The Dawn Treader

"It affected my generation of university students very deeply," Jin said of the crackdown [note: Tiananmen Square] that is known in Chinese as "6-4," for the date, June 4, 1989. "The university students in the '80s were groomed by the country. Our fees and living expenses were paid for by the country. The 6-4 event left many students hurt. ... Like all my other university peers, I felt an immense sense of hopelessness."

"We [had been] taught not to learn from God, that God is a fake," said Wang Qingying, a 37-year-old member of Jin's church who grew up the daughter of a Communist Party member. "After I started to believe, I realized that everything that happens is a part of God's design."
~ Chicago Tribune

China is in a great awakening of colossal proportions.  The World Christian Database estimates that Christians number 70 million now in China, mostly in underground churches.  The growth rate is staggering.  In the last 10 years, the average growth of new Christians is about one million per year.

Bibles are selling like hot cakes.  Tune into PBS t'nite at 9:00 for a report on this remarkable transformation of a nation.  All by God's design.

"So, in light of the General Assembly vote to accept the PUP Report, is it time for biblically-committed Christians to leave the PCUSA? I'll pick up this question tomorrow."

So says PCUSA Pastor and blogger Dr. Mark Roberts.  Tune in tomorrow for his answer.

The PCUSA also voted to receive a paper that allows for new terms for the trinity including Mother, Child and Womb.  Why?  It is all about language and power.

One reason is that language limited to the Father and Son "has been used to support the idea that God is male and that men are superior to women," the panel said.

Albert Mohler has a response here.

Is it any wonder that the rolls in liberal denominations like the U.S. Episcopalians and the PCUSA are plummeting?

I feel for those in the PCUSA in particular.  I know some good people who are hanging on in that denomination.  They face a tough decision.  What do you do when your own denomination becomes your mission field?

Philadelphia had James Boice.  New York has Tim Keller.  Chattanooga has Joe Novenson.  Seattle has Mark Driscoll.  Glen Burnie has David Wayne.  Now ... Roanoke has Ed Dunnington.

Dunnington is the most gifted 30-something preacher (besides Driscoll) that I have ever heard.  He is the organizing pastor of Christ The King PCA, which meets at North Cross School on Sundays at 10:45.

I got writers cramp yesterday during his sermon.  Dunnington's exegesis of the first six verses of Philippians was so spot on and full of application, I could barely keep up.

Ever wonder how Christianity spread so rapidly in the first century? 

No internet.  No mass media.  No blogs.  Very little written material.  Was it the preaching of the apostles?  Was it signs and wonders?  Was it the house-church movement?  Was it just a one-time special movement of the Holy Spirit?

We kicked that question around in our small group Sunday night.