2023-04-01 Saturday Meet Two Senior Missionaries
Dai Deen Dai Jiayin
2023-03-31 Fri Contact Brother Zhao
Bible Study with Brother Chen
Bible Study with George
2023-03-29 Wed. Contact Sister Weng
She Continued to have a severe headache
Contact Brother Wen
2023-03-27 Monday: Shu is sick
No reply from brother Chen.
2023-03-26 Sunday Bible study with Yuan
2023-03-23 Thu Sister Weng’s son heard the gospel
Listened, but not ready to believe it yet
2023-03-22 Wed Could not study with Brother Chen
The bad news about a good brother and friend B
2023-03-21 Tuesday Visiting Brother Paul
2023-03-20 Mon Shared with nephew Shu
Visiting Big Sister Weng
2023-03-19 Sunday Visit from D,D.
Talked with Mr. Zheng’s son about the gospel and made an appointment.
Contacted Big Sister Weng.
2023-03-18 Sat The churches on the mainland continue
2023-03-17 Fri George is continuing
2023-03-16 Thu Brother Liu is continuing
see Mr. Zheng off
2023-03-25 Wed practise the Good Samaritan
Help Mr. Zheng
His son-in-law does not want to understand the gospel
Brother Chen is busy
2023-03-24 Tuesday Don’t worry about the scriptures’ ineffectiveness
2023-03-11 Saturday Preparing for the big network gathering
2023-03-10 Fri Continue with George
2023-03-06 Mon Mr. Zheng is willing to
Invite my nephew
to pray with Brother Chen, who met with a miracle.
2023-03-05 Sunday Talking with two college students about homosexuality and the Bible
Ms. Ma thinks openness equals progress and advancement
Invited her to read Genesis 19, next time suggested her to read Levit 20
Caleb’s grandparents are Catholic, his dad’s Protestant, his mom is Jewish, and he believes in an abstract God. He thought the 6 places in the Bible that talk about homosexuality are all in support of homosexuality.
He takes harm and happiness as the standard.
2023-03-03 Friday Two friends don’t want to learn
Asked two friends if they wanted to learn about the gospel and brushed off being too busy.
George is continuing
2023-03-02 Thu Zhu Guangwei praised
She liked “This is my king”. She said, “This is good, maybe I like the hymns better, can you share the English version?
Brother Chen is busy.
Sophie is willing to contribute.
2023-03-01 Wednesday Study with Brother Chen
2023-02-27 Mon Meeting two Hmong people
They were willing for me to preach the gospel to them, and they listened to my testimony and the gospel. We made an appointment to see each other again.
2023-02-24 Fri Mr. Zha
He was willing
Georg is continuing
2023-02-23 Thu Meeting with Brother Liu
2023-02-22 Wed Speak with Mr. Zhen face to face
2023-02 21 Tuesday Appointment with Mr. Zhen
Mr. Zhen agreed
2023-02-20 Mon Study with Brother Chen
Prof. Li was not available
2023-02-19 Sunday J No reply
2023-02-18 Saturday
2023-02-17 Fri W Sister’s visit
2023-02-16 Thu Praying with Brother Chen
His Trouble Continues
2023-02-15 Wed Appointment with Mr. Zou and Mr. Ni
They would like me to preach the gospel to them
Giving a presentation at the church
2023-02-14 Tuesday Study with Brother Chen
Review Mark 1:14-37, and the core of the gospel
2023-02-13 Mon Both Mr. Li and Brother Chen failed to come
Prof. Li was hesitant again
Preparing for a large group meeting
2023-02-12 Sunday Brother Chen changed his appointment to Monday
Reunited with Brother Zhang YR, although it was online, I was still excited
2023-02-10 Friday, inviting J to see the circus
J’s timing is not good
2023-02-09 Thu Meeting with Brother Liu
Accompanied Sister Weng to the doctor
2023-02-08 Wed Brother Liu had something else to do
2023-02-07 Tuesday Share with Sister Weng
Sister Weng is a devotee of Buddha and has experienced some miracles.
After listening to my testimony and analysis of the Buddha’s Yeshiva today, she felt very interested and proposed to call her son and brother-in-law together to listen.
2023-02-06 Monday Bible reading with Brother Chen
Didn’t finish the reading, he was cold in the middle, will continue next Monday.
I suggested Prof. Li to take his wife’s son to believe in Jesus. Mr. Lee was very distressed about his son: “My son cannot believe in Christ. He woke up from a dream a year or two ago, convinced that he was possessed by the spirit of Satan and felt that God would not forgive Satan. As a parent there is only endless anguish. A young man of twenty-two, he eats and sleeps every day.
When asked about Mark 1:23-27, Prof. Li realized that he had just read it the day before and it seemed to be enlightening.
2023-02-05 Sunday Bible reading with Prof. Li
We read Mark 1:14-34 together. Prof Li did not believe in heaven and hell, and did not believe that Jesus could really do miracles.
Brother J said Sunday afternoon or evening is OK, but still not OK
2023-02-04 Saturday Teacher Li didn’t come
Teacher Li was unable to attend
2023-02-03 Friday Invite uncle again
Brother Wu has practiced how to preach the gospel. And His son has agreed to go to church with him.
Brother Chen is going back to New York tonight.
A group was supposed to resume meeting today, but changed.
We have an appointment with Teacher Li for a Bible study tonight.
2023-02-02 Thursday Brother Wu is joining a church’s small group.
2023-02-01 Wednesday Sister Wong is not available
2023-01-31 Tuesday Invited Mr. W
J replied, but no reply to the Bible study
2023-01-30 Mon Invite big sister Wong to talk about the gospel
She needs to find a time.
Bible study with Brother Chen tonight. He was called back to work again, but we prayed and shared together, and he had some tears. He is going back to New York next week.
2023-01-29 Sunday J No reply
2023-01-28 Sat A group is preparing to resume physical meeting
Sister Su Li is preparing to share the gospel with her mother and sister.
2023-01-25 Wednesday Brother Chen worked overtime
No Bible study
Teacher Li said, “I know that believing in the Lord can save many things, but it is so hard to believe, it is hard to pass my rational test, but if I do not believe sincerely, when disaster comes or threatens, I can only call on the name of the Lord! I am sometimes torn between these two ends, like my marriage, wandering at the crossroads …… It’s so hard to live a life that is satisfactory, let alone satisfactory, even scoring sixty points!”
2023-01-23 Mon Talking with cousin Sister about the Gospel
Although cousin Sister has been attending meetings, she doesn’t seem to be clear about the gospel core, and after sharing, she still has reservations about being a sinner. It will take time, but she agreed to let me proclaim it to her son.
2023-01-22 Sunday New Year’s Greeting
Called on two uncles and aunt and invited them to hear the gospel
2023-01-20 Friday A few good news
Brother G in Vancouver wants to continue to deepen the local church life and look for opportunities to share the gospel.
Teacher L’s marriage was preserved.
Brother Zou from New York is willing to let me supervise the spiritual life.
2023-01-18, Wednesday, Brother LL reached out to me
I am so thankful that Brother LL reached out to me to meet together.
2023-01-16 Mon J couldn’t, but Mr. Chen came to the Lord
After listening to my testimony, figuring out who Jesus is and what He did, and comparing Buddhism and Christianity, Mr. Chen decided to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord; others sowed the seeds and I reaped the harvest. An appointment was made to follow up with a Bible study for discipleship training next week. He is in another state and will return to NY after the New Year.
