And the Word Came with Power = a must read.

And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

~ Acts 4:31 (NASB)

Several nights ago, I was physically exhausted but mentally wide awake. Can you relate? I wanted so badly to get to sleep so that I could wake up early the next morning and get the day going. But for some reason, no matter how hard I tried, sleep just would not come.

Within the past month or two, I had purchased a book called And the Word Came with Power. The book is the firsthand account of an American missionary to a remote Filipino village.

Thinking that I would only read a chapter or two, I picked up the 176 page book and began to read it. At first I felt the writing was mediocre and somewhat choppy, but the more I read... the better it seemed to get. Since I had just a few minutes earlier asked God to romance my heart, I thought that maybe this book would be the answer to my prayer. I was right.

Since I have a burden for a place full of spiritual darkness and hostility towards Christianity, this book especially ministered to me. The incredible stories of deliverance and healing are beautiful. Joanne Shetler began her journey in the hopes of translating the Bible into the language of the Balangao people. As she learned to trust God and came to value the family of Christ, God opened doors and softened the hearts of the people. 

Ordinarily I would give you an in-depth analysis of this book and go into a whole bunch of theological whatnot. But this time... I'm just going to leave it at this: read this book. Even though I was dead tired, I stayed up until 3am reading this book. I literally read it cover to cover. I didn't get up to go to the bathroom or get water or anything. I just read it straight through. And that is something that rarely happens. 

... The word of God is not imprisoned.

~ 2 Timothy 2:9 (NASB)