Although fiction, the book Safely Home written by Randy Alcorn is a very authentic story based on real characters. The Chinese culture is exhibited in a very proper way. This book consists of a powerful story which focuses mainly on the persecution of Christians in China. Although not every follower of Christ lives in China and not every Christian is persecuted the way that Li Quan, his family and other fellow believers were persecuted, the morals and examples can be applied to any Christian’s life. Since the story takes place in today’s time period, the scenario is even that much more relatable to any present Christian 's life. Awareness is a message spread throughout the book, Christians should be more informed on the details of persecution …show more content…
As Christians, we can form a tendency to blame God and question Him. We demand to know why he allows certain things to materialize such as persecution, death, and tragedies. The truth is, as revealed in Safely Home as well as God’s Word, God wants us to rely on Him for comfort and strength. Despite the unfortunate circumstances and events, God longs for us to trust in Him and recognize that He has fashioned a bigger plan. He allows certain things to happen because the things that prompt us to be weak, He will utilize to make us stronger. In the book, the Lord becomes more evident in Ben Fielding 's life when Ben releases the bitterness he maintained against God. Ben was bothered by God for allowing his son to drown and allowing innocent Christians to be slaughtered and killed. He did not understand the way God operated, and most of all Ben Fielding did not trust God. Trusting God is not easy, but if we truly love Him, we will truly trust …show more content…
Stuff and money is becoming more important in our lives. We forget how much more important the Holy Spirit is in our lives. Forgetting how powerful the Lord is, we then begin relying on things. Things that in eternity will not matter! Like the Li family in Safely Home, the Lord wants us to rely on Him to provide, instead many Christ followers begin to depend more so on money, jobs, and people to provide. In Safely Home, the story illustrates how we are to live with God as our provider, because when we live a life in dependence on God we do not take our focus off of Him. God can direct our path. His thoughts will become our thoughts and His words, our words just like Li Quan, Ming, Shen and all the other Christians in the story. Ben Fielding lived to serve himself without even fully realizing it. He was dedicated to his job, being successful, and well-off but he still was empty inside. Ben Fielding was always searching for something to fill the hole in his heart until he truly experienced the Lord and His presence. Christians can be challenged by this story to rely on God more and live a lifestyle that pleases
“The Death of Woman Wang”, written by Chinese historian Jonathan Spence, is a book recounting the harsh realities facing citizens of Tancheng country, Shandong Province, Qing controlled China in the late 17th century. Using various primary sources, Spence describes some of the hardships and sorrow that the people of Tancheng faced. From natural disasters, poor leadership, banditry, and invasions, the citizens of Tancheng struggled to survive in a devastated and changing world around them. On its own, “Woman Wang” is an insightful snapshot of one of the worst-off counties in imperial Qing China, however when taking a step back and weaving in an understanding of long held Chinese traditions, there is a greater understanding what happened in
She struggles to grasp the concept that he could have stories in the Bible of killing so many people. She thinks this goes against everything he is for in the ways of loving everyone and treating everyone as his children. Even in present time she talks about a girl who was executed in a video she saw, and all the natural disasters. How can this amazing God let all of this happen to his people she wonders. That is something I have always struggled to understand growing up how can God be so evil to his children. The answer I always got was that there was a reason and purpose for everything, and God had a plan for everything. I found that answer hard to believe with all the evil that is in world today. Just like Evans I still struggle with understanding why God does some of the things He does, but I guess that is why He is God and I am
We have to find the positive in our hardships. He said this in the book, “We must never forget that we may also find meaning in life even when confronted with a hopeless situation, when facing a fate that cannot be changed. For what then matters is to bear witness to the uniquely human potential at its best, which is to transform a personal tragedy into a triumph, to turn one’s predicament into a human achievement.” (Frankl 112) Finding the positive in our hardships is what helps us survive what we’re going through. Like I said earlier, we’re going through a financial hardship right now but the positive we’ve found in this hardship is that after we get through this we’ll have a house, two cars, and each other. We’ve also realized that going through hardships has brought us closer
If God is powerful and loving the humankind, then why does He permit evil as well as suffering in this world? Various answers had been offered by many Christian philosophers and many victims of suffering, but there was not a lucid answer that could settle this argument permanently. God uses malicious acts of this world to rise up His own people and remind them that there is an opportunity that they can posses their eternal life. Literature, especially biblical literature has exploited this biblical nature to its fullest in various types of forms, including the play J.B. by Archibald MacLeish. In the play J.B, Archibald MacLeish reanimates and modernizes elements taken from the story of Job to come up with his own response to the ultimate question which has been asked by countless generations, “Why do the righteous suffer?” Throughout the play, Archibald MacLeish delineates the sudden corruption of J.B and his family, his calmness despite the helpless pieces of advice from the Three Comforters, and his unusual ending in order for God to test if one’s will and faith are strong enough to rebuild oneself after an irrational decadence.
“It was not easy to live in Shanghai” (Anyi 137). This line, echoed throughout Wang Anyi 's short piece “The Destination” is the glowing heartbeat of the story. A refrain filled with both longing and sadness, it hints at the many struggles faced by thousands upon thousands trying to get by in the city of Shanghai. One of these lost souls, the protagonist, Chen Xin, was one of the many youths taken from his family and sent to live the in the countryside during the Cultural Revolution. Ten years after the fact, Chen Xin views the repercussions of the Cultural Revolution internally and externally as he processes the changes that both he, and his hometown have over-gone in the past ten years. Devastatingly, he comes to the conclusion that there is no going back to the time of his childhood, and his fond memories of Shanghai exist solely in memory. This is in large part is due to the changes brought on by the Cultural Revolution. These effects of the Cultural Revolution are a central theme to the story; with repercussions seen on a cultural level, as well as a personal one.
