"The RADICAL CHINESE HOUSE CHURCHES" - Part 2-by Denny Kenaston, The Remnant Magazine.Bro Denny: Let's move on to another important question. How dothe Chinese Christian's evaluate AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY?Bro Ren: They feel like the church in the West is playing games.They are troubled with all the LAUGHTER in the meetings. Theyare broken and weeping in their assemblies, and we are tellingjokes. This brings very different results. They feel we are bound bytraditions and programs and therefore cannot follow the Holy Spirit'sleadings. We have to make sure we have that direct line to theHoly Spirit and seek to hear His voice. We can neveroveremphasize the difference between the followers of Jesus in theWest and in China. These followers in China hear their Master'svoice, and they follow Him. This is actually a very simple theology.The Christians in the West have been able to eliminate Christ andHis direct presence in their midst. I have a feeling sometimes thatthe whole Christianity in the West could be going for years beforethey discover that Jesus has not been with them for a long time.He has gone somewhere else. He is not with them anymore.Bro Paul: The personal message I got from Bro. Yun is that ofJesus asleep in the boat. His whole point was that so manypeople in missions, in churches, and in ministries start out withthe power of God and great visions. But, then people think, "Okay,we can row it ourselves now. Thank you very much." And Jesusgoes to sleep in the boat. Great storms arise. They have to wakeJesus up before it is too late to calm the storm. Make sure Jesusisn't asleep in your church, in your family, or in your life.Bro Denny: What does the Chinese church believe about the HolyGhost? It seems very evident that they are a powerful people. Howdoes this work out in their theology of the Spirit?Bro Paul: They believe it is God's command to every believer to bebaptized by the Holy Ghost. They also believe that we must havecontinual fillings as our life goes on in the Lord Jesus. This is theprimary reason for all the amazing things that we have shared inthe meeting. Imagine how different the American Christians wouldbe if millions of them would be filled with the Spirit.Bro Denny: What does the Chinese church believe about holy living?This is an area of much confusion here in America. The professingchurch is filled with worldliness.Bro Paul: They are conservative Christians. They order their livesaccording to the word of God. Many do not have Bibles, but thosewho do study much to see what God says about living a Christianlife. Their women are modest, in spirit and in their clothing. TheChinese culture is different from American culture, but what theywear is modest.They are all poor, so they have no problems with fashion. Thismatter of holy living is a real problem to them when they try torelate to Christians from the West. They struggle whendenominations try to claim them as "one of us," when they are very different.Bro Denny: Some of the testimonies about healing are amazing.They cause me to sit in astonishment as I hear them. Could youelaborate on the subject of healing a bit more? How often do thingslike what we heard tonight happen? What is their theology of healing?Bro Ren: First, let me answer the theology part of the question.They have a very simple theology about healing. They believe thatGod is a healer. It is simply one of the many manifestations of Hisholy character. In America, you believe that God can heal. In China,they believe He does ALL the time. It is according to your faith andours. You receive what you believe. The people are poor and cannotafford to go to the doctor. Because of this, they have to trust in Godin ways that American's do not. Healings happen all the time, butpeople also have sickness that they have to deal with. Poverty andpersecution brings extra hardships upon them, and thus they getsick more often. Sometimes God heals, and sometimes He doesnot. God is sovereign.Bro Denny: Could you also comment on some of the other miraclesthat you share tonight? It is hard for us to relate to so manysupernatural happenings. How does this affect the church there?Bro Paul: They believe in a miracle working God. At first, in thebeginning of the revival, everyone was astonished as well. As Godbegan to work many miracles, the church just began to expectmiracles. It is not a distraction as it is in the West. Miracleshappen at a meeting, and the preacher just goes right on preachingthe Gospel. THERE IS AN EXPECTATION THAT GOD WILLCONFIRM HIS WORD WITH MIRACLES. Eighty percent of thechurch has experienced miracles of some sort or another. Becauseof this, they expect them. They never glorify the miracles; theyglorify God. The gift of miracles is in the Bible, and God worksthrough this gift to honor His name.Bro Denny: Have you ever heard of someone being raised from the dead?Bro Ren: Oh yes, it happens quite often. Many times whensomeone is killed, or dies from persecution, the leaders will gowhere the body is to pray and find out if God would have the personlive again.Bro Denny: I have often said in my preaching, "When persecutioncomes, true unity will come with it, because there will be nomixture with the world." In light of this, what do they believe aboutunity? We have all this ecumenical confusion here in our land.Bro Paul: Again, their theology is very simple. Their unity is basedon the essentials of the faith and true marks of discipleship. Theysay, "Disciples witness, and are persecuted because they witness."This is where the lines of unity are drawn. There are differencesamong them, but they do not allow these to divide them in the warfor souls. They believe there is more that unifies them than thereis that separates them.Bro Denny: Could you comment on the name given to theseChinese