Safely Home

Rating:
Summary: WOW! Get Ready for A Life Changing Experience!!!
Review: Randy Alcorn has written his BEST novel ever!!! I have read all of his novels and "Safely Home" has climbed to the top of my list and is neck to neck with "Deadline" also by Alcorn and in my top ten list of best Christian Fiction books. I too was initially skeptical by the title of the book "Safely Home" and also was distracted by the Chinese Characters written on the cover of the book. PLEASE DO NOT let that stop you from reading this LIFE CHANGING novel!!!!

The story centers around two old college friends who were once roomates and bestfriends. Ben is an American living in the US and is now a promonient, wealthy business man and a divorced father of two. Li-Chen is Chinese, who after studying in the US, moved back to China and has been living there as a locksmith's assistant with his wife & son in a one-room cottage. The two men are reunited during Ben's business trip to China. Ben, who originally introduced Li-Chen to the Lord, has grown cold in his faith and his life focus has shifted to wealth and material things. Li-Chen has grown tremendously as a Christian in China where Christianity is illegal and punishable by the law. When the two friends reunite after many years, the Lord works miraculously in both men's lives and they are changed by their experiences and the work of the Lord in their lives forever.

This book will make you angry and will also bring you to tears...but most importantly- this book will really make you examine your own personal relationship with God and what true "SERVICE TO THE LORD" is really about.

If we are not living each day in light of Christ's return, we need to step back and re-examine our lives. The characters in Alcorn's novel will stay imprinted in your heart and mind forever. This is truly a deep and life-changing novel! Run, don't walk and get a copy of this book and read it! When you finish, pass it on to someone else who is not saved or who needs a "kickstart" in their walk with God. Hopefully, this book will encourage all of us to live our lives in light of eternity, with the goal of making it "Safely Home."

Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking study of friendship and true Christianity
Review: When I first started reading this book, I thought that Ben Fielding's character was rather one-dimensional. "Christian 'outgrows' his faith, then rediscovers it" can be rather formulaic and poorly-written. But Fielding's transition is gradual; there isn't one defining moment that makes him realize he's chasing after nothingness. In perhaps the strongest example of this, while Fielding's pursuit of human channels to correct problems is noble, his *reliance* on them (and not God) is vain. Li Quan knows this immediately and intimately; Fielding takes the whole book to discover this.

Li Quan's friendship is incredible. He truly loves Fielding, not with just phileo, but with agape. Although it takes him a while to realize that Fielding has abandoned his faith, when he does, nothing changes (except the emphasis of Li's prayers).

What is most striking, though, is Li's faith (and that of his friends and family) in the face of increasing adversity. The book reveals the (real) snowjob that the Chinese government is giving the rest of the world. Life for Christians in China is *not* getting better; if anything, it's getting worse. "Safely Home" gives a jarring, thought-provoking picture of what it means to be a Christian in China, and the opportunities we are squandering on a daily basis in America.

Rating:
Summary: Safely Home
Review: I have never been so moved and changed by a book (other than the Bible itself!)

Superb writing and an amazing story of faith that left me drenched in tears. I have never had an eternal perspective while living my life.... that has changed forever.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read Book
Review: Safely Home is a must read book. As always Randy takes us places where we should go more often and think about more frequently. He takes real facts and truth and weave's them into a very thought and prayer provoking fictional story. I was unaware of the Chinese Chrisian history as well as the persecution that they are under and endure. Safely Home is a very sobering and kind message for me, a Christian in such an affluent land of the free. I love Randy's charactures and excellent perspective of heaven. Safely Home, as well as his other novels never cease to make me laugh, cry, or well up with joy over the areas of my heart he obviously (no doubt from experience) knows how to touch. Another excellent Alcorn novel.

