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.

Grace in the wilderness

Jeremiah 31:2-6

2 Thus says the Lord:

“The people who survived the sword

found grace in the wilderness;

when Israel sought for rest,

3 the Lord appeared to him from far away.

I have loved you with an everlasting love;

therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

4 Again I will build you, and you shall be built,

O virgin Israel!

Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines

and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.

5 Again you shall plant vineyards

on the mountains of Samaria;

the planters shall plant

and shall enjoy the fruit.

6 For there shall be a day when watchmen will call

in the hill country of Ephraim:

‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,

to the Lord our God.’ ”

I just love this passage and wanted to share it. Verse 2 has been mulling in my mind for a few weeks. I have escaped the sword of God's wrath through the cross of Christ, and found grace in the wilderness. I think the Christian life can be described as a continual receiving of grace in the wilderness for those who have survived the sword. The book of Jeremiah was written during the time of Judah's being driven into exile for their idolatry. In the midst of this, God speaks these words to his people - his filthy, undeserving, and rebellious people. The wilderness is the only possible place where a person can find grace, and God is the only one who can give it.

God gives grace in many forms

This is one of my favorite pictures of Cohen sleeping. He gets pretty creative with the positions, especially in this side-sleeping positioner we've been using. We've tried quite a few different positions, soothing techniques, and other various tricks in order to try to get him to go to sleep easier. Sometimes we are successful, but more often than not it takes 45+ minutes of soothing him to get him to sleep. Needless to say, this is exhausting! (I realize that some experienced parents would laugh at my thinking 45 minutes is a long time to sooth a baby, haha, but I'm still adjusting!)
As we've been launched head first into the world of parenting we've learned just how different babies can be. Between talking with friends and reading parents' stories in books and online we've seen quite a spectrum - from the baby that sleeps through the night on night-one to the baby that screams night and day for 9 months. Through hearing these stories, and through our experiences over the past 4 weeks we've been reminded that God's grace is tailor made for each of his children. It's not neither helpful nor honoring to the Lord to wish for the grace that he has given to someone else instead of accepting that grace that he is so kindly offering to you.

For some parents, their grace comes in the form of a baby that sleeps very well. This is a gift from God, and should be treated as such. For parents with colicky babies, God's grace comes in the form of his sustaining presence and comfort from his Word, a friend who drops by to help out just at the right time, parents who come to stay for a few days to do the cooking and cleaning and to help the baby when he cries, and on it goes.

I've struggled in the past with thinking that my life has been too easy, and that that must mean that God knows I don't trust him enough to go through something really hard. Ridiculous, I know. But in that pattern of thinking, I make the fundamental mistake of thinking that anyone has the strength to endure difficulty on their own. God gives all grace and strength, for all good things come from his hand. And for this, He is worthy of our highest praise and adoration.

How Willingly Do People Go to Hell? :: Desiring God Christian Resource Library

I remember a while back listening to a Tim Keller sermon on hell. In the sermon series that he was in, each week he tackled a typical "problem" that New Yorkers (where his church is) have with Christianity. The sermons are excellent, and I would eagerly recommend them. However, I felt uneasy about the sermon on hell. Keller takes C.S. Lewis' stance, that no one is 'sent' to hell, but that they go there willingly. In this article, John Piper argues against Lewis' stance.

How Willingly Do People Go to Hell? :: Desiring God Christian Resource Library

Pictures of the past 2 weeks

Life officially feels different. And what a blessing! Things are generally going well. Life is all about expectations, and we're constantly reminding ourselves, "This is normal, we knew it would be like this!" whenever we're tempted to feel worried or discouraged. Cohen's gaining wait, sleeping reasonably well, and eating plenty. It's going to be ridiculous how many pictures we'll have of this guy by his 18th birthday!

This is right after his bath, on his birthday. The gold heart is monitoring his heart rate.

Passed out on the futon

He's got a pretty good things going on here with the carseat.

Relaxing on his favorite pillow

Cohen's first family picture!

Aunt and Grandma

Proud Grandpa

This one's a little blurry, but it's my favorite picture so far.

Welcome, Cohen

All throughout the Bible it is made abundantly clear that God is the giver of life, and the one who brings conception. God blessed Eve with a third Child, Seth, after the death of Abel, would continue the line of the promise. God granted Sarah and Abraham a child through the promise that he made to them. Samson birth was appointed by God, that he would complete the tasks that the Lord had assigned. Hannah bore Samuel after pleading with the Lord for a son. David was formed in the womb by the Lord. John the Baptist was blessed with the Spirit before he was born. Jesus' birth was foretold to Mary and to Joseph, and appointed before the dawn of time.


We praise God for his mercy on us in granting us a son. We have done nothing to deserve the Lord's kindness, and we dare not take it for granted. In his grace and mercy, God grants that thousands of children would be born daily to parents who do not acknowledge his rule and his grace. Thank you, Father, for this gift! Thank you for putting it in our hearts to love you and to serve you. May you be honored in the life of our son, Cohen Samuel Lawrence. May Jesus Christ be glorified in this home.

The Lord is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

The Lord is good to all,

and his mercy is over all that he has made.

Ps. 145:8-9

More posts coming...

I apologize for the complete lack of updates. We haven't given up on the blog. In the past several weeks we've been preparing to move, I've been applying for a job (which had a rather long interview process), and trying to keep my head above water in my classes. We have some good photos to post and we'll have some more soon. Check back!

PS. Check out the "Better Bibles Blog" link that I added to the sidebar. These guys are all involved in Bible translation in one way or another, and the blog deals with interesting and difficult translation issues. Very interesting.