A Testimony Given on the Evening of July 25, 2010, in Franklin, New Jersey

The way of serving the Lord is a way of experiencing all kinds of bitterness and sweetness. It is especially difficult for the brothers to run the way of serving the Lord together with their wives and children. You see that we brothers in Taiwan all go all out for the Lord, but each of us goes all out alone; our sisters do not run along with us. The sisters say, "How could we ever keep up with the kind of days you live?" But thank the Lord, our sisters are quite good; none of them have become a hindrance to us. They say, "You just go and go all out." Of course, if we really took the sisters along to run seven times a year like this, we truly could not keep going!

Going All Out for the Lord Together with Our Families

We should not think that it is enough for just one person to go all out; in reality, the Lord wants us to serve Him family by family. One person's going all out cannot fully please the Lord; we also have to bring our own family members to go all out together. The Bible says that we must forsake (Mark 10:29) and that we must hate (Luke 14:26); but please do not really forsake or hate them. If you do, you will not only lose the testimony, but no one will dare to walk this way together with us! The "forsaking" and "hating" here both refer to how we should act when they hinder us from loving the Lord. A wife sometimes truly cannot keep up. When she hinders you, you must not be dragged down by her; at such a time you have to hate this matter, for you need to go all out for the Lord. In walking the Lord's way, we truly need to walk family by family. That is a glorious testimony.

On the Running Way, the Lord's Grace Is Full

Throughout the process of my growing up, I was always muddled and unclear. When others spoke of the ministry, we also spoke of the ministry; whatever others told us, we just repeated. But after all the talk, I still could not quite grasp what the ministry was. In 1986, when Brother Lee came to Taiwan to begin the full-time training, I had already been saved for twenty-five years. Brother Lee released a series of messages on the apostles' teaching and the New Testament ministry, but we still did not understand. It was not until 1990, when Brother Lee returned to America and handed the full-time training over to us brothers who were coordinating together in Taiwan, and we ourselves had to speak on the apostles' teaching and the New Testament ministry, that we finally came to ourselves and gradually understood what Brother Lee had been speaking. We realized that the New Testament ministry and the apostles' teaching are very closely related. Every age has its own vision to meet the need of that age. We are in the most blessed stage: from the scene of Adam in Genesis, we have already come to the scene of the New Jerusalem in Revelation.

Because my mother lived the church life in the Lord's recovery, I grew up in the church from my childhood; and I was especially favored, because the church has always treasured our generation. When I was a child, the church treasured the children; when I was in middle school, the church began to treasure the middle-school students. When I finally got into college, I thought that now I had become a freshman and would truly have a wide-open sky; but the church began to treasure the college students! So for all four years of college I had no winter or summer vacation, because all the vacations were spent in conferences, one conference after another. When I had finally graduated from college, finished my military service, and entered employment, the direction of the church moved on to begin treasuring the young working ones. So all along I was the apple of the church's eye, cared for and loved up to this day, and I am still living in the church life. Thank the Lord, this is to receive grace. Not only did I personally receive grace, but several of my younger brothers received grace together with me and went all out for the Lord. Hallelujah!

A person like me is really not the material for serving the Lord full-time. From my childhood I was a healthy child; I played ball very well and was very good at all kinds of sports, and my younger brothers were all my fans. Who would have thought that one day someone would say, "How did Paul Wu fool around until he became a pastor!" I said, "You do not understand; I am not a pastor. I am simply a Christian who is very willing to live the church life in the church!" Truly, others did not understand, but gradually they will all understand. I saw that my schoolmates were busy in the world their whole lives, and after they retired at my age, they were of no further use. So when they look back, they feel that I have indeed walked the right way. Because what we do is something of value, even at retirement age we can still run on the Lord's way!

In the past, while they were employed, they often asked me, "Old Wu, do you need any help at all?" I said, "What help do you want to give me? If you want to help me, then come and hear the gospel and believe in Jesus; that would be helping me." They looked and saw that there really was nothing they could help with; they were not as plump as I am, nor as joyful as I am. Thank the Lord, walking the Lord's way is truly worthwhile! Of course, this way is not easy to walk either. According to my situation I would have collapsed long ago, because I went all out. Although I went all out, it was not always within God's will. Sometimes I would grasp a little of the world; sometimes I would think it over and decide that it was better to return to the Lord.

In short, this person of ours is often wavering back and forth. But thank the Lord, His rich grace has continually upheld us. When we were about to go a little astray, the Lord used His rod and His staff to guide us. So if we are to walk the Lord's way, we need to have a vision and a seeing. We need to lay down our lives in the New Testament ministry. If we follow the Lord well, the Lord will bear all our responsibility.

Every Consecration before the Lord Counts

As I have walked this way, I really feel that it has not been easy. From my childhood I was in the church life, and I had a deep-rooted realization: I am one who belongs to the Lord, and of course I should be set in the house of God. When I was fifteen years old, I attended the summer conference for middle-school students, and through the Lord's mercy I unwittingly consecrated myself; I wrote out a consecration paper and even stood up to declare it, and the elders also laid hands on me and prayed for me. Although I myself did not pay much attention to it, our consecration all counts before the Lord, and so I was kept.

