A few years ago, a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. The convention lasted all week, and all the salesmen had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night’s dinner.

As they hurried to the airport to catch their return flight, they rushed down the airport’s corridor with their briefcases in hand. In their rush, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of apples.

Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all continued running so they would make their plane.

All but one.

He stopped after running a few more yards, took a deep breath, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned.

He told his buddies to go on without him, waved goodbye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor.

He was glad he did.

The 16 year old girl running the apple cart was totally blind. She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her, no one stopping and no one to care for her plight.

The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them back on the table and helped organize her display.

As he did this, he noticed that many of the apples had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket.

When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, “Here, please take this $40 for the damage we did. Are you okay?”

She nodded through her tears.

He continued on with, “I hope we didn’t spoil your day too badly.”

As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, “Mister…..”

He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes.

She continued, “Are you Jesus?”

He stopped in mid-stride, and he wondered. Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: “Are you Jesus?”

Do people mistake you for Jesus?

That’s our call, is it not? To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference as we live and interact with a world (shopping, working, reacting to others that are serving us) that is blind to His love, life and grace.

If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as He would.

Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture and going to church. It’s actually living the Word as life unfolds day to day.

You are the apple of His eye even though we, too, have been bruised by a fall. He stopped what He was doing and picked you and me up on a hill called Calvary and paid in full for our damaged fruit.

Let us live like we are worth the price He paid.

Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

–Author Unknown

In the days of the great prophet Elisha, a Syrian General had contracted leprosy and he had heard that there was a God in Israel who could perform miracles. At this time, Israel was at war with the Syrians and so, the whole idea of going to the enemy to ask for a favour was in itself a humbling thing for this General to do. Nevertheless he humbled himself to come and see this great prophet. And the prophet Elisha did not even extend the courtesy of coming out to speak with him. Instead, he sent a servant to tell him to go and dip in the muddy waters of the Jordan River seven times.

The General was mad with rage and rode off, almost missing the greatest miracle in his life because of his pride. But his servants eventually persuaded him that dipping in the Jordan River wasn’t really going to cost him anything, and that he actually stood to gain everything. He humbled himself and went into the waters and dipped himself. On the seventh dip, his leprosy was completely healed and his skin was restored and made new and soft, like that of a baby. He was amazed and returned to the prophet and asked what he wanted and how he could reward him. Really, all the prophet wanted was for Syria to stop harassing Israel. The rationale was very simple - God did this favour for you; now you go and show kindness to Israel. The General rode off but lo and behold, Elisha’s servant Gehazi, a greedy and foolish man, approached Naaman's entourage and said “my master Elisha has need of some precious stuff”, which the General was more than glad to oblige and give. But when he returned, this was what the prophet said to him, “Did not my heart go with you when the man turned back from his chariot to meet you? Is it time to receive money and to receive clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male and female servants?" The leprosy that was on Naaman was then transferred over to Gehazi, who lived and died a leper.

The important question we need to ask is - what period were they all living in? Israel was at war. The threat was existential. But the prophet’s apprentice, Gehazi, had not understood the seriousness of the season. Listen - there is a time to receive clothing; there is a time to receive money and all kinds of nice stuff. But now is not the time. This is a season of spiritual warfare.

Don’t you understand what period the church is living in? God is not against all that receiving and buying and selling. But we need to be aware of the time we are now living in. When we crossed over into 2013, it was as if God sounded a trumpet and all of us must realise the severity of the hour we are living in. We are entering into a time of great conflict and the church must not be ignorant of the dangers that lie at our gates. We must not be oblivious to our responsibilities as an army to push back the powers of darkness. So how is it that at the most critical time in history, the church finds itself so unprepared to face the almost insurmountable challenges before us?

We must sound the trumpet because the church must get herself into battle footing, and be battle-ready. The church will arise victorious. We are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus who loved us. Grace to all of you.

