Tortured for Christ

Feb 16, 2010 Print This Post

Tortured

A bunch of people have asked me about the book I read from last weekend at Riv (Tortured for Christ by Richard Wurmbrand).
This is an amazing book that details the life the author lived as a Jewish Christian in Communist Romania. It’s not a literary masterpiece and often the writing is clunky but that’s one of the great appeals of the book. Wurmbrand is not trying to impress us with his writing, but with the message of Jesus.

Here are a few excerpts, starting with the first prayer he ever prayed:

“God, I know surely that You do not exist. But if perchance You exist, which I contest, it is not my duty to believe in You; it is Your duty to reveal Yourself to me.”

“The language of love and the language of seduction are the same. The one who wishes a girl for a wife and the one who wishes her for only a night both say the words, ‘I love you.’ Jesus had told us to discern between the language of seduction and the language of love and to know the wolves clad in sheepskin from the real sheep.”

“When a man has no faith in the reward of good or the punishment of evil, there is no reason to be human. There is no restraint from the depths of evil that is in man.”

“The following scene happened more times than I can remember. A brother was preaching to the other prisoners when the guards suddenly burst in, surprising him halfway through a phrase. They hauled him down the corridor to their ‘beating room.’ After what seemed an endless beating, they brought him back and threw him–bloody and bruised–on the prison floor. Slowly, he picked up his battered body, painfully straightening his clothing and said, ‘Now, brethren, where did I leave off when I was interrupted?’ He continued his gospel message!”

This book is a great read, if for no other reason than to shake us out of our comfortable little suburban lives and to help is to count the cost of following Jesus.

Oh, and check out Persecution.com for more info on the ministry Wurmbrand’s son started and to read about persecution happening around the world today.

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Facebook comments:

Growing up in the Lansing area, I wanted nothing more than to get out. My exit strategy included a complex mixture of schemes for an urban church plant, iProducts, and an elaborate Bollywood car chase scene with zombies and catchy techno music.

As a 40 year old man, I find myself entrenched in the Lansing area at a church I love (Riverview), with 4 kids I love more (a high schooler, a junior higher, a middle schooler, and an elementary schooler), and a wife I love the most (Grace).

Instead of planting one church, I dream of helping hundreds get started without ever leaving my home base. I still love my iProducts and use them as tools to help lead and teach the thousands who attend Riverview. And when no one is looking, I blare the techno music and send my unimpressive resume to casting agents for Bollywood zombie films.

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