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though bitter, is better than all the sweet falsities of human history!

 

The truth is that many Christians today are not committed to Jesus Christ.  They place everything before the worship and service of God.  They are like the "rice Christians" in China before the communists took over.

 

The "rice Christians" were converts to missionary work who became Christians not for spiritual reasons, but because of the material benefits that came their way.

 

One million protestant conversions had taken place before the communist take over in China, but these were mostly "rise Christians"  --Christians for personal gain.

 

In America today (if we simply look at the ratios of those who claim to be Christian over against those who are active within a church body) we will conclude that most American Christians are "rice Christians" 

 

They seldom worship...  they will not sacrifice personal wants to give substantively to the financial needs of the church... and these "rice Christians" avoid serving in the church.

 

They want the business connections...  they want a place for family baptisms, marriages and burials...  but the bottom line is that they want to be served, and not to serve...  They want the sacrifices... but not to sacrifice.  And we see this within our own parish family....

 

After the Communist take over in China great persecution came upon the church.  During what the communists called the "Great Leap Forward," regular church

services were outlawed.  Informal, secret cottage meetings become the norm, and

pastors and Christian leaders were beaten, killed, and imprisoned.

 

Yet during the persecution, as genuine Christians in China carried great crosses, the genuineness of their faith and love became infectious and the church of

dedicated saints began to grow.

 

Christians visited those who had lost loved ones, prayed for the sick, and even sought God for miraculous healings.  In one case, a small Christian group cared for a communist teacher who had become sick.  So genuine was their compassion that by the power of the Holy Spirit the teacher became a Christian.

 

The teacher returned to school and was ridiculed.  She was required to go before a public meeting.  Here she protested their hostility.  "When I was ill," she pointed out,

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