JERUSALEM, Israel – The voice of a Chinese pastor living in the epicenter of the deadly coronavirus outbreak is being heard around the world and it’s persuading many Christians to stand with him in prayer. 

An anonymous pastor in Wuhan, China penned a letter to the global Church describing what it’s like to leave your home not knowing if you’ll contract this virus, and if you will live for long if you do. He is one among millions of Chinese citizens on complete lockdown in an attempt to contain the disease. 

While he says China is suffering, he believes something bigger is happening, saying it is time for Christians to proclaim the gospel in a country where their faith is under fire. 

Read the full letter below:
A Letter from a Wuhan Pastor

Brothers and sisters, peace be upon you:
During these past days the Wuhan pneumonia (virus) has been at the center of my thoughts and life. (I am) always watching the latest news, and always thinking about how our family and the church should face this. 

As for family, I have gathered masks and foodstuffs and have ventured out of doors as little as possible. When venturing out in public I have worn a mask, but as for the rest, I have placed it in the Lord’s hands. 

As for the church, the safety of the congregation, a faithful witness, the possibility that members could contract the illness, have all become a great area of struggle. It is readily apparent that we are facing a test of our faith. 

The situation is so critical, yet (we are) trusting in the Lord’s promises, that his thoughts toward us are of peace, and not evil (Jeremiah. 29:11), and that he allows for a time of testing, not to destroy us, but to establish us. Therefore, Christians are not only to suffer with the people of this city, but we have a responsibility to pray for those in this city who are fearful, and to bring to them the peace of Christ. 

First, we are to seek the peace of Christ to reign in their hearts (Hebrews 3:15). Christ has already given us his peace, but his peace is not to remove us from disaster and death, but rather to have peace in the midst of disaster and death, because Christ has already overcome these things (John 14:27, 16:33). Otherwise we have not believed in the gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15), and, with the world, would be terrified of pestilence, and lose hope in the face of death. 

Why do only Christians have this peace? Because of sin, humans deserve the trials and tribulations that come upon them, Jehovah says: the wicked have no peace (Isaiah 48:22). We were all sinners, but Christ, because of faith, took our penalty and gave us his peace. Therefore Paul says, who can bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. (Romans 8:33). Christians may with the world face the same tribulations, but such tribulations are no longer punishment, but a new opportunity to grow nearer to the Almighty, to purify our souls, and an opportunity to proclaim the gospel.

In other words, when disaster strikes us, it is but a form of God’s love. And, as Paul firmly believed, “who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger or sword? . . .  in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loves us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Roman. 8:35-39).

Spoken for today, Wuhan’s pestilence cannot separate us from the love of Christ; this love is in our Lord Jesus Christ. These words are so comforting for us, we have already become one body with Christ. We have a part in his sufferings, and we have a part in his glory, all of Christ’s is ours, and our all is Christ’s. Therefore, Christ is with us as we face the pestilence in this city; the pestilence cannot harm us. If we die in the pestilence, it is an opportunity to witness to Christ, and even more to enter into his glory.

Thus, my brothers and sisters, I encourage you to be strong in Christ’s love. If we more deeply experience death in this pestilence, understanding the gospel, we may more deeply experience Christ’s love, and grow ever nearer to God. Our Lord Jesus through faith experienced an incomparable suffering of death, yet God raised him from the dead, and sat him at his right hand.  (Acts 2:32-36)

If in reading these truths you still have no peace, I encourage you to diligently read the above cited scripture and call on the Lord to give you insight until the peace of Christ reigns in your heart. You must know, that this is not just an observable disaster, but even more it is a spiritual struggle. You should first wage a battle for your heart, and secondarily battle for the soul of this city. 

We earnestly hope that you would know that not a sparrow falls without the will of the Father (Matthew 10:29). With so many souls facing pestilence, can it be outside God’s will? All that we are experiencing, is it not like Abraham facing Sodom, and Jonah facing Nineveh?

If God, because of a righteous man withheld judgment on Sodom, or because of 120,000 who didn’t know their left hand from their right, withheld destruction, what of the city of Wuhan in which we live?  We are clearly the righteous in this city, far more than a single righteous person there are thousands and thousands of us. Yet, may we like Lot be grieved over all those in this city (1 Peter 2:7), and like Abraham who earnestly prayed for Sodom (Genesis 18:23-33). You see, Jonah with difficulty proclaimed the gospel to Nineveh, and Nineveh repented and was saved. We are this city’s Abraham and Jonah. We must pray for God’s mercy upon this city, and bring peace upon this city through our prayers and testimony. 

I believe this is the command of God calling those of us living in Wuhan. We are to seek peace for this city, seek peace for those who are afflicted with this illness, seek peace for the medical personnel struggling on the front lines, seek peace for every government official at every level, seek peace for all the people of Wuhan! And we can through online networks guide and comfort our friends and loved ones with the gospel, reminding them that our lives are not in our own hands, and to entrust their lives to God who is faithful and true. 

The past few days I have received many inquiries from foreign pastors. They and the whole church are concerned for this city, even more for us; and confronting this epidemic, seek to serve the city with us. 

Thus, I especially ask them to turn their eyes upon Jesus. And do not be concerned with my welfare, nor be agitated or fearful, but pray in the name of Jesus. Good hearted people are through their actions serving this city, especially the medical personnel who are risking their own lives. If they can take on such worldly responsibilities, how can we not more readily take on spiritual responsibilities!

If you do not feel a responsibility to pray, ask the Lord for a loving soul, an earnestly prayerful heart; if you are not crying, ask the Lord for tears. Because we surely know that only through the hope of the Lord’s mercy will this city be saved. 

A Wuhan Pastor
January 23, 2020

This story was first published in ChinaSource.

