China Censors Teachers from Mentioning God

Christian Persecution

A new report from the Center for Studies on New Religion's publication Bitter Winter reveals China is spying on and censoring any religious teacher to make sure they don't mention God.

The Center for Studies on New Religion, a human rights organization focusing on abuses by the Chinese Communist Party's regime, published the report in an effort to help end the crackdown.

According to the report, Chinese authorities will monitor teachers and make sure they refrain from mentioning anything about democracy, freedom, religion,
or God.

The report also says that religious teachers are already considered a threat to the Chinese Communist Party simply because they are religious, regardless of what they have taught. The report cites complaints from multiple teachers in both colleges and elementary schools. The teachers were kept anonymous so the Chinese Communist Party cannot find and persecute them for speaking out about the regime's treatment of its own citizens.

One teacher noted that they “were observed during every class." Bitter Winter goes on to summarize the rest of what she stated, writing, "She added that the Chinese Ministry of Education adopted Opinions on Building and Improving a Long-term Effective Mechanism for College Teachers’ Ethics Construction in 2016, demanding teachers 'not say or do anything against the Party line in their educational or teaching activities.' Student informants planted in classes by authorities help ensure that teachers implement this order."

Already, "numerous" educators have been punished for not emphatically teaching the Chinese Communist Party's propaganda, with no indications the persecution of free-thinking teachers will end.

This isn't the first time China has censored or attacked Christians. Christian Headlines recently reported that the Chinese Communist Party had shut down a 1500-member church after they refused to install surveillance cameras in their church. The authorities also confiscated what they called "illegal promotional material" which likely included mostly Bibles and church literature.

Historically Black college welcomes white pastor with passion for racial justice

When Chris Caldwell thinks about student housing and food services, his pondering goes deeper than the mere campus amenities that concern administrators at most colleges.

“We have many students who are insecure in terms of their housing, and we have significant problems with food insecurity,” said Caldwell, vice president for academic affairs at Simmons College of Kentucky. At Simmons, a historically Black institution in Louisville, it is not uncommon to hear of students sleeping in their cars, he noted. “We try to do everything we can to try to help with those situations.”

Some students are single parents, so the housing situation for them is even more complex. Since Simmons has limited college-owned housing, it looks to various community resources to aid students in their search for a decent place to live.

Like most schools, Simmons stresses the importance of class attendance. Yet its leaders know students can be present but too hungry to pay attention. “We work hard at feeding our students during the day so they can focus on class,” Caldwell said.

While not all Simmons’ students come from dire circumstances, most come from impoverished backgrounds they are seeking to transcend. This is a key part of Simmons’ mission, and its leaders believe Historically Black Colleges and Universities, like Simmons, are uniquely positioned to empower all segments of the African American community.

From a tall-steeple white church to Simmons

Caldwell, who is white, came to Simmons as a part-time professor in 2015 and moved to full-time status in 2017. He had been pastor of Louisville’s Broadway Baptist Church, a congregation situated in an affluent neighborhood eight miles across town from Simmons. He assumed his vice-presidential role in 2018.

An academic vocation was not a novel idea for Caldwell. As he finished his doctorate in New Testament at Baylor University in 1997, he was considering a career in either the classroom or the pastorate. An address by former President Jimmy Carter at Baylor helped him choose parish ministry. “He talked about his post-presidential period and how he had been guided by a pretty simple concept,” Caldwell said. “He went where he was needed.

“I thought about that and prayed about that and at that point, there were a hundred people lined up for every job in the academic world,” he recalled. He sensed he could make a larger contribution by serving moderate Baptist congregations that were “seeking to navigate the waters of those times.”

It was an era when many moderate congregations had either recently left or loosened their ties to the Southern Baptist Convention because of its far rightward shift. Caldwell has no regrets serving in congregational ministry and would “absolutely do it all over again.”

