Eric's Beijing Diary

David said, "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD." That was always my favorite verse when I was a kid. I learned it in Kindergarten or first grade--can't remember.

This morning, when I went to Haidian Jiaotang, I discovered that the transmitter used for doing the English translation was not functioning properly. So, no English translation. It reminded me of another time and another place... It was about twenty years ago, and I was going to graduate school in Canada. It was a summer-only program, because I was a school teacher in North Dakota at the time. I was a student at the University of Regina in southern Saskatchewan. My home in North Dakota was about 200 miles from Regina, so I often went home on weekends, but on the weekends that I stayed in Regina, I usually attended the Regina Chinese Alliance Church. The Chinese pastor preached in Chinese, and a local physician in the congregation translated into English. It was a good arrangement, and I liked going there, because this guy was actually a pretty good preacher. But one Sunday, after I had not been there for awhile, I went to the service, and discovered that the preacher was preaching in Cantonese, and the interpreter was translating into Mandarin. Or the other way around. I would not have known the difference at that time. It was one of those times when one feels like saying, "Give me a break!" But of course, it was not their fault. They had switched the English service to another time period. I had no way of knowing that, because I had not been there for awhile. Perhaps it was at the beginning of the summer or something--can't remember. But it was a good lesson in what is really important, and what church is really about.

You know, I think sometimes it can be a good thing to have one of the four elements of church life removed, so that you can see how you are doing with the other three. I am speaking, of course, of the text in Acts which states that the Christians continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. Preaching and teaching, fellowship with other believers, breaking of bread (both in the Lord's supper, and in eating together), and corporate prayer. Sometimes so much emphasis is placed on the sermon, that one or more of the other areas tends to suffer. But when that segment is removed, one has a chance to be reminded why David said, "I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord."

What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.