(June 13, 2010) A Weekly Meditation of Pastor Chang

<Futurology, Soothsaying, Fortunetelling, and the Biblical Prophecy> (17)

Recently, I was very busy in our church ministries. Praise the Lord for constantly reminding me: slow down and spend more time with the Lord, then will be renewed!

These past two weeks, I experienced two incredible events – I “sent” two women on their ways to go through the gate of physical death.

Actually, where are we going after the life on this earth? This must be the first question that we need to ask. But too many people only care about what is the future of the earth? Where are human beings going? Of course, they are important, but life after death is always neglected. This is supposed to be one of the major concerns of the futurology. Those who do not believe in Jesus Christ always seek help from soothsaying or fortunetelling. But allow me to remind our church people: Please do not get involved with anything with it, for it will lead us into destruction. According to the Bible, both soothsaying and fortunetelling are abominated by God.

Let me share with you about these two mothers’ death experiences that happened in the last two weeks. (I hope soon I may share with you more about what I have seen in the past 30 years of my church ministry experiences.)

The first mom let us call her, Mrs. Chiang. She was 92 years old. I baptized her about 6 or 7 years ago. After her daughter introduced me, and I went to visit her at home, she was not in good physical condition. But interestingly enough, after her baptism, she turned to be better and stronger physically. Until recently, she turned to be weaker and weaker. I went to see her several times. Each time, I asked her, “Are you ready?” She kept saying, “Yes” with smiles. She even wanted to show me her last piece of clothing that she was going to wear.

By the end of May, her physical condition suddenly dropped to be bad. She was hospitalized. However, I was too busy to visit her. I waited until the afternoon of June 1, after the Memorial Day’s work, I had time to see her. When I arrived at the hospital, her oldest daughter called her that I was there to visit her. She was a little bit waked up; then she went to sleep again. I asked her oldest daughter, “Are your family ready?” She said, “Yes.” And she continued to say, “But according to the hospital, my mom’s case could last for a period of time. We do not know for how long she will last? And we agreed to send her to hospice tomorrow. It was part of your suggestion.” Then, I said, “Let us pray!” My prayer was short and precise, I said: “Lord! Mrs. Chiang and her family are ready. If you are ready, please send your angels to take her home. Grant your peace and hope for the future to the family. In Christ I pray. Amen.”

Next early morning, I received a phone from her oldest daughter that her mom already passed away very peacefully at the early morning. She went to be with the Lord while she was still sleeping. How marvelous it was!

Last Saturday (6/5) we had a funeral service in Flushing for Mrs. Chiang. During the funeral service, her oldest daughter made a very profound testimony of her mom. She said, “Few days before my mom past away. In the hospital when she saw many children and grand children surrounded her, she suddenly said, ‘I have seen many red candles, and I am very joyful. You all need to be joyful too.’”

After hearing this testimony, I was amazed to see the body of Mrs. Chiang; she was covered by a piece of beautiful clothing which was just like a traditional Chinese bridal dressing that she made for herself. No wonderful, she said that she saw many red candles – that was a symbol of happiness for weddings. Now, please listen to the word of God in the Bible:

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and

the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of

heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for

her husband. …” (Rev. 21:1, 2)

Dear Brothers and sisters: No matter how long we live on this earth, no matter how rich or poor we are in our lives, everything is only temporary. Whatever we fight for or struggle for, the best reward could make us become kings or queens. But it is also temporary. When we depart from this world we cannot take anything away with us. The most important question is: Are we ready when the time comes? Can we leave this world with great peace and joy? Please slow down our path and be closer to our Lord daily!