Eric's Beijing Diary

I heard an interesting program on China Radio International (FM 91.5 if you happen to be in town) this morning. They were doing a piece on religions of China. They started talking about Christianity and after describing how Chrisitianity was brought to China by missionaries in the early 19th Century, the hostess of the show said that Chrisitianity in China tended to follow the patterns of Chrisitianity in the West, except that Christianity in China was often more personal, because many Chinese Chrisitians prefer to meet in homes. They then interviewed a "house Christian," who told how she had become a Christian after hearing the gospel from her mother. There really does seem to be a greater acceptance of Christianity, and especially of "house church" Christians, as a legitimate part of the Chinese religious community. Anyway, I thought it was very well done.

This evening, I joined a study group for "The Purpose Driven Life" at a private home in River Gardens a residential development for the expat community. I have never been a big fan of pop Christian literature, and I was going to pass on this latest fad too, but my daughter gave me the book for Christmas, so I started reading it, and it really is pretty good. At least it can be said that the title of the book defines what ought to be the assumed posture for anyone who names the name of Christ. Lots of good food and fellowship.