God's Smuggler: A Review

I have to admit that I’ve never truly considered the emotional value of a copy of a Bible before reading God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew. Sure, I’d pondered the spiritual value of a Holy Book; it is after all the Word of God. I spent a great deal of time thinking about the price of one of these treasures, continually taking one off of the shelf, then putting it back on, trying to decide whether or not the thirty Canadian dollars was actually worth the price of a pocket-sized New International Version translation. But after reading about Brother Andrew’s adventures behind the Iron Curtain smuggling Bibles and living entirely on the faith of the Lord, I’ve come to truly realize how blessed I’ve been. Reading this page turner revealed to me the importance of trusting in God, the true value of a Bible, and that God can take anyone of us, no matter the size of our sin, wash us clean and use us to glorify Him.

God’s Smuggler follows Brother Andrew from his time as a rebellious child in Nazi occupied Holland, to his time as a soldier in the Dutch Army fighting in the Indonesian War of Independence, to reading his own Bible, to hearing God’s voice, to becoming a missionary behind the Communist Iron Curtain. Brother Andrew’s testimony of how his mother desperately wanted him to read his Bible and how it took her death to actually get him to do it was heartbreaking and raw. His adventures and friendship with his pet monkey in Indonesia was a touching display of how this bitter young man truly had a love for all of God’s creation even though he himself did not realize it. And perhaps most poignantly, God’s Smuggler reminded me of how God can take a man who has literally fallen as far away from God as possible, not entirely unlike me, and can him into a powerful worker for the expansion of God’s Kingdom.

There were many atrocities in the War of Independence in Indonesia. There was massacre upon massacre, Dutch soldiers were getting killed off left, right and center and Indonesian civilians were taking the brunt of it. Brother Andrew writes of a time where he saw a village-dwelling mother and child, drenched in blood, killed by the same bullet. The break in his heart was so strong that it cracked his mind, and for his remaining time on the Indonesian front, Brother Andrew wore a bright yellow, straw hat instead of his regulation camouflage armoured helmet. This man was desperate for death, having seen and caused so much of it himself. He turned to booze, to women, to anything. And of course, nothing filled the hole caused by the hurt. The damage was done. And in God’s special way, instead of being killed as he had desired, Brother Andrew was shot in the foot, and transported home as a rejected soldier of a defeated army coming home from an inglorious war.

It was during his time of rehabilitation and searching for a future that Brother Andrew started to read the Bible his mother had given him, and over the course of a year it finally sank in, and he committed his life to Jesus. God didn’t hesitate to put his calling on him, and within another two years Brother Andrew had been called to missions, done his own missionary work at a Dutch chocolate factory and moved to England for missionary training. It was at this mission training facility, known as Worldwide Evangelization Crusade (WEC) that Brother Andrew learned to live on faith. Depending on what he calls “The Royal Way,” Andrew would always be in complete trust that God would provide for him from something as simple as toothpaste to something larger like school fees paid by their deadlines. He gives one testimony about a homeless friend of his who had come looking for him for the same amount of money that Andrew had been waiting on. As they were talking, there on the ground was the one British shilling they were both hoping for and what only Andrew could see. Instead of keeping it for himself however, he gave it to his friend, knowing that God doesn’t need or want us to be digging around in the dirt looking for extra change. He’s going to provide for us!

This would not only prove to be an important lesson for Andrew to learn as it would be the way his entire ministry would be funded and run, but it is also an extraordinary example set in front of those of us also living on faith. Money is an easy distraction, something that the worldly kingdom depends on entirely. It is easy to get discouraged or to even lead ourselves off the path that God has laid out for us, or to not even start walking along said path just because we feel like it isn’t something we can afford.

But therein lays the solution.

The truth is that a lot of the situations God has called us to probably are things we personally cannot afford. But God loves us right? When you’re in charge of a project or you’re a supervisor at you’re job, do you charge your workers the expenses of keeping your project or your store or your whatever running? Of course not! It becomes your responsibility because you are in control. The same goes for God. To quote Pastor Sam Song of Solomon’s Porch Church in Hong Kong: “If its God’s will, its God’s bill.” The beautiful thing about that is that God is the creator of all things, and therefore is the creator of money, and therefore will never run out of money because it’s all His. In trusting in the Father, we will be provided for as His children, so stay in accordance to His will and there is nothing to worry about! Brother Andrew’s life story is a testament to this fact.

