ZGBriefs – The Week’s Top Picks, October 30 Issue
This week's top picks...
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Mentoring: The Hardest Need to Fill?
In a recent ChinaSource Quarterly article entitled, "Five Profound Mentoring Needs in China," Eric Lee notes that the most common requests from Chinese church leaders during the past three decades have been for Bibles, spiritual literature, and training. Now, however, they are asking for cross-cultural missionary training and mentoring.
Calvinism on the Ground in China
In recent years Calvinism has become an increasingly common topic of discussion within Chinese Christian circles. This trend has not gone unnoticed, and many scholars of Christianity in China are working to document and understand the growth of Reformed Christianity within the mainland.
Insiders and Outsiders are Different
In the mid-1990s, while studying Chinese, I stumbled across a Chinese expression that was a "key" to helping me understand what was going on. I was working through a textbook called Speaking of Chinese Culture that taught about key Chinese cultural rules and values. One chapter was on this Chinese concept called nei wai you bie (内外有别), which means "insiders and outsiders are different."
Another Perspective on the Wenzhou Crackdown
With literally hundreds of crosses falling prey to overzealous local officials in Wenzhou and neighboring cities, the region once seen as a bastion of extraordinary religious freedom is now the subject of worldwide attention due to an equally extraordinary crackdown on its churches.
ZGBriefs – The Week’s Top Picks, October 23 Issue
Drought, art, and wedding photos - our top picks for this week.
Christian Books on Taobao
Contrary to what many think, getting ahold of legally published Christian books in China is quite easy. In addition to Christian bookstores, which exist in most major cities, China's e-commerce site Taobao is a great source of Christian material.
The Dream of a Beijing Father and Educator
My son was accepted by Peking University this year. We are very happy with his success, but as a caring, loving father, I know how much my son struggled and was pushed by the educational system in his early school years. Growing up in today's Chinese educational system is not easy or pleasant. Many of my son's friends were greatly disappointed when they were not accepted by a "good" university after so many years of working hard together with their parents. Tragically some students choose suicide to express their disappointment.
Are These Pictures of a Secret Church in Beijing?
When trying to understand the church in China, it's easy to let predetermined narratives drive our interpretation of the things we observe. A recent article in the Huffington Post is a clear example of this.
In Search of Structure
Chinese Church Voices is running a series of articles taken from a lengthy interview with a Reformed unregistered church pastor in China. The fact that the Christian website in China where the interview originated gave the topic such in-depth attention, and the fact that this particular pastor (and many others like him) are such strong advocates of Reformed theology, raise the question of why denominations have become so attractive to Christians in China.
ZGBriefs – The Week’s Top Picks, October 16 Issue
Our top picks this week include articles on poverty and leadership and an interview with one of our favorite China authors.
Innocuous, But Not Meaningless
Anyone serving in China knows that one of the more vexing issues to deal with is "security." How public can / should I be about my faith? How public can/should I be about the faith and values that undergird my ministry?