by Sam | Feb 19, 2019 | Inspiration, Reflection
by Josh Kim In part one of this blog series, I shared that it is always God’s will to heal due to the sacrifice, or atonement, of Jesus. The atonement of Jesus through the cross purchased full salvation for our entire being: our spirits (reconciling humanity with God), our souls (forgiveness of sins and renewing of the mind), and our bodies (healing of sicknesses and suffering). In part two of this blog series, I want to briefly explain the various reasons that may perhaps prevent healing. But ultimately, I want to clarify the nature of the kingdom of God, and the time we are living in, to help make sense of the mystery of divine healing. FACTORS PREVENTING HEALING Having faith in God’s will to heal is the biggest factor for healing as I have mentioned in part one. But it is often human tendency to oversimplify things that we do not fully understand. So when healing does not take place, our tendency is to create over-simplifications, such as a particular person was not healed due to their lack of faith. This only produces false guilt within people, which is never God’s will. In order to avoid these simplistic answers or approaches to healing, here are a few reasons why a particular person may not be healed (for more in-depth descriptions, you can refer to a great resource for healing called Healing by Francis MacNutt): Lack of faith. In Matthew 17:14-20, the disciples are rebuked by Jesus for not being able to cure a epileptic demoniac due to their lack of faith. Everyone, even for those who do believe...
by Sam | Feb 12, 2019 | Inspiration, Reflection
by Josh Kim Does God always heal? I have personally struggled with this question for the majority of my life. We hear and read stories in Scripture about God performing miracles, being powerful, and even being willing to heal (Luke 5:13). Yet when we look at the world around us, there are still many believers and non-believers suffering with all different kinds of sickness. In this part one of a two blog posts series, I want to share with you my personal journey of God’s healing, give a biblical overview on healing and sickness, and confirm that God is good, powerful, and always willing to heal. PERSONAL JOURNEY Back in 1998, I was a normal second-grader who contracted chickenpox like most kids at that age. As I was quarantined in my house for 2 weeks, all I looked forward to was playing baseball outside with my friends once I was healed. Eventually, the doctors cleared me and I played outside all day. However, when I came back to my house, my mom freaked out because I had blisters all over my face and body. We went back to the doctors to get re-examined and we found out that I had a skin condition where my body reacted to the sunlight with fever blisters. I was no longer a normal second-grader, but a second-grader allergic to the sun of all things. It changed my life in many ways. Initially, my parents and church members all prayed for healing over me saying, “God, you love him so out of your power, heal him.” But when nothing changed, the prayers eventually...
by Sam | Jan 29, 2019 | Frontier
After a short hiatus, we are finally back with FRONTIER! Recently I had the privilege of going to Atlanta to minister at a multi-church retreat for youth. While there I met a lot of amazing people. One of them was Edward, who was serving behind-the-scenes with media. I appreciated his hard work and dedication, and we got a chance to talk in between sessions. Most of our conversations revolved around faith and dreams. That’s when I found out he was a rapper! Here’s more about my new friend, Edward, aka Kaptivated. Tell us who you are. My name is Edward. I’m 24, and I was born, raised, and currently reside in Atlanta, Georgia. I’m a full-time graphic designer and a part-time rapper. On stage, I go by Kaptivated. How did you get into rapping? It was two things. First, my older brother Eric had been rapping for a while before I picked it up. I didn’t hear much of it until after he became a Christian and he started showing me some of his songs. He used to record and make beats all the time—seeing this as a middle schooler made me realize that music production was accessible. It wasn’t just something for the celebrities to do; it was something I had the resources to accomplish myself. Second, I heard the song “Stan” by Eminem. That song made me realize the power that hip hop could have. It made me realize that music—hip hop especially—could be leveraged as a tool for great influence in the world. These two realizations naturally led me to start writing my own songs and...
by Sam | Jan 15, 2019 | Testimony
One of the questions that I get asked the most is how can someone learn to hear the voice of God. I believe that is actually one of the most important and pressing questions that can be asked today, especially given the times we are living in. Today, any and every voice can have a platform thanks to social media. There’s more noise, distraction, and opinions than ever before. In such a climate where the world is constantly fighting for our attention and our allegiance, we need to hear God. Without His voice, we have no anchor, compass, or hope. And with such a great need, we couldn’t stand idle. We had to act. We had to give. We had to train and equip. Above all, we had to obey God. Hosting God’s presence and hearing His voice are foundations to who we are and why we do what we do as a ministry. In everything we do, we want the presence of God to be at the center and we want our actions to be in response to what He’s saying. One of the things we felt like God was saying was that we were to help people in this pursuit of learning to hear God’s voice. In response and in faith, we hosted our very first workshop this past Saturday! Leading up to it, we faced tremendous opposition and spiritual warfare, but as always, God proved faithful. It was an honor to partner with Catalyst Agape Church to host this all-day workshop. We had people come from all different backgrounds and from all over the region,...