2023-01-14 Sat Appointment with J on Mon.
2023-01-13 Fri Study with G
He has started to have a Bible reading plan and has started to follow this plan on his own.
He feels that if he had read it early, he could have avoided many wrong paths.
So he will take his son to believe with him. Continue to go to church.
2023-01-12 Thu Contact Mr. Chen and Mr. Li
They are in great need, but still can’t do Bible study.
Pastor Wan Wen and the three preachers under his supervision decided to preach Acts in the New Year. They will prepare the sermon together every day to make sure the quality.
2023-01-11 Wednesday Mr. Chen is working again
Rescheduled to next Monday.
2023-01-10 Tuesday Outreach BB
2023-01-09 Mon Got together with Mr. Chen halfway.
His restaurant called him back to work during our meeting and we postponed our meeting to Wednesday.
Dr. M and Dr. R came to visit.
2023-01-07 Sat J had something to do.
He was also busy on Sunday.
2023-01-06 Fri Continued with G.
2023-01-04 Wed. Started meeting with Bro L.
Brother L said he had gone to the local church once.
Tuesday, 2023-01-03 Sister C can no longer support
God is in charge.
2023-01-02 Mon Bible study with J
His application for next week is to read the Bible, but he still does not accept that people will go to hell.
White European and American missionaries have advantages in China: 1 developed countries; 2 language; 3 skin color.
Chinese missionaries have disadvantages in the U.S.: 1 foreigners are common; 2 negative image of China; 3 no language advantage.
2023-01-01 Sunday Visit to church
J’s youngest daughter visited, study postponed to Monday.
2022-12-31 Sat Visit to DD
2022-12-30 Fri Visit church
Talked with Mr. Shon
Left to visit church Millcreek
2022-12-29 Thursday Bible Study with J
We arranged to have a Bible study together on Sunday evening.
Make an appointment with Mr. Chen, he is available on Friday and Saturday evenings at 11pm.
2022-12-28 Wednesday Bible study with Brother L
Brother L does not have a meeting at the moment, and there seems to be a lack of this condition around, so we arranged to have a Bible study together.
2022-12-27 Tuesday Visiting Brother Xu
It turns out that Brother Xu and his staff have already believed, but they just don’t have time to meet, and Sister Huang has not yet believed.
2022-12-24 Saturday J was sick
J had Covid and was resting all week.
2022-12-19 Mon Met Mr. Chen
Mr. Chen said he was thinking of believing in Jesus after he found out I was a evangelist.
2022-12-18 Sunday Talked with 6 college students
They have no religious beliefs and two don’t know the difference between Jesus and Santa Claus.
2022-12-17 Sat Bible Study with J
Very open and encouraging with each other
Told our Chinese friends that we will look for opportunities to share the gospel with them.
2022-12-16 Fri Bible study with G
G is ready to share the faith
2022-12-15 Thursday Dinner with the pastors
2022-12-14 Wednesday J would like to continue the Bible study
But friends from the Chinese restaurant did not come, hoping to find opportunities to share the gospel.
2022-12-13 Tuesday Urging Brother Hai
Brother Hai asked to pray for him and his wife. It seems that their relationship is improving, urging him to have meetings.
2022-12-12 Monday Urge Brother Jing
Jingdi will stop teaching in two weeks.
2022-12-11 Sunday Ask Xu and Huang
Ask them if they have been discipled and invite them to participate, they would like to consider. sister Huang is one month away from giving birth.
2022-12-10 Saturday J having no time
2022-12-09 Fri Introduce yourself to Xu and Huang
They were willing to convert all the workers in their restaurant and I introduced myself to them so that I could lead them to study. But it seems they don’t quite understand.
Brother G has started going to church, and D and I both think that church seems good.
2022-12-08 Thursday Looking for B’s support
No progress
2022-12-03 Sat J having no time for our study
Fellowships in the mainland began to pray for the resumption of physical gatherings and large group gatherings.
2022-12-02 Fri G Started to learn how to share the gospel.
2022-12-01 Mon Met Xu and Huang
They said they had been baptized and were willing to receive articles.
2022-11-30 Wed Test domestic podcast platform
No success with local podcasts in China, no link to them.
The Hong Kong one is working, trying to link to Taiwan one.
2022-11-28 Monday Attention to big events
After asking and discussing, we expressed the attitude of the church
2022-11-26-27 Saturday J Not in the mood for the Bible study
2022-11-25 Friday G’s Discipleship begins
Learn how to share the gospel
D urged G to go to church
2022-11-21 – 23 Test Podcast
I’m infected too
2022-11-20 Sunday I couldn’t make it to my appointment
My child had a fever and couldn’t make the appointment
2022-11-19 Sat Appointment with J
Appointment for Sunday
2022-11-18 Fri Test podcast
Many on the mainland are not working well
G finishes Seeker’s study, and will starts Timothy’s discipleship next week
2022-11-17 Thursday Email to help a sister
A sister wrote in to share her plight and we encouraged each other by email.
One of 17 responses decides to start attending Bible study
2022-11-16 Wednesday Local Chinese came to church
The church had an early Thanksgiving dinner together. A local Chinese family came to church and everyone was very warm to them.
2022-11-15 Tuesday Podcast had a breakthrough
2022-11-14 Mon Weekly translation and recording of a sermon
2022-11-11 Friday Continuing Bible study with Brother G
Make an appointment with Brother J to continue on Saturday
2022-11-6-10 Monday through Thursday
Continue to contact those brothers. Making progress on the podcast.
2022-11-05 Sat Bible Study with Mr. J
He wishes to continue. And he wishes to resume his Bible-reading next week.
2022-11-4 Fri. Appointment with Mr. J
Bible study appointment with local Mr. J on Saturday
2022-11-3 Thursday Brethren Meeting
The brothers have good ideas to help the teenagers
2022-11-02 Wed Write A Case of Online Evangelism
Hope more people will reach out
2022-11-01 Tuesday Prayed with an old colleague
Old co-worker believed twenty years ago but did not continue and now has a desire to restart. He decided to practice 1 Pet. 3:7, reconciliation with God and reconciliation with his wife.
2022-10-31 Mon Mom’s faith was rekindled
Mom started trying to share articles with people and suffered a setback.
2022-10-30 Sunday Thanks to pastors
Reviewed the blessings of the pastors.
2022-10-28 Friday George continued
George showed great faith that he is willing to memorize the scriptures.
Wednesday, 2022-10-26 Mr. Herb uses an article to help people
Mr. Herb uses “Selfishness Prevents Intimate Relationships” to help a couple.
2022-10-23-30 Week Fever and cold
Continue to encourage brothers and sisters to get back into the habit of memorizing the Scriptures.
2022-10-24 Mon Prepare monthly report
Reflect on this month’s work.
2022-10-23 Sunday
A group agreed to resume memorizing the scriptures.
2022-10-22 Sat Agreement to resume Bible study
Both groups agreed to resume Bible memorization.
Several brothers and sisters are preparing to use the website to aid in evangelism.
Josh had a temporary problem and could not do the Bible study.
2022-10-21 Friday Bible Study with Brother Wu
Visited an old sister who is sick.
