Easter 2024

As Easter draws near, let’s be reminded of the profound significance of this season. It’s a time of reflection, renewal, and rejoicing in the miraculous event that changed the course of history — the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Amid life’s challenges and uncertainties, the resurrection of Jesus offers us hope—a hope that transcends all circumstances and fills our hearts and minds with courage and strength. Just as Jesus conquered death and rose triumphantly from the grave, we are reminded that through Him as faithful believers, we have the promise of eternal salvation.

This Easter, let us reflect on the love and sacrifice of Jesus, who willingly laid down His life so we could have forgiveness and redemption. Let’s rejoice in the victory that Jesus was buried and rose again. We know His resurrection power is alive today. Together, as we address the world’s greatest problem – lostness, we share the message of hope and salvation, bringing God’s love to those who need it most.

May this Easter season fill your heart with joy, peace, and the assurance of God’s presence in your life. I wish you and your loved ones a very blessed Easter.

He is risen!

China’s Economy is Toxic

The Chinese economy has been built of massive environmental destruction and global warming spewed out by coal power planets. And now that China’s environment is destroyed, it’s going to export the pollution to Latin America.

Yet Another Raid

Elder Chang Shun has been detained for the third time in six months, together with eight believers.

There is no peace for the Maizhong Reformed Church, a house church in Fuyang, Anhui province, which refuses to join the government-controlled “Three-Self Church.” After the raid of January 18, 2024, during a prayer meeting for children, reported by “Bitter Winter” on January 23, another raid has hit the fiercely independent community.

Read more at “Against Fuyang Maizhong Reformed Church”

Chinese Women Are Staying Single

As the Chinese economy sputters, more and more Chinese women are choosing to stay single. They call it “singleism.” But Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party have a major problem with that. And you won’t believe what their “solution” is.

Article 23

The proposed new Security Law will compel priests and pastors to disclose information about “treason” learned in confession.

Most countries in the world, including some that are not democratic, protect the secret of confession. Catholic priests and clergy of other religions cannot be compelled to disclose what they have learned from a penitent during a confession. It is a basic principle of religious liberty that has been honored for centuries, and one that acknowledges the special nature of confession in the Catholic and other religious traditions.

The proposed new Security Law will compel priests and pastors to disclose information about “treason” learned in confession.

Most countries in the world, including some that are not democratic, protect the secret of confession. Catholic priests and clergy of other religions cannot be compelled to disclose what they have learned from a penitent during a confession. It is a basic principle of religious liberty that has been honored for centuries, and one that acknowledges the special nature of confession in the Catholic and other religious traditions.

Read more at “The Secret of Confession Under Attack in Hong Kong”

March 2024 Update

“teaching you to be honest and to speak the truth, so that you bring back truthful reports to those you serve?” (Proverbs 22:21)

A new school year has started March 1st through the end of June and commence again on September 1st through December 28th, 2024. A former student will take over my responsibilities and continue teaching business and finance lessons in English to MBA and PhD candidates in 2025. Due to my ongoing health situation this will be my last year of teaching in China after enjoying 32 years of positively influencing the lives of thousands of Chinese students and faculty educators. I loved teaching students of all different cultures, races, and backgrounds while I learned lessons of acceptance and understanding in that magical place called a “classroom.” As I look back over the past 30-plus years as an educator, I realize that I might was the one who learned the most.

With the Chinese New Year behind us a new “Faith or Fiction” class has started with 286 participants who are ready to delve into the twelve-week video curriculum ending May 17th. Recruiting has been somewhat curtailed since the ministry team working with the underground house churches are on a temporary sabbatical. Please continue to pray for Pastor Kan, his wife and three co-workers who have been incarcerated for running a “Discipleship Home Network” considered by the Chinese authorities to be a “cult.” They are at particular risk of torture to reveal with whom they have worked, while they are in custody awaiting to be “re-educated” through hard labor.

An increasing number of young people in China today have no desire to have children, which are considered an economic inconvenience. That unnatural instinct has been suppressed by generations of Marxist propaganda that work and money—not faith in God and a loving family—are the keys to happiness. After studying hard all their lives, tens of millions of university graduates can’t find any work at all, and a new expression, “tang ping” meaning “lying down flat” swept over many Chinese young people. Countless millions have lost the desire to excel, and they now see life as meaningless. More recently, during Xi’s harsh COVID restrictions, “tang ping” has been replaced by a new catchphrase “bai lan”, meaning “let it rot.” These developments refer to a voluntary retreat from pursuing goals and will expediate decay in Chinese society.

