Category Archives: Religion

Book Review: The Longing

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The Longing is the third installment in The Courtship of Nellie Fisher series by Beverly Lewis. I reviewed the first book, The Parting, here and the second, The Forbidden, here.

In the previous books, Nellie Fisher’s parents and several others in the community have embraced the truth of salvation. Their bishop has allowed an unusual time of for people to think and make up their minds, but that time is over, and everyone who has embraced the gospel is under the ban, which divides some families.

Nellie came to know the Lord in the previous book, dividing her from her Old Order beau, Caleb. Caleb’s father, a stubborn, authoritarian man, has disinherited Caleb for his involvement with Nellie, so now Caleb is without both his land and his girl, living with his grandparents.

Then suddenly Caleb’s father has a tragic accident — he is kicked in the head by a mule and becomes paralyzed. He calls Caleb home to help the family but makes it clear their relationship is not restored.

Caleb’s cousin, Chris, whose family became Christians years before and transferred to a Mennonite church, comes to help Caleb with the farm chores and in the mean time gets to know Nellie May, not knowing of Caleb’s previous involvement with her.

Nellie’s heart breaks for Caleb, yet his family shuns her family’s offers of help, so they still have no contact. Chris becomes more of a presence in her life, and she is attracted to him, delighting in the fact that they share the same faith, yet they live in different worlds, and she is not sure which, if either of them, would be willing to cross over to the other.

Meanwhile Nellie’s sister, Rhoda, has left home to deliberately go into the world, and Nellie’s friend, Rosanna, who has been unable to maintain a pregnancy and who suffered an unspeakable loss when the woman who gave Rosanna her twins to raise decided she wanted them back, finds herself once again pregnant and faces the fears and sorrow of what she feels will surely be another loss.

In previous series by Lewis, one or two family members would come to faith in Christ, trusting His grace rather than their own works, and either would have to leave home, or would remain quietly trying to be a witness as they were able. In this series, the father was the first to believe rather than the one opposing newfound faith. I was delighted to find in the author’s notes that this story was based on an actual revival in Lancaster Count, Pennsylvania, in the 1960s.

I rejoiced in the new believers’ steps of faith, their kind yet firm stand on the truth, and the joy and seriousness in the way they live out their faith.

Semicolon hosts a weekly roundup of book reviews on Saturadays, and Callapidder Days has a place here for those involved in the Fall Into Reading challenge to post their reviews here. They are both good sources for learning more about books you might be interested in or getting ideas for new books to read.

Peace Child

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I first encountered Peace Child by Don Richardson several years ago in the Reader’s Digest Book Section. I cut it out and kept it, but the pages aren’t stamped with the month and year like some magazine pages are now. When I was in college I also saw a film based on the book at Mission Prayer Band. I bought a new copy of the book after learning that these events took place in Indonesia, “next door” to where a missionary worked whom we supported.This missionary knew Don and some of the people he ministered to.

In the early 1950s, many tribes in the jungles of Indonesia were totally unevangelized and virtually untouched by the modern world. Though “primitive,” they were not at all unintelligent: they had developed many skills for living in the jungle and had many legends and elaborate rituals ripe with meaning that had developed over the years. The Sawi, whom Don Richardson came to work with, were headhunters and cannibals, as were many of the other tribes. The Lord opened the doors for these people to accept the missionaries through their thinking at first that white people (whom they called Tuan) weren’t quite human, though they knew they were different from the spirits; through rumor that the Tuan could “shoot fire” (with guns), and through gifts the missionaries brought of such things as axes, which could fell a tree in four strokes, whereas the hand-made stone axes required about 40 strokes.