Sometimes, when living on faith, we might be waiting for more than just money. Especially as Christians, because we know that true life doesn’t just come from food, money, things. No, we’re actually living off of the Holy Spirit and His guidance. Our personal times with God can keep us refreshed for the entire day, sometimes more. And one very powerful way to seek the Lord’s guidance and encouragement is through His Word; through The Bible.

But what if we didn’t have a Bible? I know that I personally probably wouldn’t be able to keep my faith as strong as it is right now without easy access to a Bible, because it’s not only a way for me to seek the Lord’s guidance, but I also receive a lot of encouragement through this book not only from my own time reading it but through Scriptures that others have read to or over me. After reading in God’s Smuggler of how Brother Andrew discovered the desperate need for Bibles behind the Iron Curtain, I realized that this was actually a weakness in my faith; because I’d been taking for granted the fact that I could read my Bible whenever I wanted.

The story that truly hit it home for me was when Brother Andrew was in a Russian controlled Ukrainian village near the Hungary border, and he was visiting a Baptist church there. When the pastor got up to speak, he first stepped down from the pulpit to borrow a Bible in the congregation to read from! After the service, Andrew met with this pastor and they had devotions. After a reading of the borrowed Bible and Andrew’s Dutch Bible, the pastor, in a broken and quiet voice said, “You know, Brother, I have no Bible.”

I was floored and heartbroken after that. The reason this pastor didn’t have a Bible of his own was because it was illegal for him to have one in the Communist Soviet Union. Fortunately Brother Andrew had one to give to this man, but the telling of this story did not fail to open my eyes to the importance of the Bible and the equal importance of not taking for granted how blessed we are for having such easy access to this amazing Book. It has stirred in me the desire to bring Bibles as gifts to people in all nations who are either in short supply or have none whatsoever, whether because of the government or because of poverty or because of whatever reason. The reason behind someone not having a Bible is much less important than the need it is for anybody who wants to have a Bible to read to have one. My eyes have truly been opened to this, and it is in my prayers and on my heart to become a Bible transporter like that of Brother Andrew and so many others. I just want to see God’s people have an easy access to God’s Words.


The thing that makes sin so terrible is when we realize how much we’ve actually sinned. It is so easy to believe that we’re completely unredeemable, that we’re too dirty, that our lives are worth nothing because we’ve fallen so far away from the Lord and now even He can’t reach us. But of course, this is one hundred percent untrue.

The first four chapters of God’s Smuggler tell the tale of Brother Andrew’s time as a rebellious youth pulling pranks on Nazi’s and as a twenty-something soldier fighting in Indonesia’s War of Independence. Through out the entirety of these four chapters, Andrew confesses his denial of the Lord, seeing how his faithful mother suffered with illness her entire life, and how he had become bitter towards God after the death of his already suffering, mentally unwell older brother. Upon witnessing the atrocities of war, Brother Andrew became obsessed with death, and with survival of skirmish after skirmish after skirmish, he would turn to anything that could distract him temporarily, i.e. alcohol, women, drugs, you name it. It took an injury and the divine will of the Lord for Andrew to lie in bed and read his Bible and upon doing so, after a marvellous revelation of what was actually done on the cross, received the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.

In his early years as a Christian, Andrew was called to the mission field, experienced miraculous physical healings and even lead others to the Lord. He was accepted into missionary training, graduated from WEC and immediately began work behind the Iron Curtain, countries pressed down by the Communist Regime. Over the course of the rest of his life, Andrew experienced God’s hand and God’s love for His people, and literally did whatever he could to bless them and help them. Brother Andrew’s testimony is a shining light for all Christians and for me personally, a person who, in no way as extreme as Andrew’s, experienced bitterness and anger and sadness towards God. But if God can take someone who fell as far as Andrew did and turn him into a missionary truly living the adventure of Jesus, then surely He can do the same, if not even more, with someone like me. And that rule applies to all.

