2009 started 26 days ago, so this entry is very overdue. In this entry, I want to lay out the theme and main goals of 2009 for our church. We--the church--prayed for a month in 2008 and felt that the theme for 2009 would be "Hope to the Hopeless." It is a phrase from Chris Tomlin's song "God of the City." The message of hope would have largely two dimensions: First, God is our hope. We will find our hope of our hearts in Jesus Christ. Many find hopeless situations, whether with their jobs, marriage, addictions, etc., but we will find hope in hopeless situations in Jesus Christ. Second, once we find unfailing hope for our own hearts, we will be able to give hope to the hopeless, whether in Wall Street, or the Streets of poverty-and-AIDS-ravaged Zimbabwe. That is the gist.
I have set five bullet points goals for our church for 2009.
1. Continue to build what God has started. We do not abandon what God began to build to pursue novel goals. We continue to build. So we build intimacy in our hearts through Marveling Place or Morning Prayer. We build community through TLC, serving hearts through ministries, knowledge through New Life Institute and compassion for the poor through various mission involvement.
2. Hope Center. Our church has worked to build the house of the Lord, which would be the Hope Center, for a couple of years. We will continue the work, and Lord willing, find a place this year. Many have given sacrificially for the purpose of building a house for the Lord. We will continue this work joyfully. If the Lord prompts your heart (Exodus 25:2), I urge you to give and make pledges.
3. Hope for the Poor. Our church has been involved me missions from the beginning. At the end of last year, we reviewed our mission involvement and decided to bring focus and concentration on a couple of mission fields. We will continue our mission support to some 30 missionaries all around the globe, but focus our church's effort on 2-3 areas. We chose the places to be Paterson and Zimbabwe. We feel especially called to bring the whole gospel to the poor both preaching of the gospel and the need to meet the needs of the poor. We feel that the needs of Paterson and Zimbabwe fit what God has given us--not only finance but the professional knowledge in many fields. We are in the process of developing plans to connect the haves (us) and the have-nots (Paterson and Zimbabwe). We will make at least one more trip to Zimbabwe (projected date, August; please inquire Melanie Kim, hmelaniekim@gmail.com, especially if you are in medical, IT or education field), and are looking for right ways to connect more deeply with the community in Paterson.
4. Third Site in Manhattan (?). When we started the second worship site in Edgewater, we believed that God gave a paradigm shift. Instead of trying to build a mega-church, we will build churches wherever concentrations of Asian-Americans exist. The first such place was Edgewater. When we began the service in Sept 2007, we already planned to start the third site in the fall of 2009. I have had a couple of unexpected and unsolicited prophetic counsel that has led me to think Manhattan as the third site. This was completely unexpected for me, because NYC is not a place I would think of starting a service, and I thought the third site would be in the west, like Parsippany. However, after receiving the counsel, NYC makes much sense with its many young professionals and college students. Although great churches like Redeemer or Time Square Church exist, community-based, Asian-American churches like ours do not. The launching of the third site would not be as exhausting as launching Edgewater; we are mainly duplicating what we already have--same service, TLC ministries, and pastoral care. However, we will need core people to start this new work. If you are interested, please contact me @ dannyhan@joychurch.com. If the Lord confirms this is right--by sending the right people to start the work--the preparation work will begin in March.
5. Recovery Program. One of the most hopeless experiences is addiction whether , gambling, , etc. For several years we have watched our brothers and sisters struggle with addiction without being able to help them effectively. We have begun the research about church-based addiction recovery program (thanks largely to a couple of our church members whom I would not name here, but thanks). We will explore more, and hope to launch a recovery program that will give hope to the hopeless this fall.
That's the gist of it. If you are interested, please contact me (thrid site) or Melanie (Zimbabwe).
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Zimbabwe Trip
This will be a long entry. I hope you will read through.
Peter Shin and I embarked on a scouting trip to Zimbabwe on Jan 9. Our goal was to investigate the possibility of developing a long-term (10-20 years) partnership with a local pastor, Tatenda Gonguow, in holistic mission, that is, a community development via education, job-creation as well as preaching the gospel and care of orphans. Feeding the poor and care of orphans do not provide long-term sustainability. Only holistic mission can. Peter and I went to see if such relationship would be possible.
