So, I know I said you all should read “The Heavenly Man”, and that hasn’t changed – you all still should!! But, there is so much in there, and some things particularly that I want to share.
Brother Yun was saved in 1974 as a teenager (in China), and has followed Jesus Christ as obediently as any man ever could. He has been imprisoned, tortured and persecuted for the sake of the Gospel over the last 20 years. His last imprisonment was in 2001. It is a crazy, wild story to read, as a Western believer, who doesn’t face persecution like that. I kept having to refocus my brain and acknowledge that these events happened in my lifetime, not generations ago. It’s so hard to fathom, but inspiring! He is not a perfect man, and readily admits that, but he truly rejoiced in his suffering, because it meant he was sharing with Christ.
In recent years, 1999, 2000, Brother Yun faced a new persecution – that of the Western church. Persecution by slander and gossip, not by torture and imprisonment. Those who call themselves Christians but are so quick to judge others and attempt to undermine the truth of Jesus accused Yun of being a false teacher and making up his miraculous experiences. It makes me sad, but causes me to think more deeply about this situation: the Western church is not experiencing the miracles, and the mass salvations that the Chinese church is, for reasons that most of us are familiar with, and Satan has used that difference and our lack of perspective to cause us to have unbelief in what Jesus is doing!! (Long run on sentence…. sorry)
Anyway, I marked a page in the book I was going to share, and it was not all this, though related. Toward the end of the book, Yun is talking about being in prison for the sake of Jesus, and how people have mentioned how he must have had such a hard time in prison, and suffered so much. His response is this:
“’What are you talking about? I was with Jesus and had overwhelming joy and peace in his intimate presence.’ The people who really suffer are those who never experience God’s presence. The way to have God’s presence is by walking through hardship and suffering – the way of the cross…when you are faced with such trials, the key is not to run from them or fight them, but to embrace them as friends. When you do this, you’ll not fail to experience God’s presence and help…’
‘The first time I went to prison I struggled, wondering why God had allowed it. Slowly I began to understand he had a deeper purpose for me than just working for him. He wanted to know me, and I to know him, deeply and intimately… ‘
‘I’m often asked about the rights of pastors in China. A pastor has no rights, except the rights of a slave! Everyone in this world is a slave. They’re either slaves to sin, or slaves of Christ. Our ‘rights’ are in the hands of Jesus. We must fall on our knees in complete dependence on him… Christians in China appreciate whenever believers around the world try to help them during times of imprisonment or persecution, but all efforts to help need to be bathed in prayer and rooted in God’s will, otherwise it only seems to make things worse.
The world can do nothing to a Christian who has no fear of man.’
Just some thoughts from the mouth of Brother Yun – that are causing me to think and pray.