God’s Smuggler, in all of its excitement, its heartbreaking or touching moments, or its amazing miracles, is truly just a story of a simple man living an extraordinary life because he gave it all to the extraordinary One. There is nothing ordinary about God; He’s a supernatural Creator, with a heart for all of His people. If we’ll just give it all to God like Brother Andrew did, then amazing things can happen through us, for us, to us. If we just wait on the Lord, listen to His voice, trust in Him and do as He says, then maybe one day we too will write a book as exciting, hard-hitting and effective as Brother Andrew’s God’s Smuggler.

Feet in the Fire

As a kid I always thought it'd be great to be a Musketeer or a Knight of the Round Table or a World War 2 soldier or Indiana Jones. I just thought that the battles were so glorifying and adventurous and that ultimately to die in battle would be an amazing honour. I don't think this way anymore.

I've had to, in what has been a very hard struggle actually, learn to realize that life isn't quite like the way it is in the movies. In life there's no behind-the-scenes filmmaker yelliung "Cut!" as you try the same miraculous escape over and over and over again. In life you only get to try it once, with no "Cuts!"

I mention this because over the last 5 months and particularly within the last 5 days I've come to realize that we're in a war. And it's conscription based, calling even the newborns and the elderly into combat mode. This war is vicious, frightening and life taking. There's only one way to survive the turmoil and it's by calling attention to yourself. The war I'm talking about is the 5000 year long Spiritual War.

It's because of my most recent revelation of this war that my desire to don the leather jacket, whip and fedora is because of how vicious I've seen this war can be. My enemy has worked its absolute darndest to destroy my dreams, my beliefs and my life. My enemy has attacked me through finances, fear and family. The three "F"'s.

My enemy is Satan.

As most of my 4 readers know, I recently finished a 5 month school focused entirely on my relationship with Jesus and sharing it with others. Nothing about this school failed me, as I learned to speak with God, listen to God and about this IMMENSE love that He has for me. I can't put how incredible it was into words, but I have come out of this school a new person with new life and a passion for Jesus Christ that will never die! As the school was coming to a close I began to pray about what it was I should do next, and received the answer on the day I graduated, when I was invited to do another school focussed on being a long-term missionary. Through a short series of amazing events, I accepted the invitation. Nothing in the world could drag me down! God and I were tight!

And so I let my guard down...

I've always felt very attached and loyal to my family, but seeing how it is a divorced family, that has lead to a number of painful encounters. But it never changed the fact that I was dead loyal to the people I loved and that has not yet changed. However, upon revealing to my family that I would be staying in Hong Kong for another school doing something that most of them don't actually believe in anyways, all but two remained supportive of me. Maybe a little bit sad that I wouldn't be coming home, but still supportive. All but two...

The two that didn't are two people who have been quite possible the two most important people in my life. They were always there even when they weren't, and always ready to talk. But they really hate the change in The Sister's Son, and really hate the things that I'm saying now. As my words about God and frankly, Spiritual Warfare, became stronger, so did their words against me and my beliefs, so far as to say I didn't have any but that I was faking all of this. I'm not by the way. The comments they were sending my way became so horrible and disgusting that I've now had to break contact with them temporarily. I did that the day my new school started.

That same day I discovered that two of my closest family members have found themselves completely and utterly seperated. No contact. That sucks even more than the first one did to be honest.

You see, there's nothing in this world that I love more than I love God. But second to Him is my family, and they're hurting right now. Both events took place the same day I started my new school, because God has clearly laid this school out for me. I have been called by the Father to serve the Father and that is an amazing blessing. But it scares the shit out of the Devil, and he wants to stop me. I won't let that happen. Talking with my family, I was able to help clear some of the dispute of the seperatees and will hopefully see a resolve come one day soon. As for the people I've seperated myself from, well, time will tell, but I'm praying everyday that they aren't out of my life forever.

I'd thought my victory in my latest savage battle against Beelzebub had ended that night, but in truth it had only begun. The next morning as I was worshipping Jesus, I received a Scripture from the Lord, 2 Peter 2. It described entirely what was going on between me and the loved ones I'd thought I'd lost, and gave me hope for a future. I also felt an anointing fall upon me, what I'm calling the "Noah Anointing," which basically calls me to preach righteousness to those fallen so far that they actually speak insults against the Lord to others and about others. I know the type, because I used to be one of them.

