My testimony transcript

Good morning everyone! My name is Hamish Anderson or An Tian En. I’ve always believed in God ever since I can remember. The first time I learned about God and Jesus wasn't at church but, ironically, at a public primary school. They had Bible classes every Wednesday morning and I would listen to all kinds of stories about God and Jesus. At that time I don’t think I questioned what I was being taught. I just treated them as moral lessons about how we should always be good.

The challenge to my faith came when I first started studying science during intermediate and in the first couple years of high school. When I started reading science books I was wondering why God was never mentioned. I didn't stop believing in God but I did start to question certain stories in the Bible particularly in the Book of Genesis. As a logical type of person I had to reconcile my analytical mind with what I thought were scientifically impossible events.  Faith and science are complete opposites. Or so I thought. I had always considered myself a Christian in terms of morality but, until then, I thought there was a conflict between my Christian faith and my reasoning abilities. This was a misconception I had because 1 Peter 3:15 says that we should always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks us the reason for the hope we have. This means that being a Christian isn't about blind faith and believing in Jesus just for the sake of it, otherwise that wouldn't be loving God with all your mind.

Until I went to Auckland Christian Mandarin Church (ACMC) I didn't really go to church regularly on Sundays but relied on the Bible classes at Henderson Primary and the Bible assemblies at Rangeview Intermediate for my spiritual nourishment. I took my Christian faith for granted and did all the Christian stuff that you’re supposed to like pray before dinner. But then I read a bit deeper and became more curious about God’s Word. The weird thing was that, even though I called myself a Christian, not going to church every Sunday made me feel like I was missing out on some sort of regular fellowship with other believers. This all changed one Saturday morning in 2002, during violin lesson, when the mum of one of the students suggested we go to this Chinese church. I was studying Chinese at Rutherford at the time so we thought it would be a good opportunity to not only be more familiar with Chinese but, more importantly, enjoy the company of fellow believers and spiritually feed myself every week. Even though I’m half Chinese I’m not as fluent in Chinese as I’d like to be so I felt slightly socially isolated. Fortunately, I listened to the English translations of the sermons and was put in an English speaking Sunday School class so that made it easier to understand God’s Word. Friendships developed over the next few years but it wasn't until the Oddfellows English fellowship started in 2008 that I felt like I truly belonged.

My understanding of Christianity changed as I began to have my misconceptions challenged. Before going to ACMC I always considered myself a Christian but didn't really understand what that meant. I used to think that Christianity was a bunch of rules and regulations and didn't know what made it so special. As I studied more of the Bible I realised that Christianity actually makes sense. I thought that being a Christian was about being a good boy like study hard, read your Bible every day and be nice to everyone. But one day I came across a tract about how being good won’t necessarily get you into heaven and this changed my whole outlook on Christianity. The problem was that I treated Christianity like a typical religion and focused my attention on good works and how I could please God with my own efforts. Instead, Ephesians 2:8-9 says that salvation is a gift from God, not due to good works, otherwise people could just boast. If our own efforts could save us then there was no point in Jesus’ sacrifice.

From studying the historical evidence of Jesus’ resurrection it became really easy to love God with all my mind and accept Jesus as my personal Saviour. But I knew that I also had to accept Him as my Lord and give Him total control of my life. I always tried to be in control and rely on my own efforts for salvation but circumstances in my life were constantly changing. However, as I have developed spiritually (and especially since I started taking the Experiencing God course) I learned to trust my life in Jesus and let Him be my Lord because He is always present and can calm any storm.  I know I’m not perfect and will never be perfect. But that doesn't matter, because it’s not about what I can do for God or what He can do for me, but about thanking Him for what He has already done on the cross. Accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour is not the end of my journey, and I don’t know what hazards lie ahead, but he is my driver and I know that by letting Him take the wheel He will steer me in the right direction. Thank you and God Bless!

Delivered on 10 February 2013.