Two Branches of Christianity?

So Eileen and I were waiting at the ferry pier in Danshui the other day. Some friends had taken our kids across the river for a biking expedition, and we were waiting to join them on a sunset visit to Fisherman's Wharf. We were too late to get on the same ferry so we had to wait a few minutes for the next one.

While waiting, we got talking with the young attendant at the gate. After some small talk, he asked us what we do in Taiwan. When we told him, we were Christian (evangelical) missionaries, he asked us what "branch" of Christianity that was? We thought he was referring to whether we were Catholic or Protestant. "Actually", he said, "I was wondering if you were with those guys that ride bikes and wear white shirts". Oh, you mean the Mormons! We clarified for him that we were not with the Mormons. "What's the difference?", he asked. We told him that our faith was based on Jesus Christ, while the Mormons follow the teachings of some whacked-out, long dead, magic glasses-wearing American who thought up a bunch of stuff himself and has unfortunately led a lot of people astray. Okay, we didn't exactly word it like that, but we did make it clear that Mormonism is not based on Christ, but is basically just another religion that does no one any good.

It seems that's what it always comes down to. You can believe in Christ (who is God), or you can believe in religion, which is nothing but man's attempt to reach God. It's no good saying you are an atheist, because that's just saying that you really only believe in yourself, and follow the "religion of me". I've always had a problem with labeling the Christian faith as "Christianity" because that sort of conveys it is just another religion, among many, in the world.

A lot of people have a problem with Jesus Christ being as exclusive as he is, but he doesn't need to apologize for that. When you are God, the Creator of the universe, that does kind of put you in a category all by yourself. The question isn't why is Jesus Christ so "exclusive" of other faiths, rather it is, "how can we fathom a love so great that God offers us a free gift that we don't deserve?", that being, the promise of gaining victory over death and spending life eternal in praise and worship of Him who gave us life in the first place!

Light In The Darkness

This weekend I was invited to preach in a small church in Chingsui (pronounced "CHING sway"). Chingsui may have once been described as a small rural town 20 years ago, but is now a bustling city of about 300,000, just 30-40 minutes' drive (depending on traffic and who's driving) west of Taichung. I am familiar with this church through having visited it numerous times over the past 17 years. In the summer of 2004 we had a team from our church in London, ON do an English ministry through the church. Last summer I taught English to Taiwanese students in 2 different public elementary schools in the area. All of these summer's outreach ministries were coordinated through the church.

The city of Chingsui has been described often by both missionaries and national pastors that have worked there as a very difficult place for the gospel. Spiritually, all of Taiwan could be described as a "dark place", but in Chingsui, things seem to be a deeper shade of black. The area truly is a stronghold of the enemy. Cultural and religious habits run deep and strong in this area of Taiwan, that has developed from it's most early rural beginnings. People are not open to new ideas, ANY ideas that threaten their social and religious values that have been passed down for hundreds of years, generation after generation.

What the people of Chingsui don't realize is that, like any culture that has not been redeemed by Christ, traditions and religious practices may bring a sense of security, and perhaps even comfort, but provide little in terms of real hope for the future and the experience of what Christ called the "abundant life".

An example of this presented itself to my senses as we were leaving the restaurant where a couple people from the church had invited me for lunch. Set up in the alley near the restaurant was a temporary tent where an extended family was holding funeral rights for a recently deceased loved one. Mourners were dressed in their prescribed garb. One mourner (whether a blood relative of the family, or a professionally hired "mourner", I'm not sure) was mic'd to a PA system and was repeatedly wailing in Taiwanese, "A-Kong, A-Kong" (grandfather, grandfather), "Li chai-iu* li-khui goan?" (why have you left us?).

I had seen such displays before, but this time something really gripped my heart. "These people really do not have any hope", I thought. How can they know and experience the new life and hope found in Jesus Christ? It will not be by simply preaching the good news at them, but faith will come through hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). The work is done by the the Spirit of the living God, convicting the world of sin, righteous, and judgment (John 16:8). Missionaries are just the messengers. The real power to change a person's life (literally) is the truth of the gospel, and Christ works through that gospel to draw people to Himself.

I am here in Taiwan for people like that mourner, who might one day sing praises of thanksgiving to her Creator for giving the promise of eternal, resurrected life, instead of having her mournful, questioning cries echoed only by silence in the darkness. If Chingsui is to one day lose it's reputation as a "dark place", it will only be when God's blazing light of truth chases away that darkness and gives instead the promise of what we all long for - life with Him forever.

Pray with us that God might hasten that day's coming.

I Fell Down

So a couple days ago I took my first spill off the motorcycle. I was going through a quiet intersection (no lights) and didn't see another guy on a scooter till the last minute. I panicked, hit the brakes too hard and the back wheel slid out. I went down pretty hard on my left side, but only ended up with some surface abrasion on my forearm and a badly bruised left ankle. It was pretty swollen for the last two days so I thought I better get it x-rayed. Fortunately it was not fractured at all.

Millions of people ride motorcycles and scooters in Taiwan every day. Traffic here follows it's own rules, and it's easy for a foreigner to quickly assimilate into the "flow" of the traffic, literally and metaphorically. That can be both a good, and bad thing. Good in that the quicker one learns the accepted "rules" of the road, the better. Overly cautious riders can be just as much a hazard to other riders as anything. On the other hand, if one becomes too comfortable with the road, that cautious edge can be lost altogether, and that can be very dangerous. It's never a good idea to take ANYTHING for granted when driving in Taiwan traffic.

A lesson I learned once again this week, fortunately at minimal expense.

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog. Time for something new and fresh. My other website at http://web.mac.com/tairod has been up for almost 2 years. It has tracked our progress and adjustment to living in Taiwan. However, Blogger is easier to update on a regular basis, and I've been looking for a format to just write short entries about life in Taiwan, or whatever.

So thanks for checking in. Feel free to visit regularly.