CHINESE Leader SPEAKS OUT

CHINESE Leader SPEAKS OUT
-Brother Yun.

Before I travelled to the West I had absolutely no idea that so
many churches were spiritually asleep. I presumed the Western
church was strong and vibrant because it had brought the gospel
to my country with such incredible faith and tenacity. Many
missionaries had shown a powerful example to us by laying down
their lives for the sake of Jesus.

On some occasions I've struggled while speaking in Western
churches. There seems to be something missing that leaves me
feeling terrible inside. Many meetings are cold and and lack the
fire and presence of God that we have in China.

In the West many Christians have an abundance of material
possessions, yet they live in a backslidden state. They have
silver and gold, but they don't rise up and walk in Jesus' name.
In China, we have no possessions to hold us down, so there's
nothing preventing us from moving out for the Lord. The Chinese
church is like Peter at the Beautiful Gate. When he saw the
crippled beggar he said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what
I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!"

In a similar  way, I pray that God might use the Chinese church
to help the Western church rise up and walk in the power of the
Holy Spirit. It's almost impossible for the church in China to go
to sleep in its present situation. There's always something to
keep us on the run, and it's very difficult to sleep while you're
running. If persecution stops, I fear we'll become complacent and
fall asleep.

In THE WEST...

Multitudes of church members are satisfied with giving their
minimum to God, not their maximum. I've watched men and
women during offering time in church. They open their fat wallets
and search for the smallest amount they can give. This type of
attitude will never do! Jesus gave his whole life for us, and we
give as little of our lives, time, and money as we can give back to
God. What a disgrace! Repent!

This may sound strange, but I even miss the offerings we used to
give in China. On numerous occasions, the leader of a meeting
would announce, "We have a new worker who is leaving tomorrow
to serve the Lord." Immediately every single person would
completely empty their pockets of everything they had. With that
money, the worker would buy a train or bus ticket and leave the next day.

Often this money was not just everything we had in our pockets
at that time, but everything we owned in the whole world.

Just because you have a church building doesn't necessarily
mean Jesus is with you. He is not welcome in many churches
today. In Revelation 3:20 Jesus said, "Here I am! I stand at the
door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I
will come in and dine with him, and he with me."

Often this verse is used as an invitation for salvation, but actually
the context Jesus was speaking in was very different. He was
standing outside the door of the church of Laodicea, knocking to get in!

~ From Yun's book 'THE HEAVENLY MAN', pg 295-298.