Racial justice observed as a child

However, when he decided to follow his calling to Simmons, it was a step in a long journey of interest in racial justice that began when he was a child in the 1970s. Growing up in a northern suburb of Nashville, he frequently heard racist epithets and lived on a street where a cross was burned on the lawn of an African American family. He did not forget the anguish he felt, and it helped spur him to engage in interracial work as a pastor.

His energies became more focused in 2015 when pastors from predominantly white East Louisville started meeting weekly with pastors from predominantly Black West Louisville. The group, known as Empower West, “put some wheels on the vehicle when it came to the passion I had,” he explained.

“It gave me an opportunity to learn a lot,” he continued. “I had given thought to a lot of those issues but basically from a white perspective.” He and other white pastors began reading books written by Black intellectuals and learning more about the structural injustices encountered by Black people, such as the wide wealth gap that separates white and Black Americans. They began sharing their knowledge with their church members and inviting them to greater interracial involvement.

Through Empower West, Caldwell learned more about Simmons College, an institution founded in 1879 by former slaves. While it eventually became a comprehensive university, it ran into financial difficulties during the Great Depression and sold its property to the University of Louisville. The campus became the home of Louisville Municipal College, the arm of the university that served Black students during the days of segregation. Simmons continued to hold classes on the campus but limited its course offerings to theological studies. After U of L integrated in the 1950s, Simmons moved to a new location and became known as Simmons Bible College.

Season of growth at Simmons

Kevin Cosby, senior pastor of St. Stephen Baptist Church in Louisville, was elected president of the school in 2005 and began to greatly expand the curriculum. Simmons now offers bachelor’s degrees in business entrepreneurship, cross-cultural communication, music, sociology, and religious studies. It also reacquired and moved to the property it had sold to U of L. Under Cosby’s leadership, Simmons gained accreditation by the Association of Biblical Higher Education and recognition from the U.S. Department of Education as the nation’s 107th Historically Black College and University.

Asked why HBCUs remain important, Caldwell said they provide students “ethnic armor,” a term he said Cosby often uses. “We pass along the skills for students to be successful and thrive in the dominant white culture, but we also pass along the intellectual and academic traditions of the African American community,” he said.

Simmons students live in a city where feelings of anger and alienation now permeate the African American population due in part to the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, on March 13. For months, protesters have taken to the streets demanding the officers involved be charged.

The city’s housing patterns have helped inflame racial tensions, Caldwell said. “Louisville is a very segregated city. It is one of the most segregated cities in the United States, but it is not an outlier by any stretch.”

While much racial justice work needs to be done in Louisville a
nd elsewhere, Caldwell sees Simmons as an example of empowerment that can help society move toward racial equity.

Motivating students to be “agents of change” is a priority at Simmons, Caldwell said. “We are trying to help students make their life situations better, but also to remember they have a calling to reach back and bring others along.”

While some Simmons students are “academic rock stars,” most come to Simmons “woefully underprepared,” he said. Yet he emphasizes when a student demonstrates potential Simmons is determined to help them achieve. “We don’t lower the bar,” he said. “We show them where the bar is and help them get there.”

Colleges and universities typically gain prestige by touting the sterling academic credentials of the students they attract. Yet Caldwell measures academic quality by a different standard.

“The measure of excellence of a school is not what kind of students you attract but how far the student travels in four years under your tutelage,” he declared. “And by that measure, you can make a case that Simmons is the best college in the state.”

The True Gospel

Imagine a corporation needed to train new sales representatives to expand its market. Unfortunately, the company could not bring all the new employees to its headquarters, so it was decided to send out trainers to the various new markets and train the salespeople there. 

However, the trainers all had different ideas about what the corporate philosophy and sales methods were! The new salespeople were all taught different things! What confusion!

A similar difference in teaching has occurred in the various Christian churches, each of which has its own understanding of what the true gospel is. Some say it is "the gospel of grace." Others call their version "the gospel of salvation" or "the gospel of Christ." To others, it is "the gospel of God" or "the gospel of the Kingdom." Which is it? How does the Bible define the true gospel? The only true gospel is the one presented in its pages, and we can search it out! Below are eight QUESTIONS;

1. Does it matter what gospel Christians believe? Galatians 1:8-9.

Indeed, it does! Paul pronounces a double curse on anyone who preaches a gospel different from the one preached by the apostles! The gospel is a serious business! The apostles were taught directly by Christ, who gave them a commission to "preach the gospel" (Mark 16:15).

