by Sam | Jun 18, 2019 | Inspiration, Reflection
The year is 1543. After much work and writing, Nicolaus Copernicus is about to change the world. But first, he will cause much controversy and ruffle many feathers by challenging the status quo. He will go on to say that the earth isn’t central to the universe. In fact the earth actually revolves around the sun, and not the other way around. Copernicus’s discovery is a given today in modern science, but at that time his claims were offensive. How dare he say that the universe doesn’t revolve around us! Yet today, even though people know the earth revolves around the sun, many tend to think that the world revolves around them. In essence, that’s what it means to be entitled. According to the dictionary, to be entitled means, “believing oneself to be inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment.” With it comes an air of arrogance, which is nauseating for all who get a whiff. Now of course, everyone wants special privileges and treatment as well as perks and upgrades. Sure, who doesn’t? But not at the expense of others. Or do we? I mean, no one wants to be described as entitled, right? However, our generation is becoming known for its entitlement. As a result, we are only harming ourselves and setting the generations that follow us up for failure. You can’t be self-absorbed and look to God at the same time. Click To Tweet So how exactly is being entitled harmful? Since entitlement makes it all about us, we become too fixated on the self. You can’t be self-absorbed and look to God at the same...
by Sam | Jun 4, 2019 | Inspiration
John Wesley was a revivalist who famously founded the Methodist movement in the 18th century. He would travel on horseback and preach to whoever would listen. The last letter ever written by this spiritual giant was to a young man named William Wilberforce, who, too, would become a spiritual giant himself. Wilberforce was a reformer at that time fighting to abolish the slave trade in Great Britain. February 24, 1791 DEAR SIR, — Unless the divine power has raised you up to be as Athanasius contra mundum, [‘Athanasius against the world.’] I see not how you can go through your glorious enterprise in opposing that execrable villainy, which is the scandal of religion, of England, and of human nature. Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? O be not weary of well-doing! Go on, in the name of God and in the power of His might, till even American slavery (the vilest that ever saw the sun) shall vanish away before it. Reading this morning a tract wrote by a poor African, I was particularly struck by that circumstance, that a man who has a black skin, being wronged or outraged by a white man, can have no redress; it being a law in all our Colonies that the oath of a black against a white goes for nothing. What villainy is this! That He who has guided you from youth up...
by Sam | May 28, 2019 | Reflection
by Sam Won I love the NBA Playoffs! It’s been a dramatic few weeks filled with buzzer beaters, overtimes, game 7’s, exhilarating wins, and heartbreaking losses. Teams are competing at the highest level for a chance to become champions. Superstars separate themselves from the rest of the pack in the postseason. This is the time when players make a name for themselves and seal their legacy on the court. Unless of course you are Kevin Durant. I’ll explain. First of all, let me begin by saying that Kevin Durant, a prolific scorer on the Golden State Warriors, will go down in history as one of the greatest to ever play the game of basketball. Not only that, when the NBA Playoffs began this year, the general consensus was that he was the best player in the world today! His team was a sure lock-in to win it all thanks to his excellent performance. Unfortunately, a couple weeks in, he injured his calf, which has sidelined him with no clear date for his return. When that happened, it became doom and gloom for his team, and struggle seemed inevitable. Instead of struggling though, his team went on to win five games in a row and hit their stride. All of a sudden, the same analysts on TV and fans on social media who were proclaiming Kevin Durant as the best player in the world, were now wondering if his team was better without him. Wait, what?! You don’t have to be a basketball fan to know that you can’t be considered the best in the world and an asset to...
