living sacrifice

Jiang Zhixing's mother told me that their house was not clean. Once when she was alone at home, she suddenly felt that she had bumped into someone, but there was no one around her.She said that sometimes she saw many figures on the curtains at home.

When she told these things, I got goosebumps.

After hearing this, Sister Zhao discussed with Qian Junru and said to Jiang Zhixing's mother, "When will there be someone in your house? We will go to your house to pray for your cleansing. Brothers and sisters, if you have time, you can also go with us."

I actually wanted to go too, but I had to work that day.

Jiang Zhixing's mother was very grateful. Her face was already sad, and it became even more sad when she cried.

I asked Sister Zhao: "Jiang Zhixing's family used to worship Buddha, will it affect your prayers?"

"Does her family worship Buddha? No wonder..." Sister Zhao had a meaningful expression on her face.

There are so many stories to tell when it comes to Christianity and other religions.

My grandfather told me when I was a child that other religions worship false gods. He said they worshiped like mud and wood, unable to move or speak.

Therefore, under his influence, I never paid much attention to things like Buddha statues since I was a child.It's true that no one has ever told my fortune.The master my dad used to worship was a qigong practitioner, but was invited away by the Americans. It is said that he is quite powerful.He did the right calculations for my family, but he didn't do it for me. My dad wouldn't let me, and I wasn't interested either.Including the constellations I played with when I was a child, I actually knew in my heart that they were fake.I have never been afraid of anything since I was a child, and I don't believe in gods or ghosts.

Grandpa never went to those temples, Taoist temples and other places before, we all know this.But it happened that his wife's family worshiped Buddha.

My grandmother died early, she died at the age of 40, and my grandfather never remarried.When my grandfather passed away at the age of 93, the family had a big fight over the burial.

Grandma didn't actually have any beliefs, but her family believed in Buddhism, so she put a Buddhist symbol on her grave on her own initiative.Later, when my grandfather was also buried, relatives from my grandmother’s side wanted to burn incense. Because of my grandfather’s instructions, we didn’t want them to burn incense at my grandfather’s place.

Later, the graves of grandma and grandpa were divided into two halves, and the relatives on one side made half of them. Different marks were hung on the graves of the two, so there was nothing to say.

It was from this incident that I learned the true relationship between Christianity and Buddhism.

But I really experienced the difference between Christians and people of other religions when I once traveled to QD.

The QD tour was organized by the unit, and the highlight at that time was to go to a local famous Taoist holy place in the country.

At that time, I was very troubled because I believed in the Lord.I just believed in the Lord at that time, and I knew that my grandfather had never been to such a place before, so I wondered whether I could go or not?

At that time, there was not much truth equipment, and my thoughts were relatively secular.I was thinking, if I didn't go, wouldn't others think that Christians would be scared when they saw Taoist priests?How unreasonable!How can I not go?

So I went.

When I went there, I prayed: "Father! All the land in the world belongs to you, and this Taoist temple is also my father's place. It stands to reason that there is nothing to be afraid of, but I still ask the heavenly father to protect me so that I will not be the same as that time. "

When I said that time, I meant the time when there was a mountain torrent. I later found out that the mountain where the torrent was encountered before was the place of Tibetan Buddhism, and there were more than [-] temples of various sizes built in it.I encountered life-threatening danger in that place, and my intuition told me that such a place is incompatible with my life.

I prayed for the Lord’s precious blood to smear me and cleanse me, and ask the Lord to protect and take care of me. I was really planning to meet some Taoist priest there and discuss with him, maybe he could preach the gospel?

I did go.There was nothing special about it, but when I walked into the largest courtyard, I clearly saw three or four Taoist priests inside. Suddenly, when I stepped in, they all turned around and went into the house.

I just stood in the yard and waited for them, but they never came out.

Later, someone in our tour group asked, "Why don't those Taoist priests come out?"

The tour guide joked, "Maybe it's because our group is all women? They're shy."

I don't think it's that simple.I was looking at a tree, but out of the corner of my eye I glanced at the Taoist priests, and I saw one of them sneak a glance around, then quickly turn around again.

Several people turned their backs to me and did not come out after waiting for a long time.

That's what happened.

Later I heard many people say that practitioners are afraid of Christians, and their spirits are afraid of the Holy Spirit within us, and they can feel it themselves.

I think, whether it is Buddhism, Taoism, or other religions, as long as it is just moral persuasion, all of these are good.But the problem is that the devil likes to pretend to be a god and make people worship him, so people worshiping the wrong god is equivalent to worshiping the devil.

It is even said in the Bible that the church in some places is where the devil sits on the throne and accepts people's worship. If the church does not regard God as the center of worship, it may also become a place for the devil.

