Our
Pastors
Our
Pastors
張麟至牧師, MCCC, 7/18/1998
恩典…作王。(羅5.21b)
我是1951年出生於臺灣高雄。父母是公務員﹐家道小康溫暖。父母都受過教會中學教育﹐卻禮佛﹐家裏一點基督教的背景都沒有﹔而且家父算是反基督教的。童年生活平凡﹐沒有留下多少印像﹐卻記得逃過三劫﹐那是神恩覆庇我﹕六歲時﹐做警察的家父緊急出勤試鎗時﹐不慎子彈射出。幸好他在扣動第二道板機時﹐教官的話突然強而有力響起在心﹕除非對付敵人﹐鎗口永遠朝天。他就馬上將鎗口朝上﹐否則子彈正好射中我的頭部了。八歲時患急性腦膜炎﹐抗生素都用了﹐枉效﹐只賸下過敏的盤尼西林沒用。這時我已高燒到抽筋了﹐父親當機立斷﹐要醫生用盤尼西林﹗他寧可要健全的小孩﹐冒險在所不惜。沒想到一針病除﹗13歲時﹐那時家住在基隆河邊﹐夏天我和玩伴一同戲水﹐突然之間發現踩不到底了﹐十分恐慌。一面嗆水﹑一面呼天﹐突然間又踩到底了﹐趕快逃回岸邊。我深信這些都是神在默默地保守我。
在我懵懂童年﹐神就把敬畏祂的心放在我的裏面﹐雖然不認識祂﹐卻有一顆尋求造物主的心。父母常到廟裏上香﹐但我總覺得造物主必在燦爛的星空之上。家父有時帶我讀些論語﹑孟子﹔這些敬畏天的哲學思想－敬鬼神而遠之﹐可謂知矣。…獲罪於天﹐無所禱也。…子疾病﹐子路請禱…丘之禱久矣。天何言哉﹐萬物生焉﹐百物行焉﹐天何言哉﹗－預備我歸向真神的心境。1969~70年在我重攷大學期間﹐常常翻讀荒漠甘泉﹐首次認識了聖經上的神﹐也學會了禱告。重攷患得患失﹐我常常祈求神的幫助﹐發榜出來的成績比我自估的多了約50分﹗那年的數學奇難﹐攷到最後五分鐘還有四題選擇題沒做﹐其實是不會﹐所以我就猜了﹐居然給我猜中一半﹐得了12.5分。攷進了第一志願﹐其實這是神在預備我的心。
大學新生註冊那天﹐有位學長邀我參加基督徒團契﹐欠神一筆「神」情的我就參加了。開學後﹐學長欒大端弟兄鍥而不捨地來請我聚會查經﹐我只去了兩﹑三次﹐可是他的關心使我感受到基督徒的愛。我像時下青年人一樣﹐想在哲學裏尋找人生的意義﹐並建立人生觀。可是我卻迷失在知識爆炸的洪流裏﹐嚐到「生也有涯﹐知也無涯」的苦澀。大一下﹐班上同學謝冠雄歸主了﹐常向我見證那一位又真又活的主。微積分課時﹐他在大教室後排角落裏另外給我開講耶穌的救恩與寶貴。聖靈把渴慕神的心放在我裏面﹐叫我愈來愈相信﹐只有從神那裏才能得著永生﹐活著才有意義﹐才有價值。暑假一到﹐謝弟兄就邀我參加1971年六月底的福音夏令會(6/28-7/3)﹐主題是生之追尋。
第一場聚會是范大陵先生的歸主見證。他從前耍太保﹐憤世嫉俗﹐心中卻軟弱無力﹑驕傲迷惘。福音臨到了他了﹐完全改變了他。他的見證人動人心弦﹐我也確信他所介紹的基督正是我所需的﹐祂可以照樣地救拔我脫離一切的軟弱與有限。當講員呼召人歸向基督時﹐我裏頭有了劇烈的掙扎。「凡接待祂的﹐就是信祂名的人﹐祂就賜他們權柄作神的兒女。這等人…乃是從神生的。」(約1.12-13) 我自問我是否是接納基督進入心中﹖既然是﹐那我就是信祂的人。終於﹐裏頭舊人的抗拒勝不過主愛的吸引﹐我就定意歸向基督。詩歌「自基督來住在我心」所唱的是真的﹕喜樂潮溢我魂﹐如海濤浪滾滾﹐虛無孤獨感一掃而空﹐一種似乎摸得著﹑無以名狀的實際﹐充滿在我的裏面。神的同在圍繞著我﹐我知道基督是主。聚會最末一晚﹐陳潤堂牧師教我們唱他寫的詩歌「我在靈裏見我故鄉」﹐呼召學生為著將來的中國宣教獻身。我也深受感動﹐將自己獻給主了。
信主以後就莫名其妙地愛主﹐喜歡聽到主的名字﹐酷愛和基督徒在一起。我在住家附近找到一間小教會。八月底就受浸。在學校團契裏學習了讀經或晨更生活﹐很渴慕讀主的話語。有次期末考早晨﹐一大早趕到學校圖書館就拿出聖經晨更﹐同學看見我就搖搖頭說：「我看你是真的信耶穌了！」我也學習將聖經應用到生活中﹕聖靈使我想起從前得罪的人﹐並給我力量向他們認罪﹑求赦免。信主後不久﹐教會大專團契放映一部主生平的影片。當時我才讀過福音書﹐那部影片大部份是講到主的受難。當時一種說不出來極大憂傷侵襲我的心頭﹐愈演愈烈﹐隨著劇情發展﹐主戴荊冠﹑被人辱罵﹑像羔羊一樣被罵不還口﹐一幕幕地映在我跟前﹐這時我好像真地來到加略山﹐傷痛飲泣起來﹐祇是不敢哭出聲音。(男生豈可人前落淚呢﹖) 淚水奪眶而出﹐我不知如何是好﹐幸虧電燈都熄掉了﹐我就用袖子擦淚。淚水模糊了畫面﹐卻模糊不了主為我所受的每一傷痕﹐當兵丁用釘子扎了主的手﹑主的腳時﹐我的心真如刀割﹐主啊﹐你全身的重量怎麼可以掛在釘傷處呢﹖憂傷和著主的愛漫溢了我的靈魂﹐我的心都要碎了。一直等到主復活了﹐那陣憂傷才過去。原來這是基督的愛﹗救主藉著永遠的靈帶我來到加略山﹐我第一回稍微經歷到什麼是祂捨命的大愛﹐叫我敬畏﹐寶貝這個愛﹐願意終身事奉祂。
My
Story
Pastor
John Heald, MCCC, Sept 2009
I
was born in Princeton where my Dad was involved in the Matterhorn Project
(Atomic Fusion). School years spent
in Swarthmore, PA and summers in the Rideau District of Ontario provided happy
memories of an idyllic childhood although I didn’t yet know Jesus as the
