Witnessing By Bro Larry
20 Jul 2014 | 10 min readsermon2014subang | testimony event
-Background Bro Larry is a brother in Klang and is an active interpretor in Mandarin and English. His wife is Sis Melisa and he is the son in law of Dn Isaac Lee.
-My family background I am the youngest in the family. I have 2 elder sisters. With my eldest sister – same father different mother. My 2nd sister, same father different mother. So my sisters are not related at all. I am considered the pure production of my parents and it is great that we can live together so well.
How I believe in God? How I receive the Holy Spirit? I was born in 1986. I am 28 years old this year. I was born in a very poor family in KL. Both my parents worked in the factory and I live with my 2nd sister. I live in a wooden house something like the Indonesian live in a hut. I t is near the factory and electricity supplied by the generator. At 11 pm the generator is shut down so there is no electricity. We have no mattress and we sleep on the wooden floor. We live there for more than 10 years yet I enjoyed my childhood. We do not have toys but playing with mud and water. What is worse my family did not believe in Christ. My father is a drunkard and heavy smoker. All this memory is very clearly etched in my mind.
I remember when I was young, my father was always drunk and will punch my mother verbally abused her and he always in debt and my mother has to pay the debt.
-Apart from play time, my childhood was not a wonderful. My father did not give us money and sometimes we have no food to eat. If not for my mother, we will not be here today.
-Std 3 I move in Melaka. My hometown is in Klang. My cousin brother brought me to church. We went to church and brought me to Sunday REU classes. My motive to go to church to eat and to get to play with friends. Before I go to church, my mom took me to temple and when she took me to the temple they say that you are very blessed as your son looked like a smilling Buddha even my ears look like it. Before I go to church I fervently pray to idols diligently in the morning and evening. Std 2 I started going to church. Std 3 I moved to Melaka. My parents went to Melaka to start business as my mother’s family is in Melaka. My mother’s little sister is staunch Buddhist and she always take my mom to the temple. From Klang I am suppose to go the TJC Melaka but I went to wrong church Methodist. So Melaka member called and ask Klang member where is the 2 children you said that are coming and when they call the Klang member who contacted us and then brought us back to TJC.
-I was a lazy boy did not like to do homework and always lied and cheat my mom. I started to mix with bad boys and started to speak vulgar words and started to steal from the shop.
-My family was poor and could not afford to buy the toys I wanted and I started to fight. My mother always cried because of me. Even when we moved to Melaka, my father did not change. He always drunk, hit my mom, scold me and he didn’t care about me – did not know how old I was, never cared whether I have money.
-I remember my mother was very sick and my father did not care about my mom. I saw my mom was so sick and my aunt took her to hospital and told her your husband is no good, life is no good. She asked my mom to go to temple, meditate in the rosary and yet there is no change.
I was still a naughty boy and in Melaka is very strict in the REU. That was very good as it trains me to be discipline and started to learn. I even encouraged my mother to pray and she said nonsense. I even tried to share with my aunt. Even though I was not baptized I tried not to eat food offered to idols.
Sometimes she brought delicious food and purposely offered to idols and ask me do you want to eat? I was also mentally abused.I still held fast and did not eat. The neighbour who is Catholic also told my mother that TJC is a cult and there were conflict.
I got baptized in 1998 after a long battle and my mom finally agreed. I receive HS in 1997 in std 5 and still not baptized. I understand why.
When I was Std 5 was super naughty. In 1997 in 1 of the Spiritual meeting in Melaka. The church was a small shoplot half of Subang church hall. During the spiritual meeting many sessions to pray for HS. I wasn’t praying, I was peeping, I keep on thinking why so long, or see the dn whether finish or not.
-In the last prayer of the HS, and did not like to go in front, but my teachers will force us to go in front, I will just say Holy spirit Holy spirit. Because of Melaka church is small, when everybody prayer sound was loud, I was just praying unattentive, I was thinking eating chicken Iw asnt to do this and that. Suddenly when I close my eyes everything was dark and my mind was wondering and the sound was noisy waiting for time to pass, suddently there was a bright light shinning upon me. Just like a movie and at that moment of time, I feel my soul was taken out from my body, I could not hear any more noises, I could no longer feel my kneels were tired, I could not feel my physical body and my spirit was taken to another place called Golgotha. I was standing here and saw my shadows in front of me. When I saw the shadow it look like small people and I saw 2 crosses on the mountain and another person carrying crosses and all are shadow. I saw a few people whipping the person carrying the cross and the person keep on falling down and the soldiers at the back keep on whipping him. After this scnee and suddently it turned to another scene a man on the cross. I could not see his face and there was his face shinning and the prayer ended. It all happen a split second but felt that it was so long. When I saw them whipping Jesus, I wanted to say stop and there was a sadness in my heart. When I saw Jesus on the cross you feel so touch by the glory of Jesus. After that the bell rang and my soul came back and realized I was crying tears rolled down like rain. Pr Joseph said did you see anything and I told him. At that time I was only std 5 and he asked me to share. At that time, I really felt the love of God. I was a naughty truthseeker, come from a poor and broken family. In school and at home I was naughty. What was amazing after I receive holy spirit, I changed immediately and I stopped saying vulgar words and gave me a gift to understand men. He wanted me to help those who are living in pain, broken family, poverty. So God gave me a lot of children from broken family to help them and ask God to give them strength. After receiving HS in 1997 and changed my life and that is the reason why my mom allowed me to baptized. My mom said she can see a change in me because of Christianity and that is because I receive HS. My mother is also stubborn and never expected to change to Christianity.
