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The world wants to improve people; God wants to transform people
這世界想改善人們；但上帝想改變人們。

The world seeks to change people from the outside in; God seeks to change people from the inside out
　這世界試圖將人從外在改變至內在；但上帝要將人從內在改變至外在。

The world starts with the mind; God starts with the spirit
這世界從心智開始改變；但上帝從靈魂開始改變。

The world works through reason; God works through faith
這世界憑藉事由做工；上帝憑藉信心做工。

The world declares phoilosophy; God declares truth
這世界宣揚哲學；上帝宣揚真理

The world points to man, God points to Jesus."
這世界將一切指向人；上帝將一切指向耶穌

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When you received Christ, you didn't receive a better life, but a new life
當你接受基督，你不是得到一個較好的生命，而是一個全新的生命。

You didn't receive new ideas, but a new way of thinking
你不是得到新的觀念，而是一個新的思考模式。

You didn't receive new opportunities to improve yourself, but a new kingdom to rule over you
你不是得到新的機會去改善你自己，而是一個全新掌管你生命的王國

You didn't receive better tips on how to handle your problems, but a new Master who is able to handle your entire life. "
你不是得到處理問題的好秘訣，而是一個能夠管理你整個生命的新主人。



〈來自人在美國的Diane分享〉

Tiida's Testimony

I had a bad life in the past. I live in a Taoist family. I will divide this into three parts, including family, schoolwork and friends.

I had an unhappy childhood in my family. There are five people in my family, including my parents, older brother, and younger sister. My brother is very smart and always has good points in school. My sister has talent. She can Chinese yoyo very well. She attends a Chinese yoyo team and often goes to the matches. But I cannot do everything. My schoolwork was not good and I didn’t like Chinese yoyo. My mother loves my brother and my father always says he loves my sister. I always wondered "Who loves me?” Who loves me in this world? I didn’t know, but I wanted to know. Sometimes, I was bullied in my school. I told my parents. No one cared. My parents said, "If you didn’t bully others, no one can bully you." I was very sad and their words hurt me again. And I am quite certain that they didn’t love me. In school, I didn’t have any accomplishments, because I didn’t like studying.

In school, I had a few friends, but I felt as if no one like me. Because I am heavy, I was always the bully. I became very self-abased and pessimistic. I hated myself. I cared about how others viewed me. I cared about my friends, because only my friends understood me and consoled me.

In my senior high school, my life became worse. Because I cared too much about others something happen. I quarreled with my friend and was very sad. My schoolwork became poor. In my class, all my classmates hated me. I didn’t know why. I didn’t know what I could do. I didn’t want to go to school. I didn’t know who could help me. I didn’t want to tell my parents. Then, I remembered a big sister who lived in Taipei. She is a Christian. She always helped me when I had problems. She prayed for me when I called her. But this time she didn’t know how to help me. She told me Jesus can help me if I believe in Him. God knows me and takes care of me. He loves me very much. He understands my feelings. He can help me. So I tried to pray for God and believed in him.

God really helped me, and I also went to church. Everything became better and better. God blessed me very much. I made friends in my class. All my classmates became my friends. I was very surprised, because I had few friends in the past. I felt that God was very powerful. In my schoolwork, I became No3. And my parents and I have a good relationship now. And I know my life meanings. Everything is good. God helped me with everything. So I like God very much. He changes my life. I am very thankful for God and big sister.

Hanging out together on Tuesday evenings

Eddy's Testimony

Before I became a Christian, I felt that life was OK for me and I didn’t need any religion in my life. After I went to graduate school, I met Chris at my school (he played guitar at Bible study here before Julie). I also met some foreigner friends from church. We became friends but we didn't talk about Jesus a lot. Then Chris held an extra Bible study for me and my classmates. So I got more opportunities to learn about God.

At first, because I wanted to improve my English, I thought I’d like to attend Bible study. Each week Chris started to teach us about Jesus. I'd liked learning more, but I didn't believe it when Chris said God healed his cancer or something else like that. I thought that could be relative to any religion, and it didn’t make sense for me. Other times I heard people lose their keys or cell phone, and they pray to God, and when the items were found, they feel God is amazing or great. If they didn't find items, then they will tell themselves God has a plan, so it's OK, but that didn’t work for me.

So I continued learning about Jesus for a year and a half. I didn't used to go to church or read the Bible a lot then (or even now), but I just keep on learning. I am not that kind of person who would say right away "Oh, God, please come to my life." Everything has to make sense for me before I believe it. So I started thinking about my relationship with God, and I wondered if God meant anything to me.

I was born into a Buddhist family, so I did compare the 2 religions, and tried to find out what is different between Christianity and Buddhism. All the time I found that the Bible teaches us that we are sinners. When I was child I felt this was very weird for me. I thought “I don’t do anything bad. I don't steal. I don't rob. Why am I a sinner?” But then I was reminded that I needed to be humble. Am I capable of doing bad things more serious than stealing or robbing? Yes, I could. And sometimes we don't know what we've done. All of us are able to do some really bad things. So I have to take every step very carefully, because I am not perfect!

A lot of people believe in Buddhism where it says they could pay for their sins by doing something good, like helping people. It sounds like it makes sense, but I don't agree that people they could pay for their sins by doing anything. Does it mean they could always pay for their sins by giving away more money? Even if they know they are going to do something bad? People think they did pay for their sins and then keep doing bad things again. They don't feel that they are a sinner.

I believe I am a sinner, and I am not able to pay for my sin without Jesus. I know God died on the cross to pay for my sin. I never ask God to bring me more good luck or take away all of the bad things that happened to me. He told us “If any of you want to come with me, you must forget yourself, carry your cross, and follow me. For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it.”(Mark 8:34-35

The Bible reminds me that we are not perfect, so every step I take needs to be taken carefully. For example, I could hurt someone deeply and not know it. God looks at all people equally, no matter if I just a student or a criminal. That is how I came to believe in Jesus; it totally makes sense to me. After I understood the meaning of "we are sinners", I felt I needed to keep learning more about his Word and that He is the only way.