Three communities or villages settled around the new Tuan. Don spent hours listening to them, learning their language and their customs, and trying to tell them of God’s truth about creation, the entrance of sin, the promise of Deliverer, and the life of Christ. But the Sawi weren’t used to listening to tales about other cultures and grew bored…until Don’s narrative got to Judas. They listened intently to the story of Judas’s close relationship with Christ and his betrayal. They whistled with admiration. In their culture treachery and deception were virtues, the admirable stuff of legends. They valued not just cold murder, but the “fattening with friendship” of an unsuspecting victim, then delighted in telling about the look of astonishment on his face when he realized they were about to kill and eat him. They thought Judas was the hero of the story. Don was astonished and chilled and tried to explain that the betrayal was evil, that Jesus was the Son of God. But he couldn’t get through. Don and his wife Carol knew that God had some way to reach this culture and “set [themselves] to hope for some revelation.”

The next day fighting broke out between the different villages. That day and in the days to come, Don urged peace. Sawi villages usually kept some distance from each other, and Don realized that by having three villages come together to settle near him, the villagers were constantly being provoked to battle. Finally he felt that he should leave and settle somewhere else so that the Sawi would not end up destroying themselves. The Sawi protested they did not want Don to leave. Discussions were touched off and leaders from both factions came to Don to assure him they would make peace.

The next day, the Sawi groups solemnly gathered. Don witnessed, to his amazement, a man from each of the warring groups bring one of his own children, with the mothers weeping, and exchange the children. Those in one group who would accept the child as a basis for peace were called to come and lay hands upon him, and the process was repeated in the other group. Then each child was taken to his new adoptive home. In a culture of violence and treachery, “at some point the Sawi had found a way to prove sincerity and establish peace…If a man would actually give his own son to his enemies, that man could be trusted.”

Don was horrified that his call for peace had caused this to happen, but soon began to see the parallels between the Sawi “peace child” and God’s sacrifice of His own Son. He began to tell them that Jesus was God’s own Peace Child to all men. Judas lost his status as hero because harming a peace child was one of the worst things someone could do. They began to see the inadequacy of their “best,” because peace in their culture only held as long as the peace child lived. When he died, old animosities could revive. But because Jesus rose again and was eternal, the peace He gave could never die.

It took many months for understanding and conviction to sink in, and even then they were afraid of angering the demons by departing from tradition. But when God enabled Don and Carol to revive a Sawi tribesman who was near death, the Sawi took this “as proof that the tuan’s God was powerful” and many began to believe.

Eventually more than half of the Sawi became believers, their language was reduced to writing, they were taught to read, the New Testament was translated, and some of the Sawi became teachers to their own people. Praise the Lord!!

As I have written before, some will criticize any attempt of other cultures to contact or influence primitive tribes. But, really, just as in the case of the Waodani, if no one had stepped in, the Sawi would most likely have eventually ceased to exist, because each treacherous act of one group against another would set off a series of revenge battles with many more being killed. The Richardsons were careful not to try to impose a Western church upon the Sawi culture.

Recently I searched for a copy of the film I saw of Peace Child so many years ago. I found and ordered a DVD of it and just rewatched it. I am amazed at how much of the story they packed into a 30-minute film. I can’t express what it does to my heart to see former cannibals at the end of the film singing gospel songs.

I would warn that the first several pages of the book describes a pretty ghastly deception and murder of one man to show by example what the Sawi culture was like. It is not gratuitous but it is graphic. I think this book would be perfectly suited for reading as a family or a class as well as for personal reading, but parents and teachers might want to preview that chapter to determine its appropriateness for the age level and personalities of their children. But I think anyone who reads it will get a glimpse into a missionary’s journey through adjustment to a different culture, perplexity in determining how best to share the gospel, the darkness of a culture without the Lord, and the amazing way God opens hearts and understanding to His truth. Stories like this are a part of the glorious fulfillment of the day John prophesies in Revelation 7:9-10: “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.”

O teach me what it meaneth

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O teach me what it meaneth,
That cross uplifted high,
With One, the Man of Sorrows,
Condemned to bleed and die!
O teach me what it cost Thee
To make a sinner whole;
And teach me, Savior, teach me
The value of a soul!

O teach me what it meaneth,
That sacred crimson tide,
The blood and water flowing
From Thine own wounded side.
Teach me that if none other
Had sinned, but I alone,
Yet still Thy blood, Lord Jesus,
Thine only, must atone.