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“Keeping Up with the Kardashians” star Kim Kardashian West shared a video of her 2-year-old daughter, Chicago, singing her “favorite” worship song.

“Jesus, I love you! Jesus, I love you! Jesus!,” Chicago is seen singing loudly in the first Instagram clip.

In the second video, she performs a delightful rendition of a chorus featured on her father’s history-making album, Jesus Is King. While her lyrics were inaudible, she sang the melody to the chorus of the song “Selah.”

Chi’s favorite songs 🙏🏼✨

A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Jan 27, 2020 at 11:54am PST

“Hallelujah,” she mumbled over and over, “He is wonderful.”

Kardashian West captioned the videos, “Chi’s favorite songs.”

The Wests’ have openly talked about including their children in Kanye’s popular Sunday Service gatherings.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Jeannie Law

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

“Keeping Up with the Kardashians” star Kim Kardashian West shared a video of her 2-year-old daughter, Chicago, singing her “favorite” worship song.

“Jesus, I love you! Jesus, I love you! Jesus!,” Chicago is seen singing loudly in the first Instagram clip.

In the second video, she performs a delightful rendition of a chorus featured on her father’s history-making album, Jesus Is King. While her lyrics were inaudible, she sang the melody to the chorus of the song “Selah.”

Chi’s favorite songs 🙏🏼✨

A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Jan 27, 2020 at 11:54am PST

“Hallelujah,” she mumbled over and over, “He is wonderful.”

Kardashian West captioned the videos, “Chi’s favorite songs.”

The Wests’ have openly talked about including their children in Kanye’s popular Sunday Service gatherings.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Jeannie Law

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

Fox Sports is being accused of censoring a 30-second commercial for Super Bowl LIV that features survivors of abortion while at the same time planning to air a commercial featuring two drag queens.

Over 36,800 people have signed onto a petition sponsored by the evangelical grassroots organization My Faith Votes calling on Fox to include a pro-life advertisement in what is sure to be a packed Super Bowl lineup on Sunday.

In a separate petition launched by the activist group One Million Moms, about 20,300 are calling on Fox to remove a commercial featuring drag queens known from their time on “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”

Faces of Choice is a recently established organization dedicated to raising awareness about the overlooked demographic of thousands of people who survived abortion.

The organization declared on social media this week that over the past six months, it has struggled in its quest to have Fox clear a half-minute commercial for the big game.

According to the petition, Faces of Choice was told by Fox executives that there were not any more slots available for 30-second ads during Super Bowl Sunday.

“[B]ut we discovered that’s not true,” the petition reads. “There are ads spots still available.”

The ad in question does not mention abortion but shows abortion survivors asking viewers if they can look them in the eye and tell them they shouldn’t be alive. The survivors declare in the video that they are the “faces of choice.”

“Can you tell me that I didn’t deserve to survive?” one survivor says in the ad.

Another survivor in the video states: “Choice tried to steal our lives.”

The full 2-minute ad was shown during the 2020 March for Life in Washington, D.C., last week.

Lyric Gillett, the founder of Faces of Choice, told LifeSite News that the organization has invested thousands of dollars and much time trying to get the advertisement authorized after the storyboards were approved months ago.

But over the last few months, she said, the Fox legal team has made several inquiries that she says Faces of Choice has provided the answers to. She said the Fox legal department wanted to know everyone who donated toward sponsoring the ad.

According to Gillett, it was “really an untenable request” but provided information on major donors backing the ad.

She said that Faces of Choice was told around November that all advertising slots had sold out.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Samuel Smith

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An author, Bible teacher, and founder of the IF:Gathering has released a new book centered on helping Christians win the war against bad thoughts.

In Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts, Jennie Allen wants to help fellow Christians deal with what she describes as the “danger of toxic thinking.”

“We have bought the lie that we are victims of our thoughts rather than warriors equipped to fight on the front lines of the greatest battle of our generation: the battle for our minds,” she wrote.

“Whether you find yourself shut down or just haunted by nagging discontent, here is my declaration on behalf of both you and me: No more.”

In the book, Allen says the three key lies people tell themselves are “I’m helpless,” “I’m worthless,” and “I’m unlovable.” The remedy, she said, is that Christians should “allow God to take up so much space in our thinking that our fears will shrink in comparison.”

She listed several ways to help capture one’s thoughts, including setting time aside for silent contemplation, serving God and others, and choosing delight over cynicism.

“Our goal is to be aware of our thoughts and deliberately build them into mind-sets that lead to the outcomes we want and the outcomes God wants for us,” wrote Allen.

The Christian Post interviewed Allen about her book and the topics it touches on, including “self-help,” mental health and the church, and spiritual warfare. Here are some excerpts.

CP: Early in the book, you examined the popular concept of “self-help” books. What would you say are some of the problems with the modern self-help movement?

Allen: I think it’s lacking an end. The greatest personal problem I have with it is it feels like the ultimate goal is believing more in myself and I don’t find myself to be that awesome.

I think that all of us are looking to put hope in something more substantial than ourselves and so I think there’s a lot of good to it, but I also think it can eliminate some of the things that are meant to draw us to our need for God.

Self-help without God at the end always falls short.

CP: You touched base on the issue of spiritual warfare. How do you respond to those Christians, especially in the United States, who might be uncomfortable dealing with this topic? 

Allen: I think it is uncomfortable to some extent. It’s very mysterious. While the Bible does tell us some things about it, enough to know that its real and true and happening, there’s still a lot we don’t know. And yet throughout Scripture, what Jesus is clear about and what we know, is that we are the victors.

We don’t have to be afraid of it, we don’t have to be overwhelmed by it, that there is a winner and its God. We don’t have to fear it because He’s more powerful than the dark.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Michael Gryboski

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