Met with some enthusiastic brothers and sisters.
2022-10-20 Thursday Make an appointment with Josh
Josh agreed to explore God together over the weekend, but he doesn’t believe in hell and thinks Jesus was married.
Was introduced by an old friend to three large groups of about 200 people each, a good place to evangelize.
Made an appointment with my son to restart memorizing two verses a week.
2022-10-19 Wednesday Looking for a new computer
2022-10-18 Tuesday Appointment with a friend who is a new believer
Among the friends who agreed to accept my articles, there were those who didn’t know at all, those who had heard about it, those who were seekers, those who had lost their church life, and found an old friend who actually came to faith two or three years ago, and another old friend who became a pastor in Macau. It was overwhelming, and I had the feeling of gaining people like fish. Two of the brothers were college colleagues. Preparing to reach out to other former colleagues next.
One of them is a new brother who has lost his church life. We have an appointment to talk about our faith together by video and hope to have discipleship training in the future.
2022-10-17 Monday Waiting for Brother Huang
Continuing to pursue old and new friends, and waiting for Brother Huang.
I was moved out of a 200-person group at the university, but texted to all more than 100 individuals asking if they would like to receive Bible-related articles, and 17 people have agreed, several of whom are brothers and sisters who have somewhat lost their church life for a long time. One person asked what the use was, and I sent Brother Jason’s testimony to him.
2022-10-16 Sunday Cousin’s transformation
My cousin said that in future Bible studies, she will change her perspective from challenging and questioning to focusing on the positive side and faith side.
2022-10-15 Saturday Brother Chen returned to our meeting
What a joy!
202-10-14 Fri Bible Study with Brother Wu
In the afternoon, I helped the old brother paint.
The evening Bible study went on as scheduled, and suddenly I found out that Brother Wu was baptized by Dustin, and I was present.
2022-10-13 Thursday The testimony of the Mafia brothers
The testimony of the Mafia brothers was written in Italian and was very long, and first translated into English, and from English into Chinese.
The two doctors informed that the time was changed. Looking up to God and realizing that He knows all, disappointment turned to joy.
2022-10-12 Wednesday Appointment with two doctors
Agreed to listen
2022-10-10 Monday Bible Study
After a day of waiting, at 10:40 at night, Brother Huang replied that he was ready for Bible study.
2022-10-09 Sunday Settlement of Bible study details Set up the time, process and content of the Bible study with Brother Wu. Friday night 6:30 pm Vancouver time.
2022-10-07 Friday Bible Study Appointments
Brother Huang from New York agreed to have a Bible study next Monday. Brother Wu in Vancouver also agreed to find time for Bible study in the following days. They have both lost their church life.
I met another friend Mr. Chen from New York, but I guess he doesn’t believe yet.
2022-10-06 Thursday Mr. Zhen in San Francisco
Mr. Zhen called. Last time he said he was going to church when his troubles were over.
2022-10-05 Wed Mainland friend not responding
Local gentleman J, is willing to talk about Jesus. Ready to invite him to see a movie.
2022-10-04 Tuesday No response from our friends on the mainland
Continue to explore the podcast. The mainland pastors prayed for this.
2022-10-03 Mon Apologies to my older cousin
Because I was a bit impatient and in a somewhat debating state during last Saturday’s Bible study, I apologized and explained the importance of knowing sin and not abating it. Received understanding from my older cousin.
2022-10-02 Sunday Good news for Mrs. Liu
Pancreatic cancer is the king of cancers, and any improvement is a miracle. Not only Mrs. Liu, but also Brother Zhang, the groups, and me, are greatly encouraged.
2022-10-01 Sat Continue exploring the podcast
2022-09-30 Fri Start extending to podcasts
Ongoing exploration of the podcast.
Questions on Paul’s manuscript are answered.
2022-09-29 Thu The mailand can no longer use Enigma
The mainland blocks it, now you have to use Telegram
2022-09-28 Wed A sister’s manuscript
The content of the sister’s manuscript is very important, but it is written in English, and she is willing to publish a Chinese version again.
Another predecessor has established contact with the website
2022-09-27 Tuesday The old friend who disappeared reappears
The old friend, Wang, who started talking about Jesus with his old friend Ma, but then disappeared, reappeared.
Another article by Dr. Paul was translated, but there was some questions with the content.
2022-09-26 Mon Received baptism manuscript
Proposed Bible study to second uncle, no reply
2022-09-24 Saturday Received the article about brother’s baptism
Not only is this important for their family, but also for the church.
2022-09-22 Thursday Knocking on doors, answering questions
If you don’t knock, the door will not open. When you knock and encounter a question, the question is the lock, and a proper answer is like a key. If you don’t answer the question, the door will remain closed.
2022-09-21 Wednesday Recommending my teacher
Recommend my teacher to be a pastor in a church, hoping the Lord will accomplish it.
Josh cancelled coming to church
2022-09-20 Tuesday Posting an article by an old brother
The old brother is in his 70s and has to take care of his sick wife, but he also writes specifically for this website, which is touching.
2022-09-19 Mon Brother Huang is willing to be a blessing to others
Although we were not able to study the Bible together, Brother Huang expressed his desire to find time to meet and be a blessing to others.
2022-09-18 Sunday A little brother was baptized
A little brother was baptized.
2022-09-17 Saturday Met Josh
He told about his marriage status and agreed to go to church on Wednesday night
2022-09-15 Thursday Making an appointment with old classmates Chen and Gao
Old classmates Chen and Gao both agreed to learn more about it.
2022-09-14 Wed Invite in the old classmates group in technical school
Old classmate Ma never replied. Aunt and uncle do not participate.
2022-09-13 Tue New creature in Christ published
By writing out the article, it is also very helpful to myself.
2022-09-12 Mon Met a couple of brother and sister
They said they are also believers and will keep in contact in the future. Mhong friend still did not reply.
2022-09-08 Thursday Contacted Mhong friends
But they did not reply. Met another couple who need help.
2022-09-07 Wed. Keep inviting old classmate Ma
Continuous invitation, no reply
222-09-06 Tuesday Appointment with a friend in Philadelphia
Asking about recent news and about Bible study.
2022-09-05 Monday New York brother was not available
I waited for a day, but brother Huang in New York did not respond.
2022-09-4 Sunday Bible reading appointment with Brother in New York
Brother Huang would like to read the Bible and pray together online on Monday.
2022-09-03 Sat Contact with Mhong friends
Send “The Song of Mai Di Chong” on the website to Mhong friends, expecting that they will be touched after watching the origin, current situation, and future of the Christian faith of the Miao people in the mainland, which may lead to a meaningful dialogue.
2022-09-02 Friday Meeting a friend from Los Angeles and a Mhong couple
Mhong friend and his wife live in the nearby city, he is willing to accept a visit from the church, and we both were happy to find out that we have the same last name.
Met two friends who live in Los Angeles, one goes to church and one doesn’t, the one who doesn’t is willing to go later and I am ready to introduce him to the Seattle Chinese Church, they are about to start an online Bible class.
2022-09-01 Thursday Meeting a friend from San Francisco
A friend in San Francisco would like to be visited by the church, but is in a frazzled mood and would like to visit him later.
2022-08-31 Wed Brothers and sisters contributed articles
Very glad, expecting more submissions
2022-08-30 Tuesday Looking for more churches to work with
Inquiring more churches if we can post new articles in their groups. Some have already agreed.