by Sam | May 7, 2019 | Inspiration, Reflection
by Sam Won Not too long ago I was returning to my car in downtown Nyack, a small village that’s a suburb of NYC, west of the Hudson River. I was minding my own business walking past different bars and restaurants, when a man smoking a cigarette outside complimented me on my shirt. It caught me off guard because I forgot what I had even put on that morning! So when he said that, I looked down and saw that I was wearing a Pursuit shirt. As soon as I said thanks, he started peppering me with questions on where I bought it, if it was available online, and the meaning of the shirt. All in all, he just wanted to have a shirt of his own with that design. With that, I said thanks, ran back to my car, grabbed a remaining shirt, and walked into the bar he was standing in front of to find him. When he saw me walking in with the shirt in hand, he had a big look of surprise then a huge smile. I told him he could have it for free because I just wanted to bless him. He was ecstatic! After exchanging some info, we embraced and went our separate ways. Creativity helps us reach the world around us with language that words can’t express. Click To Tweet Most likely this man’s beliefs and lifestyle are different than mine. We probably would have never interacted if it wasn’t for the shirt I was wearing. But that’s why we create! That’s why we do what we do. We pursue excellence and...
by Sam | Apr 30, 2019 | Reflection
by Danny Kang For as long as I can remember, I always wanted to do amazing things for God. My prayers when I was younger were along the lines of, “God, I want to be in the NBA…for you. God, I want to be popular…for you. God, I want to have a girlfriend…for you. God, I want to do things…for you, etc.” I really wanted to do incredible things for God. As a matter of fact, I wanted to change the world for God. Starting about three years ago, there were more opportunities to do things for God. In fact, these were incredible opportunities where I got to do amazing things for God. I got to go to different parts of the world and throughout the U.S. to tell people about Jesus. I got a chance to pray for people and see God heal them in incredible ways. (I’ve seen deaf people hear again. I’ve seen people who came limping into cafés with crutches and then walk out without them. I’ve seen people who were tormented by evil spirits set free and experience freedom!) And as the years went on, there were even more opportunities to do things for God. But I was missing something. Here’s what I thought: “Because I am doing a lot of things FOR GOD, it must mean I am doing what God wants me to do.” The more I did for God, the more godly I thought I was and the more “radical” I thought it made me. But to be completely honest, during those moments when I did many things for God, I...
by Sam | Apr 16, 2019 | Inspiration, Reflection
by Kevin Kim Have you ever wandered into your kitchen just moments after having an entire meal and opened the fridge looking for something to eat? Your stomach tells you that you’re still full, but something inside of you has a need to be filled, and your mind takes you to what would normally feed you. It’s hard to explain because you know you’re not actually hungry, but for some reason, you find yourself in a place looking to eat yet again. What you need to understand is that even though you are physically full, the hunger you have is VERY REAL. Dr. Rob Reimer (doctorate in preaching, not in nutrition) describes this phenomenon as us mistaking our hunger for something physical while it is actually spiritual. Our souls are hungering to be filled and we don’t realize that we are hungering for God… so instead we proceed to pour a bowl of cereal or grab a stick of cheese. We’ll get back to this in a little bit… Have you ever heard of imposter syndrome? Well if you haven’t, here is a quick definition from one of the most reliable resources out there (Wikipedia): Imposter syndrome is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a “fraud”. Despite external evidence of their competence, those experiencing this phenomenon remain convinced that they are frauds, and do not deserve all they have achieved. Individuals with “impostorism” incorrectly attribute their success to luck, or as a result of deceiving others into thinking they are more intelligent than they perceive...
by Sam | Apr 2, 2019 | Frontier
Photo by Seung Won Baik Tell us who you are and what you do. My name is Deborah Kim, 23, and work at a small family-owned company in the Garment District in Manhattan. How did you first fall in love with music and performing? I found my love for music at church when I was very young. My dad was the choir conductor and worship leader at our church, so I always sat in during their rehearsals and remember thinking that I wanted to be a worship leader and be a singer when I got older. At a young age, I was exposed to performing, musical theater, and dance through this youth theater school in New York called Helen Hayes Theater and fell in love with performing then. Since then, I’ve always sought to surround myself with music, performance, and other musicians. What is your inspiration for creativity? My inspiration for creativity comes from a bunch of different things. Instrumentally, I listen to a lot of different genres like rap, funk, pop, r&b, folk, K-pop, Kr&b, indie-folk, and combinations of all of those. Lyrically, my inspiration has been coming from personal experiences, my relationship with God and the seasons He takes me through, specific people in my life, and even walking through NYC! All in all, becoming more aware of my surroundings and making observations about people and circumstances have been giving me inspiration for my music. You recently started something called “The Quarry”. What is it and what is it about? The Quarry is a community of musicians who want to grow as artists through collaborative activities such...