Rating:
Summary: Life changing Book
Review: Warning, do not read this book if you do not want to be challenged by God. It is a life changing book that will make you
think twice about your personal faith. This book has given me an insight of the persecuted Chinese christians and has given me a heart for them. Alcorn's bring the characters of Li Quan and Ben Fielding to life. Li Quan reminds me of the apostle Paul. Now, when I read Paul's letters to the churches in the bible they take a new meaning. You will find yourself crying with their trails. I highly recommend it if you are looking for a revival in your personal walk. Believe me, you will never take God's word for granted after reading this book.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Judge This Book By Its Title
Review: Let's face it, the title "Safely Home" has a placid, unappealing sound to it. In fact, before seeing the cover, I thought perhaps Randy was delving into the Christian romance market.

That all changed when I saw the Chinese writing on the dust jacket. Having travelled in China, smuggling Bibles and sharing my faith, I was intrigued. Then, I peeled back the jacket to discover the amazing picture of a Chinese believer held in Jesus' arms. Standing there in the bookstore, I was hit with emotion, with moisture in my eyes. Suddenly, the title "Safely Home" made sense. The persecution of the Chinese church is real, and Alcorn shows clearly the difference between the state church and the underground church. I've met some of these underground believers. Alcorn captures their heart for God in ways that I've never seen in fiction before. He captures much of the Chinese believers' humility and struggle in this heartfelt novel.

The contrast between two former college friends, one a Chinese doctor, the other an American businessman, is credible and lends itself perfectly to the contrast in their levels of faith. Through the looking glass of this story, Alcorn forces us to weigh our own faith. Do we know what it means to stand for our beliefs? Do we know what it means to pay a price for our integrity?

Although Alcorn can come across as preachy at times, he always has something worth saying. By mixing a fascinating cultural and spiritual struggle in a fictional form, he opens our hearts to hear the truth...The response is up to us.

Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: I love Randy Alcorns books, but this one was different, but just as good. It really opened my eyes to some things that I guess a lot of try not to think about. Amazing!
It's an eye opening book that I could not put down.

Rating:
Summary: amazing book!
Review: This book truly moved me. It made such an impact, I bought the book on tape so my 3 kids could experience it as well. We listened on the way to school every morning. Although it is written as fiction, it exposes the true persecution that is happening in China to people who have any interest at all in learning about God or the Bible. Book starts a little slow, but by the halfway point I could hardly put it down.

Rating:
Summary: A convicting yet non-judgmental indictment of my faith.
Review: I had become interested in the persecuted church after my mom had begun reading this. It was still somewhere on my mental reading list. I came home for the weekend and took this book back to school. I ended up finishing it in less than a week or so.

what made the book so enjoyable was that it was a well-crafted and readable story while also raising several issues that I had been thinking about for a while. As I stated in my title, the book soon began convicting and inspiring me. I saw myself all too often in the character Ben Fielding from America and saw who I wished I was in the character Li Quan. and while the book is fiction, it is based on true events and some of the situations are very inspiring and also very sad.

I recommend this book to christians and non-christians alike because for me as a christian, it gave me a very clear and somewhat uncomfortable (in a good way) look at my faith. and for a non-christian, it gives a good look at something that has given the suffering people of china true meaning to their life. it has made sense of their state of suffering as a human being. a great reminder of what is really important and what really gives meaning to life. it is ironic how you find yourself wishing you were Li Quan, freezing cold, being whipped in a prison rather than Ben Fielding, sitting in a beautiful conference room high above the streets of shanghai.

Rating:
Summary: Religious Freedom Addressed By This Gripping Novel
Review: In America we take our ability to worship God for granted. Safely Home is a gripping novel about the other side; a side most Americans have never seen - where people risk their lives to study their religious beliefs. I was moved by this book.

The main-character and his family struggle through events that would crush most people, yet their faith in something bigger is so strong they overcome the trials and tribulations put before them.

Randy Alcorn is a master at Christian fiction. His novels are always well-researched and extremely well-written. I would recommend people check out all of his novels...