– A Work of Faith –

What We Believe

As members of the church in Chicago, we, like the early New Testament believers, have a work of faith, a labor of love and an endurance of hope (1 Thes. 1:3).

Our work of faith is simply our holding to the common faith that was once delivered to the saints by the apostles (Jude 1:3; Titus 1:4. Along with all genuine Christians, our faith is based on the Bible, the book of books containing the complete and only divine revelation of God.

The Bible reveals to us the one unique God, who is eternally the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three are distinct, but not separate.

The focus of the Bible is on Christ, the complete God who became a perfect man. Christ was divinely conceived in a human virgin, and as a man, lived a genuine human life on the earth. He died an all-inclusive death on the cross for man’s redemption, and in three days rose from the grave victoriously. He ascended to the heavens, and as God and man He is now enthroned as the Lord of all in glory. Today this Christ is realized as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45), reaching us and giving us life. The Bible tells us that Christ will come again with God’s kingdom to reign over the earth in the next age and in eternity.

As far as man is concerned, the Bible tells us that “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:23). As sinners we are unable to fulfill God’s righteous requirements, and we are in need of God’s salvation. Through Christ’s death on the cross, these requirements have been fulfilled. God forgives, reconciles and accepts all those who believe into and receive Jesus Christ.

Believers are those who have received Christ and have been born of God. As children of God we enjoy the Spirit as grace in order to grow in the life and nature of God for our daily salvation and for His expression. In eternity, we will participate in a fuller enjoyment of God’s salvation by dwelling together with Him and His redeemed in the New Jerusalem.

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– A Labor of Love –

The Church Is Our Concern

Our work of faith is matched by our labor of love. The Bible tells us that Christ the Lord died not only for each of us individually (Gal. 2:20b), but also for the church corporately. Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her (Eph. 5:25).

The Body of Christ

Although we are thankful to have a pleasant place in which to meet, the church is not a physical building. The church that the Lord promised to build (Matt. 16:18) is Christ’s Body with many members (Eph. 1:22-23). It is made up of all the believers throughout the earth and throughout time. The church is a new man of the new creation, where the focus is on Christ who is all and in all (Col. 3:11), not on race, nationality, age, or other natural traits that tend to divide people.

Church Life in Oneness

We believe that the church is one both universally and locally, so we do not denominate ourselves. We have returned to the early practice of oneness in which believers met as one church in each city. This is why in Chicago we simply meet as the church, not as a particular kind of church based on some person or practice. We enjoy God’s blessing by dwelling together in oneness (Psalms 133).

God’s Family

The church is also God’s household, or family. Family life requires love and consideration. The Lord said that by loving His sheep we love Him (John 21:15-17).

All Are Serving Members

The Bible teaches us that since all those born of God are members of the Body of Christ, we can all serve as His priests (Rev. 1:6). Our service is both spiritual and practical. We can all pray, share the gospel, and minister life and encouragement to others, and we can all pick up some practical care or responsibility.

In the church there are boundless opportunities to participate and to serve in practical ways. We care for our children, lead the young people, serve in the church bookstore, and maintain the church property. We also stand with and care for one another as we pass through the many situations in human life. In these practical ways and in the church meetings, all the members can grow and function as living members of Christ’s Body.

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– An Endurance of Hope –

Our Meeting Life

Before the Lord departed the earth after His death and resurrection, He charged the disciples to come together for worship, remembrance, care, and fellowship. At His table, He simply said, “Do this until I come.”

In the book of Acts, which speaks of the beginning of the church life, we get a glimpse of the practice of the first believers. We are told that they continued steadfastly in the fellowship and teaching of the apostles, in breaking bread together, in prayer, and in eating together with simplicity and joyfulness of heart (Acts 2:42, Acts 2:46).

We also endeavor to follow this New Testament pattern. Each Lord’s day we worship the Lord and break bread together. We also have a time of ministry through fellowship in the teaching of the apostles.

Throughout the week there are many gatherings of the church in neighborhood small groups. There is prayer for the needs of the church, the world, and for families and individuals. Various age and language groups also come together for mutual encouragement through singing, Bible study, and fellowship. There are specific times of fellowship for young people, for those of college-age on the campuses, and for women and men.

The church life is a place where all the members can be attached, cared for, and serve purposefully in the Body of Christ. As we await the Lord’s return, we have the living hope of Christ within, and day by day we are continuing with endurance to practice the church life according to God’s heart’s desire. This is the wonderful church life – a work of faith, a labor of love, and an endurance of hope. If you are not currently enjoying the wonderful church life, don’t delay. Just jump in. “In the church of Jesus there is a place for you.”

Our Faith

Along with all genuine believers in Christ, we believe the following:

• The Bible is the complete divine revelation inspired word by word by God through the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21, 2 Tim. 3:16).
• God is uniquely one, yet triune — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit (1 Tim. 2:5, Matt. 28:19).
• The Son of God, even God Himself, was incarnated to be a man by the name of Jesus Christ (John 1:1, John 1:14).
• Christ died on the cross for our sins, shedding His blood for our redemption (1 Pet. 2:24, Eph. 1:7a).
• Christ resurrected from among the dead on the third day (1 Cor. 15:4).
• Christ ascended to the right hand of God to be Lord of all (Acts 1:9, Acts 2:33, Acts 2:36).
• Whenever any person repents to God and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, he is regenerated (born again) and becomes a living member of the one Body of Christ (Acts 20:21, John 3:3, Eph. 1:22-23, Rom. 12:5).
• Christ is coming again to receive His believers to Himself (1 Thes. 2:19).

Beliefs

Biblical Authority

The Bible is the complete divine revelation inspired word by word by God through the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21, 2 Tim. 3:16).

Triune God

God is uniquely one, yet triune — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit (1 Tim. 2:5, Matt. 28:19).

Person of Jesus

The Son of God, even God Himself, was incarnated to be a man by the name of Jesus Christ (John 1:1, John 1:14).

Our History

During the week of August 9, 1970, nine eighteen-foot rental vans were picked up from Hertz on Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, were loaded with furniture and personal belongings, and were driven to Chicago.

The Need for Migration

About one year earlier, during the fall of 1969, an International Conference was held in the Embassy Auditorium in Los Angeles at which time Witness Lee spoke of the need for the migration of brothers and sisters to certain major cities in the United States. One city that was mentioned was Chicago, Illinois.

After the conference, some who shared the same burden began to meet every Saturday evening to pray and fellowship concerning the matter of migration, particularly to Chicago.

During the spring of 1970 (March 22-27), Jim Reetzke and three other brothers went to Chicago to “spy out” the land. During their visit they considered the layout of the city, looking for a strategic place to settle with the whole city and nearby suburbs in view. Jim applied and interviewed for jobs in teaching or administration at Elmhurst College, Northeastern University, and the Hinsdale and Oak Park school districts. In June, a second visit by Jim to Oak Park secured him a job in District 97. As it turned out, he was the only one with a job among all those who migrated to Chicago in 1970.

Following the visit to Chicago, another International Conference was held on July 17, 1970, again at the Embassy Auditorium in Los Angeles. At this time Jim Reetzke was asked to share with everyone what the brothers experienced while in Chicago and what was their realization concerning a migration to that city. He shared about the rectangular layout of the city and how the different expressways are like arteries connecting the various parts of the city and, in turn, branching out to include the suburbs. The unanimous feeling was that surely the Lord needed a proper testimony in that city and that some would migrate there. After this meeting Witness Lee told Jim Reetzke, “You are a pioneer for a second time,” because Jim had been in Los Angeles during the pioneering days of the ’60s. (See the author’s history of the church in Los Angeles in Recollections with Thanksgiving: A Brief History of the Beginnings of the Lord’s Recovery in the United States.)

The Participants

All together, 20 families (Andersons, Bowens, Coles, Dongs, Higgins, Johnsens, Kangases, Karnes, Klopfensteins, Leagues, Littles, McGranahans, Moores, Ostings, Phinneys, Reetzkes, Scroggins, Ulickis, Wilbanks, Yoders) and four single people (Mike Broadie, Frank Clark, Ruth Johnson, Jerry Sanza) took part in the migration to Chicago for a total of 42 adults and 38 children. All of these had lived in Los Angeles for varying lengths of time, and all met at the meeting hall of the church in Los Angeles at 1101 S. Elden that was known as Elden Hall.

