I Dared to Call Him Father
November 26, 2005 on 10:26 am | In Christian Non-fiction | 1 Comment
I Dared to Call Him Father: The Miraculous Story of a Muslim Woman’s Encounter With God
By Bilquis Sheikh with Richard H. Schnieder
This may be the most interesting, enlightening and uplifting book I have read all year.
The year is 1966 and Bilquis Sheikh is a muslim divorcee in Pakistan hearing about honor killings.
Suddenly in the privacy of her own garden she feels a presence. Then she begins to have dreams. She dreams of having a meal with Jesus. She dreams of John the Baptist pointing the way. She begins to read her Quaran and finds a passage where the Christians and Jews are condemed for distorting truth in scripture. So she demands a Bible to compare the scriptures for truth. It takes some time but finally one appears in her home. As she reads, comparing the two she has more dreams. She dreams of a perfume salesman who comes and she is frantic for perfume. He gives her the most wonderful fragrance she has ever smelled and sets it on her bed table. When she awakes, she finds in the spot where the salesman set the perfume is her Bible. She consults missionaries and listens to her dreams and reads the Bible. She asks a nun how to pray. The nun suggests she speak to God as though He was her father. She is appalled at the idea then enchanted at the thought that God wants to be a father to her.
Bilquis comes to some astouding truths as she reads and prays her Bible. She perhaps has more of an idea of how to be Christian than those of us who have been raised in the church. She refuses to hide her faith or be controlled by the fear of “honor killing” coming from her family. Instead she reaches out with a faith in Jesus that most of us think occured only in Bible stories.
Bilquis had much to fear and much to learn. Her journey is one that has a message for everyone, Christian and non-Christian alike. No matter where you are in your walk with Jesus, Bilquis will speak to you. Even if only to teach you about her people.
Mine is the 25th anniversary paperback. c. 2003. Published by Chosen Books a division of Baker Book House Company
Faith Under Fire
November 11, 2005 on 8:51 am | In Non-fiction | Comments Off
Faith Under Fire: Stories of Hope and Courage From WWII
By Steve Rabey
c. 2002
Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville
In honor of Veteran’s Day today, I took a drive down “The Avenue of the Flags” at my local National Cemetary. It is always an inspiring drive and makes me feel patriotic in a deep and meaningful way. We have several blocks of flags flying every few yards followed by flags up the hill and following every road through the cemetary. The hill is topped by a large flagpole with a larger than casket-sized flag flying. On Memorial Day that flag is at half-staff until noon but today, all were at full-staff and a stiff wind had all the flags flapping and flagpoles shaking.
Seeing the flags and the rows of white stones of the hallowed ground really brought to mind the favor that God has showered onto this country. But just as individuals are expected to share the love God showers on them, our country has been expected to share the love of God and the freedom we have and expect here. To that end, many have given days, weeks, months, years, and their very lives to protect our freedom and share freedom with others.
Faith Under Fire is a collection of 21 stories of ordinary people with an ordinary amount of faith that carried them through the extraordinary circumstances of WWII. Among these are the South Pacific pilot who designed the POW/MIA Flag and where he acquired the imagery that is so powerful on that black field, a deserter who was court-martialed and became a war hero and a Medal of Honor recipient (and how), and the beginning of The Navigators. The faith stories include a man who was held in a Japanese Slave Labor camp until he learned to hate the Japanese and how God sent him back to Japan to start and build churches and forgive the Japanese. These stories take you to Japanese-run camps, German-run camps, and the Bataan Death March. You will meet “other Shindlers,” a Green Beret, and a Tuskegee Airman, and a Ranger. But most of all, you will meet 21 men and their families with a great faith in Our Heavenly Father and realize how much they had to lose and to learn.
I hope all of you took the time today to honor all veterans, living and dead, and the sacrifice they made for all of us. Faith Under Fire is a great read, a good place to find devotions for all occasions, and a place to find the power of God to be in control in the most hopeless situations. “If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.” These people learned that lesson well. May we learn from their lessons as well.
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