The Local Church

Seeking God and Finding Him in the Church

“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My father will love him, and we will come to him and make an abode with him.” (John 14:23)

“Lord, you created me and saved me. But I don't understand what you want. I've been saved many years. But I don't know what you want. You must have a purpose! You must want something!” This was my heart's cry to God.

Coming from a Christian family really influenced my thoughts. I'd become a believer through my parents' prayers and my teacher's gospel preaching in a Sunday school. But there was something missing. I had to know the Lord in a deeper way. My seeking began several years before the answer came. I traveled from the denomination to a faith ministry and finally found the answer to my seeking in a small video meeting in the local church in Santa Monica, California in the Fall of 1981.

Witness Lee was speaking concerning the utensils of the tabernacle, which I had read about and earlier told the Lord I did not understand. It was wonderful to finally understand through Witness Lee's ministry. Hearing his speaking was so comforting because for the first time I heard a man who understood the Bible in great detail. I was unforgettably impressed. As he spoke, God spoke within me, and this speaking of God in me was unveiling me (2 Corinthians 3:16). I was happy and deeply touched.

Before this video meeting, I was insatiably hungry for the Word and for fellowship with other believers. I had received a nationally competitive award to attend graduate school and by the Lord's sovereign leading my first and second university choices closed their programs and were not accepting additional graduate students. This resulted in my calling UCLA, which was my third choice, and being accepted there. I was leery about Californians, but knew this was God's sovereign arrangement. Everything fell neatly into place. My move there was effortless. All my belongings fit neatly into my car. My job provided a leave of absence for graduate study. My father drove me all the way from Houston, Texas to Los Angeles, California. And a fellow student who hardly knew me, found a very nice apartment for me in Santa Monica. All my needs were taken care of, and I was living on my own for the first time.

I looked forward to reading all the books I had not had time to read when I worked full time as a college instructor. Now, I could enjoy the freedom of being in school fulltime and exploring life. I had no intention of leaving UCLA with a Ph.D. This leave would be for me personally. It would be my first time to relax and learn. I had no realization that I would find the heart's desire of God. I just thought I would take the opportunity to explore...and this included my faith in God and reading through the Bible.

In reality, graduate school occupied most of my time and my life. I had entered the high stress life of graduate school at a major university. So, I attended a denomination only once a week in South Central Los Angeles and lived my ordinary doctoral student life Monday through Saturday. After about a month, and my first earthquake, I moved to Santa Monica. After the move, I decided to take the opportunity to pursue the Lord in the faith ministry of a Christian center. There I began to read the Bible more and sought to understand what faith really was. I was taping the Old Testament and reading the New Testament daily. I did not understand very much, but I enjoyed a lot. One day, as I read, I began to pray and sing John 14:23. My Bible reading caused me to inquire of God, asking Him what was on His heart. I wanted to know what He desired of me. Surely, I thought, such a great person could not be aimless. He must have a purpose. I sought answers by going to more denominational meetings. This left me even more thirsty for the truth. By this time, I'd finished my course work and passed my comprehensive exams. But, my desire to know God increased. I fasted, I read the Bible, I prayed. Then I remembered that a few months earlier, a sister whom I had met in class had invited me to a meeting in the house of some Christian brothers near UCLA's campus. After that meeting, I told the Lord that I would like to go to another meeting like that. That meeting was full of joy. It was calm, yet saturated with the reality of Christ. Everyone seemed to be shining with joy and satisfaction.

Months went by. I was at a critical juncture. Bewildered and famished, I prayed regularly and felt one day when I was in Westwood that I should go to my office on campus. As I walked up to Moore Hall, I met a sister, Annie! I said out of desperation, “Are you having another meeting tonight?” She was bold. We went to my office immediately and she called another sister in Santa Monica. She didn't ask if there was a meeting but “what time is the meeting tonight?” I was on pins and needles hoping that there was really a meeting that night. And yes there was a meeting! I was delighted, remembering how wonderful that first meeting had been. Annie was concerned. It really wasn't `a meeting'. It was more like a catchup time for anyone who had missed the earlier meeting. She couldn't tell me that, I was too excited. When we walked in, there was one pleasant Christian sister sitting in front of a video. We were introduced. Then, I joined her and listened to the wonderful words from a dear Christian brother-whom I later found out was Witness Lee. God had answered my prayers in that small video meeting. He sought me, and then I sought Him. I was attracted to him like iron to a magnet. We met face to face in a small meeting in Santa Monica. Now, I know His purpose, His heart's desire. He wants a dwelling place on earth (1 Peter 2:5). All the believers corporately are to be His dwelling place, the mutual abode of God with His redeemed, regenerated, transformed, conformed, and glorified people (Ephesians 2:22; 1 Peter 1:18-19,3; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 8:29-30).

C.W. | Back to List

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