-After 2-3 years, my mom said she wants to go to church and now she is a Christian. What is unbelievable is that my father also become a Christian.
-After 2 years receiving HS, my parents separated. One day my father told me and he said go pack up we are going back to Klang and I always like Klang because I can play with my cousins. When I said goodbye to mom I did not know I will not be seeing my mom for 2 years. He just left me with grandmother, he did not give me money and no money to buy school uniform, no monthly fees. I wash own clothes, I look after my mother, I clean the whole house, I really miss my mom as my father daily come back mabuk. No matter how hard it was, when my mom was there, it was all right. For children here, please appreciate your mom.
-After 2 years of lonely life, finally my mom came back, thank God my life was better since then. A lot of things happen, God bless me bountifully. Even 2 of my sisters also have their own testimony.
-Try to see us today. I have HS since 17-18 yrs and examine myself to be worse and thank the opportunity to be reminded . When I receive the HS I was full of zeal and motivated and time goes by, you start to take things for granted and I have forgotten why JC give me the HS. Let’s look our life why God chose us. There is a reason why God chose us. I ask them do you have any witnessing or special grace to share. Have you experience in yoru life. With KPOp but there is a lot of sharing. God gives us grace every second, every minute. Spritual experience is not only receiving grace but also chastisement and in my life I experienced both. God chastised me many times so that I am not missing. Your life experience is very valuable and money cannot buy. I love to talk to my mom as she has many life experiences. When she was young, she worked in a terrible environment which is dirty and how she learned from the past experiences of the bad people she dealt. I will feel her voice when she is not here. When I receive the HS, made me learn to love my mother, how to forgive and love my father. We can love but not forgive. This is the lesson that I learn from the family. I am thankful when I was a boy, God brought me to church. I hope our children share this gospel with friends. If you don’t share people will not know. Before you share your life is a testimony. Don’t underestimate your power. If God wants to work through you no matter how young you are you can do great things. This vision is something I w ill never forget.
Question: How do you forgive my father. Even though my father is baptized it is difficult to change my father. Even though accept Christ he still will curi curi drink and sometimes when he come back, I know he has gone drinking. Forgiving is difficult but Jesus said to forgive 77x7 times completely forgive. Sometimes there is many reasons not to forgive and if we don’t forgive, he may not have the chance to be saved. When you feel your anger burning, you say calm down,. Sometimes I need to be mediator with my father and mother. They are like North and South Korean sometimes at war. Sometimes at time either one is right and sometimes become a judge not taking sides, to be a peacemaker and reconcile them back. I did not learn how to love from my family. I was brought up in an environment where my father bring a chair to hit my mom, my mom punch and shouting and fighting. I am slowly learning how to be more loving. If my father was a rich man and give me everything I wanted, I would be a spoilt child, I may not be a good vessel that God will want to use me. So I need to thank my father. Learn to love, learn to experience in life. For those who have not receive the HS, pray hard to God and God will give you. Are you ready to prepare? Is there something that you can do to allow the HS come to you. Can you do better to prepare? Hymn of my life 394 Thanks to God. This hymn totally describe my feelings. No matter what comes in your life there is something that you don’t understand. Eg when I was a kid I never understood why God put me in this kind of life and now I understand. There is one way to thank God is to serve him and is also to repay God. Children does not like to participate in church work and you see the same faces. Sometimes you want to get more to serve together. Serving god is to say thank you to God. How to ask God to bless us when we don’t serve. For young people take the opportunity to serve God. Older members will retire, young people need to rise. We do not know when is our last day. I go to hospital and see everybody die whether be it infant, teens, old people due to many reasons. We don’t know when we will die and cherish every moment .
Testimony The first time when I receive the infilling of the holy spirit. It is not clapping. It happen 2006 I was 1st year university. I participated in the medical mission. We have a group of medical team who came from Taiwan. I wanted to be a Pharmacist but since I don’t have a license back, I was there as intepretor. Our doctors from Taiwan and the patients are Indian. My job is to translate from Mandarin to English and then our Tamil member will translate English to Tamil. 1 day we have thousands of members at end of day I was lost my voice. 2nd day I learn Tamil words. I saw a lot of miracles. I went to the rural area of India. No toilets. There was a Chinese family in Taiwan migrated to India 16 years ago and they are shoe maker. Live 1st floor and shop downstairs. More than 10 years they did not go to church but something happen. 1 day daughter hanging clothes in the balcony and she fell from the balcony and landed on the motorbike at her back. She was in great pain and so frustrated she threw everything. The family contacted church after so many years. The Indian family ask us Elder Tee, Elder Phoong and me when we were there to visit them. When we were at the hosue, the daughter was in hospital. Tried to understand why they did not go to church so long and they did not understand the culture so they kept to themselves. They felt the accident is the calling of JC. So we prayed in circle standing and I felt a force and power coming down from above filling your body. The power was circling around us voom voom around within the circule. Suddenly speaking in tongues so fluent (not shouting, no great movement) You feel the whole power filling the house. After prayer, Dn Jonah Ang from SP church, did you feel during the prayer. We all felt the same thing. Thank God as this is the first time I felt the in filling of the HS. I love joining visiting as this is the time when we receive this experience. The HS is true. I laugh those who receive the HS. Now I experience this I know it is true. All glory to God.
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