The Move

All of the rental vans had until August 20 to load up belongings, make the trip, find a place to live, and unload in Chicago. Vans were grouped with cars to make up a total of six caravans. Most drivers drove straight through with little stopping along the way. One van did not arrive until the 29^th of August. Everyone witnessed the Lord’s guiding and protective hand. One time, in particular, could have presented a serious problem. One Volkswagen bus broke down and got separated from its caravan. One of the vans went back 250 miles, attached the bus to the rear of the truck, and towed it the rest of the way to Chicago. One car had trouble after arriving, but this happened right by a Chevy garage. The last van to arrive (on the 29^th) had experienced trouble with one of the cars in its caravan before leaving Los Angeles. After the needed repairs had been made, the caravan started for Chicago.

Jim Reetzke arrived on the 12^th of August and began to look for places in which the families and singles could live. Three different rental agencies were contacted, but nothing opened up. Then by the weekend, when the families and single ones started to arrive, we saw the Lord’s providing hand at work.

The Lord’s Provision

Many stayed, initially, at the Leaning Tower Y.M.C.A. or with friends in the area. At the rear of the Y.M.C.A., the rental vans could be seen all in a row. The Y.M.C.A. was a new structure then, nine stories high. On the ninth floor was a large meeting area from where one could look out in different directions through eight sets of windows at the city of Chicago.

A View for Prayer

During the first morning when most were there, Isaiah 26:1-4 was pray-read. When the phrase, “Open ye the gates,” was read, everyone stood before each set of windows in turn and shouted this command in every direction toward the city, “Open the gates and let the righteous ones enter.” Our confidence was in the Lord.

Except for the two families (Littles and Ulickis) that lived in the Irving Park area, all of the other families and singles found apartments just south of the Kennedy Expressway and west of Cumberland. At that time, a large number of new apartment buildings had just been completed, and some were still under construction. Each apartment building was three stories high with six apartments ranging from one to three bedrooms. The owner allowed six of the families to move into one building even though it had not been fully completed. One of those was a family of eight and was allowed to put in an extra room in the basement in exchange for some custodial care.

Facing this apartment building was another with only one apartment of the six rented. This took care of five more families. This was surely the Lord’s way of providing for the needs. So many places that were considered would not take children or were not suitable for children. Others would only take one or two children at most. Some families had three, four, five, and even six children. The Lord softened the heart of the owner-builder, McNerney, and made him willing to accept these families. The basements were used to store the contents of some of the trucks that needed to be emptied so they could be turned in. These basements were quite large. Older apartment buildings nearby had only half the basement area. The same building owner, McNerney, was also helpful in the opening of bank accounts and was even willing to let his name be used for personal references. The Reetzkes (Jim Sr. and Jim Jr.) rented an apartment nearby and gave hospitality to one of the families, a family of four, until they were able to move into their own apartment. Doubling up was quite common until everyone found a place to stay. In one two-bedroom apartment, three families stayed together! Some stayed for a short time at the Y.M.C.A. in Niles. Little by little, most of the families found housing in the Irving Park area of the city.

Initially, none of the brothers except Jim Reetzke had a job, but gradually everyone was provided for.

Meeting Places

After the initial meeting place at the Leaning Tower Y.M.C.A. in Niles, homes of families we had come to know in the area were used. The first meeting of the church in Chicago was held on September 10, and the first Lord’s Table was on the Lord’s Day, the 13^th of September.

In October 1970, a storefront at 4516-18 W. Irving Park was rented and remodeled for use. Brother Witness Lee came in October for a conference with the church. He came again for a conference in 1971 from August 27 to September 6. This storefront was used for meetings until the city of Chicago said that the building could no longer be used for church meetings. Twice the church went before the zoning board, and twice a request for a variance was refused.

For the years 1972, 1973, and part of 1974, the church met alternately between the Portage Park American Legion Hall, the Irving Park Y.M.C.A., and the basement of St. John’s Episcopal Church.

In June 1974, a large three-story building that had been the Rogers Park Masonic Temple (1716 W. Lunt) was purchased by the church. Almost every window had been broken out, and much needed to be done before it could be used. This property was sold in the fall of 1979.

For the next two years the church met in the Arlington Heights school district.

Irving Park Road

From the winter of 1979 until the spring of 1983, the second floor of the Ace Hardware, 3933 W. Irving Park, was the meeting place of the church. A parking lot at 3921 W. Irving Park was the first piece of property the church purchased on Irving Park. It was purchased from Herschberg Ford in January 1981. The first meeting place on Irving Park (3915-19) to be purchased by the church was obtained in March 1981. It was last used as a machine shop and became a vacant and much-neglected building. After much renovation it was in use by the spring of 1983 as a meeting place of the entire church. Later it became a hall for the Chinese-speaking members.

A three-story building at 3913 W. Irving Park was the next to be purchased in July 1983. The second- and third-floor apartments were used for meetings of the Spanish speaking and the children. The Korean speaking met on the first floor.

In July 1984, the property at 3925-27 was purchased and became the main meeting hall.

Earlier in May 1980, the six-flat at 3929-31 W. Irving Park was purchased by some of the church members because of its closeness to where the church was meeting and because of the potential it offered. Later there was a transfer of title to the church. This is the present site of the bookstore operated by the church, Chicago Bibles and Books. The apartments provide housing accommodations for Christian workers.

The last piece of property on Irving Park purchased by the church was at 3911. This was in January 2000.

Demolition and construction for the present hall at 3925 W. Irving Park were begun in March 2002, and the building was completed for use by June 2003.

Moving On

In the years following the initial migration in 1970, some of the migrants who came at that time were burdened to move to other cities. Those cities included Detroit, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia. This also included the nearby cities of Hanover Park, Naperville, and Palatine.

—Jim Reetzke

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Testimonies

A Couple of Questions

Marty’s Testimony

Was I really a Christian?

Marty, are you really a Christian?” A friend of mine asked me this one evening in our dorm at Indiana University.

“What do you mean, ‘Am I a Christian?’ I believe in God; I go to church.”

“But do you have Jesus Christ living inside of you?” my friend asked.

This was the first time I had ever been asked such a question. I was from a Catholic background, and I thought that because God was everywhere, He was in everyone. Although a little offended by my friend’s question, I continued to listen anyway.

My friend opened his New Testament and showed me a verse in which the writer, John, told the believers that God had given them eternal life and that this life was in His Son, Jesus Christ. The next verse surprised me:

“He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life” (1 John 5:12).

According to this passage, some people did not have the Son of God and so did not have the life of God. This didn’t fit with my concept that God was in everyone from birth. Contrary to my former thinking, I began to realize that a Christian was a person born of God, having His life, one who had Christ living within. I saw that a real Christian was more than just a good person or one who fulfilled a religious duty by going to church.

Why did Jesus come?

I didn’t let my friend know, but his words and the Bible verses he quoted were starting to bother me. I began to consider whether I had Christ in me, or if I was a Christian in name only.

My friend went on to show me where Jesus said, “I am…the life” (John 14:6). He pointed out that Christ came that I might have this life—not just a good human life but eternal life, Christ Himself. He then showed me in the Bible that when Jesus came to this world, even His own people, the Jews, didn’t receive Him. But –

“As many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God…” (John 1:12).

Jesus at the door

It became clear to me that I was, like all men, born without the life of God. I began to understand that this life was in Christ, and that the purpose of His coming was to fill people with Himself. The question was, did I, or did I not have this life? According to John 1:12, Christ was available to all who would receive Him. The last verse my friend showed me was Revelation 3:20, where Jesus said,

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him…”

That night those words stirred in me to honestly consider Christ and His knocking. I left my friend, went to my room and prayed, “Lord, I don’t know if You’re in me or not. If You are, that’s good; if not, Lord, please come and live in me.”

This simple prayer did not bring any awe-inspiring feeling, but that night I had an inward assurance that Christ lived in me. I knew then that I was a real Christian, a child of God.

The writer John said that he wrote these things so that believers would know that they have eternal life. From that evening until today I have known that Christ lives in me. I know that I have eternal life, and I enjoy this life day by day.

Now allow me to turn the same questions that were asked of me to you: Are you really a Christian? Do you have Jesus Christ living in you?

—Marty

“Lord Jesus, thank You for coming to be my life. I open the door of my heart to receive You. Fill me with Yourself! Thank You, Lord Jesus.”
 

