Testimony…

 Listen for 7 min 

Here’s what one listener testified: Dear brothers and sisters, peace in Christ! Thank you, Lord, for giving me this opportunity to share my testimony with you. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; “Thank you to the Lord for the grace of a new creature who has been saved from the line of death by God again and again. Today I want to glorify the name of the Lord by giving a good testimony to the Lord. Pray that the Lord will lead me so that my testimony will touch more people to come to the Lord and come to the Lord.

All men are guilty before the Lord. I am a sinful person, and I have been infected with gambling in my heart since I was a child. I remember it was when I was 8 or 9 years old, and my big brother gambled with his neighbors’ brothers. At that time, they gambled very little, only 5 dimes a dollar. But as I watched from the sidelines, I couldn’t help but be curious, thinking that this kind of money would be so easy! Just like that, a seed of sin and greed was planted in my heart. So much so that when I grew up and started a family, the seeds of sin began to germinate. That was when I was back home, and I was in good condition. As soon as I graduated from school, my father opened a store on the street and asked me to start a business, mainly selling hardware and electrical appliances, building materials, and paints, and later I developed liquefied gas sales.

At that time, business was very good, I was a salesman, and I was also a buyer, and I was busy all day. I can make a lot of money every year, but during the Spring Festival holiday, I am like a wild horse, gambling day and night, until I lose all the money I have worked hard for. My wife knew that I loved to gamble, so she watched me not go out, and every night she had to watch me go to bed before she went to sleep. However, my heart was so burning that I could not sleep, and when I was sure that my wife was asleep, I quietly got up, and the gate of the courtyard was locked by my wife, so I climbed over the courtyard wall and went out, and then went to find a blockage. It was a long way to find a casino in the town, through dark woods and ghostly slopes, and I felt like I was enchanted by ghosts, I didn’t know anything about fear, and the gambling demon led me to destruction. In ’97 I was arrested for gambling and lost another year’s hard-earned money.

My wife wanted to change me in a new environment, so she asked me to go to the county seat to develop. I invested in and opened a liquefied gas station in the county, and the business was very good, I also hired a lot of employees to manage it as a company. I became a boss who didn’t have to do anything on my own, and every day I went out to hotels, cafes, karaoke halls, and occasionally casinos with my friends who drank and meat and indulged in a carnal life of greed and sin. However, my income is still the same, and the money I earn every year is either squandered by me or lost by me, and it is still an empty shelf from round to round.

I don’t know how to repent, and I’m still addicted to this so-called boss life. In the county, we have always rented a house, and I have not thought about building a comfortable nest for my wife and children. In 2002, my wife bought a piece of land and built a two-story house with a single door. So that we have a home. When the house was first built, it had not yet been renovated, and his wife sold the façade house in her hometown and was going to use the money to decorate it. But as soon as the money from the sale of the house was remitted to my account, I was addicted to gambling and lost it all overnight.

My wife often took my two children, a 5-year-old and an 8-year-old, looking for my husband, who didn’t know how to come home, at night. Think about how much I owe my wife and children. Gambling eventually led me into the abyss and towards death. At the end of 2007, I lost more than 300,000 yuan at one time, more than 300,000 yuan! But this is not a small number! Not only did I lose my savings, but I also lost the 150,000 yuan that my brother lent me to do business, and I was equal to 150,000 yuan in debt! What a blow! Powerful pressure can shatter and destroy a family! However, my wife did not know that I had lost so much money, and my greedy desire did not make me repent!

I took out the last remaining 20,000 yuan and went to gamble on the last handful, this time not to gamble, but to go to the casino to put a loan shark. I have a cousin who is in the casino, and he told me to give 20,000 yuan, and he gives me 2,000 yuan in interest every day, what a tempting benefit! I calculated that it is 60,000 yuan a month! It is 360,000 yuan in half a year! In this way, the money I lost will be able to earn back soon! Who knows, 20,000 yuan will go and there will be no return, and when I go to look for my cousin, there is no trace of him! I have not collapsed and fallen after losing more than 300,000 yuan, but when the only hope of 20,000 yuan is destroyed, I have completely collapsed! I cried bitterly, and I was never so wronged and miserable in my life! I laughed, and I never laughed so desolate in my life!

I will never forget that dark day in Wuxi, the day of facing death, I really almost died there. My cousin and a bunch of thugs lived in an underground bathhouse, and I stayed there for more than half a month. Because of my severe mental trauma, life there was like hell, life was worse than death! I couldn’t sleep all night. It’s all in nightmares and hallucinations. I always feel in a daze, there are a lot of ** people who come to the baths, catch drug addicts and gamblers, and the baths are in chaos all day long.

At 4 or 5 a.m., I felt that I was being chased by **, and I got up from bed in fear, ran to the edge of the bath, jumped into the pool at once, and was stuffy in the water. At this time, a waiter came and grabbed me and said, “This water is boiling.” “But I was numb and I didn’t know anything, I didn’t feel anything at all, I was just full of fear and fear! I wanted to get out of hell as soon as possible, but I felt tired and tired because I hadn’t rested well for a long time. I was confused, so I wanted to find a hospital to infuse some nutrient solution to replenish my physical strength, otherwise, my physical strength would not be able to support me to go home. I walked out of the bath, it was drizzling outside, I looked up at the sky, tasted the sweetness of the drizzle with my face and lips, and smiled and walked forward. At this time, my mind was no longer normal.

I didn’t know the south, south, west, and northwest, so I kept walking, and I only had one concept in my mind, going to the hospital for infusion. I found a hospital in a daze. I walked into the hospital, saw two nurses inside, and said to them, “Give me some nutrient solution.” The two nurses didn’t speak, just looked at me in amazement. I said a second time, “Please give me some nutrient solution, I haven’t rested for a few nights!” The two nurses still looked at me with surprised eyes, but still didn’t answer. I said impatiently, “Would you like to give me some nutrition?” At this time, the two nurses came to their senses and said, “I’m sorry! “I was so ashamed that I almost fainted and nervously said, “I’m sorry”.

The nurses didn’t pay any attention to me, just grinning and muttering something as if to say I was a psychopath. I turned around and left the hospital, like a homeless man, drifting in the rain and fog. In the end, with the help of others, I found the city hospital, where I was given a nutrient solution, and I was prescribed some tranquilizers to eat, so that I could return home. As soon as I got home, I lay down for a week. My wife asked me what was wrong, and I said that I was tired and sick from doing business in Wuxi, so I would just take some medicine and rest for a while.

In fact, she didn’t know the painful depression in my heart. The sin is what I have done, so let me bear it alone! I also want to die to end this suppressed pain! But what if I want to die my wife and children? If my wife knew that I had lost so much money, she would have collapsed, and this family would have been broken. I thought that this day would be the end of my life. However, paper can’t contain the fire, and my wife is a Christian, who is in charge of the children’s Sunday School service and knows many brothers and sisters. One day, my wife heard from a sister that I had lost a lot of money, so she checked my accounts. She cried! Thank God for His grace! My wife was strong by the Lord, and she didn’t even say a word of complaint, but just said to me, “I don’t want anything but you.” We can earn money slowly and pay it back slowly. This sentence brought tears to my eyes, made me see hope, and see the light, and cheered me up to face life.

Thank you for the grace of the Lord! From mid-June to the end of July 2008, my business earned nearly 200,000 yuan, and I have never earned so much money in such a short period. In this way, we not only paid off my brother’s account but also had tens of thousands of yuan left. God has been gracious to us, and my wife found out about my loss in May 2008, that is, it was only a little more than 2 months from the time we carried the burden to the time we unloaded it. Thank you to the Lord for His grace, not only to relieve us of the burden of toil but also to save me, the prodigal son, from the death line of gambling. And make us quickly become financially prosperous, so that our family can face this life full of sunshine, joy, and happiness anew! Recalling the gambling scene when I was a child, I saw that the environment can change the fate of a person’s life. An environment full of sin will lead people to grow into sin and gradually lead people to the path of sin and destruction.

Only children who grow up in a loving environment will be healthy. When I was younger, I was a child who was affected by the evil of gambling. Therefore, we need to keep more children away from sin from an early age, let them know our loving Heavenly Father, so that they can listen to the word of the Lord, grow up healthily under the light and care of the Lord, and they will always be healthy and happy. When I finished writing about this gambling experience, I saw my sin. I was greedy for money, abandoned my wife and children, gambled, and almost lost my life.

Matthew 16:26, says, “What profit is it for a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his own life, and what can a man exchange for his life?” Thank you, Lord for saving me and bringing tears of remorse to my heart. I hated myself for causing pain and hurt to my family. Even if my wife and children could forgive me, I couldn’t forgive myself. Sin is extremely harmful to human beings, it can destroy the happiness of the family, it can damage the health of the body, and it can sell the human soul. The wages of sin is death, and we can only be saved by relying on the Lord Jesus. But at that time, I was indebted to the love of the Lord Jesus Christ, and I didn’t throw myself into His arms because I was not yet a believer. But the Lord Jesus Christ loved me and called me again to move me by the Holy Spirit. On May 8, 2009, when I was moved, I wrote a journal called “Inspiration”. My wife is a Christian, and under her guidance, I understand that there are many truths in the Bible, but I still don’t understand it well, and there is still a certain distance from it. I don’t know that the highest state of life is to enter the world of inspiration, and God has chosen your soul to sublimate, that is, you have entered the happiest and happiest world of eternal life. I used to believe only in the truth, not in the existence of a world with souls.

But today is a feeling I have never felt in my life, just when I was listening to the program “Embrace Every Day” on Liangyou Radio, the Holy Spirit moved me, my eyes suddenly brightened, and the world seemed to become many times bigger, the sun was shining outside, and the scenery was exceptionally clear. That kind of realm is so beautiful, my brain is as clear as water as if it has become many times smarter. The joy in my heart filled me with confidence, and I couldn’t help but dance, just like an innocent and lovely little actor who was full of confidence in the future, dancing so naturally and moving so gracefully and softly. Every movement of oneself is as clear as what you see in the mirror. I usually sit in the arena, but now I feel like there are 10,000 spectators, and I am so comfortable that I completely forget my existence. It’s a beautiful phenomenon that can’t be expressed in words. My eyes were moistened with joy, and I shed tears of joy, and said to my wife, “It turns out that having a soul is the power of life!” “The joy in my heart gives me strength for the future life, and the cultivation of the soul is inseparable from God’s inspiration. Like an ignorant child who can’t do without his parents, I seek Him and follow Him, never wanting to leave Him! God saved me, the Holy Spirit understood me, and I understood many things. A person who is close to God’s inspiration sees the world bigger, and gets more wisdom and joy.

恩典见证 35.就…

音频 7 分钟

二.这回赌的是命

2009年12月份,我去宿迁地区,到有个叫粟阳的地方谈生意。从宿迁到粟阳的路很好,是双道。路中心有绿化带,应该算一级公路。当时我和朋友开车去的,在快到粟阳的时候,我朋友睡着了,我也很疲惫,很困倦。没过多久我的眼皮眨了几下,居然睡着了,也不知道多长时间。只听见咚的一声,我从梦中惊醒,知道出事了。等我反应过来,车子已经穿过绿化带,开到对面反道上了。幸巧对面没有来车,我一把方向打正,才没有开到沟里去!感谢神!

我们人安然无恙,只是车子保险杠坏了。还有车轮毂坏了两只。想想当时车的速度真的很快,如果对面来个大货车,就会把我们小车压扁。如果路上有行人,就会造成重大交通事故,恐惧使我后怕!感谢神的恩典!这是因为一个信主的家庭,是受上帝蒙恩的,上帝每时每刻与我们同在,是上帝救了我!但这次车祸,我没有去教堂感恩,很快的就忘记了,以至于到现在才真地认识上帝。当慈爱的天父第三次把我从疾病死亡中拯救出来,我才真正地投入主的怀抱。

2010年3月份我被确诊为胰腺肿瘤,必须手术。手术之前,我的家人和主内的兄弟姊妹都为我在上帝面前祈祷,求上帝拯救我医治我。就连我68岁的老父亲,一个×××员,也哭着跪下来,求上帝我医治我。老父亲一共跪下来三次,都是放声痛哭祈求。当第三次为我祈求的时候,他的心情突然平静了,就是感觉我是平安。感谢神,是神的恩典!手术后,父亲来看我,他双手紧握我的手,第一话就说:“孩子,上帝保佑你!”我看着父亲红肿含泪的双眼,我的心都要碎了!我不敢在多看父亲一眼,否侧我会控制不住自己的情绪。我把脸转向天花板,坚强地说:“爸,上帝与我同在,我的手术很成功!很快会好起来的,您不要担心!”父亲直点头,嘴里应声嗯嗯!我知道,父亲得到了安慰!兄弟姊妹们,我是在南京军区医院检查出来的病情。但军区医院专家看完映像后,说肿瘤无法切除。

我们又去咨询第二个专家医生,第二个专家医生说:“哪个笨蛋医生能敢给你做这个手术!”也就是说我的病没有救了。家人抱着唯一的希望,去省人民医院试一试。省人民医院的专家,钱主任接待了我们,他看了映像和检查报告后,说:“我们也没有把握能做,但可以打开看看,能做我们尽力做,如果不能做我们给你改道,维持临时生命!”经过家人研究决定同意了这次手术。

早上7:30我被推进手术室。到下午5:30多,我的手术才结束。感谢神的恩典!当主任医生,从手术里出来的时候,他很自信地告诉我的家人,说:“很幸运!肿瘤成功切除!而且切的很干净!”但没想到的是,到了晚上10点左右,我醒过来,感觉腹部胀痛,医生过来给我检查的时候,我一声剧咳,从口中吐出象血块一样的东西,然后就什么都不知道了!后来知道是腹腔内出血,必须进行了第二次手术。于是在凌晨两点又再一次被一推进手术室。

第二次手术,是非常危险的,几乎是下不了手术台的!因为第二次手术腹腔里面全是血,看不清楚内脏,很容易碰坏内脏器官。当二次手术的时候,我的妻子再也控制不住自己的情绪了,她彻底崩溃了。医生叫她签字,她已经神智不清了。妻子迷惑之中,只知道哭着给吴牧师打电话说:“上帝不救他了!”而吴牧师说:“不要害怕,我祈祷中看见上帝的手托着他!”感谢上帝的恩典,正如牧师所说的那样,第二天我平安的醒来。而且睡的好香,从来没有睡的那么舒服,就象一个身负重担的人,刚卸下重担的感觉!原来疲惫的我,整个焕然一新,头脑清晰,浑身轻松!我对来看我的二嫂说:“我今天睡的好舒服呀!我真的想在这里,再睡上一个星期!”感谢神的恩典!第二次手术我能这么舒服,完全是神的医治!第二次手术也是成功的。但没想到过了7天,我的伤口突然膨胀、有针线脱落的感觉。赶快叫医生,主任医生赶来把伤口的纱布一解,血直往外喷!主任医生也吓一跳,但很快的平静下来,快速地把里面的血管扎紧。然后又缝了几针。血终于止住了。然而主任医生,面对我的病情也无奈。外面的伤口也没有缝,说观察俩天,就看你的造化了!当医生说出这样的话的时候,我的心里很明了!我知道几次的折磨,医生对我的病情已经没有多大信心了!我知道只有上帝能医治我,拯救我!家人、主内的兄弟姊妹,都在为我祈祷。

当日的晚上,我熟睡中,迷糊的感觉伤口有点火辣的疼痛,但好象有一只温暖的手在我的伤口上轻轻抚摸着,那只手那么温暖那么慈爱!感谢神的恩典,这是上帝在医治我!通过一天一夜的观察,第二天我的状况很好,电脑各项指标检查都很健康,就连主任医生也很惊奇!他惊喜的笑容中也带着惊讶!说:“很好很好!一切都很好!”就这样我很快的恢复了健康,并在一个星期以后出院了!

三次的手术,都是上帝借着医生的手在医治我。上帝爱我,上帝与我同在,上帝拯救了我!我知道没有上帝的医治,我连一次的磨难都不能经过!感谢主的恩典!我要跟随主,走福音之路。让更多的人,得到神的恩典!手术后,我状况很好!但是魔鬼乘机攻击了我,不管白天还是夜晚,眼一闭,看到的就是一张张面无颜色的面孔,要不就满头满脸都是血,变型的恐怖面孔!从远到近,从左到右在我的眼前飘过来飘过去。

我从来没有经历过这种现象,以前别人讲我都不相信,没想到会发生在我的身上!我和妻子不停的祷告,求上帝为我赶走眼前污秽的东西。也许是我软弱的原因,与上帝的灵感沟通还有点距离。连续几天都没有把那些阴影赶走,无奈迷惑中,我的脑海想起了,平时妻子唱的赞美诗里面的词。我也记不清是哪一首诗歌,就凭自己的记忆加感觉编了出来。居然不会唱的我,唱的还很有调子!主耶稣呀!我爱你,有你就有了一切!你在地如同在天,主耶稣呀!我爱你,是你给了我灿烂的阳光!是你给了我生命的力量!主耶稣呀!我爱你!有你就有了一切!我还什么可怕!主耶稣呀!我爱你!一生一世跟随你!一生一世跟随你!每天晚上我都不停的唱,直到睡着。

早上也我坚持走到窗口歌唱。由于刚做过手术,身体很虚弱,就象刚出壳的小鸡样,东倒西歪的。望着窗外那刚升起的春天太阳,照在远处的山林和近处的花园,显得格外灿烂美丽!到处充满了生机。重生的感觉,使我多盼望能够出去走一走呀!面对上帝创造的这美丽世界,我只能放声赞美歌唱。这些歌词已经深深的印在我的脑海里面,大概第四天,那些污秽的面孔从我的眼前消失了!取代它就是这些充满力量的歌声!感谢神!使我真正感觉到创造宇宙万物上帝圣灵的力量!感谢神的恩典!手术期间,使我感受到基督教,这个大家庭温暖和关爱!在我手术前,几位兄弟姊妹得知情况后,去探访我。百般的安慰我,要有信心依靠主。并流泪为我祷告!

面对几个素不相识的人,做了很远的公交车,又到住院部9楼来看我,我已经够感动的了!然而远远不是这些,他们在我手术后又来看我,还买了很多吃的东西,鼓励我要有信心,依靠主!我真的流泪了!同样,我回到家中,兄弟姊妹得知情况后,纷纷来看我,关心我,关爱我,为我祷告!并献上他们的爱心。使我感受到了做为一个信主的家庭成员,是无比的幸福!

这就是基督教的弟兄姊妹,他们的爱是那么无私,那么真诚!感谢主!我要做名基督徒,让更多的人享受基督教,这个大家庭的温暖和关爱!现在的我,特别亲近弟兄姊妹,我爱每一个弟兄姊妹,因为我是在他们的爱中长大的!

我是3月8做的手术,5月份受洗,6月份参加唱诗班。9月底,我的健康检查结果一切都很正常!是上帝医治了我,圣灵感悟了我!使我明白了贪欲是人类的罪恶之源。贪吃会得疾病,贪财也会得疾病,甚至违法送命。总之很多贪婪都会使走向死亡路之!感谢慈爱的天父,他开启我的眼睛,使我能看清世界。以前我用肉眼看世界,现在用属灵眼光观看世界,看到的是两个完全不同的世界。

神的话语告诉我“从前看为有益的,如今看是有损的!从前看为荣耀的,如今看为羞耻的!从前看为宝贵的,如今看为粪土!”当我们用肉眼看世界的时候,看到的是充满虚荣、嫉妒、仇恨、欲望、贪婪、享乐、永不满足的罪恶世界,而在这个世界里面我们却看不到自己的罪孽,以至于走向死亡。只有依靠主耶稣基督,用宝血洗去我们的罪,我们的心灵才能得以洁净,我们才能用属灵的眼光看世界。

属灵的眼光能看清楚自己的罪,让我们远离罪恶世界,也使我们看到另一个充满爱的美丽世界,就是快乐幸福的永生世界!我虽然不知道我的人生道路有多长,但我相信在主看护下,我这颗幼小种子也会生根、发芽、开花、结果。我虽然不知道我的人生道路有多长,但我会珍惜、珍爱上帝所赐给我的一切亲情、友情、以及每一处自然的风景!