Pastor Yang Tuck Yoong
19 January 2013

	The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained; and the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
	Genesis 8:2–4
What else took place on the seventeenth day of the seventh month? The Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Just as the ark rested on the Resurrection Day, so too, our faith rests on the fact of the Resurrection. If Christ is not risen, then we are, as Paul said, most miserable (1 Corinthians 15:19). We don’t know what to say to the Taoist, to the Mormon, or to the Buddhist. If Christ did not rise from the dead, we do not know if we’re headed in the right direction. If, on the other hand, He did rise from the dead, He did something no one else in history has every done. The Resurrection is conclusive proof that we are on the right track. Our ship of faith rests on the mountain of the Resurrection. I visit Israel almost every year. Every time I go, I check the tomb. And guess what? It’s empty. “That sounds good,” says the scoffer, “but maybe it’s the wrong tomb.” Believe me, when the word started spreading that Christ had risen, the enemies of Jesus would have searched frantically to make sure that the empty tomb was not a case of mistaken identity. You see, the leaders of Judaism desperately desired to see Christianity wiped out. All they would have had to do would be to say to the Christians, “Here’s the body of this One who claimed to be the exclusive way to Heaven. Here’s proof He couldn’t validate His claim.” But they didn’t. “Well, maybe the disciples stole His body to perpetuate the myth of a resurrected Jesus,” claims the cynic. Peter was crucified upside down. Thomas was speared in the back. James was sawn in half. Matthew’s brains were beaten out with a club. With the exception of John - who was banished to the isle of Patmos after an unsuccessful attempt to boil him in oil - each of the disciples died a torturous death. To believe that eleven men would have allowed their wives and children to be martyred, and their own bodies slaughtered to propagate what they knew to be a lie requires an incredible leap of faith. “It was the Romans who took the body,” declares the doubter. Christianity was such a threat to the Roman Empire that they launched ten waves of persecution in which sixty million Christians were killed. Indeed, Christianity would eventually cause the Empire to split in two - East and West - and ultimately fall. Certainly the Romans didn’t have the body, for producing it would have saved their Empire. “No one stole the body because Jesus didn’t really die,” muses the mocker. “One of the disciples put some drugs in the vinegar that was lifted up to Jesus as He hung on the Cross, which caused Him to go into a coma. After the cool air of the tomb revived Him, it appeared as though He had resurrected.” The scourging Jesus suffered before His crucifixion was in itself enough to kill a man. Jesus went on, however, to endure spikes through His hands and feet and a spear thrust into His side. Then He was put in a tomb for three days without food, water, or medical attention. To suggest He then stood up, single-handedly rolled away a two-ton stone, and took on the Roman soldiers guarding His tomb requires infinitely more faith than I could possibly muster. He who studies the Resurrection honestly and intellectually must finally rest on the mountain of evidence that says, “He is risen. He is risen, indeed!”

Do I believe in eternal security? Yes, I do. I am absolutely secure, because the Lord has “shut me in.” You see, it wasn’t Noah who shut the door of the ark, hoping he latched it right and that it would stay shut. God shut the door of the ark - just as He seals our salvation on our journey to Heaven.

“Wait a minute,” you say. “I thought there will be some who won’t make it into Heaven even though they once made a profession of faith.”

That’s also true. And I believe the story that most clearly explains this dichotomy deals with a ship like the ark and a storm like the flood . . .

On a ship bound for Rome, Paul advised the captain to winter in a port due to bad weather. Ignoring Paul’s advice, they sailed on, right into a storm that grew so fierce that the sailors feared for their lives. “Be of good cheer,” Paul said. “There stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul, thou must be brought before Caesar: and lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee” (Acts 27:22–24).

When the storm continued, some of the sailors decided to bail out. But just as they were about to leave, Paul said, “Except these abide in the ship, you cannot be saved” (Acts 27:31). In other words, “If you choose to go overboard, you’ll be wiped out. You are secure, safe, and sealed only as long as you stay on board.”

Gang, no one can pluck us out of God’s hand - but that doesn’t mean we can’t leave on our own. I’m shut in the good ship salvation because I have no intention of going overboard, of sailing off in another direction. Yes, I sin. But I am determined, and have decided that I will love the Lord all the days of my life. I pray you have too.

