Sunday morning we will have an important visitor. His name is Brother Yun and he is a leader of church in China. He has suffered much for the cause of Christ. He was invited here by Eric Faulk and, of course, Bro Yun has our attention already for the sheer fact that he made such an impact on Eric. (How much Eric looked forward to this visit!)

Another reason why we are delighted to have Bro Yun is that we expect a number of visitors from the Chinese community here in Nashville. He will be preaching in Mandarin which will be translated for those of us who don’t speak it. That is an adventure to many in our congregation who have never heard a translated message. For the Chinese though, it will be a real treat. Please pray for those who don’t know the Lord that they will find Him and become part of our community here.

I thought that it might help some of you to know a little more about our visitor. So I asked Marty Rader to prepare a short reflection on his book, The Heavenly Man.

I am including Marty’s reflections below. We will also have a book discussion at our Coffee shop this Saturday morning. Even if you haven’t read the book, you will still enjoy our discussion. So we welcome you.

Dan

The Heavenly Man was written by Brother Yun (pronounced Yoon) and won the UK Christian booksellers Book of the Year Award in 2003.

The book tells the intense, dramatic and heroic story of a poor Chinese boy who accepts Christ and answers a call into ministry while still in his teenage years -- in a nation ruled by Communism. As the story unfolds, you see the hand of God using this small boy to change the face of Christianity in China forever -- in ways that seem impossible.

Brother Yun's life story is a testimony to God's goodness and power.  Reading the book about him is thus an exciting adventure through the underground house churches of China. It also offers a deep insight into the Chinese prisons and their methods of torture, especially in light of their "feigned acceptance" of Christians and Christianity within their borders.  Today, we hear about the millions of Christians now residing in China, and we praise God for them. However, most American Christians are not aware of what the Chinese underground churches must endure to be able to claim Jesus as their Savior.

The horrific opposition described in this book happened only a few short years ago. However, it still exists today.  Until September 19, 2001, Brother Yun was constantly hunted. He lived a meager existence in Chinese prisons, separated from his mother, wife and children.  He suffered unending physical beatings and excruciating torture. Through it all, he saw the hand of God work mightily in his situation, who used his imprisonment to bring hundreds of cell mates to the knowledge and acceptance of Christ.

The Heavenly Man is not just a feel-good story.  It challenges your intellectual view of the supernatural, your understanding of how God works and most of all, it causes you to take a deeper look at your own faith in the God we claim is all-powerful.