They Died for the Church---We Sign Commitment Cards and Manifestos

Here are some interesting and well thought out excerpts from Pastor Kevin Johnson at Prophezei about the True Woman '08 conference.

"The legitimate role of women in church and society is often something sneered at by men who seem envious of the legitimate role God has given them in being who they are. That’s one reason why I vigorously oppose the True Woman Manifesto (which you can actually read here). Pastorally, it’s dangerous to give men and pastors in the Christian community one more plank to abuse women with by providing them with a signed copy of a manifesto that could easily be interpreted and used in ways it was perhaps not originally intended. Additionally, it’s irresponsible to think that the whole of Christian womanhood is aptly summed up by this manifesto or that it ought to be used as a guide in understanding what role women ought to play in the life of the church, their families, and in society. Whatever happened to the Bible? Why do we need cue cards for everything?"

And this...

"Beyond all this, however, is the idea prevalent in conservative Christian circles that problems of our day can somehow be solved by signing a commitment card or having one more Christian conference about it. I wonder what the early Church and her martyrs would have thought about our busybody approach to the Kingdom of God. "

Why do we need so many conferences, books, man made manifestos and commitment cards? Could it be because we are not immersed in the Word and being taught by the ONE TRUE TEACHER? It is much easier to follow man made manifestos, rules, roles and formulas than it is to abide in Christ minute by minute and be guided by the Holy Spirit. Jiang Zongxiu did not need a True Woman Manifesto to serve her Savior, The Lord Jesus Christ.

When 34-year old Jiang Zongxiu went to her neighboring market last June in Guizhou Province, China. Along with her mother-in-law, Jiang went through the marketplace, taking opportunities to hand out Bibles and Christian literature and telling people about Jesus. Only this day they had an encounter with the Chinese police.

The two Christian women were handcuffed together and brought to the police station. They were interrogated throughout the evening of the 17th. The next morning they were sentenced by the Public Security Bureau (PSB) to 15 days incarceration for "suspected spreading of rumor and disturbing the social order."
Jiang and her mother-in-law knew the risk of spreading Christian literature in communist China. Both had been active in their church for more than 10 years and dared to go forth. Even when they were arrested, interrogated and sentenced to serve 15 days, they were willing to accept the consequences of their actions - all from a government that claims to have "freedom of religion."

But it was not enough for the PSB to arrest and beat these two Christian women for the crime of passing our Christian literature. In the afternoon of June 18th, Mrs. Jiang Zongziu was pronounced dead by the PSB office of Tongzi County. They claimed she died of "natural causes." The fact is she was beaten to death.
The Voice of the Martyrs has received video testimony from the surviving family, photos of Jiang's body showing her bruised body, and a copy of the actual arrest document. All of this had to be smuggled out of China as the authorities continue to attempt to hide their systematic persecution of Christians. An international campaign is now under way on behalf of the surviving family.

Much of the world would like you to believe Christians are no longer persecuted. Sister Jiang's family would disagree.