607 The work of the devil is to deceive. He delights people to sin, but does not want people to repent | 2014 Chai Yuan Incident Review

Beast Press: Recently, I have been listening to Pastor Yuan Zhiming's sermon videos on YouTube, especially the 1998 series of videos, which is quite interesting. So I googled Yuan Zhiming and found a big melon.

I don't know, Yuan Zhiming made his astrolabe according to 12 o'clock when he was born. After looking at it, the accuracy was quite high compared to his life story.

North Node Capricorn Nine House, Sun Capricorn Ten House, Mars Aries out of North-South Node, Mercury Aquarius, Venus Sagittarius, Pluto Leo, Jupiter Conjunct Uranus Cancer, Saturn Virgo, Taurus Rising, Sea Moon Conjunct Libra

Mars and Aries, who escaped from the North-South Node, is the biggest obstacle to his spiritual authority in the ninth house of Capricornus and the North Node. The three weapons of the devil are the temptation of neutrality, which is his biggest test. Chastity, poverty and obedience are the antidote. The devil's job is to deceive, and he delights in sin, not repentance; he delights in lying, but not in truth. James 4:7 asks us to obey God and resist the devil.

Yuan Zhiming (January 16, 1955 - ), a native of Renqiu, Hebei, a pastor, a writer, and one of the contributors to the TV political drama "Heshang".

Yuan Zhiming joined the army in 1973 and served in the Beijing garrison until he was admitted to the Renmin University of China's Department of Philosophy for a master's degree in Marxist Philosophy in 1983, and he became a doctoral student two years later. During this period, he published a series of philosophical and political articles in major domestic newspapers and magazines, and actively participated in the research on reform and opening up. [1] In 1988, he participated in the writing of the large-scale TV film "Heshang". [2]

In 1989, Yuan Zhiming participated in the pro-democracy movement. After the June 4th Incident, Yuan Zhiming was wanted and forced to go into exile overseas. He was separated from his wife and daughter. His father died while he was on the run. [3]. Yuan Zhiming escaped through Hong Kong and Paris, participated in the founding of the Democratic China Front, and edited the magazine "Democratic China". The following year, he arrived in the United States and worked as a visiting scholar at Princeton University, where he came into contact with the Chinese Christian Church.

On April 28, 1991 ( according to the testimony of his wife Liu Lili, it was April 1991 ), Yuan Zhiming was baptized as a Christian. In September of the same year, his wife and daughter went to the United States to reunite. In 1992, he was introduced to Mississippi Reformed Theological Seminary by Rev. Lin Cixin and received a master's degree in intercultural studies. In 1995, he joined the "Overseas Campus" magazine. In 1999, he participated in the founding of the China Communication Association (chairman Xie Wenjie), served as the editor-in-chief, and preached everywhere. Former director and editorial board member of "Life Quarterly" magazine. On October 25, 2009, several Chinese pastors across denominations (Pastor Chen Daoming, Pastor Wang Yongxin, Pastor Rong Paulo, Pastor Liu Tongsu, and Guan Guorui were interred in a borrowed church in the San Francisco Bay Area). Pastor and Pastor Liu Tong) ordained as pastor, Pastor Liu Tongsu described Yuan Zhiming as "representing the entrustment of Chinese preachers of our generation". [4]

On December 23, 2014, Chai Ling issued an open letter accusing Yuan Zhiming of raping her in Princeton in the fall of 1990. In February 2015, Yuan Zhiming resigned from the China Communication Association. [5] After retiring for more than a year, he returned in March 2016 and resumed public preaching.

