Safely Home - Randy Alcorn

"Are we not Zhu Yesu's also?" Ming asked. "Are we not his called and chosen? Why should we not walk the way he has chosen for you? Why should you be considered worthy and not us?"

At some point you've been introduced to John 15:18-27, 2 Timothy 3:12, Acts 14:22, and many other verses that literally boast about the persecutions that we will face on the path to Heaven.  Maybe you heard it in church one day, or someone mentioned it when a friend walked out of your life because of your faith, or maybe you read through it one day and stopped to thank God that it wasn't a reality for you, and probably never would be...

Meet Ben Fielding.  He used to claim Christianity, until a bumpy road resulted in him questioning and rejecting everything he used to believe.  All Ben knows now is a lonely but wealthy life; he has the perfect job and all the money he could need, but he finds himself constantly wanting more.  He regularly reviews his goals of becoming CEO of the corporation he works for and having even more money, even though he admits to having no idea what he would use that money for.  As a man who fired his own cousin for being open about his faith at work,  Ben still is blind to persecution of any kind.  That is until he goes to China to stay with his former college roommate.  Believing that this trip will be no different than his many trips to China (with the exception that he would not be staying in a 5-star hotel), Ben is surprised as he begins to discover that the China that is being exposed to him is nothing even remotely like the horrible reality that is hidden from Americans. 

The people of America like to be comfortable.  Not only do they not expect to be persecuted, but they don't want to hear the horrible realities that are going on all around them.  Topics such as imprisonment or execution of Christians, sex-traffiking, and other gruesome subjects are considered taboo, and shouldn't be talked about; but the reality is that it all exists, no matter how much we choose to ignore it.  What's worse, is that even the so called "Church" has become de-sensitized to taboo realities.  The "Church" wants to accept the desirable things of the Word, but skim past the parts that talk about suffering.  The "Church" wants a god who surrenders to their will. 

"Safely Home" by Randy Alcorn is a huge wake-up call for anyone who would claim to be a follower of Christ.  It has been a long time since I read a story so beautiful, that did not have a huge twist at the end.  While the story is fiction, it exposes the truth of persecution not only in China, but all over the world.  We must learn to accept this truth, while also embracing it as the path to our eternity, rather than ignoring it and pretending that the path to Heaven is a smooth ride!  We must ask ourselves what we can do for those who are already facing persecution!  Prayer is truly powerful but we must display our faith through our actions!  We must become an army for Yeshua; we must be willing to fight!  Nobody gets left behind...nobody gets forgotten...nobody gets ignored; and as an army under a single commander, for one purpose, we are all willing to die for the name of Yeshua; for we know that what the world calls dying, is actually the gateway to an eternal physical communion with our Creator and Savior!

"Demon" by Tosca Lee

As you read this book, do so knowing that it will force a decision from you--a decision that has been there all along.  Maybe you have already made this decision; or maybe you didn't know it was yours to make.

Long before the creation of man, El created the angels; but 1/3 of the angels fell, leaving El in a pit of sorrow that led to His creation of man--a being created solely of dirt.  Rather than forgiving the fallen angels and welcoming them back into communion with Him, He breathed life into this man, so beginning a war for the ages--a war that will not end until the end of life as we know it. 

Satan and his demons have held bitterness, anger, jealousy, and rage that you haven't even imagined until you begin to unfold the demon's story--only to find out that the story is your own. 

In the midst of this war, Clay, a lonely and recently divorced editor, becomes enthralled by a mysterious man--whom he knows to be a demon--and his story.  The demon first confronts Clay, revealing his identity, and tells him that he wants to tell him his story; and then Clay will publish that story.  Clay is reluctant to follow through with the demon's desires at first; but he soon discovers that everything the demon says, is trapped in his mind until he lets it out on paper.  Soon, Clay is obsessed with knowing the story's ending, and willing to turn from the voice in his head that tells him to run, just so he can know why the demon says the story is ultimately about him.

"Demon" is a masterpiece--the perfect blend of biblical truth and fiction, that engages the reader's imagination and leaves them in awe of the unconditional and unfathomable love of Elohim.  Tosca Lee beautifully exposes Elohim's love affair with man, from creation to the fall, and then to the ultimate atoning sacrifice that sealed His love for us.  Those readers who have not already believed, will be confronted with a decision--a decision that seals their true reality and eternity after this world, which will eventually only seem like a dream.  Believers who read this story, will do so tearfully, unable to fathom the depth of His love for us.  It will cause believers of all ages to long for the physical communion with our Creator so much that nothing in this world would have the attractiveness to hold them back if El were to call them home today.