Zimbabwe is currently one of the poorest nations in the world. What once was the bread basket of the southern Africa has disintegrated to quadrallion percentage (that is three zeros to billion) inflation in one year. People travel to neighboring countries to buy the basic necessities of life. Intellectuals and skilled people, whether doctors or engineers, have fled the country, and the naiton has been in a free fall, especially in the past decade. Interestingly, I found out during this trip the president Mugabe had his officers trained by North Korea! Being a Korean-American, I somehow feel I share in the responsibility even more.
Our trip met an immediate road block. When Peter and I arrived at the Newark Int'l airport, we discovered that our reservation had been cancelled. My agent had booked our flight the day before he left for vacation before Christmas and handed the case to another agent, and he had neglected to notify us that the airline had cancelled our flight. So, Peter and I stood at the airport with large bags--those large vinyl bags Koreans used when they immigrated to the US--filled with underwear for the orphans and medicine with no flight. I called the agent. He told us to go back home. No seat available on the flight! We could not do that we said; all schedules were booked. We were to meet different groups of people in Zimbabwe, some from the US, etc. The only flight that he could find was a different airline at a different airport, JFK, in three hours. But, we had only a confirmed flight from JFK to Nairobi. No tickets were confirmed from Nairobi to Harare, Zimbabwe, or the return ticket back home. We asked the agent to book our flight to Zimbabwe and back to JFK by the time we arrive in Kenya, and took a cab from Newark to JFK. Thus, our adventure began.
The trip brought several unexpected fruits. First was the taxi ride from Newark to JFK. The driver, a Haitian, picked up on our conversation. When he found out that we were Christians, he told us to pray for his family and friend. We were able to encourage him and his family to find a church and commit themselves to it instead of getting anxious about finance. Right there in the car, he called his wife to tell her the same. Secondly, in the flight from JFK to Zurich, Peter sat next to a radiologist from Monclair, NJ, a non-practicing Catholic. They talked the whole time for nearly 7 hours, and Peter led him in prayer right in the plane. The man was moved by our mission, he gave $100 for Zimbabwe, which we later passed to Pastor Tatenda. Finally, when we got to Nairobi, we were picked up by Dr. and Mrs. James Jongdo Lee, 13-year-missionaried who run a Bible college in Kenya. This contact was made at the last minute also the night before we left. We had to stay overnight to catch the connecting flight, and did not want to risk getting a cab and being driven to some scary place, and had been searching for a contact in Nairobi. What was supposed to an overnight stay turned out a two-day stay. Had it not been Dr. Lee, our time would have been wasted. But because of Dr. Lee, who also is involved in holistic missions, we learned what to avoid in missions. Further, through him we met with a key person in World Vision, whose headquarters for the entire Africa operation is in Nairobi, only about 30 min. away from Dr. Lee's home. Dr. Lee knew some key people in World Vision, and Peter and I were able to set up an appointment and ask the World Vision director important questions about community development, in which World Vision is one of the leaders. When we finally arrived in Zimbabwe, we were able to do all that we planned to do within the shortened stay. Had we arrived earlier, in fact, Peter and I agreed, we would have had complications. Thus, the nervous detour, I am convinced was planned by God. It was not our plan, but it seems clear that it was His.
Throughout the trip, Peter and I experienced closed doors every step of the way, which opened up at the last minute. First was the ticket from JFK to Nairobi. When we arrived in Nairobi, we discovered the agent had not found us flight from Nairobi to Harare. He left for the weekend in utter irresponsibility and made himself unavailable through cell phone either. We waited for two days, and when we could not reach him, we bought round trip tickets to Harare--we had no choice. We found late night flight--departing a few hours after the time we bought the tickets. Had we not found the late night flight, we would have never met the group that we were supposed to in Harare, so another door opening. After spending time in Harare, we boarded the flight back to Nairobi, without the assurance of flight from Nairobi to JFK. The agent had booked us for Jan 20 tickets. Even in doubt, Peter and I proclaimed that God would open doors. When we got to Nairobi, we found out that our desired flight was completely booked, and we would be wait-listed at numbers 19 and 20! Not a good sign. We might have to purchase expensive one-way tickets back, which we did not want to. The agent at the airport turned out to be God-sent, an angel. She nogotiated with the airline and moved us within 45 min. from numbers 19 and 20 to 3 and 4. Still not good enough. We waited longer. Within next 30 min. we had boarding passes. We were on our way home!