Chai Ling accused of rape

Chai Ling and Yuan Zhiming are both former leaders of the 1989 pro-democracy movement. Before Thanksgiving on December 23, 2014, Chai Ling issued an open letter "We can always find out the truth, would you like to?" - a letter written by Chai Ling to the church about Yuan Zhiming , accusing Yuan Zhiming in the fall of 1990 in Princeton rape her. In the article, Chai Ling said that she had just moved into a new apartment, and Yuan Zhiming took a pornographic movie to show her. At that time, she felt embarrassed and asked Yuan Zhiming to leave. She pinned down on the carpet, raped her, and covered her eyes with her coat, which had fallen to the ground as she struggled. [6]

The incident aroused widespread concern among believers. Eighteen Chinese church pastors subsequently established an investigation committee, and on February 23, 2015, jointly signed the "Investigation Report on the "Chai Yuan Incident", which included four cases involving Yuan Zhiming. The investigation content of "similar incidents" and the testimony of witnesses other than Yuan Zhiming. The four "similar incidents" are: (1) dancer Ms. Zhu accused Yuan Zhiming of sexually assaulting her in Paris in 1989; (2) Chai Ling accused of being raped by Yuan Zhiming in Princeton in 1990; (3) Yuan Zhiming was raped by Yuan Zhiming in 1990. He was accused of inappropriate behavior towards a young sister born in the 1980s in a camp in Germany in May 2013; (4) Yuan Zhiming was accused of seducing a sister born in the 90s in Paris in September 2013 (attempted). [7]

The China Communication Association announced on February 28 that Yuan Zhiming had resigned from all his services and ministry. [8] On March 2, 2015, Yuan Zhiming published "Letter to Brothers and Sisters in the Church", in which he said, "For the extramarital sexual offenses committed before I believed in the Lord in 1990, I once again publicly confessed my sins to God, The client apologized.” and “But I cannot admit to crimes that I did not commit. I deny all allegations of rape, attempted seduction, and sexual assault against me.”[9]

"The Cross - Jesus in China" TV series

This TV documentary mainly reviews the development of Christianity in China over the past 100 years, especially the persecuted but increasingly prosperous development momentum during the decades when the atheist regime was in power. Many of them are beautiful and true witnesses, the historical mistakes are not obvious, and they have received higher evaluations than "Shenzhou". However, after the public screening, it still caused a lot of controversy. Mainly focused on a few things: some people who were considered heretics by the evangelical church were interviewed, some people who were interviewed were not told that the recordings would appear on such a wide-ranging disc that was shown in public and was so extensive. The interviewers did not confirm their clips before the public release, did not explain many deviations of the Three-Self Church after the reform and opening up, and filmed too many clips of rural Charismatic churches.

2008 San Francisco Consensus

On December 8, 2008, Yuan Zhiming led, including him and Yu Jie, Wang Yi, Liu Tongsu, Hong Yujian, Zhang Boli, Zhang Lujia, Zhang Zhigang, Zhu Jian, Zhou Xiaoan, Fan Xuede, Li Yading, Zhao Li, Zhao Xiao, Jin Tomorrow, Cui Quan, Huang Lei, Yang Wanli, and Feng Bingcheng, a total of 19 people, published the "San Francisco Consensus", which is considered by some Christians to be politically cooperating with those in power to "harmonize" (control) the Christian church. [16] [17]

San Francisco Bay Area luxury car charges

Writer Yi Tian wrote an article on the Sina blog, accusing Yuan Zhiming of living a luxurious life. He owns a mansion in the San Francisco Bay Area with five bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a garage that can park three cars and Mercedes-Benz and other luxury cars. Yuan Zhiming's mansion is located in the wealthy area of the Bay Area, and is estimated to be as high as 980,000 US dollars on the US real estate website. Yuan Zhiming has only one daughter and is studying abroad. Yitian questioned why Yuan Zhiming and his wife needed to live in such a big house. Yitian also accused Yuan Zhiming of buying a mansion within two weeks after he was ordained as a pastor on October 25, 2009, instead of looking for any church to pastor. [18]

books

"Lost the Earth and Gained the Sky"

"Faith Dialogue" page archive backup, stored in the Internet Archive[19]

"Lao Tzu and the Bible" page archive backup, stored in the Internet Archive[20]

"Lao Tzu's original text and translation" link is blocked by the wall

"Essays on Faith" page archive backup, stored in the Internet Archive[21]

"Shenzhou Confessions - God and Five Thousand Years of China" link was blocked

The San Francisco Consensus

film and television

Twelve-episode witness series "Why Do I Believe in Jesus"; twelve-episode evangelism series "Come to Jesus"; twelve-episode training series "Only Jesus Has No Foundation"

Seven-episode TV series "Shenzhou"

Large-scale documentary "The Cross - Jesus in China"

Four-part TV series "Gospel"

Nine-episode TV series "The Other Shore"

Sydney Opera House "Song of the Sky 2012"

references

Yuan Zhiming: Pounce on the dream hometown

Homecoming from Wandering: Why Scholar Yuan Zhiming Believes in God. Reprinted on the official website of Baijia Forum on Christian Life Network. August 12, 2010 [January 21, 2011]. (Original content archived on February 20, 2011).

