God's Will Prevails
David Aikman, formerly of Time magazine, in 2002 spent three months researching the state of Christianity in China. He tells an incredible story. The Chinese church after fifty years of persecution and repression is thriving. When the Communists took control of China five decades ago, the Christian church was estimated to be four million believers. Today's estimate, though difficult to determine, are around 80 million Christians. That's a twenty-fold increase in the church during a time when China's population tripled. Wish to God that we'd see that kind of growth in our land.
It appears that persecution is being toned down. I'm told it depends on the area of China. The head of the state-run Bureau of Religious Affairs is an atheist who still attempts to control the church, but on the whole he is giving the church room to live. One of the most startling developments is the growth of Christianity among the intellectuals in the area of academics and the arts. In our terms, the universities and Hollywood would be seeking to know Christ! The most startling of all is the response of Chinese President Jiang Zemin's when asked what one thing he wished he could secure for China's future? He said that Christianity would become the dominant religion in China!
Aikman cautioned that this does not mean that the president is himself a Christian. The president said that on purely practical reasons: he believes Christians make good citizens, and so a country of Christians would make a great country. Do you think we could run this guy for President here? The Communist madman Mao-tse Tung's attempt to destroy Christianity is being destroyed itself before our very eyes. The Communist are not in control, He is in control.