On December 15, 2003, I got a copy of the work arrangement “The Church Can Preach the Gospel to a Portion of the Unbelievers Who Can Be Evangelized.” Then I read it carefully: “Now, the gospel work can be spread to all the unbelievers, not only to the unbelievers who are the family members of the brothers and sisters. Any unbeliever can be evangelized if he in his heart acknowledges there is God and is willing to seek the true way….” Reading these words, a train of questions welled up in my mind: What’s all this about? Doesn’t a former work arrangement say that the gospel can only be preached to those who are in the name of Jesus? Why does this arrangement say the gospel can be preached to the unbelievers now?” I hurriedly opened The Manual of the Principles for the Church Work and read these words: “To decide whether a person can be evangelized, we should stick to the former principles…. Anyone who believes in Jesus and reads the Bible can be evangelized. … The gospel should only be preached to those in the name of Jesus, and the unbelievers can never be evangelized. Some relatives or friends or people whom you know very well are brought in and this is their benefit from association with you. Everyone must understand this.” I read these words repeatedly, considered them carefully, and then compared the two arrangements, but I was still perplexed. The questions in my mind disturbed me so much that I was terribly upset and couldn’t fall into sleep all night.

Early the next morning, I hurried to see a sister with these questions. Then she opened the book of God’s word and read me these words: “If you can drop your religious notions, you will not measure God’s present word and work with your mind but obey directly, and even though God’s present work is obviously different from his former work, you will be able to drop your former viewpoints and directly obey God’s work of today. If you can realize that you should regard God’s present work as most important no matter what God did before, then you are one who drops his notions, one who obeys God, and one who can obey God’s word, obey God’s work, and keep up with God’s footsteps. This is a person who truly obeys God.” “God’s original intention in working is for people to be new and alive rather than old and dead. What he asks people to keep is according to the age and stage, not everlasting or unchangeable. For he is a God who makes people alive and new, not the devil that makes people dead and old. Do you still not understand this?” After reading the words of God, I suddenly felt enlightened inside, and the questions in my mind were solved. Now God’s work has advanced to another new step, but I still stick to the former light and measure God’s work of today against God’s previous work. Am I not one who rigidly holds on to the letters and regulations? God is the ruler of all things. God does his work without being bound to any form or any old formula. The prominent feature of his working is new, amazing, and flexible. Whatever God does is right and meaningful. How can I, a person who is even less than an ant or a bug, measure God’s work with my notions? I’m so devoid of sense! O God! I lack too much. In the future, you will do more works that are out of harmony with man’s notions; if I do not equip myself with enough truths and do not have the basic vision, I will be devoured by my own notions sooner or later. How terrible it is! O God, thank you for your timely inspiration and guidance, which has enabled me to understand the truth of this aspect. From now on, no matter what work you do, I will accept and obey it, keep up with your footsteps closely, and experience your work more deeply and more detailedly.

Diandian

Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province