Book: Jesus in Beijing
Over the past few days, I finished reading the book “Jesus in Beijing” by David Aikman. The cool part is that I am in Beijing. There are even parts of the book where he talks about the district that I am currently staying in. Besides the romanticism of reading a book about Christianity in China while living in an apartment in the capital of China, I really enjoyed the book. I thought the book helped piece together many things that I have heard and researched myself. It also helped me understand and taught me many things as well.
The book is definitely best when the author is reporting the stories and not giving his commentary. He does tend to take one situation and apply it across the board, painting everyone with one stroke. Though he makes some wide assumptions and draws conclusion that I wouldn’t, I thoroughly enjoyed him reporting the history of Christianity in China via the lives of those who lived it. For the most part he gives real names and even pictures of those that he reports on. (Also, the back of the book includes translations of important documents.)
The book inspired me, challenged me, and made me think about the current situation in China. It made me respect those who went through so much for the name of Christ, helped me understand better how the government responds to things, and also made me wonder about what more we could be doing today.
I recommend this book to any student of missions in China; it is a valuable resource and a must read. If you are just curious about Christianity in China or want to hear the history of her story, then this is also a great book for you to read.
Recently Read Books
Bruchko by Bruce Olson (Kindle) – Wow! Awesome book. Bruchko is a story about a modern day missionary. It is the story of how a nineteen year old American decides to take the Gospel to the Miltone Indian tribe. It is one of those books you don’t want to put down. It is amazing to read and learn the lessons from the hardships (language, culture, sickness, violence) and victories (souls saved, translating scripture, etc.) that Bruce Olson went through to reach an uncivilized tribe with the Gospel. Join the journey, read the book, you won’t be disappointed!
The Deputation Manual by Austin Gardner & Tony Howeth (Kindle) – If you are a missionary you need to read this book! Before deputation, I was taught the fundamentals of this book by the authors themselves and recently read the book to refresh my mind. This book holds many fundamental keys to effectively raising missionary support. No other book has helped me as much in this area of pre-field ministry, as much as the Deputation Manual. It is full of practical steps to take, gives key advise, and answer many questions a missionary has about the deputation process.
Recently Read Books
Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (Audiobook) – The description of this book, being audio, was “An experience in Sound and Drama,” in which it was! Enjoyable to listen to and easily to listen to with different character voices, sound effects, background music; kind of like a movie. Of course the book was good, just some parts I don’t agree with, like those that heard the gosple before the rapture and being able to recieve it afterwards. I will probably continue in the series.
The Supremacy of God in Preaching by John Piper (Audiobook) – This was a short but good read. He goes through and explains preaching and then gives a list of advice at the end that he has seen in the preachng ministry of Jonathin Edwards and others. One thing that stuck out to me was the need for us preachers to plea for sinners to come to repentence.
Simple Church by Thom S. Rainer & Eric Geiger (Audiobook) – I enjoyed this book and I like the idea of thinking and keeping things “simple.” Since I am an organizing nut, for me the book was a help as to define your process of making disciples and then stick to that process. Four words used in the book as you go about doing this is Clarity, Movement, Alignment, and Focus. You must first clarify your process and goal of making disciples, such as geting people to love God, then love others and serve (I would add that there needs to be training, which most of the examples leave out.) Then you would want movement, what moves peple from one stage in the process to the other. Then align all the ministry of your church and staff to this process, adding or taking away where needed, and finally Focus, stay focused on the process. Good stuff.
Love and Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs (Audiobook) – I really enjoyed this book. It is about marriage and how the husband needs to love his wife and the wife needs to respect her husband. But many times the husband a.k.a me, doesnt love his wife and therefore she doesn’t respect him and because she doesn’t respect him then he doesn’t love her like he should and they get in this never ending cycle that doesn’t glorify God. But to end the cycle one of us or both has to make a decision that we are going to love or respect even if the other doesn’t because it is unconditional love and respect. It isn’t based on how the other acts, we love or respect one another because we are doing it unto the Lord. Go read it!
CH Spurgeon Autobiography: The Early Years by CH Spurgeon (Audiobook) – This was a long read/listen being 20.6 hours long in audio and that is just the first of two. So it was definatley long and I listened to it off and on over a few months but finally got it finished. It was neat to hear of the stories and things that Spurgeon went through, from Salvation on. Some of it was like, why do I need to know this, but alot of other parts were very interesting. I pray God would use me as much as he used Spurgeon.
Recently Read Books
Maybe I should entitled this blog post recently “finished” books since some of them I have been reading for awhile and have just now gotten around to finishing them.
- The Holy Bible – I just finished, today, reading through the entire Bible. Tomorrow, I will start in Genesis and start reading my way through it again. Do you read the Word of God?
- The Six Days of Genesis: A Scientific Appreciation of Chapters 1-11 by Paul Taylor – I enjoyed this book and would encourage others to read it who want to study creation and the first eleven chapters of Genesis from a easy-to-understand standpoint. He answers many of the basic questions people have and states his position on the subjects discussed but without being dogmatic.
- Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan (Audiobook) – I really enjoyed this book and think you should read it too! He starts out the book making sure the reader has a right/full understanding of God by going through different attributes and explaining them. Then he talks about the lukewarm Christian and how there really ins’t such a thing and calls people to check out their salvation. Finally, he brings the last part of the book down to a practical level and shows how as Christians we need to be living selfless, Christ-like lives. Jammed packed full of verses too!
- Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time by By Keith Ferrazzi with Tahl Raz (Audiobook) – This is business book that shows the importance of and the “how to” of networking on the basis of being genuine and generous. There are a lot of good ides in the book as you can see from the title, never eat alone. I didn’t really like the last part of the book, the author needs to know it isn’t finding your “inner-self” that brings peace, but only by knowing the King of Peace, Jesus Christ.
2 Recently “read” Audiobooks
Here are two Audiobooks we’ve been able to listen to as we have traveled this year:
- The Shack by William P. Young (Audiobook) – Well, I am not sure where to start. Let’s start with the good, I guess, the one thing that I liked about the book is the emphasis on the goodness of God “and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” Romans 8:28. This book touches the emotions and makes you think. It is a Christian Fiction book that uses a story people can relate with to teach a greater truth. Now the bad, I believe this author crosses many biblical/theological lines and much discernment is needed. I have problems with the many little sayings that undermine Biblical Christianity, his portrail of how God reveals Himself, the unclear Gospel message, and the representation of the Trinity. Much of this error is overlooked by people because of the strong emotional pull the book has on the reader. You can read the reviews out there and many people love this book and many hate it. I guess you will have to read it for yourself. But remember anytime you read a review of a book and someone claims to understand God in a whole “new” way, and the book they read wasn’t the Bible, warning flags should pop up. (Click Here to download a PDF of a good in depth review of “The Shack.”)
- Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin (Audiobook) – This was a good read. It was nothing remarkable but it did make you think. The basis of the book is the world has changed and is now led by those who challenge the status quo. People come together for a common pupose (a tribe) and all they need is someone to lead them. There is no easy way to get a tribe, or to be a leader, but we live in a time where anyone has a chance to lead. Leaders come from all kinds of backgrounds and what makes them is not money or position, but being genuine, passionate, and ralling the tribe around you to accomplish the purpose. Face your fears, gett ready to work hard, rally the tribe, be a leader, make change, and do things in a new way.
Recently “read” Audiobooks
Because of our time in the car, traveling and the invention of the ipod, audiobooks have become my new best friends. I have a monthly subscription from christianaudio.com. If you are interested in audio books, they give out a free book every month. Here are the last few audiobooks that I have read:
- The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert E. Coleman (Audiobook) – This is a must read! I love this book and have read it more than once. This book looks at the “plan” Jesus put into play to reach the world with the gospel. His plan was his disciples, whom he trained and sent forth. If we are going to reach the world, then we have to be disciplers and train men.
- The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn (Audiobook) – This is another great book on giving. It is a short and easy read that points out the basic and mostly overlook principles on giving. Only if we could learn to store up treasures in heaven instead of here on Earth.
- What the Bible Says About Marriage by Oasis Audio (Audiobook) – It was ok. This was just kinda like a commentary on the different verses in the Bible about marriage.
Books Recently Read
I thought I would blog about some of the books that I have recently read. I in no way endorse all of these books but as they say “eat the meat and spit out the bones.” You can read the Disclaimer. Anyways, here is what I have read lately (Note: Some I have read by Audiobook others just by Book):
- God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew, John & Elizabeth Sherrill – I enjoyed reading this book. It is the life story of a Dutch Christian called Brother Andrew. It tells of his journeys behind the iron and bamboo curtain; smuggling bibles across enemy lines. This book helped me see a time in the Church’s history when communism ruled, persecution was on the church and Bibles were scarce. (Audiobook)
- The Long War Against God by Dr. Henry Morris – This book helped me see the backbone of the history and impact of the creation/evolution conflict. It points out and shows that the one true reason behind the evolution theory, social Darwinism, and all the fruits of it come down to one thing, war against the God of the Bible.
- The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun and Paul Hattaway – This book was so-so. It was enjoyable to read but charismatic in nature. It is the life story of Bro. Yun who is a Chinese Christian that was persecuted in China. It was good to see the history of how the house church movement and the three self church movement came into play. Another interesting part were the stories of persecution and how Christians in China were treated during that time. (Audiobook)
- The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey – This is a good book on how to handle money, be debt free, and be a good steward of your money. Each person must take personal responsibility for their financial problems. He encourages everyone to work hard, pay what they owe, and stay out of debt. Follow the baby steps and be debt free. (Audiobook)
On the Edge: A Strategy for China in Our Generation
“On the Edge: A Strategy for China in Our Generation” is a book that Jacob Taube and I put together in 2006. This book will help with a general overview of missions in China as well as motivate you to pray and take action in China missions.
$9.99 Each
On the Edge: A Strategy for China in Our Generation
By Jacob Taube and Mark Tolson
An overview of Christian missions in China. A review of the obstacles and challenges to the glorification of God’s name in the largest nation on earth. A plan for every Christian to begin to make an impact around the world.
Printed: 175 pages, 6″ x 9″, perfect binding
Publisher: Our Generation
Copyright: © 2006 Standard Copyright License
Language: English