2. What gospel did Jesus Himself preach? Mark 1:14.

Jesus preached "the gospel of the kingdom of God"! "Gospel" derives from an old English word meaning "good news." He came proclaiming the good news that God's Kingdom would come and restore all things (Acts 3:19-21). Jesus is the King of a literal Kingdom that will reign over the whole earth when He returns (see John 18:36-37; Revelation 5:10; 19:11-16; 20:4-6). The gospel explains, not only that it is coming, but also how we can be a part of it. That is great news!

3. What did Christ say we must do to enter it? Mark 1:15.

The conditions for entering God's Kingdom are simple in concept: "repent and believe in the gospel." Repentance is a complete turning or changing of the mind and way of life to follow God. And God's way of life is defined by His commandments (Matthew 19:17). We repent by quitting our former sinful way of life and keeping God's commands.

Believing the gospel encompasses both believing in Christ as well as believing what He said (John 8:30-31). Millions believe that He came as their Savior and now lives eternally as their soon-coming King while rejecting the very message He brought to save them! What a paradox!

4. Where did Christ's message originate? John 12:49-50; 14:24; 17:7-8.

Jesus spoke only what His Father in heaven told Him to speak! Thus, our Messiah, Jesus Christ, was a Messenger from God the Father, bringing the message of God's plan for all mankind, the message of the New Covenant (Malachi 3:1). The gospel of God, the gospel of Jesus, and the gospel of the Kingdom are the same gospel! It originated in God, was proclaimed by His Son, and tells of the coming rule of God and our part in it!

5. What is "the gospel of grace"? Acts 20:24-25.

In these verses, Paul is speaking to the elders of the church in Ephesus about his ministry. He explains that his ministry had testified "to the gospel of the grace of God." And what had he preached? The Kingdom of God (see Acts 28:30-31)! God's wonderful offer of grace and salvation is also part of the gospel of the Kingdom!

6. Is the church the Kingdom of God? Colossians 1:13.

While Christians await the establishment of God's Kingdom on the earth at the return of Jesus Christ, they are considered by God to be spiritually a part of His Kingdom. Having voluntarily placed themselves under Christ's rule, they are said to have their citizenship in heaven (Philippians 3:20) and be "members of the household of God" (Ephesians 2:19). As members of Christ's body, they are "in Christ" (Romans 8:1; II Corinthians 5:17), and therefore are actively participating in the advancement of God's Kingdom. However, Christians have not yet inherited the Kingdom in its fullness, an event that will not happen until they are resurrected and glorified at Christ's coming (I Corinthians 15:50-54). In addition, their being "in Christ" does not preclude their falling away from Him in the future (Hebrews 6:4-6; 10:26-31).

7. Is the Kingdom of God "within you"? Luke 17:21.

This sadly mistranslated verse has led many sincere people astray. Without even knowing the Greek language, we can see that Jesus could not mean that the Kingdom was some ethereal quality in the hearts of the Pharisees! On the contrary, He castigated them often for their unbelief! Entos, translated "within," should be translated "in the midst of" or "among." Jesus, the coming King of the Kingdom of God, was in their midst or among them! The thrust of His teaching in this section is that unbelievers will not recognize the working of God's Kingdom among them, just as the Pharisees had not recognized their Savior among them.

8. What gospel is to be preached before the end comes? Matthew 24:14.

The gospel of the Kingdom is for today! It is preached, not only when we proclaim that Jesus Christ will return soon to establish His government upon this earth (Isaiah 9:6-7; Zechariah 14:9), but also when we teach both believers and unbelievers how to live God's way of life (I Corinthians 15:1-2; Philippians 1:27; I Thessalonians 2:8-9). That is truly good news!