When I was twenty-five years old, Brother Lee returned to Taiwan and called the young people to put themselves into the service of the church. Although the leading brothers had hoped for a thousand young people, I myself was very clear: the Lord has a calling; if we do not put ourselves in, who will? The leading brothers were all advancing in age, and there was a great need for young people to be set in the house of God, to coordinate in the service of the church and to fulfill their portion. At that time we all had such an aspiration, and it was much accepted by the Lord. But we were still employed; just think, if you can love the Lord and serve the Lord while still earning money, what could be wrong with that? But you cannot serve both the Lord and mammon; for the more time we spend on the world, the less time we naturally have to serve the Lord.

One day the leading brother, Brother Zhang, suddenly telephoned me and said, "Brother Wu, you need to come and serve at the gospel bookroom." I said, "I have never served in the gospel bookroom!" Brother Zhang said, "No problem; the brothers in their fellowship have decided that you should come and serve!" I said, "I really cannot do it!" Because at that time I was teaching physics in senior high school, with forty or fifty class periods a week; I taught with great enjoyment and delight, and I was not willing to give it up. Brother Zhang probably also saw that I could not do it, so he told Brother Lee, "Brother Wu probably cannot do it, because he still has the needs of his family," and so on.

Later Brother Lee said that as long as he was willing to serve, there would be no problem, and there was nothing much at the gospel bookroom. At that time Brother Zhang called me again from America and said, "Just do not push it away any longer! Brother Lee said it is fine if you want to go and teach your classes, but you have to go and serve at the gospel bookroom." I said, "Since you love me so deeply, I have no choice but to go." I thought that as long as I did the work well it would be all right; doing things should not be too hard. At that time I was also serving as the general manager in the church. For three years like this, on the one hand I was teaching, on the other hand I was serving as the general manager of the church, and on yet another hand I was serving at the gospel bookroom. I burned the candle at three ends, burning all the way until I was thirty-five years old, when I had a stroke.

In 1985, when I was attending the summer training, I collapsed at Brother Lee's home. On July 4, while Brother Lee was still releasing messages, I had a stroke. I thought to myself, "My grandfather and my father both had strokes; now it is my turn. Am I still useful? Perhaps I am to be scrapped." My grandfather had a stroke at fifty, my father had a stroke at thirty-nine, and I had a stroke at thirty-five. Alas, that my loving of the Lord should come to this point is truly shameful. But thanks to the Lord's mercy, my hands and feet were not affected by the stroke; only my facial nerve was struck, with one eye and my mouth becoming crooked.

As a result, Brother Lee called me in and said, "I heard that you are sick." I said, "Yes, I had a stroke." Brother Lee said, "Then are you still going to teach?" I said, "I have no choice but to teach!" Brother Lee said, "Go back and pray well; I think you should not teach anymore!" I said, "I will pray well, and I will also go back and talk it over with my sister and my mother, whether I should resign from the work at the gospel bookroom or resign from teaching." At that time I was thinking, "If I do not earn money, what will become of my family and my children?" It is just like today, when many of us want to come out to serve the Lord, but once we think of the many realities of our situation, we no longer have much assurance!

Serving the Lord Full-Time

Thank the Lord, I went back and fellowshipped with my mother. My mother said, "Brother Lee told you not to teach, and you still want to teach?" Then I asked my sister, and she said, "Forget about it! Brother Lee told you not to teach, so do not teach! I can manage to live on my own." So I said, "All right, since you all tell me to lay it down, I will lay it down and go full-time!" There are many kinds of going full-time: some go because of loving the Lord, some go because of being burned by the Lord, and some go because of being driven in. I belong to the kind that was driven in to go full-time. Thank the Lord, from 1985 until today it has already been twenty-five years; during that time I had two more consecutive strokes, three strokes in all. Very few people are able to come through three strokes; the Lord had mercy on me and let me still stand here today. So every time the brothers and sisters ask me, "Is your health good?" I say, "Thank and praise the Lord, this is the Lord's mercy and also the Lord's grace, that I am still alive to continue serving and to testify for the Lord!"

Today we all need to see this vision that inherits the past, catches up with the age, and consummates everything; we all need to walk in the ministry of the age and become those who have received grace. What a glory it is that we can serve the Lord today! How valuable it is! Although there may have been some jolts along the way, the Lord bears our responsibility. When I was young and saw people who were sixty years old, I felt that they really had it hard. Now that I am already past sixty, I feel that I am living quite well and that I am still very young in my heart! This is all the Lord's mercy: by being in the church life all along and receiving a fresh supply day by day, I have been able to run with strength. I hope that the brothers and sisters can all be in such a church life, going all out together and bearing a glorious testimony for the Lord together.