The Jakarta 2023 Global Convention on Christian Faith was held in person in Jakarta, Indonesia, featuring the theme "The Eschatological Reign of Christ Over All Nations”. Stephen Tong and other world Christian leaders spoke at the convention.
More than 2,000 people from 19 countries attended the four-day convention, according to the hosts, Reformed Evangelical Movement International and Stephen Tong Evangelistic Ministries International (STEMI), which the Indonesian Chinese pastor Dr. Stephen Tong founded. This conference consisted of ten serial plenaries on the book of Ephesians shared by the world’s renowned leaders, ten workshops, three theological foundation seminars, daily worship and prayer, a music concert conducted by Tong himself, and testimony videos.
Dr. Stephen Tong said in two plenaries that Ephesians was the most important volume in the Bible covering the church. Christians are saved from sin in that they “followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air”, thus living a life of battle. Even the life of Christians seems harder than that of non-Christians due to the struggle against sinful desires, but we can overcome it by the “blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.”
Mentioning his September mission trip to the United States, the 83-year-old Tong felt regretful for the decline of Christianity in America. “When I went to the United States the first time, Asian students were not qualified to enter great seminaries. Fifty years later, I went again. Those grand seminaries have been sold one after another due to a financial shortage. I said to myself with sadness, ‘Why I am trying my best to expand God’s kingdom bigger and bigger in Asia, but why the United States is so declining that it even has to sell the seminaries?’”
“How serious mistakes has Christianity made that God has sold them? Are there world Christian leaders who have the authority to lead global Christians to have hope? Where are God’s servants after His heart? Why would such an elderly person stand on the stage to preach a sermon to you?” he asked.
“Unless God gives us a new round of revival, I would not see any hope in the church.”
Tong mentioned that the convention’s theme, “The Eschatological Reign of Christ Over All Nations,” is a promise of God. “Augustine wrote a book called The City of God that says that this world will become all of God’s creation.” He urged Christians to believe in the eschatological reign of Christ over all nations and that the kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of God, according to Revelations.
Highlighting the Reformed doctrine of “the Ascended King,” the host encouraged participants to have faith in Jesus Christ and expect his second coming no matter which country they lived in. Pastors of Chinese descent living abroad urged people to pray for the church in China.
Other speakers included Rev. Richard Pratt, founder and president of Third Millennium Ministries; Rev. David Platt, founder of Radical; Dr. Philip Ryken, president of Wheaton College; and Dr. Michael Oh, global executive director and CEO of the Lausanne Movement.
It's worth noting that there were 12 other participating organizations, including STEMI, the Gospel Movement Chinese Pastors, the Gospel City Network Malaysia, Covenant College, See Jesus, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Before the convention, a pre-conference titled “The Eschatological Reign of Christ Over Education” took place to explore Christian education and its application in Asia.
10月2-5日，雅加达2023基督教信仰研讨大会（Global Convention On Christian Faith）在雅加达举行，以“末世基督统管万国”为主题探讨以弗所书中的教导和神学讲座与议题。
本次大会是中国伙伴和唐崇荣国际布道团联合举办，并邀请了来自世界各地基督教32位牧师、领袖和神学博士作为讲员，其中包括“激进”运动创始人大卫·普拉特牧师（Rev. David Platt）、“第三千禧年事工”创始人及主席理查德·博瑞特博士（Dr. Richard Pratt）、神学院惠顿学院院长腓力·莱肯博士（DR. Philip Ryken）、城市植堂网络首席执行官安德烈·坎代（Rev. Andrew Katay）洛桑运动全球执行董事迈克尔·欧博士（Dr. Michael Oh）等。
全球各地约有2500人参加此次大会。其中有不少参会者是来自印尼当地、新加坡、马来西亚、北美各地的弟兄姐妹，大多数参与者为华人基督徒和教牧同工。
大会围绕主题“末世基督统管万国”为核心，对以弗所书进行了10次全员学习和3次关于基督掌权的神学讲座，并有2场关于基督的复活与升天的意义的神学座谈会，深入探讨基督的复活与升天对我们究竟具有怎样的意义和价值。
大会持续进行了4天的时间，并提供英文、中文和印尼文这3种语言的讲座（原声和其他两门语言的翻译）。除了主要的讲座信息、神学讲座和座谈会，还有十个不同主题的工作坊与专题，包括“福音使命”、“苦难与十字架”、“在有阻力的地方播种福音”、“如何用圣经教导万民”、“以基督为中心的释经讲道”、“文化使命”、“全球福音运动”、“J曲线：真基督徒生命的形状”、“在过渡祷告中前进：沉浸在基督君王并领受祂指引的国度祷告”、“装备职场事奉”。每个参会者都可以选择2种不同的工作坊。
研讨大会的主要目的是为了坚固和激励基督徒，使得他们在信仰上坚定立场并在福音广传上付出自己的努力。而研讨会的主题则旨在让基督徒认识那世界的掌权者“最大的、最强的、最真的一位”便是从上帝而来的耶稣基督。
