I accepted Jesus on Buddha’s birthday
FGB/Jaya One Chapter/2-3-12/Brother Eddy Yong
Being brought up in a family spanning 3 generations of temple owners, I was really born into bondage, but God is gracious, and I truly praise God that He has delivered me. Temples
Spirits have certain knowledge and powers. They can tell you things like “whether you just had a quarrel with your boyfriend” or even give you tips for the lottery. Satan originally came from heaven. Jesus said “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” Satan wants people to pray to him and uses spirits to gain worship for himself. Once he tried to tempt Jesus to worship him by offering all the kingdoms of the world. If Jesus had given in, we would have no Savior, and be lost forever.
My bondage was very great, and I needed great deliverance. Once in Glad Tidings PJ, I was slain for 2 and a half hours. During that time I could not speak or see but could only hear. Someone even rose up from a wheelchair, but I remained slain.
Idols have feet that cannot walk and eyes that cannot see. In the event of a fire, the bigger the idol, the more likely it will be destroyed as people can’t carry it. The devil comes to steal, to kill and to destroy but Jesus came so that we might have life to the full. How does the devil steal? One way is through tradition. When I chose not to follow my parents, I faced great persecution. I did so many bad things. I was proud and full of anger. Women were second class to me, and I often scolded my wife.
There is healing in the temple as the devil also has certain powers but people can never reach God through the temples. Animals like monkeys and dogs have no soul. As such, they do not go to temples or seek to worship God. Human beings on the other hand, have souls and they want to find God. Some go to the temple or mediums to try and find God. God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son to save us. Jesus is the only way we can ever find God.
In the course of my experience with the temple, one particular incident struck me. A friend of mine brought his 15 year old daughter to the temple for help. She was possessed and could not speak or even call her parents. Temples Perth
8 years ago, another strange incident happened when I went to a temple in Rawang. In those days, we used to visit different temples, and ask what number would come out. These practices are evil. This medium had a wooden carving in the form of a baby. That day, he suddenly asked me “Are you a Christian?” I retorted “Of course not!” However, he said he saw Jesus come into my house and then he declared “Jesus saves you”. The Bible says that God gives salvation to those He calls. The medium was in a trance but even spirits are subject to Jesus Christ and every knee must bow and every tongue must confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Philippians 2:9-11. It was a special message sent by God to me. When the medium woke up, he didn’t realize he had said such things and even exclaimed that if he did it would be silly as he would only be driving away business from himself.
5 years ago, I happened to travel to Egypt Red Sea , chasing after Moses and this is documented in the Bible, concerning Moses and the 10 commandments. I challenged him “How do you know it is in the Bible? How do you know the Bible is true?” “How do you know the 10 commandments are true?” The guide was indignant saying that although Egypt
Another time, I was praying to my large collection of idols at home. My home was like a mini temple. Suddenly, I inexplicably said “I want to throw all of you away”. I slapped myself immediately and asked for forgiveness but then suddenly found myself saying again “I’m really going to throw you all away”. All the idols are not real gods. The real God Jesus Christ had come into my house.
Another incident that happened was regarding the idol of Guan Yu. Guan Yu was a great general whom people prayed to for righteousness. One day, during a Buddhist society meeting, someone declared that Guan Yu had become a Buddha. I found myself challenging him “How would you know Guan Yu has become a Buddha?”
The meaning of Buddha means “I shall not be reincarnated.” Nirvana is attaining the state of extinction. Buddhism is really confusing. I said further “if ancestor worship can help you attain Buddhahood by offering three incense sticks a day, why don’t you put in 30 sticks a day? Suddenly, I found myself debating with the other society members.
Now my wife had become a Christian one month before me, but had not told me because I had clearly told her that if she became a Christian I would divorce her. At the same time, I had allowed my children to go to Glad Tidings church. I was touched that the church people were so nice to my children, even taking them out during weekends. Chinese people tend to be selfish, even prayers are mainly prayers for yourself. I even allowed them to accept Jesus Christ but did not allow them to be baptized.
Sometimes I would even follow them to church meetings but would not stand up when people were singing. It was the old spirit deterring me in my heart. If I believed, the spirit would be in trouble and need to find somewhere else to go to. I wore 5 amulets to be well protected. These days, young children are so obsessed with computer games and the Internet they don’t want to know God. Perhaps the computer is the Anti-Christ!
Another time, I was insistent that my brother’s maid should go and work in the temple and at one family dinner, I voiced this out. Being the eldest, I was used to my siblings following whatever I wanted. My brother however spoke up and said “she doesn’t want to go”. I was puzzled and retorted “she said she was ok with it”. My brother replied “Don’t you know how fierce you are?” Strangely, my wife shared a verse with me from the Bible later “No one gives advice with more willingness than an ignorant person”.
My wife told me that my kids would not follow me into the temple business. She explained that it was better for them to know God so that even if we were no longer around, they would still have God.
Another time, I sensed a very foul smell which is I perceived as the presence of an evil spirit, and I could not understand how it had come into our home. I asked my wife about it, and she too smelt it. On 14th May 2011, my wife felt God tell her to pray over the Bible with me. She asked me to close my eyes and see what vision God would give me. Incredibly, I saw a big white cloud and saw a hand coming out to me. I shouted “Who are you?” in the vision. She asked me “What vision did God give you?” and finally I told her.
Not long after, she invited a Christian brother to come and talk to me. I was angry. It was not me, but the spirit inside me. She challenged me “If a friend offered to buy you lunch, would you not go?” So I decided to go.