我虽然不知道我的人生道路有多长,但我要用爱走完我的人生,一直走到爱我的天父那里去!亲爱的弟兄姊妹:人生是分两个层次的,一个是生活;一个是生命。以前的我是在罪中追求生活、物质、金钱,结果忘记了还有生命的部分。但神爱世人,在我患难中,是主耶稣基督,一次又一次地拯救了我,并拣选了我。

弟兄姊妹!听了我的人生见证后,愿我们都能把生命交给神,让神做我们生命的救主,我们仰望祂,信靠祂,在人生的路上我们才会永远健康、喜乐、平安!慈爱的天父:感谢你一次又一次地拯救了我,并拣选了我,给了我新的生命。今天我要在你面前认罪!求主耶稣基督再一次用宝血洗去我一切的罪、一切污秽的思想、一切污秽的灵魂!让我的心灵得以洁净!让我能成为一个真正重生的人;让我能成为一个为圣灵所用的工具;让我的灵命,得到圣灵的滋润,不段成长,就象青青的树,不段成长,才能结出果实!

Testimony…

 Listen for 3 min 

Talking about her disability, Jessica admits that it is difficult to swim without her feet, not only does she have to exert much more strength than normal people, and endure severe pain, but also often faces the attention of others about her disability. Even adults often stare at her. Some ignorant children will even talk about and even laugh at her. Many times, Jessica also feels that being a good athlete with disabilities is too hard and too difficult. But she said her faith gave her comfort and strength. On her website, http://www.jessicalong.org, she wrote: “I am a Christian. When I was very young, my parents taught me how Jesus died for me. Jessica’s parents knew what sacrificial love was. They are not her biological parents.

In 1992, Jessica (born Tatiana Cherinova) was born in a small remote town in cold and inhospitable Siberia. She was born without a fibula, a condyle, or a heel, nor any other bones in her foot. Her biological parents could not accept the disabled baby. She and her brother, who also has a disability (rabbit lip), were sent to an orphanage in poor conditions and lacking caregivers.

In 1992 and 1993, in Baltimore, a civil servant, Mr. Lang, a civil servant, and his wife were praying for the adoption of a child. The couple already had two children themselves. Like many Americans who went to China to adopt abandoned baby girls, the Langs were Christians. God touched the couple’s heart to go to the former Soviet Union to adopt an abandoned baby.

When Jessica was 13 months old, the Langs came to an orphanage in a small Siberian town, and they immediately fell in love with Jessica and her brother. They adopted Jessica and her brother and brought them back to the United States. Mr. and Mrs. Lang chose to adopt two disabled babies, of course, not because they did not know how much self-denial, sacrifice, and dedication required. But they were willing to pour out their lives and raise Jessica and her brother as if they were their children. Wang Yi said in the film review: “The meaning of adoption is to share one’s life, wealth and inheritance with strangers.” Had it not been for Christ’s sacrificial, sacrificial love, Mr. and Mrs. Lang would not have done this. When Jessica was 18 months old, she underwent a double leg amputation in the United States. Then the doctor put a prosthetic leg on her. After two-year-old Jessica put on a prosthetic leg, she walked on her own without being taught by an adult. Lang’s father and Lang’s mother were very moved in their hearts: walking, for ordinary people, is the most ordinary God-given ability, but Jessica, their precious daughter, was born with a disability, but today she can walk freely on the earth, which is God’s extra grace.

Giggling little Jessica doesn’t just like to walk. From an early age, she showed a love and talent for sports. She loves to run, jump (especially on the trampoline), and enjoy all kinds of sports. At a very young age, she started gymnastics, and basketball, and when she was older, she also fell in love with ice skating, bowling, and rock climbing. But it wasn’t until she was ten years old that she learned to swim in the pool in her grandfather’s backyard. Soon, it was discovered that she was a particularly good swimmer (her arm and upper body strength were particularly superhuman), and she could swim faster than others when competing in the same pool with normal people of the same age. Soon, she was selected for the Disabled athletic teams in Baltimore and Maryland.

In 2004, at the age of twelve, Jessica was selected for the U.S. national team at the Athens Paralympic Games, becoming the youngest Paralympian in history and winning three gold medals. Overnight, the twelve-year-old became a sports star in the media, with flowers, praise, and all sorts of accolades. But Jessica doesn’t feel spoiled at all. Jessica was educated at home (her parents were home-schooling) from an early age, and she still is. Olympic or Paralympic athletes in the United States are amateur athletes, and all expenses need to be raised themselves. Sometimes, when encountering competition, it is necessary to live in a hotel and train intensively in other places, which will have a lot of expenses.

Long’s father and mother are working-class, not rich, and many times, Jessica has to raise her own money (through websites, etc.). Whether it is Daddy Lang, Mom Lang or Jessica herself, when interviewed about Jessica’s achievements, they will say that it is completely God’s grace, and all the glory is to God. Jessica is indeed a girl who is loved by God. The Paralympic Games are just around the corner, and Jessica is about to show off her sweet smile and athletic talent to the world in Beijing. I pray in my heart for this extraordinary “girl next door” and for the little sister in Christ, that God will give her faith, strength, and glory to God again with excellent results and testimony.

恩典见证 33.属…

音频 7 分钟

属灵的秘诀——戴德生信心之旅 第三章

我觉得要去中国,就必须加强训练自己去倚靠信实的神。十九岁的戴德生,是个充满理想的急性子,一八五二年三月,他写信给他的妹妹说:“我想我快要离开这个国家了,我不知道神下一步的指示是什么,但我感觉到改变快将来临,有预兆叫我准备上路了。请为我祷告,叫我的信心不至失落.”对戴德生来说,在可见的未来加入差会事奉,简直是难若登天的事,因为所有的差会都要求宣教同工必先接受教会按立,并拥有优越的训练。

所以他打算赚够路费便出发前往中国去,到了那里再仰望神的供应。但想到要工作来储备路费,他就觉得不耐烦和难以接受,于是他继续在信内与妹妹分享另一个想法:“假如我在这里多逗留两年,储备五十至六十镑路费才往中国去,较比我现在就起程,边走边找路费是没有多大分别的。两年之内,那地至少有二百四十万人死亡……在六至八个月内,我应该会讲一点中国话了。

假如我可以把福音的真理传给一个沉沦的罪人 – 那么挨四至六个月的旅途之苦也在所不惜。”戴德生希望在船上找份医生助手之类的差事,假如不可能的话,当个水手也情愿。虽然他乐意忍受这样做所带来的困难与苦楚,但是家人友朋友的祷告和忠告,却使他考虑到要多吸收点知识才扬帆启程去到地球的另一边。赫迪医生愿意收纳戴德生作学徒,但却要他下三年学习的工夫。

戴德生当然想当医生,只是他觉得机会一旦来临他就必须立即动身,于是只得婉拒医生的一番好一意。不久,在戴德生二十岁生日后数个月,他就决定前往伦敦继续医学课程。他确信不需要在那里耽搁多久,就可以成行了。戴德生定意要在事奉中实践和巩固他的信心,所以对于筹措更多路费,接受更多知识,甚至操练更成熟的生命等,都不再重要了。

“我觉得要去中国,就必须加强训练自己去倚靠信实的神,而前面正好有一个黄金机会。“敬爱的父亲表示愿责承担我在伦敦的一切费用;但他的生意最近出现亏蚀,要助我成行就免不了要作出重大的牺牲。我最近开始和中国传道会的委员熟稔.他们并不知道父亲的打算,且都表示乐意承担我在伦敦的一切支出。当我收到这两个建议时,一时不知所措,我写信给家父和委员会的秘书,告诉他们我需要数日的时间来祷告和考虑,又把他们的建议告诉双方。

“最后,经过祷告,在主的引领下,我清楚知道二者的好意我都不应接受。传道会的秘书固然不知道我已决定全然仰赖神的供应,而家父亦会以为我已接受了对方的帮助。我写信推辞了两者的好意。我知道再没有人会为我的需要操心,我是单单把自己交在神的手里,他知道我的心。假若神要鼓励我前往中国,他必会让我先在英国有能力全然倚靠他。

”在伦敦医院就读的学费,戴德生接受了传道会的支助;居住方面,在未找到长期住所之前,他是寄住在苏豪区一位舅父的家里。除了这两方面之外,这位来自小镇的年轻人,便要自行应付在繁华的伦敦生活的一切开支了。临离开荷尔之前,他写信给母亲说:“我可以见证以下的金句是真确无误的:‘坚心倚赖他的,你必保守他十分平安,因为他倚靠他。

’我的心绪一片平和,就像口袋里有一千镑一样那般无忧无虑。愿神保守我在世俗和属灵的一切事上,都坚心仰望他的供应。”他写信给妹妹贺美,告知她找寻工作的事宜,他需要一份既能帮补生活费,又能让他有时间读书的工作。“在伦敦并没有什么合适的工作,不过我一点也不着急,因为他是‘昨日、今日、直到永远也不改变的神。’他的慈爱不会断绝,他的话永不改变,他的能力依然;凡倚靠他的必‘十分平安’:我意识到他是因着爱来坚固我的信心。愿他得荣曜,我便心满意足。”戴德生觉得假若他真有一天信心倒退的话,他宁愿发生在英国,比在去了中国才知道要好得多。

于是他继续操练自己的信心。他生活简朴,单一仰赖神的供应。他曾经在信中提到:“为了节省支出,我和表兄分租一间房间。我们住的地方距离医院大概四里,伙食是自行负责的。经过多方面研究,我发觉最经济的生活方式,莫如单以粗麦面包和清水充饥。这样,我就可以把神供应我的尽量用得长久一点。有些支出是在所难免的,不过膳费就完全在我掌握之中。

每天从医院步行回家,在路上买个两便士的大麦面包,就能解决我的早晚两餐了,中午吃两三个苹果,这样的饮食,足能供应我每天走八九里路,和在医院实习时频密来往的气力。”随后几个月,戴德生的忍耐力再受考验。虽然他在求学,他仍不断地祷告,求神打开通往中国之门。

而在此期间,他曾因为解剖尸体染上恶性热病,差点死去。不过在地球另一端发生的事,不但要改写中国历史,也使戴德生长久以来的梦想一下子成为现实。在中国,太平天国的起义似乎胜券在握,他们定都南京,而挂着基督徒名义的军队就占据了中原及北方大部分的省分,北京似乎快落入义军手中。

太平天国的首领洪秀全因为读过一份基督教单张,对基督教信仰深感钦羡,于是写信给一位美国宣教士,其大意是:“请差派教师来,要许许多多的教师来传播真理。当我的事业成功结束时,我会在全国传播神的教义,让所有的人可以归向主并敬拜独一的真神。这是我心所切慕的。”此时,一向闭关自守的中国似乎快将大开中门,准备迎接基督的使者。

全欧州以及北美的教会都为此雀跃不已,认为此机会实在难能可贵,不容有失。为此,奉献源源滚进各宣教机构的仓库,支持各种有关中国的计划。例如,英国圣经公会就史无前例地打算印制一百万本中文新约圣经。

那为戴德生缴付学费的传道会更决定在最短时间内,差派两位宣教士前往上海,这两人之中的一位是苏格兰裔的外科医生,因为他不能立刻启程的缘故,传道会便想到戴德生是个单身汉,只有廿一岁,传道会认为他大有可能立赴行程,虽然这意味着地要牺牲正在修读的内外科医学课程。戴德生虽然等得不耐烦,且急于上路,但要接受传道会的差派却是一项不容易作的决定。

他过去早有和中国传道会打交道的经历,深知他们的处事作风,他知道作为该会的宣教士,就得凡事向差会报告及请示不可。他们的意愿是差派他往上海,假若神开路给他深入中国内地那又如何呢?他开始觉得神是呼召他前往中国内地,那些西方宣教士从未踏足过的地方。

现今太平天国似乎是在得势之时,大好机会或许就在此时了。他开始回溯原先自行前往中国的打算,或许这计划是最为上算的一个,他别无其它倚赖,唯有靠神而已。他为此事征询家人及朋友的一意见,又请他们为他代祷。但在见过传道会其中一位秘书之后,他写信给母亲说:“毕先生为我解决了大部分的疑难,我决定依从他的建议,立刻向委员会自荐。我仍在期待你为我祷告,并等候你的答复。假如我接受差派立到启程,你是否建议我先回家一趟呢?我盼望能再与你见面,相信你也会有些同感。不过我们不见面也是好的,因为相见然后再永远分离是最难过的事。

噢,不会是永远分离吧!”“我不能再写下去了,希望你尽快给我回音。请多为我祷告。凡事交托主,说来容易,但到考验来到时!只有我们在‘他里面成全完备’,我们才可以安然度遇。愿神祝福你并与你同在,我亲爱的母亲,愿神让你体会主耶稣的宝贵,使你除了立志‘认识他’之外,别无所求.”他写给妹妹的信是这样的:“为我祷告,亲爱的贺美,愿那应许使我们一切所需用的都充足的神,在这痛苦边长等待的日子能与我同在。”戴德生终于作了决定:他要启程前往中国了。他买了最快启航的船票。

在利物浦的远洋船码头,停泊着那艘准备开往中国的双桅船“敦费土号”。这艘四百七十吨的小船只有一位乘客,故此码头上并没有送别的人群。传道会的代表皮尔土(Pearse)先生和戴德生的父亲都来到利物浦送别,不过船因为修理要延迟开航,故此他们都不作久留便离开了,就只留下戴德生的母亲一人看他启程。对于那次既兴奋又令人难过的经历,戴德生后来作了如下的笔记:“在一八五三年九月十九日当天,在‘敦费七号’的船尾舱内,中国传道会的委员们特别为我举行了一个简单的差派聚会。

“我挚爱的母亲(如今已安返天家)来到利物浦和我话别。我永不会忘记那一天,也忘不了她是如何随我进入那末来六个月将作为我家的小舱房内。母亲用她慈爱的手整理我的床铺,然后坐在我的身旁,同唱我们分别前最后的一首诗歌。我们跪下,母亲就开口祷告,那是我远赴中国前,最后听见母亲为孩子的祷告。接着有通知下来,船快启航,我们得分手了。我们依依惜别,不敢奢望在世上能再相见。“为了叫我好受一点,她尽量压抑自己的情绪。

我们分手了,她走上岸,回头给我祝福。我独自站在甲板上,她则随着船往前走,走向水闸的方向。船经过了水闸,这刻我们真的要分离了。母亲那发自心底,带着绞痛的哭唤声,像刀一般刺透了我,这是我永远不能忘怀的。此刻,我才深切体会到‘神爱世人,甚至将他的独生子赐给他们’的意义。而我亦相信挚爱的母亲,她此际对神无比的爱的了解,会比她过去所领会的更多!

”离别无疑是令人难过痛楚,但戴德生环绕地球之旅所要面对的种种苦难,现在才正式开始。这艘小船还未到公海,它的航程就有被中断的危险。十二昼夜,达姆福利斯号都在圣乔治海峡被暴风击打,有时荡向爱尔兰方向,有时又荡向险恶的威尔斯海岸。戴德生如此记载他的旅程:“星期六(九月二十四日)整天,气压计在不断下降。夜幕低垂时,风又急转起来。星期天早上,船长并没有像往常一样召集水手们在船尾听他读祷文,因为他们昨晚都辛苦了一夜。

午后,风益发吹得急劲,除了留下几张帆用来平衡外,所有帆都收下了。我发单张给船员之后就回到船舱,船颠簸得实在太厉害了,我晕眩起来.“气压计仍在下降,强风不断加剧渐变成飓风。船长和大副都说从未见过这样的滔天巨浪。下午两三点钟左右,我勉强走上甲板.此情此景真是令人毕生难忘。只见巨浪翻腾,海面吐着白沫,一艘大船紧贴着我们的船尾,另一艘双桅船则在我们受风的一面。大船追上来了,不过却漂离我们旁边更远点。排山倒海的大浪击打着船身,大有随时随刻吞噬我们之势;小船顽强地捱着风浪。因为风顶既急且猛,我们的船非但没有向前进,反而随着从西面吹来的风荡向海岸。“‘除非神帮助我们,’船长说:‘否则我们没有希望了。’”“我问他那里离威尔斯海岸有多远。“‘大概十五至十六里,’他回答。‘我们除了扬起所有船帆之外就别无他法。

愈多帆张开,我们漂流的速度就不会那么厉害。这是生死关头,求神叫那些桅杆能支持得住。”“他在每枝桅上张起两张帆。”“那是一段恐怖的时刻。风吹得厉害极了,我们的船被浪推得东摇西倒,一会儿升上半空去,一会儿又像钻进海的深渊。船受风的一面翘得高高的,而下风的一面则倾斜得很低;事实上,海水不断从下风的一面灌进船舱。我呆望着西沉的落日,心想:‘明天你还是一样的升起来,至于我们,除非神为我们成就大事,否则我们和这条船可能只会剩下碎片残桅了’夜非常的冷,风是凛冽的,我们继续向前进;翻滚的浪涛把我们打得浑身握透。

我走回船舱,读过一两首诗歌,几篇诗篇和约翰福音十三至十五一后,心里好过多了,于是倒头便睡。睡了一个小时,起来看看气压计,发觉它正在上升。我们经过了百土岛的灯塔,这岛是在嘉迪根和嘉拿温湾中间的海上。我问船长,我们会不会触着圣头角的礁石。他回答说:‘假如我们的船不改变方向还可以,但船若再漂流,便要倚靠神的保守了。’我们的船随浪漂流 – 先是圣头角的灯塔在我们船头出现,其后是在船侧擦过。我们的命运似乎已经决定了。我问船长我们是否只剩下两个小时的时间,船长不置可否。气压计依然在上升,但升的速度太慢了,我们根本不可能有希望。我想到我挚爱的双亲,我的妹妹和朋友们……眼泪开始滚下……船长既勇敢又镇定,他相信他的灵魂是在主手中。

管炊事的也说自己是无足轻重的,只有主是掌管万有的。我为他们的信心感谢神,与此同时,我也恳切求神因着那些还未认识他的水手,搭救我们;他要如此行也是为了她自己的荣擢,因他是垂听祷告的神。我想起圣经的话:‘要在患难之日求告我,我必搭救你。你也要荣曜我。’我恳切求神实践他的应许.”“我们的处境着实岌岌可危。那晚月光皎洁,夜空清朗,海岸清楚可见。我走回船舱内。气压计持续上升,但风势却依然没有减弱。我拿出我的记事簿,写上名字和地址,心想假若我的尸体被冲上陆地,就会有人知道我是谁。我把几件应用之物放进一个篮子,要是它如我所想会浮的话,也许它能助我或其它人登陆。最后,我将自己的灵魂交在神手里,又求神记念眷顾我所有的亲戚朋友。

我求神假若可以的话,就叫这苦杯远离我们。祷告完毕,我返回甲板。撒但攻击我,我感到很害怕。但主再一次安静我的心。从那刻起,我坚决倚靠主,主就赐我平静安稳的心。我问船长,在这大风浪之中,救生艇有用么?他的答案是否定的。至于用桅杆之类的木材做木筏,亦已来不及了。海水变白了,海岸就在前头.‘我们一定要将船改变方向,’船长说,‘否则一切都完了。船转向时,海水可能会把甲板上所有的东西都冲落大海……不过我们仍得试试……’这一刻就算是最坚毅不屈的心也会战抖惶恐。船长一发命令,我们就把船往外转,但却徒劳无功。这样做理应为我们添加离岸的距离。

