Dec 31 2017

No Google, Jesus is not from Palestine!

I saw this on Google translate and face palmed.

jesus not from palestine

Professional translators and university professors and teachers strong discourage the use of Google Translator and Wikipedia, this is another reason why.

jesus was from what

I don’t really like Internet Memes. There’s too many of them, and often they are part of someone else’s in-joke. I like visually assisted sarcasm though.

Jesus was an Israeli and a Jew. Israel was renamed Syria Palestina much after his death, resurrection and ascension to heaven and after the destruction of the temple. So around 120AD. Palestine is a product of the Roman Emporer Hadrian. Not from Arab people. Palestine is the name of the land between 120AD and 1948 where the land was occupied by Romans, Turks, British and later on Arabs.

Just like Paul wasn’t Turkish. But he was from the city of Tarsus which in the nation of Turkey today.

Please challenge pastors and theological people who slip in the Jesus was from “Palestine” this is completely and utterly wrong!! Even some bibles write maps in the back pages with Palestine from the time of Jesus. Argh……

Dec 22 2017

China trip – 11. Bible and Christian books for sale in China’s high street

All Christian news and mission-centric websites that talk about China tell me one of two things:

China has the largest number of people coming to Christ anywhere
Chinese Christians are often persecuted. Evangelism is challenging and possibly illegal, but it doesn’t stop

Here are words of Jesus on persecution of his believers:-

Mark 13 9 “You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me, you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. 10And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

Wow, this is so true today when I hear people finding Christ in Africa, the Islamic world as well as China and places where would be unlikely a few decades ago.

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So I saw some very large bookshops in Beijing and Shanghai. One of them was in a big mall like this.

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So from what I have read, the Chinese government now encourage *some* aspects of Christianity. But on their terms. Or respect Christianity at least for its historical value. Most of the religious books in these shops are about Buddhism.

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Lastly, these bibles were on sale in a church in Shanghai. The church is a brand new purpose built place. This has no English speaking people and does not appear dependant on a western ministry for teaching or funding. More later.

10. Islam in Beijing and elsewhere

12. China is the land of no Google.

Dec 21 2017

China trip – 10. Islam in Beijing and elsewhere

China is officially an atheist country but Buddhism is the main religion.

There are Muslims in China, some not many. Mostly I think in the more rural parts of the western side of the country.

I think a strict government and police force means terrorism doesn’t seem to happen, or public demonstrations or forcing of Sharia law which many people often worry is being introduced into Europe.

The Chinese Muslims I think are mostly Uyghur people who are slightly different ethnically from other Chinese. For instance, the men wear small rounded hats like African Islamic people, their skin is darker so maybe they are ethnically similar to Indonesian/Malaysian people which are Islamic nations.

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In Beijing a Mosque type building on top of shops and offices seems unusual.

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This outdoor cafe had a number of private little huts to sit in. I spotted the Shahada Arabic script hanging on the wall. Regular Chinese people outside would be drinking beer and eating food like pork. So maybe this room is intended for Muslim clients.

China isn’t really a ‘tolerant’ country but some try their best to welcome different folk.

This banknote, when viewed up close, has two other languages on it in addition to English and Chinese. One of these is Uyghuric, which looks like Arabic script.

Shanghai had Chinese Muslims selling small bread rolls with some kind of herbs in out of a small oven on a trolley by the side of the road. There was also Chinese Muslim restaurants with Halal Arabic script on the window with much of the decoration in green, a colour commonly associated with Islam.

For Christians like travelling and watching what’s happening with the boom of the gospel of Jesus in China, there are many other strongholds and challenges. More on this soon.

9. China’s super rich

11. Christian books spotted in Beijing high street

Dec 20 2017

China trip – 9. China’s super rich

Around the corner from my youth hostel were many luxury hotels. Some more from typical western type places, and some with more of the character of China itself.

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DSCF9445 1024 China seems to be enjoying something of a massive economic boom in recent years. There are shopping malls of top clothing brands from the west alongside traditional type simple stores and markets, being all made here in China of course.

As well as luxury cars parked outside the hotels, some big hotels have large windowed showrooms being rented out to sell new prestige cars.

Also, this vintage vehicle was there. I think this belonged to a previous leader of China, maybe even Chairman Mao.

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8. The Great Wall of China Mutianyu district

10. Islam in Beijing and elsewhere

Dec 3 2017

China trip – 8. The Great Wall of China Mutianyu district

At the Youth Hostel in Beijing, there was the chance to do several organised tours, there are live theatre events and guided tours around Beijing, but of course, trips to the Great Wall. Actually, there are four different parts to the great wall you can visit.

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The bus ride from central Beijing to Mutianyu is about a couple of hours. Once you get there, you walk upto the hills where the Great Wall, but many people pay for a cable car and so we did to save time.

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The Great Wall has characterised by these towers every so often maybe 3 per kilometer of wall, but the connecting bit where we went to has these small balcony sections, which are good for organised groups to visit and gather.

The Mutianyu district is the modern section as this was rebuilt in the 1500s. My travel companion for this visit was a pilot for a well known US airline, young chap in his late 20s.

Things I learned about the Great Wall:-

Its huge and spans much of China’s massive nation
Its not visible from space, (old wives tale)
The weather was quite nicely warm, actually really pleasant (was there April 2017)
The atmosphere and nature here are wonderful, you can hear the buzzing of bees, lots of different types of trees and occasional honk of a pheasant.
It’s physically demanding walking it, bits of it are very steep, its essential to be fit.
In the event you get sick or an injury getting help could be difficult
Some people live up here, well there are locals who sell stuff to tourists and some folks earn money from just photos.
You will see a lot of other foreigners including people from your own country.
The bricks are black on the Mutianyu section.
Not everyone is respectful of this beautiful world-famous landmark, there is graffiti in some of the towers.
Perhaps this wall is the first example of the Chinese being the most industrious nation on earth.