Old friend still had to work and had no time for a Bible Study.
2022-08-29 Mon A new feature
Added a new feature to the website to show the number of views. If some authors don’t like it, we will not add it.
Old friends don’t have time for Bible study.
The big tree missed hitting me by ten seconds.
Last night, as we tried to haul it off the road with the car first, the chain suddenly broke and at a ligthenning speed the chain hit past me and my son. For three times almost killed or seriously wounded in three weeks, which I can only attribute to God’s mercy and protection.
2022-08-28 Sunday An article gets attention
A Chinese church pastor was challenged in public by a sister to not talk about LGBTQ and the sister claimed that the Bible endorses LGBTQ. And several articles on the website about LGBTQ seem to be helpful in understanding the topic, such as this article by Dr. Nick Meriwether https://shifengyesu.org/2022/ 04/19/jiaoshoushengsudaxue/
2022-8-27 Saturday Get a testimony
Brother Jason submitted a very valuable testimony that should be able to help many people.
2022-08-25 Thursday Bible study appointment with a friend in Philedephia
A friend, who was sentenced to 7 years probation, I suggested that he start attending his local church every week to gain the goodwill and trust of his probation officer and relax his restrictions early; he was willing, but he was unable to attend during the church meeting time; I then asked him if he would like to attend the church’s online Bible study for 1.5 hours each time, which could be adjusted according to his schedule. He felt this was more flexible and not too long, so he was willing. I told him that although reading the Bible, on the surface, was to please the probation officer, but in reality it would allow him to know God, who can change his destiny and bless his family. He agreed. And the church also agrees that they could provide the probation officer with his online Bible study records as proof.
2022-08-24 Wednesday Publish “We Are the Royal Priests“
2022-08-23 Tuesday Suggested weekly Bible reading and prayer for New York friend
He agrees, but is not yet committed
2022-08-22 Monday Seeker’s Bible Study with an old friend
This time, my old friend’s attitude towards the Bible has been much less challenging. At the end, he said that if this story is true, it means that Jesus is really God.
2022-08-17 Wed Old friend was busy and couldn’t get together
2022-08-16 Tuesday Brother is baptizing his son
Prepared, but postponed due to weather
2022-08-15 Monday Praying with the friend in New York
It was great to finally fellowship and pray with Brother Huang and encourage each other. We will meet again next week.
2020-08-14 Sunday Praying with an old friend in Dubai
My cousin sister has completed Seeker’s Bible study and joined one of our small churches. Last week, she went to the hospital last week to check her health. When she felt afraid, she wanted to call out to her former idol to protect her like she used to do, but this time she felt it was not right and finally called out to Jesus and the fear in her heart disappeared.
Old friend in Dubai lost his church life for many years, we shared the past together, prayed together and hoped to continue in the future.
2022-08-13 Saturday Completion of the article to commemorate Zhang Yijiang
This year is the 100th anniversary of the Anti-Christian movement. I have been wanting to write an article in my heart to commemorate Zhang Yijiang, and I finally finished it.
2022-08-12 Friday Resume Bible study with an old friend
We made an appointment the first night and finally resumed our Seeker’s study today. Unfortunately, another old friend still did not respond. I invited my brother also, but he didn’t respond either.
Today I learned once again that while maintaining harmony with others, I must adhere to biblical standards. I must strive to maintain harmony while do not worry too much about others’ disagreement with biblical standards for the time being, thus diminishing biblical truth.
Today we look up the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:9-17. The old friend honestly believed that in his eyes this Pharisee was the righteous one because he did not hurt others except for some pride, while the tax collector, though he humbly admitted that he did not do well, did hurt others after all. Thus, Jesus’ standard for the righteous was not right in the old friend’s opinion.
I made several explanations and analogies, but none of them could change my old friend’s understanding. Towards the end, in order to maintain harmony so that we might continue to have opportunities to learn about Jesus together in the future, I smoothed things over and said, “That’s the purpose of our Seeker’s Bible study, to understand who Jesus is, what he said and did, so that we can rationally decide whether to follow him or not, and today we find ourselves with different standards of righteousness than God’s.”
He expressed that it is difficult for him to follow Jesus, saying, “It is true that following Jesus has a spiritual effect, but after all, it is only spiritual and does not improve the real-life conditions; not only that, but one has to invest time and energy, and in the future, if one really wants to be righteous in the eyes of Jesus, one needs to be good according to God’s requirements and make sacrifice and dedication, which is difficult. “
Here I interrupted him, “According to what we have read today, what is a righteous person in the eyes of God and Jesus? Is it someone who has done good deeds according to God’s standard and is thus prideful, or is it someone who finds and humbly admits that he has failed to do so?”
The old friend was silent here, and then he realized that although he rejected God’s standard of righteousness, he had inadvertently projected his own standard of righteousness onto God’s. He thought that God is requiring people to behave according to the law in order to be accepted as righteous, but in Luke 18:9-17, the righteous in God’s eyes are those who realized that they have not done well, but confess and humbly pray for mercy, and finally he says, “I have not understood God’s standard properly and sufficiently.”
His following questions prolonged our conversation for another half hour, centering on whether the righteous in God’s eyes are judged by behavior or attitude, and what to do if some people falsely repent and abuse God’s grace.
At last, he said he welcomes another study together next week.
The change in my old friend this time felt like a bit of a roller coaster ride. Half an hour ago, although I tried to maintain a harmonious conversation with my old friend, his disagreement with the standards of Jesus and his beginning to feel bored made me worry that my old friend might not want to know Jesus anymore. But then, as I continued to hold to God’s standard, he found that God’s standards will make him better off, admitted his own lack of understanding of God’s standard, and rekindled his interest in Bible study.
This made me feel again: even if the other person temporarily disagrees with God’s standard, I still cannot fail to insist on the biblical truth and erase the difference in order to make the other person feel good and can come back; I have to trust that God will continue to work so that he can eventually humble himself and surrender to God.
2022-08-11 Thursday Got a second set of personal soul care materials
Mike generously shared the second set of materials.
2022-08-10 Wednesday Christian Education on the Mainland under Persecution
2022-08-09 Tue Translation of Personal Soul Care materials completed
This is Mike’s materials and quite a few preachers have had very positive comments after attending the study. It can be done as a one-day retreat study.
2022-08-08 Monday Car Accident
The other party and I both thought we had a green light, and fortunately, there were no serious injuries to anyone.
2022-08-06 Saturday A brother returned for fellowship
Two brothers had stopped their church life. Today brother Li returned to worship with the help of brother Du, and is ready to resume church life. Praise God!
2022-08-05 Friday Going to the Hmong people
There are many Hmong people in the area. I was wondering if they were Mongolians, but found out that they are actually a Miao sub-tribe, with a total of 260,000 to 300,000 people in the U.S. I hope we can talk about Jesus together. Went looking for them today, but did not find them.
2022-08-03 Wednesday Neither of the two old friends replied
One old friend is in a state of disappearance, and the other one, who has started a Bible study and feels good about it, is also in a state of disappearance this week.
2022-07-30 Saturday Returned to my home
Praise God for a safe trip, seeing old friends and making new ones.
2022-07-29 Fri Visited my old friend Zheng’s house
2022-07-28 Thursday Stopped by to visit an elder, Bruce.