The two short stories, “The Princess of Nebraska” and “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers” by Yiyun Li, depict the lives of two people under Chinese communist control, trapped by the social restraints of their society in search of individual salvation. In “Princess of Nebraska”, a young girl (Sasha) struggles to find internal purpose and satisfaction within her life, feeling that the restraints of communist control keep her from achieving the sense of self she desires. She believes the United States is the solution to gaining her individual freedom and fantasizes the recreation of her identity and life. Similarly, “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers” revolves around the same theme of social freedom vs the discovery of the individual self. Mr.Shi,
After watching the documentary The Long Search: Taoism: A Question of Balance—China, I am totally surprised by the details in the video, which explain every single aspect of people’s daily life in Taiwan as religious, especially Taoist. Since China does not consider itself as a nation of religious beliefs and practices, I do not actually think of what Chinese people do everyday as religious. However, after studying Religions in China for a semester, I finally realize that all the Chinese traditions and beliefs have evolved as a mixture of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. As a result, it all makes sense to see in the video that Taoism is a dominant religion that has deeply influenced individuals’ life in Taiwan.
The daily application we can take from this passage of the Bible is the power of Godly wisdom. Without His wisdom, we will make choices that would not fully benefit us. God’s wisdom should be applied to every decision we make in our lives. God desires to be a part of every intricate detail of our lives, because He loves us so much. When we allow Him to be there for us, we will see no sorrow in it. What the Lord gives comes with no sorrow. Queen Esther, Mordecai and the Jews of Susa were made firm believers of this very true virtue as a believer of Jesus Christ. Just the Esther and her people discovered there is nothing impossible for Him to do for us. His wisdom will always prevail if we are willing to apply it to our daily lives. God is here to be our partner. He is our testimony of who we are in Him.
As an Arab(Muslim) living in the US, I perfectly recognize what it is to be a member of a minority group. However, I am quite intrigued by the idea of studying the Chinese Christian subculture within the United States. This project will involve studying existing literature on the given subculture – which is Chinese Christian community within the US. In most cases, subcultures are closed knit and members like associating with members of their communities; understandably because of the need to belong and find closeness with one another. Nonetheless, Christianity amongst Chinese immigrants in the United States brings forth the idea of present-day assimilation, religious conversion, and so forth. In order to ensure this project is completed successfully, there will be different methods of collecting information other than studying existing literature – by experts in the field. Most notably, there will be interviews with members of the subculture being studied to get first-hand information on the experiences of the group in the US.
Time and time again we often come across questions like, “How does a Christian live a Christian life?” or “How should does God help us?” Should we work hard towards perfection or should we just let go and let God do the work He has planned? Reading Hodges there are some key facts he includes in His book Six Secrets of the Christian life. We can confirm these facts through biblical passages that are important to the Christian life. As Christians I believe that we are walking with a shallow meaning of what it is to be a true follower of Christ. That’s where Six Secrets of a Christian life play an important role in explaining and guiding a Christian who want to have that experience. We should not look at this book as everything a Christian needs,
Ben Gunn is the character in the book that shows Jim Hawkins how to survive, provide spiritual guidance, and be proud of whom you are. Ben is a pirate that lives alone on Treasure Island. He was left there by the pirate crew he belonged to three years ago after he was unable to find the treasure. Ben is a survivor. He has been able to provide food and a home for himself since he was left alone. He is also a man of faith. Ben tells Jim, “I’m poor Ben Gunn, I am; and I haven’t spoke with a Christian these three years.” (15) Even though he has been alone he is relying on God to help him survive. Ben is content with his station in life. He does not need a title or friends to make him feel important and others realize this about him. One of the crew members, George Merry, says "Nobody minds Ben Gunn [...] dead or alive, nobody minds him" (32.30)...
Throughout all stages of human life, it becomes increasingly apparent that there are certain hardships that we must face in order to reach our next. Perseverance is the ability to work through hardship in order to get to your goals, this concept is central to the film Slumdog Millionaire. This idea of pushing through tough times is seen throughout the duration of the film but is outlined specific scenes, primarily the beginning and end. In the novel, Religion: The Basics, by Malory Nye, we can begin to develop an understanding of how religion is a part of everything we do, whether we are willing to acknowledge it or not, and in turn allows us to find the drive to push through. Nye’s text contributes to this belief using theories in his Ritual
An examination of Ch'en's past gives us an idea of how he formed his beliefs, and fell into a state of isolation. At an early age, his parents were murdered in the pillage of Kalagan. In addition, at age twenty-four, his uncle was taken hostage and killed because he couldn't afford the ransom, and with no wife or children he was severed from any attachment to a family. He was practically brought up by pastor Smithson, representative of the thousands of Christians that were present in Shanghai, who gave him his Christian education. However, "[a]s he was devoid of charity, a religious calling could lead him only to contemplation or the inner life; but he hated contemplation and would only have dreamt of an apostleship, for which precisely his absence of charity disqualified him" (64). Thus, he was u...
Johnston, Patricia. "Bibles for China." Magazine of the United Free Church of Scotland [Glasgow]. United Free Church of Scotland. Web. 09 Dec. 2011. .
To truly understand multicultural literature, one must first try to understand the cultural background of the author. In the case of this piece, we are examining the Chinese culture and Jen’s experiences which shaped her writing. Gish Jen is a second-generation American. Her parents immigrated separately in the 1940’s. Her mother came to America to go to graduate school and her father came as part of the war efforts during World War II. With the rise of Communism in China, both were forced to remain here and ended up building a life together and raising their 5 children as Americans. Because they came in the second of three “waves” of Chinese Immigration, their reasons for coming and the process of assimilating into the American way of life was very different than other Chinese immigrants.