O teach me what it meaneth,
Thy love beyond compare,
The love that reacheth deeper
Than depths of self-despair!
Yes, teach me, till there gloweth
In this cold heart of mine
Some feeble, pale reflection
Of that pure love of Thine.

O teach me what it meaneth,
For I am full of sin,
And grace alone can reach me,
And love alone can win.
O teach me, for I need Thee,
I have no hope beside—
The chief of all the sinners
For whom the Savior died!

O teach me what it meaneth
The rest which Thou dost give
To all the heavy-laden
Who look to Thee and live.
Because I am a rebel
Thy pardon I receive
Because Thou dost command me,
I can, I do believe.

O infinite Redeemer!
I bring no other plea;
Because Thou dost invite me
I cast myself on Thee.
Because Thou dost accept me
I love and I adore;
Because Thy love constraineth,
I’ll praise Thee evermore!

— Lucy A. Bennett (1850-1927)

Ashamed of Jesus!

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Jesus, and shall it ever be,
A mortal man, ashamed of Thee?
Ashamed of Thee, whom angels praise,
Whose glories shine through endless days?

Ashamed of Jesus! sooner far
Let evening blush to own a star.
’Tis midnight with my soul, till He,
Bright Morning Star, bid darkness flee.

Ashamed of Jesus! that dear Friend
On Whom my hopes of Heav’n depend!
No; when I blush, be this my shame,
That I no more revere His Name.

Ashamed of Jesus! yes, I may
When I’ve no guilt to wash away;
No tear to wipe, no good to crave,
No fears to quell, no soul to save.

Till then (nor is the boasting vain),
Till then I boast a Saviour slain:
And, oh, may this my portion be,
That Saviour not ashamed of me!

— Joseph Grigg

Poetry Friday: John Greenleaf Whittier

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Years ago when I was in college, someone jotted these lines across the back of an envelope of a note sent to me:

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.

I thought it was lovely, but I didn’t know where it came from (funny the difference the Internet makes in our lives with the ability to look these things up immediately!) Then some years later I found the same lines quoted and attributed to John Greenleaf Whittier in something Elisabeth Elliot wrote, though now I don’t remember what. Later still I heard it on the radio as a hymn. I don’t remember if I have ever sung it in church — I may have. But just recently I found it from from a much longer poem.

A few of the other verses are:

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways;
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.

With that deep hush subduing all
Our words and works that drown
The tender whisper of Thy call,
As noiseless let Thy blessing fall
As fell Thy manna down.

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm.

More can be found under the hymn titled “Dear Lord and Father of Mankind” at Cyberhymnal. I am not as familiar with either of the tunes listed there: I have always heard it more often to the melody of the Navy Hymn, Eternal Father Strong to Save.

Whittier was a Quaker, which had a whole philosophy called “quietism” that I don’t ascribe to. But the Bible speaks of a “meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price” (I Peter 3:4a) and says in one of my favorite verses “For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength” (Isaiah 30:15). David asks himself repeatedly in Psalm 42 and 43, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me?” The quietness in these verses is not a mystical state, but rather just a a peace of spirit resting on and trusting in the Lord. As David says in answer to his own question, “hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God” (Psalm 42:11b). Psalm 46:10 a says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 112:7 says, “He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.” Psalm 46:1-3 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.” I have reminded myself at times that if I can trust God to carry me through those circumstances, I can trust Him for whatever more minor problems I am facing.

The last two lines are an allusion to Elijah’s encounter with the Lord in I Kings 19: “And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice” (verses 11-12). I thought it odd that Whittier would say, ” Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,” when this passage says God did not speak through those means. Then it occurred to me he probably meant “through” not as in using those means to express Himself, but rather Whittier is asking God to speak to him in the midst of turmoil, to let him hear God’s still small voice over all the other clamor.

I found this lovely version on YouTube.

The Poetry Friday Round-Up can be found at Wild Rose Reader today.