The brother told me. Imagine a scenario with 3 people. Firstly is a businessman like you, who went to the temple often and managed to go to heaven. I argued with him. “Chinese don’t go to heaven, they go to hell and there are 18 hells in fact. There is one hell where a person’s tongue is banged by a hammer and another where you are placed in a bath of boiling oil.” The brother gently went on “Let’s presume, the businessman went to heaven.” The second man was fine but had no money to go to the temple. The third guy was in a coma and could not go to the temple. Is there any way they can go to heaven? There is one way, if you believe in Jesus Christ. While Buddha said “I am the way”, Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”.
Buddhism and Christianity are actually quite close. Both recognize sin. Jesus recognized sin and said He is the way, the truth and the life to be free from sin.
On 15th May, my wife asked me to go to church as my son was performing. I was very mad with her. I sat downstairs ready to quarrel with her. She asked me “Dear, do you want to go to church with us?” and I said “No”. Usually, that would triggers angry words from her and a great quarrel would ensue. However, this time, she just smiled. She had felt God tell her to smile. There are 3 voices we can here. From God, from ourselves or from the devil.
“I have cooked for you something to eat”. At that moment, I began to calculate that if I did not go, I would be alone for many hours with nothing to do. So I decided to go, telling my son, that I was going to support mother. Before I went, I said before my gods, I will never forget my tradition, my roots.
At church, Pastor Julie was there and they showed a clip of the sharing by Bill Wiese regarding his 23 minutes in hell. He said that hell is so dark, and there is a very foul smell. I was surprised how Christians also knew that foul smells meant there were demons. Before I had gone to church with all my amulets but this time, my wife asked me to take them off. She said that just like I sang songs on the karaoke, I could also sing other people’s songs. So I took them off and sang along. I felt a great peace and raised up my hands for the first time and also said Amen.
Pastor Julie shared how her grandmother accepted Christ on her deathbed. She was drifting off but Pastor Julie asked Jesus to revive her grandmother. She woke up and said she was so scared of the dark. Pastor Julie asked her “Do you want Jesus so you can go to heaven?” The old lady had gone to hell but came up and accepted Jesus. 2 days later she died smiling.
5 days before Pastor Julie’s testimony, I had heard the same story from a colleague in the office who was always sharing about Christianity. His mother was 78 years old and spoke of fear of the dark as she was dying. Then she accepted Jesus and died smiling. It was almost like the same testimony word for word.
After the show, Pastor Julie, and asked me “Eddy, when are you going to accept Jesus into your heart”, touching his chest. Immediately he jumped up, all defensive.
All this time, my wife had been praying for my salvation with the ladies. When ladies pray, don’t “play play”, as Phua Chu Kang often says. The Psalms say that if we cry out to God, He will hear us. The ladies cried out to God for me.
My wife told me that when a soul is saved, it is so precious to God that the angels are rejoicing and church bells are ringing. On 15th May, when I went to the kitchen, I heard church bells ringing. Now my wife had put ringing church bells as her ring tone so I thought she had called me. However, when I looked at my phone, there were no missed calls. I went upstairs where my son was playing a very noisy video game, and still hard the ringing. I asked my son if he heard church bells and very practically, with all the noise going on, switched on the alarm clock and showed me that no one could even hear an alarm clock there.
Puzzled I went to have some Roti Canai in Subang and met some Christian friends called Kelly and Goh. They were former Taoists who now followed Jesus. They asked me if I would accept Jesus Christ. I was red-faced but shocked when Kelly said that if one accepts Jesus Christ, the angels in heaven will be rejoicing and the church bells chiming. I told them about the church bells and they said “you are so blessed. Do you want to say the sinner’s prayer?”. I immediately said “You are the sinner, not me.”
On 16th May, the eve of Wesak day, I went to the temple as was my custom. During this time, you could typically collect RM50,000 in one day. Usually, they would call me to join in the customary jumping and chanting but somehow, this day they did not call me. Somehow, something was blocking them from gaining access to the spirits, so a monk asked the crowd “Is there a Christian here?” One lady acknowledged she was a Christian curious to see the festivities, and she was asked to step outside.
The next day, on Wesak Day, I was due to go to the temple. It was big celebration for us, being Buddha’s birthday. Somehow, something prompted my wife to asked Pastor Julie to come and see me. At first Pastor Julie said that she could only come at 7 something, and I was glad, telling my wife I wouldn’t be around. Then she called again and told me Pastor Julie would come at 2pm with Pastor Danny. I was so angry but these Christians had been so good to my children I could not refuse them, so I decided to give them half an hour. All these time, people from the temple kept calling me as I was supposed to issue cheques, being the temple treasurer. I was boiling as they still had not come by 4pm, and decided to just leave the house. However, just as I was about to leave, they arrived. I decided to stick to my policy and give them half and hour. They stayed on till 7pm, and I was trying my best to hint to them that they should leave. Somehow in my heart, I was thinking, even if I accept Christ, it can’t be today, not on Buddha’s birthday.
Then came a moment when all of us ran out of things to say. And then my wife remembered my vision and told them about it. It felt like a trap, and the evil spirit in me was asking me not to tell. So I asked my wife to tell it herself. Then, Pastor Julie said, “why don’t you tell us yourself so we can assess whether it is really a vision?”
Before I could even speak, I suddenly started weeping and cried for 15 minutes. My son was stunned. I had heard a tremendous voice shouting in my ear “Who are you?” It was like hearing the very words I had spoken to the cloud. After 35 years of idol worship, I knew this is the true God. I could not resist anymore. I just kept saying “Don’t leave me, don’t forsake me.” Unknowingly, I was quoting Scripture. After a while, I realized God’s presence would not leave and peace came. I felt so light and peaceful. After a while, I told the shocked pastors, I want Jesus in my life and accepted the Lord Jesus into my heart.
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