Living Word of God. My parents
provided every opportunity for me to grow and develop as a young person.
I enjoyed traveling across America and Europe, camping, backpacking, and
bicycling.
When
I finished High School I moved to NYC to study Fine Arts.
I fashioned my life after those modern masters, Picasso, Van Gogh,
Cezanne, and Matisse. I pursued
beauty and passion but it was all vanity. God
allowed me to experience the emptiness of life without him.
I was gaining the world but losing my own soul.
It was then that the Lord Jesus became real to me after receiving the
Gospel from a street preacher. The
change was immediate and very dramatic. The
Bible became a living book and my daily delight.
Soon
I was attending a Baptist Church in Brooklyn and growing as a young Christian.
The resurrected Lord was calling me to leave all and serve him with the
remainder of my life. I didn’t
understand at that time what exactly this meant but I had a strong desire to
study the Bible. I left New York and
spent one year at Fellowship Bible Institute, Liberty Corner.
During that year I attended a Missions Conference where I dedicated my
life to serving in a cross-cultural context.
Then I entered Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and majored in Hebrew and
Jewish Studies. In 1989 I married
fellow student Miss Melody Chung and after graduating we served together at Boon
Church in Flushing, Queens.
Later
I completed a M.Div at Alliance Theological Seminary with emphasis on N.T.
Greek, Church History and Chinese Studies. We
moved to Freehold in 1996. My work
has involved prayer and testimony and sharing the Word of God with youth and
young families. Over the years I
have made many connections ministering in jails, medical facilities, schools,
and camps. By God’s grace I have
seen many lives impacted and transformed by the power of the Word of God.
I consider it a special privilege and holy calling to serve Monmouth Chinese Christian Church as an English Pastor. If I can be of any help to you on your life path please contact me by phone or email. May the Lord be pleased with the fruit of our lives which he has redeemed at the greatest cost. To Jesus be all glory and praise!
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