest facing persecution in 17th-century Japan.  If you know me, then you know that this book is right up my alley!

This book asked the hard questions.  One major issue, as evinced by the title, is silence.  Of particular concern is the apparent silence of God while faithful ones scream, moan, and die for Him.  The protagonist questions God again and again about this, and answers to this one just don’t come easy.

Another major issue is that of apostasy, or the denial of faith.  Endo includes a few characters who, in the face of torture or the threat of torture, gave up information about other Christians and apostasized.  Of serious concern, however, is whether one can deny the faith only as a formality.  Is it possible, or acceptable, to deny the faith outwardly to save the lives of others, and then continue secretly to keep the faith?  Does that work, in light of Jesus’ own words?  The book doesn’t take an obvious stance, but it gives serious hints.

While the subject matter reeled me in, the writing style did not.  To be fair, this is a book in translation.  It’s tough to know whether the blame should be laid on the author or on the translator for the sometimes awkward sentence structure and unusual word choice.  Although this book is considered to be the author’s masterpiece, I can’t imagine that.  The content was there, but the mechanics got in the way.  It needs a good polishing.  Perhaps if one could find the work translated by another person, they’d have a different experience.

Overall, I recommend it to the Christian reader.  But, be prepared to get mad!

If God Were Real …from my journal

November 28, 2009

I’m reading a new book, If God Were Real by John Avant.  It’s not deeply philosophical or theological, and it’s a pretty easy read.  I was actually slightly hesitant about it, because I think a lot of “Christian” books are a load of crap mass-marketed to pay for someone’s posh lifestyle… [But this book] was written by a pastor who has witnessed a deep sickness in the American church.  His premise is very obvious from his title — if God were real, or if we really believed he were real, our lives and our churches would be radically different.  It’s not that profound, really; it’s completely obvious.  But, he’s saying the types of things about the institution of Christianity that Jesus said about the Pharisees and priests.  They didn’t want to hear it then, and no one wants to hear it now.  He’s asking all the right questions — salvation-issue questions — but does it matter?  Will American “Christians” listen?  Will I listen?  What can I do to really be different?  What am I doing?  I want desperately to not waste my life.  I want to be a radical follower of Jesus.  But, what does that even look like in postmodern America?  I guess I’m currently on this quest to be a true follower.  Not a “good” Christian or an “upstanding” citizen, but a sold-out, I don’t care if I lose my job or home over it, eternal-perspective-seeing, desperately-loving follower of Jesus of Nazareth.  I mean, shouldn’t true believers be a little subversive?  Shouldn’t we be dangerous?  Peter and Paul were dangerous, and I don’t think their cultural setting is much different from ours.  We’re too comfortable.  The tragic thing is, the road to hell is a joyful, comfortable one.  My level of comfort is causing me to question my sincerity and my level of usefulness.  I want desperately to be useful.  I don’t want to live and die for a country, for a religious institution, for a way of life.  I want to live and die for the Creator, Savior, and Sustainer.  Anything less is a waste of my soul.  Oh, Father, teach me!

~Maranatha

City of Thieves

You may remember that I recently reviewed a book that I didn’t want to read.  I still had mixed feelings about it in the end, but I concluded that it was quite well-written, albeit infuriating.  That book was chosen by my book club, as was the one I’m talking about today.  Because I questioned whether I should have spent the $14 on a book that may not bring me closer to Jesus, I decided to exercise my library card on City of Thieves, by David Benioff.  That was a good decision!

I will preface this (well, I guess I already prefaced it, but I’m gonna preface again) by stating that I am NOT a WW2 buff; I am only mildly interested.  In addition, I have very little curiosity about Russia, past or present.  The fact that this novel was set in Leningrad during the war should give you a slight inkling into my opinion of the book.  But, that inkling is not complete.

The book was explicit.  It was mostly just teenage boys talking, but it was as intrusive as if it had been detailing the degrading acts in real time.  Very vulgar terminology dropped into the dialog like little grenades, catching the reader (at least this reader) off-guard every time.  Perhaps this was meant to add credibility to the situation, as it was narrated by a then-17-year-old boy who was accompanied by a then-19-year-old soldier.  Perhaps boys talk like this.  Constantly.  As though they’re talking about the weather.  As though nothing is meant to be respected or kept private.  As though the language were acceptable enough for your grandmother.  But I was not entertained by it.

