I'm on a breakpoint a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of

unchanging truth.

For the Colston Center, I'm John Stone Street.

Today the Chinese Communist Party officially recognizes about 20 million Christians

affiliated with so-called government-sanctioned churches. These churches are

registered with the CCP and under state control. But the actual number of Christians is, according to the best estimates, well over 100 million.

And among those who deserve credit for this is Wong Mandao, who in the 1930s courageously

pioneered the House Church movement in China.

Mingdau was born in Beijing to a poor Chinese Christian family during the bloody boxer

rebellion.

It became a Christian at age 14 through his missionary school, but it was when suffering a serious

illness at age 18 that he began to study the Bible more intensely, and that led to an even deeper

commitment to Christ.

Seeing a need to both uphold the Chinese culture in the local church. commitment to

resist the chinese culture in the local church and to resist the liberal doctrine that was seeping in,

Ming Tao started to pastor a house church in 1923.

By 1937, it had grown so large that he built the Christian

tabernacle in Beijing which could seat several hundred people. During this time

Ming Tao spoke at conferences throughout China and also established and

shepherded other house churches. He often preached on things like

scriptural inerancy, human depravity, the need for repentance, and

personal salvation. He placed high priority on ethical behavior,

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