I check in on The Jollyblogger regularly and find his musings thought provoking. I really had a lot to chew on when he wrote "It's probably just something we have to accept and accept that getting the gospel into the church is an even greater priority than getting it into the world." You can read the rest of Eclipse of the Gospel in the Church here.

My hotmail account after work today had this encouraging note from my friend Cecil (I've mentioned his book before)

    A couple of times a year, I attend a conference or other event by the North Texas Christian Writers. 
    Several months ago, I met a lady there with a very active blog. When I gave her a flyer about 
    “What does Jesus say about…” she expressed an interest in interviewing me on her blog.

    She posted my interview this week. Please check it out. Also, she is giving away a copy of my 
    book via this blog: http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com/

    Thank you for your time and encouragement regarding “What does Jesus say about…” 
    Christ Speaks To Us Today. Please feel free to inform others by email or in person about this 
    blog interview.

The good part of being in ministry is gaining friends who are committed to the Kingdom. My e-mail this week also contained a prayer update from the friend of a friend who has returned from extended ministry in China (I don't know if that sentence makes sense grammatically but it makes sense to me). Thought this would prompt you to pray for China (I'm deleting his name because of the sensitivity of a ministry that encourages Chinese pastors)

All during my time in China there was one thing I could always count on;  a daily dose of propaganda and a constant stream of updates from the government controlled airways concerning the (then) upcoming Olympics.  It was obvious, probably only to those who actually lived there, that this was hyper- ultra- "beyond the scope of one's imagination" - a living example of pure, stark, quintessential propaganda. Years before the games, it was clear that this "epic" event was not really about "games."   It was a sales job, designed to sell to the billions who would watch the games, that Communism really works.

Over 40 billion dollars was spent to make the "show" happen, and what a show it was! ( I am told!)  It was, by all news accounts, a hitherto unparalleled extravaganza that did  indeed "razzle dazzle" the multiplied millions who watched. Every thing that could humanly be done, was done to make the gala event a success. The hype was unimaginable, the frenzy grew more intense and it was actually the most effective demonstration of "brain washing" that I have ever witnessed in my life.

          Now, what does this have to do with the work of the Gospel of our heavenly Father?  I think if more Christian Americans were informed as to the mindset of the people of China, they would be more attuned to try to help those who are actually 'doing' the work of the Gospel. 

     The present regime in power has a strangle hold on the masses, and it controls all the news - what can and cannot be reported.  Now that I am back (for how long, I do not know), I am amazed at the Internet all over again and the freedom of information we enjoy here in this highly favored land.  In China almost everything is "censored" by the government. This and many other issues have, quite frankly, angered many of the educated citizens of China, and many are waking up to the reality of (and the historical facts of the beginnings of their present government since 1949). This has been a deeply suppressed part of Chinese history and it has only recently been told to many of the young people of that land. They are increasingly frustrated and anguished as they learn the horrors of the infamous "Great Cultural Revolution instigated by Mao -the greatest slaughter of human beings in the history of mankind.  I personally encountered this many times, making sure that I only listened to the workers, students and fellow  teachers vent their anger against their governmental system. I dared not comment, fully cognizant that I was not there to refute communism, but to seek a witness to as many hearts that were willing to listen to God's love story of our grand Redeemer.

I know that on at least fifty occasions I heard such comments as, "My grandparents starved to death" ... or "Many of my older family members starved to death."  We all remember (us "old" people, that is. :-o) being encouraged to eat all that was on our plate of food with the admonition to, "Just think of all the starving children of China."  That is a fact of history!

          During the last ten years of Mao's reign of terror, i.e., the last ten years of his life, almost 40,000,000 (million) people starved to death! It was a famine not because of  weather or drought!  It was brought about by the megalomania ideas of Mao and his policies, now being called, "idiotic" and "contrary to sanity."  

Also during this time,  "The Great Cultural Revolution" his policy was to kill all who were even suspected of not having total loyalty to him. The very school where Margie and I first taught did not escape the horror of that time. Over forty teachers of that school were brought out in the court yard of the school and shot one my one, as the entire student body looked on with horror.  It was the greatest bloodbath this world has known with the estimate that almost 100,000,000 Chinese people (including the deaths by starvation) died during the last ten years of the Great Cultural Revolution".

The present government has it roots and philosophy still steeped in Mao's "persona" and is doing everything in it's power to "hide" its foundations.

          All that brings me to this:  If you want to read a great article from the Washington Post - (not a long one and THE most insightful words I have read, which quite disappointingly is not heard ENOUGH in our land, set your search engine for:  When China Starved, By Anne Applebaum.

 

 This gifted writer pinpoints several issues that, I believe Americans need to know. Hope you read this. It will help you put a lot of other issues into a more informed, historical perspective.   

In the Love of Christ I remain,

I know - I was as surprised as you are that the Washington Post managed to find truth.