船长又再发号令把船转往另一方向,靠着神的祝福,这次我们成功了,我们已驶离岸边的礁石堆,大约有两艘船身之遥。就在我们刚脱险之际,风向又稍转了两度,因此我们终于可以成功地驶出嘉拿温湾了。假若主不如此帮助我们,我们所有的力气也是白费的。他的怜悯无穷无尽。”戴德生的记事簿写满了他这次旅程的有趣经历。他的航程除了间中有些令人兴奋的时刻外,大部分都是较为沉闷的,因为他们足足有二十三个星期连续没有踏足陆地。戴德生大部分的时间都在船舱内读书,装备自己。他亦曾为水手们举行过六十次的宗教聚会,有些对他所讲的甚感兴趣,还私下找他倾谈和祷告。不过令他有点儿失望的是,那些水手并没有太大的生命改变,而且也没有人愿意完全献身跟随主。航程中最令人鼓舞,又是最厉害的考验首推他们在南太平洋经过无风地带的那段日子。

从早到晚船都滞留不动,从黄昏至日出那一段时间,才稍为有点晚风来帮助航行。戴德生这样记载那段日子:“在这艘帆船上,面对四野无风,而船却随着急流朝着险恶的涯岸飘去,令人感到多么的无助。在暴风雨之中,船多少还可以受控制,但在无风的时刻,人只有空焦急的份儿。主一定要施展大能。当我们大约在新几内亚北边航行的时候,我们就曾经历过一次危难。

那个星期六晚上,我们大概离陆地有三十里,星期天早上在甲板崇拜时,我就发觉船长面带忧戚,不时走往船边张望。崇拜完毕,我从他口中知道了原因:船正被一股时速四海里的水流带向一处暗礁。我们是那么接近,未到黄昏恐怕就要触礁了。午饭后,放下了大舢舨,船上所有的人同心协力,想把船头转向,驶离岸边,可是却徒劳无功。大家安静站在甲板上一段时间之后,船长对我说:‘我们可以做的全都做了,现在只有听天由命了’一个思想突然掠过我的心头,我回答说:‘有一件事我们还没有做。’‘是什么?’他问道。‘我们当中有四个人是基督徒。让我们各人返回自己的船舱,同心求主立刻赐给我们清风。对他来说,现在起风或黄昏时才送风都是一样的容易。’船长同一意这个提议,我就去找其余两人。我们一起祷告之后,四人就各自退回船舱等候神。

作过一个简短而深入的祷告后,我深觉神已应允了我们所求的,自知不能再祈求下去,于是很快就重回甲板。这时候负责指挥的是船上的大副,他是个不信神的人。我走过去请他把横帆的下角或者是主帆的一角放下来;这些帆本来都开了上去,好减少帆与绳索互相拍打。‘那有什么好处?’他粗鲁地问我。我告诉他我们已向神求风,风立刻就要来了,而且我们已是那么靠近礁石,实在不可以再耽误。”“他一脸鄙视,咒骂了一声,说他要看见风而非听见风。他说话的时候,我随着他的视线,往上望向船桅上最高的小帆,可以肯定,帆已开始在微风中颤动。‘风不是来了吗?看那小帆!’我喊着说。‘才不是呢,那只是锚爪(一闪而逝的微风)而已。

’他一再坚持。‘不管是不是锚爪也好,’我大嚷:‘求你快放下主帆,好叫我们可以利用到这些风!’他可没有耽延立刻做了。不一会,船长听见甲板上的人声,就从船仓内走出来看个究竟。风果真来了!不到几分种,我们已是以每小时六、七海里的速度,破浪前进;虽然风势或起或止,但在经过比鲁岛屿前,断断续续还是有风。在抵达中国之前,神藉此鼓励我,叫我将一切的需要带到他跟前,并且信赖他必因主耶稣之名的缘故,作我随时紧急的援手。”他不久就要再次接受类似的考验。

Testimony…

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I poured out my heart to God, and I kept giving thanks to God for all He had done for me, and I begged Him to let me work for Him as a token of my love and gratitude.

Hudson Taylor didn’t look like a genius kid at all. Hudson Taylor, who was frail and sickly, had to take at least one day of sick leave for almost a week. Although his father was trained as a pharmacist and sent his son to school when he was eleven years old, his reading skills improved rapidly, and he excelled in mathematics. After two years of formal education, he dropped out of school to help out in his father’s shop in Banschney, Yorkshire.

He was born in 1832 to devout Christian parents. From an early age, he was familiar with the Gospel story, and he knew that Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, came to earth and died on the cross to save the world’s sins. As a young man, he accepted everything his parents had taught him with childlike faith because it was what they believed. As a teenager, he began to question the authenticity of the Bible. At the age of fifteen, he worked as a clerk in a local bank and first came into contact with older friends who were skeptical of their faith. Their views influenced him, and he rejected the Christian faith and the teachings of his parents.

Hudson Taylor had to give up his profession as an accountant and return to work in his father’s shop because he was overusing his eyes. But his skepticism about Christianity continued. On the surface, he is very conformist, but his inner spiritual struggle cannot be hidden from his parents, and they are really worried about their children. It wasn’t until he was seventeen years old that things changed. He later wrote: “It was a day I will never forget—my mother was out to visit relatives, and I had a day off and went to my father’s study to find a book to read to pass the boring afternoon.” But there were no books that appealed to me, so I picked up an interesting gospel tract from a basket of booklets. I said to myself, ‘It must be another tract that starts with a story and ends with a sermon.’ I’ll only read the part of the story, and I’ll leave the rest to those who are interested!’ I sat down and read nonchalantly, thinking that even if there was salvation, it had nothing to do with me. If you start to feel bored, put it aside immediately. At that time, repentance was always called an act of “getting serious,” but in fact, it was a very “serious” thing to look at from the faces of those who claimed to have repented and converted.

Wouldn’t it be better if God’s children could always show saving joy and blessings on their faces, and those who don’t believe would see repentance as something “very joyful” rather than “serious”? After lunch that day, she hoped that her son’s desire to be saved was close to her heart, and she thought that she would have more time that day, and she would take this opportunity to plead with God for her son’s salvation. She went back to her room, locked the door, and decided that God would answer her plea before she stepped out of the room again.

Hour by hour, my mother prayed to God on my behalf, and at the end of the day, she could no longer pray and felt that she had to praise God because the Holy Spirit had told her that her only beloved son had been saved. At the same time, God was directing me to read the Gospel book. As I was reading, a sentence suddenly struck me: ‘The work of Christ.’ Suddenly, the words ‘all is done’ pass through my mind. ‘What has been done?’ I gladly replied, ‘That salvation has been accomplished, and our sins have been paid.’

That is not only our sin but the sin of the whole world. Then I thought, ‘If all the work is done.’ Now that all the debts of sin have been paid off, what else can I do?’ The joy of regeneration came to me at that moment, and the light of the Holy Spirit illuminated my heart. What else could I do in this world but to fall before the Savior and accept Him and His salvation, two weeks later, Mother returned. I was the first to greet her at the gate, and I told her the great news that I had been saved. My mother took me into her arms and said, ‘I see, my son. I’ve been excited about your good news for two weeks.'”

She told me about her prayer experience that day. I’m sure you agree, but it’s strange if I don’t believe in the power of prayer because of that. It’s not over yet. Soon after, I picked up a notebook that I thought was my own, and what caught my eye was the diary of my sister, who was four years younger than me, to the effect that she was determined to pray for me every day until God promised to redeem me. A month after the journal was written, the Lord took me out of the darkness and into the light.

Growing up in such an environment and being saved in such a situation, it was only natural that from the moment I received the life of Christ, I realized that God’s promises were very real, and that prayer was a fulfilling fellowship with God, asking for His blessings for myself and others. He didn’t become as “serious” as the average Christian, because he didn’t feel it appealing at all, and Hudson didn’t take his faith lightly. Although he was susceptible to temptation and stumbling and frustrated by his weakness, like most new believers, he was not satisfied with this up-and-down spiritual life. He longed for a better, more intimate relationship with God.

One afternoon, he began to pray to God about it: “I vividly remember how I poured out my heart to God with joy and joy, and I kept giving thanks to God for all that He had done for me, and for saving me when I gave up all hope and even hope of salvation. I begged Him to let me work for Him as an expression of my love and gratitude for it—I distinctly remember that as I laid myself, my life, my friends, and everything on the altar, the depths of my soul were enveloped by a sense of solemnity that I knew was acceptable to my devotion.

God’s presence also became completely real and blessed, and I remember – I fell on my face, stretched out, and lay before Him, my heart overflowing with indescribable awe and joy. I don’t know what my job position will be. Hudson Taylor had given his life to God, and he was determined to live a life that was pleasing to God in every way, but he also cried out to God from time to time for his failures and setbacks, knowing that I was no longer mine. He believed that as long as God gave him a clear direction, he would go to the ends of the earth for him, do anything, even bear suffering. “The feeling of that time is really beyond the description of pen and ink, and it is also unforgettable for my life. I felt like I was standing before God, making a covenant with the Lord Almighty.

I wanted to take back my promise, but I couldn’t, and it was as if a voice was saying to me, ‘Your prayer has been answered; From that moment on, I was convinced that God had called me to China, and I would no longer doubt it. Hudson Taylor knew God’s call and responded positively. From that day on, he worked hard to prepare himself for a hard life. He increased his outdoor activities, replaced his feather mattress pads with stiff and taut mattresses, and was very careful about his diet.

He was supposed to go to church twice on Sunday, but he gave up the evening meetings and went to the slums of the city to hand out tracts and hold family meetings. He was a popular frequent visitor to the rows of houses. Even on the horse farm, his radiant face, coupled with a cordial greeting, often opened the door to evangelism for him. The more he shared God’s Word with others, the more he felt he needed to know more, and he spent more time praying and studying the Bible. Of course, if he wants to go to China, he must learn Chinese.

A rare Chinese grammar book already costs 20 yuan, and a Chinese-English dictionary costs more than 25 yuan. He couldn’t afford it, so he relented and bought a copy of the Chinese translation of the Gospel of Luke. He patiently compared verses with the English Bible and learned more than 600 new Chinese characters. He memorized these words and compiled a dictionary. “I started waking up at 5 a.m. every morning, so I found myself going to bed earlier. If I want to go to China, I have to study hard.

I’ve made up my mind to go, so I’m going to try to equip myself now. I plan to do Latin well and learn the basics of Greek and Hebrew grammar. I want to gather more information. I need your intercession. Following his father in dispensing medicine to patients for many years, Hudson Taylor became interested in medicine. When he heard that a surgeon practicing medicine in Hall needed an assistant, he wrote to apply and was hired. Although this means that he will be living alone from the nest, he will still have some time to live with an aunt who lives in the city and enjoy family fun.

Hudson Taylor’s employer, the doctor, paid him only enough to cover his daily expenses. In addition to tithing, the young assistant went to the slums of the city every Sunday night to do gospel work. Seeing the hardships of those families prompted him to reevaluate his lifestyle. Would it make him happier if he could save more and help more others? He decided to find out with action.

On the outskirts of the city, passing through a wasteland, two rows of simple bungalows bordered by a narrow waterway. People in the neighborhood call this place “Ditch Side”. This waterway is just a deep ditch, and the people who live on both sides of the ditch send their filth and garbage into the river to let the tide carry it away. The bungalows were about half a mile long around a large curved ditch, and each house was the same, with a gate and two windows. Hudson Taylor decided to say goodbye to his aunt’s comfortable home and rent a small room here to live. The landlady, Mrs. Chiji, was a devout Christian, and she welcomed the “young doctor” Finch very well. She did everything she could to clean the house and polish the fire facing the window. The bed was in the farthest corner from the door, and with a wooden table and two chairs, it was Hudson Taylor’s new home.

This twelve-foot square room is on the first floor and is connected to the kitchen. The only window in the room reveals the brightly lit bar on the other side of the gutter. In the night, the lights illuminated the muddy water in the canal. Hudson Taylor moved here, and in addition to adapting to the gloomy environment, he also had to cook for himself. Every day after work from the infirmary, he would buy a little food to satisfy his hunger. He rarely sits down for a decent dinner anymore. On weekdays, he goes home alone and spends every night alone. But on Sundays, he was too busy to mingle with his neighbors or work among the crowds that often hang out around the Kemba Pier. “Now I have two goals in life, on the one hand, to get myself used to living a hard life, and on the other hand, to save money so that I can help those who preach the gospel. Soon I got used to a more austere life than before, and I stopped eating butter, milk, and other luxuries.

My main food is cereal and rice, with the occasional addition of something to change the taste. So that I can live very frugally. I save two-thirds of my salary for other purposes. Experience has taught me that the less money I spend on myself, the more people I can help, and the more music and blessings I have in my soul. “After living by the ditch for some time, he made a deeply painful sacrifice because of the needs of China.

For more than two years, he became acquainted with the teachers at his sister Homei’s school, who was both beautiful and talented, and Hudson Taylor unconsciously fell in love with her. This girl is a Christian and has no missionary burden. They had talked about his plans several times. But each time she asked him to stay in England and serve God, and not to go to China.

Hudson Taylor knew very well that it was God’s calling, but he also loved him dearly, and since she did not explicitly say that he would not follow him to China, he continued to pray that God would move her. A few weeks after he had moved to the ditch, he received the heartbroken letter, which was the last decision of the other party—she would not go to China! He wrote to his sister Kami: “For many days I was depressed and depressed, and I seemed to have no power to pray, and I did not want to pray. I took the blow on my own and didn’t ask God for help until I couldn’t sustain it anymore. Temptations began to surround him, “Why are you going to China, why are you going to spend your whole life toiling and suffering just for a service ideal? Just like everyone else, find a job and stay in your hometown to serve the Lord. You still have a chance to keep her. “Love is hard to beat. “That afternoon, as I sat alone in the operating room, I began to think about God’s love, His goodness, my response, and His blessings to me,” he told his sister.

The trials I faced were nothing compared to what happened to others who were called. God has completely softened me and humbled me. His love melted my cold heart, and I prayed earnestly for His forgiveness for my ungrateful behavior, and God’s love surrounded me once more. Yes, he humbled me and made me know myself. He let me know that he is my help and my trust in times of trouble. Neither did he deprive me of my joy amid my trials, that I might sing with joy: But I will rejoice in the Savior, and I will rejoice in the salvation of God” “Now I am very satisfied in the Savior’s love. I can give him gratitude for everything, including the most painful experiences of the past, and I can trust him completely for what will happen in the future. ”

“I said to myself, ‘When I set foot in China, I can’t ask anybody for anything, I can only ask God. So before I left England, I first had to learn to do things by praying alone, by moving people through God. I never made any sacrifices. This is what Hudson Taylor said in his later years, looking back on his past life. But in the eyes of other objective people, his life is a portrait of self-sacrifice. Dai said this because experience had taught him that no matter what sacrifice he made for God, he would always be richly rewarded. This lifelong lesson began with some profound experiences on the banks of the ditch that winter. No matter how great his sacrifice was, the reward he received always far outweighed the price he paid. Despite the trauma of a broken love and the poor environment in which he lived, his spiritual life was thriving.

“Every day, from morning till night, I experience indescribable joy,” he said. God is so real and gracious to me that all I do is serve music. Even though the tone and content of the letter changed, there was less self-examination and more focus on plans. Once again, China is full of his thoughts. He has a deeper burden for the souls of those who do not know Christ. Despite his full and positive attitude, his mother was worried about her son’s health and living conditions. Especially when she learned from other people that her son was pale and thin, she wrote to him concerned about his health. In January, he wrote back to his mother: “I’m sorry for making you worry about me. It may have been that I was wearing a wider coat, and when everyone saw it, they said, ‘Look how emaciated and thin you are!'” He reassured his mother that his cold had long since healed and that he was now full of energy and knew how to take care of himself.

Her mother was not relieved by his reply. She was also worried about the hardships he would face as he planned to go on a mission trip to China. He wrote again in an attempt to assuage his mother’s anxieties about his present and future: “Dear mother, do not let anything disturb your sleep. Missionary work is the noblest profession of mankind. Of course, we cannot neglect our basic needs, but can we not rejoice and be happy when we can give up everything for the Lord?” “As for my body, I believe that now is the most robust time of my life.

The wind here is really strong, but I often wrap myself tightly, and the cold weather makes my appetite great, and if I make myself sick, it will hurt my finances, so I try to choose those simple but nutritious foods, and avoid luxuries.” I found biscuits that were as cheap as bread, one for eighteen pence, and tastier than bread. I had biscuits, fresh fish, and coffee for breakfast. Fresh fish is cheaper than butter, and three tails are only one penny, and half a bar for breakfast is enough. My lunch was prunes with apple filling. Prunes cost only two to three pence a pound, while apples cost ten pence a bag. I bought four and a half pennies a pound of sugar and crushed them, which was cheaper than regular jaggery. Sometimes I bake potatoes and animal tongues, which are as cheap as other meats. Afternoon tea is biscuits and apples. I don’t eat dinner very often, so I occasionally eat cookies and apples, and sometimes I eat corn pudding, beans, or fish. If I had been more careful, I could have bought cheese for four to sixpence a pound, which was better than the eightpence a pound we used to eat at home.

Lettuce and lettuce are available at the market, and it won’t be long before I can change the menu. I pickled a penny of red cabbage in three-and-a-halfpence vinegar with a large bottle full of it. You see, I don’t have much to do, and I can have basic enjoyment. In addition, I have a home that is always available for my needs, and a God who gives peace beyond all means, and if I am not satisfied and unhappy, then I deserve to live in misery and misery. “Dear Mom, please keep praying for me. Although I am well-fed, happy, and thankful, I need your prayers for me. Mom, how can I make you understand how much I desire to be a missionary, to bring good tidings to poor and dying sinners? Pray that the Lord will use me and that I will do my best for the Lord who died on my behalf! Mother, just imagine, that there are 12 million people—what a huge number, how unimaginable yes, there are more than 12 million souls in China every year, walking towards perdition without God and hope. Let us look with compassion for the needs of these great people!

Since God has mercy on us, we should also be sympathetic to His heart: “I will put my pen down.” Will you give everything for the Lord Jesus, who died for you? Mom, I know you do. May God be with you and comfort you. When I have enough money to go, can I leave immediately? I feel that if I don’t do something for China, I won’t be able to live any longer. Although Hudson Taylor was eager to leave for the East immediately, he was not entirely sure that he was ready for the challenge. In his small room by the ditch that winter, he wrote more: “For me, going to China is a great thing.

There you will be far away from the help of your relatives and friends, and you will only be protected, provided, and helped by the living God. To take on this challenge, it is necessary to first strengthen one’s spiritual discipline. Of course, if a person’s faith is firm, God will never be unfaithful. But what if I don’t have faith, I didn’t yet grasp the truth that even if we are untrustworthy, he is still trustworthy because he cannot betray himself.

So, my biggest problem was not God’s faithfulness, but my faith enough to ensure that I could carry out the daunting task that lay ahead of me. “I said to myself, ‘When I set foot in China, I can’t ask anybody for anything, I can only ask God. So before I left England, I first had to learn to do things by praying alone, and by moving people through God. Hudson Taylor believed that the Bible says: Faith can move mountains. He wondered if he was confident enough to practice it. If faith needs to grow, it must be practiced. Here’s what he’s going to do. “Before leaving England, learn to move people through prayer and God. “That’s what he set for him. Soon, he discovered a simple and practical way to practice the work of faith. He wrote it down: “My kind employer, Dr. Heddy, wanted me to remind him to pay me my salary on time, so I decided to pray alone, asking God to remind him, so that I could experience the encouragement of prayer answered. “Once, as the day of quarterly payroll was approaching, I prayed earnestly about it as usual. But when the day came, Dr. Hedy didn’t mention the payroll, and I just kept praying. After many days, he still didn’t pay attention to it. It wasn’t until Saturday night that I sat down to count my accounts for the week, and found that there was only one shilling and sixpence coin left.