Two helpful sermon outlines

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I mentioned in yesterday’s post a couple of helpful sermon outlines in the flyleaves of an old Bible. I wanted to share them because they are so helpful and practical. Unfortunately I did not date them, but they were from sermons by Dr. Mark Minnick, whose ministry we sat under and were blessed by from about 1979 to 1993 or so. These are just the “bare bones” of the messages. One explains why baptism does not save us, and the other is about confession of sin.

Neither of these is meant to be an exhaustive study of every verse on the topic. If anything doesn’t make sense or sound right, it is most likely due to my faulty note-taking.

Why We Know Baptism Does Not Save

1. Paul makes a distinction between baptism and the gospel:

I Corinthians 1:14-17: “I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name. And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.”

2. Baptism isn’t included in the definition of the gospel:

I Corinthians 15:3-4: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures…”

3. The condition for baptism is belief: belief comes first:

Acts 8:36: “And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

4. I Peter 3: 20 says that baptism is “not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God.” In itself it doesn’t cleanse us: it is usually just the first act of obedience after salvation.

5. Our salvation is by grace, through faith, not through any works of ours.

Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Isaiah 64:6: “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”

Galatians 2:16: “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”

Titus 3:5: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.”

Baptism is immensely important as a symbol of our identification with Christ, but it is symbolic. (For more on this subject, this is an excellent explanation).

Confession of Sin

What is sin?

1. Failure to glorify God

2. Failure to believe God

Hebrews 11:6: “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Romans 14:23b: “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”

— Making decisions out of a faithless heart.

— Acting apart from faith.

— Letting fears keep us from doing what we ought to do.

3. Failure to do good.

James 4:17: “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

4. Failure to do righteousness.

I John 5:17a: “All unrighteousness is sin.”

5. Acting against conscience.

–Offending the conscience of self or others.

— An act not done on good faith before God.

Romans 14:22-23: “Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”

I Corinthians 8:12: “But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.”

6. Offense against the law.

I John 3:4: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.”

Consequences of sin and failure to confess

1. Broken fellowship.

2. Lost prosperity: Proverbs 28:13: “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” (See also Psalm 38, I Corinthians 11:23-32, James 5:14-20.) (My aside: this isn’t saying all trouble is a result of sin in the life of the person experiencing the trouble [e.g., Job] but all sin in the life will bring trouble.)

3. Irremedial chastisement: II Chronicles 36:16: “But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.”

Why people do not confess sin

1. They reject God’s definitions.

2. They rationalize away their guilt.

— Psalm 50:21

— They don’t “feel convicted,” they think they’re a special case, they were born with the problem. The point is, what does God’s Word say about it?

— They’ve shut their ears from hearing Him for so long that they don’t hear Him any more.

— Romans 2:1-5: They have experienced His goodness and forbearance and therefore think they are all right instead of realizing He is being gracious.

3. Pride

— Proverbs 16:18: “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”

— Luke 18:9-14: the publican and the Pharisee. “Every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

4. Fear of consequences

— Leviticus 26:40-42: “If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me; And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.”

Remedy

Proverbs 28:13: “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”

I John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

This isn’t in these notes, but I have heard many times over that to confess here means to say the same thing about our sin that God does: not to sugarcoat it, make excuses, downplay it, but to acknowledge that what we did was a sin against God.

Flyleaf favorites

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My alarm clock didn’t go off Sunday afternoon, so I woke up from my nap about an hour later than usual, about 20 minutes before church was due to start. Needless to say, I was late. Jim and the boys went on ahead while I finished getting ready. He had my Bible, but I grabbed another, older one because sometimes if I am very late I stay in the lounge in the ladies’ room, where there are some chairs and couches, or on a bench in the lobby so as not to distract from the preaching.

This older Bible was on the verge of falling apart, but it was a treasured friend for several years. I began looking at notes I had jotted on the front and back flyleaf pages — in fact there were several blank pages in the back for just that purpose. It was a blessing to go over some of those quotes and notes I hadn’t thought about for years.