The experience taught me a few lessons:
1. The mission to Zimbabwe would not be so easy. It will have many obstacles. We will see closed doors. We will have to pray much.
2. But God will come through. If we believe, and keep on believing, the door will be open, often at the last minute.
3. The unplanned detours are planned by God. In those detours we encounter people and experiences that God had planned for us, that we need. The detours are a part of God's divine plan.
Presently we are planning a return trip with a larger group in July/Aug. We want to bring a team of medical personnel, computer trainers and teachers. So many are sick, and when they hear about a doctor coming, people gather in masses. Seeing a doctor is like seeing Jesus for them. Computer personnel will help the local church train trainers. Finally, we want to bring teachers who will teach the orphans a week-long intensive English and/or Math. Hospitals, and schools have mostly shut down. Even a week of training will do so much for them.
If interested, please contact Melanie Kim @ hmelaniekim@gmail.com.
I am also looking for people who will go long-term. They are so desperately needed.
Thanks for reading.
Peter Shin and I embarked on a scouting trip to Zimbabwe on Jan 9. Our goal was to investigate the possibility of developing a long-term (10-20 years) partnership with a local pastor, Tatenda Gonguow, in holistic mission, that is, a community development via education, job-creation as well as preaching the gospel and care of orphans. Feeding the poor and care of orphans do not provide long-term sustainability. Only holistic mission can. Peter and I went to see if such relationship would be possible.
Zimbabwe is currently one of the poorest nations in the world. What once was the bread basket of the southern Africa has disintegrated to quadrallion percentage (that is three zeros to billion) inflation in one year. People travel to neighboring countries to buy the basic necessities of life. Intellectuals and skilled people, whether doctors or engineers, have fled the country, and the naiton has been in a free fall, especially in the past decade. Interestingly, I found out during this trip the president Mugabe had his officers trained by North Korea! Being a Korean-American, I somehow feel I share in the responsibility even more.
Our trip met an immediate road block. When Peter and I arrived at the Newark Int'l airport, we discovered that our reservation had been cancelled. My agent had booked our flight the day before he left for vacation before Christmas and handed the case to another agent, and he had neglected to notify us that the airline had cancelled our flight. So, Peter and I stood at the airport with large bags--those large vinyl bags Koreans used when they immigrated to the US--filled with underwear for the orphans and medicine with no flight. I called the agent. He told us to go back home. No seat available on the flight! We could not do that we said; all schedules were booked. We were to meet different groups of people in Zimbabwe, some from the US, etc. The only flight that he could find was a different airline at a different airport, JFK, in three hours. But, we had only a confirmed flight from JFK to Nairobi. No tickets were confirmed from Nairobi to Harare, Zimbabwe, or the return ticket back home. We asked the agent to book our flight to Zimbabwe and back to JFK by the time we arrive in Kenya, and took a cab from Newark to JFK. Thus, our adventure began.