But I continued to pray and wait. “I felt very happy that Sunday. My heart is still filled with blessed joy. After attending Sunday worship in the morning, he went to the town’s slums in the afternoon and evening to conduct interviews and evangelism. During those days, I had the feeling of living in heaven, and for me, heaven was a place where human joy could be more satisfying, and now I have almost that. “About ten o’clock that night, after I was leading the meeting, a poor man came up and asked me to come to his house and pray for his dying wife. I readily agreed.

On the way, I asked him why he didn’t go to the priest because he spoke with an Irish accent. He said he had been, but the priest would not go until he paid eighteen pence. And his family was starving, so what money was left? Suddenly, I remembered all my possessions, my only coin. Although I have prepared oatmeal for tonight and tomorrow morning, what about tomorrow’s lunch?” Instead of blaming myself, I blamed the man for why he had gotten things to this point, and why he hadn’t asked the welfare officer for help earlier.

He told me that he had passed the application a long time ago, but that the welfare officer had told him to go again at eleven o’clock tomorrow, but that his wife would not live until tomorrow!” ‘Ah!’ I thought to myself: ‘If I had not this two and a half shillings, but two one-and-a-half shillings and a six-pound coin, how glad I would have been to give the family a shilling!’

The truth is very simple, I believe in God and I believe in a shilling and sixpence, but I dare not trust God alone and empty pockets. “The man led me into a courtyard, and I followed with a slight panic, because the last time I came, the people there had been very unkind to me. Walking up a dilapidated staircase, we entered a small, dilapidated room. What catches your eye is poignant. Four or five yellow-skinned children were scattered around the house, apparently the result of a long period of starvation. On the tattered bed lay their weak mother, next to a baby who was thirty-six hours old, crying faintly. “‘Ah!’ I thought, ‘If I had two shillings and a sixpence, I would be more than happy to give them a shilling sixpence.’ But the abominable unbelief hindered my urge to give them all I had.

Of course, I can’t comfort this poor man, and it’s not surprising at all, because I need comfort myself. I began to tell them not to be depressed by the current situation anyway because we have a loving Heavenly Father in heaven. But now my heart was crying out, ‘You hypocrite!’ I told these unbelievers that there is a loving Father in Heaven, but my heart refused to trust Him because I didn’t have a coin!'” My throat almost stopped. If I had a two-shilling coin and a sixpence penny, I would be more than willing to compromise with my conscience, and give them the two shillings with gratitude, and keep the sixpence. I still haven’t been able to let go of the sixpence and trust God alone. Since there is nothing to say in this environment, there should be no difficulty in praying.

In those days, prayer was the most pleasant thing, and I could talk to God in prayer. At that moment I thought I had to kneel and pray so that I and the family could be set free. “‘Ask me to come and pray for your wife,’ I said to the man, ‘Let us pray together, and I knelt.’ “When I opened my mouth and said, ‘Our Father in heaven,’ and my conscience said, ‘How dare you mock God?’ How dare you kneel down and call Him ‘Father’ while keeping the coin in your pocket?’ I have never experienced this inner conflict. I can’t remember if my prayer was incoherent or how it ended, but when I stood up, my heart was in agony. “The poor father said to me, ‘Sir, you have seen our desolate condition, and if it is possible, help us for God’s sake.'” At that moment a phrase flashed through my mind: ‘Give them those who ask him.'” The word of the Lord carries power. I put my hand in my pocket and slowly pulled out the coin and handed it to the man. I told him that maybe he would think I was just doing it because I seemed to be much more generous than they were, and that I had the only money I had. But what I told them earlier is true, and God is our trusting Father.

At this moment, joy is pouring over my heart. I was able to speak with my heart and mouth again, and the obstacle that hindered my blessing was gone, and the obstacle that made my faith almost lost. “Not only was the poor woman’s life saved, but my life was completely saved. If I hadn’t obeyed the Holy Spirit’s guidance and prevailed by God’s grace at that moment, my Christian life might have come to a bleak end. “I remember very well that on the way home, my heart was as light as my money bag. In the dark silence of the streets, my ears kept ringing with my irrepressible praise songs. Before I went to bed, I drank the bowl of oatmeal, only to think that the emperor’s feast was not enough to exchange. I knelt at the bedside and asked the Lord not to forget His own words: ‘He who has mercy on the poor lends to the Lord.’ I begged him to remind my long-term borrower that the delay should be done as soon as possible, or tomorrow my lunch would be gone. In a state of peace of mind and body, I spent a pleasant and peaceful night.

The next morning, the only remaining oatmeal came knocking on the door before it was finished. I rarely receive letters on Mondays, as my parents and most of my friends avoid sending letters on Saturdays, so I was surprised when the landlady walked in, wiped her wet hands with her apron, and gave me something that looked like a letter and a package. I took the letter, but I saw that the handwriting on the envelope was quite unfamiliar, and if it had not been sent by a stranger, it would have been written illegible, and the postmark was blurred, so I did not know where the letter came from. When I opened the envelope, I found not a single word in it, but a pair of children’s gloves wrapped in a blank sheet of paper, and in my astonishment, a pound and a half fell to the ground. “‘Praise the Lord,’ exclaimed me, ‘twelve hours of investment, four times the profit!’ I wonder how glad I would be if the Merchant of Howl lent money out to make such a profit!’ I have decided to deposit my savings and income in this bank, which will not fail. I still don’t regret that decision. “This incident comes to my mind from time to time, and it is my constant encouragement and help on difficult days.

If we are faithful to God in small things, we can accumulate experience and abilities that will help us cope with life’s greater trials. “The story isn’t over yet. It was not the only prayer he had heard from the Lord, but it strengthened his faith. Here’s how he ended the story: “This amazing deliverance and forgiveness by God not only brought me great joy, but also strengthened my faith. After all, it’s only ten shillings, and no matter how much I save, I won’t be able to sustain myself for long. I will continue to pray that the Lord will remember to pay me my salary, which is the greatest supply. But my prayers seemed to have been in vain, and two weeks later, I was back to the same thing as I had on that memorable Sunday night. Again and again, I pleaded with God to remind Dr. Hedi that my food was over. “Money isn’t a problem for me, though, because if I ask, it’s easy to solve.

The main concern was, ‘Can I go to China?’ or is my attitude of actively seeking faith and power from God to prevent me from participating in this precious ministry?'” The week passed quickly, and I became more and more restless. Not only do I have to worry about my own needs, but more importantly, I have to pay the rent to my landlady on Sunday night, she needs the money very much. Should I ask for her salary? But if I did, I would be admitting that I was not a missionary!

In addition to my work hours, I spent my entire Thursday and Friday wrestling with God in prayer. By Saturday morning, the situation had not changed. I earnestly asked God for guidance on whether I should remain silent and wait for the Father’s work. In my judgment, I always felt that waiting for God to work was the best way to go, because God would be the Lord for me. So I continued to wait, my heart was at peace, and the burden on my heart had flown out into the clouds. “At about five o’clock on Saturday afternoon, Dr. Hedy finished his prescription and finished the day’s final work, leaned back as usual, sat comfortably in his easy chair, and talked about God’s affairs.

He was a sincere Christian, and we had many sweet fellowship times. At that time, I was busy guarding a pot of boiling potions, but fortunately, it was, because suddenly he came out of nowhere: ‘Yes, Hudson Taylor, is your salary due?'” I had to swallow two or three times before I could answer. I turned my back to him, still looking at the cauldron of medicine, and said to him in the calmest of tones, yes, my salary has been paid a long time late.

At that moment, my heart was filled with gratitude! God finally heard my prayer, and I didn’t have to say a word, God reminded him to pay me at this most critical time. “‘Oh, I’m sorry, but I’m sorry you didn’t remind me. You know how busy I am, if I had remembered earlier, I wouldn’t have had to put all my money in the bank in the afternoon, and you would have received your paycheck instantly. After hearing these surprising words, I was so excited that I was at a loss, it was indescribable. Fortunately, the medicine in the pot was boiling at this time, so I could take the opportunity to run out of the room with the pot. I stayed out of his sight until Dr. Hedi left the infirmary. And the best thing is that he didn’t notice my emotional ups and downs.

Soon after he left, I went back to my workshop and poured out my heart to the Lord. Until the mood is completely calmed down, and gratitude and joy resurface. I feel that God has His ways and will not disappoint me. I sought His heart this morning, and I felt that patience was His direction, and now God will find another way out for me in other ways. “As usual on Saturday nights, I stayed in my workshop to read the Bible and prepare for tomorrow’s sermon in the ghetto. I had a little more time than usual, and at about ten o’clock I put on my coat and was about to go home, remembering that by this time the landlady had already gone to bed and that I had to use the key to the spring-loaded door lock to get in, and felt a little comforted, and thought that there was no hope of receiving money tonight. Maybe God will open the way for me on Monday so that I can pay off my rent sooner rather than later. “Just as I was turning off the gas light, I heard the doctor’s footsteps ringing in the courtyard between the infirmary and his residence. He laughed and seemed to have encountered something very interesting.

He came in and called me to get the books, and told me that it was a bit strange that one of the very wealthy patients had just come to pay his bills! I never thought it would have anything to do with what I was facing, otherwise I would have been very embarrassed. From a bystander’s point of view, I also find this rich man’s approach a bit bizarre. He can pay his medical bills effortlessly at any time, so why should he pay his bills at 10 p.m.. This means that he probably can’t let go of this matter in his heart, and he has to pay off the medical bills at midnight.

“Dr. Hurdy took the book, wrote the receipt, and was about to leave, when suddenly he turned around and gave me some of the money he had just received, to my amazement and gratitude. He said, ‘Hudson Taylor, you take these bills first, I don’t have any change now, and I will pay you back the rest next week.’ Once again, I was left alone, and Dr. Hedy never noticed my mood change. I went back to my workshop and thanked God with joy, ‘I can probably go to China!'” I’m going to China after all. ”

Testimony…

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I felt that if I wanted to go to China, I had to train myself to trust in a faithful God. In March 1852, at the age of nineteen, Hudson Taylor, an impatient man full of ideals, wrote to his sister: “I think I am about to leave this country, and I do not know what God’s next direction is, but I feel that change is coming and that there are signs that I am ready to go on my way.” Pray for me that my faith will not be lost.” For Hudson Taylor, joining the mission in the foreseeable future would be difficult because all missions require mission staff to be ordained and have superior training.

So he planned to earn enough money to travel and set out for China, where he would look to God for provision. But the thought of having to work to save money made him impatient and unacceptable, so he continued to share another thought with his sister in the letter: “If I stay here for two more years and save fifty to sixty pounds before going to China, it will make no difference between finding the money while I go.” Within two years, at least 2.4 million people had died in the land…… In six to eight months, I should be able to speak a little Chinese.

If I could preach the truth of the gospel to a perishing sinner – then I would have to endure a four- to six-month journey. Hudson wanted to get a job as a doctor’s assistant on a ship, and if not that was possible, a sailor. Although he was willing to endure the hardships and sufferings that came with doing so, the prayers and counsel of his family, friends, and friends made him consider absorbing more knowledge before setting sail to the other side of the earth. Dr. Hedy was willing to take Hudson Dudson as an apprentice, but he wanted him to study for the next three years.

Hudson Taylor wanted to be a doctor, but he felt that he had to leave as soon as the opportunity came, so he had to decline the doctor’s good intentions. Soon, a few months after Hudson Taylor’s twentieth birthday, he decided to go to London to continue his medical studies. He was sure that he would not need to wait there long before he could make the trip. Hudson Taylor was determined to practice and strengthen his faith in ministry, so it was no longer important to raise more money for travel, to receive more knowledge, and even to train for a more mature life.

“I think that if you want to go to China, you have to train yourself to trust in a faithful God, and there is a golden opportunity ahead. “My dear father has offered to bear all my expenses in London, but his business has recently been losing money, and it will take great sacrifices to help me get there. I have recently begun to get acquainted with the members of the China Missionary Society, who have no idea of my father’s intentions and who are willing to take care of all my expenses in London. Overwhelmed when I received these two suggestions, I wrote to my father and the secretary of the committee, telling them that I needed a few days to pray and consider, and to share their suggestions with both parties.

Finally, after prayer, and under the guidance of the Lord, it became clear to me that I should not accept either kindness. The mission secretary did not know that I had decided to rely entirely on God’s provision, and my father would have thought that I had accepted help. I wrote to dismiss the kindness of both. I know that no one will worry about my needs anymore, that I am alone in God’s hands, and He knows my heart. If God were to encourage me to go to China, He would have given me the ability to rely fully on Him in England first.

Hudson received support from the Mission Society for his tuition at a London hospital, and he lived with his uncle in SoHo until he found a permanent home. In addition to these two aspects, this young man from a small town will have to pay for all the expenses of living in bustling London. Before leaving Hor, he wrote to his mother: “I can testify that the following golden verse is true: ‘You will keep him very safe with his steadfast heart because he trusts in him.'”

My mind was as calm as a thousand pounds in my pocket. May God keep me steadfast in my hope in His provision in all things temporal and spiritual. He wrote to his sister Ho Mei to inform her that he needed a job that would help him pay for his living expenses and give him time to study. “There wasn’t a good job in London, but I wasn’t in a hurry because he was ‘God yesterday, today, and ever.’ His mercy will not be broken, his words will never change, his power will remain, and everyone who trusts in him will be ‘very peaceful’: I realized that he strengthened my faith by love. May he be glorious, and I will be satisfied. Hudson Taylor felt that if his confidence did regress one day, he would rather be in England than in China.

So he continued to exercise his faith. He lived a simple life and relied solely on God’s provision. He once mentioned in a letter: “In order to save money, my cousin and I shared a room. We live about four miles from the hospital, and we are responsible for our own meals. After much research, I found that the most economical way to live is to satisfy my hunger with coarse wheat bread and water. In this way, I can use God’s provision for me as long as I can. Some expenses are unavoidable, but the cost of meals is completely in my control.

Walking home from the hospital every day, buying a twopence barley bread on the way would satisfy my two meals in the morning and evening, and two or three apples at noon, which was enough to provide me with the strength to walk eight or nine miles a day and frequent exchanges during my internship at the hospital. In the months that followed, Hudson Taylor’s endurance was put to the test. Although he was studying, he prayed constantly for God to open the door to China.

During this time, he contracted a malignant fever from the autopsy of a corpse and almost died. But what happened on the other side of the world not only wanted to rewrite Chinese history, but also made Hudson Taylor’s long-held dream a reality. In China, the Taiping revolt seemed to be in doubt, with their capital at Nanjing, while the Christian army occupied most of the provinces in the Central Plains and the north, and Beijing seemed to be about to fall into the hands of the rebels.

Hong Xiuquan, the leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, was so envious of the Christian faith that he wrote to an American missionary to the effect that “Send teachers, and let many teachers spread the truth.” When my career is successfully completed, I will spread the doctrine of God throughout the country so that all people can come unto the Lord and worship the one true God. This is what my heart desires. At this time, China, which has always been closed to self-control, seems to be about to open its doors to the messenger of Christ.

Churches across Europe and North America were thrilled with the opportunity, believing that this opportunity was too precious to be missed. To this end, a steady stream of donations rolled into the warehouses of various mission agencies to support various projects related to China. For example, the British Bible Society has an unprecedented intention of printing a million copies of the Chinese New Testament.

The missionary society, which had paid for Hudson Taylor’s tuition, decided to send two missionaries to Shanghai in the shortest possible time, one of whom was a surgeon of Scottish descent because he could not leave immediately, and the missionary thought that Hudson Taylor was a bachelor at the age of twenty-one, and that it would most likely be that he would be able to go immediately, even if it meant sacrificing the course of medicine and surgery he was studying. Hudson Taylor, though impatient and anxious to get on the road, was an easy decision to accept a missionary assignment.

He had worked with the China Missionary Society in the past, and he knew that as a missionary of the Society, he had to report to the mission and ask for instructions. Their intention was to send him to Shanghai, and what if God opened the way for him to go deep into Chinese mainland? He began to feel that God was calling him to go to Chinese mainland, places where Western missionaries had never set foot.

Now that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom seems to be gaining power, a great opportunity may be at this time. He began to look back on his original plan to go to China on his own, which was perhaps the most important one, and he had no other reliance but God. He consulted his family and friends on the matter and asked them to intercede for him. But after meeting one of the missionary secretaries, he wrote to his mother: “Mr. Bi solved most of my problems, and I decided to follow his advice and immediately recommend myself to the committee. I am still expecting you to pray for me and wait for your answer. If I accept the assignment and set out on my journey, do you suggest that I go home first? I look forward to seeing you again, and I am sure you will feel the same way. But it’s good that we don’t see each other because it’s the saddest thing to see each other and then be separated forever.

Oh, it won’t be forever!” “I can’t write anymore, I hope you will hear back to me soon.” Please pray for me more. It is easy to leave everything to the Lord, but when the test comes, we will be able to survive only when we are ‘perfected and perfected in Him.’ May God bless you and be with you, my dear Mother, and may God let you appreciate the preciousness of the Lord Jesus so that you may have nothing to ask for but to ‘know Him.'” His letter to his sister reads: “Pray for me, dear Homei, that God who has promised to give us all that we need may be with me in this long waiting day on the edge of pain.” Hudson Taylor finally decided: that he was leaving for China. He bought the ticket for the fastest departure.

At the Ocean Ship Dock in Liverpool, the brig “Dun Fatu” is moored for China. The small 470-ton boat had a passenger, so there was no crowd on the pier. Mr. Pearse, the representative of the mission, and Hudson Taylor’s father came to Liverpool to see him off, but the ship was delayed due to repairs, so they left without a long stay, leaving Hudson Taylor’s mother alone to watch him depart. Hudson Taylor later made the following notes about that exciting and sad experience: “On September 19, 1853, in the aft cabin of the ‘Dunfei VII,’ the members of the China Missionary Society held a simple mission meeting, especially for me.

“My beloved mother (now home) came to Liverpool to say goodbye to me. I will never forget that day, or how she followed me into the little cabin that would be my home for the next six months. My mother made my bed with her loving hand, then sat beside me and sang the last hymn before we parted. When we knelt down, my mother began to pray, and that was the last time I heard her prayer for her child before I left for China. Then the notice came down, the ship was about to set sail, and we broke up. We don’t dare to hope to see each other again in the world. To make me feel better, she tried to suppress her emotions as much as possible.

We broke up and she walked ashore and turned back to give me her blessing. I stood alone on the deck while she followed the ship forward in the direction of the locks. The ship passed through the locks, and at this moment we were separating. My mother’s heartfelt cry pierced me like a knife, and I will never forget it. It was then that I realized what it means to say that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. And I believe that my beloved mother will know more about God’s love now than she has ever comprehended!

“Parting is undoubtedly sad and painful, but the hardships of Hudson Taylor’s journey around the earth have only now begun. Before the ship reached the high seas, its voyage was in danger of being interrupted. For twelve days and nights, the Darmsfors was struck by storms in St. George’s Strait, sometimes toward Ireland and sometimes toward the treacherous shores of Wales. Hudson Taylor wrote of his journey: “All day on Saturday (September 24), the barometer was constantly falling. As night fell, the wind picked up again. On Sunday morning, the captain did not summon the sailors to listen to him read the prayer at the stern of the ship, as he had done all night.

In the afternoon, the wind blew harder, and all sails were taken in except for a few sails left for balancing. I handed out the leaflets to the crew and then went back to the cabin, and the boat was so jolting that I was dizzy.” The barometer is still falling, and the strong winds are intensifying and gradually turning into hurricanes. Both the captain and the first mate said they had never seen such a monstrous wave. At about two or three o’clock in the afternoon, I barely made it up to the deck. We saw the waves churning, the sea foaming at the foam, a large ship clinging to our stern, and another brig on our windy side. The big ship caught up, but drifted farther away from us. The waves crashed against the hull of the ship, threatening to swallow us at any moment, and the boat stubbornly withstood the wind and waves. Because the wind was strong and fierce, our ship did not move forward but followed the wind blowing from the west toward the shore. “‘Unless God helps us,’ said the captain, ‘we have no hope.'” I asked him how far it was from the coast of Wales. “‘About fifteen or sixteen miles,’ he replied. We have nothing else to do but hoist all the sails.