Pandemic

The word "pandemic" should send shivers down our spines. Worldwide disease epidemics are on the rise, and several authorities are predicting outbreaks of some diseases medical science thought they had all but eradicated.

For us, however, it is not surprising. Jesus Christ plainly prophesied that pestilence of major proportions would arise in the last days (Matthew 24:7). The last of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, pestilence is a pale, or greenish-yellow, the horse was ridden by a being called Death. Hades, or the grave, follows after. They are given the power to kill one-quarter of the earth's population by means of war, famine, plague, and beasts (Revelation 6:7-8).

It presents a striking scenario: War often causes famine. Malnutrition and starvation breed disease, which under the right conditions erupts into epidemics. The bites of animals and insects transmit certain diseases, and sickness and weakness make people easier targets for attack by hungry wild beasts. Though it may be difficult to imagine events like these in our day the Bible shows the progression and the certainty of the prophecy.

Diseases Old and New

Unfortunately, the signs of old and new diseases on the verge of pandemic are already showing. One professor of microbiology at the John Curtin School of Medical Research in Canberra, Australia, told a conference of his peers in Sydney: "We don't know what it [the plague] will be, or where it will be, but there will be one, we only have to look at history." He cites deteriorating refugee conditions worldwide, fast-increasing populations, high-risk sexual habits, and the scarcity of pure drinking water as factors that presage global epidemics (Intelligence Digest, September 3, 1993, p. 3).

Two American researchers, writing in the British medical journal Lancet, warn that the recent cholera epidemic has pandemic potential. A new strain of cholera, called "Bengal cholera," has already infected several hundred thousand people from India to Thailand this year, of which about five thousand have died. Cholera is contracted through sewage-tainted drinking water or food, or following contact with someone who is already contaminated by those means.

Classic cholera is currently infecting thousands in much of the former Soviet Union, where internal conflicts and a general breakdown in sewage and disposal services are common. The El Tor variety of cholera surfaced in Peru in 1990 and spread quickly as far as Colombia and Bolivia, killing sixty-three hundred people.

New forms of diphtheria have surfaced in Russia, where over four thousand cases had been reported within the first eight months of 1993. Several cases of bubonic plague, the Black Death that killed about forty million in medieval Europe, have been reported in Kazakhstan. Ten non-fatal cases of bubonic plague struck Americans in 1992. Tuberculosis, thought eradicated by many, is on a comeback in Russia, Europe, and the U.S.

And new diseases, like hantavirus, which first affected Navajo Indians in New Mexico, have doctors and researchers baffled. It has been found in rodents over the U.S., China, Korea and northern Europe.

On top of all this, the World Health Organization (WHO) believes that several new rodent-borne diseases, like bubonic plague and hantavirus, could be unleashed globally in the near future. To this point, they have refrained from proclaiming war on rats because killing them releases the fleas that actually carry the diseases. They have no idea how to respond to the threat.

Of course, there is AIDS as well. Having surfaced in Asia, WHO predicts that over the next decade more AIDS cases will occur in Asian countries than in Africa, which currently leads the world in infections. Nearly one-third of pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa are currently testing HIV-positive. WHO also predicts that between 10 and 15 million children will be orphaned by 2000 in this region alone as a result of AIDS-related deaths. And possibly one-third to one-half of the children will themselves have AIDS.

The U.S. said to have the best health-care system in the world, is unprepared for any major outbreak of viral infections. Robert Shope, professor of epidemiology and committee co-chairman of the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine, reports that the nation is vulnerable to an outbreak comparable to the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic that killed 20 million worldwide. "It can happen again," he warns (Insight, October 11, 1993, p.16).

Frederick A. Murphy, former director of the Centers for Disease Control's National Center for Infectious Diseases, believes that an influenza-like disease that "transmits fast and broadly" is the most likely candidate for the next pandemic. And the damage will be done before America's "porous line of defense against viral invaders" can respond (Ibid., p. 19).

