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Finding a Real Meaning to My Christian Life
I will never forget my first direct encounter with Jesus Christ. It came one evening
shortly before I graduated from high school. As I was preparing my speech for graduation,
I picked up a copy of the New Testament for inspiration, and soon found myself drawn
by the Lord to read some verses related to salvation. Much to my utter amazement,
I sensed His presence in my room, and I began to pray to receive Him into my heart!
Tears of joy were streaming down my face, as for the first time in my life, the guilt
and power of sin were completely removed from my heart. I felt cleanreally clean!
I entered into a very sweet relationship with Jesus Christ.
After that, for the first time in my life, I went to my church with real seriousness,
seeking something to satisfy my hunger for Gods Word to be opened to me. I left for
college that fall with tremendous disappointment in my heart, because I did not get
what I was looking for in all of those church services. I even left with the firm
determination that I would never go back to one of those formal denominational churches.
What I needed most was real meaning to my Christian life.
I first came in contact with the ministry of Witness Lee during my junior year in
college at Ohio State University. Through the care of some faithful Christian brothers
on the campus, I was invited to attend a video conference on 1 and 2 Corinthians,
in Cleveland, in December of 1981. During one message, Witness Lee shared on 2 Corinthians
4 concerning the apostles experience of bearing about in the body the putting to death
of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also might be manifested in our body. This word cut
me to the heart. For the first time in my life, I felt the sharp, two-edged sword
of the living and operative word of God penetrating my being to divide my soul and
spirit (Hebrews 4:12). I also began to see that the real purpose of God in saving
me was to build me together with other believers into the church, the Body of Christ
(Ephesians 1:22-23)! The Lord opened my eyes through this ministry to see the real
meaning of my Christian life. By the end of the conference, I determined in my heart
to leave my fraternity and move into a Christian house for college students, and pursue
this vision of the Lords recovery of the proper church life.
Later in my experience under this ministry, the Lord Jesus led me in 1987 to go to
Taiwan to participate in the full-time training in Taipei with a focus on preaching
the gospel, and raising up new believers. I have never had such an opportunity to
enjoy such fellowship with so many believers from all over the earth! The training
in Taipei put something into me that will never leave me for the rest of my life:
to love people, to minister the riches of Christ into them, and to shepherd them into
the experience and enjoyment of Christ. I also met my wife during that training, and
she received the same thing! Together now, my wife and I serve young people on a college
campus. I feel my wife and I owe so much to Witness Lee and his ministry, which is
fully according to the apostles teaching. My aspiration is to live in the same way
that he livedwith one unique goal: the building up of the Body of Christ to consummate
the New Jerusalem (Ephesians 4:15-16; Revelation 21:2,9-11).
W.L.S.
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