Two Weeks in a Chinese Detention Center, Part Two: “Even the Prisoners Judge Us By Assumption”
Now I have come out of it and had the opportunity to measure the power of darkness with my own personal experience, I am thankful and convinced by the Lord that the power of hell cannot prevail over the keys of the kingdom of heaven. This is my greatest take-away from my time in prison, and a message I purposely bring to you.
Two Weeks in a Chinese Detention Center, Part One: “Ignite the Fuel of the Gospel”
The next morning there was a big debate. “If you are not a cult, why did they arrest you?” When you go inside, the hardest thing is not that the police say you have a problem, but that the prisoners also think you have a problem. The hardest thing is not that the people in power don’t understand you, but that average citizens also think the same about you. This debate is necessary for a basic reason. If they identify you as a cult, the testimony of faith has failed. Christians willingly follow the Lord even if they are imprisoned and arrested; but what is more difficult and important is to present the testimony of the gospel and to ignite the fuel of the gospel. After the debate, people did not think of me as a cult member anymore. They called me a missionary, and later they called me “father,” according to their understanding.
The Changes Brought by Gospel Renewal
Influenced by fundamentalism, as well as traditional moral culture, the teachings of the traditional church emphasized suffering and personal piety. All pastors were projected to be spiritually strong men without greed, selfish evil desires, or weakness…
What is the gospel? The gospel is salvation. No matter how strong I am, I am still a sinner in need of salvation.
The Voice of Chinese Sisters: Planting a Chinese House Church
The greatest need for church planting anywhere is the mission of the gospel and a passion for ministry. When we truly know God and the gospel and the mission that comes with it, a passion will be kindled in us through the love we receive. This passion will create desire for more people to know God, for more people to have the opportunity to worship where there are no such opportunities. This naturally develops into a church-planting ministry. The first great need is truly knowing what the gospel is.
Connecting with China: Learn and Pray
Chinese and American churches need each other, not just because of my theological understanding of the global reality of the Bride of Christ, but because the young need the old to offer their wisdom earned from experience, and the old need the young to refresh their sense of purpose and vision. If we want to see revival in America, then we must hear from and listen to those currently witnessing it.
The Mission of the Church in this Age
It is important for us as Christians to discern, in this age and in the context where God has put us, how we could best serve the people around us and live out goodness, justice, and mercy, which I believe is our top priority right now.
Disciples of an Eschatological Kingdom, Part Five: “That we may understand the times in which we are living”
Whichever discipleship model we choose needs to be supplemented with an eschatology of the coming of the kingdom of Jesus Christ so that we may understand the times in which we are living.
Disciples of an Eschatological Kingdom, Part Four: “Weigh Things in Light of the Kingdom of Heaven”
Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like a pearl, which a man bought after selling all that he had. We often soften this message. If we preached like this, who would follow Jesus? But if you understand who Jesus is and what he has done, you will sell everything. You should weigh things in light of the kingdom of heaven.
Disciples of an Eschatological Kingdom, Part Three: “We Have Been Set Free”
Jesus liberated those who lived their whole lives in fear of death. If you truly understand what he did, it is not that you will not be afraid of death, but rather that death no longer has the final say because we have already died in him. We have been set free.
Disciples of an Eschatological Kingdom, Part Two: “You Cannot Be a Disciple All By Yourself”
You cannot be a disciple all by yourself. If one person is missing, the whole is incomplete. Jesus says the last day will not arrive until the gospel has been preached throughout the whole world. Only when all the elect people have been gathered together will they be fully remade.
But this is not all. The universe will also be restored. Eschatological discipleship is spiritual formation in the kingdom of heaven. The reason we are able to follow Jesus is because the kingdom of heaven has come. Thereafter, we are citizens of it.
