As most of you know, my family and I read a lot of books. Every once in a while, one just leaves an impression that you don't soon forget. A well written romance novel can do this but an amazing testimony that influences your thinking can change you forever.
Something gripped me when I read the description of this book before I considered reviewing it. I wasn't sure if it was something I wanted to attempt blogging about in fear of how it may be taken since so much hatred surrounds this subject. Before getting inside the cover I thought it would be one of two things. One, it could be how it sounded, a book worth reading and a resource to have in case this ever was to come up. Or, two, it could be a watered down 'politically correct' encounter that may have adverse effects. I am very happy to say that it was something I didn't expect and has truly made an impact on me.
In this book, we follow the testimony of both Chris Yuan and his mother Angela as Chris comes out to his parents and tells them he is gay. His parents being Chinese immigrants that own their own dentistry practice, was not willing to accept this for their son. Chris goes on to find acceptance through his gay friends and leaves dentistry for drug dealing. Angela finds Christ the day she chooses to end her life. In a way she did. She left that life behind and started a new one and was determined to help Chris do the same.
This book is not about Chris choosing to be gay or not gay or his family accepting him or not accepting him. This book is about how a total surrender to God freed not only Chris from his pain and mistakes, but also exposed what was hindering Angela from understanding her son and feeling that unconditional love. It saddens me that Christians can be the source of such judgement at times. Bible verses can be twisted and used to ones advantage for their own self righteous reasons. This is the opposite of the truth in the Bible. I underlined a sentence that couldn't be more perfect to explain how we should approach the subject of homosexuality. He talks about how he felt that his sexuality was him to the core. He couldn't fathom being attracted to women and didn't know if he could do that. He realizes that he doesn't need to be attracted to women but one thing became clear to him. "I believe homosexuality (and any other sin, such as jealousy, pride and gluttony) stems from a LEGITIMATE need fulfilled in an ILLEGITIMATE way." He goes on to talk about how God may not answer prayers the way we want him to, but it shouldn't mean that you stop walking with him. The proof of a God is in the 'happenstances' that occurred after Chris made his decision of total surrender. Now Chris and his mother travel all over telling people their story.
You can buy this book for $8.42+ on Amazon. Connect with Chris on his website, blog, Facebook or Twitter. Find out where he is speaking next by going here.
I truly feel lucky to have read this book and want to thank Angela and Chris Yuan for their unbelievably candid testimony that exposed some truths in my own life. God Bless.
I received this book for the purpose of review from Blogging For Books. The opinions in this post are 100% my own and may differ from yours.
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