He is in his eighties and still has a stack of Scripture cards in his hand to review whenever he wants.
2022-07-27 Wednesday Visiting an old classmate
We were in the same class in college and became dear brothers and sisters now.
2022-07-25 Mon Visiting my co-workers
They had their first baby. The scene of serving together came back.
2022-07-24 Sunday Attended B-C-F worship service
Good teaching for the spiritual world. And it is great to meet old friends D & K W.
2022-07-23 Saturday Visited Bob and Marce B’s church
First time to see a house church in the US, sticking to the Bible and loving each other.
2022-07-22 Friday Visiting Bob and Marce
I was very thankful to meet with Bob and Marce, and to see that many of our views are very similar. I am curious about their church and will attend tomorrow night.
I met Nathan for the first time. I’ve heard a lot about him and he is really very down to earth, hard-working, intelligent, and persevering. We will visit his church on Sunday.
2022-07-21 Thursday Attended Dr. Dean’s Bible Study Meeting
At the age of 91, he and his wife still have 2 hours of devotions every day, take communion every day, and still lead Bible studies every week. God also blesses their health. I remember Psalm 92:14-15.
2022-07-20 Wednesday Arrival in Virginia
The second time I drove 1,000 km, thanks again to Laina.
Mama K loves and accepts people as they are, and often receives people in need in her home. Some people stay at her home for quite a few months.
2022-07-19 Tuesday Visiting Tim
Tim’s family have been missionaries in the mainland for many years. Last year, he led a group of friends to rescue two brothers from Afghanistan, during which he woke up every half hour for three consecutive nights to pray and was relieved only when the Afghan brothers boarded the plane. I have invited him and John to record down the testimony.
2022-07-18 Monday Visiting Auntie Becky
She and Uncle Bill came to the mainland 30 years ago to bring me to the Lord. They were born and raised in this place right before my eyes, and were sent by God to the mainland to bring people to the Lord (including me), and the more I think about it, the more emotional, moved and grateful I get.
2022-07-17 Sunday Visiting Mick & Nora
Veteran missionaries on the mainland for many years, very gentle, generous, easy-going, and faithful. And God has blessed them by preparing their home and keeping them healthy.
2022-07-12-17 Tuesday-Sunday Attended Missions Training
Very rewarding: gained a deeper understanding of missions and a greater understanding of walking with God, especially how to be quiet and retreat. Got the copyright and will be translated into Chinese.
I met many missionary friends and heard many interesting stories, such as: the mafia coming to faith in Jesus, and launching a campaign in Italy to save trafficked and forced women as prostitutes. Have already invited articles.
2022-07-11 Mon Meet an old friend Xinge
Warmly introduced Chicago.
2022-07-10 Sunday Departed for Chicago
First time to drive 1000km, thanks to Laina, encouraging and refreshing all the way.
2022-07-08 Fri A presentation at the Chinese Missiology Panel
Fixing the Sprinkler System in the Local Church
Share an article at the China Missions Presentation at an international conference for Mission Studies.
2022-07-07 Thursday Contacting two brothers who lost their church life Continue to keep in communication with these two brothers.
2022-07-06 Wednesday Seeker’s Bible Study
Still, an old friend attended, while another old friend was unable to attend. This time, we started reading the Bible.
The old friend asked very meaningful questions.
2022-07-04 Monday Found a Chinese brother
I thought he is an unbelieving friend, but I found him a brother who has been in New York for 10 years without a proper church, and he feels his faith is going to disappear. Maybe he can start to recover from an online meeting.
2022-07-03 Sunday A visit from our old friends
My long-time friends and co-workers’ families come to visit and they are priceless blessings from God to my family.
My cousin sister continues to attend Bible study meetings.
2022-06-28 Tuesday Neighbor asks about the Bible
Been trying to bring my neighbor to Jesus, but he keeps refusing and today out of the blue asked me two questions about God and suffering and the Bible and science. His father had been a pastor and he himself was very searching in these areas, and he believed in a god, but didn’t know which one. He would like to talk about these topics often in the future.
2022-06-27 Monday Inviting the remorseful young people to learn about Jesus
The young man who was caught up in a drug lawsuit is free for the time being, and is still hesitant to my invitation to learn about Jesus together. I invited the boss again, but again he hesitated.
2022-06-26 Sunday Sermon
Preached at a Chinese church and was blessed by this church. My eldest son interpreted for me.
2022-06-25 Saturday Older cousin sister joined a fellowship
Our 8-week seeker’s Bible study ended. Cousin sister needed more time, but enjoyed Bible study. So she has joined a group and participated in the Bible study.
2022-06-24 Fri Invite the restaurant owner
Inviting the restaurant owner to learn about Jesus, but he is still hesitating.
2022-06-23 Thu A young man’s remorse
I met a young man who was careless in making friends. When he found his friend was carrying marijuana in his car, he did not avoid it, but rather he even took it together to show his friendship. Later, the police stopped their car. He was unable to prove his innocence and was put behind bars, which he regretted very much.
2022-06-22 Wednesday Failure in having fellowship with two old friends
One was sick and one did not respond.
2022-06-21 Tuesday Cousin Sister Finishes Seeker’s Bible Study
Eight weeks of seeker’s study ended today. My cousin still needs time to think about it, but she is more than willing to continue the study, so she joined one of our small groups.
My son is willing to be my interpreter for this Sunday’s preaching! Praise God!
2022-06-20 Monday A new article from the elder brother has arrived
The third article of the old brother on the languages of love has arrived and needs to be understood and compiled.
2022-06-16 Thursday The sermon is written
Next Sunday’s sermon is written and uploaded to the We Serve Jesus website. Two preachers are challenged to write out their sermons fully.
2022-06-15 Wednesday Continuing to talk about faith and life with an old friend
Another old friend had to work late. The conversation is progressing and it’s great!
2022-06-14 Tuesday A sister urges her husband
A sister is urging her husband to write more for the We Serve Jesus website… Wow, thanks and praise God!
Prepare a sermon.
2022-06-13 Monday Seeker’s Bible Study
One more week, the seeker’s Bible study will end, and my older cousin sister could not make up her mind yet but is willing to continue to attend the meetings.
One old friend did not want to continue talking about faith again. Talked with two more old classmates, but they didn’t want to talk about faith either. A relative didn’t want to either.
2022-06-11 Saturday Be called to be the pastor of a church
This is an affirmation from my predecessors and brothers and sisters, but I am not sure my time can meet the church’s requirements. The importance of the website and the ministry to the mainland are still in the top two.
2022-06-09 Thu The manuscript of the elder brother was posted
The old brother’s manuscript has not been questioned yet. There is really a deep truth in it. The brothers and sisters are really getting a better understanding of love in marriage from this conversation.
2022-06-08 Wednesday A testimony talk with two old friends
After giving testimonies to two old friends, they asked some questions and arranged to read the Bible together. It seems like this is going to turn into another seeker’s Bible study group.
2022-06-07 Tuesday Seeker’s Bible Study
My cousin sister’s questions are more and more meaningful. Next time my cousin brother will lead the seeker’s Bible study.
2022-006-5 Sunday Talking with Sr. Bro. about his article
Sr. Bro. will continue the conversation about the five languages of love.