And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
	Genesis 7:6
Based on Genesis 5:32, Genesis 6:3, and Genesis 7:6, we know that Noah was 480 years old when he began building the ark, 500 years old when his first son was born, and 600 years old when the flood began. This means that when God instructed Noah to make a place for his sons in the ark, He did so twenty years before Noah’s first son was even born! Twenty years before his sons were born, God said to Noah, “As the leader of the family, as the patriarch of the clan, as the father, Noah, you are to expect your sons and their wives to be in the ark - the place of salvation - with you and your wife.” Could this be why blood on the doorposts during Passover spared not only the one who applied it but the entire house (see Exodus 12:13)? Could this be why the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius and his house (see Acts 10)? Could this be what Paul meant when he said to the Philippian jailer, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (see Acts 16:31)? Could this be what the writer of Hebrews referred to when he wrote: “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house” (Hebrews 11:7)? I believe so. Am I suggesting a new doctrine: Dad, get saved and everyone else is included? No, I’m not talking about a doctrine - but about a dynamic. By faith, Noah prepared a place for his family on the ark even before his kids were conceived. So too, open your heart, Dad, to the Lord Jesus Christ, and by faith say, “I am believing my sons and daughters and their spouses and our grandchildren will be on board the good ship salvation.” Certainly, each man, woman, and child must make his or her own decision regarding salvation - but they do so more easily when they see the reality of faith lived out before them, just as Noah’s family observed him pounding away on the ark day after day.

	Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
	Genesis 6:14
Not coincidentally, I believe, due to its density and strength, gopher wood was used to make coffins. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross,” Jesus declared (Matthew 16:24). Salvation begins with death. It begins when we say, “I’m dying to self, Lord. I no longer demand my own way, but rather give myself completely to You.” The Hebrew word translated “rooms” is literally “nests.” On the good ship salvation, there is an abundance of rooms, where Episcopalians and Presbyterians, Baptists and Lutherans, Catholics and Methodists alike can nest. How careful we must be to allow room, to give our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ space to “work out their own salvation” (see Philippians 2:12). Each of us thinks we see clearly. But Paul reminds us that on this side of eternity, each of us only sees “through a glass, darkly” (1 Corinthians 13:12). Therefore, we need each other. The ark had plenty of room. So does the Kingdom. This is the only time in the Old Testament where the Hebrew word kapher is translated “pitch.” In many other passages this word is translated “atonement” - a wonderful word that essentially means “at-one-ment.” Just as the salvation God provided Noah was surrounded by the pitch of atonement, so God provided us “at-one-ment” with Him by sending His Son to die for our sins. In whatever storm faces you today, be assured, fellow sailor, that there is no safer place to be than in the ark of God’s election and provision, in the hold of His astounding mercy and amazing grace.

	This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
	Genesis 5:1–2
In calling Adam and Eve “Adam,” God called them one. You see, knowing our propensity to think the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, and knowing our tendency to want to trade this year’s car for next year’s model, God made it really simple for us. He ordained marriage for life. Those who understand this find glorious peace and freedom when they look at their spouse, because they know there’s no one down the line or around the corner who will give them a greater thrill. There’s not another person on earth who will make them happier, more content, or more fulfilled. Such is the amazing mystery of matrimony. I have known couples who weren’t perfectly matched body, soul, and spirit - but they stayed together because they understood the way of the Lord. And as I’ve watched them over the years, as I’ve seen their hair turn gray and their backs bow a bit, as I’ve seen them blessed with children and grandchildren, I’ve heard them say, “Wow. It’s worth it to go God’s way.” There is no greater joy than watching your kids grow and walk in the way of the Lord. But all that is thrown away by the one who says, “If I have an affair, I’ll be forgiven.” But there is no thing and there is no one worth losing your family for. God talks more about the sin of adultery than about any other single sin because adultery uniquely brings long-term, irreversible repercussions. If you have been one of the fortunate few who have experienced a miraculous resurrection of your marriage following the deathblow of adultery, rejoice. You have been graced. Go your way and sin no more. Dear people, determine that no matter what you’ve been through, no matter where you’ve been, you will do whatever it takes to guard the sanctity of your family.

CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA

8th century cross in China The Chinese were exposed to Christianity and Islam during the A.D. 7th and 8th century, but ultimately they found both beliefs unappealing as they did with Zoroastrianism and Manicheanism— the belief that good and evil exists in all humans, and that life is a struggle between the spirit and the flesh. All these faiths arrived in China on Silk Road 

Emperors during the T'ang dynasty (618-907) for the most part tolerated members all sorts of religious sects—Taoist and Confucian scholars, Christian missionaries, Zoroastrian priests, and Buddhist monks. On his trip to China in the 13th century Marco Polo wrote: "The people are for the most part idolaters, but there are also some Nestorian Christians and Saracens [Muslims]." 

A survey by East China Normal University counted 40 million Christians

. There is evidence that the number is much larger and growing. The numbers are particularly high among the young. China has the potential to be the world’s largest Christian nation. 

