Safely Home

by Randy Alcorn

“I know of villages and cities where no Christians are in jail. But in other cities dozens of Christians are in jail. Often they’re beaten and humiliated. If someone says to you, ‘Religious freedom in China is like this,’ don’t believe him. That is like saying, ‘The weather in America is like this—always sunny or always snowing.’ It depends on what part of the country you are in, and what season. In China the sun is always shining somewhere. Somewhere else the snow is falling. But the government is capable of magic—they can take you to places where it is usually snowing and show you a glimpse of sunlight so that you can go back and say there is no snow in China. You can write your column or say from your pulpit that you saw no persecution, only freedom. You are telling the truth—but a truth that misleads.”

“China is my place of service. It is the battlefield where Li Quan has been dispatched as Yesu’s soldier. But this is not my home. Heaven is my home, my true country. I know that now. But it was a hard lesson to learn.”

“Dr. Martin Luther King said, ‘If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare composed poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, “Here lived a great street sweeper, who did his job well.”’”

When men know they cannot hope in a country, in a political belief, or in themselves, they become free to hope in God.”

You do not yet understand—some promises made in one world cannot be fulfilled until the next.”

I could have lived an easier life in America. But it was not what Yesu had for me. His way is not always easier. But it is always better.”

Are we not the clay and God the potter? When he refuses to conform to our wills, do we discard him? If you are looking for a religion centered around yourself, Ben, I must agree that Christianity is a poor choice.”

“And do you think your refusal to believe will convince God to change his nature? He is who he is no matter what you think of him.

“A disciple’s desire is to glorify his Master,” the donkey said. “There are things more important than staying alive. Yesu’s followers must love him more than their own lives.”

“Li Quan has given up dreams he could not have held on to anyway. In turn, he has embraced the eternal dreams of the risen Yesu. It was an excellent trade. You see, Ben, your old roommate is not without dreams. He has just replaced the old dreams with dreams that are higher and better.”

“We are persecuted not because we do not love China, but because our leaders hate Yesu. When Yesu is everything to you, it is impossible not to speak of him. We say, ‘It is hard to keep the Sun in your pocket.’”

He read, “‘Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. . . .’” Four people without Bibles crowded closer at the feet of Zhou Jin, drinking the words as if they were parched and hadn’t had water for a week.

“Do you know what this means, little children? It means this world is not our home. We were not made for this world. The bridegroom has gone to prepare a place for us. He promises to come back and get us and take us to a new home in a new world! The true China. Our true country. Our true home.”

“I can’t imagine taking the kinds of risks they take just by meeting. Churches in America would be a lot smaller if the cost was that great.” “Smaller at first. Eventually perhaps larger. Or perhaps like in China, many more small churches, totaling many more believers. A man takes risks only for what he feels deeply about. If someone attends church without risk, he brings no passion.”

“Few men achieve all their goals,” Quan said. “But if you achieved all of yours, would it bring you joy?” “Joy? I guess I’d settle for just a slice of happiness.” “Then you would settle for too little.”

“I do not think your goals are too big, Ben Fielding. I think they are too small.”

Your life will be short—all men’s lives are short. What will outlast this life? That should be your concern. You are an investor? Alright—why would you invest in what might pay off in ten years when you can invest in what will certainly pay off in ten million years?”

One of Baba’s favorite sayings was ‘Real gold fears no fire.’ I tell Minghua and Shen, we must go through times of testing, but the fire of our trials proves what we are made of.” “Fire seems a high price to pay.” “Purity is worth the highest cost, is it not? God is with us in the fire.

Old proverb say when son born, he should be given a piece of jade to play with. But when daughter is born, she should be given only broken piece of pottery.

“In China, government has given women broken pottery. Yesu has given us jade.”

“Romans tells us persecution and hardship cannot separate us from Yesu’s love. But Revelation warns us wealth and comfort can cause us to lose our love for him.

“Suffering reminds us we are in a spiritual war. We know who we are fighting for. We know who the enemy is. Even in our cells we pray for believers outside China, especially in America. In your affluence and freedom perhaps you forget you are at war.”

“In attempting to destroy the church, the government has spread it. Instead of holding the church safely in its hand, the state has lost control of it, for the church multiplies under Communism even as Israel multiplied under Pharaoh’s tyranny. China’s government is desperate to regain control over the church. But the more they stalk and stomp, the more they spread the church with their own heels. They lock men in prisons, and they take the gospel there. They send women to correction farms in the country, and they take the gospel there. The glass will not be controlled. It spreads everywhere. The same state that persecutes the church is an instrument in God’s hands to make the church grow.”

“My father used to tell me that a good follower of Yesu is like the ox—ready either for the plow or the altar, for service or for sacrifice. I do not know what lies ahead on this earth. I do know something greater awaits us beyond it. That is what I choose to live for.

‘Remember the most common cause of stumbling is the fear of man.’ It is God we must fear, not men. You must learn to stand boldly for your Lord, regardless of what men may think of you.”

remember that your American God is as big as your Chinese God.” “What do you mean?” “While you’ve been here, you have realized you have very little power. The wheels of progress do not turn easily in China. You do not have the power to accomplish much of what you want. But this will change when you go home. You will think you can do things on your own. You will be tempted to pray less, to ask less, and to trust less. So remember that God is the same there as he is here, and you must trust him as much there as you have learned to here.”

The sons of Adam try so hard to be satisfied with so little—which keeps them from ever being satisfied at all.”

Every one of them realized something with undiminished clarity in that instant. They wondered why they had not seen it all along. What they knew in that moment, in every fiber of their beings, was that this Person and this Place were all they had ever longed for . . . and ever would.