Blog Entries by Brent Fulton
What if Christianity Is No Longer Successful?
May the stories we tell in this new era be stories of God’s faithfulness and the faithfulness of his people. The gospel is still unique and true, even when it is not clothed in the outward signs of success.
Ethical Storytelling
Everyone who has been to China, or met a Christian from China, or read or heard something about Christians in China, has a story to tell. But no one has the whole story.
Rediscovering the Plot
Each... aspect of the Christian witness speaks to one facet of the totality of Christ’s kingdom reign. Each provides a complimentary narrative in the overall plot, which is the story of Christ at work in and through his witnesses on earth.
Serving China’s Missionary Church
Serving China’s missionary church will require seeing “success” through a new lens, defined not by big-budget projects and exotic stories, but by the faithfulness of those who are willing to labor in obscurity on the margins, often unannounced and unnoticed, with perhaps few visible results.
Defying Western Expectations
Brent Fulton comments on the diversity of approaches in Reformed churches in China in this adaptation of his ChinaSource Perspective article from the winter issue of CSQ.
Rhetoric and Reality
Leaders in the policy arena face the difficult task of taking constructive action while at the same time being intentional participants in a larger conversation that could directly impact their options. In a similar way, Christians engaged in China are called to expand the larger conversation beyond the currently acknowledged reality, exposing their fellow believers to new possibilities through a deeper relationship with China and its church.
Christianity and the State—Dispelling a Myth
Embedded in today’s evangelical China narratives, particularly the narrative of the persecuted church, is the assumption that regime change will inevitably bring about greater openness for the gospel in China. But is that what Chinese history tells us?
The Pilgrim Principle
Remembering Andrew Walls
While Walls identified strongly with the church in Africa, where he served as a missionary from 1957 to 1966, his scope was global. His reframing of Christian history brings a much-needed perspective to the stories we often tell about God’s mission in the world, including in China.
Finding Themselves in China
It has been said that for the person who has a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
For foreigners who go to China, it is often the case that what they find depends on what they’ve come looking for.
God, Caesar, and the Chinese Legal System
Western narratives about China and its church are built on a fundamental, but often unspoken, assumption about the relationship between law and society.