I believed in the Lord because my family suffered a misfortune. Over the ten years of my believing in Jesus, I had received much grace from God and also paid many prices, such as running roads, preaching the gospel, and contributing money. In a word, I tried hard to do whatever God required us to do. Over those ten years, I treated the Bible as a treasure and regarded it as a “Heavenly Book.” As our leader told us, “Only by reading the Bible more can you grow in life. It also proves that you have love for God,” every day I spent most of my energy reading the Bible and praying and ignored all the worldly entanglements and social intercourse. I only stuck fast to the way I believed in and the teachings of the True Jesus Church, thinking that I believed in the most proper way and that only the way we believed in was the purest one. So, I simply looked down upon and was even disgusted with other denominations.

In the summer of 1999, I went to visit my mother. As soon as I saw her, she said to me, “Some people have come to preach God’s end-time work. They say that God has come through being incarnated and is a female Christ. They tell us to accept God’s new work quickly.” The moment I heard it, I flared up: “Don’t listen to their nonsense. Could God be a female? Jesus is our Lord. We believe in no one else but Jesus. We can’t listen to them no matter how well they preach. Drive them all away. Don’t listen to their preaching. They are all the ones who come to deceive people.” Later, I also heard some believers in the Lord spread these words: The people of “Eastern Lightning” were very terrifying; they would receive 2,000 yuan if they converted one person; one could not come into contact with them, and if he did so, he would be trapped and would never be able to escape. It also spread that they had cut off some people’s ears and gouged out some people’s eyes…. Because of that, I became even more cautious of and hostile to them.

One day in July, our former leader came to our church (she had already accepted Almighty God’s work but we did not know it). She wanted to bring all of us to God at once. As soon as she got here, she said, “God has come and done a new work. Accept the new work quickly!” Her words immediately created a stir in the church. We all shouted at her, “Where is the new work in the Bible? Stop talking nonsense. We won’t listen to whatever is not in the Bible.” “Haven’t you said that apart from the way of our True Jesus Church, none is the true way but all are heresies or cults? You didn’t allow us to accept any other way at that time, but now you ask us to accept the new work. Is it that you have been deceived and now come to deceive us?” “You have said that we are already holy and that we only need to wait for the Lord to take us. How come you come out with a new work? You must have believed in an evil way! …” In the face of our criticisms and rebukes, she had no choice but to say in tears, “No matter what you say, I don’t mind it, but I only beg you not to condemn at will lest you blaspheme the Holy Spirit and become the ones resisting God.” At this time, we simply turned a deaf ear to her words. We were all like fighting cocks, flaring up in a fighting mood. In the end, we drove her away fiercely. We regarded doing so as a righteous act of defending the way of God and guarding the gate of God.

However, within a month, she asked other brothers and sisters to come to me four times in a row. I turned a deaf ear to their words in the first three times. But in the last time, she brought with her a sister whom I was familiar with to persuade me. She said, “Because I have just accepted God’s end-time work, there are many truths I have understood in my heart yet cannot communicate very clearly. But I can find you someone who can explain God’s work clearly. You should listen first and then decide whether to accept it or not, and only thus will the Lord Jesus be pleased with you. You cannot condemn it blindly.” So, I talked that over with several co-workers in the neighborhood and we decided to go with them to listen to their fellowship. Before listening to their fellowship, I knelt down on the floor with two sisters and prayed to God, “O God! I often pray to you, asking you to keep us so that we can see the day of your return. But today, the world is chaotic and the church has also fallen apart. I really don’t know how to walk the path of today. I’m really afraid of being deceived and thus departing from your way. O God! You know my heart. Although I have believed in you for so many years, my knowledge of you is still too superficial. If what they preach is your way, I will accept it even if others don’t accept it. If it is not your way, I won’t accept it even if others accept it. May you guide me in this matter and keep me from being deceived. If it is your way, please let me accept it. If it is not your way, please stop me from accepting it.” After I finished my prayer, I was still worried, because this not only concerned my own destiny but also concerned the destiny of our whole church. I was afraid that I would lead the brothers and sisters astray or lead them into a wrong way. I held the Bible in my hand for fear that what they preached might not conform to the Bible. I thought to myself, “As long as what they preach doesn’t conform to the Bible, I will argue with them.”