“Come into my heart, O Lord Jesus,
Now cleanse and illumine my soul;
Fill me with Your wonderful Spirit,
Come in and take full control.
Into my heart, into my heart,

Come into my heart, Lord Jesus;
Come in today, come in to stay,
Come into my heart Lord Jesus”

Annie’s Testimony

A Chosen One

Receiving Christ as My Savior

I was born in Taipei, Taiwan. One day when I was six years old, I was walking to school, taking a different route than I normally used. Along the way I noticed a lady who was passing out pamphlets. This lady was tall and blonde, totally not Chinese, so she really stood out to me. Most people were walking around her, because she was foreign. I was curious about what she was handing out, so I went and grabbed a pamphlet from her.

The pamphlet was a gospel tract. It said “If you don’t believe in God, you will perish, but if you believe in the Son of God, you will be saved from condemnation.” As a first grader, I didn’t understand a lot of the things that were mentioned in the pamphlet. The only thing that really touched me was “not perish.” I told my neighbor about the pamphlet, and he told me to “throw the pamphlet away.” He asked me “What are you going to do with this foreign god? Do you think you are going to be a Christian when the rest of your family are Buddhists?” So I threw the pamphlet away.

When I was ten years old, my family immigrated to the United States. A couple years after we moved, our new neighbors invited us over to their house for dinner. After dinner, they preached the gospel to my mother. They shared a gospel tract with her which said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved (Acts 16:31).” I was sitting alongside my mother and remembering that I had read something like this back in first grade.” After my neighbors finished reading the gospel tract, they asked my mother if she would like to believe in the Lord and be baptized. Although my mother said no, I replied, “I do!” My neighbors were shocked, not realizing that I was listening. But that didn’t stop them from baptizing me. We filled up their bathtub and I was baptized right then and there as a new believer. I was about twelve years old and I have been a Christian ever since.

The Lord Reaching My Family

When my family immigrated to the U.S. my parents were going through a divorce. This was hard on my sister. One of her classmates spoke the gospel in Chinese to her and she received the Lord immediately. This classmate was a neighbor to the family who invited us over for dinner previously where I received the Lord. After both my sister and I became Christians, we tried to share the gospel with my mom. After six months of persistent speaking, she also got saved.

After my parent’s divorce, my father moved away to another state. After a number of years, when I was in college, he came to look for me. He told me he had liver cancer and was told he had about six months to live. This caused me to pray for his salvation before the end of his life. Growing up, I realized that my father was always hard-headed. He would say, “I believe in myself, I do things my own way. Why do I need to rely on God – I’m not a weakling!” But at the end of his life, there was a turn in his heart,

The Lord’s Keeping

When someone asked me to share my testimony with the young people, I thought, “What Me? I have nothing to say!” But then the Lord touched me saying, “What do you mean? You were chosen specifically; you were chosen before the foundation of the world. I chose you, how can you say you have nothing to say?”

So as I considered what to share, I began to really appreciate the Lord’s keeping me all these years. When I was in high school we had to read the book, Pride and Prejudice. I thought the character Mr. Darcy was so romantic. He helped the Bennet family all because he loved Elizabeth. Then the Lord reminded me that He is more romantic than Mr. Darcy. The Lord Jesus loved us and came and died for us. He is the King and I am just this lowly country girl, yet He came to woo and win me for Himself. I am so thankful to the Lord for His great love, for His coming to save me, and for His keeping me all these years. Thank You Lord Jesus – I love You.

Barb’s Testimony

From Farm Girl to God’s Family

My Growing Years

I grew up on a 500-acre farm with my parents and four brothers.  At an early age, I enjoyed the heavens and the earth with its many living creatures. Farm life was a testimony to me of God’s power and wisdom. These experiences convinced me that God was real.

Although, I had no doubt of God’s existence and very much appreciated and enjoyed His creation, I did not personally know God.  As a family, we irregularly attended a Methodist congregation, but it was more of a social gathering rather than a spiritual guiding force. Our family was somewhat broken and among the seven of us there was quite a bit of fighting. Yet I sensed God’s stabilizing influence during these years through His creation, His Word and certain persons placed in my life.

At age 9, my brothers and I were taken to watch a gospel movie. Afterward, we were counseled and led to pray to receive the Lord Jesus. This event affected each of us in different ways.  My brother, Kirk (age 11), seemed to have the most earnest response. He began to go out into the fields to pray for our family, but generally, we were like lone lambs without a flock or shepherd.

At age 14, my father died in a tractor accident. He was only 46 years old. The next few years were a whirlwind of events. My three older brothers enlisted in the military during the Vietnam war, my mother remarried, we moved off the farm into the city, and I started my first year of high school in a new school, knowing only one person.

By age 19, I was a mess. I was disillusioned with the world. The good, religious world did not meet my need, so I gave it up. And the not-so-good world was trying to destroy me. Inwardly, I sensed that God had something special planned for me, but I was looking for it in all the wrong places.

A Turn Toward God

That summer before my sophomore year in college, I started hanging out with a motorcycle gang. I decided to join one of their outings at a nearby lake. As I rode behind the leader of the gang on his homemade 3-wheel motorcycle, the combined weight of our bodies proved to be too much for the cycle. One of the struts broke and we went flying through the air at 70 mph. My first impact was to my head and neck area in the opposing lane of traffic. I felt something break. When I finally landed face down in a ditch, the first thing I did was recite the few verses I knew in the Bible, Matt. 6:9-13: “Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.” Then I prayed that the man I was riding behind would be healthy. When I lifted my head to find him, my prayer was immediately answered as I saw him jump off the ground and run toward me. Miraculously, he had only received minor abrasions and I had only broken my collarbone, plus some abrasions.

A few weeks later, I was back in class at Indiana University. I was still in awe that I had been spared from death. I repeatedly asked God, “Why did You keep me alive? Why?” There was no reason that my friend and I should have survived this accident considering our speed, the oncoming traffic, our lack of protective clothing, etc. This realization caused me to have an abrupt turn toward God.

Meeting God’s Family

Soon my brother, Kirk, came to pay me a visit. I don’t remember much about his visit, except that he was shining and talking about Jesus. This motivated me to visit him a few months later and to meet with his Christian friends. At this gathering, we ate dinner and sang songs. I was magnetized by everyone’s expression of light and melted by their outflow of love. I wanted what they had. They told me that it was “the Lord Jesus” and all I had to do was call on Him.  That sounded too simple to me, but I did it. I called, “Oh Lord Jesus! Oh Lord Jesus! Oh Lord Jesus!” I felt like I had finally come home and I was at rest.

I went back to college, but I was NOT the same. I was never going to be the same. I had met God in a group of seemingly, ordinary people. They were normal people living and working on earth, but they expressed God. I had experienced the same God and now I was communing with Him. Over the next two months I would visit the church in Indianapolis every weekend. I gradually learned that I could enjoy the Lord Jesus everywhere, call on Him at any time, love Him by singing to Him, receive more of Him through praying and reading His Word and be filled to overflowing when I met with His family, the church.

Later at a large church gathering in Chicago, I listened to a small group of women pray and I realized that God was moving and carrying out His plan in people on earth. He was not building a physical building of bricks or even gathering a group of good, righteous people. What He was doing was filling people with His very life and nature, so that they would express and represent Him here on earth now and for eternity! What He was doing was so simple that anyone could receive it, but so extensively grand that only “Christ in us” could live and carry it out. The words in Galatians 2:20 became visibly real to me, “it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God…”

Never the Same

It is now over 43 years since my first encounter with Christ and His church. I am still NOT the same. The more I contact Him, the more He grows in me. I am enjoying meeting with other Christians who also are growing in Him. If we continue to allow Christ to grow in us and to be the Head of His Body, Ephesians 4:13-16 will become a reality on this earth. “Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man… we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together… causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.”

~Barbara Perino

What a Salvation Sweet!

My name is Ellen. I emigrated to the U.S. from mainland China to join my husband, Eric, and soon after, I was baptized in the church in Franklin, New Jersey.

Judicial Salvation

My salvation was simple. Even when I was in China, I believed that there was a super power in the universe. However, at that time I didn’t know it was God, and I didn’t know He had anything to do with me. Then, after I came to the U.S., someone preached the gospel to me, and I believed in God right away. Eric was surprised to see how quickly I accepted God, but he remained an unbeliever.