The more sails open, the less fast we drifted. This is a matter of life and death, pray that God will hold those masts. He spread two sails on each mast. “It was a horrible time. The wind was blowing so hard that our ship was pushed to and fro by the waves, and one moment it rose into the air, and the next it looked like an abyss into the sea. The windward side of the ship is raised high, while the downwind side is tilted very low, and in fact, the sea water is constantly pouring into the cabin from the downwind side. I stared at the sunset and thought, ‘Tomorrow you will rise the same, and as for us, unless God does great things for us, we and this ship may be nothing but splinters’ The night was very cold, the wind was bitter, and we kept going, and the rolling waves beat us through.

I walked back to the cabin, and after reading a hymn or two, a few psalms, and John 13-151, I felt so much better, and fell asleep. After sleeping for an hour, I got up and looked at the barometer and saw that it was rising. We passed by the lighthouse of Baitu Island, which is in the sea between Gardigan and Canawin Bay. I asked the captain if we would touch the reef at Cape Saint-Tatou. He replied, ‘It’s fine if our ship doesn’t change course, but if it drifts again, we’ll have to trust in God’s protection.’ ‘Our boat drifted with the waves—first the lighthouse of Cape Saint Tatu appeared on our bow, then on the side of the ship. Our fate seems to have been decided. I asked the captain if we had only two hours left, and the captain was noncommittal. The barometer is still rising, but it’s so slow that we can’t hope. I think of my beloved parents, my sister and my friends…… Tears began to roll down…… The captain was brave and calm, and he believed that his soul was in the hands of the Lord.

The cooks also say that they are insignificant and that the Lord alone is in charge of all things. I thank God for their faith, and at the same time I plead with God to deliver us because of the sailors who have not yet known Him, and He will do so for Her glory because He is a God who hears prayers. I remembered the words of the Bible: ‘Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver you.'” And thou shalt glorify me. ‘I plead with God to fulfill His promise.”” Our situation is truly precarious. That night the moon was shining, the night sky was clear, and the coast was visible. I walked back into the cabin. The barometer continued to rise, but the wind did not abate. I took out my notebook, wrote down my name and address, and thought to myself that if my body was washed up on land, someone would know who I was. I put a few things in a basket that might help me or someone else get in if it floated as I thought. Finally, I put my soul in God’s hands and asked God to remember all my relatives and friends who had visited me.

I pray that if God could, he would keep this bitter cup away from us. After praying, I returned to the deck. Satan attacked me, and I was terrified. But once again, the Lord quieted my heart. From that moment on, I firmly trusted in the Lord, and the Lord gave me peace and stability. I asked the captain if the lifeboat was useful in the midst of the storm? As for making rafts out of timber such as masts, it is too late. The sea is white, and the shore is ahead.’ We must change the direction of the ship,’ said the captain, ‘or it will be all over.’ When the ship turns, the sea water can wash everything on the deck into the sea…… But we still have to try…… ‘This moment will tremble even the most resolute and unyielding heart.’ As soon as the captain gave the order, we turned the ship out, but in vain. Doing so should add distance to our shores.

The captain gave another order to turn the ship in the other direction, and by God’s blessing we succeeded this time, and we were on the reef near the shore, about two hulls away. Just as we were getting out of danger, the wind turned slightly two degrees and we were finally able to successfully sail out of Canawin Bay. If the Lord does not help us in this way, all our efforts will be in vain. His mercy knows no bounds. “Hudson Taylor’s notebook is full of interesting experiences from his journey. His voyage was for the most part, except for occasional moments of excitement, for they had not set foot on land for twenty-three weeks. Hudson Taylor spent most of his time in the cabin reading and equipping himself. He also held sixty religious meetings for sailors, some of whom were very interested in what he had to say, and talked and prayed to him privately. To his disappointment, however, the sailors did not change their lives much, and none of them were willing to fully dedicate themselves to the Lord. The most inspiring and most powerful test of the voyage was the windless days in the South Pacific.

From morning to night, the ship remained still, and from dusk to sunrise, there was a slight evening breeze to help the voyage. Hudson Taylor wrote of those days: “On this sailing ship, there is no wind in the face of the four fields, and the boat drifts with the rapids towards the treacherous shore, how helpless it feels. Amid a storm, the ship can be more or less controlled, but in the absence of wind, people are only empty and anxious. The Lord must exercise great power. When we sailed about north of New Guinea, we experienced a crisis.

That Saturday night we were about thirty miles from land, and on Sunday morning at the deck worship, I noticed the captain looking over the ship from time to time with a worried face. After the worship, I learned from him the reason: the boat was being carried towards a reef by a current that was traveling at four knots. We’re so close that we’re probably going to hit the rocks before dusk. After lunch, the sampan was laid down, and all the men on board tried together to turn the bow of the ship and sail to the shore, but in vain. After standing quietly on the deck for a while, the captain said to me, ‘We have done all we can do, and now we are left to fate,’ and a thought suddenly crossed my mind, and I replied, ‘There is one thing we have not yet done.’ ”What is it?” he asked. Four of us are Christians. Let each of us return to our cabins and pray with one mind that the Lord will give us a fresh breeze at once. It was as easy for him to supply the wind now as it was at dusk. The captain agreed, and I went to the other two. After we prayed together, the four of us went back to the cabin to wait for God.

After a short but deep prayer, I felt that God had answered our prayers, and I knew I couldn’t ask any more, so I quickly returned to the deck. At this time, the commander was the first mate of the ship, who was a non-believer. I went over and asked him to lower the lower corner of the sail, or the corner of the mainsail, which had been opened, so that the sail and the rope would not flapping against each other. ‘What’s the benefit of that?’ he asked me rudely. I told him that we had asked God for the wind, and that the wind was coming soon, and that we were so close to the reef that we could not delay any longer. With a look of contempt, he cursed, saying that he would see the wind and not hear it. As he spoke, I followed his gaze and looked up at the tallest sail on the mast, and it was certain that the sail had begun to flutter in the breeze. ‘Isn’t the wind coming, look at the little sail!’ I shouted. No, it’s just an anchor claw (a fleeting breeze).

He insisted. ‘Anchor claw or not,’ I cried out, ‘I beg you to lower the mainsail quickly, so that we may take advantage of the wind!’ and he did it without delay. After a while, the captain heard the voices of people on the deck and stepped out of the cabin to see what was going on. Within a few minutes, we were breaking the waves at a speed of six or seven knots per hour, and although the wind was rising and stopping, there was still wind on and off before passing the island of Biru. Before I arrived in China, God encouraged me to bring all my needs to Him, trusting Him to be my immediate help in the name of Jesus. He will soon be put to a similar test again.

基督徒应有的十种财…

世界,物欲横流;世人,利欲熏心。“一切向钱看”,“没有永远的朋友,只有永远的利益”,“什么关系都靠不住,除了金钱关系”等类的话常被人挂在嘴边。在这样的时代,作为基督徒,应该具备怎样的财富意识呢?

1、 生命重于财富。

耶稣说过一句极其经典的话,“人若赚得全世界,赔上自己的生命,有什么益处呢?人还能拿什么换生命呢?”由此可见,生命是最珍贵的!“鸟为食亡,人为财死”,实乃没有智慧的悲凉。若忽视耶稣的这番教训与警戒的人,那么在他的人生中将有一场注定赔本的交易:前半生,用命换钱;后半生,用钱换命;到头来,人财两空。古往今来,这样的悲剧愈演愈烈,重蹈覆辙者屡见不鲜。

1922年,一群当时最成功的金融巨子在芝加哥湾海滩酒店聚首。二十世纪虽然有的是富豪巨贾,但这一群人的财势却不能不令人另眼相看。围坐在一张餐桌上的有:全球最大钢铁公司的总裁、最大公用事业的董事会主席、纽约证券交易所的主席、美国总统的一位阁员、国际开发银行总裁、华尔街最大的证券商、还有某个行业垄断企业的控制者。这些人所拥有的财富加起来,比美国财政部的还多。他们的发迹史无人不知,是许多人竞相仿效的对象。他们是美国财经与工商的巨擘。若干年后,钢铁公司总裁席瓦勃最后几年借债维生,死时一文不名;小麦市场最大投机商加顿破产死于异邦;纽约交易所主席费狄尼服刑辛辛那狄监-/ y u;总统阁员富尔系狱多年后获保释,后在家中死去。有“华尔街之熊”之称的李文摩尔,国际开发银行总裁佛兰兹,世界最大垄断企业的老总克鲁格,竟都相继自杀身亡!

当记念主耶稣的话说,“生命不在乎家道丰富”。

2、 财富的功能有限。

树立财富有限性意识,摒弃“财富无用论”和“财富万能论”。

物质与灵性对立的二元神学思想导致贬低作为物质的财富,认为越穷越属灵,这种忽略文化使命的观念会使得社会停留在原始阶段,使得教会被现代社会推到越发“边缘”的境地。基督徒要亲手创业,创造财富,贡献社会,对社会产生影响力。

但财富万能、金钱至上的意识也是不当有的。人生价值也不是仅由财富来衡量的。人不能单为赚取财富而活着。我们不贬低财富的作用,但也不高抬财富的价值。

财富有价值,能发挥功能,但作用的有限性是事实。财富可买到豪宅,但不能买家庭。财富可买到绝好的象牙床,但不能买到绝好的睡眠。财富可买美食,但买不到健康。财富可买真品,但买不到真心。财富可买到娱乐,但买不到幸福。有人采访华尔街100个很有钱的老板,超过90人说自己不幸福。幸福、永生、真爱等都不是财富能换取的。

3、 财富是上帝的恩赐。

传5:19 说,“神赐人资财丰富,这乃是上帝的恩赐。”圣经又说,“上帝所赐的福使人富足,但并不加上忧虑。”财富不是万恶之根。贪财才是万恶之根。问题不在“财”字上而在“贪”字上。财富不是罪,否则圣经就不会有奉献财物归给上帝,积财在天的教导。

4、 君子爱财,取之有道。

爱钱也可不失君子风骨,关键在于生财之道光明正大。圣经说,“亲手作正经事业”(弗4:28)。不贪财、不投机、不冒险。不可盲目投资,不可拼命挣钱。弃绝急速发财(箴28:20)、一夜暴富的财富意识,“要谨慎,免去一切的贪心”(路12:51)。不偷窃、不欺诈,不求“不义之财”(箴16:8),宁舍弃财富,不可舍弃信用;宁舍弃性命,不可没有见证。不求不劳而得之财,比如受贿赂、拿回扣。圣经说,“不劳而得之财,必然消耗;勤劳积蓄的,必见加增”(箴13:11)。“安静作工,吃自己的饭”(帖后3:12),手勤饭饱、勤劳致福,幸福坦然。因此基督徒赚取财富需要合乎圣经明训,合法合情合理地赚取。

行文至此,顺带提一下基督徒参与直销的事情。“中国直销是指中国直销企业在我国境内招募中国公民为直销员,在供需双方自愿平等的情况下,由直销员在固定零售营业场所之外直接向最终消费者推销直销企业产品的经销方式。”正规的直销公司最终面对是消费者,以长期向顾客销售优质产品作为利润的主要来源。这在《直销管理条例》有明文规定。直销企业经过审批、获得了合法资格,方可以开展直销业务,是一种合法的经营活动,是一种可以减少流通环节的营销方式。但传销却是一种国家明令禁止的违法的欺诈活动。《禁止传销条例》规定,“传销”是指组织者或者经营者,以其直接或者间接发展的人员数量或者销售业绩为依据计算和给付报酬,或者要求被发展人员以交纳一定费用为条件取得加入资格等方式牟取非法利益。由于直销的交易方式隐蔽、参与人员相对分散,一些不法分子便以直销为幌子,进行传销行为。致使有人在受限的时间空间里分不清直销与传销。因此须谨慎智慧地多方考察与仔细询问。如果有人拉你参与销售产品,你也可以拨打当地工商和公安部门的电话进行咨询,看看是否合法。还有就是不要在教堂内开展产品销售业务,不要将推销产品和传福音同步进行。要实事求是地推销,不要夸大其词,更不要以基督徒信仰作为产品质量信誉担保。

再提下基督徒购买股票的事情。近年来,中国政zh i稳定、经济繁荣,上市企业有不少优质股,民众认购股票态势火爆行动积极,全国上下几近“全民炒股”之势。基督徒作事有些原则要持守:荣耀神、造就人、不受事情的辖制而不能自拔。由于股票价格要受到诸如公司经营状况、供求关系、银行利率、大众心理等多种因素的影响,其波动有很大的不确定性。价格波动的不确定性越大,投资风险也越大。因此,股票是一种高风险的金融产品。购买股票,不可有贪心,不应借钱买股。中国股市是政策股市,中国不少的上市公司是国家控股,牛市熊市的变换是会受到国家相关政策的变化的影响,这些变化不能影响干扰到你日常的灵修、侍奉、工作、学习、生活,若不能持守以上前提条件,最好不要参与炒股。基金虽不同于股票,但有一点是相同的就是都有收益波动、有投资风险,只不过没股票风险大。基本没有风险的是国债,约定按期还本付息,利息免税,收益稳定。

5、 不要羡富,更不要仇富。

使人富足或贫穷的主权在上帝手中。上帝将大量的财富放在有忠心有见识(有理财能力与智慧)的义人手里。纵然有罪人控财之时,但终必“罪人为义人积存资财”(箴13:22),圣经明记上帝曾完成几次财富大翻转:埃及的国库粮食财富为宰相约瑟积聚管理,以色列民在摩西带领下出埃及时将埃及大量财物带走,统一王国昌盛之时四方各国将财富进贡所罗门。财富终为义人管理,这是财富的所有者——上帝定规的计划。

在很多时候都会出现这样一个状况,领“五千”的人不多,领“二千”的较多,领“一千”的最多。不要羡富,上帝是按着我们各人的能力,因在“小事”上忠心的人,才有资格管理“大事”,上帝不会把过多的财富给我们,免得不能作出正确的使用。更不要仇富,“多给谁,就向谁多取;多托谁,就向谁多要”(路12:48)。所求于我们的就是忠心管理从上帝所领受的财富,充分发挥其价值就好。

此外在这里要提到的是,“有的还要加给他,没有的连他所有也要夺去”的“马太效应”,需要加上另一句经训才不致出现贫富悬殊、基尼系数变大的状况,“叫你有余,可以分给那缺少的人”。人的确需要信仰的动力促使他在有余之时,去践行“分给那缺少的人”,一部分人在“先富起来”时,去践行“帮助大部分人后富起来”,这样才达成“共富”,达成和谐。

6、 我们是财富的受托者,上帝是财富的所有者。

最高的主权不在我们,最终的所有权也不在我们这里,不要说“财富是我的”,我们赤身而来,也要两手空空离世。因此,准确地说,上帝把财富托付给我们管理,或者说我们从他那里借来,将来向他交帐。我们是上帝财产的管家。上帝信任我们能忠心又智慧地理财。我们理财唯一指导原则就是:耶稣会怎么做?用这样的问题严肃地问自己,然后严格地依照问题的答案执行。

7、 财富是好仆人,也是坏主子。

马丁路德说,“人可以拥有财物,但必须懂得善于管理,做财物的主人。”使用财富,但不可被财富使用。那又该如何使用呢?波金斯曾指出应将财富分配在以下七个方面上以发挥其最大功能:神的荣耀、灵魂的得救、维持我们良好的产业、我们家人亲属的好处、帮助穷人、支持教会、支持国家。财富要达成这七个目的,不能专顾自己,不可用财富满足自己的放纵享乐炫耀自负等私欲。要顾及“我家”、“神家”、“国家”、“天家”。

8、 富贵不能淫,贫贱不能移。

约伯就是这样的人。在大富大贵之时,不忘敬畏上帝,远离恶事,完全正直。在落魄窘困之时,仍没有“弃掉”神,继续保持自己的纯正。约瑟也是这样的人,在深得主人的信任与器重之时,没有轻慢主母,没有得罪上帝;在被诬蔑成为阶下囚时,仍没有改变自己的信仰,毫无怨尤地笃信上帝;当成为万人之上、一人之下的宰相,财富无数之时也没有穷奢极侈,没有纵情声色,没有挥霍无度。相反,以宽广怜悯之心解救埃及与周边各国百姓出离于饥荒之危。

人生多有变幻,时处河东,时处河西,贫富不定。故不可依靠在无定的财富上。甘贫乐道者会对着空米缸唱三一颂,没有仇富心理,没有埋怨暴怒,依然信心满怀地仰赖厚赐百物给人的神,深信天无绝人之路,耕耘者终有收获,喂养以利亚的乌鸦今天依然在天上飞,一只麻雀上帝尚且顾念,何况比麻雀贵重多的人呢?上帝定必顾念。即或不然,就和着约伯在一无所有时的歌颂唱道:“赏赐的是耶和华,收取的是耶和华,耶和华的名是应当称颂的。”财富意识确能反映一个人的属灵光景,能反映一个人内在品质。在贫贱之时,不为五斗米折腰,此乃大丈夫气节也。不受几枚硬币的指使而去出卖良心,出卖真理,卖主卖友,失去自己的立场,失去当有的原则,失去应有的道德操守。想得三十块钱就去卖主的犹大、想得几套衣服就谎称主人之意的基哈西,就是引以为戒的反面教材。

有话说,“饥寒起盗心,饱暖思淫欲”。虽说“仓廪食则知礼节”,但当人“仓廪食”时也会有不知礼节之可能,当人饥寒交迫时就会有挺而走“邪”之可能。智慧者祈祷道,“求你使虚假和谎言远离我。使我也不贫穷,也不富足,赐给我需用的饮食。恐怕我饱足不认你,说,耶和华是谁呢?又恐怕我贫穷就偷窃,以致亵渎我神的名。”(箴30:8-9)为此要有一定量的财富积存,不多也不少,使我们不贪也不偷。至于存款比例可参照宰相约瑟20%的存粮比例。

9、尽赚、尽积、尽施。

这是约翰·卫斯理提出的财富意识,完整地说就是,“尽你所能赚钱,尽你所能节省,尽你所能奉献”。

天道酬勤,上帝不帮助懒惰的人。不能“坐吃山空”,“因为好酒贪食的,必致贫穷。好睡觉的,必穿破烂衣服”。(箴23:21)为了避免“你的贫穷,就必如强盗速来,你的缺乏,仿佛拿兵器的人来到。”(箴24:34),要提高自己的综合素质,积极装备,勤奋学习,挖掘潜能,踏实工作,赚得财富,改善经济状况,提高生活质量。这事无可厚非。财富是劳碌得来的,不是馅饼从天而落的美梦中得来的。

有人说,有钱是赚的,不是省出来的。但又有话说,“勤俭持家”。“勤”加上“俭”方是持家之道。“俭以养德”的古训至今不变。今日构建节约型社会,实现可持续发展,不能滥用、不能浪费,提倡简单、简朴生活是很有必要的。很多的时候,因为虚荣攀比贪婪等私欲的干扰,人不能分清自己的需要和想要,错把奢侈品当成必需品来追求,为此,倾囊、透支、贷款、负债消费来满足私欲。“我买故我在”的消费时代里,以购买力作为自身价值的衡量标准,于是乎衣食住行必买名牌、求高档。到头来,反被物役。要注重在生命中培植圣灵所结的九样果子之最后一样就是节制。浪漫不要浪费,享受不要享乐。

