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: Three Cents Column by Director Bong

Three Cents Column by Director Bong of RGO 24! 'Although I am lacking and my writing is only worth as much as 'three cents...' I share the Sunday messages and interpret them with 'the language of the world.''

칼럼_연재칼럼_Three Cents Column

Leave all the outcome up to the heavens and just do it.

The charitable work of King Cuo of Zhongshan

During the Warring States period [of China], there was a king called King Cuo of Zhongshan. One day, [the state of] Chu invaded the state of Zhongshan. The King of Zhongshan lost the battle, so he ran away. As he was running, two men whom he had not seen before were escorting him and protecting him with their lives on the line. The King thought that it was strange, so he asked why they were doing that for him.

“I do not know you two; why are you helping me?”

They said,

“We are brothers, and our father told us that there was one time when he fainted because he was starving. At that time, you gave him a bowl of rice and our father was able to escape death with that one bowl of rice. So my father left a will telling us to repay your grace with our lives on the line if you ever encountered a difficult situation.”

Even for King Cuo of Zhongshan, it must have been surprising to himself that his deed, which was too small to be remembered, became the key that saved his life.

An old man, ‘Frank Jenner of George Street in Sydney,’ who did his best

When Frank Jenner (1903~1977) was in his mid-70s, he suffered from Parkinson's disease, so he spent [most of his] time alone lying on his bed. However, for forty years he would come out to George Street in Sydney, Australia without missing a day and ask,

“Excuse me sir, are you saved?”

“If you died tonight, will you go to Heaven or Hell?”

He evangelized on the street with these two simple questions. He used to be a navy soldier when he was young, but he fell into gambling and lived a prodigal life. However, later on he accepted Christ, changed his heart, and promised that he would evangelize ten non-believers for the Lord.

Even though Jenner spent forty years evangelizing, he had never met even one person who confessed that they accepted Christ through his evangelism [efforts]. He was discouraged and told himself, “I just worked hard without bearing any fruit.” However, right before he left this world, he heard surprising news. He found out that his evangelism effort had not been a waste when Pastor Francis Willmore Dixon visited him from the far-off country of England.

At one of the churches in London, when Pastor Dixon was about to wrap up the Sunday service, one member asked if he could give a testimony that he really wanted to give. He testified that after hearing some words and receiving a flyer from an elder with grey hair in Sydney, Australia a few days prior, he decided to believe in Christ. Two weeks after the testimony, Pastor Dixon heard another story of ‘an old man on George Street in Sydney’ at another church assembly in the Perth region in Australia. He heard similar testimonies at a revival assembly in Keswick, England, in Atlanta, Georgia and Los Angeles in the U.S., at a missionary rally in India, and at an assembly of diplomats in Sydney, Australia. When Pastor Dixon saw that how these amazing testimonies continued all over the world, he was inspired to visit this old man. After asking all around to find Jenner, he flew to Sydney and finally met him, and told Jenner the stories of what he experienced.

In the end, Jenner found out that his street evangelism efforts of forty years were not a waste. Also, Jenner was moved to tears by God’s love, that God allowed him to hear these stories through ‘a person’ before he died. One day, about a week later, Jenner returned to God’s embrace with a peaceful smile. Since people said that about 140,000 people accepted Christ through him, regardless of the actual number of people, he must have been a person who did great work.

If you do it, it will be done; if you don’t do it, it will not be done.

Pastor Jung Myeong Seok said in a message this week, “Human beings receiving according to what they have done is the law of justice. This is the law of reason. If human beings do, things will be done as much as they do; if they don’t do, that much will not be done. If you are rewarded with something you did not do, it is not a jackpot, but something you should be scared of.” He delivered this message with a parable: the danger of a car that moved on its own even if you did not drive it. Whether it is a small work or a big work, we should do what we should do with our best effort and wrap up this year. It is certain that the one and only God of justice will reward us with precious fruits as a result of our deeds.