The trip brought several unexpected fruits. First was the taxi ride from Newark to JFK. The driver, a Haitian, picked up on our conversation. When he found out that we were Christians, he told us to pray for his family and friend. We were able to encourage him and his family to find a church and commit themselves to it instead of getting anxious about finance. Right there in the car, he called his wife to tell her the same. Secondly, in the flight from JFK to Zurich, Peter sat next to a radiologist from Monclair, NJ, a non-practicing Catholic. They talked the whole time for nearly 7 hours, and Peter led him in prayer right in the plane. The man was moved by our mission, he gave $100 for Zimbabwe, which we later passed to Pastor Tatenda. Finally, when we got to Nairobi, we were picked up by Dr. and Mrs. James Jongdo Lee, 13-year-missionaried who run a Bible college in Kenya. This contact was made at the last minute also the night before we left. We had to stay overnight to catch the connecting flight, and did not want to risk getting a cab and being driven to some scary place, and had been searching for a contact in Nairobi. What was supposed to an overnight stay turned out a two-day stay. Had it not been Dr. Lee, our time would have been wasted. But because of Dr. Lee, who also is involved in holistic missions, we learned what to avoid in missions. Further, through him we met with a key person in World Vision, whose headquarters for the entire Africa operation is in Nairobi, only about 30 min. away from Dr. Lee's home. Dr. Lee knew some key people in World Vision, and Peter and I were able to set up an appointment and ask the World Vision director important questions about community development, in which World Vision is one of the leaders. When we finally arrived in Zimbabwe, we were able to do all that we planned to do within the shortened stay. Had we arrived earlier, in fact, Peter and I agreed, we would have had complications. Thus, the nervous detour, I am convinced was planned by God. It was not our plan, but it seems clear that it was His.
Throughout the trip, Peter and I experienced closed doors every step of the way, which opened up at the last minute. First was the ticket from JFK to Nairobi. When we arrived in Nairobi, we discovered the agent had not found us flight from Nairobi to Harare. He left for the weekend in utter irresponsibility and made himself unavailable through cell phone either. We waited for two days, and when we could not reach him, we bought round trip tickets to Harare--we had no choice. We found late night flight--departing a few hours after the time we bought the tickets. Had we not found the late night flight, we would have never met the group that we were supposed to in Harare, so another door opening. After spending time in Harare, we boarded the flight back to Nairobi, without the assurance of flight from Nairobi to JFK. The agent had booked us for Jan 20 tickets. Even in doubt, Peter and I proclaimed that God would open doors. When we got to Nairobi, we found out that our desired flight was completely booked, and we would be wait-listed at numbers 19 and 20! Not a good sign. We might have to purchase expensive one-way tickets back, which we did not want to. The agent at the airport turned out to be God-sent, an angel. She nogotiated with the airline and moved us within 45 min. from numbers 19 and 20 to 3 and 4. Still not good enough. We waited longer. Within next 30 min. we had boarding passes. We were on our way home!
The experience taught me a few lessons:
1. The mission to Zimbabwe would not be so easy. It will have many obstacles. We will see closed doors. We will have to pray much.
2. But God will come through. If we believe, and keep on believing, the door will be open, often at the last minute.
3. The unplanned detours are planned by God. In those detours we encounter people and experiences that God had planned for us, that we need. The detours are a part of God's divine plan.
Presently we are planning a return trip with a larger group in July/Aug. We want to bring a team of medical personnel, computer trainers and teachers. So many are sick, and when they hear about a doctor coming, people gather in masses. Seeing a doctor is like seeing Jesus for them. Computer personnel will help the local church train trainers. Finally, we want to bring teachers who will teach the orphans a week-long intensive English and/or Math. Hospitals, and schools have mostly shut down. Even a week of training will do so much for them.
If interested, please contact Melanie Kim @ hmelaniekim@gmail.com.
I am also looking for people who will go long-term. They are so desperately needed.
Thanks for reading.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Pray for North Korea. Attend a Concert
Eight people from JOY are leaving for NK this afternoon: Carrie Choi, Jacob Chung, Julie Chung, John Hwang, Jeanie Kwon, Mihae Song, Soo Bae and Jason Suh. They will minister at an orphanage in PyongYang and also do some medical missions. As of now, John Hwang does not have his visa, so please pray for that.
On the other hand, there is a free concert at Manhattan School of Music (corner of Broadway and Claremont Ave., north of Columbia University) by a North Korean defector pianist. The concert is at 7:30pm. He was a son of a high official but fled for freedom. Now he teaches at a university in S. Korea and travels in the US and Korea, raising the awareness of the plight of NK defectors living in S. Korea and USA. If you cannot go to NK with the team, you may want to come out to the concert and learn about NK.
