An Indiana Zuotan (Informal Discussion)
Last week, on my way home from giving two days of lectures at Taylor University, I had the opportunity to visit the Center on Religion and Chinese Society, at Purdue University in Lafayette, IN.
Articles
Latest
Cross-Cultural Ministry in the Chinese Church
In recent years, some churches in China have begun to think about and become more involved in cross-cultural ministry among China’s ethnic minorities. In August the Mainland site Gospel Times published an article about efforts by some churches in eastern and northeastern China to establish churches in minority areas.
The Changing Face of Urban Mission
In recent months I have been delighted by the exposure Chinese Church Voices has provided to indigenous perspectives on faith and mission. The simple blog provides an important window for non-Chinese speakers into questions Chinese Christians are raising. In turn, it provides those of us in the West with an opportunity for greater dialogue and understanding.
Worshiping in Chinese
This series of blog entries refers primarily to the question of expatriate Christians attending Chinese services at registered—or at least publicly "open"—local churches. It is assumed that in most cases, the risks to local believers (and to the expat workers as well) are such that it would be irresponsible to participate regularly in unregistered church services. Part one deals with some of the common objections to attending Chinese church services. In part two some of the main reasons why I have chosen to attend Chinese church services will be given. Part three will list some of the ways I have been blessed by my attendance at Chinese church services.
Most-Read Posts on “Chinese Church Voices”
Have you been keeping up with our publication Chinese Church Voices? If not, here are the five most popular posts of 2014 that you may have missed.
Poverty and Spiritual Backwardness
In addition to church leaders and ordinary Christians using online forums to discuss matters of faith, academics are joining the conversation as well. On his blog, Professor Liu Peng recently wrote about the relationship between poverty and “spiritual backwardness,” which refers to a spiritual void, or lack of spiritual beliefs. Writing from the perspective of sociology, Professor Peng argues that the most serious type of poverty in China is the “poverty of faith,” and unless that is addressed the problem of material poverty cannot be solved.
Most-Read ChinaSource Blog Posts of 2014
These are the ChinaSource Blog posts that our readers enjoyed the most in 2014. Did you read them? If not, click on the link to see what you missed!
“Joy Up”
Earlier this month, The Economist published an interesting look at the popularity of Christmas in China, a country that is officially atheist, and makes no room for any official celebration of the holiday.
Preparing for Christmas‬
Churches in China (both registered and unregistered) are taking advantage of the popularity of Christmas to teach people about the true meaning of the festival.
Villagers of the “Chinese Christmas Village” Don’t Know What Christmas Is!‬‬‬‬‬
Earlier this month the Chinese web portal Sina posted a photo essay on the town of Yiwu (Zhejiang), where most of the world’s Christmas products come from.
A Ten-Year Visa
This afternoon the good folks at FEDEX delivered a small package to my house, and it wasn’t even a Christmas present. In fact, it was something better — my passport, with a brand-spanking-new Ten-year, multiple entry tourist visa to China.
Don’t Ignore Marxism
Much is written these days about what makes China tick. It's the pragmatism. It's nationalism, and the desire to be a player on the world stage. It's "socialism with Chinese characteristics," which to some is just another way of saying capitalism.