Against the Wind: Finishing Well in a World of Compromise

I've never read anything that puts the Christian walk in such light as this book. Against the Wind has impacted my life the most second to the Bible! It gives great insights on how a Christian should run the race in order to win based on Paul's writings to Timothy. I love the words used: "But for you, be different." This world is not our home, and we should live like it. The book calls for and inspires commitment to follow the Lord regardless of what comes along, and it is really down to earth in giving practical application. I would strongly urge anyone with a passion to follow Jesus to read this book.

It is an incredible opportunity to imagine sitting among this meeting of men (and the women laboring beside them) in the faith who are constantly watched by Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim radical groups and are daily laying their lives down for the Gospel. For our culture we can be tempted to quickly excuse the message as not relevant because of the original address being made to an Asian culture, but listening to this message, and being able to glean from such commitment greatly inspires one to a higher lifestyle than what surrounds us all. In each chapter K.P. shares a strong challenge and encouragement through certain principles taken from the mission field in Asia, which can be easily paralleled into our culture without pointing at any particular situation but to simply encourage the underlining Biblical principle. The further relevance arises during a time when Christian compromise is dramatically increasing and unbelievers, though not rejecting Christ deliberately, are rejecting the Christ shown in the lives of Christians. For us in the states, what we call "radical Christian living," those laboring among the unreached with the Gospel claim as normal Christian life! However, within these pages I strongly believe the line between obedience and what we often cast aside as legalism is defined. Overall, the stories are real and I deeply think that is what allows one to see the practical nature of God's higher plane for us and encourages us to run after His instruction. This will definitely not be a book you sit down and read in one sitting and it will be a something you keep close for a reminder to overcoming the vast compromises surrounding our culture.