Tag: Marriage
How to Pray for and about Marriage
Pastor Chen Fengsheng shares how Christians can pray about marriage both before they are married and after.
30 and Independent
Young Chinese Christians Dealing with Age-Related Expectations
Five Chinese Christians tell what "At thirty, I stood independent" looks like to them.
A Chinese Christian says “No” to say “Yes!”
A recent Chinese Church Voices post featured one Chinese believer’s reflections on several related decisions she had made in her struggle to live out an authentic faith. Each decision involved saying “no” to the prevailing social norms, putting the author, Wei Chen, at odds with the expectations of co-workers, family, and even her fellow Christians. While Wei posed her decisions in the negative, they together represent a positive affirmation of the counter-cultural values to which many Christians in China aspire.
Leaving Parents
In a culture that values filial piety, how do Christian couples live out the Biblical teaching that “a man shall leave his father and his mother.” Does it simply refer to geographical leaving, or does it also encompass emotional and psychological leaving? It is a common and difficult question that many Christians face. In the following translated article, originally published on the public WeChat account of Green Olive Books, the authors put forth their understanding of what this means in a Chinese context, arguing that “leaving” is a prerequisite to a happy marriage.
When Families Are Separated, How Can We Help?
“She doesn't know me anymore,” my friend Xiao Min remarked offhandedly one day, as though this fact didn't bother her. As the weeks went on, I would slowly discover that this statement reflected a very deep pain in Xiao Min's heart. The first time she brought it up, though, I was surprised she would treat the matter so coolly. After all, she was talking about her own daughter.
Peoples of China
Intergenerational Challenges in Christian Marriages
A Sociological Case Study of Urban Young Christians in China
Over recent generations, marriage expectations have changed. For young Christians in China, marriages are taking on new ethical norms that include challenges. Parental pressures in finding a spouse as well as in planning a wedding can create much tension. After marriage, child-bearing and rearing continue to generate challenges between the young couple and their parents. The one-child policy has exacerbated these difficulties. Christian couples are swimming against many secular tides in these areas.
View From the Wall
Families, Churches, and China’s Transition
Historical influences on family structure and how this structure has collapsed in recent decades are reviewed. The author then recognizes that family order has been established by God and must be restored. This is essential for China’s transformation. The role the Chinese church should play in this restoration needs to be thought through.
I Will Go with You
The following is a translation of an excerpt from a wedding sermon preached by Pastor Wang Yi of Early Rain Reformed Church in Chengdu. In it, he exhorts the couple to remember that they are not entering into this marriage alone, that God is going before them and with them.
Waiting Is Better Than Trying to Jump over a Wall
Depending on the statistics you find, roughly 70% of the church in China is female. This leaves an obvious problem: In a nation where such a small percentage of males are Christian, where does this leave the young, unmarried Chinese woman? Aside from the obvious question of whether or not to marry an unbeliever, there are questions much more subtle and often overlooked regarding how one should see this issue in light of their walk with God. In this revealing article, published in the online magazine Territory, one millennial shares how a broken relationship led to a revelation of something much deeper that was amiss in her own life, and how things began to change once her eyes were opened.