One near the front is Jonathan Goforth’s Seven Rules for Daily Living, which, according to this note, he wrote in the flyleaf of his Bible in 1894.

1. Seek to give much — expect nothing.
2. Put the very best construction on the actions of others.
3. Never let a day pass without at least a quarter of an hour spent in the study of the Bible.
4. Never omit daily morning and evening private prayer and devotion.
5. In all things seek to know God’s Will and when known obey at any cost.
6. Seek to cultivate a quiet prayerful spirit.
7. Seek each day to do or say something to further Christianity among the heathen.

All worth remembering!

Here is something from a beloved former pastor, Jesse Boyd, now with the Lord, for whom our Jesse was named:

Worship without service is a hollow farce.
Service without worship is a hectic fervor.
But worship which issues in service is a holy force.

That says so much so succinctly.

There are places in the back where I put a topic heading and then added pertinent verses as I found them. There are verses to help when afraid, verses that showed the Trinity, verses about the Deity of Christ, and verses that refute hyper-Calvinism. There are sermon notes about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, confession of sin (this one is really enlightening: I might make it a separate post one day), what kind of healing is meant in Isa. 53 when it says, “By His stripes we are healed,” and why baptism does not save. The last one was really helpful to me because there are a couple of verses that almost make it sound like baptism saves. I am debating with myself as to whether to make that a separate post or to include it here. I don’t want it to get lost down here, so I think I will post it separately one day this week.

There are multitudes of little notes and quotes from sermons or from study throughout this Bible, too, but many are squished into teeny spaces and margins with not the best handwriting in the first place. But the ones on the flyleaves have been standout for many years and I have referred to them often. Jesse even told me that when he used this Bible for a while, Jonathan Goforth’s rules spoke to him.

The only note I have on the flyleaf of my current Bible is a list of verses dealing with assurance of salvation from a sermon or a study of I John.

How about you? Any inspirational quotes or sermon notes on your Bible flyleaves?

The King of Love

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One of my favorite hymns:

The King of love my Shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never,
I nothing lack if I am His
And He is mine forever.

Where streams of living water flow
My ransomed soul He leadeth,
And where the verdant pastures grow,
With food celestial feedeth.

Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,
But yet in love He sought me,
And on His shoulder gently laid,
And home, rejoicing, brought me.

In death’s dark vale I fear no ill
With Thee, dear Lord, beside me;
Thy rod and staff my comfort still,
Thy cross before to guide me.

Thou spread’st a table in my sight;
Thy unction grace bestoweth;
And O what transport of delight
From Thy pure chalice floweth!

And so through all the length of days
Thy goodness faileth never;
Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise
Within Thy house forever.

~ Henry W. Baker

A beautiful rendition of it is here.

Poetry Friday

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Seeing Poetry Friday around the Internet has revived my love of poetry. I never really stopped loving it, but I stopped exploring it, content when a gem was found in my path. But now I am going back to old favorites and finding new ones.

One of the poets I most enjoyed learning about while I was in college was John Donne, an Anglican priest converted from Roman Catholicism, who is known as a metaphysical poet. According to this article that simply means he compared “two vastly unlike ideas into a single idea, often using imagery,” as opposed to “the conceits found in other Elizabethan poetry, most notably Petrarchan conceits, which formed clichéd comparisons between more closely related objects (such as a rose and love).” Most of his poems focus on love, death, or religion, the last “a matter of great importance to Donne. Donne argued that it was better carefully to examine one’s religious convictions than blindly to follow any established tradition, for none would be saved at the Final Judgment by claiming ‘a Philip, or a Gregory, A Harry, or a Martin taught [them] this‘” (Greenblatt, Stephen. The Norton anthology of English literature Eighth edition. W. W. Norton and Company, 2006. pp. 600–602.)

I enjoyed reading several of Donne’s poems, but the one I wanted to share today is “A Hymn to God the Father”:

Wilt thou forgive that sin, where I begun,
which is my sin, though it were done before?
Wilt thou forgive those sins through which I run,
and do run still, though still I do deplore?
When thou hast done, thou hast not done,
for I have more.