Proselytizing Christianity is banned under Chinese law. Even so there are large numbers of missionaries in Xinjiang and other places, many working as English teachers, and authorities often turn a blind eye to their activities. In his book The Tree That Bleeds: a Uyghur Town on the Edge Nick Holdstock wrote authorities at the university where he worked made it clear that, unlike usually when a crime is committed in China, they would not act without hard evidence. 

Good Websites and Sources: Church in China churchinchina.com ;Christianity in China christianityinchina.org ; Wikipedia article Wikipedia ; History of Christianity in China Ricci Roundtable ; U.S. Catholic China Bureau usccb.net ; Christain of China christianofchina.com ; CHINESE CATHOLICS Factsanddetails.com/China ; 

Links in this Website to Different Religions in China: RELIGION IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China ; FOLK RELIGION IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China ; CONFUCIANISM AND CONFUCIUS Factsanddetails.com/China ; CONFUCIAN BELIEFS Factsanddetails.com/China ; TAOISM Factsanddetails.com/China ; TAOIST BELIEFS Factsanddetails.com/China ; BUDDHISM IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China ;HISTORY OF BUDDHISM IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China ; HISTORY OF TIBETAN BUDDHISM Factsanddetails.com/China ; TIBETAN BUDDHISM BELIEFS Factsanddetails.com/China ; MUSLIMS AND JEWS IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China ; MYSTICISM AND SUPERSTITION IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China ; FENG SHUI AND QI QONG Factsanddetails.com/China ; IDEAS ABOUT DEATH IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China

Early Christians in China

Nestorian Christians (a sect originally from Syria) arrived in China on the Silk Road in the A.D. 7th century. According to the Nestorian Stone, a 10-meter-high tablet discovered in the 17th century and dated to A.D. 781, Nestorian missionaries, led by one Bishop Alopen, arrived from present-day Afghanistan in A.D. 635.

Nestorian Christianity is largely extinct but at one time it was quite a powerful Christian sect and was at the center of important doctrinal controversies. The Nestorians emphasized the duality of being between man and divine. They were regarded as heretics by other sects for their belief that there were two separate persons in the incarnate Christ, denying that Christ was in one person both God and man. They went on to argue that Mary was either the mother of God (a blasphemous concept to many Christians) or the mother of the man Jesus; but she couldn't have it both ways.

The first Nestorian church in China was founded in 638 in Changsan (Xian) by a Syrian named Raban. Nestorian Christians translated the Bible into Chinese. Their religion was officially tolerated by the Tang dynasty emperors for over 200 years until they were suddenly ordered to return home in 845. 

An altar with a nativity scene and an image of the Virgin Mary was discovered in the late 1990s in an ancient pagoda, dated to A.D. 638, in Lou Guan Tai, a two hour drive south of Xian. The pagoda was oriented toward the east like a church rather than north and south like a Chinese temple, which is seen as evidence that it was a church before it became a pagoda. The discovery was viewed as an indication that the Nestorians were not a fringe movement but rather one that penetrated deep into China. 

Archaeologists have also discovered passages from the Psalms written in the Nestorian’s Syriac language in Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, which showed that Christianity spread as far north as Mongolia. 

Marco Polo wrote there were some 700,000 Christian in China when he visited in the 13th century. Describing an encounter with some he wrote: his father and uncle "enquired from what source they had received their faith and their rule, and their informants replied: 'From our forefathers.' It came out that they had in a certain temple three pictures representing three apostles...who had instructed their ancestors on the faith long ago, and it had been persevered among them for 700 years." These Christians were most likely Nestorians.

Christians in the Chinese Imperial and Colonial Period

St. Xavier dying in China Jesuit missionaries were among the first foreigners to arrive in China. At first they were not allowed to preach but their advise was sought on scientific and astronomical matters Their knowledge about astronomy was particularly valued because the Emperor need knowledge about the seasons and the movement of celestial objects to set the dates for important rituals. Later the Jesuits were allowed to preach but they won few converts. 

St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552)—the famous Spanish Jesuit missionary who devoted his life spreading Christianity in Asia—died at the age of 46 on the island Sancian off Guandong province in China in present-day Macau during a proselytizing mission. After he died his body was packed in lime and shipped to Goa. His body was buried and later exhumed by Jesuits who cut off his right arm and sent it to the Pope as a gift. What remained of the body was placed in a gold and glass coffin in Goa cathedral. 

