Saturday, March 6, 2010

New Consistent Mdiv Blog

Hi all,

I have stopped using this blog and started up a new one. I may come back to this, but not for a while!

I have started keeping a consistent blog at: http://wjameskellymdiv.blogspot.com/

The purpose of this blog is to keep all the records of the key information and process I learn while taking my Masters of Divinity in Hamilton. The welcome on the site says this:

"It takes 30 courses, at over 120 hours per course, to complete a Masters of Divinity. It is my intention to provide an overview and description of each course I took, am taking, and will take during my degree. And I just might add other little things along the way."

Please come and track with me!

Thanks for stopping by!

For Jesus' fame,
JK

Friday, July 17, 2009

Should I Go?

I know I'm irregular, but I thought I would post this video two buddies of mine and I put together a few years back in Halifax. It was a company we started but it unfortunately couldn't work out. Hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think.

CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE or Click the link below.


Saturday, April 18, 2009

Christians in China!

My friend Tom at WorldServe Ministries wrote an article I would like to share with you. There are 28 underground church movements in China. WorldServe works with 14 of those movements and it was in the 14 movement we work with that over 500,000 people came to Christ in 2007. Actually just over 579,000, which does not include the Children who made a commitment – just over 67,000.

China and Change – June 2008

By Tom Wright

Tom Wright is the Director of Partner Relations for WorldServe Ministries in White Rock, BC.

www.worldserve.org

The religious change in China is phenomenal. The Chinese government has now officially stated that they believe there are 130 million Christians in the country today. Up until now the number of Christians has been downplayed. Much lower numbers have been suggested, while all along, the message of the gospel has been taking hold, and people from every economic and social background have been inviting Christ into their lives. Christians are seen in every walk of life, even among very influential members of the communist party.

The messages we receive from China are mixed. Some indicate persecution and suppression, while others suggest freedom and progress in the church. All are true!


A Variety of Churches

Although the reports of revival in China seem large to us in the West, the underground church we talk about at WorldServe is only a small portion of what God is doing in the country overall. What we report is very important in the economy of God, yet it is only one element of the Church in China today. The Three Self Church, the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (official Catholic Church), the Urban Church, the Factory Church and the Underground Church – all of these and more are part of the larger spiritual picture.

How these churches function and are treated varies from place to place. In talking with a Christian brother who attends a Three Self Church, I asked about the restrictions this church faces.  He stated that “on the books” there are definite official restrictions, but how and if they are followed depends upon the political leader of that specific church. For example, there is an age restriction for church attendance; officially no one under the age of 18 is to be permitted to attend church. The church he attends does not apply that restriction.

Some regions of the country seem to have more freedom than others when it comes to church attendance and worship, even in the house church. WorldServe representatives visited a community where 80 percent of the 300 residents have made a commitment to Christ. We attended an afternoon service where 200 were present, mid week, without incident. It would seem that the authorities of each region determine what will and will not be allowed. With some higher up government officials who are born again believers, seemingly turning a blind eye to the church’s activities, there seem also to be mid-level officials (middle management if you will), coming down hard on the churches in their areas, arresting pastors and other believers. They seem to be afraid that if they do not keep a tight rule, the churches will grow stronger and it will affect their position.

One of the fastest growing church movements is the factory church. Motorola has 400 churches associated with it, Mary Kay has one, and there are many others. Recently 237 people attended a conference of Christian CEO’s, many of whom are likely facilitating factory churches.[i]

A survey taken by professors at Shanghai Eastern China Normal University claims that the number of those in China holding religious beliefs has grown rapidly in the past few years, possibly up to 300 million individuals. The report suggests that this increase is greater among the younger people: 62% are between ages 16 to 39, but only 9.6% are older than age 55.[ii]

Now is the time to make the gospel more available so this generation will understand that Jesus Christ is the one who can meet their longings for fulfillment in life – something that rising materialism is not doing.

Some urban pastors, WorldServe has come alongside, work with university students, explaining to them what Christ can do in their lives. During 2007 they saw 985 students from two university groups make decisions to follow Christ.

A Christian professor from Canada shared with me how he spoke freely about the man Jesus Christ in one of China’s secular universities. He did not approach the subject of Jesus with the intent of inviting people to follow Him, thus proselytizing, but simply spoke of the character of Jesus Christ and His influence on the world. For this reason the officials perceived no problem with his presentation.

He is presently developing a course for Christian leaders in China. It will be based totally on the Bible, presenting Jesus as the greatest leader of all times. The course will be taught at a well-established leadership institute in the country.