Yuan Zhiming: Love and Love

Yuan Zhiming Receives Ordination in America

The investigation report of "Chai Yuan Incident" was made public, Yuan Zhiming resigned and denied the accusation. The archives and backups of the pages are stored in the Internet Archive Times Forum, 2015-01-08

Chai Ling. "We can always find out the truth, are you willing?" - Chai Ling's letter to the church about Yuan Zhiming. Cao Changqing. December 23, 2014 [December 29, 2014]. (Original Content archived on December 29, 2014) (Chinese (Traditional)‎).

Investigation Report on "Chai Yuan Incident". [2015-02-24]. (Original content archived on 2015-03-18).

The investigation report on "Chai Yuan Incident" was made public, Yuan Zhiming resigned and denied the accusation Times Forum, 2015-03-03

Yuan Zhiming: Letter to Brothers and Sisters in the Church. [2018-01-19]. (Original content archived on 2018-01-19).

Fang Zhouzi. The Mistaken Missionary Film "Shenzhou". Literary Theory and Criticism. 2001, (4) [2011-01-20]. (Original content archived on 2013-01-25).

"Philosophers", Hong Kong, Ming Pao Publishing House, ISBN 962-8871-18-8

Xie Xuanjun. ""ABC Theology" - Did Christianity Spontaneously Produced in Ancient China?. [2015-04-10]. (Original content archived on 2015-04-14).

Zhuang Zukun. "Rethinking of "Shenzhou" Album. [2015-04-10]. (Original content archived on 2015-08-10).

Yuan Zhiming. God and China. [2015-04-10]. (Original content archived on 2015-04-16).

Xie Wenjie. "Shenzhou" and Theology. [2015-04-10]. (Original content archived on 2015-04-16).

The "consensus" that our "generation" deserves - a response to the "San Francisco Consensus" / David Lee. [2011-09-05]. (Original content archived on 2011-10-20).

Harmonizing the CCP and Disobeying Christ - Commentary on the "San Francisco Consensus" of "A Generation's Witness Conference" / John Gao. [2016-05-26]. (Original content archived on 2016-08-05).

Yuan Zhiming is not the pastor of any church Yitian's blog, 2015-01-06

"Dialogue of Faith" page archive backup, stored in the Internet Archive, link wall, PDF format.

"Lao Tzu and the Bible" page archive backup, stored in the Internet Archive, link wall, PDF format.

"Essays on Faith" page archive backup, stored in the Internet Archive, link wall, PDF format.

Questions and answers about the "Yuan Zhiming Incident"

Life Quarterly Issue 80 December 2016

GRACE investigation report link:

https://www.cclifefl.org/View/Article/4709

An investigation report jointly signed by 18 pastors:

https://www.cclifefl.org/View/Article/3900

Editor's note: The Life Quarterly website published an investigation report on the "Chai Yuan Incident" jointly signed by 18 Chinese church pastors in February 2015, and published an independent investigation report by GRACE in July 2016; Questions from readers interested in the event. The editorial department of this journal answers the representative questions as follows.

1. What happened to Pastor Yuan Zhiming’s sexual harassment incident? Some people say: His "sex assault" was before he believed in the Lord, and he should have repented long ago; why did he still hold onto his sin before he believed in the Lord? Several cases of so-called "sexual harassment" were all false accusations. The reason why Yuan Zhiming didn't respond might be imitating Jesus' silence!

