Eugene Bach is a leader with the Back to Jerusalem ministry (www.backtojerusalem.com). He has written a number of books about Christianity in nations that are hostile to the gospel; he has written about Christianity in China, Iran, and North Korea. This current volume deals with the experiences of a Tibetan Buddhist monk who left Buddhism to follow Jesus Christ.

Most of the text of this book deals with the experiences Tenzin had while he was in the Buddhist faith. As you read you will become acquainted with Buddhist teachings and practices, many of which are explained in the book. Tenzin was raised in a Buddhist family; when he was a teenager he was sent off to live in a Buddhist monastery. This was considered an honor and was to set him off on the path toward “enlightenment.” During his time in the monastery, he learned the disciplined life of a monk; their schedules were very regimented. In addition he also learned the tenets and practices of his faith and how to debate (which was a major facet of their training). While he was there he also became aware of some of the dark things that could take place in the Buddhist faith. In the first monastery he lived at he heard loud cries at night. He learned that these cries came from a younger monk who was being sexually abused by an older monk.

During the course of his studies, Tenzin moved to a number of different monasteries. In one place he found that the Buddhists hated the Chinese, in another he found that they hated the Muslims. He came to the conclusion that Buddhism was a very hateful religion. He also became aware that some of the top religious leaders, including the Dalai Lama, all of whom are supposed to be celibate, had secret families. He saw some of the inconsistencies and hypocrisy in the Buddhist faith. He also came to realize that some of his fellow seekers on the path to enlightenment seemed to be no more enlightened than he was.

In India, Tenzin tried to connect with one of his relatives who was also a monk (or so he thought). He learned that his cousin had actually moved to the United States a year earlier through the help of a Christian man and his church. His cousin had also become a Christian and was happier than he had even been. In the course of his journey, Tenzin found out from another monk that Jesus was dangerous for Buddhists; Jesus could undo all that Buddhists sought to attain. This monk told Tenzin to put away everything he had learned about Jesus. At one particular point in his studies Tenzin heard the Dalai Lama speak. In his teaching this man seemed to express respect for the other religions of the world. However, Tenzin noticed that he did not make any reference to Jesus or His followers.

Leaving Buddha is an interesting story of how God is at work in the world today, specifically in the lives of people from other world religions (yes, they can be reached). The book demonstrates how Tenzin’s emptiness, questions, and doubts brought him to Jesus. If you are interested in missions this book will be a welcome addition to your library. As Paul wrote to the church in Colossae “the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world” (Col 1:6 NIV); this is true even in the Buddhist world.

Reviewed by John Lathrop

Read Excerpts from Leaving Buddha:

In this excerpt from Leaving Buddha, Eugene Bach introduces us to the amazing story of Tenzin Lahkpa, a Buddhist monk who had a powerful encounter with Jesus the Messiah.

In this excerpt from Leaving Buddha, Tenzin Lahkpa, formerly a Buddhist monk, recalls his first introduction to Jesus the Messiah.

Eugene Bach: I travel more than 300 days a year for ministry and see a lot of different types of Christians. I speak at big churches and small churches. I work with underground house church Christians in Iran and traditional conservative churches in Europe and as different as they are all are, there is a common thread that binds us all together – our desire to see revival.

It is a universal desire among Christians world-wide.

I have been working in China for almost 20 years and during this time I have witnessed the world’s largest revival. Being involved with grassroots missions in China has thrown me into the fires of cultural immersion and allowed me to experience this revival firsthand as it was happening.

Traveling with Chinese missionaries into many closed nations has provided me with a unique perspective of the pain that exists in nations where revival has tarried.

Six years ago, I decided to start from the beginning, trace the history of revival, identify it’s characteristics, and see what we could learn to help push forward into the nations that have not yet experienced revival.

PneumaReview.com: The word “revival” means many things to many people. How would you define it?

Eugene Bach: I want to be very careful to not create a rigid definition of revival that excludes a movement of God, so for our road trip Bible study, we start in the book of Acts chapter 1 and follow what happens in the first century church.

During our road trip Bible study, Chasing Revival, we found this definition to be more accurate than others.

We believe that revival is not necessarily spontaneous – appearing out of thin air, but is rather continuation of what Jesus promised in Acts chapter 1. The revivals happening in China today are not new, but their roots can be traced back to Acts 1 in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago.