Judicial salvation was finished in a moment. But it took a long time for me to grow in life. Although I liked all the saints in the church in Franklin, I seldom went to the Lord’s Day meetings. I even stopped going to the meeting hall for three or four years. Occasionally, I would join the sisters’ meetings and Friday small group meetings, depending on my mood and situation that day. Because of the lack of a church life and the lack of the revelation of truth, my life changed very little. I got angry often, and felt tired and depressed. I think without all the support from the sisters, I would have wandered away completely.

Turning Point

But praise the Lord, He came to save sinners! The first turning point was not initiated by me, but by my older son, Steven. At that time, Steven was nine years old and my younger son James was around two, and I had just resumed going to the Friday night meetings with them. I didn’t notice when Steven began to enjoy the meetings, but he was the one who urged me to go to the meeting every Friday. Then one day, he declared, “Mom, I want to go to the church meeting on Lord’s Day!” That day, I told myself, “My son needs the Lord too. For his sake, I will go to the church meeting every Sunday!”

From that day on, all three of us regularly went to the Lord’s Day meetings. At the beginning, it was very hard. James was very young, and still needed a lot of attention and care. We were late to the meetings all the time. Sometimes, when we waved goodbye to Eric and went on our way to the meeting hall, I was thinking how wonderful it would be if God could save Eric. He could help me to take care of James and I would not feel so frustrated. Actually, he helped make breakfast almost every Lord’s Day morning in order for us to get in the car on time. However, these thoughts of God saving Eric drifted away quickly because I believed it was not possible for Eric to be saved. I didn’t have the burden to pray for him. Because my growth in life was so little, I didn’t live out Christ in front of my husband either.

Getting More Involved in the Church Life

Gradually, I participated more in the church life. I started to join some services, and I began to enjoy the church life and enjoy being with saints. However, there was one thing that was really bothering me: I felt that I was living a double life. I lived one life in the meetings with the saints. This life was happy, full of hope and energy, and full of a lot of laughter. The other life I was living was not that good. Most of the time I had to ask myself to tolerate what happened. But many times I couldn’t tolerate it and burst out. I was angry and depressed, and found myself quarrelling and crying. I wondered if believing in God had brought me all these bad feelings and made me suffer more; if so, why did I need to have faith in Him?

Morning Revival

This question was answered after I joined a network of some sisters having morning revival over the phone. Every morning a sister and I would read a revival portion of the Bible together. These sisters taught me how to pray-read, and they answered the questions I had. They asked me to pray for Eric since God’s salvation is based on families. Every day, I began to feel energized after that short time of prayer in the mornings. It seemed that I was being filled with something from God, something fresh and peaceful, but also powerful, so that I was not afraid of all those negative emotions. I knew that even if I could not overcome them sometimes, I had a Comforter who could support me. More importantly, I had a new realization about the church life. It doesn’t happen only in the meeting hall or at the meetings. I realized that my Christian life and church life should be mingled with my daily life. Whenever I pursue God with the saints, we are participating in the church life.

This understanding dramatically changed my life. First of all, it solved my problem of having a double life. I could not meet God only at the meeting hall or in the meetings. I had to touch Him every day. Day by day, with the help of all the sisters, I developed the habit of reading the messages in the Holy Word and Morning Revival books. I also prayed more often. Most amazingly, I was experiencing the life-giving Spirit working inside me. This work changed me and changed my attitude toward Eric’s salvation in an amazing way.

My Husband Eric

Eric is a loving husband and father; he is gentle, patient, and responsible. But at that time, he was an atheist, which was very typical for someone who comes from China, where religion and faith are regarded as absurd and unpopular. Moreover, he studied physics, which gave him a systematic view in which there is no God, because in physics everything has a cause and a destiny. According to this view, if God doesn’t have an origin and destiny, then God doesn’t exist.

In the first couple of years after my baptism, with such a little flow of the divine life inside of me and with limited revelation about the truth, convincing my husband to believe in the Lord was impossible. I avoided mentioning the Lord’s name in our family, and avoided praying in front of him. These pullbacks actually hid an embarrassing fact: As a Christian, my life just wasn’t any different from others, unless it was for the worse. I was ashamed to call on the Lord’s name because I felt that I didn’t deserve anything. As a result, whenever the saints asked me to pray for Eric, I had two thoughts. I thought it was impossible for him to be saved, and I felt my prayers would be useless because I was such a bad Christian and God wouldn’t listen to me.

Fortunately, I had two young companions. With the spiritual growth of my sons Steven and James, it gradually became easier for me to stay connected with the Lord. We started to pray before meals and to read the Bible together. Sometimes, we would talk about my husband’s salvation, but we didn’t take it seriously. Therefore, our prayers for him were on and off. Every time I saw the saints meeting together as whole families, I would pray that one day Eric could come to the church meetings with the three of us. When I was mad at him, I automatically stopped praying for him.

But several times, when I was really frustrated and felt there was no way to live out the Lord in front of him, I burst into tears for the Lord to give a way for Eric to believe. I wanted him to find out how wonderful our Lord is, how amazingly this life-giving Spirit can change his life, and how sweet it would be if we could both come into the kingdom of God. Then we could pursue together with the same purpose. Then, the world and death wouldn’t be able to separate us, and we would be together in eternity too.

The Role of Prayer

For this reason, I started to consistently pray for him. I realized that God has a way for everyone. My job is just to pray. The strength of my prayers would show God how seriously I wanted Him to save my husband. Therefore, Steven, James, and I prayed for my husband every night before dinner. Sisters prayed for him at sisters’ meetings, and other saints prayed for him in the Friday Bible studies. Sometimes I really had doubts about the usefulness of our prayers. Then I met an elder brother at our sisters’ meeting. After I told him Eric’s situation, he just said, “Don’t worry, he has been saved.” Although I didn’t argue with him, in my heart I told myself, “No way. How could he have gotten saved without me knowing it?” A couple of months later, this brother visited us again. This time he told me the same thing: “He has been saved!” This time, I didn’t murmur anything in my heart but just prayed for Eric and for me. I wished God would show him the way. I wished I could live out Christ more in front of him so he could see God through me. I didn’t know how and when God would work inside of him. I just prayed and prayed.

The Gospel Touched Eric

Eric had been working in Chicago for two years. Steven graduated from high school and was starting college in Chicago. Our family decided to relocate from New Jersey to Chicago. It was a hard decision. We had lived in Franklin for 16 years. We loved all the saints there, and consider them as our family. However, before we moved, I tried to avoid all the farewell love feasts held by the brothers and sisters. For 15 years, the brothers and sisters had been praying for Eric and for our family, but at the time of our move, he still wasn’t able to come into the kingdom of God. I felt that I was unable to face all the saints.

But praise the Lord, He has the way! Although I used many excuses not to attend the love feasts, I didn’t expect that Steven would accept an invitation from the brothers and sisters. I also didn’t expect that Eric would agree to attend the love feast, which was held three days before we left New Jersey. That night, the Lord touched Eric.

After we sang some hymns, a sister said: “See, you will leave us to go to Chicago. Maybe you will no longer be able to meet us for your rest of life, because the distance pulls us apart. You love your family very much, but you know that death will separate you from them, just like the distance will separate us. No one can escape death. But we do have a better place to go after our flesh decays. If you want to be with your family forever, you have to come into this kingdom.”

I knew that Eric had searched for God in the realm of science and knowledge, but he couldn’t find Him. Therefore, he didn’t believe in God. That night, God told him that nothing can conquer death, not even science and knowledge. Only God can. Only His divine and eternal life can. That night, God took Eric out of the system of science and knowledge, and put him into the realm of God’s love and life. God’s love and life are so strong and powerful that they can overcome the world and death.

Eric’s Questions and Salvation

The next day, he asked me a question: “If there is a next life, do you want me to be your husband again?” Although I thought he was joking with me, I still answered yes. Then he asked James almost the same question: “In your next life, do you want Daddy to be your Daddy again?” James answered yes too. Then on Saturday morning he told me he would like to be baptized. That night he was baptized into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It was so simple, yet complex. It was simple because God gave him only one touch and the work was done. It was complex because all of us waited 15 years for this moment.