The church allowed book signing, brothers and sisters lovingly helped with buying, and 25 copies were sold.
2022-06-03 Friday Mutual exhortation with brothers
The brothers were under pressure at work and very busy, and wanted to shorten the meeting time. We reviewed some of God’s promises together and decided not to shorten it, the brothers really love God and are very humble.
2022-06-2 Thursday Three old friends are willing to talk about faith
Then on the Dragon Boat Festival, we continued to contact with old friends from the past, and three of them are willing to have more communication about the faith, and they accepted an apologetic book youziyin written by a Chinese Christian.
2022-06-01 Wednesday The Benefits of Bible Study
Because the image of the Father in the story of the prodigal son has been looked up, the seeker can find a satisfactory answer to her own question: Will the Father bless me no matter what I do? If I sinned, would He still be merciful?
2022-05-31 Tuesday Seeker’s Bible Study
The story of the prodigal son in the seeker’s study gives a very admirable feeling of the image of the heavenly Father.
2022-05-25 Wednesday The benefits of a conversation
A conversation on the http://www.shifengyesu.org website about “The Five Love Languages” has generated a number of reactions. Two of them are most significant: 1 a brother who lost his church life for long is willing to think about restoring it; 2 a seeker has gained an awareness that the Bible can bring proper life guidance and is reading other materials on this site.
2022-05-24 Tuesday Continuing the seeker’s Bible study
Discussed many more things about sin and forgiveness
2022-05-19 Wednesday Website move completed
2022-05-17 Tuesday Continuing the seeker’s Bible study
Much discussion on the issue of sin
2022-05-16 Mon Old classmate didn’t respond
Started to contact other classmates
2022-05-10 Tuesday: Bible study with my older cousin sister started
My older cousin sister, my cousin, and I started Bible study together. My older cousin sister asked a lot of good questions. We will continue this next week.
2022-05-09 Monday Continuing to talk about Jesus with an old classmate Z
Old classmate Z brushed off by saying that he didn’t like reading, so he didn’t want to read the Bible. He asked many more questions.
Finally, we agreed that he would ask his wife if she would like to read together, and if she didn’t, we would continue to read the Bible together next week.
There are more old classmates to invite.
2022-05-06 Friday Exchange with my predecessor
My predecessor questioned my views and practices. After prayer and counseling, I had good communication with my predecessor. My predecessor can understand me now, but I still need to improve.
2022-05-05 Thursday Accompanying a Chinese friend couple to an interview
While chatting about family and faith, we were surprised to find out that both of us men were born in the same year. I sighed: the more I live, the harder it is to meet people born in the same year! We agreed we would find time to come to church later.
2022-05-03 Monday Talking with my older cousin sister
My older cousin sister is very concerned about us, but I rarely care about her. Cousin sister is willing to read the Bible together in order to give a face to me. Together with my cousin brother (who already believes), there are three of us. Maybe more relatives in the big family will come to the Lord in the future.
2022-04-29 Friday Satan said: Now you are free.
At night my wife went to take care of an old sister and stayed at her bedside for the night. And I heard a voice at home: “You are free.” I felt uplifted to hear that I was free.
“What am I free to do now?”
“You’re free to watch a movie.”
“What movie to watch?”
“You’re free to watch a movie with pornography in it, and no one will ever know.”
It sounded good and tempting. But I have gained some experience in my spiritual journey over the years, and this sound is not new to me. I have heard and obeyed this voice many times before, which led me to watch movies with pornography, but the result was nothing more than a brief moment of sinful pleasure, followed by guilt and remorse.
I remembered again that Satan said something similar to Eve: You don’t necessarily have consequences, but you are free from now on to decide on your own moral standards. To paraphrase this to me, I heard: No one will ever know and you are finally free to look at pornographic images.
From Eve to today, Satan’s trickery has not changed. Although the pattern is the same, it has repeatedly been successful. And the trick is: to make people mistake Satan’s wishes for their own.
Satan’s wish is for us to sin against God, while our wish is to guard and use our God-given freedom. However, Satan combines sin and freedom into a new kind of freedom that is outside of God’s will: the freedom to sin or to sin freely. For Eve, it was freedom to establish her own moral standard apart from God, and for me, it was freedom to enjoy sexual pleasure apart from marriage.
Since one interprets Satan’s wish as his own freedom, in order to realize it, one will try to break through all the obstacles as much as possible, including the gentle and mighty hand of God. But sin ultimately brings harm to the person. Proverbs 20:17 Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward, his mouth will be full of gravel.
When I thought of this, I suddenly came to my senses. “You are now free”, this is the voice of Satan. My watching movies with pornographic scenes will end up with a mouthful of sand. God is not my enemy, but my good friend, and what He has given is enough. It just so happened that there was a daily prayer sheet at hand, and after praying, Satan’s voice was gone.
In the same way, Satan must say similar things to people in a similar situation, those who are on a business trip, those who are alone at home: “You are now free to fulfill the desire you have been suppressing in your heart.”
2022-04-28 Thursday A sister’s headache
A sister has been very troubled by the fact that her nonbeliever husband is a gambler. Her husband has a glamorous career on the outside, a sense of justice, a grateful attitude toward her and finding her impeccable, and a love for his children at the same time. However, he has been controlled by gambling addiction and had already incurred huge debts due to gambling a few years ago. The sister honors the Lord as the greatest and did not leave him. On the contrary, she chose to face the problem together with her husband. She made a detailed plan to pay off the debts.
After three years of suffering, the gambling debt was basically paid off. However, in the past two to three months, the husband secretly took away his own payroll card from his wife. When the sister questioned about this issue, he told her not to bother with the remaining gambling debt, claiming that he could handle it and that he would take control of his own finances from now on.
All indications are that Mr. is in another big mess, or gambling debt or otherwise, but he refuses to communicate and denies the existence of trouble. He only admits that he is playing some video games.
The sister feels hopeless and fears that a new huge debt will come soon. Therefore, there are voices, from internal and external, urging her to choose divorce so that she can protect her children and herself, and perhaps wake up her husband so that he can change his heart.
However, Christ has a clear command for divorce. So the sister is now faced with two paths: carry the cross and walk by the Lord’s strength? Or divorce and take the seemingly easier way out?
2022-04-26 Tuesday On abortion
In recent weeks, a Chinese language class at a prestigious American university has been discussing the legalization of abortion. All the students in one class supported the idea, their core reason being that women have the right to be in charge of their own bodies.
In this regard, I understand that the reason women are in charge of their bodies is to take better care of themselves. However, what are the physical and psychological effects of abortion and childbirth, respectively, on women? Which is more significant in terms of negative impact? Two students said that they had not talked about, or thought about, this issue. I encouraged the male student and the other female student to bring this issue up in the next class discussion, and he and she agreed that it was something that should be discussed.
Regarding the stage at which an embryo or a fetus can be counted as a person, both students agreed that it is during the last two or three months of the fetus time in the mother’s womb that it can be called a person. So when the fetus can be counted as a person, can a woman’s right to manage her own body be extended to determine the life of another person? Both students were hesitant about this.
2022-04-25 Monday A Mother regrets not taking her child to church earlier
Due to the surgery of my old friend’s wife, this day’s Bible study was postponed for a few days.
A Chinese mother’s daughter was affected by LGBTQ ideas and decided to take surgery to change her gender. The parents were extremely upset about this and the mother regretted not taking her child to church earlier.