On the other hand, there is a free concert at Manhattan School of Music (corner of Broadway and Claremont Ave., north of Columbia University) by a North Korean defector pianist. The concert is at 7:30pm. He was a son of a high official but fled for freedom. Now he teaches at a university in S. Korea and travels in the US and Korea, raising the awareness of the plight of NK defectors living in S. Korea and USA. If you cannot go to NK with the team, you may want to come out to the concert and learn about NK.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Frog in a Kettle
You may have heard about the frog experiment. A frog, if thrown into boiling water, will immediately jump out and incur no harm, but placed inside a kettle with small fire underneath will be cooked to its own death, while feeling no pain. This experiment is a lesson on the slow decline of a person, or a community: If shocked into sharp decline, one saves oneself, but decline done slowly will kill anyone.
How's your heart? Is it aflame with the passion for Christ as it did before? Do you feel the love for people? Is your compassion for the spiritually lost or the poor all over the world growing?
Our hearts easily grow lukewarm. The questions above are good evaluators of our hearts' conditions.
If our hearts grow lukewarm, what causes the decline? One is sin. Sin usually begin small: a little compromise with our hearts in lust, a permitted gaze that stays a little too long, or a little drunkenness or financial compromise. Our mind is powerful, and we can rationalize just about anything. Then, the sin grows, and as sin grows, our hearts decline. Another is distractions. Shopping, entertainments, TV. The space in our heart is limited: once it gets filled with matters of no consequence, we lose the fervor of our hearts, and eventually our life itself becomes of no consequence.
Here are three things we can do to restore our hearts' passion and keep it burning until the Lord's return: 1. Cut off sin. There is no other way. Leave no room for even the smallest sin. Even the smallest can kill us eventually. 2. Fast. Develop a lifestyle of fasting. Fast things that you enjoy, even if they are not bad, if it distracts you and makes you less. 3. Feed. Feast on the things that inflame your heart. Read Christian literature. Listen to messages or watch movies that feed your soul.
Guard you heart, above all, for it is the wellspring of life. (Prov. 4:23) Let us guard, cleanse and seek to burn in our hearts, for eternity.
How's your heart? Is it aflame with the passion for Christ as it did before? Do you feel the love for people? Is your compassion for the spiritually lost or the poor all over the world growing?
Our hearts easily grow lukewarm. The questions above are good evaluators of our hearts' conditions.
If our hearts grow lukewarm, what causes the decline? One is sin. Sin usually begin small: a little compromise with our hearts in lust, a permitted gaze that stays a little too long, or a little drunkenness or financial compromise. Our mind is powerful, and we can rationalize just about anything. Then, the sin grows, and as sin grows, our hearts decline. Another is distractions. Shopping, entertainments, TV. The space in our heart is limited: once it gets filled with matters of no consequence, we lose the fervor of our hearts, and eventually our life itself becomes of no consequence.
Here are three things we can do to restore our hearts' passion and keep it burning until the Lord's return: 1. Cut off sin. There is no other way. Leave no room for even the smallest sin. Even the smallest can kill us eventually. 2. Fast. Develop a lifestyle of fasting. Fast things that you enjoy, even if they are not bad, if it distracts you and makes you less. 3. Feed. Feast on the things that inflame your heart. Read Christian literature. Listen to messages or watch movies that feed your soul.
Guard you heart, above all, for it is the wellspring of life. (Prov. 4:23) Let us guard, cleanse and seek to burn in our hearts, for eternity.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Gray and Toward the Grave
My hair began to turn gray. First one here and one there, and my kids loved to pull them out. It was a great pastime. Then, gray began to come out in multitudes. I had to tell them, "Sorry to stop your fun, but you have to stop pulling them out, or your dad will turn bald."
A few weeks ago, my gray hair began to bother me. I think I am going through my midlife crisis. It bugged me to the point that I wanted to dye it. I did not understand it before, but I realize that midlife crisis is encounter with your own mortality. We all know that we will die, but we don't KNOW, that is, it does not grab us emotionally and shake us so that we have to face it squarely, until something, or some things begin to happen. In my case, that something is my gray hair.
Honestly, it is aggravating, to have to face this undeniable reminder that I am moving closer to the grave. But there is a great benefit: I get to live each day more fully, for I know that the clock is ticking, and it has always been ticking. I spend less time on frivolous activities. I focus more. I make my day count. I live more fully.