PneumaReview.com: What are some of the places you traveled to while making Chasing Revival?

Eugene Bach: We started in Jerusalem and followed the book of Acts into Judea, Samaria, Asia Minor, and to the “ends of the world.” This led us in a mainly western direction.

Eugene Bach speaks with PneumaReview.com about the amazing things he has seen God doing in China, Iran, North Korea, and other difficult places. What can we learn about the causes of the greatest revival of our age? How can you learn more about these Jesus movements that few others seem to be talking about?

PneumaReview.com: You have written books about Christianity in China, North Korea, and Iran. How did you become interested in writing about the persecuted church?

Eugene in Delhi, India.

Eugene Bach: Firstly, I am not an author. I have written books, but writing is not my gift. It is not something that I am good at. What I have written comes out of a sense of duty rather than a traditional interest. My background is in special operations in the US Military. As a former US Marine, I feel much more comfortable working with my hands, crawling in mud, and shooting weapons than sitting at a laptop writing, but as I have traveled around the world I realized that there are not many things that are written about certain areas of the world where Christians are persecuted.

If I desire to study the history of the western church in America and Europe, I will undoubtedly find a plethora of books that fill thousands of libraries from floor to ceiling. I will find endless discussions, websites, university courses, and computer programs to help me understand and learn more about the places, dates, and people involved in American and European revivals.

In contrast, the world is witnessing the world’s largest revival take place in China. What is being written about it? Who is recording it? What will the coming generations use to reference it?

The largest revival of any Muslim nation on earth is taking place in Iran. What is being written about it? There are so many pastors, missionaries, and evangelists that are doing amazing things and seeing tremendous church growth, but their stories are largely unknown to the rest of the world.

PneumaReview.com: The growth of the church in China has attracted worldwide attention. What are some of the key factors that have contributed to this tremendous growth?

Eugene Bach: I do not want to pretend that I know the perfect answer to this question. I am not an expert on the house church in China. After having lived in China for more than 17 years, I have learned that the term “China Expert” is an oxymoron.

I want to be extremely careful not to glorify persecution. I do not want to peddle a theology that profits from the pain of persecution, but I cannot deny the role that persecution has played in the growth of the church in China.

Eugene H. Peterson, “Eat This Book: The Holy Community at Table with Holy Scripture,” Theology Today (April 1999), pages 5-17.

Does the Bible really have anything to say to us today? If so, how do we find out what it says? Eugene Peterson—best known for his earthy translation of the Scriptures, The Message—offers a fresh challenge to take the Bible as the singular rule for living the Christian life. He challenges Christians to feed on the Word of God wherein our spiritual lives are formed as the Holy Spirit makes the Word real to us.

Eugene Peterson

This former pastor and a retired professor of Regent College (Vancouver) makes his point eloquently, so much so that nearly every paragraph has a statement so quotable one could fill an office with plaques. “Christians feed on Scripture. Holy Scripture nurtures the Holy Community as food nurtures the human body” (p. 6). “God does not put us in charge of forming our personal spiritualities. We grow in accordance with the revealed Word implanted in us by the Spirit” (p. 5). “It is the very nature of language to form rather than inform. When language is personal, which it is at its best, it reveals; and revelation is always formative—we don’t know more, we become more.” (p. 7). “Exegesis is foundational to Christian spirituality.” (p. 9). “Exegesis is loving God enough to stop and listen carefully.” (p. 10). “Scripture is the revelation of a world that is vast, far larger than the sin-stunted, self-constricted world that we construct for ourselves out of a garage-sale assemblage of texts” (p. 12).

For us to feed on Scripture, Peterson says, we must understand that Scripture is God’s revelation to us. Scripture is our text and our form. This revelation is not just informational but formational. The Word must not be merely studied technically but it must be assimilated into our very beings. Likewise, the “meta-narrative” of Scripture is the story about Jesus and the form for us to follow Him.

Peterson’s challenge to return to reading and doing the Word is one to be heeded. If God’s revelation of Himself to us is not our only basis of trust and life, then we will have a flawed and ultimately destructive manner of life. In an absolute sense, only God’s revelation of Himself is true. Therefore, if we remake the Scriptures to fit our preconceived ideas, is it any wonder that we will only end up deceiving ourselves and others?