2022-04-23, 24 Saturday and Sunday Visiting a church
At the invitation of Pastor Lam Bun, I visited Tulsa International Baptist Church (TIBC) in Tulsa. The northern branch of this church has only a dozen members left from a church of over 100 due to a previous split. Pastor Lim wanted to restore this northern branch.
I was very blessed to worship with TIBC’s brothers and sisters.
2022-04-20 Wednesday with a friend of Jehovah’s Witnesses
Mr. Jack was the first Chinese Jehovah’s Witness believer I met. We both had talked twice before, and each tried to pull the other over. Seeing the other side’s insistence, then both sides suspended their efforts.
I was a little nervous when Jack asked me out this time. But this time he didn’t talk about our doctrinal differences, but mostly about his family and relationship. Mr. Jack told me that he was leaving for another place to live in seven or eight months, and about his relationship that no one else knew about.
I would like to pray for these things. I also pray both sides to agree on biblical truth before he goes.
2022-04-18 Monday Start Seeker’s Bible study with an old classmate
I had been roommates with my old classmate ZFX for 6 years. 26 years ago, I shared the gospel with him at Haizhu Square McDonald’s in Guangzhou. For this reason, and because his grandmother and mother believed in Christ, I mistakenly thought he had already believed in Christ, so I sent him a text message at Easter to celebrate Christ’s resurrection together, but I did not expect him to reply that he did not believe. So I invited him to read the Bible online with me, and he agreed.
Then I went to invite three or four other roommates from back then, but they all refused.
After a short exchange of greetings, I first shared some of my own testimonies, then I shared on the screen, using the “God’s law” to concisely share the gospel, and then we agreed on the content and format of the following 7 sessions of Bible study.
Although the old friend did not raise any questions during the video talk, later in WeChat he questioned the reality, power, and kindness of Heavenly Father from several angles: scientific, historical, suffering, patriotic, practical, etc. In terms of practicality, his question was, ‘What can faith do but the area of spirit?” I replied: “Speaking of the relationship between spirit and matter. The Zhou Yi or The Great Treatise I says that ‘hence that which is antecedent to the material form exists, we say, as an ideal method, and that which is subsequent to the material form exists, we say, as a definite thing.’ The antecedent is invisible and is called metaphysical; the subsequent are tangible and are called physical. We can borrow this understanding from Confucianism to understand faith and matter; faith belongs to the metaphysical, and its task is to know the Way or the Tao; with the knowledge of the Way or the Tao, we can better understand the physical and produce matter.”
At the end of our WeChat conversation, I reiterate that my knowledge is incomplete, and that faith is not something that can be produced by rational debate, but ultimately it is something that can be received because one’s heart has been touched by the Holy Spirit and one has humbled self voluntarily. Even if in the end he chooses not to accept Christ, we are still good friends.
2022-04-15 Friday A conversation with two white men
This weekend is Easter and we are using it as an excuse to invite our neighbors to church. This morning, there were two people sitting in front of the house across the road who didn’t seem to be the new homeowner, Mark. I was hesitant to go and talk to these two people. But I finally decided to go anyway.
These two men were the workers Mark had hired to renovate his house, one older and one younger. After I explained my intention, they asked which church I am, and I offered them the church’s business card. The older one then asked, “Do you believe in Jesus?” I said yes. He said he also believes. Immediately, the atmosphere became lively. The older one was Jason and the younger one was Alex. Alex was silent, so I guess he needed to hear some testimony. Jason said he had been a believer for decades and that Jesus has helped him overcome his drug addiction. I went on to say that Jesus has helped me to not feel meaningless and hopeless, to not fear death, to not be controlled by pornography, and to keep my marriage. And Jason said that his wife and he have been helped by the Holy Spirit in recent years to have a better relationship. We both exclaimed that if it wasn’t for Jesus, we don’t know what kind of life we would be living today.
Then I turned to Alex and asked him what he thought of Jesus now, and Alex was embarrassed to say that he had wandered in and out of church over the years and knew he had done wrong. I recalled Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman saying that worshipping of the Father is not on this mountain or in Jerusalem, but that true worshipers of the Father must worship Him in the Spirit and in truth. Then I told Alex that while you are outside the church, you are still under the love and care of the Father, who knows you. And if you also know in your heart that you belong to the Lord Jesus, you are in a right relationship with Him. You are God’s child.
Hearing this, Alex’s face broke into a smile and a glow appeared in his eyes. Then he said that his girlfriend was Jason’s daughter, but that her faith was also in uncertainty right now. I said, maybe this Easter is a good time for you to bring her back to Jesus. With God’s protection, your future marriage will go through a lot of difficulties peacefully. Moreover, reviving your girlfriend’s faith will make Jason greatly happy.
Jason started laughing in agreement as well. He asked me where I was from and I said China. He was a little surprised. I went on to tell them that it was the missionaries from America who brought me to Jesus. Again, they were a little surprised.
Then I asked Alex where he lives, and Alex said it is in a nearby town, where Jason also lives. They said they would go to their church in that town this weekend. Jason thanked me for coming to witness to them, and I thanked Jason for witnessing to me, and welcomed them to knock on my door the next time they come to work.
2022-04-13 Thursday Visit to a cannabis plantation
It is legal to grow marijuana in this state, so there are more and more Chinese people coming here to grow marijuana. Last year, I met two Chinese families in a plantation.
A few days ago, I drove with my wife and children to make an unexpected visit, hoping to reach them with the gospel. The plantation is very remote and arrived after a long drive on a dirt road. I found a Chinese couple and after talking to them, I learned that both families had moved away. We proceeded to engage in conversation and after I explained my intentions, they relaxed and said they would consider coming to church to visit, received my contact information, but refused to give me theirs. They seemed to have little interest in the gospel, but were interested in my ability to interpret and asked if I could interpret for them and how I would charge. I told them if it wasn’t a large amount, it would all be free. They were somewhat interested as they had to get back to work, so we excused ourselves.
One feeling is that there is still a language and cultural gap in the local integration of the Chinese. They need help in this area.
2022-03-13 Sunday “China and the Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage” discussed in U.S. college classroom
Recently, I have had several online conversations with five or six American college students about “China and the legalization of Same-Sex marriage” in Chinese. This is a key topic in their college Chinese classes, with at least two classes devoted to the topic. They wanted to find out: Why are most Chinese people against homosexuality? How can their prejudices be changed?
To this end, they also invited Chinese filmmakers to link up and participate in their class discussions, where they got the message that there are 27 million homosexuals in China. However, because of the traditional Chinese culture and the large Christian population, most Chinese people are against homosexuality. To change this, the topic needs to be brought out and discussed more frequently and more widely, and a variety of ways should be used to change people’s perceptions, including abandoning tradition, refuting traditional Christian concepts, and producing films and TV productions that can provoke sympathy for homosexuality, etc.
Because their teachers asked them to seek out native Chinese speakers to refine their spoken language and to continue to learn about traditional Chinese culture and religious attitudes toward homosexuality, this gave me the opportunity to share some of the ideas from the Bible.
We talked about the views of other systems of thought before exploring the views in the Bible. Although some Buddhists support homosexuality, most of them still do not, because monks at a temple should abstain from all sexual acts, and those who practice Buddhism at home should purify their minds and reduce desires. They consider homosexuality an indulgent obsession, it is natural that it should not be supported.