A friend who recently returned from China was shocked at the changes he experienced. He said: “Everywhere I saw many people paying for things with their faces. By allowing their faces to be scanned, payments are deducted directly from their accounts. No phone or bank card is needed, and cash is practically unheard of.” Xi Jinping’s reign has been greatly helped by his access to technology that previous rulers like Mao Zedong could not dream of. Now, with an estimated 400 million facial recognition cameras watching and evaluating their every move, and Xi demanding complete obedience to the Marxist-socialist agenda, many people feel stretched to breaking point and are increasingly fed up with the system. The Chinese economy has been built on a foundation of sand-based Communist ideology, which in due course will give way and collapse.

Taiwan’s Fatal Mistake

Taiwan is an independent country that hasn’t, since the communists took over China in 1949, been a part of China. Nevertheless, China’s Communist Party claims Taiwan is part of it, and has vowed to take control of Taiwan—by force if necessary. Despite the threats of invasion from its biggest neighbor, Taiwan has done the unthinkable and almost inextricably linked its economy to China’s. In this episode of China Uncensored, we look at how that came to be, what the arguments for and against it were, and how it turned out.

The Future That God Has Planned For Us

The theme of the book of Revelation is this: The end of your life as you know it is coming soon. That end will come either through your death or through the return of Jesus Christ, but your life is about to undergo a big change. And the knowledge that your life is going to end should affect how you live right now.

What is the “future” that God has planned for us? Many Christians get confused about the end times. Let’s simplify the subject of Bible prophecy by looking at a preview of God’s plan.

The Church Age

The first event in Bible prophecy is the Church Age. The Church Age is the period from Pentecost until the Rapture during which Gentiles are invited to participate in the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant. God issued an invitation to Abraham and his descendants, the Jews, to be in a covenant relationship with Him. But Israel temporarily rejected that invitation when they rejected Christ. So God extended His invitation to include non-Jews, that we might be saved. This is the period we are living in right now when God has temporarily set aside Israel and has invited everybody to be part of His covenant blessing.

Make no mistake: God is not finished with Israel. In Romans 11:1, 25, Paul said, “God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be!… A partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” When the Church Age ends, God will finish His dealings with Israel.

The Rapture of the Church

The Church Age will end at the Rapture of the Church. The Rapture is the snatching away to Heaven of all Christians before the Tribulation begins. Paul described it in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: “The Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.”

There are four elements of the Rapture: First of all, the Lord will descend from Heaven. He descends into the air, not to the ground.

Second, the dead in Christ will be raised. Who are the dead in Christ? It’s every believer who has died since Pentecost. When Christians die, our bodies remain on earth but our spirits go to be with the Lord. Paul said, “To be absent from the body [is] to be at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). But our bodies won’t stay on earth forever. At the Rapture, the graves will be opened and the bodies of the saved will be raised.

Third, Christian who are alive at that time will meet the Lord in the air. There will be a generation of Christians who never experience death; they will be caught up to meet the Lord.

Fourth, our bodies will be changed from mortal to immortal. Paul said, “This mortal [body] must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:53). Your body may be suited for this world, but it’s not suited for the next world. At the Rapture, we will receive brand-new bodies from God that are free from pain, suffering, and sickness.

The Rapture is the next event on God’s prophetic timeline. There are no prophecies that have to be fulfilled prior to the Rapture. It could happen at any moment.

The Tribulation

The Rapture of the Church will be followed by the Tribulation. The Tribulation is a seven-year period that will begin when the world leader known as the Antichrist signs a peace covenant with Israel, and it will end with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. This is the final seven years of earth’s history.

There are two purposes for the Tribulation. First, it will be a time of salvation for Jews and Gentiles. Many people will be saved, Jews and Gentiles alike, during these final seven years. It’s a sign of God’s mercy. He wants to save as many people as possible. Second, it will be a time of condemnation of unbelievers.

Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ

The Tribulation will be followed by the Second Coming of Christ. This is the visible return of Jesus Christ to establish His kingdom on the earth. At the end of the seven-year Tribulation, all the world forces will assemble on the plain of Megiddo in Israel to wage war and overthrow the Antichrist. This final world conflict is called the Battle of Armageddon.

As the world forces are fighting the Antichrist, suddenly the heavens will part and the Lord Jesus will appear. Revelation 19:11-16 says: “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords.”

The Second Coming is different from the Rapture. In the Rapture, only believers will see the Lord; at the Second Coming, everybody will see Him. At the Rapture, Christians will meet the Lord in the air; at the Second Coming, His feet will touch the ground. This is the visible return of Jesus Christ.

The Millennium

The Second Coming of Christ is followed by the Millennium. The Millennium is a thousand-year period during which Christ will reign on the earth. This is the time when God will fulfill His promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 of a land, seed, and blessing where Messiah will rule on the throne of David from Jerusalem.

