"CHINA'S PASTORS TAKE THEIR STAND- JESUS IS LORD" - by Eric Metaxas and Stan Guthrie, Breakpoint.org, Sept 25, 2018; http://www.breakpoint.org/2018/09/breakpoint-chinas-pastors-take-their-stand/ [AS I SEE IT: I would hope that in witnessing the courage of these pastors in facing threats we could not imagine, we would not simply dismiss it as the actions of some super-hero Christians. We are each - every day - called to some level of courage in our walk with God, if but to simply be vulnerable and transparent with one another. We all need to be willing to do what is right - whatever the Spirit leads us to - if Jesus is also our Lord and if we truly seek to honor God with our faithfulness. - Stan]
I want you to meet some brave Christian leaders pledging their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
When thinking of the golden age of the Church, many of us hearken back to the book of Acts, when Peter and John stood up to the religious authorities, who told them to be silent about Jesus the risen Messiah. “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God,” they answered, “you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” Then they prayed for boldness, and the Church exploded across much of the ancient world.
But there’s a golden age for the church going on right now—with the same kind of courage, persecution, and Spirit-empowered growth. Where is it? In communist China.
World missions historians tell us that when all the foreign missionaries were kicked out of Mao’s China a few years after the Second World War, there were probably no more than 3 million believers in Jesus Christ in the whole, vast nation. But today, seven decades later, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life counts 67 million Christians of all kinds—35 million independent Protestants, 23 million Protestants in government-sanctioned churches, and 9 million Catholics. Other estimates go even higher.
Whatever the true number is, it’s almost as many as there are members of the Communist Party! Maybe that’s why the government is cracking down on Christians. According to Christianity Today and other news outlets, Under President Xi Jinping, China’s government has been tightening its grip on religious affairs.
In February, regulations aimed at religious groups have brought increased pressure on churches to be “Chinese” culturally and to submit to the authority of the Communist Party. Churches are being told to burn their crosses and replace them with Chinese flags and to display slogans praising the Communist Party. Some are being forced to join the government-sanctioned churches and permit video surveillance of their services.
Meanwhile, in Jiangxi province, authorities have forced at least 40 churches to display banners forbidding foreigners from preaching and anyone under 18 from attending. In August, they even published new rules stating, “Party members who have religious belief should have strengthened thought education.”
In the spirit of Peter and John, a group of at least 250 Chinese pastors has publicly signed a joint statement opposing the new regulations. In the statement they declare that Jesus is Lord of all, offering eternal life to anyone who will repent and believe in Him.
But they also say, in a challenge to the Chinese communists, “God hates all attempts to suppress human souls and all acts of persecution against the Christian church, and he will condemn and judge them with righteous judgment.”
Then, like Peter and John, they pledge obedience not to the earthly authorities but to King Jesus, no matter what. “We declare that in matters of external conduct, churches are willing to accept lawful oversight by civil administration or other government departments as other social organizations do. But under no circumstances will we lead our churches to join a religious organization controlled by the government, to register with the religious administration department, or to accept any kind of affiliation.”
They close their incredible joint statement with the bracing yet sobering words, “For the sake of the gospel, we are prepared to bear all losses—even the loss of our freedom and our lives.”
Friends, is it any wonder that the church in China has grown, and continues to grow? What we’re seeing before our eyes is the golden age of the church in China. How can we not pray for these wonderful brothers and sisters? And more than that, how can we not emulate their costly faithfulness in our own little corner of God’s world?
[italics and colored emphasis mine]
RESOURCES
"116 Chinese Pastors Sign Joint Statement on the New Religious Regulations" - China Partnership | September 2, 2018;http://www.chinapartnership.org/blog/2018/9/116-chinese-pastors-sign-joint-statement-on-the-new-religious-regulations
"China Bans Zion, Beijing’s Biggest House Church" - World Watch Monitor | Christianity Today | September 10, 2018; https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/september/china-bans-zion-beijing-house-church-surveillance-ezra-jin.html
"China Mulls Major Restrictions on Online Ministries" - Christianity Today Staff | Sept 11, 2018;https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/september/china-ban-online-evangelism-internet-religious-information.html
"Red Tape: China Wants to Constrict Christian Activities with 26 New Rules" - Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra | Christianity Today | October 3, 2016;
https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2016/october/red-tape-china-constricts-christian-activities-sara.html
When thinking of the golden age of the Church, many of us hearken back to the book of Acts, when Peter and John stood up to the religious authorities, who told them to be silent about Jesus the risen Messiah. “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God,” they answered, “you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” Then they prayed for boldness, and the Church exploded across much of the ancient world.
But there’s a golden age for the church going on right now—with the same kind of courage, persecution, and Spirit-empowered growth. Where is it? In communist China.
