Books Again

     In a way this is not the blog I planned on writing, but the last two books I read cried out to be included in this blog.  I heard of Dietrich Bonhoeffer a long time ago, I even read his book Cost of Discipleship a couple of times.  After reading this biography I am going to have to read it again.

     In 2010 Eric Metaxas published Bonhoeffer, I saw it while I was working at Barnes and Noble and bought a copy.  This is an example of how far behind I am in my reading.   This is a fantastic book, an interesting and engaging read.  Bonhoeffer is truly a Christian martyr and a gifted theologian.  He had several chance to escape from Germany, he even left and traveled to Britain and the United States but he always returned home.   Bonhoeffer truly knew what Gods grace meant.  He preached it, wrote about it, and most importantly lived it.  He did not want the church to be kidnapped by Hitler and the Nazis Party.

     This book not only describes his life and death, it details his theology using his words taken from books, sermons, and letters.  I hesitate to call a person a giant, especially a giant of faith, but Bonhoeffer was truly a giant of faith.  He was a modest man who truly practiced what he preached.

     The other book I just finished is Living Waters by Brother Yun.  I do not like to underline in a book, to me it is close to sacrilege but the message in this book was so important I had to underline.  Brother Yun is a Chinese Christian who has been beaten, tortured and imprisoned for his faith.  He is not a college seminary graduate, but he is a true disciple of Christ who lives his faith.  He left China in 1997 and has traveled and preached all over the world since then.

     This book, unlike Bonhoeffer, is not a biography it is truly a statement of faith.    It is a call to action especially for church in the so called developed world.  Brother Yun believes all believers should be making disciples for Christ, not just ministers and missionaries, all of us believers.  He believes and teaches the Bible and using its message to call for an active life of faith.  When he has visited many western churches he became, not angry but sorrowful because he does not see the believers reaching out to unbelievers.   We are not going out the door to invite others into our fellowship by the way this includes me.  This book is a call to action, to go out and make disciples.

      Both of these books are convicting and really important reads.  They are a call for an active living faith, a faith that engages the world, a faith that is spread.