Then, the next morning, I played on the worship team and felt the Spirit of the Lord fall upon me in such a powerful way that I actually played with an intensity I didn't know I had. It was amazing! The Power of God was working in me!

We followed the time of worship with baptisms for 4 friends of mine (not you 4 readers of course, but maybe next time) and during their testimonies God reminded me of my baptismal testimony: I was baptized in the 12th grade, but in between that time and now I'd fallen so far that I had actually spoken insults against the Lord to others and about others. Hmm... irony anyone?

As the testimonies ended, our baptizers (which I believe is a real word) asked if anyone else felt as though they needed to be baptized. Three people volunteered. So as they were thanking God and giving testimonies I apologized to Jesus for throwing mud in the face of what was my baptism. And this is what He said to me...

"You could always go wash it off..."

Well there it was. And sure enough, as the last of the second three emerged from the Holy Water, they invited anyone else who felt God speak to come be baptized. And in I went. And out I came. Victorious.

When I was told that my beliefs were false, it was also said that I should be willing to "put my feet in the fire." Well, I am willing to do that and a whole lot more.

In order to win this war once and for all, I need to be completely on fire for Jesus. And so I lit that fire, by covering myself with Holy Water. Now I want to be Indiana Jones again, because I want to live the adventure that comes with fighting for Jesus.

My feet are in, and now I'm running. I encourage you... come catch me.

Break Yo'self to Make Yo'self

“We Three Kings of Orient are...”

Well, two of them are, and one of them isn’t. And therein lays the heart of Gene Edwards’ novella A Tale of Three Kings, a narration on the first kings of Jerusalem. So without further adieu, I’d like to introduce you to Saul, David and Absalom. First introduced to me in the Biblical First Samuel and brought back to life, literarily, in A Tale of Three Kings, to show us what it means to be king, and more importantly, what it means to be broken.

But where does brokenness fit into kinghood you ask? Seems like an odd combination doesn’t it? Admittedly, I’d never even considered the thought that the two might in fact go hand in hand, but that’s because I wasn’t focusing on the right kingdom... but we’ll get to that. What we need to be focusing on for now is our characters, for it is in their actions that the connections will be revealed. Let them teach us the insignificance of title, rank and position. Let them teach us the significance of humility, fear and love.

Saul was a somebody. He was well respected. He was good looking. And he was anointed by God to be king of Jerusalem. And king he was. A very good king in fact. But his good fortunes prevented Saul from opening up to his own insecurity and fear; that there was going to be someone better than him.

David was a nobody. He was disrespected. He was a common man. And he was anointed by God to be king of Jerusalem. He just didn’t know it yet. The youngest of 8 brothers, his father Jesse sent him off to take care of one of his flocks of sheep, and so Dave would spend many a fortnight by himself. Loneliness and heartache led David to sing to the Lord many songs, and cry out to Him for companionship. And what David found was that his life was filled with love, even as a lone shepherd.

“Alone?” David thought. “No. I am not alone. I have a constant friend in my God.”

And this is the state in which Samuel found David. And it was in this state that a wise, old prophet, having seen many things, recognized that not but a lowly shepherd boy was the anointed of God. This boy had felt things, and would do things unimaginable. Samuel couldn’t explain it, but God had told him that David was Israel’s next king.

Here is where things start to get a little bit tricky. All I’ve done so far is explain what the story is about. Let me work my way back a little bit and explain. Saul appears to have no brokenness, while David appears to have quite a bit. And there’s Saul’s dilemma. You see, God is looking for brokenness, so Gene Edwards says, because He can take that brokenness, heal it, and fill it with His presence. So he had done to David. But Saul never gave Him that chance, and so Saul sought to remedy his jealousy by breaking David even more.

History has taught us that when someone gets hit, that person will always hit back. As Edwards’ likes to put it:

“When someone throws a spear at you, you wrench it out of the wall and you throw it back at them.”

That isn’t brokenness. That is rage, that is response and that is retribution. History was accurate in all but one telling. Because David didn’t throw spears back. Even when he had the opportunity to, he didn’t throw them back. David knew that if he were to throw a spear back, he’d be just like Saul. Even if David could have overthrown Saul with the simple action of throwing the second punch, he wouldn’t do it, because nothing was worse than being like Saul.