我们将节省积存的财富“尽施”。因“施比受更为有福”(徒20:35)。生命的法则是上帝祝福那些舍弃生命和财物的人。紧抓不放,你就会失去;献给上帝,你就会得着。圣经说,“有施散的,却更增添”(箴11:24)。这是世界上最古老而又看似矛盾的箴言,不过它却行之有效。除了什一奉献归神之外,还应乐捐帮助有需要的人。我们常计算奉献的代价,却不去算算不奉献的代价。“怜悯贫穷的,就是借给耶和华。他的善行,耶和华必偿还。周济贫穷的,不致缺乏。佯为不见的,必多受咒诅。”为此,你不可攥着手,要松开手,“在好事上富足,甘心施舍,乐意供给人,为自己积成美好的根基,预备将来,叫我们持定那真正的生命”。美国慈善家清教徒卡耐基说,“那些遗留下巨额财富而不在有生之年将之奉献出去的人,会受到民众的唾弃”。石油巨子洛克菲勒说,“死而富有,是种耻辱。”若“尽赚”、“尽积”而不“尽施”,就定会成为葛朗台式的守财奴,为人嗤笑。

10、持守什一奉献。

新约的捐献制度以什一奉献为起点。换言之,应该超过什一。新约经训的标准没有低于旧约。耶稣来不是废掉律法,乃是成全律法。怎么成全的?人不是靠守全律法而称义,而是靠基督那满足了全律法要求的义而称义。简单说,我们人不能靠守全律法而靠恩典称义。但这并不表示赖恩称义的我们可以废掉律法了,比如旧约定规的什一奉献,耶稣来就没有废掉。

耶稣曾责备假冒为善者说,“你们将薄荷、茴香、芹菜,献上十分之一,那律法上更重的事,就是公义、怜悯、信实,反倒不行了。这更重的是你们当行的;那也是不可不行的”(太23:23)。这里耶稣明说,“献上十分之一”是“不可不行的”,只是公义、怜悯、信实之事更为重要。什一之事就算是“次要”,也不能不要。文士和法利赛人尚能行什一,我们岂不当更甚?圣经要求,我们的义要胜于文士和法利赛人的义。基督奉献自己生命给我们,“他是爱我,为我舍己”,这样的大爱激励我们,“将身体献上,当作活祭”,全人(包括身心灵、财富、才智、时间等)奉献在主前,这也是理所当然的。倘若身外之物的金钱的十分之一都不肯献上,“将身体献上”就是虚谎就是空谈。但愿我们按着各人的力量,或者过了力量地奉献,在这之前,照神的旨意先把自己献给主。唯愿上帝赐给马其顿众教会的恩也赐给我们,显出乐捐的厚恩,使我们甘心乐意地再三恳求地(林后8:1-5)为上帝和他的福音“费财费力”(林后12:15)

恩典见证 34.金…

音频 3 分钟

巴尔的摩。离我家不远的一个社区学院的游泳池边,几个十几岁的女孩站在池边等待比赛哨响。哨声一响,女孩们如箭离弦,齐刷刷地跃入水中。其中一位金发碧眼的女孩刚进水中就比其他人落后了一截。但是几秒钟以内,她奋力赶上了前面的人,然后超出、冲刺,到终点线的时候,她把所有对手都甩在了后面。女孩们从泳池里出来,重新站在池边。这时候你才注意到那个游得最快、脸上带着甜美笑容的女孩明显与众不同——其他女孩都是身体健全的孩子,而这位女孩却是没有膝盖以下两边双腿都没有的残障人!朗杰茜(Jessica Long,杰茜卡-朗) – 2004年伤残人奥运会(残奥会)三项游泳比赛金牌得主、残奥会两项纪录和美国多项纪录保持者、美国多项最佳运动员奖获奖者、2008年北京残奥会有望获得多枚奖牌的美国游泳队主力队员。

杰茜卡跟同样来自巴尔的摩的奥运美国游泳队男明星菲尔普斯(Micheal Phelps)一样是本地居民的骄傲。

对很多美国人,特别是青少年和残障人士来说,杰茜卡跟海伦凯勒一样是一个给他们带来感动和激励的榜样和英雄。

杰茜卡出生在寒冷荒凉的西伯利亚的一个边远小城。她生下来就没有腓骨、脚髁和脚跟,脚上的其它骨头也都没有。

杰茜卡18个月的时候,在美国做了双腿截肢手术。然后医生给她安上了假肢。

很小的时候,杰茜卡就开始学体操、学篮球,大一点了,她也爱上溜冰、保龄球和攀岩。

无论是朗爸爸朗妈妈还是杰茜卡自己,当接受采访说到杰茜卡的成就的时候,都会说这完全是上帝的恩典,一切的荣耀归给上帝。

尽管看上去用没有小腿的膝头站在池边正给她带来痛楚,女孩脸上仍然显出若无其事的微笑。戴上假肢,她几乎可以跟常人一样行走自如,样子看上去跟一个普通的邻家女孩并没什么不同。认识女孩的人说,她平时确实就是个典型的美国高中女生,喜欢用iPod听音乐、上网看MySpace、看电视剧、穿漂亮裙子、吃中国菜和披萨。她会跟家里的兄弟姐妹玩闹,有时还会给他们做吃的。她梦想有一天能当模特儿。她的T恤衫上写着“我是个女孩。我也是个运动员。”然而这个今年只有16岁的金发少女有一般同龄人没有的成熟、坚毅,也有一般同龄人没有的辉煌成就。她就是朗杰茜(Jessica Long,杰茜卡-朗)——2004年伤残人奥运会(残奥会)三项游泳比赛金牌得主、残奥会两项纪录和美国多项纪录保持者、美国多项最佳运动员奖获奖者、2008年北京残奥会有望获得多枚奖牌的美国游泳队主力队员。

对很多马里兰人来说,杰茜卡跟同样来自巴尔的摩的奥运美国游泳队男明星菲尔普斯(Micheal Phelps)一样是本地居民的骄傲;对很多美国人,特别是青少年和残障人士来说,杰茜卡跟海伦凯勒一样是一个给他们带来感动和激励的榜样和英雄。随着2008北京残奥会的临近(残奥会跟奥运会在同一时间、同一城市举行),杰茜卡也更多地被媒体和大众关注。谈到自己的辉煌战绩和各样的荣誉,杰茜卡对媒体说,她最感谢的,是她的父母和上帝。

谈到自己的残障,杰茜卡坦承没有双脚游泳很难,自己不仅要比正常人付出多得多的力量、忍受剧烈的疼痛,而且常常要面对他人对她的残障的注意。即使是大人,也常常会盯着她看。一些不懂事的小孩子,更会出声议论甚至嘲笑她。很多时候,杰茜卡也会觉得做一个优秀的残障人运动员实在是太苦、太难了。但是她说她的信仰给了她安慰和力量。在她的个人网站http://www.jessicalong.org上,她写道:“我是一名基督徒。在我还很小的时候,我的父母就教我耶稣怎样为我牺牲。”杰茜卡的父母懂得什么是牺牲的爱。他们不是她的亲生父母。

1992年,杰茜卡(出生时的名字叫塔提安娜-契丽诺娃)出生在寒冷荒凉的西伯利亚的一个边远小城。她生下来就没有腓骨、脚髁和脚跟,脚上的其它骨头也都没有。她的亲生父母无法接受这个残障的婴孩。她和她也有残障(兔唇)的哥哥被送进了条件欠佳、缺乏护理人员的孤儿院。

1992、1993年,在远隔重洋的美国,巴尔的摩,公务员朗先生和他的太太正在为领养孩子祷告。这对夫妇自己当时已经有两个孩子。跟很多到中国领养被弃女婴的美国人一样,朗氏夫妇也是基督徒。上帝把到前苏联地区领养被遗弃的婴儿的感动放在这对夫妇心里。

杰茜卡13个月的时候,朗氏夫妇来到西伯利亚小城的孤儿院,他们马上爱上了小杰茜卡和她的哥哥。他们把杰茜卡和她哥哥一起收养,带回美国。朗氏夫妇选择收养两个残障婴儿,当然不是因为他们不知道这需要何等的舍己、牺牲、付出。但是他们愿意把生命倾倒出来,像养育自己亲生的儿女一样养育杰茜卡和她哥哥。王怡在影评里说:“收养的意思,就是把自己的生命、财富和继承权,拿出来与陌生人分享”。若不是被基督舍己、牺牲的爱激励,朗氏夫妇不会这样做。杰茜卡18个月的时候,在美国做了双腿截肢手术。然后医生给她安上了假肢。两岁的杰茜卡戴上假肢以后,不用大人教,自己就走起路来。朗爸爸和朗妈妈在心里感动得要命:走路,对于一般人来说,是最平常不过的上帝给予的能力,但是杰茜卡这个他们的宝贝女儿,生下来就是残障,今天却能在地上自由行走,这是上帝额外的恩典。

笑嘻嘻的小杰茜卡不只是喜欢走路。从小她就表现出对运动的喜爱和天赋。她喜欢奔跑、跳跃(特别是在蹦床上腾跃),喜欢各样的运动。很小的时候,她就开始学体操、学篮球,大一点了,她也爱上溜冰、保龄球和攀岩。但直到十岁那年,她才在爷爷家后院的游泳池学会了游泳。很快,人们就发现她的游泳特别厉害(她的手臂和上身力量特别超人),跟同龄的正常人同池比赛,她都能比别人游得更快。很快,她就被选进巴尔的摩市以至马里兰州的伤残人运动队。

2004年,年仅十二岁的杰茜卡入选美国国家队参加雅典残奥会,成为历史上最年轻的残奥会运动员,并且奋力夺得三枚金牌。一夜之间,这个十二岁的小姑娘成为媒体争相报道的体育明星,鲜花、赞美、各样的荣誉,都接踵而来。但杰茜卡一点都没有给人被宠坏的感觉。杰茜卡从小就在家里接受教育(父母自己“家教”,home-schooling),到现在也还是这样。美国的奥运或残奥运动员都是业余运动员,所有费用都需要自己筹集。有时遇到大赛,还需要在外地住旅馆、集中训练,会有很大的开销。

朗爸爸和朗妈妈是工薪阶级,不是什么富豪,很多时候,杰茜卡需要的费用都得自己(通过网站等)募集。无论是朗爸爸朗妈妈还是杰茜卡自己,当接受采访说到杰茜卡的成就的时候,都会说这完全是上帝的恩典,一切的荣耀归给上帝。杰茜卡确实是一个蒙上帝眷爱的女孩。残奥会就要开战,杰茜卡就要在北京向世人展现她的甜美笑容和运动天赋了。我在心里为这个不一般的“邻家女孩”和基督里的小姐妹祷告,愿上帝给她信心、力量,再次以优异的成绩和见证荣耀上帝。

汤兰花的璀璨人生(…

汤兰花的璀璨人生(一)

汤兰花,华人演艺界的一代巨星。

舞台上风光亮丽,落幕后伤心孤寂。

漫漫长夜,颠沛流离.

她的人生又怎样重新绚丽?

汤兰花,从《负心的人》到《一代佳人》的时代巨星。

汤兰花,台湾阿里山来吉村邹族人,原住民的名字是优路娜娜·丹妮芙,父母是原住民,她的母亲有一副好歌喉,也因此成为她童年的歌唱老师。

十七岁时,汤兰花上台北参加台市第二届全国歌唱比赛,以及正声电台歌唱比赛,都荣获冠军,也因此进入了演艺圈。

十八岁时,以电影《负心的人》一炮而红,风靡台湾、香港、全东南亚,并获得亚洲影展最受欢迎新人奖,从一个山里来的小女孩摇身一变,成为国际级的大巨星。

《负心的人》之后,汤兰花拍了三十余部电影,唱片也灌了十余张。二十五岁时嫁给交往七年从事教职的应家东,三年的婚姻生活因为应家东经商失败,为他背书当人头的汤兰花远走香港、东南亚避债。1979年复出,在东南亚各地走唱,1982年返台拍摄电视连续剧《一代佳人》,汤兰花主演并主唱,再创演艺事业高峰。《一代佳人》之后,她又主演了《蓝与黑》、《唐明皇外传》,再创演艺事业高峰。1992年之后,从事传销事业,以无比的热情和坚毅打造辉煌璀璨的事业第二春。

汤兰花,一个在七八十年代红透半边天,让千万影迷永远怀念的一代佳人!

一夜成名

朋友们,大家好。我是汤兰花。

我演《负心的人》这部戏时是十七岁,其实要说怎么拍戏,我也不知道,当时都不知道为什么会去拍,但我现在明白了。我自己本身也没有演过戏,那天的导演戏演了之后,他告诉我,其实那一次他们邀请我演这部戏,他们把整个剧本里最难的部分,第一天的戏就拍这场戏,如果我演不好的话,就可以很快换人了。对我是很大的挑战,可是当时我不知道。所谓最难的一部分是哪一部分呢?因为当时我十七岁,要演一个妈妈,带着一个孩子,很舍不得要把孩子送给人家。我没谈过恋爱,也没有生过孩子,这样的一个情形你根本很难去演,只好用这种想像,没想到这场戏演的时候,导演就说OK了。这部戏就继续在演了。其实我不会演戏,大概就是比较自然,去想像,若你谈恋爱,做了妈妈被遗弃,你的心情是怎么样,用这种方式去想像去演。

当时去到越南的时候,警察还得用催泪弹把围拢的群众驱散,其实年轻什么也不懂,只会觉得看到这个场面会有个问号:为什么?后来才明白,因为戏在那边演,受到很多人的喜爱,所以我去的时候才会造成这样的轰动。可是当时我去的时候,却不明白为什么是这样子,摩托车和摩托车是很贴近的,前面稍有刹车的话,整个后面都倒下来。当时华人,越南人都有。

我的名字优路娜娜·丹妮芙,是爸爸妈妈取的,优路娜娜是我们的姓,丹妮芙是我的名字吧。汤兰花是我的中文名,本名。可能因为我们小时候生长在山里,山上有很多这种兰花。我是在阿里山谷底长大的,四面环山,看不到外面的世界。其实阿里山里面很多的原住民都长得很漂亮,我只是其中很普通的一个。我母亲会唱歌,我想生长在山里的每一个人都会唱歌,因为生在深山里,没有什么其它的事可以做,除了做农,开垦,我想最好的娱乐大概就是大家自然而然哼些歌来。我小时候特别喜欢面对瀑布(山上很多的瀑布),找一个瀑布,声音比较大一点的,我就面对瀑布练声音或唱歌,为了要比赛哪个声音比较大,我们会一直练到声音压过瀑布的声音。我们那个年代生长在深山里是没有鞋子穿的,没有水电的,没有车子,所有所有都要走路的,可是我觉得很好,享受大自然,被磨炼得身体也比较好一点。

美丽的回忆

这几十年来,十七岁一炮而红,从此以后的人生就开始完全不一样,就离开阿里山,到了台北。回首过去这十几年成长的环境的时候,我觉得我生长的地方虽然听起来是非常的原始,不过那种跟大自然生活的感觉是很好的,大家很纯朴,你根本不要防任何人,因为大家都是很诚实的,甚至晚上睡觉门可以打开的,也不怕别人偷你的东西,有好东西就跟大家一起分享。我蛮想念小时候的生长环境,虽然很苦,可是我觉得那种苦是磨练一个人,当然我最怀念还是家人。

这么多年以来,我觉得非常感恩,谢谢上帝,因为我发现一个生命其实上帝祂是有做一些的安排,让我觉得不可思议的。从深山里一夜之间可以因为参加歌唱比赛,歌唱比赛的参与,也是因为陌生人的推荐,不是我要的,我当时要只是一个好奇的心。后来才想到上帝是用《负心的人》来建立一种知名度,所以当后来年纪越来越大,回顾自己的人生会觉得一切都有上帝的安排在这里边。

我小时候离开生长的地方,因为母亲希望我长大以后,能够稍微学一学农业的事情,所以我考取到了一个当时在台湾还不错的农校,母亲是希望我读农校毕业之后,回去继续种田。没想到在学校毕业的前一年,就遇到一个台北的社团在我们学校办活动,那时候刚好我被学校选为篮球队队员,我参加这个篮球队,这个社团他们要办一个晚会,就邀请我们篮球队员参加,但是每一个人都要唱一首歌。我唱了一首英文歌,他们团长就听到,问我要不要到台北,我们乡下人当然很向往大都会,他问我要不要到台北,心里当然是很想要,可是我总是要问我妈妈可不可以去。这样认识了淡江大学的林老师,后来到台北,他就帮我报名。所以这个人物的出现,其实我觉得是上帝的安排,无缘无故怎么会遇到这个人。遇到林老师之后,就参加歌唱比赛,一下子人生就不一样了。

家人信主的经历

那个年代没有什么山地姑娘做明星或是做歌星,当时在台湾来讲,是一个很大的震撼。可是我妈妈觉得这个是上帝给你的,她一直告诉我:这是上帝的恩典,不是你,我们在乡下生长,你也没学过唱歌,也没演过戏,我妈妈一直叫我一定要看《圣经》,要去教会。可是年轻的心都想玩,到台北当然要玩,自己越来越觉得是不是因为我自己有能力,有才华,所以人就慢慢有些傲慢起来。

我父母是很虔诚的基督徒,但是刚开始的时候我家里不信主的,我还记得小时候我一生病,妈妈就会邀请隔壁的女巫替我们治病,印象很深刻,她会拿一些什么菜敷到我全身,那个女巫就拿一个树枝,沾点水往我身上洒。我记得小时候家里没什么人信主,但是我们家的信主开始是从我没有见过面的大姐开始。我们家弟兄姊妹九人,我是第八个。大姐非常奇妙的,她自己那时候在读高中,她是我们家最聪明的,她读书很好,在学校都是第一名、第二名的,那时候山地姑娘能到城里去读书是不简单的,我妈妈有时候常常讲起她,就引以为傲。后来大姐对我母亲说,她七月七号要到很远的地方。我母亲说,到哪里?她说,反正很远。妈妈说,那还可以再回来。她说,那个地方不可以再回来。之后姐姐就生病了,那时候家里很穷,生病也没钱看医生,她又非常孝顺。后来我大姐七月七号就过世了。她是怎么知道七月七号的呢?她是唯一我们家第一个信耶稣的,她生病的时候,其实我才一岁,我自己本身也是一个重病,我母亲谈到这个的时候,常常很伤心。我大姐对妈妈说,对不起,我没办法孝顺你,不过我大概二十年左右,我一定回来报答你的。这个有点难懂,我妈妈后来很相信,她认为当时大姐所说的话回来报恩,就是我可以一夜成名。这是我母亲后来告诉我的。我们家第一个信耶稣的就是我大姐,可惜没见过面。

慢慢地我母亲就去了教会,后来我父亲也去了,但是小孩子年轻,心像石头一样硬,还取笑,可是现在我大哥是很虔诚的基督徒。有时候年轻时很多事情总觉得年轻,有自己的想法,总会有些傲慢,慢慢经历神的爱的时候,人就会改变了。我年轻的时候心总也是自以为是。

成名后

我成名后,走到哪里,大家一看到都会让照相签名,刚开始会很开心,有人喜欢你,我常开玩笑说,深山里只有动物喜欢我,人少嘛。后来觉得好多人喜欢,虚荣心总是有的,渐渐地越来越多的时候造成一些不方便,我会为他们着想,觉得因为他喜欢你,才会有这样的骚扰,如果不喜欢你,理都不理你。

拍《负心的人》成名后,一共拍了三十几部影片,也灌了十几张唱片,后来1982年拍的《一代佳人》再创事业高峰之后,《蓝与黑》、《杨贵妃》这几部的影片也算得上是经典,为什么拍的这几部影片会成为经典之作,有一些其它的影片就不一定能够像这么红,其中的原因是什么呢?

