by Sam | Apr 13, 2021 | Inspiration, Teaching
by Josh Kim Do you know that you’re called to be a leader? You may not have an official leadership position or title. You may not be the front lead person of an organization. But you are called to lead because leadership is ultimately using your influence to impact the world around you. And whether you realize it or not, you have influence and use it every day within your family, amongst friends, at work, at school, and more. The level of influence looks different for each person but we all have influence in different capacities and in different contexts. We are all called to be leaders. However, as followers of Jesus, we are not only called to be leaders but spiritual leaders. People use influence for all different purposes and agendas. But as followers of Jesus, God gave you a mandate to lead to bring influence and advancement to His kingdom wherever you are and whatever you do. That is the main difference between leadership versus spiritual leadership. And I want to encourage you to embrace the mandate of being a spiritual leader because spiritual leadership is needed in our cultural moment. But before we get specifically into spiritual leadership, let me share further general thoughts on leadership so that we are all on the same page. LEADERSHIP IS INFLUENCE First, leadership is transforming. It’s the ability to lead others and achieve goals to ultimately transform the world around us. Banning Liebscher says, “Leadership is the instrument God uses to draw the greatness out of you and bring change to the world around you.” It’s not an instrument...
by Sam | Oct 20, 2020 | Testimony
When the new year began, we never had any intentions of live-streaming or going online, but we pivoted following the Lord’s leadership as the whole world changed. The result was our first ever online conference! Our heart was to make it free and available to as many people as we could to help provoke them to go deeper in their prayer lives during this time. Thanks to the hard work and sacrifice of so many people, Pursuit Conference REDUX was able to host and minister to hundreds all over the world. We had people from our backyard of NYC to throughout the East Coast all the way to multiple continents. People tuned in from Belgium, Brazil, Guatemala, Indonesia, China, and Australia to just name a few! Praise God! Check out some of the testimonies from this year’s conference below. I think it’s been a crazy season for all of us. In times of great confusion and suffering, all people long for hope. Hope is what gets you out of bed in the morning. Hope is what causes you to stand back up when you’ve fallen. Hope gives life meaning and joy. And hope is always found where people pray. Hope is found when people fall on their knees in surrender, look up to heaven and cry out, “God I can’t! But you can!” Revivals of hope always follow revivals of prayer. In the last session of the conference, I felt hope rise within my own heart as I heard Sam preach about past revivals. I was reminded that it’s never worth it to give up the fight. I...
by Sam | Aug 24, 2020 | Reflection
Pursuit NYC is a regional parachurch ministry contending for revival and nothing less. We believe that genuine revival is a sovereign move of God that is threefold. It is the awakening of the Church, the harvest of the lost, and transformation of culture and society. All of this originates and flows from the heart of God because we believe God desires revival more than we do. Revival is not for sometime down the road in the future, but for today. It is not for somewhere out there, but right here in our region. We then are passionate to partner with Him to see His will take place. Our desire then is to equip and empower believers to live a life of pursuit after God’s presence through various means such as gatherings, online content, and creativity. For too long, the greatest expression of creativity and excellence have been limited to the things of this world. We believe that the Church should be leading the way in innovation and creative expressions that inspire the world around us. We know that when revival comes, it must and will be expressed creatively from one generation to the next. As such, we have always desired to express our ministry and who we are as children of God in creative ways such as apparel. Pursuit Apparel is joyfully birthed out of this conviction. Ever since the ministry began, we have devoted resources, hard work, and fresh ideas to showcase who we are as a ministry as well as share messages of revival. With the recent global pandemic, we have entered into unprecedented times. Our nation...
