A Pair of Prodigals

Christopher Yuan and Angela Yuan, in their autobiographical book “Out of a Far Country” have written an intriguing retelling of the story of the Prodigal Son. When it came time to choose a book to review, this seemed to be the best of a rather mediocre lot, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The personages in the book don’t ‘read’ as well as fictional characters might, but there was something in the stories that managed to keep my attention. Although in this case it’s drugs and a gay lifestyle that separated Christopher and his mother, the story is universal and timeless: as children many of us want to be our own person, and so we insist on doing even those things that we know will hurt our parents hearts – not to mention the heart of God. And as parents we want the best for our children and often have a difficult time dealing with their decisions. And God has to deal with all of His children and our sometimes less than wonderful choices.


Although Angela frequently mentioned her Chinese background and culture as being important in some of her decisions, there wasn’t enough of the culture shared for me to really see how it must have impacted her. Likewise she frequently mentioned the marital difficulties that she experienced but at times it seemed that she threw that in as an excuse for her decisions. Just a little more insight might have made it easier to understand some of her thought processes.

Christopher on the other hand seems to have developed a knack for writing; he provides enough explanation so that the reader can understand the environment in which he found himself - without bogging us down with details that would make most of us uncomfortable.

I’ve known people who lived the roller coaster ride of ‘sex, drugs and rock & roll’ and wish I could say that their lives were such an awesome display of God's grace as was that of Christopher Yuan. The story of the preparing, the God-moments, the total brokenness that was required for both Christopher and Angela to be pulled into God's loving arms where they could experience the redemption that God desires for each of us make this worth the read, regardless what you might think of the literary style or even some of the subject matter.

And the truth is that just like the father and son in Luke 15, just like Angela Yuan and her son Christopher, we’re all prodigals, traveling our own journey away from and back to God. And I join Angela in praying that your ‘sentence’ will be not too short, not too long, but just the right length for you to be able to come to fully experience the love of God.

4.5 out of 5 stars

“I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review”.

Why do we strive for 'good behavior'?

I picked up the current issue of "Our Daily Bread" this morning, and today's (June 8, 2011) devotional was based on Revelation 2:1-7. I recently referred to that passage for a paper I was writing, so  was interested to see what was being said about it. Joe Stowell writes: "Good behavior should always be an act of worship. Resisting temptation, forgiving, serving, and loving each other are all opportuninties to tangibly express our love for Jesus -- not to get a star next to our name or a pat on the back".

The passage from John's Revelation is directed to the Church at Ephesus, and in it Jesus chastizes the local congregation for leaving their first love behind. "You have forsaken your first love" "repent and do the things you did at first". (Rev 2 4-5, NIV) 

We see it all the time, not just at church, but at our various jobs, our relationships, in school, even in play. Did you ever buy an expensive 'have to have' piece of sports equipment or video game, and after about a week not have time for it any more? 

We start something new and we're way excited,  but it quickly becomes old, and we tire of the ridicule, or other things take precedence in our lives. New believers are often on fire for the Lord, but as time goes by they frequently seem to run out of stream.  They don't have the time to do the things that they were doing, it's not that they're doing anything wrong, they're just not doing as much of the right stuff or they're doing the right stuff but not dfor the right reasons. As Stowell points out, our good behavior should be an act of worship, an act of telling Jesus how much we love Him.

Stowell refers to the star next to our name, or a pat on the back. I put it a little differently: we don't do ABC or XYZ to earn Jesus' love, to earn God's love, to earn our salvation, but rather because of it! The church at Ephesus might have stopped doing the things they had been doing, or maybe they kept doing some of them, but for the wrong reasons.

People go to church to show off new cars and clothes, but forget to worship while they're there. They help widows and orphans and feed the hungry because it's a tax write-off. Their prayers are a way to let God know what a good job they're doing, and practicing the spiritual disciplines is more about letting others know how 'holy' they are.  It's easy to forsake the first love.

I have to ask myself if I'm doing 'stuff' for the gold star or as an act of worship. My whole life should be an act of worship, sadly though, it doesn't always turn out that way.

As Joe Stowell puts it, "When was the last time you did something "good" out of love for Jesus?

Think about it

review of Ian Morgan Cron's "Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me

What can I say? I liked the book “Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me”. Ian Morgan Cron writes in a delightfully engaging style, which invites the reader to come into his world, to share his pain, and more importantly, to share in the grace he experienced which allowed him to overcome the demons of his childhood and young adult years.


Billed as ‘a memoir…of sorts’, Cron describes a childhood and adolescence of trying to please a father who couldn’t be pleased. Along the way he describes the terrors of life with an alcoholic parent, his own descent into alcoholism, hitting his bottom, and, thanks to the grace of God, his road to recovery. As he writes about his parents, his Nanny, his wife and children, life on two continents, adolescent angst, disillusionment and joys, things seem so real that at times I thought I must be reading a book of non-fiction. This is the gut-wrenching stuff of life, which usually comes across as sounding false when we try to accurately describe it.

Learn about the difference in jumping and falling, a deliberate descent versus spiraling downward, totally out of control. Be reminded that sometimes it’s not about you (page 212). Learn about God as the grace of glue that mends us (page 248) and be reminded that no one should eat alone (also on 248)

This book is so readable on so many levels: are you struggling with the idea of a loving God? Read this book. Read this book if your family has been torn apart by alcoholism, or if your alcoholism is tearing your family apart. Read this book if your life seems to be a roller coaster ride that the attendant won’t let you get off of. And you can even read this book if you’re just looking for a feel good story with which to curl up by the fireplace.

Warning: (tongue in cheek) One of the great things about this book is that Christian writers endorse it, and you won’t find any gratuitous sex, profanity or violence. Cron is also the author of “Chasing Francis: A Pilgrim’s Tale”. My prayer is that he has more books waiting to be written

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”