Chinese church's statment on the Holy Spirit

I'm currently reading "Inside China's House Church Network" by Yalin Xin, in which he describes in detail the history and inner workings of the Word Of Life house church network, the largest in China. The following is a portion from a statement on the Holy Spirit that was drafted in 1998 by four of the largest house church networks, standing for somewhere in the neighborhood of 30-40 million Chinese Christians:

"We do not believe in the cessation of signs, miracles or the termination of the
gifts of the Holy Spirit after the apostolic period. We do not forbid
speaking in tongues nor deo we insist that everyone must speak in tongues.
We do not use a criterion of speaking in tongues as the evidence of being
saved. We refute the view that the Holy Spirit is not a person in the
Trinity, but only a kind of influence" (Xin, 146)

A couple thoughts after reading this:
1. The use of negative statements ("we refute...", "we do not use...") seems very wise to me. In order to most accurately state what you believe you have to give both positive and negative information. This is especially true in our culture where words and definitions are becoming more and more flexible.
2. I wonder how many theologians and pastors have formulated their view on the gifts of the Holy Spirit (cessationism/continuationism) having had absolutely no contact or experience with such things. Theologically speaking, one may be able to point out to a Chinese Christian why certain gifts are not to be considered the regular pattern for this age. He would likely respond by saying something like, "I have seen the sick healed, the lame walk, and numerous other Acts-like miracles, and those on a regular basis throughout my Christian experience. How shall I possibly conclude that the Bible says such things do not happen?"
3. I've read of many amazing miracles happening in rural China, and I believe what I have read, because the stories are verifies by multiple sources ("The Heavenly Man", "Back to Jerusalem", interviews with various leaders in "Inside", cited above). However, I've never heard of such things happening in the western world. Either a) this is because of a lack of faith on the part of western Christians, or b) God's plan is for unique outpourings of his Spirit to be manifested in certain times and certain places. I lean heavily toward (b).

I definitely lean toward Piper's and (I think) Carson's position on spiritual gifts. The popular term seems to be "open but cautious". We'll see how that develops as I continue to study these things in the coming years.

Teaching Opportunity in China

We just got an email from the supervisor at the college where we taught in China. He wanted to pass along that there are several teaching opportunities at various campuses in Northeast China, teaching English and making between 4000-9000 RMB a month ($615-$1380). If anyone knows someone who is interested you can put them in touch with us.

Only in China...

(March 12, 2009, AP)
More than 1,200 residents in northeastern China have set a new world karaoke record by singing continuously for 456 hours, two minutes and five seconds. Students, soldiers, and businessmen from Changchun, capital of Jilin Province, sang more than 6,200 songs from February 20 until yesterday morning, Xinhua News Agency reported today. It beat the old Guinness World Record, set by Finns in July, by nearly 10 hours.

Economic Crisis in China

There's an article on cnn.com (read here) today about the difficulties that many rural Chinese are having as a result of the current global economic crisis. It's quite eye-opening. Few people in America will suffer as severely as those in other countries. While we were in China, one of the traits of the Chinese that continued to amaze us was their ability to press on and not complain. They accept hardship and learn to cope.

With Christianity on the rise in China I can't help but wonder what role this crisis is playing in God's design.

Chicken Feet!

We managed to avoid eating chicken feet for 2 years while living in China. Last night we ate dinner with our Chinese neighbors, and guess what we had? Chicken feet! It turns out chicken feet are a lot cheaper in the U.S. than in China.

The verdict? The taste isn't bad at all. There's not a whole lot of meat, as you might guess. The hardest part is just knowing that you're eating chicken feet.

Thanksgiving in America!

Tomorrow evening we'll head for Virginia Beach, where we'll spend thanksgiving with family for the first time in 3 years! We can't wait to be there! At the same time, we're so thankful for the many creative ways in which God provided fellowship for us while in China over the past 2 years, especially at holidays. We'll miss our 20+ person thanksgiving dinner crammed into a tiny dorm room. More and more, we understand life as a simultaneous joy in one sphere and longing in another. But in all things, we thank God, who is the giver of all good gifts.