Beginning in 1978, Chao
traveled to China more than 100 times from his home in West Covina
to train ministers to lead the Christian "house church"
movement. Chao founded China Ministries International, with branches
in six countries, to research the growth of Christianity in modern
China.
FRANCIS
CHAN - (Simi Valley) Cornerstone Community Church's Senior
Pastor was raised by his Buddhist grandmother in Hong Kong. Church
has grown to 5,000 regular attendees with an evangelistic cable
television show, Cornerstone Center for Biblical Counseling and
Crisis Pregnancy Center. He is tangible evidence what can happen
when one is focused on one goal while not allowing the presuppositions
of race and prejudice color one's views.
BACKGROUND
Francis Chan, pastor of Cornerstone Community Church, is
a graduate of two Macarthur schools, an enthusiastic student of
John Piper and made a 15-minute Gospel presentation called “Just
Stop and Think.” (see the video on the right).
Chan’s
presentation has much in common with evangelism teachers like Ray
Comfort and Will Metzger. Chan talks about the wonder of creation.
He uses the Ten Commandments to explain our relationship to God,
our sin, and the certainty of judgment. He unapologetically says
that God loves us, that God passionately loves the world, that Christ
died for you, and that God is inviting you to say “Yes!”
to a relationship of repentance, faith and God-glorifying obedience.
Pastor
Francis Chan |
Pastor
Chan: "This past Easter, as I was preparing another
“please come back and worship with us all year”
message, it occurred to me: Jesus never begged. On the contrary,
He made others beg. God sees Himself as so valuable that
He expects us to beg to follow Him! When people did beg
for Him, he made sure they knew how difficult it would be
to follow Him. His point: God is only interested in those
who desperately want Him, treasure Him, and would give anything
up to follow Him…
…Why
haven’t I answered people like Christ? I hate rejection.
I’m scared of loved ones rejecting God, so I don’t
share too much of the commitment Christ requires. That would
increase the likelihood of rejection. I share the benefits
of Christianity. Then beg them to agree. I don’t ask
too many questions because I’m scared of how they
might answer. I don’t really want to know if they’re
not true followers. I just want to keep believing that they
are. In doing this, I’ve preached a message that cheapens
the value of God. |
| God
calls us to accurately describe the glory of God and invite
people to treasure Him and pursue Him whole heartedly. Our
goal should be to act like Christ and teach like Christ.
Jesus humbled Himself to take the form of a servant, not
a beggar. Let’s keep serving people, sacrificing for
people, loving people…. but let’s stop begging.
It cheapens the value of the God we’re called to magnify.
Let’s tell how great out God is, and let them beg." |
In
the process, Chan says that the cross was the way a God of love
saved sinners. He says that God passionately loves and pursues sinful
people. He believes that sinners must respond and he urges them
to do so in intense, emotional terms. He says that God wants the
viewer, right now, as they watch the film, to pray a prayer of faith
and surrender, and then begin living out what it means to appreciate
a God who sends his Son to love, die for and save undeserving sinners.
Chan,
like a lot of young pastors who are influenced deeply by John Piper,
isn’t frightened by the language of traditional evangelical
invitations, and especially isn’t afraid of the language of
passionate, pursuing love. I can appreciate that, because in my
encounters with Calvinism as a pastor and a preacher, this was a
never-ending controversy: What could you say to unbelievers, and
how would you say it?
"Hope
is the thing with feathers / That perches in the soul, / And sings
the tune without the words,
And never stops at all, / And sweetest in the gale is heard; / And
sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird / That kept so many warm. / I've
heard it in the chillest land, / And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity, / It asked a crumb of me." - Emily
Dickinson