by Sam | Jul 7, 2020 | Reflection
Incomparable. Unprecedented. Overwhelming. And defining. What has taken place these last six months have shaped this year and beyond. As we are writing this midyear report, the world is in transition. It is both returning to and redefining “normal” at the same time — our region is getting ready to reopen whereas other places are closing once more. Streets and businesses are being filled again, but not without masks. And the fight for justice continues on. So much has changed. So much still needs to change. We want to be part of that change. Change that ultimately brings forth the greatest revival the world has ever seen. We have never been down this road before, and frankly, no one has. 2020 has been unlike anything I have personally seen in my life. But one thing remains the same, and it’s that we are still in pursuit after God and His purpose. In moments like this, we are trading doing things “perfectly” for doing them faithfully. And with that, it’s been challenging, but we have been wanting to serve others the best we can with what’s in our hands. In the first quarter of 2020, we were able to continue with our monthly gatherings as planned, but that quickly went out the window. We had grand ideas and goals for what was to come. But obviously, plans and events were canceled, but that didn’t mean dreams and promises had to be. It was then as the world shifted, we made a pivot to go online. For the second quarter of this year, we made that pivot. We hosted plenty of...
by Sam | Jun 30, 2020 | Reflection, Teaching
by Josh Kim What if I told you that slower is better than faster. You might look at me perplexed. “Slower would get me fired from my job…” Waiting is better than hurrying. You might roll your eyes. “If only people can drive faster…” Single-tasking is better than multitasking. You might be annoyed. “I never have enough time…” In our day and age, slow is disapproved while fast is glorified. As a result, being overbusy has become the hallmark of success. Hurrying is the new speed of life. And multitasking is an expected life skill where we must get more things done in the same amount of time. Alicia Britt-Chole describes the modern world as following: “Ours is a hurried age in which speed is defied and waiting is demonized. Ours is a cluttered age in which noise is the norm and images constantly clamor for our attention. And in our hurried and cluttered age, faster has become synonymous with better, and experience has become a substitute.”1 As a result, we are busier, more hurried, and more distracted than ever. Our fast lifestyle is the norm. CONSEQUENCES OF FAST But while fast produces productive results according to the modern world, how does it affect us as individuals? What does it to our souls? How does it affect our emotional health? Psychologists and mental health professionals, Rosemary Sword and Philip Zimbardo, describe a new modern disease on the rise known as hurry sickness. Here are a few definitions: “A behavioral pattern characterized by continual rushing and anxiousness.”2 “A malaise in which a person feels chronically short of time, and so...
by Sam | May 19, 2020 | Guest Blogger, Inspiration, Reflection
by Rachel Baik I’ve always loved long car rides. When I was younger, there was a game I used to play from the back seat of my family’s beat up minivan. Soaking in the passing scenery, I would ask myself: which of these would I like to call home? Maybe the glamorous high rise poking out from the Los Angeles skyline, or the mansion nestled into the Calabasas mountainside. Perhaps even — and this was for the days where fantasy and the imagination roamed free — the overgrown bush marking the entrance to the freeway we took each week to church; untold mysteries hidden within its depths. The game evolved as childhood slipped from my shoulders. Instead of unmarked buildings and magical shrubberies, I started to look for home in even less traditional spaces. In cliques and romance, accomplishments and career, I was desperate to find the place where I felt I truly belonged. Homesickness. It’s a concept that transcends culture and ethnicity, a universal human experience so closely knitted with the desire to belong. I found this desire compelled me in more ways than one. The clothes I wore, the way I acted. My manner of speech and the places I invested my time. So desperate was I to find this elusive home, that I shaped who I was around the search. My body broke down in the summer of 2016 during a missions trip to Panama. An unexpected career change into vocational ministry left me abandoning all I had worked for until that point. Void of community and struggling to meet my self-imposed expectations of ministry, the...
by Sam | Mar 31, 2020 | Update
by Samuel Won As I write this, I am receiving what seems like unending news updates on the devastation COVID-19 is causing all over the world, and especially in our very own region here in NY and NJ. Not only that, but I have begun to slowly hear more and more about how this virus is affecting my friends personally. Although by now it’s been said numerous times, it’s worth repeating that we are truly living in unprecedented times. Such times as these bring their own challenges and unique changes, most of which no one has navigated before. Thankfully, so many have risen up in this crisis such as medical workers, doctors, caretakers, and more. As well those who work long hours at grocery stores to pharmacies and other essential businesses. They are pillars in moments like this helping the rest of us through this time. Our deepest gratitude and respect goes out to them and their loved ones! Also we’ve been so blessed and encouraged by many of our friends and colleagues in ministry who have led courageously by taking advantage of technology and online streaming to serve their people. Keep going! We are rooting for you all. With that being said, as a ministry we have asked ourselves and the Lord as to ways we can better serve our region. It’s a question we’ve been wrestling with for weeks. Obviously we have canceled all monthly gatherings until further notice. Consequently, we had to postpone our annual conference that was scheduled for this summer as well. That was a tough decision, but the right one given the circumstances....