A few weeks ago, my gray hair began to bother me. I think I am going through my midlife crisis. It bugged me to the point that I wanted to dye it. I did not understand it before, but I realize that midlife crisis is encounter with your own mortality. We all know that we will die, but we don't KNOW, that is, it does not grab us emotionally and shake us so that we have to face it squarely, until something, or some things begin to happen. In my case, that something is my gray hair.
Honestly, it is aggravating, to have to face this undeniable reminder that I am moving closer to the grave. But there is a great benefit: I get to live each day more fully, for I know that the clock is ticking, and it has always been ticking. I spend less time on frivolous activities. I focus more. I make my day count. I live more fully.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Remember: New Levels, New Devils!
We are living in an exciting time. The testimonies we hear on Sundays are astounding--healing from emotional wounds of many years, liberation from suicidal spirit to giddy joy, prophetic words that breaks open closed hearts, etc. And these things are happening regularly now. We are almost living the Book of Acts. We are grateful.
At the same time, great challenges have come upon several. Near experiences. Violent clashes with parents, and a house being robbed. How often do these things happen in the life of a church. And all these have happened in just this past 2 months! We are living in an unusual time.
Remember: New Levels, New Devils. With the spiritual upgrading, so do the challenges. BUT DO NOT BE AFRAID. God is still in control. God does not allow anything apart from our benefit. The challenges will expose the hidden in our soul and if we would respond with faith, make us more whole. Trials pass, and if we respond right, character remains. If not, we fall away. A month ago I spoke about the time of shaking that is upon us. It is. It is no time to fear. It is rather the time to press on even more into Christ. The devil will not have the last word. He will be vanquished by the faithful with the help of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray. Be on guard, and always respond forward into Christ.
At the same time, great challenges have come upon several. Near experiences. Violent clashes with parents, and a house being robbed. How often do these things happen in the life of a church. And all these have happened in just this past 2 months! We are living in an unusual time.
Remember: New Levels, New Devils. With the spiritual upgrading, so do the challenges. BUT DO NOT BE AFRAID. God is still in control. God does not allow anything apart from our benefit. The challenges will expose the hidden in our soul and if we would respond with faith, make us more whole. Trials pass, and if we respond right, character remains. If not, we fall away. A month ago I spoke about the time of shaking that is upon us. It is. It is no time to fear. It is rather the time to press on even more into Christ. The devil will not have the last word. He will be vanquished by the faithful with the help of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray. Be on guard, and always respond forward into Christ.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Answers to Questions about Assurance of Salvation
A few weeks ago I spoke on "False Assurance of Salvation." Since then I asked people to send me questions about the sermon and I would respond. Two questions came. First was about clarification of the necessity to bear spiritual fruit: "Unless your life bears spiritual fruit, you are probably not saved." Answer: The statement was made to address false assurance of salvation. In short, "just saying the prayer" does not make you saved as though the prayer is an incantation. Rather, if the prayer was genuine, it would be followed with a life of pursuit after God and His righteousness, which will naturally bear spiritual fruit like love, joy, peace, kindness, etc. Salvation is an organic process; if the salvation is genuine, it will show in life. The statement was not made to turn salvation into salvation of works--that we have to prove it. Rather, if the salvation is genuine, its effect will show. The questioner suggested, would it not be more helpful to say, "you can not be sure of salvation unless there is fruit, so please reexamine your life and receive Jesus as Lord and Savior?" I completely concur.
Second question concerned "people who accepted Christ right before they die (e.g., at a hospital). Are those people saved?" Of course, they can be. The criminal who died next to Jesus on the cross entered Paradise! There is no time to examine whether that person's confession of faith was genuine. We can only hope.
At the end, we must examine our lives. Are we saved? When we received Christ, did we really mean to follow Christ as our Lord? Are we following Christ now? Did we in any way fall away from Christ and need to repent and get back to Him? Paul told the Corinthian believers to "examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith" (2 Cor. 13:5). He was saying it to those who went to church! We must examine ourselves.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)