How can that be so? Saul was King of Jerusalem! KING! Ah, but friends, he would not open up his brokenness, he would not allow the presence of God to enter him and heal him and piece him back together. He tried to keep his image one of a strong man and a confident leader, while David lived in caves and became the laughing stock of Israel. But as he hid and cried and feared, so too did he learn to love God even more, and so, as years passed by, Saul’s insecurities led to his downfall, without David striking against him even once. Saul went so crazy that he did multiple things he swore on oath to God as king he would never do, and eventually killed himself. And so David, the ‘broken’ one, walked right into Jerusalem and took his place as God’s anointed king.

Do you see what it was that David understood, and what is was that Saul could not grasp in his mind? Their kingdom of Israel was insignificant in comparison to the Kingdom of God. David knew this, and therefore understood that all he truly needed was his relationship with the King of that Heaven. Saul didn’t understand that, and gave God the backseat as he pushed harder and harder to gain control of a land he was already in control of. This certainly begs the question then: “Who was really the broken one?” David may have been broken, but Saul, in his desperate attempt to avoid his brokenness, ended up breaking permanently.

David was able to stick to the same principles he’d had as a shepherd and as a refugee when he became king, and while he certainly made many mistakes, some more horrible than others, he never lost sight of the fact that he was a broken man in the hands of a Healing Father, and it was because of this openheartedness that his reign over Jerusalem was so plentiful and protected. David conquered many foes, but never sought vengeance. Even when a second Saul entered his life, in the form of his own son, Absalom.

Absalom was a somebody. He was well respected. He was prince of Jerusalem. But he was not anointed by God to be king of Jerusalem. But Absalom wanted what David had. He failed to realize that David didn`t even want what David had. Edwards put it best in the form of an old man who served with David:

“As far as David’s authority: Men who don’t have it talk about it all the time. Submit, submit! That’s all you hear. David had authority, but I don’t think that fact ever occurred to him. We were six hundred no-goods with a leader who cried a lot! That’s all we were!”

You see, it was David’s brokenness that had gained him his authority. His subservience to the Lord guided him through grace into his position of authority. Absalom, like Saul, failed to realize this. And so he hid away his own brokenness, the brokenness of a son in the shadows of a father, and plotted and struck against David. What would you have done if you were David? With not but a single word David could have destroyed the work of Absalom, just as he could have obliterated Saul with the simple action of returning a thrown spear. But that would have turned him into Absalom. That would have turned him into Saul.

No. David did once again what nobody could understand, that I think, secretly, even he didn’t fully understand. He did nothing. He took hold of his brokenness, and gave it back to God. And sure enough, Absalom failed. He did battle with his father’s troops, unbeknownst to his father, and was killed, to the great dismay of David. Absalom’s shame mirrors Saul’s insanity, and in that we see the resonance of their brokenness.

So what does it mean to be broken? Does it mean to be lonely, despised, disrespected? Maybe. People certainly thought so of David. But I like to think that it was truly Saul and Absalom who were the broken ones. For you see, David took his hurts and his misfortunes and he gave them to God and God rewarded him for them. He guided him through the darkness and brought him into glory. Saul and Absalom refused to admit their brokenness, refused to admit that they might be weak, that they didn’t have authority, and so instead of receiving healing from God, they instead broke even more. One went insane. One hung from a tree by his hair.

So I invite you now to be like David. It certainly is the harder path to follow, but in the end, it is worth it. Embrace your brokenness. When you get hurt, let it hurt. When someone insults you, love them. When someone hits you, don’t throw a spear back at them. And who knows? Maybe one day you’ll become king too. One thing is for sure: If we hand our brokenness to God and let Him have it, we will certainly all become kings in the true Kingdom, that is, the Kingdom of Heaven.


“And today, though I am the anointed king, I am weak”
2 Samuel 3: 39a

Chocolatey Secrets of the Rabbit's Egg

There lies in the lies of Christian lore an exuberant amount of creativity. By that I mean that there is so much creativity found within Christian lore that not only are the authors able to spin and weave such wicked tales, the Catholic stooges have hidden well their deepest, darkest secrets, and they've done so by hiding them in the Word. That's right. The Holy Scripture. The Book of Life. The God Damned Bible.