I also studied religion in college, but now I want to say that all that knowledge is wrong.The world's religions are not all the same, and not all focus on persuading people to do good.

There are only two sources of religion in the world: one is that they claim to be inspired by God; the other is that they also think that they are enlightened, but they have not received God's revelation.The former includes Christianity, Judaism, and Islam; the latter includes Buddhism, Taoism, etc.

Leaving aside those religions that think they are only enlightening, among all the religions that claim to be directly inspired by God, the difference between Judaism and Christianity lies in whether they recognize Jesus as God.

The Muslim Mohammed said that the angel Gabriel sent him a message from God and asked him to write these revelations.In the messages he wrote, he believed that Jesus was a real person, but Jesus was not God, but a prophet, and he himself was a greater prophet than Jesus, and his message could overwrite the message of Jesus.However, the "Bible" records that Gabriel passed on a message to the Virgin Mary, telling her that she was about to give birth to the Son of God. The "Bible" rarely records the names of angels, but here it specifically records the name of Gabriel .Readers, you can think about it carefully, if the two Gabriels are true, how could it be possible that the information they passed on was contradictory?

In the "Bible", God himself inspired and wrote Gabriel's name, and he already knew what would happen today.

Talk about the situation at that time.

Sister Zhao explained to us: "It is easy to attract ghosts in homes that worship idols. Therefore, not only do we have to pray for cleansing, but in the future your home will also not be allowed to have Buddhist altars."

Jiang Zhixing's mother was very hesitant when she heard this. She said: "In order to take care of Jiang Zhixing, my mother-in-law moved here from City B to take care of him. This Buddhist altar belongs to my mother-in-law. If I remove her Buddhist altar without authorization, our family will be in trouble from then on." There will be no peace."

Sister Zhao thought for a while and said, "This is really tricky. In fact, if a person used to worship idols, the first thing he should do after he believes in Jesus is to clean up all the old idols in his family. But like your family In the current situation, I think there is no need to worry too much for a while."

"But if that Buddhist altar is placed, will it be worse for Jiang Zhixing? In fact, every time I pass by there, I also feel creepy."

"It's definitely not good, but I think if we people often go to your house, we should be able to protect your house."

I listened to them while they were talking, and I thought these things were very strange.

There are three people in my family, only my father is a Qigong practitioner, and my mother and I are not interested in such things.I used to hear my dad talk about many supernatural events similar to those when he was practicing Qigong, but I never took it to heart.But it wasn't until I experienced it that I realized that the spirit world really existed.

They went to Jiang Zhixing's house that time, but I didn't go with them.I heard that Jiang Zhixing's father, the academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was crying at the scene. They all said that he was moved to tears by the Holy Spirit. In fact, I personally think that it was just because he felt how his son fell to where he is today. just send it.

……

They were all too busy trying to cast out Jiang Zhixing's demons, and I never told the church about my divorce.

After the divorce, You Yan repeatedly told me that I need to find a time to have a good talk with Sister Zhao.She said: "It doesn't matter if you don't want to talk about other people, but Sister Zhao is your leader, and she needs to know your situation."

In fact, I don’t think it’s indifferent to other people. I think I should admit this matter to everyone very honestly, so that no one will be curious about my marriage in the future, so that others will not repeat this matter again.

But when I told You Yan my thoughts, she flatly rejected the matter: "This is not acceptable! Lin Xiao, you are relatively simple, but many people in the church are not simple. I think, Sister Zhao, you can tell She, because she is your pastor, should know about your situation. As for the others, you can decide for yourself, and if you don't trust them, you don't have to tell them anything. Everyone in the church is a sinner, don't tell them. They keep their mouths tight, if someone spreads your gossip behind your back, think about whether you can bear it."

So I hesitated.Dong Yiyi, Brother Liu and others told me that the church is very complicated, but now You Yan’s words scare me.

Seeing my hesitation, You Yan suggested to me: "If you don't want to, you can tell them that you don't want to talk about your marriage, but don't lie."

"But if I don't want to say it, doesn't that mean something?"

"No, it's not like this in the spirit world. You can't lie, but you can keep silent on your own terms."

Alright, it's that invisible spirit world again.

I wanted to procrastinate for a while, but You Yan didn't give me any time. She said directly to Sister Zhao, "Sister Zhao, Lin Xiao has something to do with you."

You Yan really embarrassed me.She often boasts that she doesn’t look at the meaning of people, but only of God’s, but I don’t think she used this sentence in the Bible in this way.

Sister Zhao was talking to Qian Junru, she turned to me and said, "Okay, wait a minute, I'll talk to you as soon as I finish talking with Qian Junru."