World missions historians tell us that when all the foreign missionaries were kicked out of Mao’s China a few years after the Second World War, there were probably no more than 3 million believers in Jesus Christ in the whole, vast nation. But today, seven decades later, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life counts 67 million Christians of all kinds—35 million independent Protestants, 23 million Protestants in government-sanctioned churches, and 9 million Catholics. Other estimates go even higher.
Whatever the true number is, it’s almost as many as there are members of the Communist Party! Maybe that’s why the government is cracking down on Christians. According to Christianity Today and other news outlets, Under President Xi Jinping, China’s government has been tightening its grip on religious affairs.
In February, regulations aimed at religious groups have brought increased pressure on churches to be “Chinese” culturally and to submit to the authority of the Communist Party. Churches are being told to burn their crosses and replace them with Chinese flags and to display slogans praising the Communist Party. Some are being forced to join the government-sanctioned churches and permit video surveillance of their services.
Meanwhile, in Jiangxi province, authorities have forced at least 40 churches to display banners forbidding foreigners from preaching and anyone under 18 from attending. In August, they even published new rules stating, “Party members who have religious belief should have strengthened thought education.”
In the spirit of Peter and John, a group of at least 250 Chinese pastors has publicly signed a joint statement opposing the new regulations. In the statement they declare that Jesus is Lord of all, offering eternal life to anyone who will repent and believe in Him.
But they also say, in a challenge to the Chinese communists, “God hates all attempts to suppress human souls and all acts of persecution against the Christian church, and he will condemn and judge them with righteous judgment.”
Then, like Peter and John, they pledge obedience not to the earthly authorities but to King Jesus, no matter what. “We declare that in matters of external conduct, churches are willing to accept lawful oversight by civil administration or other government departments as other social organizations do. But under no circumstances will we lead our churches to join a religious organization controlled by the government, to register with the religious administration department, or to accept any kind of affiliation.”
They close their incredible joint statement with the bracing yet sobering words, “For the sake of the gospel, we are prepared to bear all losses—even the loss of our freedom and our lives.”
Friends, is it any wonder that the church in China has grown, and continues to grow? What we’re seeing before our eyes is the golden age of the church in China. How can we not pray for these wonderful brothers and sisters? And more than that, how can we not emulate their costly faithfulness in our own little corner of God’s world?
[italics and colored emphasis mine]
RESOURCES
"116 Chinese Pastors Sign Joint Statement on the New Religious Regulations" - China Partnership | September 2, 2018;http://www.chinapartnership.org/blog/2018/9/116-chinese-pastors-sign-joint-statement-on-the-new-religious-regulations
"China Bans Zion, Beijing’s Biggest House Church" - World Watch Monitor | Christianity Today | September 10, 2018; https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/september/china-bans-zion-beijing-house-church-surveillance-ezra-jin.html
"China Mulls Major Restrictions on Online Ministries" - Christianity Today Staff | Sept 11, 2018;https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/september/china-ban-online-evangelism-internet-religious-information.html
"Red Tape: China Wants to Constrict Christian Activities with 26 New Rules" - Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra | Christianity Today | October 3, 2016;
https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2016/october/red-tape-china-constricts-christian-activities-sara.html
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Praying Through the Open Doors World Watch List for persecuted believers:To learn more, please go to -https://www.opendoorsusa.org/take-action/pray/monthly-prayer-calendar/
Praying for North Korea - For the last 17 years, North Korea has been #1 on the World
Watch List as the most dangerous place in the world for Christians. Yet the North Korean church, an estimated 300,000 members strong, continues to persevere. Throughout October, join us we pray for and encourage our persecuted family living in the face of oppression.
October 3 | NORTH KOREA - The nation’s official ideology is Juche, a fusion of Marxism
and Korean nationalism. Pray for North Koreans to see the emptiness of this ideology and that their search would lead them to Christ.
*Name has been changed to protect identity.
Watch List as the most dangerous place in the world for Christians. Yet the North Korean church, an estimated 300,000 members strong, continues to persevere. Throughout October, join us we pray for and encourage our persecuted family living in the face of oppression.
October 3 | NORTH KOREA - The nation’s official ideology is Juche, a fusion of Marxism
and Korean nationalism. Pray for North Koreans to see the emptiness of this ideology and that their search would lead them to Christ.
*Name has been changed to protect identity.
The news in this article is very interesting and encouraging. Despite what can be called "persecution" of the church in China, the hope of the gospel has only prospered. It takes courage to stand for faith, to even say "For the sake of the gospel, we are prepared to bear all losses - even the loss of our freedom and our lives." I hope those pastors stay strong in the Lord and true to their joint compact.
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