14A-2000 05022000

(A) Praying at 4.00 pm as a way to preach Baitiangong [24:19 – 29:59]

1. Xian Sheng failed to understand why we do not have a folder containing all the relevant information to preach Baitiangong (e.g. materials related to ‘Jesus lived in India’ or the ancient Chinese word for pray). We must have them in hand especially if we are Elders and ACCs. Even Baitiangong followers should have these materials in their homes too.
2. We should preach to others as how Xian Sheng did. (Refer to 13A-2000 D5-D12 and 13B-2000 D, E, F & G)
3. Xian Sheng: However, do not use my name! Do not keep saying ‘Xian Sheng says’ or ‘Xian Sheng this, Xian Sheng that’.
4. We must preach on our own merits. For example, we hold up the image of the ancient Chinese character for pray and explain that the character showed how the ancient Chinese people pray to the CREATOR – by kneeling down and facing skywards. We explain that the Chinese prayed to the CREATOR a few thousand years before the coming of Jesus and Prophet Muhammad.
5. Today, Xian Sheng wants to talk at length about preaching.
6. We must preach as we have been around for 24 years. 
7. Why do we need to go to China to preach Baitiangong? Why can’t we preach locally? Xian Sheng does not believe that we cannot preach successfully locally.
8. Do we have the courage to talk to others?
9. Would we stop our conversation with our friend at their home on a Sunday at 4.00 pm and say, “Please excuse me, I need to pray to the CREATOR for a short while. Can I use your balcony to pray?”
10. Xian Sheng asked us not to worry and just kneel down to pray. After praying, stand up and go back to our friend.
11. Xian Sheng asked if our friend would be curious and asked what we just did. Xian Sheng is sure that they would enquire, but we must pray in full view of our friend. 
12. We must have the courage to kneel down to pray and we must not be shy. Xian Sheng is certain that our friend would ask us.
13. Xian Sheng does not have any doubt that we can preach in that circumstance. However, do we have the courage to kneel down to pray at 4.00 pm on a Sunday?
14. Xian Sheng asked for a show of hands for those who would do so.
15. Xian Sheng said that there are followers that dare not pray in front of their friends. They refuse to pray even at 4.00 pm on Sunday.
16. Xian Sheng repeated that if we dare to kneel down to pray at 4.00 pm on a Sunday at our friend’s house, they would surely ask us why we pray at 4.00 pm. We can reply as follows: 
    • We focus all of our attention to project our prayers upward toward the CREATOR. 
    • Our prayer is our life-force energy that emanates from our forehead. 
    • When we pray, our life force energy is projected like a fine line towards the heavens and beyond.
    • When all Baitiangong brothers and sisters pray together, the fine lines merge to form a strong and powerful column of life-force energy that projects upwards towards the heavens and beyond.
    • That is why it is better if more Baitiangong brothers and sisters pray simultaneously at 4.00 pm as that would make our prayer stronger.
17. Then we can proceed to gradually preach Baitiangong to them.
18. And if they were to ask why we have to kneel down, we explained that even Jesus and Prophet Muhammad knelt down to pray to the CREATOR.
19. We can show them that the ancient Chinese character for pray depicts a person kneeling down with hands clasped. The pictogram was created in the Shang Dynasty (1600 to 1046 B.C.) as proof that the Chinese knelt down to pray to the CREATOR thousands of years before the coming of Jesus and Prophet Muhammad.
    
    

    

20. Xian Sheng asked the Elders present who have and who do not have the card with the ancient Chinese character for pray (the card is printed in business card format for ease of carrying in our wallets). He asked those without it why they do not carry the card with them at all times.
21. Xian Sheng said that every Elder must carry a card and that includes the ACCs too.
22. If we tell our friends about the Chinese character for pray, but do not show any evidence to corroborate our claims, they would doubt what we say. They would write the character for pray 拜 which does not depict a man kneeling down with clasped hands to prove that we are wrong. If we try to counter them without having the card in hand, they would mock us for spreading misinformation as we do not have any supporting evidence.
23. If we have the card in hand, we can counter them or dispel any doubts that Chinese pray kneeling down and that character came from a time long ago before Jesus and Prophet Muhammad.
24. Xian Sheng explained that the Christians no longer kneel down to pray like Jesus did because the people altered that part. (We need to understand that humans must kneel down to pray to the CREATOR. If they do not kneel down, then they cannot pray to the CREATOR. Omitting the kneeling down part effectively prevented people from praying to the CREATOR.)
25. (Once we address our friend’s doubts, they will be more willing to listen to us and) we can continue to slowly explain Baitiangong.
26. We can talk about how the Baitiangong Way of Obsequies is conducted too.
27. When we visit the homes of Baitiangong brothers and sisters, we kneel down and pray to the CREATOR to bless them and their families (this is known as Chook Fook) to show that we are not selfish and pray for ourselves only.
28. Xian Sheng explained that our prayers are all-encompassing and not selfish as we pray for all the saints in Heaven regardless of whether they were once Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Taoists, or Confucianists. We pray for all the saints in Heaven twice a day every day to have a better place in Heaven. 
29. And only after that do we pray for our ancestors.
30. Xian Sheng asked everyone to contemplate the teachings of Baitiangong and then preach to others as they are very meaningful. However, we must have all the materials in hand before preaching.