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.
I would like to propose three principles that can potentially help us in choosing national ministry partners. These are not the only things you should be aware of; rather, these are the things that I have seen most often neglected among the foreign worker community that I have interacted with over the past twenty years.
Read MoreQuestions of communication in a common language, financial provision, cultural expectations and many others are complicated. In addition, there are issues of theological and ministry-style differences. One can get so burdened by the complexity of these issues to the point that we just throw our hands in the air and give up. Is it possible to come up with practical, biblical principles and guidelines that would help us to better understand how to work toward that koinonia?
Read MoreAlongside God’s sovereign hand in all of this, none of these things would have been possible without the Sherpas who guided and navigated the journey. The terrain where I live is too difficult spiritually and culturally for us as foreign workers to have been able to pull any of this off on our own. The Sherpas have been essential.
Read MoreDespite increasing pressure from the government, house church leaders continue to plant churches and gather for worship because they see the church as the scaffolding of the kingdom of God. One pastor even said to the police officers, "The church belongs to God, I don't have the courage to shut it down. If you have the guts, you can do it yourself."
Read MoreIn these few years all of our ministries have stemmed from the gospel and have been renewed by grace. It is not according to our own diligence to accomplish something; rather, when we preach the gospel unceasingly, we know that we will be filled with grace such that it will overflow. When this happens, the church will slowly be renewed.
Read MoreIn the power of the gospel, we don’t need to be afraid and we don’t need to be proud, because our sense of security is deeply rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ. This will build a different culture of community, and this culture is something that the world does not have.
Read MoreChinese churches think suffering is about identity, mission, and hope in union with Christ. If we are united with Christ, then suffering is natural; we will experience what Christ experienced in this world. They believe suffering is not about seeking after suffering, but rather about following of Christ. Whenever one follows Christ, there will be different forms of suffering. What they are now experiencing is normal. Suffering is the agony of the process of recreation. God is recreating us. He is recreating pain and birth, and that process means suffering.
Read MoreEven though we face difficulties and conflicts, and even though we are busy serving the church, we are a people who have been loved. Our whole lives belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, so we should depend on him in all things and glorify him in all that we do. Since we are loved, we ought to have the same mind as Christ, caring for our earthly parents in the Lord with a heart of gratitude. We ought to consider before God how we can practically care for the physical and spiritual health of our elderly parents.
Read MoreAs we take care of our parents, even though children can easily spend more of their energy and worry taking care of the physical and emotional needs of their parents, as Christians we ought to pay more attention to our parents’ spiritual well-being. As children who were the first to believe, we are entrusted by God with this responsibility, and we will have to give an account to him.
Read MoreAs Christians who have been given the great grace of salvation in Jesus Christ, we should strive to discern secular ideas, to war against the sins of our flesh, and to confront and reflect on God's will through the gospel. May the Lord lead us to repentance and back to his will. Because the Lord died for us on the cross and forgave all our sins, making us children of God and giving us the eternal hope of the Kingdom of Heaven, we ought to support our parents with hearts full of gratitude, relying on and trusting in his promises as we testify to the name of our Savior Christ. God will remember our faithfulness and bless us.
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