My Joy

That Saturday night, many sisters cried with me. We cried with tears of joy. I was praising God not only for His sovereignty and His power, but also because He finally answered my prayers. He listened not just to my prayers, but also to the prayers from the saints in the church in Franklin and the church in Chicago. This fruit testifies to the glory of God and the glory of Body! Every time I think about what God has given to me, I will praise Him from the depths of my heart. He gave me a husband who I can love and trust. Now He gave me a new brother so that we can enjoy this wonderful new life with our family together and forever! What a grace and mercy! Praise the Lord for the great work He has done!

~Ellen

Maria’s Testimony

From Emptiness in Religion
To A New Life in the Body

Empty Wandering

For most of my childhood, I grew up in a Catholic household. My family and I would go to mass once in a while. I remember that I never felt content being there. It always felt as if there was something missing. Throughout the years, my family wandered, looking for somewhere to meet. We would go to various churches, but always felt an emptiness without any enjoyment. My friends and family were all Catholic, so I always thought that I’m supposed to be Catholic also.

A New Life with A New Purpose

When I was 13, I went to my cousin’s house for a sleepover. It was on a Friday evening and there was a home meeting – a gathering with some brothers and sisters in their home. My cousin and her mother asked if I wanted to participate and I said yes. After the home meeting, my cousin and her mother started to preach the gospel to me. It was then that I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior. After I received the Lord, I felt that I finally knew the purpose of my human life – to contain and express Christ. The following Lord’s Day, I went to the corporate Lord’s Table meeting for the first time. I met the saints there and had fellowship with them.

Life in the Body of Christ

I kept in contact with the saints and they encouraged me to attend the Summer School of Truth one summer. The Summer School of Truth is a two-week Christian camp for junior high and high school students. By going, I was able to know more about who Christ is and how to know Him as a person. I also learned about being baptized. After camp, I got baptized along with some other young people. I ended up attending the Summer School of Truth every year until the end of high school. I appreciated that I was able to be in the church life through my high school years. My locality started having young people’s meetings and I went frequently. Through those meetings, the Lord became real to me.

In my freshman year of college, I grew spiritually and physically. I was able to attend the weekly Bible studies on campus and I enjoyed beginning to partake of the Word as my food. In the church meetings I was able to get to know the saints in a new locality and began to know the Body and be built up with others. I’ve learned to be one with the saints. With the saints, I’ve established a family in the Lord.

~ Maria

Michelle’s Testimony

He Does All Things Well

A Church-kid of Church-kids

I grew up in the northern suburbs of Chicago as a church-kid born of church-kids. From a young age, I knew I had a godly heritage: all of my grandparents had touched the church life in their twenties, and two of them migrated from Hong Kong to the Philippines to serve full-time. I myself was a good, capable child who prayed before meals, read through the entire Recovery Version Bible in seventh grade, attended the video trainings, and excelled in verse memorization. At my first Summer School of Truth (SST), a two-week Christian summer camp for junior high and high school students, a brother shared the gospel and I saw for the first time that our salvation does not depend on ourselves. Though I was very good outwardly, I knew that some things in me were not. But praise the Lord, I realized that all I must do is confess my sins; He is faithful and righteous to forgive me of my sins and cleanse me from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). I prayed to receive the Lord that evening and was baptized when we returned from that SST.

Needing to Choose the Lord

I had many good patterns as I was growing up, including many older church kid cousins. However, I noticed that even some of the strongest ones drifted away when they went to college. It wasn’t until the summer of 2014, when I attended a weeklong Summer Training on Genesis, that I put words to what I had observed: we each need to choose the Lord for ourselves. Just as Lot was walking in the right way because he followed a godly man, eventually he had to choose for himself. Unlike Abraham, though, he made his choice apart from God and eventually ended up in Sodom. For us, without an active decision to choose the Lord, without a vision of what He is after, it is so easy for us to drift away. I realized that the fact that I was a church kid could not alone guarantee that I would continue to follow the Lord for the rest of my life.

The Lord’s Best Arrangement for Me

My most memorable exchanges with the Lord occurred when I was considering where to attend college. During my last SST, the speaking brother asked, “What kind of Christ are we seeking? Do we seek a family Christ? A social Christ? An activity Christ?” In my mind, I thought the best place I could go for college was the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), which had a well-established Christians on Campus club, a strong student core, a full-time serving team and families burdened for the campus, and many students who actively pursued the Lord together throughout the week. However, the Lord showed me that in my considering an “ideal college church life,” I wasn’t fully seeking just Christ Himself; what I wanted for my church life was not necessarily what the Lord wanted for my church life. At the time, I also knew that a much smaller campus, the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), had a need for students. The core students were all leaving that coming year, and all but one of the remaining students were brand new. I was strongly opposed to attending UIC because, even academically, it was everything that UIUC was not.

I applied to UIC anyway as a backup school, but I was so set on attending UIUC. I asked the Lord to cause me to choose His perfect will, even though I myself was still not willing. I felt that the Lord wanted me to go to UIC, but I also still wanted my choice, and the Lord kept bothering me about it. Some days I prayed that He would make me open to His choosing, but most days I would just fight. Eventually, I made a deal with the Lord and said, “Lord, if this is really Your perfect will, then how about the UIC GPPA Medicine program? If I get in, then I will say amen and go to UIC. I can even potentially get two gap years to go to the FTTA, no problem. BUT if I don’t get into this program then I’m going to my first choice without any hesitation.” I figured there was absolutely no way I would get in, but the Lord always has the final word. When I was accepted into the GPPA Medicine program, I could only say, “Amen, Lord, You win.”

Through my college years, my attitude toward UIC did not improve: the school was far from prestigious, the registrar lost my transcripts four times, the campus facilities were not attractive, the city seemed to smell funny, and I had few friends because everyone was a commuter. My freshman year living situation was horrific and I spent that entire school year asking the Lord why He made my situation so hard when He was the one who had put me there in the first place. Despite my frustration, as I opened up to the Lord, He found a way to supply me with His all-sufficient grace and all-fitting life. Eventually, my situation turned and I had the opportunity to live by the meeting hall for the last month of that year because my suitemates had gotten all of us kicked out of the apartment. That summer, I continued to stay at the hall for the Chicago 2014 Christians on Campus internship.

Looking back, I can see that the Lord really supplied me with everything I needed in my college years and more. I opened my situations to Him and I ended up with decent professors, a flexible research assistantship, an apartment near many saints, and very good grades. Even though it was painful to sacrifice my carefully cultivated pride on several occasions in order to choose the Lord, I saw that He can only work with as much of our heart as we give Him. When we seek first His kingdom and His heart’s desire, He is faithful to add to us what we need because He knows what we need (Matt. 6:8, 32-33), and this is not always the same as what we think we need.

Consecrating to Him

I began to learn that what is sufficient for our situation is nothing less than His superabundant grace. In this way, He has also provided a clear way for me to attend the Full-Time Training in Anaheim (FTTA) – a full two years of Bible school. I am so thankful that He has placed me where I am, and I now see that His placing me at UIC was the very best arrangement there could have been.

My parents never pushed me to attend the full-time training. I started considering it during the SST before my junior year of high school, when we covered the topic the Church. I really enjoyed seeing that our individual salvation is for the church as His corporate expression. For this, God needs His people to grow to maturity and be perfected for the building up of His Body (Eph. 4:13-14). It was encouraging to see many of my SST serving ones pay the price and choose this way. In this past National College Training, I enjoyed seeing that God needs absolute and consecrated ones who would be one with Him and who would overcome today’s dark and degraded situation to turn this age and bring the Lord back. This really solidified my decision to give my next two years to the Lord to attend the FTTA.

~Michelle

Jeff’s Testimony

Coming Forward Since Age Six

My Christian Heritage

In the 1600s, some English families migrated to New Jersey, including a group of Watsons. My cousin has done a tracing of my family tree. My great-great-grandfather was a Watson. My grandmother was a Watson. In the 1600s, there was a Baptist minister in southern New Jersey and his last name was Watson. Are you a Christian because your parents are Christians? I come from a long line of Christian families who believed in the Lord. Praise the Lord!

Raised in a Christian Home

My mother’s name is Mary. She is 94 now. She was raised as a Baptist and was born again. She heard the gospel and got saved, but she was what you would call a “quiet” Baptist. She wasn’t very active. If she was, she wouldn’t have married my father because, at that time, he was not saved.