2日晚，研讨大会在赞美诗歌《唯一根基》的歌声中正式开幕，主持人介绍了大会的主题和主要信息，并邀请唐崇荣牧师、中国伙伴、苏文峰牧师等基督教领袖与机构为此次大会发言讲话，提醒基督徒教会的推动事工是离不开圣灵的能力的，同时教会也是需要与属血气的争战的，而教会也有不被看好的时候，因此这更加表明了教会是世界中的一个重要角色。耶稣在教会中掌权，而教会也应该用圣书的价值观引领社会、进入社会，成为社会中的一个美好样板。
唐牧师刚结束9月美国布道会，他在谈到美国基督教的衰落时，他深感遗憾，甚至有很多有名的神学院都因为资金短缺而被出售。他觉得我们应该都要反思基督教现今的状况，并表示如果不是“上帝为我们兴起新一轮的复兴，我不会在教会中看到任何希望。”
此外，唐牧师还进行了2次以弗所书的分享，他表示以弗所书是圣书中很重要的一卷书。基督徒是曾经死在过犯罪孽里的人，而上帝让他重新活过来，是曾经在罪恶里被上帝所救赎的人。因此，基督徒要在日常生活中学习顺从上帝的旨意。这样的生活是危险的，因为罪人要做出符合上帝旨意的选择。
如何做出符合上帝旨意的选择呢？对此唐牧师认为唯有靠“上帝的道和耶稣的宝血”。上帝的道是宇宙得胜的最大力量，而耶稣的宝血得胜魔鬼一切的诡计，也洁净了我们。靠着这两样“法宝”，我们可以得胜撒旦的诡计，撒旦也没有办法侵犯我们。
关于以弗所书中的穿戴全副军装，唐牧师具体分享了真理的腰带、公义的护心镜、福音的鞋、信德的盾牌、救恩的头盔、圣灵的宝剑等，他强调说当基督徒穿戴好这些，便可以为耶稣做好见证，为主争战不是靠血气，而是靠真理、和平和公义。
4日下午，研讨大会进入一个高潮部分——交响音乐会。交响音乐会一共分为上下两场，上半场为10首交响乐，包括贝多芬的钢琴协奏曲、约翰·斯特劳斯的《春之声》、西贝柳斯的《芬兰颂》等；下半场主要是一首合唱团与交响乐队的合作之曲《赞美颂》。
5日晚，研讨大会闭幕仪式举行。闭幕仪式中，唐牧师在现场呼召了此次大会中那些为上帝国度而愿意服事主的人到台前来，并为他们祷告，祈求上帝赐给他们能力、智慧和话语，让他们在未来服事的岗位上能为主做见证。最后，研讨大会在唐牧师的祷告中落下帷幕。
The Jakarta 2023 Global Convention on Christian Faith was held in person in Jakarta, Indonesia, featuring the theme "The Eschatological Reign of Christ Over All Nations”. Stephen Tong and other world Christian leaders spoke at the convention.
More than 2,000 people from 19 countries attended the four-day convention, according to the hosts, Reformed Evangelical Movement International and Stephen Tong Evangelistic Ministries International (STEMI), which the Indonesian Chinese pastor Dr. Stephen Tong founded. This conference consisted of ten serial plenaries on the book of Ephesians shared by the world’s renowned leaders, ten workshops, three theological foundation seminars, daily worship and prayer, a music concert conducted by Tong himself, and testimony videos.
Dr. Stephen Tong said in two plenaries that Ephesians was the most important volume in the Bible covering the church. Christians are saved from sin in that they “followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air”, thus living a life of battle. Even the life of Christians seems harder than that of non-Christians due to the struggle against sinful desires, but we can overcome it by the “blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.”
Mentioning his September mission trip to the United States, the 83-year-old Tong felt regretful for the decline of Christianity in America. “When I went to the United States the first time, Asian students were not qualified to enter great seminaries. Fifty years later, I went again. Those grand seminaries have been sold one after another due to a financial shortage. I said to myself with sadness, ‘Why I am trying my best to expand God’s kingdom bigger and bigger in Asia, but why the United States is so declining that it even has to sell the seminaries?’”
“How serious mistakes has Christianity made that God has sold them? Are there world Christian leaders who have the authority to lead global Christians to have hope? Where are God’s servants after His heart? Why would such an elderly person stand on the stage to preach a sermon to you?” he asked.
“Unless God gives us a new round of revival, I would not see any hope in the church.”
Tong mentioned that the convention’s theme, “The Eschatological Reign of Christ Over All Nations,” is a promise of God. “Augustine wrote a book called The City of God that says that this world will become all of God’s creation.” He urged Christians to believe in the eschatological reign of Christ over all nations and that the kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of God, according to Revelations.
Highlighting the Reformed doctrine of “the Ascended King,” the host encouraged participants to have faith in Jesus Christ and expect his second coming no matter which country they lived in. Pastors of Chinese descent living abroad urged people to pray for the church in China.
Other speakers included Rev. Richard Pratt, founder and president of Third Millennium Ministries; Rev. David Platt, founder of Radical; Dr. Philip Ryken, president of Wheaton College; and Dr. Michael Oh, global executive director and CEO of the Lausanne Movement.
It's worth noting that there were 12 other participating organizations, including STEMI, the Gospel Movement Chinese Pastors, the Gospel City Network Malaysia, Covenant College, See Jesus, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Before the convention, a pre-conference titled “The Eschatological Reign of Christ Over Education” took place to explore Christian education and its application in Asia.
The Jakarta 2023 Conference: 'Christ Reigns Over All Nations'
