CHINESE LEADER SPEAKS OUT About the Western Church

-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.