My father and mother went to the same high school and knew each other very well. My father was religious but he was not a born again Christian. When WWII came, he joined the Marine Corps. He worried about being killed in the war while still an unbeliever who did not know the Lord. Praise the Lord that he came safely back home. It was then that my mother took him to the Baptist church. On the first week that they went to the Baptist church, a minister said, “If you would like to receive the Lord as your personal Savior, come forward after the service.” And my father went forward and got saved. He got saved because of my mother.

This was all before I was born. My siblings and I were raised in a strong Christian family. My father liked to share the gospel and was very evangelical. When I was a kid, we went to Sunday school in the morning and then we would have church service. Then we came back in the evening at 6:15 for “training union.” This was like an overcomers meeting. In the morning church service, there might have been 200 people. In the evening service, there were maybe 80 people. At the “training union” at 6:15, there would only have been 25-30 people. From when I was six years old till I was thirteen, this was my Sunday.

Saved at Six Years of Age

I grew up sitting in the pews of the Baptist church. I heard the gospel many times. The gospel that the Baptist church preaches is a gospel that we would agree with. You don’t want to die and go to hell. You want to go to heaven. This is the gospel that I heard when I was a child. Many times I heard, “If you died tonight, are you sure you would go to heaven?” To be born again means that you are saved. To be saved means that you are born again. What’s another phrase that people say other than saved or born again? Have you received the Lord? Have you received Christ as your personal Savior? There are many phrases, but they all basically mean, have you received the Lord into you and is He one with you in your spirit?

The funny thing is, as I was growing up, I didn’t know anything about my spirit. I knew that song that we sing in children’s meetings: “Into my heart, into my heart, come into my heart, Lord Jesus.” We only knew about the heart. I never knew I had a human spirit until I came into the church life. I knew the word “spirit” was in the Bible. But “spirit” was mainly something we had in pep rallies in high school. I didn’t think of anything about the human spirit.

I knew about the Holy Spirit but I didn’t know the human spirit. When I was six years old, I heard the gospel from a man named Pastor Gordon Cook, a dear brother who loved the Lord. He gave a message and, for some reason, I heard it. I wasn’t goofing off that week. I listened to him. He said, “If you would like to receive the Lord, come forward.” So when they stood up to sing the final hymn, I went up. I stepped out of the pew and went forward. My father thought I was going to the bathroom. They didn’t expect a six-year-old boy to come forward. I went forward and prayed with that man to receive the Lord. I do believe that was the day I got saved. Praise the Lord.

Then I went to some classes for about six times. Before they would baptize those of us who went to the classes, they wanted to make sure that we were true believers. They interrogated us and shared the Bible with us. Then I got baptized. The baptismal pool was elevated up by where the preacher preached. They put me in there and asked me questions. “Have you prayed to receive Christ as your Savior?” “Yes, I have.” “Do you confess Him as your Lord and Savior?” “Yes, I do.” “Then we baptize you into the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” And they put me under the water. Praise the Lord! So I was baptized at six. They interrogated me a lot to make sure that I wasn’t goofing off. But I was saved and I knew I was saved.

Praise the Lord for the Lord’s mercy. My wife testifies that she got saved at four years of age. Her grandmother led her to the Lord. You can get saved at any age. The Lord will come into you if you pray, “Lord, come into me.” Do you think the Lord will say, “Kid, get away from Me, you are too young.”? Even the disciples, when the little children came to Jesus, they said, “Get this kid out of here.” But the Lord said, “Don’t do that, let the little children come to Me.” Little children can be saved, and I was saved at six years of age.

Pursuing with Companions as a Young Person

From the time I was six until I was thirteen, we went to this Baptist church where my mother was raised. It was six miles away from our home in another town called Penns Grove. Then something very dramatic happened. There was a misunderstanding, a disagreement between my father and the pastor. Our family then left and started meeting at a meeting place called “Park Bible Baptist Church,” which was only six blocks away from our house, in Pennsville.

At this church, my life changed. 16-20 other kids whom I knew from my high school, Pennsville High School, also went to this church. Every Saturday night, they had a young people’s meeting and I started going. I was the center in our high school football team, and the quarterback was John Flickinger. He was one of my best friends. I never knew he was a Christian. I knew that he was a nice guy and that he didn’t cuss, swear, or talk dirty. But I didn’t know that he was a Christian. It was a dramatic change in my life. I started having Christian friends in school. Every Saturday night, we met together. Every Sunday morning, we were all there. This made me very excited to be a Christian. Praise the Lord!

Encouraged by an Older Lady Who Loved the Lord

I also need to share about another person in the Penns Grove church. This older lady named Mrs. Willets who went to the same church. She came from England after WWII. She was a dynamic Christian. She couldn’t hear very well, so she would sit in the second row. My parents would ask me to sit with Mrs. Willets to help her find the hymns. So I did. She would always give me this English toffee candy. She influenced my life because she was very much in love with the Lord. She would preach the gospel wherever she went. That is Mrs. Willets, and she greatly influenced my life.

Receiving the Assurance of Salvation at Age Fourteen

What kind of gospel did I hear when I was a kid? I heard the gospel that said your sins could be forgiven. Isn’t that a good deal? Who doesn’t want their sins forgiven? I couldn’t believe that anyone could refuse that deal. The Lord died for you, you pray to receive Him, you get your sins forgiven, they get washed away, you get a new life, and when you die, you go to heaven. Such a good deal! Praise the Lord! It is not the high gospel but it is true that you get your sins forgiven. Your life is secure in the Lord. This was the gospel I heard all the time.

But then when I was fourteen, an evangelist came to the church and said, “If you would like to receive the Lord tonight and confess your sins, confess Jesus as Lord, invite Him into your life, and give your life to Christ…” And he continued to rattle off these things that you needed to do. I thought, “I did number one, but I didn’t do two, or three. Oh my goodness, I didn’t pray the right prayer. Maybe I am not saved!” I got troubled by his speaking. He made me think that maybe I wasn’t saved. So I went home and talked with my dad. I was fourteen and I thought I prayed the wrong prayer. Now can you imagine praying the wrong prayer? Do you think God would say, “Wait a minute, let me hear your prayer. Did you pray this? You didn’t pray that. Sorry, you’re lost. When you die, you are going to hell.” But at that time, I thought I prayed the wrong prayer. So I remember praying, “Lord, just for the record, I need to pray again.” And I prayed everything that the evangelist said to pray. When I was praying, this was the first time I sensed the Lord’s presence. I sensed the Lord saying, “You don’t need to do this, but it is okay.”

So I would say to you that if you ever doubt if you were saved or not, just go pray to the Lord. The Lord is not going to say, “You prayed that prayer last year, I don’t want to hear it again.” Do you think the Lord would say that? I’ve told some junior high students before, if a child came to his mother and said, “Are you really my mother?” Do you think the mother would slap him? What mother would do that? If you are not sure that you are saved, if you are not sure that you are born again, just pray to the Lord and say, “Lord, I open to you and I receive you again.” The Lord doesn’t care if you keep praying like this, until you have the full assurance. This is one thing that my parents and the Baptist church gave me – the assurance of my salvation.

Sharing the Gospel with Others

At Pennsville High School, I was on the football team. My brother was a football and basketball player. My other brother was the school district jockey at the school dances. So my family was known and I knew all the kids at the school. During my junior year, I ran for Student Council President and won. In my senior year, I was the Student Council President. You would think that this would be a good time to preach the gospel. Did I preach the gospel? I could only remember sharing the gospel twice. One of them was with a guy named Kevin Foley. Many years later, just about eight years ago, he got saved. When they were baptizing him at the Pennsville church, he stood there and said, “The first time I ever heard the gospel was from Jeff Fearn.” I couldn’t believe it. He remembered that I shared the gospel with him. The other guy was named Bill Plasket.

I could only remember sharing the gospel these two times. Don’t think that I was some burning evangelist. I was pretty timid, pretty shy. Even though I knew everybody and everybody knew me, and by the Lord’s mercy I had a good testimony, I didn’t preach the gospel. I wish I had because I think a lot of people would have listened.

In the summer between my freshman and sophomore years, I joined an organization called Child Evangelism. We would have Bible studies in the backyard of our neighbors, and we would invite neighborhood kids to come and sing songs. We would share the gospel with these little children through the songs and a number of them got saved. Praise the Lord!

Drawing Near to God

My senior year in high school came and it was time to graduate. We were supposed to put in our yearbook what our future plans were. I said that I was going to be a minister or a missionary. When I signed people’s yearbooks, I put in there James 4:8a “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” That was my life’s verse. I don’t know why but I liked that verse. If you try to get closer to God, He will try to get closer to you. That’s what it meant to me.

