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How the Lord Led Me into Oneness of His BodyJesus prayed in John 17:21, “That they all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that You have sent Me” For the first 21 years of my life I lived in darkness and separation from God because I was ignorant of His love and salvation. Although my parents did their best to raise me with a Christian perspective, I did not have faith in God or see any real value in going to church. While still a teenager I left religion to pursue my own life, but by the time I finished school I did not know the purpose of my life. I knew that there was something special about my existence, so it really bothered me that I did not know what it was. Time was going by and I was afraid that I would end up living a boring, mundane life. Something in me protested against that notion and I found myself getting into the wrong things. For example, the so-called hippie movement in the late Sixties offered a false answer to me. After giving myself wholeheartedly to that cause for less than a year, I realized that it offered no real solution to the basic problem of mankind or to my own needs. However, I was stuck in what my heart protested against, living a boring life, etc. One Friday evening a friend stopped by the house to share how he had met the Lord Jesus. What he said attracted me to Christ so I went with him to hear the gospel that Sunday. A friend of mine was there who greeted me warmly when I entered the room of what was called a non-denominational church. That day marked the beginning of my life in Christ. As the preacher began to speak the Holy Spirit began to convict me of sin. The Word of God penetrated my heart and I saw myself in need of Christ. I wanted to stand up to receive the Lord during the sermon, but I refrained from doing so. Many tears of repentance flowed from me during the message because I knew that God was speaking directly to my heart. At the close of the message we sang a song and the preacher invited all to come to the front and pray. At that time I began to experience a struggle within. It seemed unreasonable for me to give up everything and I reasoned that I should first get a Bible and read it before making a decision. After all, I had never read the Bible and I was not sure about it. However, the Lord spoke to me in my heart that He would show me what I needed to know and what I needed to give up. Thus, I went to the front to pray to receive the Lord. What a happy day that was for me. A few days later I purchased a pocket New Testament and began to read from the book of Matthew. Every day I read my Bible. By the end of the week I attempted to give a testimony to my co-workers. Just as I got up enough courage one of them said that he had a joke to tell about a preacher so I shrunk back from saying anything. After work as I walked out of the shop feeling defeated, I confessed my failure to the Lord. As I was in fellowship with God, I suddenly remembered how I had stolen some shop tools in the past so I confessed my sin to God and promised that I would return everything the next day. To my surprise, after returning the tools I became bold to share the gospel with my co-workers. From that day on I began to tell everyone about Jesus. Within a few months I was very active in Bible study, gospel witnessing, and fellowshipping with other believers. However, the Lord led me to leave that denomination because they did not receive all true believers. The Lord brought me into contact with a small group of believers from different denominations, who met together every Friday night to testify for the Lord and sing together. One of the leaders was a friend from my past. He was a mature Christian and I received much help and encouragement in the Lord through him. However, the denomination that I had attended in the past condemned them as false Christians because they believed the teaching of eternal security. Although initially it was a time of confusion, the more I read the Bible and prayed the more I heard the Lord's voice (John 10:27) and became clear that God was leading me out of that group. The Holy Spirit confirmed my actions by filling me with peace and joy. The Bible was open to me as never before and my witnessing for the Lord became more positive. Thus I began to meet with my new Christian friends in a community Bible church. The pastor was a good man, full of the Lord and the knowledge of the Bible; the people loved the Lord, the Bible, and one another fervently. A desire to serve the Lord began to take root in me. Every day a burden for the lost pressed upon me and I often asked God how He was going to lead me to serve Him. The Lord closed many doors so I just continued to witness to people on the street and in their homes. Through my studying the Bible the Lord also impressed me about the function of the members in the Body of Christ. One night after hearing a message that really touched my heart I spent a long time in prayer before the Lord about the oneness of the Lord's people according to the Lord's prayer in John 17. Along with this desire for oneness I heard the testimony of the Welsh revival, which stirred up my spirit. About that time I began to read books by A.W. Tozer, and others on the inner life and the cross. Even though I was very active in gospel outreach I knew there was a lack in my spiritual life. About that time I met some of the brothers who gathered in the Lord's name in Washington DC. My first impression was that they were fundamental in the faith and that they cared for the oneness of the Lord's people, so I asked the Lord to arrange a time of fellowship with them. One night I met with a number of them in their home. It was mostly young people and at first I was bothered about the outward form of their meeting so I prayed and asked the Lord concerning it. God spoke to me from 1 Samuel 16:7 “man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.” After confessing my sin to the Lord about judging according to appearance, the Spirit opened my eyes to see the functioning of the members of the Lord's Body. Practically everyone shared something in that meeting. They were filled with the Spirit and spoke the Word of God with boldness. My spirit was stirred up again to actually see the things that God had been showing me. That night was the beginning of a new revival for me, I could not help but stay awake most of the night for the burden of prayer and thanksgiving filled my heart. A few weeks later I came to a prayer meeting of the church in Washington DC, and was deeply impressed that nearly everyone prayed for over an hour. Soon I attended a meeting on the Lord's Day morning and was nourished by the Word of God. After that meeting I purchased a book by Watchman Nee, The Orthodoxy of the Church and two booklets by Witness Lee, Satan's Strategy Against the Church and Pray-Reading the Word. These books were full of spiritual life and light. The Lord continually spoke to me as I read The Orthodoxy of the Church. The Lord was speaking to me to take the way of the local church, which is the ground of oneness in the Lord. I had known about Christ being the one foundation for the church and through Watchman Nee's book the Lord began to show me where that unique foundation was laid. Watchman Nee not only presented the spiritual reality of the oneness but also the practicality of it. Therefore after much prayer I followed the leading of the Lord to move in with some single brothers and practice the oneness of the local church. Since that time the Lord has continually confirmed His leading by opening the Bible to me and filling me with the Spirit. Also the Lord has given me a wonderful wife and four children, who love the Lord. Along with this God has also blessed me with a good occupation in computer networking, which enables me to provide for my family and for my children's higher education. Glory to God! Glenn Haman | Back to List |
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