说实在,我也不是非常聪明的人。我觉得上帝有时候路都给你铺好了,像《一代佳人》这部戏怎么来的,可能还要回头讲。拍完《负心的人》,拍了三十五部戏,然后就结婚,结婚就遇到我人生最大的谷底。在逃难的期间,有一个日本人看到我的照片,就邀请我到日本拍了两年的广告,广告非常轰动,然后又回到香港,有一个台湾的制作人看到我一张海报,邀请我回到台湾,拍了有生以来第一部电视剧《一代佳人》。

在逃难期间有很多的挫折、困难,以及要挑战的一些人事物,但回头想起来,这些事情也是对我的磨练,因为我是一个很单纯的人,从乡下拍戏,然后从天上掉到谷底的感觉,婚姻的失败,一下子从有到一无所有。在香港的那段期间,真的是让我看到了这原来是很残酷的事实,残酷的世界,你必须要起来,不能像以前一样很单纯很、纯真地去面对。我觉得要感谢主,很多的事情我遇到的人、事、物对我都是加分的,包括事情的问题、发生也是一个加分的。所以我认为当时拍这部影片会再创事业的高峰,是因为增加了许多人生的历练。

还有一个原因,我自己本身是要求很严的,我要做一件事,我必须要做到一百分,至少我的行动要做到,万一成果没有一百分,没关系,我已经尽力了。所以在演戏的过程,我很要求我自己,包括在服装上面,那个年代并没有经纪人,这样我们什么都自己做,所以会懂得这一些。可能现代的人都有很好的经纪人,他只要负责演出就好了,可是他没有遇到那种复杂的情况下要怎么去面对,怎么去处理。因为人生的历练越来越丰富,所以电影里表现就会不一样。

汤兰花的璀璨人生(二)

个性纯真

昨天谈到因着17岁时参加全国歌唱比赛,拿到了电视台和广播电台两个冠军,所以就一炮而红,就被邀请去拍电影。因为当时比赛是现场直播,当场就有很多制作人看到了我,马上就打电话到电视台找我,由我哥哥去处理,因为我什么都不懂,其实哥哥懂得也不多,但是总是有个亲人去帮我处理会比较好,就这样接拍了第一部戏。

当年也有很多人看到青春靓丽的我以后想请我去夜总会、酒吧等地方,但是我都一一的婉拒了,演艺圈很复杂,当时全家人都很为我担心,害怕单纯的我进了一个大染缸不知道会怎么样,很担忧,后来母亲就跟我约法三章:进入演艺圈可以,但是第一个,不能够饮酒抽烟;然后就是不要把自己搞得乱七八糟等等很多的条件,我全部答应了。

后来进入演艺圈后,很多人都告诉我说,我实在不适合演艺圈这个地方,又单纯,什么都不懂,又善良,都认为我不适合,我本身对自己也立下诺言:就是我妈妈不希望我做的事情,我自己是不会去做的。我也不太喜欢去像夜总会之类的复杂地方,我喜欢一个人,我希望保有我本来的纯真,当然因着保有这样的纯真天真善良,所以在人生的路上难免受到伤害。比如,我去台北,我乡下出生的,在大台北是没有朋友的,我第一次所接触的朋友居然会把我的纯真拿走,把我的钱给偷走了,我就不敢相信好朋友会用这种方式对我,我觉得不可思议,因为对于我们乡下人来说,大家都很善良,单纯,不可能去伤害别人,甚至去偷人东西,这样的事情是绝对不可能发生的,所以我发觉我应该注意点了,与人相处很多地方和我想象的并不一样。

当然后来还是不断遇到这样的事情,其实不能单纯的怪别人,很多时候都是我们本身允许别人发生这样的事情。比如我的婚姻,真的也是很单纯,当我要进入婚姻的时候,其实那也是我在一生中一直在追求的一种向往和憧憬,年轻人都想自己成为公主王子,从今往后过着幸福美满的日子,所以都去结婚。结婚也没有什么选择,只要两个人相爱就可以了,当年我26岁结婚,和我先生交往六七年,大概十九、二十来岁的时候就认识了,当年是正要参加一个在印尼的活动,我不认识什么人,但是我要做衣服,有个明星就介绍了一个专门为人做衣服的地方给我,我就去到了那里,就认识了老板,当然并不是一见钟情,他其实是在学校教书的老师,之后和朋友合伙看了个服装店。大概认识了半年后,有时他会电话我,慢慢的会一起出去吃饭,当时其实根本不懂恋爱是什么,只是觉得喜欢这个人,是因为他长得感觉像爸爸一样,觉得非常稳重,值得慢慢交往,所以交往七年后结婚了。其实当时那七年里也有过追求者,但是我的知名度对别人来说是非常大的压力,一般对追我的人也感到怕,但是直到遇到我前夫,就觉得有安全感,也可能因为我喜欢爸爸吧,因为我十二岁的时候爸爸就离开了我,所以很希望找到一个像爸爸这样的人,能够照顾我,保护我。

结婚那时是我演艺事业正红火的时候,但是我知道那不是我想要的,我人生要的不是这个,我只希望做个家庭主妇,我想那个年代的女人向往的就是这样,所以觉得好不容易找到一个自己想要的人,就答应了结婚了,其实现在回想当时我太单纯,对恋爱是空白的,什么都不懂,所以也不太明白什么叫做“爱”,只是感觉有个人关心不错而已,然后结婚不到三年就出问题了,就是从有到一无所有,而且被逼得必须出国,要不然就要坐 l a o,因为当时先生他们公司越做越大,后来开出去的支票都是我的名字,但是我自己还是很单纯的待在家里,完全搞不清楚状况,然后一夜之间发现好像天塌了下来,从此就开始流浪,登台唱歌,当时我心里并没有觉得我的婚姻完蛋了,我只是想我要用我所以的力量就帮助他去挽救这一切,不管挣多少钱都要想法子帮他还债,可是后来发现这个洞太大了,我没有这个能力,我还是在外面努力挣钱,最后感觉我救不了了,所以婚姻自然而然的结束了。当时我才29岁,但是因为上段婚姻让我非常惧怕,即使有追求者我也会考虑是否要进入第二次婚姻,所以我觉得因为前夫失去了一段婚姻,但是不完全是坏事。

再次复出

在结束了第一段婚姻后,1979年我就被逼着要出去挣钱,然后慢慢有一些电影来找我,就是这样打滚、想办法站起来,慢慢就有些机会来了,那段时间我做的最多的就是到处登台唱歌,那个也是一种学习的过程,因为我以前没有正式在台上做完全商业的演出,你会发现到这样的登台你所面对的观众群是不同的。有的时候你会感觉到对自己来讲很残忍,因为我一直希望在一个备受尊重的场合来演出,但是有些地方难免会有些不好的东西在里面,并不是不尊重你,只是会有人抽烟、喝酒、猜拳等等,我不喜欢这样的氛围,但是又逼不得已,所以当时感觉非常不好,但是也没有办法。后来慢慢就建立了在舞台上的经验,所以经过那几年,最后我到拉斯维加斯表演的时候我才真正了解到什么是好的场地,什么叫专业,因为当时去那里演出的歌星不多,那时候我才能感受被尊重的感觉,全场会站起来拍手,要我再唱一首,当时就觉得过去的种种受辱、没尊严的感觉换来那一刻是值得的。虽然都是华人听我演出,但是感觉在美国久居的华人真的很不一样。其实确实是有差距的,我们中国人分散在世界各地,在不同的国家受到的文化熏陶是不一样的,中国人比较会含蓄,心中很喜爱,但是却不会表达出来。就是在国外的熏陶让我变得不再那么含蓄,现在看演出都会使劲拍手,如果是过去的我一定会不好意思,但是作为艺人,我知道台下的掌声是给台上人很大的鼓励,不管演出的好坏,都是一种鼓励,以前不是艺人就不会明白,我们会很吝啬掌声的,但是做了艺人就了解到这是很大的鼓舞。

《一代佳人》这首歌,很多人还是非常钟爱,谈到这里,我想说的是,每个人一定要找准适合他自己音色的一些歌曲,因为不同的歌曲曲风不一样,就像我母亲觉得我刚刚出来当歌星演员时根本不会唱歌,因为在深山里生活只有对瀑布唱而已,所以我刚刚讲的,这些歌曲我想可能刚好符合当时我的背景和发生的状况,就好像是量身定制,所以无论是歌曲还是电影都可以红起来,再加上对我来说,我一直觉得是上帝的祝福,因为当时逃难了很久,再次回来等于一个新人重新红起来了,而且《一代佳人》是我第一部演的电视剧,当时其实回到台湾很多人不认识我,因为我退出了几年,小朋友都长大了,他们是不见得认识我的,但是因着《一代佳人》让这批年轻的又认识我。然后紧接着又拍了《蓝与黑》,这是我从小时候就很喜欢的一个电影,轮到我要演的时候,我有很大压力,必须要超越先人的感觉,所以那本书我看了很多遍,后来这部戏也红了,然后又演了从来没有尝试过的古装电视《杨贵妃传奇》,完全不同的感觉,就是这几部电视剧再次把我推上演艺事业的高峰。

人生的转变

但是人总会慢慢变老的,那么有一天是透过电视,我们在演一部戏的时候,导演叫我们自己来看看刚刚演得好不好,没有想到我看到我眼睛周围布满明显的皱纹,然后产生很大的危机意识,就感觉到这条明星之路不可能是我一辈子的依靠,这种危机意识对我来说是很大的打击,每天晚上不能睡觉,然后担忧自己不是第一女主角,钱就会少了,我可能变成第二,最后成配角或者路人甲乙丙丁,就是这样的忧虑让我每天晚上睡不着,但是我看见我妈妈以前常常为我们祷告时的那个影像,她跪在那里,流着眼泪为我们祷告的时候,就是个时候让我觉得为什么不去学习妈妈向神祷告呢?我就跪下来很真诚的祷告,我其实不会祷告,我就说:神啊,如果这条路要被关住了的话,那求你再给我一条路吧。很奇怪,虽然我不会祷告,只会简单的这样祷告,但是我的泪水却是不停的流,其实我是很多年没有祷告,遇到这样的危机才开始祷告,后来真的我的人生就发生了改变,就有一个新的故事。

汤兰花的璀璨人生(三)

投身直销事业

昨天谈到在演艺事业重新创下高峰,也就是演了《一代佳人》、《蓝与黑》、《杨贵妃传奇》之后,就开始渐渐觉得这个演艺生涯也有它岁月的限制,于是开始想:人生也要做个决定,如果要继续走着条路你就可能被淘汰。其实当时凭自己的存款、不动产也足够让吃一辈子的。但是因为当时我不只是照顾自己,还要照顾我妈妈、孩子和家人,所以就有很大的危机意识。感谢主,真的在过了不久后,才真正感受到上帝是听祷告的。

在大约三四个月后,突然有一个电话,叫我去听一个她认为非常难得的事业机会。我去听了,听后觉得这个直销事业对我来讲,好像是没有人喜欢的行业,因为这种行业在我的印象是不好的,身边的朋友们也一直劝我不要做,若是做了,也一定不会成功的。朋友们认为我不成功的主要原因,就是我的口才不好,也没有人际关系,从来都没做过生意的,怎么做呢?甚至夜间都有朋友电话来提醒我千万小心,免得因受调查而被抓进监牢里面等反对的声音很多很大。

我心里想也有道理啊,那怎么办呢?于是我去了解这家公司的详细情况,从中得知本公司整体是很好的,就是员工的水准也很高的。同时也想到我为这事已经祷告了很长的时间了,是不是上帝听了我的祷告呢?所以我根本就不用惧怕的,于是就撇开其他人的意见一心勇往直前了。经过一段时间的工作我确实也感觉还不错,于是按着自己的目标,铁定心一定把这事做好来。

原来很多人都认为,一个人的知名度可以给我带来更多更好的机会,可事实上并不是这样子的。一些我的影迷、粉丝等,他们只持有五分钟的热度而已,因为他们常常怀着好奇的心而来的,一不小心的话在极短的时间内人都走光了。那些影迷只是喜欢你,来看你一下就满足了,因此我在做这事业的时候,要比别人所付出的甚至更多才会有结果。后来我发现这样是不行的,一定要找一个有心跟你一起做的伙伴,但就这点对我来说是很困难的,我的人际关系都没有,平时得比其他人更努力、用心才行。我真的是克服身体虚弱的困难,克服自己是知名人士的特殊身份所遭遇的常人所没遇见的困难,日以继夜,全力以赴投入,直至流鼻血、昏倒了还得坚强的站立起来,继续干下去的,因为我自己没什么专业。

在这个过程中,最难的还有一点就是要改变自我,放下我自己的身段,经过好几个月不断的调整,心态能够比较好的去迎接所面对的每一个挑战。我清醒的提醒自己这是我唯一的一条出路,我在这事业上只有成功,才不会被人家笑话;也只有成功,人家才愿意跟从我。我是一夜之后想通的,除了自己想要特别用功读书外,还要想办法应付当人家在笑话你的时候,在拒绝你的时候,我学着根本不把他们当成一回事,甚至是假想把自己“汤兰花”这三个字都丢进垃圾桶里面去,认为自己已不是那个曾经的汤兰花,而是一个极其普通的个人,在大公司里面的最最底层,然后尽心尽力学着慢慢的往上爬,就是用这种方式来安慰、鼓励自己。既然要换个跑道,就一定要把它做好好,结果功夫不负有心人,在一年半的时间里面,我努力比别人要多了,我一天睡三个多钟头,对身体不好,但是要拼命,一切的困苦和艰辛付出没有白费的,真的有所成效,也有很大的希望。只用一年半拼搏就做到蓝钻,第三年获得夏威夷蓝钻的级别了。

人生的重心转向神

但人总是会迷失自己的,因为那种荣耀和成就感,有时候让人觉得非常的有吸引力,促使人不断的追求名利、不断的追求钱财。使人渐渐的忘记去教会,远离了神。很多人都会为自己设定的目标而努力,而不断的超越自己,所以就会为此而付出很多时间和精力。

现在回想起来,也不要怪别人的。那是因为我的个性很善良,很容易相信他人,所以就发生了一个很严重的容易相信他人而产生的问题,以至于逼得我只好放弃十四年来呕心沥血所经营的事业,以及我所拥有的一切一切,使我又重新回到原点。当时我简直不敢相信眼前所发生的这一切,怎么也想不通,非常恨这个人辜负了我,使用这样的手段来对付我。比我失败的婚姻更不好受,因为这个人是我非常相信的。当时我完全的关闭自己,痛苦的滋味是言语所不能够表达的,只能是独自在家里苦闷得三天三夜都没有闭眼休息,打击太大了!一周时间内体重急剧下降了5千克。

此后正好有一位姊妹带我到祷告山,参加的一个特会。会后我真的经历到了上帝爱我的所有,包括在我所遇到的这个困难的时候,能够看到自己,原来在很多事情上是自己的不足,以致造成被人家打击的机会,比如骗我的东西、背叛我等,这时候我忽然间想到不能够恨别人,应当去原谅别人的,相反的更是要祝福这个人。当我真的祝福人的时候,自己倒觉得很轻松、很喜乐。经历这次特会后,我整个人极大的改变,心情喜乐且很平安。觉得我找到了我该做的事情了,知道了我怎么去走我要走的这条路。

到祷告山之后,我也完全释放,因为我经历上帝对我的爱。在祷告当中不断的祷告,经历神,比如我不会讲方言,在祷告中突然就会讲了。那时我带三个朋友,他们也不是基督徒,但愿意陪着我去,其中一个就问我说,你刚才在讲什么,我们都听不懂,但我知道我讲什么。后来才知道这个叫方言。所以,整个就觉得脱胎换骨了,对那个人的攻击我也不在乎,反而为她祷告,因为我们都是好朋友。真的感谢主,最后这个人也写信向我道歉,她说,为什么我会对你这样,我真的不明白。我也跟她讲,我原谅她,并为她祝福,大家都回归在神面前,都去教会那是最好的。

回首往事,其实每一件事情的发生都有它们之间的连带关系的,真的是环环相扣,我觉得神就是这样爱你,可是我的心就像石头一样,上帝明明已经给了你很多机会的,但当一旦我们被金钱名誉迷惑的时候,我们总是离开的神。但神的大爱没有变的,神还是不断的召唤你回来。经过这么几件事情的变故后,我才专注在神身上。有一次我做了一个梦,梦中看到自己躺在棺材里面,做最后一口气的挣扎,因为我不愿意断气,我想我都没为神做一件事情,怎么好去神面前交账呀,在我挣扎的时候,突然醒过来,才发现原来这只是一场梦,才稍微松一口气,觉得我还有机会。于是立即跪在神面前祷告说:神啊,我愿意被你使用,愿意学习服事你。虽然我不懂,但就是一颗单纯的心,看我能做什么。从此以后我整个人生的重心就转向神,一些观念想法也都发生很多的改变,比如:以前很注重名利,把名利看成是我的一切。依靠神后总觉得神会供应我的一切,我必须要先求祂的国和祂的义,这是最重要的。虽然信主后还会存在这各种各样的问题,不是一切都顺顺利利的,但不同的是,当遇到问题的时候,你的心是平安的,是完全仰望神的,可以把这些问题交给神,神还是会赐你平安和喜乐的,在这事件中神一定会帮助我们的,会给我们智慧的选择。

我现在常常跟朋友们讲,我的知名度也没有以前大,收入也比以前少很多,可是我反而感到我比过去任何一个时期富有,特别是心灵更觉得富有,每天不光是快乐想到神,不快乐也照样想到神,总是跟神很亲近。真奇妙,很多事就这样过了。许多时候神真的是为了爱我们,就让我们受一点苦,就是我们已经到了悬崖边,快要跌倒谷底时,神的手总是会扶持着我们,绝不会任凭我们跌倒山崖的低谷中,摔得粉身碎骨的。神总是不断给人一个机会,让我们重新站立起来。

真是感谢神!就像《圣经》所说的:神是我们的避难所,是我们的力量,是我们在患难中随时的帮助。但以前对这些话语没有那么深刻的体会,只是字面上的认识而已,当人的心真的转向神的时候,就能够感受到上帝就是我们的依靠,是我们的山寨!

虽然我还是在一家公司里面做推销工作,但跟以前所不同的是:没有放很多的精力和时间投入进去,而是有一定的时间在服事神,只要神有特别的呼召,我一定会以神的事情为第一优先的。工作赚钱是为了生活,但生活的目是要为神而活。我妈妈以前常讲,你不要以为你有能力赚很多钱,就好比《圣经》上记载的,不要积攒财宝在地上,因为地上有虫吃,还有小偷会挖窟窿去偷。现在常开玩笑,我要积很多的业绩也就是财宝在天上。因为慢慢衰老,虽然我现在唱的可能不如以前好,可是我最愿意的为神做的是:祂一呼召,我就要出现了。希望我生命的故事成为很多人的祝福,这就是如果是对别人有好处的,我的生命是值得的。

汤兰花的璀璨人生(四)

天生丽质的汤兰花在千万影迷、粉丝的心目中,乃是他们永远的一代佳人,是他们心目中难以忘怀的美丽回忆。直到今天,汤兰花依然是那样的高雅大方,明艳照人,丰韵犹存。这位气质高贵,谈吐优雅,秀外慧中的一代巨星,在她现实的生活当中,她与家人之间的亲情又是一个怎样的故事呢?