Taoism, on the other hand, preaches that the meeting of yin and yang can bring about birth, and naturally cannot support the union of two yins or two yangs. There are at least two reasons why Confucianism cannot endorse same-sex marriage: 1 no descendants is the greatest of unfilial piety. Although people can adopt children or clone themselves in the future, neither is the natural birth from the combination of heaven and earth or yin and yang; 2 willfulness, rather than disciplining and nurturing the body and nature. Atheism is also faith, so atheist attitudes have to be explored. The majority of atheists, for a variety of different reasons, are also reluctant to endorse homosexuality. Islam disapproves of it, and in some countries, homosexuals will be punished. Judaism also disapproves of it.
After talking about other systems of thought, we moved on to biblical attitudes. The first quote is from Jesus, who quotes Genesis and expresses the same view of marriage between one man and one woman (Matthew 19:3-6). And he does not favor divorce. Then we reviewed the story of Jesus and the woman who was caught in adultery in John 8:1-11. This story expresses three things: 1 No one should ignore his own sin and condemn others because everyone is a sinner (Jn 8:7 Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her); 2 Jesus was willing to forgive sinners (Jn 8:11 Jesus said, Neither do I condemn you; go!); 3 Jesus did not overlook the woman’s sin (Jn 8:11 D and from now on sin no more. ESV).
It is clear from the two verses above that homosexuality is against God’s design, but that every person is a sinner and no one is nobler than another. Here and with our college friends we concluded that the traditional Christian faith defends the rights of homosexuality, but the point of contention with same-sex marriage advocates is: Is it a sin?
Afterward, we explored if people have sinned? At least two American students who hold to atheism agreed: all people have sinned.
Is sin inherent? One person began with the belief that it was acquired, while another believed that it was both innate and acquired.
Should lying, resentment, jealousy, greed, etc., which one is capable of without teaching and learning from a very young age, be justified and adhered to just because one is born with them? The latter student naturally said: Being born with them does not mean that they are reasonable or that they should be persisted with. (Here, I shared a bit of my own dark history: I had a natural inclination to steal, and then got caught and brutally beaten in the street. And one of the college students also shared a bit of her dark history.) At this point, perhaps they both have figured out how to understand the “born homosexual” argument.
Through conversations with these college friends, I learned three things: 1 I am surprised to find that almost all of the American college students I met think that disapproval of homosexuality is prejudice; 2 they are discussing how to change Chinese people so that they approve of it; and 3 traditional culture and Christians are the resistance in their eyes.
One conclusion: Sometime in the future, the legalization of same-sex marriage will definitely become an issue on the mainland, and the Chinese church needs to anticipate, pray for, equip, and defend the biblical perspective on this.
One additional thought: American universities (or universities everywhere) may need more evangelical ministry. I also had a discussion with a dozen American college students about “whether marijuana should be legalized” and all of them were initially fully supportive of its legalization. After our discussion, the position of at least 7 or 8 students changed from full support to being cautious and careful.
2021-08-27 Friday
We noticed an oriental therapeutic store here, but we have never seen anyone here. Last week Brother BB said he met the owners, a white husband and a Chinese wife. They only open on Fridays and Saturdays, and they used to live in a city in China for eight years, the city where I stayed. So this time we picked Friday, hoping to meet them, but they still weren’t there.
Among the people I met this time, two ladies were more likely to come to church, both living locally and without a church. They were interested in hearing the introduction but were reluctant to give me their contact information, which is completely understandable. I also met a couple, the husband was an African American and the wife was a Caucasian lady. I went to speak to the husband, but he seemed a little distracted, while the wife was two meters away and listening intently. Nonetheless, they were passing through the area.
Later, we went to visit an old sister who had moved to a new home. We called her first to ask if it was convenient for her to see us. She welcomed us, so we went there. She sold her previous large house and rented a small apartment, which at least reduced her workload. We talked for a while to see what we could do to help with the lifting. And the old sister was happy but didn’t let us do anything.
The local virus was on red alert, but most people were still not wearing masks. Only one lady was wearing a mask, so I put mine on while I was talking to her.
2021-08-12 Thursday
This time it was still an hour and a half. It was 2:30 p.m. and it was hot. And it was hard for Brother B. B. to walk outside in this temperature to visit house by house. I have been in Guangdong for many years and it is common for me to walk outside in the middle of the afternoon to preach the gospel, so this temperature is not a big threat to me. On the contrary, I don’t feel so uncomfortable because I don’t have the humidity of Guangdong. We decided next time, to try the evening hours. So, in the presence of our western brethren, the temperature is a factor to consider.
This time we still took our masks but didn’t put them on. Among the people we visited, no one had masks either, and no one kicked us out because of the virus, but no one invited us inside the house either, all standing at the door and talking. When we met two sisters, the older sister said that she was not going anywhere because she was afraid of the virus, while the younger sister still wanted to find a church to worship.
This area is in the American Bible Belt and the influence of the faith is a bit stronger than in the North East, which creates some cultural pressure. When I asked one person if she was a Christian, the person seemed to find it difficult to answer, and finally she said she was a Charismatic, but she didn’t seem to know much about Charismatic either. It seems that all that is needed now is to find opportunities to be able to talk deeply.
Last time we met a sister in her 80s who said she was going to have cataract surgery. We visited her again this time to see how her surgery went, but she didn’t open the door, so she might not be at home.
I mentioned earlier that a fellow evangelist, 82-year-old brother R.K., was unable to come this time, but he is working hard on an article about some things to keep in mind when evangelizing in this area. When he finishes it, I will translate it as a reference for evangelistic service.
I met someone again who could only speak Spanish and thus we could only say hello and blessings to each other.
2021-08-03 Tuesday
This was the third time we went out to preach the gospel in our area. The first time was with young brother guoguo, and the second time was with brothers R. K. and B. B., who are over 80 years old. This time it was with B. B. again.
First we went to a laundromat and talked to 7 or 8 people waiting there for laundry, then we went to visit a car repair store owner, whom B.B. knew before, and then we started to go around a neighborhood, knocking on doors and talking to 7 or 8 people who opened their doors.
It took an hour and a half, which naturally feels much easier than the previous 3 hours each time, which is good for long-term persistence.
On this occasion, we did not have the opportunity to talk about the gospel in depth. Instead, we told people that we were representing the church to visit and get acquainted with the neighbors in the community. We invited them to come to the church, presented small cards with the church’s schedules, and gave them information about the features of them, especially the gospel meeting with free dinner on Wednesday.
About 1/5 of the respondents said they had Christian faith. One of them said he went to a Catholic church. Less than 1/10 had regular meetings. 1 or 2 were looking for a church. 1-2 families in the community were still welcoming for having a church visit, and one family was from Mexico and spoke only Spanish.
Brother B.B. told me that here it is still customary to have a small talk before inviting people to church. Of course, after calling or knocking on the door, it is still necessary to introduce oneself and the reason for coming.
Currently in North America, when talking about door-knocking visits, people mostly think of Jehovah’s Witnesses, but we feel the need to break that monopoly. In this process, it feels like there are still people who need the church to go door-to-door and show some concern. If God allows, perhaps we will persevere in the long run and walk to all the neighborhoods.