A (65:01)
I hope this is a wake up call, because I feel we've been languishing too long. And, you know, I've got a chapter in there about languishing because, you know, if I was sort of to look at the body as I travel, I find that the west is where we're languishing the most, where we should be languishing the least. So, so many other places that I go to that I think y'. All. I think I would be like tapping out right now if this. If this was. And yet the joy of the Lord, the peace of God that I see in believers, you know, whether it's they're in abject material poverty or it's part of the persecuted church, and I'm like, why have you not given up? Why are you still believing in Jesus? Like, am I even a Christian? Literally, there was a country that Nick and I went to just very recently, and I'm like, like, Nick, am I even saved. Do I even know Jesus? Like they need. Because they're like, let me end with this. I was once speaking to 500 leaders of the underground church in China. And they had been brought out to a certain part of southeast Asia. There's four major streams of the underground church. So it was 125 leaders from each stream. It was the first time they were brought together in this one room. Of course, it's so dangerous to do that anyway, as what they had invited me and asked me to come was because. Because they're hemorrhaging the younger generation because of urbanization, industrialization, globalization, Internet, all the things. What had happened was when the revival hit, it hit mostly. I mean, the greatest revival in the church in our generation is in the Chinese church, where it's been illegal to be a Christian. And so that sort of revival spread amongst agrarian, uneducated workers because they had killed, you know, obviously a lot of the. The sort of educated class. So they so depended on the Holy Spirit. And it would seem almost simplistic to. And so the kids are growing up the faith of their parents that what the kids would have thought was the naive, blind sort of faith. But they're like, they didn't have access to reading and writing. They just needed God or, you know, even Nick. Back in the day, my husband smuggled Bibles into China. They would have maybe one verse or one chapter. That's all you had. And that was what you built it on. So then the kids grow up, they have access to the world and education because their parents faith has believed God. And they put them through school and then. But then they're feeling like, man, this Christianity is a bit unsophisticated. And the faith of my parents is so unsophisticated. And now I'm more evolved. And we don't need God. We have science, we have technology, we have all the things. And so they said, christine, you know, could you help us make maybe reach a younger generation and learn some leadership? Because we never learned leadership. The only thing we ever learned was how to witness to our prison guard on the way to our execution. So when they said that, I didn't think I heard it correctly. I got my translator to go. And they go, most sincere, humble people, you know. No, no, the only thing we learned was, you know, how to witness the grace of Jesus to our prison guard on the way to our execution. Like I said, start bawling. And I got on my knees right there. I said, I don't know what you think I'm here to give you. I can't think of one thing in this moment that I could personally impart to you that would in any way enhance your relationship with Jesus. You know, Paul says, I pray that I might impart to you some spiritual. I go, I don't feel like I've got anything. And I go, but would you lay hands on me? Because whatever that thing is that you've got that faith, and, you know, I would go so far as say, that flourishing faith that would cause you to want to do nothing else but talk to someone about Jesus, as they're going to kill you. That, to me, is flourishing faith. I said, I want that. That's what I want in my life. So I guess I want to say to someone, no matter what your circumstance is, because there is no way I can promise anyone that anything's going to get better externally, economically, political, morally. I mean, you know, insert whatever. But one thing I can promise you, Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. All the promises of God are in Christ Jesus. Yes. And amen.
