Many missionaries are plagued by doubt. Not usually about the message. At...
The Missionary and the Mentor
‘Who is your mentor?’ This is the question that I would ask every young man in the Gospel ministry if I could. Please don’t think I would or could ask it from any position of superiority. It would be a challenge from one who stands in common need, and has graciously been allowed to benefit […]
Thou Shalt Not Rejoice…
Well, I wasn’t sure what direction to take this blog, so I decided the best thing to do would be to quit until I had an opportunity to stare out at the ocean contemplatively. But as I live a good hike from any oceans, I finally just settled for a coin toss. That was like, […]
And You Think You’re Bold?
My wife had an interesting experience when she was in the grocery store the other day. A couple college students walked up to her in the paper-products aisle with Bibles in their hands and started to share their faith with her. Mormons, I think. Pretty standard form of ‘evangelism’: chattering on endlessly about some doctrine […]
Sinners or Criminals
So one of the big issues in witnessing in China is supposed to be this problem with the word ‘sin.’ It’s definitely a problem, but I’m not sure it’s for the reason that is normally presented. The reason usually given is a linguistic one (most attempts to explain people’s mentality by their language are pretty […]
Ask Away
First-time visitor came up to me after church last night and said, ‘I have a question, but I hope it’s not offensive.’ Okay… ‘Why would you say that all people are sinners?’ He was relieved that his question was welcome, not offensive. Guy thought he was going to offend me by not agreeing completely with […]
Culture: The Same In A Different Way
I read recently (in The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb) about a study done by Science about national identity. The basic finding of the project, which surveyed members of 49 cultures, was that there is basically no correlation between nationality and character. Or, in other words, your bad temper has nothing to do with your […]
Raising the Bar of Boldness
I hope that all of you have heard and are praying for the leaders of the Golden Lamp Church in northern China. Recently, this mega-church’s properties were confiscated and their leaders detained. As I understand it, five of the leaders have been sentenced to a few years in labor camps. The church reportedly has 50,000 […]
Pre-Great-Commission Efforts
Monday I made a day-long trip with some of the guys to the next major city to the south. Apart from a bunch of trips to Beijing, I’ve never really traveled much within the country, so it was a great learning opportunity. We broke into a couple teams early in the afternoon and ran all […]
China and Relationships
Well, our police troubles still haven’t completely disappeared. The same officer has been back several times, including yesterday just before church again! He wants money, is what it boils down to. Of course, this can’t be said in so many words. It is an elaborate dance of intrigue and aggravation. We’ve had to learn a […]
The Cop
Yesterday we broke our record for closest call with the law. About ten minutes before our service started, a police officer showed up. Well, when I say showed up, I mean he walked right into our auditorium while our musicians were practicing and the rest of us were putting out songbooks. By the time anyone […]
The Gospel in China 
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