To be a missionary or a minister you have to get trained. I wanted to preach the gospel. My parents used to have missionaries come to the house and stay with us. We had a little box by our dinner table. It had a card for every missionary that was in the Baptist organization. Before we ate dinner, we took turns praying. My parents would draw a card from the box, give it to the person whose turn it was to pray, and that person would pray for who was on the card. We were praying for missionaries all the time. My family was gospel-oriented, missionary-centered. So I picked it up and I wanted to see people get saved. I didn’t want math or science. I wanted the Bible and I thought the way to get the Bible is to go to Bible school. So on my eighteenth birthday, I got on a flight to go to Chicago, to attend the Moody Bible Institute, to learn the Bible.

Knowing the Bible

I would like to tell you right now that if you are reading the Bible and you are studying some of the footnotes, you can learn as much of the Bible in about a year and a half as I learned in the Moody Bible Institute in three. Everybody thinks that if you go to Bible school, you will become a Bible genius. The way to know the Bible is to read the Bible, read the footnotes, read the lifestudies, and come to all the meetings, listen and open up to the Lord. Praise the Lord! The church life should be an environment where everybody can know the Bible. I appreciate that about the church.

In one of the first meetings I attended, they had about four brothers share about the disciples eating corn in the field, and the Pharisees telling them that they were not supposed to do that on the Sabbath day. These four brothers did a little skit. One of these brothers was named Chuck Catone. He was not a polished person. He had a hard childhood and was socially different. This brother shared the word that morning and I was amazed. He was quoting verses and references. I thought that this brother had probably been in the church life since day one, since they migrated from Los Angeles. But I found out that he had only been there three months before I came. This impressed me very much about the church life.

Every member should know the Bible. That is why we try to get the young people to read the Bible at an early age. Do you know that you can meet some Christians who have been Christians thirty or forty years, and when you ask them to find a book in the New Testament, they couldn’t? Every member in the church should be fully versed and know the word of God. This is a strength I love about the church life. We don’t have a class of people who know the Bible. Now it will turn out that some people know the Bible more than others because they have a desire. But that is the whole idea of sowing the word – everyone should get the word in them.

Seeing the Church Life

So I got saved at six, confirmed my salvation at fourteen, and at eighteen I came to Chicago. Three years later, I met the church life. The topic during my first meeting in the church life was on the blind man. In that meeting, it felt like all the light bulbs were on extra bright. After the meeting I stood up and said, “Once I was blind, but now I see.” I saw the church life and it changed my life. Praise the Lord for Christ and the church. Praise the Lord for full salvation. Don’t despise the fact that you are a Christian because your parents are Christians. One time my son told me, “The only reason I am a Christian is because you made me to be one.” I said, “Wonderful, aren’t you so glad I did that?” I wish I could make everybody a Christian.

(Originally shared with a group of young people.)

The Missing Puzzle Pieces

My life felt like a puzzle with “a missing piece.” I needed to find out what was missing. First, I thought that being married would bring me happiness – “the missing piece!” Soon I learned that marriage was not an easy road to happiness, even when there is love. Well then, I thought that motherhood would be “the missing piece.” I was looking forward to being a mother. I consider my children as gifts from heaven. But within me, I felt that still there was “something missing.” I even asked my coworkers, “Isn’t there something we need to do to be truly happy?” They all said, “Forget it, Norma. You’re doing fine. That’s all there is to life!” I resigned myself to an unfulfilled life. I appreciated that God had provided me with a good husband and two children.

Finding the First Missing Piece ~ Jesus Christ

Eventually, we needed to consider which school to place our son in for kindergarten. My husband decided that a Christian school would provide a superior education. That was a turning point for us. The Lord Jesus used our five-year old son to bring His Word to me. At that time we didn’t have a Bible in our home. My son would tug at me and say, “Mommy, listen to this! Genesis 1:1, ‘God created the heavens and the earth.’” And I listened. He would say, “Mommy, listen to this! John 3:16, ‘God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes in Him would NOT perish, but would have eternal life.’” Every week he would come home with a Bible verse and would say, “Mommy, listen to this.” As I listened, I began to believe! Throughout the day I would ask him to repeat his verse to me. God’s Word was awakening something in me.

Previously, though I hadn’t realized it, I was unable to concentrate on people’s conversations. Gradually, I became more focused. The Lord Jesus brought clarity, light, truth, and genuine love into my heart. I praised the Lord that He was delivering me out of myself into Himself. He brought Himself into me as “the missing piece!”

Finding the Second Missing Piece ~ the Church. 

Nine years later, our family moved to Chicago. This was another turning point. We bought a home near the Irving Park area, then we searched for a church. I was taking my family from church to church, but none felt like home. Something was “missing” in those churches. I saw the Chicago Bibles and Books bookstore and I walked in to see if anyone could recommend a church nearby. A Christian sister working there said that believers met right next door and that I was welcome to come on the following Lord’s Day. I said, “But there is no steeple, no cross, no name!” She reassured me that it was a genuine church gathering, so I went and I received the greatest joy of my life! Everyone was calling, “Oh Lord Jesus!” Everyone was praising the Lord, not once or twice, but during the entire time. A Korean-speaking sister recognized that I was new and invited me to sit with her. Together we stood up in groups of 2s and 3s to declare stanzas from the hymns that everyone was singing. It was so enjoyable!

The Puzzle is Finished!

Now I was part of a new and wonderful experience. In the church I learned that within me I had a human spirit, where God lives since the day I had received Him. Proverbs 20:27 declares, “The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah…” I also learned that the genuine church life is just true believers living in their spirit. Living in the spirit, I discovered, is not about church attendance on Sundays. Living in the spirit is a life of cherishing and calling. I began to cherish the Word, the believers, and the ministry. And as I enjoyed calling, “Oh Lord Jesus, I love You!”, I became aware that I was ONE with the Lord! As 1 Corinthians 6:17 says, “He who is joined to the Lord is ONE spirit.”

I am no longer searching for the “missing piece.” By contacting my human spirit the puzzle is no longer a puzzle to me. I now know that we all are made to contain God and to enjoy Him together in our spirit. I am no longer wondering if I have the Holy Spirit or not. Second Corinthians 4:7 says, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.” Amen! If you’re wondering about your “missing puzzle pieces,” please contact us at www.thechurchinchicago.org. “For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endures to all generations.” (Psalm 100:5) Isn’t it wonderful that even a child can bring us the Gospel?

I want to put down on paper how I received my salvation. I grew up in a Mormon family and was very active in the Mormon Church. I attended every Sunday service and received the Aaronic priesthood and then the Melchizedek priesthood. I was a typical Mormon, and when I was old enough I went and served a two-year mission in Chile, South America. Outwardly I looked, talked and acted like a Mormon, but deep inside I always felt that there was something lacking in the Mormon Church. I was taught that the Mormon Church was the only true church of God, so why did I have this feeling? But before I finish my story, I would like to explain the Mormon perspective on a few subjects.

First, let’s look at the Bible. Mormons believe in the Bible “as long as it is translated correctly.” They check out the accuracy of the Bible by comparing it with the Book of Mormon: if the Book of Mormon does not agree with a particular Bible verse, then that Bible verse was translated incorrectly and can be disregarded. I too felt that this was the best method for checking out the truthfulness of the Bible, but is this really the right way? Do you really think God would waste His time over thousands of years having prophets and patriarchs write down everything that was God inspired just to let man change the translation later, and confuse all of mankind? Even if there were some copying errors, I know without a doubt that what is written in the Bible is correct. Archeologists have looked at the Dead Sea Scrolls and many other documents and compared them with the original writings, with the result that the Bible text is verified. How then can the Mormon Church say that the Bible was translated incorrectly if we now have documents or scrolls to tell us it is correct? So, I would now have to ask, wouldn’t it be better to compare the Book of Mormon with Bible verses and if the Book of Mormon doesn’t agree with what is written in the Bible, shouldn’t we disregard the Book of Mormon and not the Bible?

