When a person turns from idol worship to love and serve the one true God, the creator of the universe, it is a wonderful thing. Many times I have seen individuals make that choice. But it is always challenging for them to live out their faith in the shadow of the idol worship of their families. The thing we pray for is that the head of the household will come to Christ and decide to cleanse his home from idols. This is of course a huge decision. Many are fearful of retribution from the gods they no longer serve. Many believe that the spirits of their ancestors reside in the ancestral tablets on the god-shelf and if they are not worshiped, they will haunt the family. A brother in our church has been a believer for about 5 or 6 years. Just this week, his parents decided to remove the idols from their home. His father is not yet a believer in Jesus, but he has become much softer and open and he has lost faith in the other gods. His mother has more faith and seems to have really trusted Christ. Yesterday, Rev. Pan led a group of us from our church in the idol cleansing ceremony.
We sang, prayed, listened to a brief sermon and then the pastor removed the idols, took down the shelf and it was all carried away to be burned!
May this beginning of turning to God from idols continue and bear fruit in the life of this family, and also as a powerful testimony to their extended family, friends and neighbors. The power of the message is demonstrated in changed lives! Praise God for his mighty work in our lives! May there be many more such public demonstrations of love for Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment