Back To Jerusalem: Three Chinese House Church Leaders Share Their Vision to Complete the Great Commission [Paperback]

 

 

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Paul Hattaway's book 'Back to Jerusalem: Three Chinese House Church Leaders Share their Vision to Complete the Great Commission' is 151 pages long and is divided into 13 chapters. Its main focus is to outline the 'simple/house church' strategy that many key Chinese Christians leaders have for discipling the nations trapped in Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism over the next number of years.

There are several strengths. First, the stories of God's faithfulness to the Chinese Christian steadfastness in the face of persecution are sometimes jawdropping. Inspiring and challenging. Second, a chapter is devoted to describing the practical strategy they are using to quietly send and support Christian missionaries into Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist nations. I found this very interesting because it is not just 'pie in the sky' wishful thinking, but there are some practical steps that they are already starting to implement. Third, there are photographs, maps, and tables which help give a deeper understanding of what the strategy is actually about. Fourth, chapter 1 is an excellent summary of the Chinese house church movement, which give some key challenges to those of us in the Western nations, especially those of us who are involved in planting house churches, such as staying indigenous, the important of family units, stripping away non-essentials, emphasizing the lordship of Christ, the sovereignty of God, loving the Word of God, passionate prayer, caring and sharing, lay leadership, suffering as purification, evangelistic zeal.

There are a few weaknesses. I know from other sources that many Chinese house church networks are committed to using a back-to-basics, Book of Acts, 'house church' structure because they believe it is Scriptural. But this was not an emphasis in this book as such. As such, it seems to me that the Chinese house churches highlighted in the book are sometimes doing things from purely circumstantial reasons, rather than Scriptural convictions. There was nothing like a biblical ecclesiology or biblical missiology presented in the book. Another curiosity, which is perhaps a cultural or contextual issue, is that the Chinese leaders interviewed in the book sometimes were overly blunt in their statements and actions. They were too 'black-and-white' and did not appear to allow for much 'grey' for the reader or others in their lives. I had to wonder whether they were deliberately trying to make the reader feel guilty about not being a 'superstar' Christian, or if this is just the way they normally spoke and acted. Sometimes too much zeal can be misunderstood and/or misdirected.

Overall, this is an excellent introduction to the Chinese house church movement and the Back to Jerusalem strategy. Inspiring and challenging, but limited.

RAD ZDERO, author of LETTERS TO THE HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT and THE GLOBAL HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT

This is an excellent book with an inspiring message, of what the chinese church is all about. If you want to read a book about people totally abandoning themselves to a cause than this is a must read.

A very challenging and provoking story of God's current move amoung the Chinese house church. It deeply touched me and I felt "connected" to the vision of these remarkable people. I would like to be captivated by the same passion they have. I would encourage anyone with a true love for Jesus to read this book.

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