Before we jump into this pool of knowledge, we'll have to climb the Tree of Life. The Da'ath.

Consider if you will, the construction of the Freedom Tower, the Emerald City, a tower which will illuminate the heavens for the entire world to see. For more on the subject, please take direction towards The Wrong Way Wizard's blog 'The Golden Arse.'

The tower is (drum roll please) Isis!... isisisisis...?... that's right, the Queen of the Throne, the Egyptian goddess, The High Preistess. The one who wears the Crown.

Notice the letters on the pillars between Isis in the image above. B & J. A good old-fashioned BJ, of which I'm personally a big fan of. But also, Boaz and Jachin, the two pillars originally mentioned in First Kings.

Jachin - "He Establishes"

Boaz - "In Him is Strength"

We've entered into insanity I realize, but don't get off of your bike yet cuz the wheel's just started spinnin'.

The High Priestess sits between Jachin and Boaz, the Freedom Tower stands between the World Trade Towers... are we beginning to get a glimpse at what I'm getting at here? Upon completion, the Freedom Tower, the Crown of Isis will pierce the sky and reveal to us Abraxas.

Abraxas: the Chicken who won't come out of his egg. Again, for further information, turn to 'The Golden Arse.'

We now know why Abraxas, or why Jesus, the ol' J-Bone, won't come out of the egg, simply because should he break through the egg, the rest of us die. One sperm lives, 6.6 billion die.

We come back to the intricate web woven by the Keepers of the Secrets. We come back to early spring, and we celebrate Easter.

Putting aside the fact that Easter is in reality just an even more horrific version of 'The Passion of the Christ,' it is celebrated by the searching, discovering and eating of chocolate eggs, chocolate chickens and of course, chocolate rabbits. Apparently the best way to thank the Lord for His ultimate sacrifice is to obtain as many cavities as possible in the span of 4 days.

Ok, so we've established what Easter is... so let's crack its shell and fry it with some butter. We can do it in 4 easy steps. For more info, order my recipe book, which also contains the secret directions to the Rabbit's Hole.

1. The crucifix. Christ in his infamous spread eagle pose, sacrificing His life to save ours. Or is he pointing to something else altogether? Allow this comparison.

Isis sits between Jachin and Boaz, between God's establishment and His Strength. She wears a crucifix on Her chest.

Christ is on the crucifix, and if you look He is pointing to the left and to the right.

The Freedom Tower stands directly in the middle of the former standing points of the World Trade Towers, directly between Jachin and Boaz.

... Christ is Isis! Christ couldn't have died for our sins, because He hasn't even been born yet! Should He be born, He'd have no one to sacrifice Himself for because He'd have already killed us! The story of Christ, is in fact, the story of Isis, pointing to the heavenly above to where Christ is actually hiding.

Still not convinced? On to step numero dos.

2. The egg. Several, if not all of us, started as a single cell organism known as a 'sperm.' In high school biology we're taught that the sperm breaks through the egg after winning a race against millions of other sperm. It is then that the egg develops and a child is born blah, blah, blah... but what happens to the multitude of losing sperm? Why the gas chamber of course!

So when Christ was ready to break through the egg, what did He realize? That upon entry into the egg, the rest of us would have to have died. It's simply the way of the world.

"He who would be born must destroy a world." - Herman Hesse

May I offer you a Chocolate egg? No? Perhaps because during the Last Supper, Christ makes metaphors to eating His body and drinking His blood? Not metaphors my friends.

3. The chicken. What came first, the chicken or the egg? The answer... the egg. Simply put, when revealed to us, Abraxas will still be in the egg. Don't make me quote Hesse again.

4. 4 days. It took one day for Christ to die. It took 3 days before he could rise again. 4 days.

"Daleth is a horizontal line which is the Heavenly Ceiling, supported by a vertical/phallic stroke. The complete meaning is: Doorway or Stargate. Daleth is truly neither. It is rather the illusion of boundlessness as a Cosmological Light Show cast upon an invisible black screen (Space)."

- The Wrong Way Wizard

The 4 isn't a coinkidink I assure you. It isn't even a coincidence. The Daleth represents the path to the Heavenly Ceiling, and the 4 days of Easter Weekend, represent the Daleth.

A bright light shines, a secret revealed and... hey my eggs are done!