John Walz

John Walz

Articles by John Walz

  • Believers from Taiwanese folk religion shift from bargaining to belonging

    Believers from Taiwanese folk religion shift from bargaining to belonging

    Spirit mediums who make a living claiming to communicate with the unseen world are common practice for folk religion in Taiwan. Typically, worshipers can ask for some desired favor in exchange for a gift or vow. But the God of the Bible isn't interested in transactional religion. He needs nothing from us, yet we need everything from him.
  • The gospel in the context of Taiwan's ghost month

    The gospel in the context of Taiwan's ghost month

    For a followers of folk religion in Taiwan, who understand religion as transactional with individual spirits, forgiveness of sins may not immediately sound like an answer to the practical fears that emerge during Taiwan's Ghost Month. Yet the gospel can reframe the human problem without ignoring the fear that brought the person to the conversation. Our deepest problem is not that we have failed to satisfy every unseen power. It is that we are sinners before a holy God.