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torture

Before heading off to subway for a delicious sandwich and dr. pepper (and to my surprise Garden Salsa Sun Chips), I picked out a book from my library in my office. Yes, I do have a library... it fits on one bookshelf right now. I grabbed perhaps the oldest and definitely most worn book I have. It's called "Tortured for Christ", written by Richard Wurmbrand in 1969. It has since been republished a number of times, and in 52 languages. The cover informs me that more than 3,000,000 copies have been sold (and that figure comes from 1976). Perhaps some of you have heard of it.

Anyways, I grabbed it before lunch with the intention of reading something during my lonely meal. It did not take long for me to be more engulfed by Richard's words than my 6" subway club on honey oat bread, sun chips, and dr. pepper. I was swept to Rumania in the 40's when communists siezed the country and the church suffered even worse persecution than under the previous power, who were called the Naziis. Wurmbrand tells his story of finding Christ and begining the daunting (and illegal) task of sharing the truth he found with 1) Russian soldiers, and 2) enslaved Rumanians.

He talks about how the church was forced underground and what it was like leading it. He tells stories of sharing his faith in situations that could have, and many times did result in his imprisonment and beating. Richard Wurmbrand's boldnes strikes me.

My favorite part of the book so far are the stories of both Russian soldiers and oppressed Rumanians coming to know Christ through unconventional ways. For instance ...

The first story (and maybe my favorite) is of a Russian soldier who heard about Richard and came to see him at his home. Wurmbrand says that this soldier "loved God, he longed after God, but he had never seen a Bible. He never attended religious services. He had no religious education. He loved God without the slightest knowledge of Him." So Richard began to read to him the sermon on the mount. The soldier danced around the room after hearing the sermon and parables. He joyfully exclaimed, "What a wonderful beauty! How could I live without knowing this Christ!" Then, Richard says, he made a mistake. He read to the soldier about Jesus' crucifixion "without having prepared him for this." He was not expecting this and, when he heard how Christ was beaten and killed, he "fell in an armchair and began to weep bitterly. He had believed in a Savior and now his Savior was dead!" But then, Wurmbrand read to him about the resurrection. He had not known his Savior arose from the tomb. "When he heard this wonderful news, he beat his knees and swore a very dirty, but, I think, a very 'holy' swear. He rejoiced and shouted for joy. Again he danced around the room, overwhelmed with happiness!" When prompted to pray, the soldier obviously didn't know the "right" way. He fell on his knees and his words were:

"O God, what a fine chap you are! If I were You and You were me, I would never have forgiven you your sins. But you are really a very nice chap! I love you from all my heart."

Wurmbrand says, "I think that all the angels in heaven stopped what they were doing to listen to this sublime prayer from a Russian officer. The man had been won for Christ!"

I wanted to write more, but I realize that this post is entirely too long. What I want this post to conclude with are these three points:

1. Like this Russian officer, perhaps we (and definitely I) need to hear the story of Christ with a fresh set of ears and experience the happiness, utter devestation, confusion, and sheer joy of Him. The freedom we have in America to go to church and be free to believe in Christ is awesome (please know that I mean that), but it may make His story too commonplace to our ears and emotions. Jesus was a radical, wild, untamed man (kind of like ethan johnstone). Let's not tame Him and His teachings.

2. Everyone needs to read this book. I just searched half.com for a copy of it. It turns out it only costs 75 cents there. I only read the first chapter at Subway (all 34 pages of it), but am absolutely convinced that all believers need to read this book and be inspired by the way God uses this man.

3. If I wasn't before, I am totally convinced that people can come to know Christ without ever reading a Bible, hearing a sermon, or encoutering a missionary. The question about people in the world that have never heard about Him and where they will go when they die ... I believe they could still have come to at least a knowledge of Him, and maybe even decided to follow Him. Acts 17.22-34 is sort of an example of this, how people can come to realize that there may be "an unknown God." I, by no means, am saying we should therefore be lazy in evangelism. Rather, I'm convinced that God is not limited by anything to reveal Himself to anyone.

What a wonderful beauty! How could I live without knowing this Christ!