Christians. I am referring to the name "house churches."What is the significance of this name?Bro Ren: The name signifies several different things. First , thename is given because they meet in houses. There are severalreasons for this, and I will comment on them in a moment. Thesecond reason has to do with a distinction between them and theregistered churches, which meet in buildings. The last reason isthe most important one, they call themselves house churches outof conviction. They meet in homes because they believe it is morebiblical. It is also true that they have to because of persecution, butthe primary reason is evangelical in nature. Even if the governmentof china allowed them liberty to meet openly, they would still meetin houses. Meeting in homes is one of the greatest keys to thetremendous growth of the church. The more meeting places, themore they can win the lost to Christ. In addition, when they meet inhouses, it does not cost them any money. Finances often slowchurch growth.Bro Denny: Could you tell me what the church services are likewhen they meet together and feel free? I know there are timeswhen they have to be quiet, but what is it like when they are free?Bro Ren: The Chinese Christians are a lively, responsivecongregation when they gather in freedom. They sing some hymnsand some choruses, and the singing is wholehearted. During thepreaching and open testimonies, there are lots of amens andhallelujahs. They meet in forests and caves to do this so they willnot be heard.Bro Denny: You mentioned in your presentation that revival hasbeen continuing for decades. Can you give me some reasons whyit does not grow cold or stop?Bro Paul: As I see it, there are two reasons. First, the church isbusy fulfilling God's purposes for it on the earth. That purpose isevangelism. As God's people do His work, He continues to pourout His Spirit upon them. This is a secret to ongoing revival. TheChinese church has a powerful vision of the Great Commission.They believe it is the Church's responsibility to preach the Gospelto their generation. The second reason flows out of the first.Because of their persistence in preaching the Gospel, they arepersecuted repeatedly. This persecution brings purifying, and thatbrings more anointing. These two work together to create anatmosphere of revival.Bro Ren: There is another reason why they still have revival. Thechurch leaders are careful to give the Holy Spirit His place indirecting the work. They allow God's Spirit free course to move howand where He will. They see the American church as one that istoo organized. The leaders have a saying about revival that I feel ishelpful. They call it, "How to kill a Revival." -Man wants to organize it to suit his understanding. -Then after he has it organized, he then secures himself a position in it. -Once this is done, the Spirit is grieved, and slowly withdraws. -Then the Revival becomes a history class, and everyone talks about it in the past.Bro Denny: Could you comment on the eschatology of the housechurches? What is their end time theology?Bro Paul: Their theology is again very simple. They believe thatJesus Christ is coming again. He is coming for His bride who hasmade herself ready. As far as the details of how all this will happen,there are some differences. These differences do not divide them.The strongest point of their theology has to do with evangelism.They believe the gospel must be preached among all nations, andthen shall the end come. They get this from Matt. 24:14. Becauseof this belief, they have strong convictions about evangelism. Theybelieve that if you are not actively busy preaching to others, youare hindering the second coming of Christ, and you need to repent.Bro Denny: For my last question, let's talk a little about the leadersof this movement. The church is growing at a very fast rate, and yetit is underground. Therefore, it would be hard to give much formaltraining to the leaders. From an American perspective, many wouldbelieve you cannot lead a church until you have had much formaltraining. Obviously, this training is not happening in China, yet thechurch is thriving. How can this be? Can you explain some ofpreparations the leaders receive?Bro Ren: Most of the top leaders are very poor. The strongest pointof their character is love. They pour out their lives for thepersecuted sheep in China both in labors and by subjectingthemselves to the dangers of imprisonment. One wrong move andthey sit in a prison cell for five or ten years. This is love as many inAmerica have never known. They do train their leaders. The training,however, is very simple. They train them in three major areas. Letme state them briefly.•They teach them how to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and walkwith Him daily. Then from that walk, they must learn how towitness for Christ in a dangerous hostile environment.•They teach them how to die daily and how to die really. These areboth very important because of the persecutions leaders face.• They teach them how to escape the police when they are caught,and how to escape from prison if God says "Run."The word of God is very important to these leaders. They havememorized and internalized many chapters of the Bible. Theycannot carry a Bible around in their hands, so they make sure thatthey can carry one in their heart. The fire of the Holy Ghost is alsovery important in ministry. These men are constantly beingempowered by the Spirit. This is leadership in China, and this ishow the church spreads so rapidly.Bro Denny: Thank you for taking the time to share with me. I amdeeply challenged by the answers to my questions. I know thehearts of the people who will read this article. They will be thrilledand humbled by our Chinese brethren. May God help us. We lackin so many of these areas, but we want to change.
