Kingdom Sightings
Olympic Snapshot
I love the olympics. My grandfather attended the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles and brought back an Olympic keychain that I used for two decades before the clasp broke. I have pins from every Olympiad since my birth. I'd love to take a class at Regent College in the winter of 2010 just so I can be in town for the Vancouver Winter Games. I'm hoping Chicago gets to host the 2016 Olympics so I can volunteer.
Every Olympiad, both summer and winter, I spend two weeks engrossed in obscure events and medal counts. I find myself caught up in the competitions and the stories of the individual athletes, as well as in the global community the Games foster.
But I've been conflicted about the 2008 Games ever since they were awarded to Beijing. As many have noted, China's human-rights record is tainted with abuses. The international community has rightly been concerned about China's relationships with Tibet and Sudan.
In addition, I am a second-generation Taiwanese American, and Taiwan and China have been at odds for decades. Part of me feels kinship with Chinese culture and history, while another part carries a fierce sense of Taiwanese independence.
A few years ago, I visited mainland China, and I had an uneasy feeling at the Beijing airport. It was akin to how an American might have felt visiting the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
The closing ceremonies of the 2004 Olympics marked the transition from Athens to Beijing with a cultural display of Chinese dance and music. I realized that I can honor China's 5,000-year history, which far transcends China's modern-day Communist rule. I can affirm my Chinese ethnic heritage even if I find myself protesting certain aspects of the present Chinese government. I can also celebrate the redemptive ...
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MK from China
Let me first say that steve needs to recheck his china knowledge if he thinks that china is without want. that is absolutely ridiculous when you think of all the farmers in the western half of china living off of less than $30.00 a month for their entire family. as a person who grew up in taiwan, there is a love in my heart for the chinese people and i find the first four comments especially self-righteous. who are you to say that the americans don't persecute christians? look at your culture. i am american, so i have the right to say this. the american culture is extremely intolerant for all their talk of tolerance. they can't even allow people to say merry christmas in some places... it also hurts to hear my homeland (even though i am white through and through) being put down. who are you to judge? is not God the judge of all men? and what about eric leddell? have you forgotten the runner who won two medals in the olympics and refused to run on a sunday, chris? did God not sanction
pete Benson, editor UNITYINCHRIST.COM
Very interesting and forward looking ideas about the soon-coming Kingdom of God, and the artifacts that will be offered to God. Also, very true about the one time the Greek city-states would drop their weapons and endless civil wars to be at peace during their Olympics. But I think the Feast of Tabernacles may end up as a substitute for the Olympics during the Kingdom age after Jesus Christ's 2nd coming, when the world will gather at Jesus' feet and learn from him, and then take what they've learned back to their various homelands.
Bill Bray
The Olympics games is a daily reminder to pray for the 56 nationalities that make up China and for the indigenous missionaries there, some in prison, who are calling out a people for His name in that land. China already has one of the world's fastest growing churches and through trading relations can potentially be used as the next great, global missionary force. These are exciting days for us to love and support the Chinese people. The Chinese are the largest single group of overseas students in our colleges and universities. There are so many opportunities for us to respond to them while there are here in the USA and other western nations and to support them as they go back to their people with the Gospel. I am so excited to be working with our Chinese partners in missions and we need to open our eyes wider to the implications of what the Holy Spirit is doing to bless China and the Chinese nations.