When the Spring Festival Meets Lent
How can the joy and festivity of the New Year blend with the sorrow and self-denial of Lent?
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On Patience, Peace, and an Ordinary Afternoon
In a world trained to look for conflict and clarity, choosing to notice patience and harmony may itself be an act of faith.
Lunar New Year Prayer Calendar
Wherever Spring Festival is celebrated, Chinese communities are present. This worldwide cultural mosaic is more than an expression of ethnic identity. It can also become a spiritual map—guiding communities rooted in tradition toward a living encounter with the truth of the gospel.
Horses in Chinese Culture and the Bible
The qualities often celebrated through the horse in Chinese culture—strength, perseverance, diligence, endurance—may rightly be received as genuine gifts of common grace. And yet Scripture insists on a boundary we forget at our peril: the horse cannot save.
Confucian Culture and Christian Faith
No culture or political ideology can be equated with Christian truth. Jesus’s words—“My kingdom is not of this world”—remain a vital reminder for the church today.
Restoring Our True Face: From Cultural Survival to Christlike Peacemaking
Changing Normal is a book that I have revisited often. Re-reading the chapters is like confiding in a friend committed to help me persevere in the same direction for the sake of love.
Cultural Harmony and Gospel Fidelity
Chinese house churches must deliberate on how to be genuinely Chinese and truly Christian. Both the concepts that are overemphasized cause distortion. It takes constant navigating to be “in the culture but not of it.” Authentic Chinese Christianity will result from keeping both ideas in healthy tension as Chinese house churches negotiate between indigenizing and acting as pilgrim communities.
The Double Ninth Festival
Celebrated annually on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, the Double Ninth Festival (重陽節/重阳节) falls on October 11 in 2024. From a Christian perspective on traditional Chinese festivals, it provides an opportunity to reflect on biblical values like wisdom, longevity, and honoring elders, blending cultural heritage with faith.
The Hidden Love Behind Festival Foods
Perhaps the Passover dinner was not as delicious as the dumplings eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival…Before the Pharaoh of Egypt, the Lord God prepared a banquet for his people, filling their hearts with sweetness, happiness, and joy. God has prepared another banquet for his children, which is the Holy Communion prepared by Jesus for his disciples…where Jesus' love is fully poured out.
Dragons and Devotion: Bridging Cultural Heritage with Christian Faith
I am not Chinese, and yet I was so helped by this exploration of the Year of the Dragon. And I realize that for my Chinese Christian brothers and sisters this series of articles may have produced a much deeper sense of relief than mine. For this I am grateful and looking forward to an eternity in which I can know them better.
Human Flourishing in Chinese Thought: A Christian Response
Enjoy the recording of I’Ching Thomas’ lecture, “Human Flourishing in Chinese Thought: A Christian Response.” Drawing on themes from her book Jesus the Path to Human Flourishing, I’Ching explored the notion of human flourishing in Chinese thought, focusing especially on Confucius’ teaching on self-cultivation and benevolence as keys to achieving the ideal of the Noble Man.
From Auspicious Dragon to Christian Devil
In his reflection on cultural heritage, Rev. Chow acknowledges that while no one has physically seen a dragon, it stands as a potent spiritual symbol for the Chinese, embodying a complex and profound mix of emotions—a reverence filled with honor and dignity. Rather than dismissing the dragon for its mythical nature, Rev. Chow proposes that we "value it doubly, as an integral part of our treasured traditions."