Those things aside, it was a decent story.  It was well-written, but I just wasn’t captivated.  It may be unfair of me to say these things, because I was distracted both by the vulgarity as well as by the fact that I was uninterested in the first place.  I did find the two main characters both hilarious and tragic, apart from everything else.  The horrors of starvation and isolation were evident, and there were some really heart-wrenching moments.

I can’t say it was a great book or a bad book.  What I can say is that it wasn’t for me.

I Read a Christian Romance.

Alright, I’ll level with you.  I have read romance novels before.  I’ve even read some racy ones in my younger years.  Did I like them?  Yes.  A romance novel grabs at your heartstrings until you see yourself as the heroine, desperately loving the hero.  You’re so invested in seeing the two live happily ever after, that you can’t put the book down.  It’s ludicrous, because the romance probably should have never come about in the first place, they’re sinning all along the way, and you know they will end up together at the end.  But, it reels you in.

I gave up on romance novels as quickly as I started reading them.  I concluded that they were a waste of time, they were completely not God-honoring, and they stirred in me desires that an unmarried teenager shouldn’t be messing with.  And I also concluded that they were very poor “literature.”

—

I have also read Christian fiction before.  I will not name what or who, but it was ridiculous.  As un-literary as romance novels were, my experience with Christian fiction just took the cake.  Everything was so contrived!  In an effort to make sure the reader knew that the theme of the book was Jesus, every other line talked about Jesus and the Spirit in a completely unnatural way.  They couldn’t even properly develop the plot because this manufactured religion got in the way.  It was ridiculous.

So, I swore off Christian fiction.

—

This past weekend, a friend lent me a copy of Francine Rivers’ novel, Redeeming Love.  I had heard the author’s name before, and I laughed off any claims at real literary talent due to her association with Christian fiction.  My friend was enthusiastic, however, so I accepted the book.

I knew before I opened to the first page what the point was.  A woman would fall in love, but she would realize that the only true, redeeming love was that of her Savior.  Expecting pages of awkward preaching forced into contrived conversations between ridiculous characters, I sat down to get the whole thing over with.

I was surprised.  I was floored.  I was devastated.  I was blessed.  I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Christian woman, read this book.  You’ll fall to pieces, and you’ll fall in love with Jesus all over again.

And I Almost Didn’t Read It…

When I heard about the new book chosen for my book club, I did what anyone with an internet connection would do; I Googled.  I had never heard of it, so I typed in, “loving frank nancy horan.”  I must say, I was not terribly impressed with the subject matter.

I doubted whether I should spend the $14.00 as I swiped my card at Barnes and Noble.  (No time to order cheaper.)  I read the first thirty pages, and I was disgusted.

You see, Loving Frank is a novel built around a real-life situation that simply pisses me off.  Long story short, American architect Frank Lloyd Wright left his wife and children for a client’s wife, who also left her husband and children.  The beginning of the book is all about their unfolding love story, complete with sickeningly-sweet nothings and secret, illicit meetings (although, they were not graphic).  Call me naive, call me inexperienced, call me whatever you like, but I have zero tolerance for marital infidelity.  Of course, the involvement of children made it that much worse.  The fact that it was based on a true story made it nearly unbearable.

I wrote on my Facebook page that I would give it another 30 pages before trashing it… and then, I couldn’t put it down.  I can’t really explain it, but I slowly realized that the author was not trying to make me like the mistress or pity her situation.  The author wasn’t taking sides; she was simply telling the story of a horribly mistaken woman and a tragically flawed man.  And it was as compelling as it was infuriating.

My final conclusion is that it was an incredibly well-written novel.  If that’s what you’re looking for, and if you can make it past the beginning, I doubt you’ll regret it.  For all my fighting, I sure don’t.

*If you think you might like to read the book, please don’t look on Wikipedia or elsewhere for the biography of any of the characters.  It’ll ruin the ending of the novel.  Just check after you read the book to confirm, “Oh my goodness!  It’s true!” like I did.

Tortured for Christ

If you know me, or if you’ve been hanging around my blog for any length of time, or if you simply glance to the left and to the right sidebars, you will see that I have a passion for the persecuted Church.  It’s a recently developed passion — the Lord has opened up this world to me only within the last couple of years.  But, I can’t shake it.