by Sam | Jan 21, 2020 | Guest Blogger, Inspiration, Reflection
by Jane Kim Living in the Midwest, there are many Winter mornings where I wake up to mounds of fresh powdered snow. People who don’t live with four seasons will automatically assume that this is something to celebrate. The seasoned Michigander that I am, dread these types of mornings. Yes, it’s aesthetically pleasing. Yes, it’s quite serene. But no matter how I see it, I conclude that I would enjoy it more through pictures than actually living it. With fresh powdered snow comes the inconvenience of walking to your car, sweating underneath all your layers of clothing, and spending many rushed minutes cleaning off your vehicle and attempting to maneuver your way out without hitting something or getting stuck. This is especially hard when you live in an apartment complex with shared parking. Not too long ago while I was in prayer, the Lord spoke to me through this familiar type of scene. Almost like a film reel going through my mind. As I pressed deeper into this moment with God, I watched myself open my front door to a set of footprints left by my neighbor who had left before me. As I put my foot into the remnants of their prints, I found myself avoiding the forceful trekking against untouched snow leading me where I needed to go that much faster. As I continued in prayer, I felt this deep impression on my heart that said, “Put your feet where mine have been. My yoke is easy, and my burden is light”. Right then and there I started to weep and cry out in repentance. For too...
by Sam | Dec 24, 2019 | Reflection
As 2019 comes to a close, we as a ministry are celebrating FIVE YEARS! It’s incredible how five years can feel like an instant and eternity at the same time. Since we started, if I’m honest, there were plenty of moments that couldn’t foresee us lasting this long. Sometimes the valley felt too deep, the doubts too heavy, the obstacles too tall, and the wilderness too vast. But yet, to think we’ve made it this far, is truly a testament of God’s faithfulness and goodness. There have been challenges and disappointments along the way, but at the end of the day, He has exceeded our expectations time after time. With that though, however, is the tension that there are still promises and hopes left unfulfilled. We have yet to see all He has said come to pass. Simply put, there’s more. There’s always more! Knowing He has come through for us in the past and knowing we’ve only scratched the surface, the pursuit after Him continues. Reflecting on 2019, it resembles what our entire journey has been like up until now. At least for me personally, I can say that my year had its dazzling heights as well as its fair share of despairing lows. But as always, the nearness of God has been for our good. As a ministry, it wasn’t as dramatic, but we have had some significant changes this past year. One of the greatest changes we had was transition with our team. With tears and love, we said goodbye to Ezra and Janet as well as to Josh for a season. But also we joyfully...
by Sam | Dec 17, 2019 | Teaching
by Josh Kim Growth is the process of committing to become better versions of ourselves everyday. And as followers of Jesus, it’s also about becoming more like Him. Yet because growth doesn’t happen automatically, it must be a core value in our lives. It must be actively and intentionally cultivated through choices we consistently make! Perhaps that is why Apostle Paul describes growth in the Christian life as the “fruits of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23). All to say, we must have a passion to grow. VALUE OF FEEDBACK One of the skill sets or tools that will help us to grow is the practice of feedback. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, feedback is defined as “the transmission of evaluative or corrective information about an action, event, or process.” For many of us, feedback can have a negative connotation because our experiences with feedback are connected to, or associated with, events, relationships, or processes that did not go well. However, when done with wisdom and grace, feedback can be one of the most helpful tools as it helps us better understand our blind spots, how others experience us, our constraints, our strengths, our areas of improvement, our gifts/talents, and more. Read through the book of Proverbs and you’ll see the value and gift of feedback in a person’s life: “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.” (Proverbs 12:15) “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.” (Proverbs 11:14) “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.” (Proverbs 15:22)...