与儿子的亲情

我要离开家,因为丈夫的债主追上门来。当时我的儿子才周岁,那天我丈夫回来告诉我,必须要走。他拿了一张单程的去香港的飞机票,拿了800多元的美金,交给了我,说是我的路费。第二天早晨我的客厅堆满了要债的人,幸好我先生前一个晚上把行礼摆到车箱后面,我母亲在门口抱着我一岁的儿子,在债主的面前我不能表现出我要离开,所以我就假装去抱我的儿子,让他们觉得我是抱他出去走一走,其实车子已经在外面等,当我把儿子交还给母亲时我的心像刀割一样,因为我这一走,不知道会不会回来,就好像生离死别。我不得不要赶飞机的时间,就把儿子交给母亲,坐上车子,就走了。不知道我的明天如何。坐飞机我都感觉如果飞机出了问题,我都无所谓了,后来一想,飞机上有这么多无辜的人,飞机也不能出事,我自己非常绝望。

到香港后一对老夫妻接待我。我的生活就是不知道明天会怎样,每天睡觉之前都要看完我儿子照片才可以睡,想念孩子啊!那时看到飞往台北的飞机都会掉眼泪,就觉得有家归不得的感觉。隔了几年,慢慢把钱赚回来了,替我先生去还点债,才回到台湾。可是回去以后,他又告诉我还要跑,说还有些钱没有还,就变成一个无底洞。到了香港之后,好像自己慢慢长智慧了,就觉得这个婚姻下去好像没什么前途,大家很和气地就结束这个婚姻。我什么都不要,就要儿子,把我的车子也可以给他。我觉得孩子不能再生一模一样的,但钱可以再去赚。

后来我就照顾他,我更努力的赚钱,我至少让他可以接受一个好的教育。儿子11岁时我就把他送往美国,我很舍不得,但是我的考虑是我最忙的时候,我要去赚钱,没有人照顾他。我必须负责他的学费,我就忍痛把他送到寄宿学校。他们学费很贵,一学期将近二万块美金,上大学也很贵。上帝给我一个直销,靠着直销还可以养孩子。

孩子小的时候也许天天想着妈妈,会认为妈妈为什么不要我,会影响到他的心态。我经常找机会来解释,让他了解当初为什么是这样的状况,可是他心理的影响一定是会有的,长大以后亲子之间的关系比较淡薄。所以很多东西,拥有一个,会失去另一个。我很难过,当初把他送走,就等于把我们的感情也送走了。他现在长大了,就没有跟家里这么样的亲。这就是我失去的部分,没办法。我给他最贵重的礼物就是我要让他读好的学校。后来儿子长大了,虽然能理解母亲的心情,但是缺乏那种惯性的跟家人的亲密度。儿子就很独立。其实我小的时候也是读寄宿学校,有独立的习惯,可是有的时候太独立了,就好像不需要家人。我到他学校去看儿子,他好像很喜欢朋友、同学胜过喜欢我,我也很安心,很怕他想我。

家庭的亲情

我一共有九个弟兄姐妹,我妈妈非常严格对我们,爸爸非常溺爱我们,但是在13岁以前就不在了。妈妈对我影响很大,她非常勤劳,不怕苦,以身作则,她要你作的,她自己先作。我们几个小孩子都不怕苦,工作都很勤劳的。爸爸也是很忙碌的工作,妈妈经常得到最佳母亲奖,劳模,对小孩的要求很严,虽然生长在深山里,那个时候很少人注重教育,但是我母亲很注重教育,哥哥姐姐读的很好的学校。我小时候一天被打,常和弟弟打架。我们家族很团结的,但不是天天见面,各奔东西,每一年过年时一定会回到老家聚在一起,兄弟姐妹之间的感情很亲,父母不在以后更亲密了。我遭遇人生的重重苦难,他们都很关心我,但是无能为力,只能默默关心。

幸福是什么

我们人都在寻找幸福、快乐,也就是一直在找爱,但是又缺乏那种爱,人与人之间一夜之间就被背叛了,或者你背叛别人,所以我一直在寻找幸福是什么。后来信靠耶稣以后才,知道这才是真正的幸福,这种幸福是不会怕不见的,我也不怕祂背叛我的,因为上帝本来就是很爱我们每一个人的,祂要给我们的是喜乐、平安,丰盛的生命。所以我感觉到当我眼目专向于祂的时候,感觉到那是真正的幸福、快乐。以前有人跟我讲这种话我都不相信,我真的经历了,包括现在,我不是在最好的时候,可是我感觉到这是我一生当中最美好的生活,我最富有的这段时间,当然外表各方面都不如以前,但是现在是完全不同的幸福时光。

为什么今天我愿意再回到舞台上,其实我退休的时候我告诉我自己,我绝对不要再唱歌了,绝对不要再上舞台了,但是因为我感受到上帝的爱在我生命当中,祂的怜悯,祂的爱,让我觉得我一定要把这个好的事情,我要分享给所有的人,尤其不认识我们神的人,我一定要他们知道你的生命是会有很大的改变,就像我一样,生命大的翻转过来。可是有的时候我也不是一个很会讲话的人,但是我愿意用我生命的故事,能够帮助到人也可以,所以我又回到舞台上,其实我胆子很小的,上了舞台会发抖的,现在为神传福音的时候很奇怪了,就不会紧张,因为我现在的动机不同了。以前是在舞台上是为了给观众留下自己美好的印象,我的压力很大。现在我不是为自己了,是为神在做,我来依靠祂,今天上帝你要什么样的结果,上帝你来做,所以我就不会害怕。生命真的是很奇妙的,以前我常常恐惧,不能睡觉,我梦到自己躺到棺材里,我不知道自己到底要去哪里,地狱又那么恐怖,我有没有资格上天堂啊?可是当我仰望神的时候,我不再害怕能不能上天堂,所以我生命有很大的改变。很快乐,平安,会改变对生命的看法。

我以前觉得我一定要有很多很多的钱,但是现在我一定要仰望神,这是第一个要做的事情,我要跟上帝越来越亲密。所以我都在学习当中,我服侍越多的时候,我觉得从当中学的很多。

我愿意为神作工,可能我的声音没办法比以前好,我也慢慢变老,我可以做的就是,祂一呼召,我就要出现了。以前听我的歌声就是掌声,但是现在很多人听到都要流泪。过去是为自己而活,今天我不再是为自己而活,而是将自己的生命完全交在祂的手中,让神来引导我人生的路,让神来使用我的生命,不断的借着我的生命,在我所去、所到的地方为主来传讲美好的信息。虽然不像过去能赚很多钱,但是我的生命让神使用的时候,就能够不断的影响人的生命。

我真的很希望每个人听到我们生命故事的时候,他也愿意把生命交给神,让神做他生命的救主,他也变得非常喜乐,平安。在人生的路上也能够得到上帝的祝福。人生是两个层次的,一个是生活,一个是生命。很多人都是在追求生活,物质、金钱,结果忘记了还有生命的部分。那个部分是需要神来满足的,如果生命的那部分被忽略了,你拥有再多的金钱,你心中还是空虚,还是很恐惧。但是一个人已经跟神建立了一个亲密的关系,那么人生的保障就在神的身上,你就不必担忧自己的明天。无论明天如何,神会负责,我们的需要,只要我们尽心尽力工作,我们的需要神就会照顾。我常常觉得上帝给我们成为一个人,人该做的,我们努力去做;那神要做的,我们交给神,我们仰望祂,信靠祂,祂一定会供应我们所需用的一切。

所以主耶稣说:你们要先求神的国和神的义,这些东西都要加给你们了。神的国就是进入神的国,成为神的儿女;神的义就是追求神的属性神的美好的品格、人格,让我们的生命越来越像我们的主,这样,我们的生命就不再会给别人带来伤害,而是医治;不再是痛苦,而是带给更多人生命的喜乐和平安。

恩典见证 36.李…

音频 5 分钟

李广平,中国著名音乐制作人、词作家、音乐文化和音乐活动的企划、评论、推广专家;中国音乐家协会会员,中国流行音乐学会理事,也是主内著名的音乐制作人。一、初次试炼我出生在广东省粤北山区一个偏僻的小城。1982年我十八岁,很幸运地成为当年全县考上大学的六人中的一个,到广州读大学。就我个人而言,“文化大g e命”给我的最悲惨记忆,是父亲母亲交不完的检查材料和受歧视的少年时光;那时候不知道中学毕业以后是否会“上山下乡”?文化上则属于天性比较纯良的、文化视野较为狭窄的“小镇青年”;少年时对基督教无论作为一种世界观的信仰还是作为一种文化现象,都一无所知,有的,只是“后×××时代”或者叫“改革开放”初期对时代变迁作出的本能的热情拥抱和真心喜欢。因为,如果“文g e”持续,我这种出生于所谓“地主”家庭的孩子,就算文化成绩再好,也只能当一名“知识青年”或者小镇售货员之类的可以想象的工作,感谢神!让我考上大学,享受到时代变革带给我们的最初好处!

八十年代的大学生,对中外文化有一种如饥似渴的疯狂欲望,就像现在的人们对权力、对金钱、对性所有的那一种疯狂一样!我真的感谢八十年代,那是一个诗意抒情的年代,文化蓬勃发展的年代,纯真浪漫的年代,人文主义的年代。大学四年,我读了大量美学、文学、哲学、心理学方面的书籍,创作了大量诗歌、散文作品,也开始在报纸杂志发表文章,尽管幼稚,但培养了我对自由思想、独立思考、严谨表述、追问真理的精神生活的向往与实践。1986年,我刚刚结束自己青涩的大学学生时代。为了学习英语考研究生,我开始参加一些大学老师和学生们的聚会。

我第一次到中山大学参加一个外教老师的家庭聚会时就发现,他们都谈论学习《圣经》的话语,而我抱着学习英语的态度,积极加入他们的学习行列;这个目的不纯的学习,带给我更多的是一种文化的魅力和一种生活方式的吸引。那时,有些香港牧师开始过来广州传福音。其实我也不知道他们是在传福音。

有一天,我记得很清楚,是在广州三寓宾馆,一开始,我和大家一起以为是学习英语讲座;但突然有一大批警察包围了宾馆,并开始驱赶外国老师,说他们属于“非法传教”!还开始登记我们的身份证明;有许多同学吓坏了,但我还比较镇定,因为我感到我们并没有干什么坏事;在我眼里,这些传教士颇为神奇:他们非常优秀、儒雅、有文化气息,不但可以讲标准的普通话,居然还能操一口流利的广东话,简直不可思议!最重要的是我从他们身上第一次学习到或者说看到领受到一种谦卑、平和、柔软、热情、坚韧的人格风范和生命气度!这就是传说中的基督徒吗?感谢神!这是一次多么好的试炼,让我看到一种生命的异象:面对逼 -/迫、面对荒谬、面对失望,那些传教士是微笑的、是镇定的、是无所畏惧的!我们那一代大学生还是非常崇尚文化探索与价值追求的,其实,我也一直在思索我自己的人生,也读《荒漠甘泉》、读刘小枫的《拯救与逍遥》等书,可以说,主在那个时候已经在我心里播撒下了恩典的种子,只是等待机会生根发芽罢了。我开始读经,开始思考今后的道路。虽然之后还有多年的犹豫和观望,但是我读《圣经》没有间断过。

包括期间我大学毕业分配到广州星海音乐学院任教,我都一直在美学、文学的学习中寻找出路,当然,茫然的时候居多。大家知道,我从事的是流行音乐工作,并不是文化研究与学术批评。在许多人眼里,流行音乐是与轻浮、与浅薄、与时尚、与速朽联系在一起的,但我相信,在主的安排下,任何工作都是一样重要而平等的,因为万物与世界,都是天父上帝的托付,因为天上地下,“没有权柄不是出自于神的”(罗13-1),我们只是天父手里使用的器皿而已。所以,只要有一颗谦卑顺服、悔改归正的心,我们就可以利用手头的工作,做荣耀主的事业!所以我今天也感到幸运,可以用自己创作的歌曲,歌唱主的恩典!

二、绝处逢生

女儿福音音乐会圆满成功合影1989年后,因为受到“处分”的我已经不适合呆在大学校园做一名“光荣的人民教师”,我离开音乐学院进入商海,成为一名音乐制作人。回看我自己二十多年的歌曲创作轨迹,信主前的作品主要停留在个人的喜怒哀乐上,从自我的角度来表达爱。《你的他乡还好吗》、《潮湿的心》在街头巷尾传唱,从侧面反映了人们对爱情的渴望与无助;如果说有些作品还有些价值,无非是表达了转型期中国人寻找新家园、新的人生价值方面的感情体会而已,对人的心灵的触动、特别是灵魂生命的更新方面,我一直感到无力、感到缺乏、感到轻飘、感到压抑。这期间,我也开始接触西方的摇滚音乐和古典音乐,我发现:无论是西方憾人心弦的摇滚音乐还是历久弥新的古典音乐,都有基督的面影在其中浮现!我们无论是听鲍勃·迪伦、听U2乐队、还是听亨德尔、莫扎特、贝多芬,都发现他们的博大精深和纯净诗性、都令我们感受灵魂的冷峻严谨和正直高尚,因为里面有基督的忧郁情怀与苦难和梦想。

可以说,中西方音乐,无论是流行音乐还是古典音乐,最大的区别是生命情怀和宗教情怀的区别:我们没有触及灵魂,我们追求的是动听与轻盈、是文字与旋律的美好与身体的愉悦;他们追求的是磅礴与沉重、是直抵灵魂的呐喊与宣泄、是直面苦难与绝望的控诉与悲怆,这中间的差别,真是比我们地理上的距离还要遥远不知多少千里!认识到这一点,我在绝望的同时看到希望,我必须给我仁爱的流行音乐创作注入更多灵魂的内涵。

但是直到2000年,上帝借着患难,让我们一家完全信靠他。那年,我们夫妇辛苦培养的一个歌手,在取得我们的完全信任和制作效果初见成效后,却以诬告作为回报。这令我们伤心不已。虽然两级法院都判我们胜诉,但这场官司让我看到人心的卑鄙无耻和贪婪无知,对我们的职业生涯失望之极;同时,也让我们夫妇身心疲惫,对人性失望之极。就在这时,上帝差他的使女带领我们夫妇两人参加聚会,当我们听到耶稣同样用爱培养的门徒,却用三十两银子出卖主时,我们心中得到了慰藉,因此绝处逢生,迎来了基督里的新生命。基督用他十字架上的宝血,唤醒了我们麻木的心灵!他如此的行公义和如此的大爱,居然还被他深爱的门徒出卖,我们这点挫折算什么呢?我非常感谢引领我们夫妇查经学习的王蝶姊妹,她是一名有丰富灵命经验的好传道人,我们也深深感谢远弟兄、张弟兄,你们在大洋彼岸的讲道给我们的信心增添了无比的力量!

耶稣在《太6: 44-45》说:“只是我告诉你们:要爱你们的仇敌,为那逼 -/迫你们的祷告。这样就可以做你们天父的儿子。因为他叫日头照好人,也照歹人;降雨给义人,也给不义的人。”所以,我们痛苦、怨恨的情绪得到减轻,心灵得到医治,这是生命历程的一个小小的沟坎而已。后来我在读书的过程中,看到更多因为信耶稣我主而宽恕仇敌的故事,在那些痛切心扉的故事中,无数人的心灵得到医治!比如,台湾的民进党前主席林义雄和女儿林奂均,在1980年被歹徒闯进林宅,挥刀砍死林母和双胞胎女儿,长女林奂均身中数刀大难不死,十几年后她皈依基督,主动放弃仇恨之路,宽恕敌人,走出政zh i迫害和生命的阴影,告别忧伤苦毒的心态,成为一位职业传道人和优秀的音乐人,我们这点小小的伤害,又算什么呢?2003年,我们夫妇于广州东山堂受洗。

三、信仰之光

李广平与夫人林静及他们的女儿李思琳信主后,我感觉自己最大的改变是知道自己是一个罪人,是一个病人,是一个软弱的人,是一个朽坏的人,是一个永远不完美的人,从而谦卑起来,看清自己:可以而且愿意去理解别人、体恤别人、宽容别人、怜悯别人、同情别人、接纳别人;从创作上来看,信主之前,因为自己写过不少流行一时的流行歌曲,很得意,很骄傲,从来不乐意别人提出任何修改意见,自以为我的歌曲就是天底下最好的歌曲,最美的歌曲;现在回头去听,许多歌曲的感情是多么苍白、歌词是多么浅显、创作视角是多么狭窄,表达方式是多么直白,真让我无地自容!感谢主,现在的我,不仅仅带着“同情的理解”去听别人的歌曲,对别人对我的批评,也不再火冒三丈,而是修改、调整、推倒重写、无怨无悔!就算被人退稿、不用、也不会生气,认为也许这是主的意思而得以释怀。第二个改变是,当我们一家人生命被彻底更新,我们的音乐作品也折射出夺目的信仰之光。

“眼睛就是身上的灯。你的眼睛若了亮,全身就光明;你的眼睛若昏花,全身就黑暗。”(太6: 22);远牧师弟兄说,信主前我们是在地上扒着的,关注的都是地上一些小小的营生,信主后的我们,眼睛被擦亮了,心灯被点明了,作品也更多了许多神赐予的爱与温暖!信主后,我们不论是听别人的作品,名作也罢新作也好,多了一双神赐予的耳朵和眼睛,可以听到看到许多以前被忽视的细节与感情;而创作上,更是飞跃到全新的高度!比如歌曲《幸福》,我们用非常明白的儿童都可以理解的话语表达一个家庭的“幸福观”就是:幸福是有家,幸福是有爱,幸福是爸爸妈妈都相爱!

这首歌曲在中央电视台演唱后,打动了无数家庭观众的心!又比如《101个祝福》这首歌曲,许多人听到了祝福,听到了温暖和美好的人类的感情,听到了对和平的呼唤,听到了环保的意识,几乎没有人知道这是一首“企业歌曲”!可以说,信主后的创作视野大大地开阔了,有了新的目标和方向,不再迷茫与困惑。第三个改变是,我们的创作不再需要“灵感”。因为主就在我们身旁,就在我们心里,就在我们头上!因为,“太初有道”、“道成肉身”,“以马内利”、“哈利路亚”,你把这四句话念完,圣灵就降临在你身上了,除了赞美,你还需要做什么其他多余的事情?!真的,祈祷吧!赞美吧!主一定和我们同在!当遇见主后,我们制作的《奇异恩典》飞跃到全新的高度。

我们开始从上帝的角度,从终极问题出发进行创作,化小爱为大爱;在歌曲题材的选择上面,基督信仰完全照亮了我们的双眼,使我们更为关注现实中的爱与悲悯、苦难与救赎、受难与拯救的生命故事,更加关注人间的苦难的底层的人们!上帝的灵运行在我们心里,歌曲作品因此显得厚重而深沉,更有力量和丰满的情感,更加耐听和值得回味;比如《奇异恩典》当中有一首歌《爱把恨打败》,是我在读了一则新闻后产生的创作热情。那个折翅的女孩,在主的恩典里学会了爱与飞翔,深深打动了我,我也深信唯有来自上帝的爱才能战胜仇恨。

做一个关注灵魂的音乐人,是我的最终追求!去年五月那场特级大地震牵动着无数人的心,我每天也是不停地看电视直播、买报纸杂志、浏览网站关注灾区。淋漓的鲜血和残酷的画面让我久久不能平静。耶稣说:“与喜乐的人要同乐;与哀哭的人要同哭。要彼此同心,不要志气高大,倒要俯就卑微的人。”(罗12-15);我在苦难面前禁食祷告,并创作励志歌曲祈愿逝者安息,愿生者坚强,健康前行。我在地震第二天创作了《用爱祈祷》这首歌曲,用作广东省和四川省合办的抗震救灾晚会的主题歌;还有《爱是奇迹》、《选择坚强》等一系列音乐作品都抒发了我们对灾区人民的爱、鼓励与祝福,以及用歌声参与抗震救灾与心灵重建的美好愿望。后来我知道,在重灾区四川什邡市,《用爱祈祷》这首歌曲成为救灾时期最为安慰人心鼓舞人心的一首歌曲,这是天上的父的赐予,实在不是我们这些卑微的人能做出来的事情啊!后来这首歌曲还进入教堂,受到弟兄姊妹的好评,这是最让我们欣慰的结果。