A: According to the investigation report ^[1] jointly signed by 18 pastors, there are 4 allegations of sexual harassment against Pastor Yuan Zhiming. Two of the allegations of sexual harassment occurred before Far Believe (1989 and 1990), and the other two allegations of sexual harassment occurred in May and September 2013. Note that the latter two charges did not come before his conversion, but in 2013, after his 20 years as a preacher.

No one will hold on to a repentant man. In the church of Christ, whether it is a layperson or a preacher, whenever a sin (especially a sexual offense that hurts others) needs to be confessed and repented, an apology to the victim and forgiveness are required. And the so-called "serving" carried out with filth by the sinful and unrepentant preacher pollutes the holiness of the church and is hated by God.

In addition to the detailed investigation of these allegations by the investigative committee appointed by 18 pastors, another professional American internal organization has also conducted a rigorous and detailed investigation of the Paris case ^[2] . With so many pastors participating and so many witnesses testifying, there is no way it could be a false accusation. The reason why the 18 pastors of Chinese churches and the GRACE organization in the United States are seriously investigating this incident is to avoid "false accusation" and "being falsely accused".

According to church discipline, if a preacher is accused or falsely accused, it must be clarified or resolved. If he sins and falls, he needs to confess his sins and repent; if the other party falsely accuses him, he will urgently use evidence to clarify the fact that he has been falsely accused; if the false accusation is true, then the false accuser needs to confess his sins and repent. However, in the past two years, Pastor Yuan has successively refused the opportunity for defense provided by the 18 Pastoral Investigation Team, and the invitation to investigate and interview him from the third-party GRACE organization and the Christianity Today newspaper. Although he issued a statement on March 2, 2015, "total denial" of these allegations, but apart from these four words, he could not produce any evidence to prove his innocence. Pastor Yuan claimed to "actively cooperate" with China's relevant investigations, but in the past two years, we have not seen any investigations by China. His counterintuitive responses showed that the charges against him were by no means false.

Pastor Yuan's silence is also completely different from that of Jesus. Jesus was completely sinless, and his silence expressed obedience to suffering; but Jesus was not silent when he claimed to be the Son of God. Yuan Zhiming avoided his responsibilities by silence. He kept silent and refused all channels to solve the problem in the Lord, so that the problem could not be solved, many brothers and sisters were confused, and the church was disturbed. This distressing situation is entirely because Pastor Yuan kept silent and deliberately. The refusal to clarify the truth, to tell the truth.

2. Are 18 Mu's investigation report and GRACE's investigation report credible? Could it be that they were all bribed by the forces of darkness to attack Pastor Yuan's ministry? Is it the devil's attack? Is it a conspiracy of the xx party?

The 18 pastors are all pastors or mission leaders who have served in Chinese churches for many years. Their faith and life testimony and service all clearly show that they are faithful servants of God. These pastors all signed the investigation report with a responsible attitude towards the church.

The third-party organization involved in the investigation is GRACE (the full name is Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment, which can be translated as "response to crimes within Christianity") is a non-profit Christian organization whose ministry is for the church Provide training, counselling and independent investigation of internal sexual crimes, abuse and other issues. The GRACE team has extensive professional experience in conducting interviews and investigations of victims, perpetrators and witnesses. GRACE's board of directors includes current and former prosecutors, psychologists, counselors, theologians, pastors, and other professionals. The founder and director of the organization is Boz Tchividjian, the grandson of the famous American evangelist Pastor Billy Graham; the organization enjoys a high reputation in the church community.

If readers understand the background of GRACE and the 18 pastors, they will know that it is absolutely impossible for them to be "bribed by the forces of darkness to attack Pastor Yuan's ministry".

Is it the devil's attack?

Note, the devil's work is to deceive, and he delights in sin, not repentance; in lying, not in truth. James 4:7 asks us to obey God and resist the devil.

What several sisters who accused Pastor Yuan did was not only to pursue righteousness and holiness, but also so that no more sisters would continue to suffer. If the accusing sisters are "lying and making false accusations," and if all the pastors and institutions involved in the investigation also follow along and weave falsehoods, then you can say that this is "the devil's attack." However, the truth is that it is not the sisters who lied, nor the pastors and institutions involved in the investigation.

