Customer Reviews: Read 28 more reviews...
 Awesome June 13, 2008
On eof the most passionate, tear jerking, upsetting, happy and inspirational books i have read. If you are ready to be chaleneged on all aspects of your christian life including evangalism, prayer and suffering - then this is the book for you. But be prepared to change your life )and use up lots of tissues!)
Hope it inspires you as much as it has me!
xxx
 Disappointing from cover to cover and everything in between August 23, 2007
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
This could have been a good book as it is based on an interesting story. How the "credited authors" (note I did not say "writers") of this book managed to suck all the emotion out of a tortured life is amazing. The miracles performed invoking the name of Christ are about as exciting as cold butter on cheap, white bread...Hard to spread and harder to swallow! I am aware that this man was tortured relentlessly by the Chinese government for years, but the episodes where he is describing his torture and inprisonment are lack lustre and repetitive. I felt no connection with the story, the victim, the witnesses, the situation or the suffering. I do see it as a long, redundant diatribe unworthy of a first year creative writing student. While the story could teach us so much about suffering for Christ, I think there are many, many better books available that bring that emotion to life. It is often the error of people who have survived harrowing events to think that makes them the most suitable person to write the story of that event. Actually, they are probably the worst candidates for the task as ever line they put down brings back a memory for them and they can lose sight of the plot. Just because it rekindles some pain or suffering, it does not naturally translate to the blank page or the reader. Brother Yun may be charismatic to his flock and followers, but this book would not inspire me to follow him around a grocery store, much less around a religiously suppressed society where singing a hymn could get me arrested! I have read the reviews from other readers and must wonder if we were reading the same book. Obviously, I could not connect to the story because I could not get beyond the insufferable writing. If you have unlimited time, then this might be a suitable book if you are trapped with nothing else to do. However, if you value your time and want inspirational reading, I suggest Francine Rivers!
Humbling, inspiring and educational May 9, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book is an extraordinary account of an extraordinary man. The book follows the true story of a Chinese Christian as he plays cat and mouse with the Communist government of China. There are truly harrowing accounts of how his wife was forefully sterilised for breaking the one child policy, and how he was beaten and electrocuted by secret police, and how he witnessed a firing squad execution. You can therefore see that this is anything but a light hearted feel good story. As well as this violent persecution, the book also details how the Communist government has set up counterfeit churches to try and cut off the explosive growth of the heroic Chinese Christian underground.
For anyone with a heart for the persecuted church, this is an aboslute must. It provides a detailed glimpse of life for the persecuted church in China that is both humbling, and at the same time uplifting. The book is probably not well suited to small group study, and is more of an individual read. However, the lessons learned in the book can be a powerful addition to your knowledge about the trials facing modern Christians. The book is truly humbling and memorable.
The Heavenly Man - awe inspiring September 30, 2006
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
I have just finished reading The Heavenly Man, and in all honesty it is one of the best books, if not THE best book, I have ever read. As a Christian, it really challenged me about what I'm doing for the Lord, which is next to nothing compared to Brother Yun and our brothers and sisters in China. It really brought it home to me just how easy our life is in the Western world, when we can regularly attend public worship and worship our Heavenly Father, without being in danger of getting tortured or executed for that reason. This book is for both Christians and non-Christians alike - Christians can see just how blessed they are when they're not faced with such an extreme level of persecution, and non-Christians can find out about just how amazing God is, when he heals Yun's father and brings him back from death's door, and how he can let Yun survive for 74 days without food or water. This book has many more examples of God's amazing power and love, which are too numerous to mention. If you read this book, you will be really challenged, regardless of your religious persuasion.
The Heavenly man March 9, 2006
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
The journey that brother Yun takes with his faith from a teenager praying over his dying father's body to the Holy spirit-inspired man he is today is almost unbelievable. I could not put this book down! till my tears of admiration forced me to.
If you are a Christian you will be inspired and find yourself wanting to do more for God..
Brother Yun did not even have a bible as they were rare and illegal in China! Christians were forced to bury their bible's in the ground for safe keeping, or suffer the consequences if they were found..
Find out how Brother Yun received his first bible; you will be amazed!
You will also be amazed at how Brother Yun served the Lord enduring torture, imprisonment and changed lives all around him.
If you are not a Christian you will be apalled at what this gentle, humble man had to go through just to practice what he believes..
The book is truly the best book I have ever read, apart from the Bible.
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