Freedom

Many churches within China operate in a legally grey area. Their very existence and activities are considered illegal. On the other hand some churches developing in urban areas openly let it be known that they are a church. Government officials are informed of the fact. The churches do not want a confrontational relationship with the government so they keep officials informed of their activities. This has allowed some of these churches to cooperate with the government on projects that help the community without compromising their faith. Urban Christians are worshipping more openly and the church is growing rapidly. It is reported that many communist party members attend church.[iii]

There is a seeming freedom in China that has not been seen for decades. It varies from area to area and seems to depend upon local authorities. It is not against the law in China to be a Christian. You can be anything you want to be. However, it is against the law to proselytize. Even so, the Church is growing rapidly. Millions are coming to Christ each year as believers share their faith with family, friends and neighbours, who then invite Him into their lives as Saviour. There is always the possibility of the PSB (police) raiding their places of worship, but they worship anyway! They sing with enthusiasm, they preach the gospel and honour the Lord of their lives, not just in the remote villages but in the towns and cities as well. If they don’t find freedom under their community authorities they find it in their relationship with Christ and their worship of Him.

They are committed to bringing in God’s harvest. Following the recent earthquake, believers travelled to the devastated areas and helped meet physical needs while they told survivors of Christ’s love for them. Many responded openly on the street by raising their hands and asking Christ to become their Saviour and Lord.

 

Persecution

Although there appears to be some increase in religious freedom in China, there is still the very real possibility of facing prison. We have heard horrendous stories of how some of these believers have been treated. At the same time we must thank God for the work He is doing through them in their communities and in the prisons as well.

Our China coordinator tells us that at any given time there are 700 pastors in prison for their faith, because they are evangelizing. These are pastors just from the church movements we work with. Do they consider this to be persecution or suffering for Christ? They don’t seem to. When a recent visitor raised the issue of facing persecution and suffering for Christ, the pastors seemed confused. What was he talking about? As far as they are concerned, to serve Christ means embracing difficulties and even imprisonment at times. It is just part of living for Christ and not considered unusual suffering.

I have not met more dedicated people when it comes to their relationship with Christ. What impressed me as I listened to the believers is their commitment to Christ and the Christian life. Even knowing they may face persecution or imprisonment, they continue to boldly share their faith.

One pastor told us that he is not afraid to go to prison. He has been there already. Prior to time in prison he used to be concerned that he would not remain faithful to the Lord under the circumstances he would face. However, while there he experienced peace and the Lord’s help in every situation. Because of that he is not afraid to go to prison again. In all likelihood he will, as he is interrogated by the authorities every month.

Another young evangelist I met in 2007 had been in and out of prison three times in four years. He and his wife had been married four years but together only a few months. He continues to evangelize, knowing he will end up in prison again.

 

Back To Jerusalem

Within the evangelical church of China there is the belief that they are part of a “Back to Jerusalem” movement. As they see it, the gospel has been moving westward for the last 2,000 years: from Jerusalem to Antioch, from Antioch to Europe, from Europe to America, and from America to China. They are convinced that it is now their turn to complete the circle by taking the gospel to Muslim lands and eventually arriving back in Jerusalem. They believe that once this happens the gospel will have been preached to the entire world.[iv]

 

Conclusion:

With a population the size of China’s and the tremendous growth of the Church, this nation is bound to have a great spiritual influence upon the rest of the world. We need to pray that the Holy Spirit will help the leadership of the Church in China to remain true to the Word of God and faithful to their commitment to tell the story of God’s love in Christ.



[i] Email, Don Page

[ii] China Daily, February 7, 2007

[iii] Christianity Today, May 2008, pages. 24-26

[iv] Asia Times Online, Aug. 7, 2007, Greater China

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Stay Tooned

Working on a new Blog Style set up and I'm aiming to become a regular blogger soon. Stay posted. 

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Prominent Words of the Bible

The book of Galatians


The book of James


The book of Acts

Interesting

At this website (http://wordle.net/) you can put in any web address or any words for that matter and it will randomly display the most used words from that website (the bigger the word, the more its found). I thought it would be fun to put my blog in their...

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

prayer - trust & communication

At in.transition. last night (Monday, Aug 11) God was at work. I cannot speak for everyone in the group, but I will speak for myself. God was challenging, teaching, encouraging, building relationships and enjoying it. For the month of August, in.transition. is focusing on prayer. Why does God want us to pray? What is effective prayer? How do you pray? Examples of prayer? We are looking at questions like this, and our first week we focused on trusting God in prayer and to communicate with God (which essentially defines prayer in a broad sense: to personally communicate with God). Our night started with...prayer. We then simply started talking about trust and communication followed by a nice little hike. But ther was a trick: we had partners, and one partner had their eyes closed while the other had the role of communicator - directing where to go. Through the woods, down hills, up hills, around in circles, up steps, down steps...it was an adventure. The coolest part - our discussion after. We chatted about our experiences. Comments such as "my partner had full control and I had to completely trust them with...in a way...my life" or "communication was the key, when we didn't communicate well, it felt like I was about to hit a tree" - oh how well these relate to our prayer life and our relationship with God. We need to trust Him completely in our prayers. We need to communicate all the time. Confidence is built through communication. Successful communication builds trust. Key elements to our relationship with our heavenly awesome loving Father.
We finished our night off with a great time at Kelsey's. We are labelled "regulars" with our very own waitress - Mallory...its a blast every week!

Anyways, a little different style blog this time. A little glimpse into a night at in.transition.