Pursuing righteousness, holiness, and maintaining the holiness of the church must be pleasing to God. Fornication, filth, and lies come from the devil. Brothers and sisters can use the biblical standard to distinguish what is the devil's attack.

Is the "Yuan Zhiming Incident" a "conspiracy" of the XX Party?

of course not. After the incident, although "conspiracy theories" are rampant, calm-minded people will make a fair judgment based on two informative investigation reports. Taking the sexual harassment case in Paris as an example, in September 2013, Pastor Yuan planned the whole incident three months in advance, and sent a post-90s sister who was on vacation in China back to Paris to meet by e-mail, and called her to a hotel to watch an obscene video. ...These are actions planned and implemented by Pastor Yuan on their own initiative, and have nothing to do with "the conspiracy of the XX Party to combat Christianity."

3. You shall not judge or judge. You should not be judges, you should not throw the first stone.

In this incident, some people showed astonishing ignorance and abuse of the teachings of "Do not judge" (Matt. 7:1-5) and "Neither I condemn you" (John 8:3-11). In the church of Christ, a man has sinned and, based on biblical principles and facts, says to the sinner, "You have sinned, repent!" This is not judgment.

Matthew 18:15-17: If your brother sins against you, go and point out his fault while he is alone with you. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. If he doesn't listen, you can take one or two other people with you, and you must rely on the testimony of two or three people, and every sentence can be determined. If you don't listen to them, tell the church. If he does not listen to the church, consider him like a Gentile and a tax collector.

This passage is the discipline that the Lord Jesus instituted for the church. From privately "pointing out his fault" to publicly "telling it to the church", it's all the steps Jesus laid out for discipline. According to the Lord's teaching, pointing out sin and asking people to repent is not "judgment."

After David sinned, the Lord sent Nathan to David, and Nathan said to David: You are the man! He rebuked David directly: Why do you despise the command of the LORD and do what is evil in his sight? (See 2 Samuel 12:1-15.) David repented under Nathan's accusations. Excuse me, is Nathan a "judge" here? Is it throwing the "first stone"? Absolutely not.

"Throwing the first stone" is a reference to John 8:3-11. People who say "the first stone should not be thrown" compares those who deal with church problems as taught in Matthew 18:15-17 to "Pharisees" and therefore have no right to throw "the first stone" ”, such a metaphor or application is fundamentally wrong. This passage is not saying that someone in the church has sinned, and you should not point out his sin. If you point it out, you are "throwing the first stone." Those who say, "Whoever has no sin among you can take up the first stone", those who tolerate sin and make excuses for sin, should not neglect that God is holy, but should consider God's will: "From now on, never again. It's a crime!"

4. You have already confessed your sins a long time ago. It is enough to confess your sins before God. Why do you have to confess your sins before people? No matter how guilty Pastor Yuan is, it is also a matter between him and the Lord Jesus.

Yuan Zhiming has been accused of sexual harassment more than once. He still denied the allegations in a sermon in Australia in March 2016. He said: "I went overseas in 1989, and in my exile life, I also cheated and had extramarital affairs... Instead of defending the crimes that I did not commit, it is better to regret the crimes that I have committed." Please note that these words he said were merely to evade the importance of confessing the sin of "extramarital affairs" before believing in the Lord, in order to cover up his real sin of sexual assault and sexual harassment after believing in the Lord, so as to escape the true confession, so that Can continue to play the role of spiritual leader. Essentially no guilty plea at all.

When a person sins, if the sin they commit does not involve offending others, for example, it is only in the mind, but it has not been put into action, and it has not harmed anyone, generally speaking, it is only necessary to confess the sin to God. But if the sins committed involve wronging others, in addition to confessing to God, you must also confess to the person you have sinned against, and even make remedial actions. This is what the Bible teaches (see Numbers 5:5-7; Luke 19: 8). When a public figure commits a crime and has caused public nuisance or influence, public confession is required. Even the society demands public figures according to this standard, not to mention the church?

5. Why don't you solve it within the teaching? You can't expose your family scandals. Why do you publish such information publicly? To stumble the weak and bring shame to the name of the Lord.

