The Radical Chinese House Churches (part II)

For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Isaiah 57:15

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. James 5:16b

These verses beautifully describe some of the secrets of this vibrant church. I chose to place the same picture at the beginning of this continued article, because it says it all. It is the broken-hearted prayers of humble believers that bring the presence of God into their midst. I pray that God will lead us into this same kind of desperate praying, so that His bride in America can be like His bride in China.

We have received many encouraging words about the first half of this article. Thank you for your input. We love to hear from the hearts of our readers. It is good for us American Christians to be challenged by believers from the other side of the world. Let us return to the interview.

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Christian Traditions

One doesn’t have to look far to find a dead tradition. They lie around churches like the old tombstones of a church burial ground: rotting, crumbling, and yet too memory-filled to just dump over the hill somewhere.

But what about live traditions? Like faithful apple trees in the graveyard fencerow that bear fruit with the regularity of a ... tradition, they bless souls time and time again.

How do you turn a crumbling tombstone into a live apple tree? At this point my analogy sort of breaks down ...Yet for some people, those old, dead, dry traditions can never be revived: they HAVE to go! They have experienced traditions for years—dead, dry, hollow, and starting to stink—and they KNOW that church life never prospers if it is clogged with the tombstones of centuries gone by.

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An Open Heart and Home