Through their blows, the persecutors and the persecuted came to know one another. This is an important gain for both of us, as we continue to walk through persecution. This is what it means when we Chinese say: “Out of blows, knowledge grows!”
There will always be conflicts for people who grow up in a traditional Chinese education, because a Chinese education is an atheistic education. But I never doubted the existence of God. The existence of God was as natural to me as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west. It was as natural to me as getting up in the morning.
I am a subversive patriot because, despite the progress we have made as a nation, America is not my best hope for "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." My ultimate allegiance is to a King who gave up his own life, liberty, and happiness to redeem us from the tyranny of sin.
As we pray for ministry in China this year, will you join us in praying that the gospel would go deeper? Pray that the church in China will not be a plant that grows quickly and then withers. Rather, pray that its roots continue to go deep into the soil of the gospel. Then, though the wind and rain may buffet it, it will never be destroyed: it will grow tall and strong, empowered by nothing less than Jesus Christ himself.
Read MoreFor the contemporary, urban house church in China, suffering remains integral to its identity; but unlike in the West, there are no sharp divisions between political suffering and the suffering that has been brought to this world through the Covid-19 pandemic. In the theological legacy of Wang Mingdao, the house church generally believes that suffering and walking the way of the cross is integral to our union with Christ. Precisely because the Chinese church believes suffering is a foundational part of Christian discipleship, it does not make persecution by the state a bigger deal than it is.
Read MorePlanting a church and starting a church planting movement is an act of faith in the invisible future people of God. It is also a way to behold the inaugurated and present kingdom of Christ.
Read MoreNothing Christians suffer is new; what we face today is not new. When the gospel and Christ come into the world, the kingdom of heaven comes with power. When Christ, the heavenly king, comes to become king of the earth, there will be misunderstanding and conflict.
Read MoreToday’s church is the construction site in which the Holy Spirit is building a new creation. You and I – pastors, preachers, each and every Christian – are builders of this holy city, and also builders of the ultimate humanity. The Holy Spirit is working through us to re-create mankind.
Read MoreThe will of God is to create a whole humanity. Genesis 3 ended the wonderful plan of creation that started in Genesis 1:26. The creation of God’s images was not completed. The end of Genesis 3 leaves humanity one big question: can the creation of humanity be completed?
Read MoreChinese pastors have built on Clowney's foundation to go one step further: the church is heavenly, and its nature is heavenly (belonging to God and to Christ), but at the same time it is the humanity God wanted to create, according to his will. The church is the complete and final humanity.
Read MoreChina’s transformation is yet to be completed, and it will be a “three-steps-forward-two-steps-back” shuffle. We have to make adequate preparations. The best and most crucial preparation is not a practical, short-term, “underground church survival” plan, only to resurface after the tide has passed. The older generation stood up for the gospel and for Christ; should we hide today for the sake of survival?
Read MoreIllness and death are stark realities that remind us we need salvation. But because of our gradual slide into sin and numbness, we no longer care about our own desperate condition; it seems as though the only thing that can wake us up from our stupor and force us to reflect more on the meaning of life is sudden, catastrophic disaster.
Read MoreThroughout this epidemic in Wuhan, many families have been separated by death – but this is not the greatest tragedy. The greatest tragedy is being separated by eternal death. This is worse than being separated by physical death. On the day of judgment, those who have no share in Christ will be forever separated from the Lord of life and cast into hell. There is a frightening distinction between the children of God, who will inherit eternal life, and the children of the devil, who will be punished.
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