Eighteen pastors, along with a number of others who have not been named publicly, had followed the biblical teaching on church discipline before publishing any articles about Pastor Yuan's sexual harassment incident (Matthew 18:15-17) , communicated with the people involved in this incident in advance and privately again and again (these people include Pastor Yuan Zhiming himself, the board of directors of the "Shenzhou" organization, Pastor Wang Yongxin of the pastoral group, and other pastors of the pastoral group), but they hardly had any respond. The only time Pastor Wang Yongxin responded was: "The pastoral team believes that there is an investigation committee, so the pastoral team does not need to participate in this matter anymore", "I am now 90 years old, and I am unable to mentally and physically. Please forgive me for the important task of 'supervision'." The chairman of the board of directors of China, after receiving several emails and investigation reports sent to him privately by 18 pastors in advance, not only did not respond, but instead called Life Quarterly's chairman of the board said he would "take it to court." It was the board of directors of Shenzhou that completely blocked the communication between 18 Mu and them in the Lord. In that case, 18 Mu decided to make the investigation report public. (That is, Matthew 5:17 "If you will not listen to them, tell the church.")

From the end of December 2014 when 4 pastors sent private messages to Pastor Yuan asking him to face the accusations seriously to today, in the past two years, many pastors and brothers and sisters have made great efforts to communicate in private for many times, and even asked someone to tell them, in order to be able to face the accusations in the church. Internal problem solving was a painstaking effort. But so far, we have not seen any response from Pastor Yuan and Shenzhou, let alone confession, repentance, and forgiveness in line with God's will.

Would publicizing such a message “soff the weak and bring shame to the name of the Lord”?

Expose sin and cleanse it, and show that the God we believe in is righteous, holy, and powerful. If it is covered up and feared to expose it, it will only bring harm and destruction to the church. "The Investigative Report on the "Chai Yuan Incident" jointly published by the 18 Pastors", and the conclusion of "GRACE: An Independent Investigation Report on the Allegation of Pastor Yuan Zhiming During his 2013 Paris, France", Each clearly articulates the spiritual significance of dealing with the event publicly. In response to our readers at large, we have excerpted the following:

Investigative report jointly signed by 18 pastors

After reading this investigation report, we believe it will bring shock and pain to the brothers and sisters.

But that's not the purpose of our report.

Our purpose is to follow the biblical teachings: the church must pursue holiness, do righteousness, sin needs to be cleaned up, fallen need to be redeemed, God's people must stay away from sin, and everyone must be warned (Galatians 6). :1b) . Eighteen pastors also reviewed the reports with shock and pain. Our prayers and hopes are still that Pastor Yuan Zhiming can respond positively and face the above-mentioned accusations seriously, so that he can put himself right before God, so that the family can be settled, the church can be cleansed, and the brothers and sisters can be free because they understand the truth. We still hope that the board of directors of the China Communication Association will handle this event according to biblical principles and work with us to maintain the holiness of the church.

Our purpose is to bring to life the principles of faith we hold; these principles are reiterated in the letters of 13 pastors and in the letters of 18 pastors:

The church is the spiritual community separated from the world and purchased by the blood of Christ, the body and testimony of Jesus Christ. The church should strive to obey Christ's commands and maintain its own holiness (Ephesians 1:4, 5:26-27; 1 Peter 1:15, 2:9). No one in the church can cover up, shield, shelter, or condone sin for any reason or excuse. Love, tolerance, and forgiveness cannot replace the church's clean-up of sin. The church must demonstrate its character of upholding justice and righteousness.

Through this event we see once again that our God is the sovereign God. He rules history and searches hearts; He purges sin and purifies the church.

We believe that through this incident, God reminds us that we must never build a "Tower of Babel" or a "Babylon," big or small, in His church, or in people's own hearts; Ignoring truth and holiness.

We believe that through this incident, God reminds us that our faith and life cannot be separated, and makes us more willing to come to the cross of Christ and let the Holy Spirit use the cross to put to death the deep-rooted hypocrisy in our old man.

We believe that people who truly belong to the Lord will stand up again from confusion, weakness, and stumbling, relying on God's grace, pursue holiness more, and maintain the holiness of the church more.