The book pictured is one that I read in one day.  It is not a stylistically difficult book to read, but it is difficult for other reasons.  It’s not even very well-written; the author even admits that.  But, as the author states,

This book is written not so much with ink, as with the blood of bleeding hearts. (p. 63)

The author, Richard Wurmbrand, was the founder of Voice of the Martyrs.  A fitting founder indeed, he himself underwent countless tortures for his faith in Communist Russia.  This is a retelling of some of his experiences.  He is not terribly graphic, as it pained him to relive those experiences.  But, it is terribly powerful.

Into his testimony, he interweaves hard-hitting words:

A man really believes not what he recites in his creed, but only the things he is ready to die for. (p. 62)

I tremble because of the sufferings of those persecuted in different lands.  I tremble thinking about the eternal destiny of their torturers.  I tremble for Western Christians who don’t help their persecuted brethren. (p. 88)

When I was beaten on the bottom of the feet, my tongue cried.  Why did my tongue cry?  It was not beaten.  It cried because the tongue and feet are both part of the same body.  And you free Christians are part of the same Body of Christ that is now beaten in prisons in restricted nations, that even now gives martyrs for Christ.  Can you not feel our pain? (p. 150)

The Underground Church represents the deepest need of enslaved people in captive nations.  Help her!  (p. 113)

To the Christian I say, read this book.  You have no excuse; you can get it for free right here.

Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated,
since you yourselves also are in the body.  ~Hebrews 13:3

Bibliophile

Hello, my name is Angela and I am a bibliophile.  It all started when I was a toddler, and, refusing to release a precious book from my hands whilst descending a few stairs, I fell and cut my face open.  The scar I bear today is completely worth it.

Here’s the deal.  Have you checked my “Currently Reading” tab?  It’s out of control.  What’s more out of control is that I just added that top one today!  I’m turning into a regular Katdish with all of these books going at the same time.  I have never done this before!

Granted, one of my books is the Bible.  That will always be there, as I try to read every day.  I purposefully select specific reading plans so that if I don’t read one day, I must catch up the next day (or the day after that).  I try to keep myself accountable this way.  So, that’s non-negotiable and will remain.

Besides the Bible, the book I have been reading for the longest period of time is Heaven.  I say “have been reading” very loosely, as I have not picked this book up since June or July.  That is not because it is bad!  Actually, it’s quite awesome, and I enjoyed it immensely as I was reading it.  But, I got into this book club thing at my school and…

Don Quixote. The Knight of the Rueful Figure has certainly wreaked havoc on my reading life.  That book is never-ending!  I started reading it in JUNE and I’m still not finished!  Sure, part of it is because I haven’t been reading consistently every day.  Could that be because Miguel Cervantes could have plausibly written the book in about 400 fewer pages?  Perhaps.  It’s too much.  It’s good, and it’s hilarious, but I can only take so much.  I’m debating doing what only the uncultured do: replacing it on the bookshelf unfinished.  I know!  It’s blasphemy!  I know.  I haven’t done it.  Yet.

Then there’s Every Young Woman’s Battle.  This is no big because it’s totally an easy read.  It’s not easy content, but the style is easy.  It’s made for busy teenagers and young women, so it has to be.  I enjoy it, and I’m reading it for a girls’ Bible study that I’m participating in.  No complaints.

That brings us to the most recent addition: Loving Frank.  Chosen for our book club, this is a historical novel built around what appears to be an illicit love affair between a married Frank Lloyd Wright and the wife of one of his clients.  I’m not incredibly thrilled about the topic, as I am assuming that every attempt will be made to engender some level of sympathy from me.  Although I have not even begun the book, I am fairly confident that I will in no way sympathize with either participant in this affair.  But, I’m hoping it will be an interesting look at a past culture.

Pray for me that I will actually finish one or two other books as well!  But I have to have the Frank one finished by the end of the month for our meeting!  :/

The Unimaginable

So, I’m reading a new book.  If you pay any attention at all to my reading habits, (and, seriously, who among you doesn’t?), you will recall that I spent an agonizing amount of time reading Pilgrim’s Progress.  I am FINALLY done with it and I have moved on! 