by Sam | Mar 26, 2019 | Reflection
by Faith Eury Cho I will never forget the first time the Holy Spirit touched me. My body physically felt the warmth of His Presence and I was utterly moved to tears. I knew it was supernatural. I knew it was real. And after the moment was over, I had a hunger to know how to return to that encounter, to know how to sustain it for even longer. I wanted more than a moment with Him. I wanted a relationship. As a pastor, I think one of the most common questions I’m posed with is, “How do I grow in my relationship with God?” As a child, I always imagined that a close friendship with the Spirit meant that all your prayers were answered within the second and that you have this powerful best friend you can tangibly sense at all times. However, in the earlier stage of my Christian walk, I actually experienced the contrary. It was almost as if He was a flaky friend rather than a good one. It seemed like He only came when He wanted to come. He moved only when He wanted to move. He didn’t always answer prayers in the way I asked. He didn’t always speak in loud, obvious ways. Later did I realize that it was not that my standards were too high for God. Rather, they were just too narrow. In fact, God cannot be boxed by the limitations of my soul. James 4:8 says, “Come near to God and He will come near to you…” This is a promise. If you take a step towards Him,...
by Sam | Mar 12, 2019 | Frontier
I first met Lisa back in 2012 at a retreat as a speaker. Since then, I’ve seen here and there, and was following along her faith journey. Most recently, we served together at BYG Summer Retreat, where she serves as one of the pastors. It’s been a joy to see her grow in the Lord and lead so powerfully! We are so excited to have her intern with this in this season. Get to know this amazing woman of God. Tell us about yourself. My name is Lisa Song. I am a wife, mother, pastor, and student. I am happily married to Bryan Song, and together we have a beautiful daughter named Jordan. My husband and I are college sweethearts and we currently serve in ministry together at Bethany Church. How did you come to faith and how did you get called? Growing up, I had always attended church, but I didn’t really have a relationship with God. I went to church to be with friends, not to meet God. I came to faith and committed my life to God when I was a sophomore in college (ironically) at a youth retreat, which was the first youth retreat I ever went to. I had never witnessed the Holy Spirit move so powerfully before that night. After that retreat, I was so hungry to learn more about God and I wanted to serve Him in any way that I could. I was on track to become a lawyer, but I kept sensing in my spirit that I was called into ministry. I didn’t tell anyone because I was deeply afraid, but God...
by Sam | Mar 5, 2019 | Reflection
Dear Pursuit NYC, As you know, we are transitioning out of Pursuit to focus on our local church and personal ministries. In any season of change, we always want to take a moment to look back and reflect on the journey completed and look forward to the path ahead. May this remind us of God’s faithfulness and blessings. That one fateful retreat in 2013 was the birth of a beautiful Kingdom partnership. Although we had departed shortly after to serve in Korea, we knew that there was more to come; the best was yet to come. There is much that has changed since then and much that has not. Something that has changed: the major breakthroughs and heights reached in the ministry. From witnessing a gathering of a few people to over a hundred, the fruit of the ministry started to visibly be shown. The exponential growth of Pursuit was inspiring to those involved and those looking from the outside. Something that has not changed: friendship. If there is one thing we are walking away with, it is that we have made eternal friendships with you brothers. Beyond strategy and productivity, the foundation of our ministry rested upon the precious relationships that were built here. The kind of hilarity that would occur in our staff meetings might be seemingly insignificant, but were the most treasured memories. Reminiscing about some of those moments now makes us want to laugh. Those times will especially be cherished and missed. We want to remind you that each of you, unique in your identity and giftings, are a tremendous blessing to all those around you. We believe He...