We believe that through such "malignant incidents", God has made the Chinese church more vigilant, made us pay more attention to the holiness of the church, and made us more sensitive to the sins that have happened in our own lives or in the church.

When more Christians are anxious for the temple of God like fire, and more Christians humbly pray before the Lord for the holiness of the church, the day when God will revive our Chinese church is approaching.

May God have mercy on his church!

The conclusion of GRACE's independent investigative report on the allegations against Pastor Yuan Zhiming while he was in Paris, France in 2013:

spiritual influence

Pastor Yuan's actions have had a profound impact on every interviewee. When VC ^[3] was asked how these things affected her, she said: "Of course, after this happened, I was disappointed, didn't understand why it happened to me, and I questioned myself. Of course, because [Pastor Yuan] is a priest, I wondered how he would do such a thing. But, I quickly recovered from it.” VC was not permanently punished for this. She said: "It actually strengthened my faith because I realized that I shouldn't put my faith in one person, but in God. "Similarly, DW also said that although at first he felt that Pastor Yuan's behavior had caused VC to be bullied, he gradually realized that VC's faith was strong and she seemed to be doing well now. But when VC was asked how she would have done it based on the results of this review, she said, "At least he should be fired. He shouldn't continue to be a pastor."

GF added, "I'm not here to sue Pastor Yuan. I have no personal grudge with him, but I think the occurrence of this incident has had a great negative impact or distress on my church. This is the Reasons why I am here to testify." Again, OK added that his only appeal to this investigation is for the truth to come out. He said, "I want the truth. I want the truth, justice, reconciliation, and repentance."

JH is one of the interviewees for this survey, and he is not a Christian. He said all these events had a considerable negative impact on him. JH said one of the reasons he couldn't become a Christian was "...because there are people like Yuan. I know who he is, I don't admire him, and yet, he can still preach on stage, And also considered a good preacher. Those things kept me away from Christianity.” JH further explained, “However, for someone like me, actually, (far) did not get Jesus Christ into my heart, actually He's getting Jesus farther and farther away from me. He (Pastor Yuan) claims how close he is to God, then because of him, I'm going to move away from God." When asked he hoped the survey would What kind of result, JH said, "I think (Pastor Yuan) should stop giving public speeches, preaching publicly, especially some people may not know who he is or what kind of person he is, because He tends to make a lot of noise in his speeches.” JH concluded that he hoped that the review would have a positive impact, saying, “If you can do a good survey and come up with good results, it will put me with God is getting closer."

Fortunately, Pastor Yuan's bad behavior did not cause more harm to VC. VC left the hotel just in time before Pastor Yuan carried out more nasty actions. In any case, Pastor Yuan's actions as a Christian preacher leader destroyed VC's trust in him. This series of events betrayed the trust of many who were willing to stand with him and support his ministry.

If he fails to repent thoroughly and sincerely for the damage he has done, healing will be an extremely difficult process, not only for the direct victims of the incident, but also for anyone involved in or condoning it who seeks to The same is true for institutions that minimize the cause, or identify with the perpetrator's behavior. True repentance requires the offender to fully acknowledge his wrongdoing and deceit, and the harm caused by it. ^[36]

(This paragraph is the content of the original Note 36:) Repentance means: "Having a different mind" about something. What it really means is knowing our mistakes with the mind of Christ. At the very least, repentance should include: 1) truth: including the facts of the crime and the events that caused it, ourselves, and others it affects; 2) humility of heart. This means that we realize that we lack wisdom, that we have no discernment. Because we have "wrong minds," we are to humbly submit to those who are proven to have the mind of Christ. 3) Sympathy for those who have been wronged and hurt because of our sins. 4) Recognize that these sins are against the goodness and holiness of God, not just an act of harming others. 5) Desire to make reparations. This definition was adapted from an article by Diane Langberg in “An Inward Look (Part One and Part Two),” Christian Counseling Today Vol. 9 No. 2 (2001).