Many Christians are found in coastal cities such as Fuzhou. Many of these are descendants of Christian who were converted by European missionaries, who arrived in the area in 19th and 20th centuries.

Christianity arrives in China 550 years earlier: new evidence

Xinhuanet 2002-08-16 16:11:47

NANJING, Aug. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- A Chinese scholar has recently discovered a clutch of Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) stone carvingsin east China's Jiangsu Province that suggest Christianity enteredChina some 500 years earlier than it was thought previously. 　　Wang Weifan, a theologist and member of the China Christian Council, said his study of the stones kept in a museum in Xuzhou city showed some dated back to the year AD 86. Genesis stories and early Christian artistic designs could be seen on the stones, he added. 　　Before Wang's research, the accepted theory was that Christianity arrived in China in the early Tang Dynasty (618-907). 　　A few scholars once suggested that Christianity arrived in China in the Eastern Han Dynasty, but no written evidence has been offered. 　　One by one, Wang, 74, compared the Bible stories with the designs of the carvings, which he said described Christian stories about "the Creation of the world" and "Eve being tricked by the serpent". 　　The design in one carving shows the sun, moon, living creatures in the seas, birds of heaven, wild animals and reptiles -- images Wang linked to the Bible's "Creation of the world" story. 　　In another carving a woman takes fruit from "the tree of knowledge of good and evil" and a snake bites her right sleeve. It also shows the angel sent by God to guard the tree. 　　"It's similar to the 'Eve tricked by the serpent' story in the Bible," Wang said. 　 　　Wang noted that the designs also illustrated the artistic styleof early Christianity in the Middle East. 　　Some of the carvings have decorative designs of the Arabic number 8, formed by two rare animals crossing their necks. Wang said that was almost the same as designs on Uruk oval seals found in the Euphrates River and Tigris River valleys in the Middle East. 　　Stone carvings were major funeral objects in tombs of the Han Dynasty (BC206-AD220), when cultural exchanges between East and West flourished along the ancient Silk Road, according to Ma Huan li, member of China's Han stone carvings research society. 　　Consequently, those carvings might record a lot of information about religion and theology during that period, Ma said. 　　There are three theories about the arrival of Christianity in China: it was brought by Christians fleeing Roman persecution during the Eastern Han Dynasty, by two Syrian missionaries also during the Eastern Han Dynasty, or it arrived in China during the Three-Kingdom period (220-280). 　　Two strong pieces of evidence support the last hypothesis; a Roman book written in 300 which claims that Christianity was already spreading in China at that time, and the excavation of an iron cross in east China's Jiangxi Province with inscriptions showing it was cast between 238 and 250. 　　"Available history records are too scant to reach any definite conclusions," said professor Xu Rulei, former deputy director withthe Religious Studies Institute at Nanjing University. "But there are signs indicating that Christianity may have been introduced toChina in the Eastern Han Dynasty."

　　天上宝日月星辰，地上宝五谷金银。
　　国需宝正直忠臣，家需宝孝子贤孙。
　　黄金白玉非为宝，祇有生命一世闲。
　　百岁三万六千日，若无生命最可怜。
　　来时胡涂去时亡，空度人间梦一场。
　　口中吃尽百和味，身上穿成朝服衣。
　　五湖四海为上客，如何落在帝王家。
　　世间最大为生死，白玉黄金也枉然。
　　淡饭清粥充一饥，锦衣那着几千年。
　　天门久为初人开，福路全是圣子通。
　　我愿接受神圣子，儿子名份得永生。

清康熙帝御撰颂赞基督诗词


森森万象眼轮中，须识由来造化功。

体一无终而无绐，位三非寂亦非空。

天门久为初人闭，福路全凭圣子通。

除却异端无忌惮，真儒偌个不钦崇。



功由十架血成溪，百丈恩流分自西。

身列四衙半夜路，徒方三背两番鸡。

五千鞭挞寸肤裂，六尺悬垂二盗齐。

惨动八垓惊九品，七言一毕万灵啼。



妙道玄玄何处寻，在兹帝监意森森。

群生蒙昧迷歧径，世教衰微启福音。

自古昭昭临下士，由来赫赫显人心。

而今基督恩光照，我也潸潸泪满襟。





赞 词



立天地之主宰，造人物之根宗。

推之于前无始，引之于后无终。

弥六合兮无间，造庶类兮靡同。

本无形之可拟，乃降生之遗容。

宣仁爱以博化，理微妙而难穷。