Second, I will look at the Trinity. The Mormons do not believe in the Trinity. They believe that God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are all separate beings, and not one. I will try to clarify this matter a little better. The true Trinity is God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit — all one, yet distinct too. No one can explain how this is, but with prayer I know you can find out that this is true. There is no problem seeing that the three in the Godhead are all distinct. We can see this at Jesus’ baptism. Jesus was in the water with John the Baptist; God was talking from a cloud above; and the Spirit came down on Jesus like a dove. Here we see the three distinctions in the Godhead and all Mormons are taught about this to back that up, but I want to show you what everyone else can see. How are they all the same? Let me start with the verse in John 1:1 which says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Here we see that the Word was God Himself. I think that all can agree that is what that verse says. Now let’s look at John 1:14 which says “And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only Begotten of the Father), full of grace and reality.” Here we can see that the Word became flesh and lived among us as the only begotten Son of the Father. I would have to say that this is pretty clear, showing us that God became flesh and lived among us as Jesus His Son. So, you can see that God and Jesus are one. Now let’s go on to another verse. 1 Corinthians 15:45 says, “And so it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living soul’; the last Adam was made a quickening Spirit.” The word quickening refers to the lively Spirit or living Spirit. In the Recovery Version Bible it translates as the life-giving Spirit. It all means the same thing; it is talking about the Spirit that is alive. So, you can see the first Adam is the Adam from the Garden of Eden, and the last Adam is Jesus who became the quickening Spirit or the Holy Spirit Himself. This shows us that Jesus became the Spirit, and we already know that God is Jesus. So, God is also the Spirit. All three are one. Also, John 4:24 says that God is a Spirit or the Spirit. I know that this is hard to see, but if you would just read and pray about these verses, I feel that you can come to see the trinity as it really is.

Third, I will look at the organization of the Mormon Church. The Mormon Church has one prophet and twelve apostles who are supposed to lead and guide the church. The prophet talks directly with God and the apostles spread His message throughout the earth. They get this organization from the time when Jesus Christ was here on the earth. Jesus called twelve apostles to be with Him, hence, you have one prophet and twelve apostles. I have a problem with this type of organization. After Jesus died and was living at the right hand of God there were only eleven apostles left, because Judas killed himself, so lots were drawn to replace Judas. Matthias became the twelfth apostle (but there was still no prophet as their head). Then you might say that there should be twelve apostles leading the church, but the Bible also includes Barnabas and Paul as apostles. Act 14:14 says, “But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard this, they tore their garments ….” So, should there then be fourteen apostles leading the church? I tell you, “No!” The number was never an issue. If it were, as the apostles died wouldn’t God have appointed more apostles to take their places? No, if you read Ephesians 4:11 it says, “And He Himself gave some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers.” Here we can read the word some in front of every class of people. It does not say, “One prophet and twelve apostles and so many evangelists and so many pastors and so many teachers.” No, there is never a number because God chooses how many He wants for His church. Maybe He wants three prophets and one hundred apostles; I don’t know, but I do know He will have what He wants for the building up of His church, and man should never feel that he knows what is needed better that God Himself.

I feel you should also know about the Adam/God theory. Brigham Young, when he was a prophet, wrote that Adam from the Garden of Eden was really God. For a man who claimed he talked directly with God to make such a statement makes us question the validity of his talking with God. How could a prophet (as he claimed to be) even utter these words? If you do not believe me there is a document telling about this in the archives in Salt Lake City. You can read it there.

Finally, I will write about the topic of salvation. Who can be saved? How do you receive salvation? When I went to Chile to serve my mission I believed that the only way anyone could receive salvation was through the Mormon Church. One would have to be baptized by someone having the Melchizedek priesthood and then someone with that same priesthood would lay his hands on that person’s head and give him or her the Holy Spirit. Mormons believe that they are the only people on the face of the earth that can have the Holy Spirit living in them all the time. Others could touch the Spirit, but it would leave them without a proper baptism and the laying on of the hands. This exact issue became a problem with me while I was in Chile. I would go to a house and knock on the door and talk with believers in Jesus Christ and be amazed at how they were full of the Spirit. I have to confess that at first I felt that it was only because we (the missionaries) were there and the spiritual life came from us, but later I found that not to be true. I only found a couple of people who fitted that description in Chile, so it was easy to shrug off any further thinking about it. When I got home though, I ran into a Christian girl who loved the Lord Jesus and we began to talk. I knew that she had the Spirit living in her, and it wasn’t because of me. Then when I met her whole family, I found that her whole family was the same as she. They all had the Holy Spirit living in them and this same Spirit would flow out of them to others when you met them. She asked me if I had called on the name of the Lord. I didn’t know what she meant at the time, but later I did understand. Acts 2:21 says, “And it shall come to pass, that whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” This means that whoever (anyone) who calls on the Lord will be saved. I didn’t read that only the Mormons will be saved, or only the Jews or the Baptists. No, this honor is for everyone and anyone who calls on the name of the Lord. What an amazing thought that God wants all people to be saved.

It is so easy and not complicated at all. I called on His name and at first I didn’t feel anything, but as I kept on calling on His name and believed that Christ died for all of my sins, I became free from the old natural man (the one without Christ in it). I was full of life that was so fresh to me. I was filled with the Spirit and I knew that Christ would never leave me and would always be there for me. My life has changed, and I now know I’m saved and no one can ever take that away from me. I would encourage whoever is reading this to try calling on the name of the Lord. There are many ways to call on His name. You can say, “Lord Jesus,” or “Oh Lord Jesus,” or “Jesus Christ My Savior and King,” just to give three examples. Once you call on the Lord, just keep on calling and believing in Christ’s resurrection. Salvation by calling on the Lord’s name is confirmed by Romans 10:9 which says, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Ask Him to live in you. I promise you will never regret trying this. You will be saved, and your life will change. Don’t worry though, Christ will be with you and He will protect and help you with this new life.

I pray that you will read and pray about these words and that you find the Lord as I have. May the Lord Jesus save you.

From a saved lover of Christ ~ Shawn

Jia’s Testimony

How the Lord Found Me

Before I believed in Jesus, I followed Buddhist teachings. I grasped the core ideas quickly, and at first, those practices helped ease some of my anxieties. But as I went deeper, questions began to surface—questions I couldn’t ignore.

One that stayed with me was about the six paths of reincarnation (Samsara). I began to wonder: what exactly determines which path a person is assigned to? How were different variables being weighed against one another? Who manages all those? Obviously, there was no answer, but while I was left wondering, life took a sharp turn and led me to a different country. In this different country, I faced different challenges and fears—and suddenly, the Buddhism practices didn’t help me anymore, causing me to start searching again.

 A Governing Thought

One thing I always held onto was this: if there really was a God above all things, including what our five senses could detect in this physical realm, then He should not be close-minded or afraid of questions, especially the well-thought ones; He must be willing to answer questions and be reasonable about it. That was the criteria I used to know if Someone qualifies to be God.

 God’s Pursuing Me

Then something unexpected happened: everywhere I turned, someone was preaching the gospel to me. It felt like the Lord was arranging these encounters, no matter how much I tried to walk away.

Eventually, I prayed—even though I wouldn’t have called myself a Christian yet—“Lord, bring me to the center of Your way.” Soon after, I found myself at a home meeting with believers from the local church. When I asked to be baptized, while all the official churches had told me it was not their scheduled time for baptizing, the believers in the local church didn’t hesitate—they showed me a verse that said, “Look, here is water… why wait?” and baptized me right away in a bathtub! It wasn’t fancy, but it was real. I was so happy afterwards, because after all those years of searching and wandering, I knew I had finally found Him—and I had entered into His camp.

After that, I did some “church hopping and shopping.” Despite the fancy lights, sound effects, and fun activities at other places, my hunger to know more of God was never satisfied. But the first time I went to the Lord’s table in a local church I was truly fed! I couldn’t stop going there after that—and I’ve been feasting every time since. On top of that, I always sensed a strong light there—something so real and attractive. I simply couldn’t turn away.

A Prayer for Growth

Since then, the Lord has been faithful. I remember one of my first prayers: “Lord, help me grow fast—no matter the cost.” I told Him He had my permission, even if I might resist later. He took that seriously and has been faithful to it.

His Love Remains

Today I can say—He knew my name before I even knew His. He never let me go, no matter how much I mocked Him. He found me, He gained me, and He’s still growing in me. I love Him, and I know now: He loved me first.

This is not just my story, it’s my memorial to His faithfulness. If you’re seeking, doubting, or even mocking Him—He’s not far away. He’s waiting. And the river is still flowing.

~ Jia