Wilt thou forgive that sin, by which I won
others to sin, and made my sin their door?
Wilt thou forgive that sin which I did not shun
a year or two, but wallowed in a score?
When thou hast done, thou hast not done,
for I have more.

I have a sin of fear that when I’ve spun
my last thread, I shall perish on the shore;
swear by thyself, that at my death thy Son
shall shine as he shines now, and heretofore.
And having done that, thou hast done,
I fear no more.

According to this source, the multiple use of the word “done” was a play on his own name, which was pronounced the same way. I think many Christians have gone through this process of confessing sin only to realize “I have more,” but thank God “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5: 20b-21.)

Poetry Friday is hosted at Charlotte’s Library today.

By the way, Poetry Friday participants are very careful about copyright restrictions: if I refer to a modern poem and would deprive the author of potential income by copying his poem, I would only quote a few lines and link back to his site. But with older poems like this, they are quoted in multiple places on the Internet and in textbooks, and the copyrights involved, as far as I can tell, apply to the text about the poem rather than the original poem (and if I quote any of their comments I link back to them as well). Someone please correct me if I am wrong on that understanding.

Book Review: Mistaken Identity

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I had seen the book Mistaken Identity on bookshelves, but hadn’t really looked at it. I thought it was fiction, and I had read other fiction books with a mistaken identity plot line, and, though they were interesting reads, there was still an air of unreality about them. This couldn’t really happen, at least not to this extent where closest family members are mistaken.

But it can. And it did.

I caught an interview with the families on one of the evening news magazine programs, and my heart was knit to theirs as their faith shined through their tragedies. I then went out and bought the book as soon as possible.

Laura Van Ryn and Whitney Cerak were among several university students riding in a van back to school after working at a banquet when they were all involved in a horrific accident. Five people died, and Laura was taken to the hospital with several broken bones and a traumatic brain injury. Only it wasn’t Laura: it was Whitney. She was misidentified based on a nearby purse with Laura’s driver’s license in it. Though at first glance the girls look different enough to tell apart, when you look at individual features, they share an uncanny resemblance. Laura’s family had no reason to believe this girl was not Laura, and all the little inconsistencies could be explained by the accident (calling her sister by four different names, for instance, was consistent with the type of brain injury she had). Whitney’s family had chosen not to see her body; they wanted to remember her as she was.

It was not until five weeks later, when Whitney was able to communicate a little more clearly, that they realized she had been misidentified. The Ceraks were at first unbelieving but then overjoyed to find their daughter alive while the Van Ryns had to come to terms with their daughter’s death, and they all had to deal with unwelcome media attention during these events.

What touched my heart even more than their stories was the way their faith was evident at every turn. The Scriptures shared at various junctures perfectly upheld them, though of course it did not take away from the pain they experienced. Their grace in dealing each each other, the truck driver who caused the accident, and everyone along the way is evidence of God’s grace in their lives.

In Isobel Kuhn’s book, In the Arena, she quotes I Corinthians 4:9 (“For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men”) and explains that Paul probably had in mind the Roman arena where Christians were thrown in to be devoured by wild animals. Our trials great and small can have multiple purposes, but, she says, one of them surely is to reveal God, His power, character, and grace as it is worked out in His people’s lives (not only to people, both believers and unbelievers, but to “principalities and powers in heavenly places“) . I often think of that when I hear news stories that have captivated the nation and then find out that the people involved are Christians.

One of the paragraphs that most grabbed me was a journal entry by Carly, Whitney’s sister, before she knew that Whitney was still alive:

Death is Satan’s greatest way to attack this world. Amazingly, then God takes what Satan uses to attack us and uses it to bring us together and reveal Himself the most. Through Satan’s greatest strength, God’s power still overcomes and is stronger.

I had never thought of death in that way, but it is so true that even at Satan’s strongest point, God overcame not only to resurrect those who have died but to provide immeasurable comfort to those who are left behind.

I highly recommend this book to you.