(Author’s note: I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of the book, which was really a book in itself.  The second half was not nearly as exciting and most of the two months it took me to get through the book was spent on the second half.  Christiana’s journey was just boring because she was weak.  Christian, in the first half, was brave and awesome.) 

Anyway, now I am reading Heaven by Randy Alcorn.  I have been wanting to read it ever since Justin and I started visiting our new church.  As luck (or Providence) would have it, we walked in at the beginning of a new study on Heaven that was based on this presumably awesome book.  I asked my sweet, shopaholic mother-in-law to please be on the lookout for it and she got it for me!  (Yay!)

I am only on page 41 and I am already challenged, convicted, and captivated.  Alcorn reminds me that the eternal state of my being is not something to ignore or to write off as “unimaginable.”  He challenges the modern evangelical tendency to gloss over Heaven as indescribable and Hell as uncomfortable or awkward.  He looks clear, biblical teaching in the face and wonders why I’m not doing the same thing. 

Citing Colossians 3:1, he states:

This is a direct command to set our hearts on Heaven…

What have you been doing daily to set your mind on things above, to seek Heaven?  What should you do differently?¹

What?  Could this be yet another way that sin is holding fast in my life, and I didn’t even know it?  I never thought of it that way.  The fact that I don’t actively pursue heavenly thoughts or daydream with anticipation about Heaven is a problem.  It’s kind of weird to think of it that way, but Alcorn has a serious point with his Scripture. 

I can’t wait to see what else the Bible has to say on this, as I’ve never actively searched out and studied this topic for any length of time.  I’m glad Randy Alcorn took the time and laid it out so conveniently for me!  I’ll keep you updated as God reveals more cool stuff.

¹Randy Alcorn, Heaven (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 2004) 20, 21.

Taking a Journey

I recently told you that I started reading Pilgrim’s Progress.  I even made a little joke about it being a classic.  You see, I often choose books that I feel I “should” read and then I force myself to trudge through them.  I must say that my experience with this book is quite the opposite thus far.

It has been said that Pilgrim’s Progress is almost the most published book ever, second only to the Bible.  I don’t know if that’s true or not.  But, I do know that I am incredibly surprised to find out that it is not only interesting, but it’s actually captivating!  I can’t put it down.   

[I admit it; it probably helps a lot that I'm reading the book in modern English.  Some would say that's cheating.  It probably is.  I actually would not have purchased this particular version for myself because I always think I should read the book the way the author intended it to be read.  However, that logic only goes so far.  John Bunyan intended for a vast array of readers to easily understand the narrative in the 17th century.  If he hadn't, he would have written it in Latin instead of in the English in use at the time.  AND I have no problem reading the BIBLE in modern English instead of the original KJV (which, by the way, reads almost nothing like the "KJV" Bibles that are sold today).  So, done and done.  I've decided it's okay.]

Overall, I’m struck by the depth layered beneath simplicity.  It really is a very simple story and it’s quite easy to follow.  But, the weightiness of the truths related can make your head hurt.  You could easily spend an hour on each page thinking and meditating.  This book is so utterly saturated with Biblical allusions it’s unbelievable.  But, the thing is, they don’t get in the way of the narrative at all!  It’s so beautifully written.  I love it already!

I’m not done with this book, obviously, but I am going to prematurely recommend it.  I’ve never done that before.  But, I’m having such a great experience journeying along with the pilgrims in the story and I also have hundreds of years full of satisfied readers to back me up.  So, if you haven’t read it, read it!

 

Prudence then asked, “And what is it that makes you want so much to go to Mount Zion?”

“Why, I hope to see alive there the One who hung dead on the Cross,” said Christian, “for to tell you the truth, I love Him because my burden was eased by Him.  And there I hope to get rid of all those things that to this day are in me and that are an annoyance to me, for I’m weary of my inward sickness.  They say there is no death there, and that I’ll dwell there with no such company as I like best; I desire to be where I shall die no more and with the company that shall cry continually, ‘Holy, holy, holy!’” ¹  

 

AMEN!

¹John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress in Modern English, trans. L. Edward Hazelbaker (Gainesville, FL: Bridge-Logos, 1998), 67.

Sunday Survey

Besides the Bible, what is your favorite book ever and why?  (You may only list one book.  That’s the rule.  The other rule is that you cannot say the Bible, but that’s obvious from the question.)