I am not the only sister with marriage problems in the church. No wonder Gentiles always think that Christians must have something wrong with their lives before they come to the church to seek psychological comfort.

I sat there anxiously, and another sister also sat there with an unhappy look on her face.She also had problems with her marriage, which is well known.

Although she was unhappy, she wanted to chat to distract her, so she asked me first: "What are you looking for, Miss Zhao?"

I prayed, and wanted to ask God to help me and tell me how to answer this question, because I really don't want to lie anymore, but I am too embarrassed to admit that I am divorced, after all, I am so young.

After praying, I sighed and said to her, "I want to ask about marriage."

"Is your marriage not good?" She was a little surprised, because I never talk about marriage in church.

"Well, please don't tell anyone, I'm not ready yet."

She looked at me, her eyes widened, and then she asked tentatively, "Did you..."

"I'm divorced." Talking about it was a relief.

But what she said made my heart hang again: "But we Christians can't mention divorce."

"I didn't mention it, he mentioned it."

"That's not okay, right? Christians don't seem to be able to divorce."

"Didn't we take the course given to us by Brother Liu some time ago? Didn't "Ethics" say that if a non-believers files for divorce, the believer is not at fault."

"Really? That's not about marriage, is it? It seems to be about the church, about brothers and sisters."

I felt a "thump" in my heart, because I was not familiar with the "Bible", and I also felt unreliable to ask for God's will in that way of pointing my fingers randomly.

When I read the Bible again, I was a little flustered and my hands were shaking. I was really afraid that I had read the Bible wrong. If I made a mistake, it would be too late to regret it, because the marriage had already been divorced.

At last I turned to the Bible, read it myself, and then read it to her: "I say to the rest (not the Lord): If a brother ------ has an unbelieving wife, and she is willing to live with him, Let him not forsake his wife. If a wife has an unbelieving husband, and he is willing to live with her, let her not forsake him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. If the unbelievers want to leave, let him go! Whether it is a brother or a sister, there is no need to be restrained when encountering such a thing. God calls We wanted our peace."

I think the "Bible" is quite clear, but the sister still said to me with a puzzled look: "Yes, this is about brothers and sisters, not about the family. But since you have left, let it be like this, Don't worry about it anymore. You are still young, and you can find a better one in the future."

I didn't agree with her interpretation, so I read it again, and felt that it was clearly written in the scriptures, not about brothers, but about marriage.

But because she was so emphatic, I backed off instead.What I'm afraid of is what if I really read it wrong?I really don't want to pay attention to the meaning of the wrong owner, and I don't want to find a better one.For me, marriage ended my previous chaotic life and moved on from now on, how can I go back?

I said to her, "I'm not going to get married again."

"Then you will be like this from now on?"

"Yes, God says being single is a gift, and I think I have the gift of being single."

"I think it would be better for you to remarry. After all, you are still young."

I felt that I would be bored again if I continued talking with her. Fortunately, Miss Zhao happened to be free at this time, and she called me into the small room, so I stopped the conversation here.

Sister Zhao asked me what was the matter. When I saw that she locked the door when she came in, I felt a little relieved, but I still stuttered: "I want to ask you, can Christians get divorced?"

"Lin Xiao, there are many people who got married before they believed in the Lord. After believing in the Lord, the unbelieving party becomes a tool of the devil. We do not advocate divorce if there is conflict. If something happens to your marriage , I think the believer should be patient, treat the unbeliever with love, and pray for him..."

I think she starts talking about this and it's going to be endless.So I interrupted her with a strong tone, and this was the first time in my memory that I interrupted her: "Sister Zhao—it's too late for you to say this, I've already done it."

Most afraid of the air suddenly quiet.

She looked at me quietly, perhaps surprised, perhaps at a loss?After a while, she said, "Got it. How is your situation now?"

"I feel very good."

"That's good. It's okay Lin Xiao, God didn't call us to make us angry with each other. Now that you have recovered your singleness, you can spend most of your time serving God. In fact, marriage has its benefits, and being single has its own benefits." The benefits of being single. In a marriage, it is inevitable to put a lot of energy on each other, but now you can put it on the Lord. If you have any questions, just tell me. You don’t have any burdens, and you don’t need to talk to them .Your secret is safe with me."

"Okay, thank you, Miss Zhao."

After this incident, Sister Zhao stayed in the room alone, and I left the room to join everyone outside.After the worship service began, Sister Zhao did not come out either. She came out after a long time and whispered in my ear, "Lin Xiao, I think the Lord wants you to be holy."

"Oh." I said dully.

She patted me on the shoulder: "Very good."