Revelation 20:1–3 says: “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.”

With Satan bound for a thousand years, part of the curse of sin will be removed, but not all of it. This is the time Isaiah 65 describes, when people will live to be at least one hundred and won’t have difficulty with thorns and thistles. It is a renovation, not a recreation of the earth.

Satan Released and the Final Rebellion

At the end of these thousand years, Satan will be released for a little while. Why would God let him go? Here’s why: Only believers enter the Millennium. You and I will enter the Millennium in the new, resurrected bodies we received at the Rapture. Resurrected bodies don’t reproduce, but natural bodies do. People who are saved [and were not killed] during the Tribulation will enter the Millennium in their natural bodies. That means they will be able to have children.

It is important that every person be given a choice whether to follow Jesus. So God will lose Satan for a short time; and amazingly some children who were born and grew up during the Millennium will choose to follow Satan instead of Jesus. That is the final rebellion.

The Great White Throne Judgment

God puts an end to this rebellion at the Great White Throne Judgment. This is God’s final judgment against all unbelievers who have ever lived. Revelation 20:13 says, “The sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.” When unbelievers die, their spirits go to Hades. Jesus talked about it in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. The rich man died and went to Hades, and he said, “I am in agony in this flame” (Luke 16:24). Hades is a place of intense suffering for the unsaved until their final judgment.

At the Great White Throne Judgment, unbelievers will be judged by their works. Revelation 20:13 says, “They were judged every one of them according to their deeds.”Why are they judged by their works? Unbelievers say, “I don’t need the forgiveness of Jesus Christ; I’m good enough to get into Heaven.” So God says to them, “Fine. I’ll judge you by your works.” Unfortunately, the standard by which God judges is the perfection of Jesus Christ. And by that standard, “all fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

The result of this judgment is eternal condemnation. Revelation 20:14-15 says, “death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

Unbelievers are not destroyed when they are judged; they suffer forever and ever. The horrible truth about Hell is this: When you have spent three trillion years in the agony of Hell, you will not have reduced by one second the amount of time you have left. That is the fate of everyone who dies without trusting in the forgiveness of Jesus Christ.

Eternity Future

After the Great White Throne Judgment, we enter eternity future. This is the permanent state of believers inhabiting the new Heaven and Earth, and unbelievers inhabiting the Lake of Fire. In 2 Peter 3:7 and 10, Peter explained the present Heaven and earth will be destroyed by fire. John said in Revelation 21:1, “I saw a new Heaven and a new earth; for the first Heaven and the first earth passed away.” We’re not going to spend eternity floating around someplace. The earth will be recreated to the state God originally intended it to be. In the New Earth, God will “wipe away every tear from [our] eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away” (v. 4).

That is the future God has planned for those who know Jesus Christ.

Are You Ready?

How should that affect how we live today? One day, the Bible says, the trumpet will sound, the heavens will part, and we will see the King of kings and Lord of lords. When that happens, tragically, many Christians will be embarrassed by their lives. They will be clothed in immorality, greed, and personal ambition instead of being clothed in the righteous acts of the saints.

Let me ask you this: when you meet God face to face, either through your death or through the Rapture, will you be embarrassed about the life you have lived up to this point? If so, now is the time to make those changes that will ensure you are ready on your coming appointment with God. That’s why Peter wrote in 2 Peter 3:11-12, “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God…”

Film on Jimmy Lai

Watch here the 10-minute movie “Jimmy Lai – Guilty of Innocence.” It will ask you whose side you are on: of the innocent victims or their brutal tormentors?

Late Fall 2019, Hong Kong. For days, a huge and seemingly unstoppable crowd manifests against a new security bill introduced by the government of the former British colony to further the interests of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Police repress protesters with violence. Agents in war gear beat protesters with sticks and shoot rubber bullets. Around 8 am on November 11, 21-years old student Patrick Chow Pak-kwan is seriously wounded by a shot in his chest during demonstrations in Sai Wan Ho, the residential area on the northeastern shore of Hong Kong Island (he survived to be later sentenced to 6 years in prison.) These are the introductory frames of the new 10-minute film, produced and directed by Mark A. Tarrant, “Jimmy Lai—Guilty of Innocence,” which premieres today in “Bitter Winter.”

Read more at “Film on Jimmy Lai”

China’s Deadly Floods

Deadly floods in China leave parts of the country submerged under water. In Beijing alone, the amount of rain over the past week has broken a 140-year-old record. Chinese authorities channel water from swollen rivers to some populated areas for storage. This decision of govt has sparked anger. According to flood control laws, Flood water may be temporarily channeled to so-called “flood storage areas”.

More videos at #flooding