We also realize, "For those habitual sins, the process of repentance is never a one-shot; one-shot repentance is impossible... Repentance is not about tears, not words, not emotions. Repentance is a long, slow, continuous process. The process of change requires a long process, because it is a process from the heart to the outside.” ^[37] We pray to God and hope that Pastor Yuan can start this process. The first step is to reveal the truth to the public, Tell the world what he did to VC and others who he accused him of bullying and hurting.

in conclusion

Some Christians worry that exposing some of the issues of sexual misconduct within Christian organizations will bring shame to Christ's holy name. As a result, evildoers within Christian organizations are often encouraged to continue harming and even destroying the lives of others, while others remain silent. In reality, however, the Bible teaches that Jesus is both truth and light in terms of his attributes ^[38] . So, hiding sins in the dark for fear of bringing shame to the name of Jesus will actually bring shame to the name of Jesus because it goes against his character. As children of God, each of us is called to truth and light, not just to individuals, but also to Christian organizations. Not condemning and exposing this evil would not only dishonor Jesus but destroy the very organization we were meant to protect. Dr. Diane Lamberg described the problems in Christianity's internal organization:

We have seen similar issues in churches all over the world, in mission agencies, in Christian agencies or committees. Immorality, theft, corruption, sex crimes, spread like cancer; the whole system is trying to keep the exterior shiny, while ignoring the disease that the system suffers from. They think they are maintaining the system, calling it God's system, but ignoring and not dealing with the disease that is hidden in it. They really believe that acknowledging the existence of disease and working to stop it will destroy the work of God. However, simply covering up the most serious ailments in the system is not the right step in curing a terminally ill system. We say it's the Lord's work and we use the power of this system to protect the Lord's work... Any system (whether it's a family, church, community, or institution) unless it's filled with truth and love, None of it is God's system. Otherwise a system that tolerates sin, hypocrisy, disease, evil, or distortion of the truth is not the work of God, no matter what kind of words people use to describe it. I am concerned that as human beings we all have a tendency to succumb to the dictates or ideas of human, past, traditional, systematic, inherent culture, and as a result we refuse to listen to and obey the living and everlasting God ^{.[39 ]} .

Sadly, those institutions that preach Jesus often lead victims of sexual crimes and transgressions to leave Jesus because Jesus' love, care, and concern for people are not manifested in these institutions. However, when a well-known leader and preacher among Chinese Christians in the United States was charged, 18 pastors bravely launched an independent investigative process, demonstrating their concern for "the smallest" person with practical actions. ^[40] real care. We pray that God will work so that Pastor Yuan, Shenzhou (CSFCF), and everyone in this group, out of truth and love, for the Christian Church and for the people of the world who are paying close attention to this matter, can do the same to the victims. Show this kind of care and concern. We also pray that God will give other victims who may have been similarly harmed the courage to come forward to expose sin, as VC and others involved in this investigation have done. Keeping silent will only embolden the perpetrator and expose more people to harm.

Pastor Yuan and Shenzhou (CSFCF) are standing on a new threshold with an unprecedented opportunity to set an example and demonstrate true Christian repentance to the Chinese community and beyond. We pray that this report will bring glory to God, and hope that this report will encourage CSFCF and Pastor Yuan to take a humbly step forward and tell the truth openly and transparently. We also pray that this report will inspire and inspire others, in their own faith communities, to be brave and transparent in handling criminal charges, imitating Jesus, with love for those who are often overlooked and ravaged by sin.

Respectfully submitted on June 22, 2016

GRACE

Notes

[1] See "18 Chinese Church Pastors Jointly Released "Investigation Report on the "Chai Yuan Incident"": https://www.cclifefl.org/View/Article/3900

[2] For the GRACE investigation report, see: https://www.cclifefl.org/View/Article/4709 ; the Chinese version is translated for this publication.

[3] In the GRACE investigation report, in order to protect the privacy of the victims and other witnesses, they are all referred to by English letters.

[37] The following comments keep the original comment number. See http://www.netgrace.org/ link

[38] See John 14:6 and 8:12

[39] Ibid.

[40] Matthew 25:45

Related Links: A Brief Analysis of Yuan Zhiming's Belief Errors

https://www.cclifefl.org/View/Article/5258