Promised Protection

Again, we should not be surprised. God warned Israel in their wilderness wanderings about what would happen if they did not obey His commandments. "I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever. . . . [W]hen you are gathered together within your cities I will send pestilence among you" (Leviticus 26:16, 25; cf. Deuteronomy 28).

But He also promises protection and healing from such diseases. "If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God . . . , I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you" (Exodus 15:26; cf. 23:25; Deuteronomy 7:15; Psalm 103:3).

As we hear the approaching hoofbeats of the Four Horsemen growing ever louder, we have only one refuge from their relentless onslaught.

Surely He shall deliver you . . . from the perilous pestilence. . . . His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid . . . of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you. . . . Because you have made the LORD . . . your habitation, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling. (Psalm 91:3-10)

As the Horsemen converge on this nation from every side, we must keep our focus on the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33), forbidding any distraction to hinder us. In doing so, we will be prepared for both the troubles and the joys that lie just ahead.

By Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Forerunner, "Prophecy Watch," January 1994

Will I Be Forgiven For Abortion?

What’s It Like to Abort Your Own Child?

If you are asking “Will I be forgiven for the abortion I had?” then you already feel the guilt of your sin. Perhaps you feel your guilt afresh as a result of the videos exposing the work of Planned Parenthood. What do you do with your guilt?

One young man I met on the street a few years ago knew this guilt. He had grown up in an evangelical Christian home. About twenty years old, he had rejected the God of the Bible and argued vehemently with me against the Lord's very existence. Our discussion somehow moved to the moral argument for God. Why is murder wrong? What about abortion? At that point, most unexpectedly, the hardened young man burst into tears. He buried his head in his hands and blurted out, “I don’t need any God to know abortion is wrong!” He rapidly recounted impregnating his girlfriend, taking her to the abortion clinic, paying for the abortion, and the guilt he had carried ever since - all while repeating. “I knew it was wrong!”

After a few moments, he gathered himself and looked up. He was as surprised at what he had confessed as I was; we both knew he had said far more than he intended to say. His guilt remained. No matter how much he tried to deny the existence of his Creator and Judge, he could not escape his guilt before God. Guilt is real. It doesn’t just go away with time.

Our culture may tell you, “Don’t worry, it wasn’t wrong.” But guilt cannot be wished away, and we know it because we cannot escape from God. When King David committed adultery and murder, he hid his sin for a time, but finally confessed it saying, “I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you [God], you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (Psalm 51:3-4). Our guilt remains even though the Lord may patiently allow us to continue with life – as we try to make it appear that nothing is wrong because “The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty” (Nahum 1:3).

However, the Lord promises a “guilty” verdict can be turned to “innocent.” But, we need a substitute who is qualified and willing to take our guilt and the resulting punishment of death and the wrath of God. No mere man could do it. So, God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to become man, live without sin, and die like a sinner before rising from the grave. The Apostle Paul wrote, “For our sake he made him be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus takes the place of his people in punishment, and we gain his place in righteousness. Bethany Jenkins has said it beautifully with respect to this particular sin: “Abortion says, ‘Your life for mine,’ but Jesus says, ‘My life for yours—even if you’ve killed your own child.’”

Your guilt will be taken away forever if you confess that guilt to the God you have offended. Take heed to the word of God from Isaiah the prophet and believe his promise: “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool" (Isaiah 1:18). Freedom is waiting for you if you would simply humble yourself before God. If you need some sense of where to start in the midst of your confusion, these words by Dr. David Powlison can serve as a guide. Other forgiven sinners are waiting to help you too. Talk with a pastor or another mature Christian; we long for you to experience forgiveness.

The young man I talked to that night would not confess his sin to the God he denied or trust Jesus’ saving love. But his denial did not erase either God or his own guilt. I do not know what happened to him after we parted. Because the Lord is slow to anger, my friend’s life may have gone on without much visible change. But, his guilt remains if he has not yet turned to the God of mercy. Your guilt does not need to remain.

James Faris: Child of God. Husband to Elizabeth. Father of six. Pastor of Second Reformed Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. Ordained as a pastor in 2003.