by Sam | Jan 8, 2019 | Inspiration, Reflection
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42 The weekend had been circled for over a month, and it couldn’t have arrived at a better time. I was just coming off a brutal stretch of traveling and working mixed with holiday busyness, where I just knew I needed this. One of the rhythms I wanted to set in my life was to regularly go away on personal retreats, but it had already been a year since my last one. The past year had been marked with tremendous growth and fruit, but also difficult tests and trials. A change of pace and scenery to slow down and rest was imperative. But honestly once I got to the retreat center, I found it extremely difficult. My greatest temptation was to capitalize on the momentum of the previous year and get work done. It was to plan and strategize for the sake of ministry. Yet the whole goal of the...
by Sam | Dec 26, 2018 | Reflection
Our ministry began with an invitation to dream with God and dare greatly for Him. There was a green light from the Lord to go after the things He’s placed in our hearts. He didn’t give us a map, but rather a compass to keep following Him as He leads. As such it’s been an incredible journey with both ups and downs. There have been times of being stretched beyond what we’re used to and even being tempted to throw in the towel. Yet with each step and in every season, we’ve seen God come through time and time again. If I’m honest, the greatest temptation I’ve faced since beginning Pursuit NYC was to quit. I’m so thankful that the Lord prevented us from doing such a thing! Because on the other side of pressing through and persevering, we’ve seen God do the incredible and the impossible. I believe with all my heart that we are now just scratching the surface of all that God has for us. We are starting to get a glimpse of His promises coming to pass. Although we are now getting ready to enter into our fifth year, 2018 felt like the first. It was the first time we did a full year of monthly gatherings. It was the first full year of our leadership team. Pursuit NYC is now an officially registered organization! (Another first!) It was the first full year of consistently delivering podcasts and blogs. (The hardest first, haha!) We launched many new projects and endeavors such as a training and gathering for leaders, a team for volunteers, consistently providing a...
by Sam | Dec 18, 2018 | Reflection
The story of Joseph in Genesis has always been one that has spoken to me in different seasons of my life. Recently, I’ve been going through some challenges and tough circumstances, and these trials have brought me back to this familiar story. Yet this time, the story yielded something new. Isn’t that always like God? His Word is alive and active, which means it’s not caged to our past understandings or even interpretations. It teaches us of what God has said, but also, it always reveals to us what God is saying now. It dawned on me that when Joseph entered Egypt, it was the beginning of the end. He would never again leave this foreign land. He would never get to go back to his hometown. His former life was gone forever. When I realized this, honestly, it made me sad. Joseph had no idea that the day he would be sold into slavery by his brothers was going to be his last day home. It would be his last day of “normal”. He never got a chance to prepare himself for what would change his life forever. He never got a chance to say goodbye. And he never would. Isn’t that like life? Things come at us that can change our lives forever in just a moment. Difficulties can be around the corner at every turn. I can’t imagine what it was like for Joseph. I wonder how I would feel or respond in his place. What would my heart be like when things seem like they are finally getting better, but instead they actually take a...
by Sam | Nov 27, 2018 | Reflection
by Janet Yang Kim Isaiah 40:27-31 Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. — It is often our temptation to take the surrounding circumstances at face value. In this text the Israelites were held in captivity by the Babylonians for over an entire generation! Are we not often like the Israelites—having short-sighted faith, complaining, feeling forgotten—when in our judgement it seems the Lord has overlooked us? Prophet Isaiah challenges them, however, and reminds them of God’s promise of Israel’s restoration and the rebuilding of the temple. Even in the midst of our grumbling, God’s desire is to comfort us. How then can we be comforted? Remember who God is. What is God’s character? ‘The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.’ Like Jesus taught us in the Lord’s prayer, ‘Our Father who art in heaven,’ the first thing we must do is acknowledge that our God sits in the heavenly realms. He is beyond us and our understanding. He is the Creator...
by Sam | Nov 20, 2018 | Testimony
by Josh Kim This past summer there was a conviction in my heart to seek more of God and change my prayer life. I don’t know how to explain it, but I felt that God wanted to do something new. I didn’t specifically know what that was, but all I knew was to abide in Him so I would be prepared and aware of what He was up to. (Looking back, I realize that God wanted to release new power in my life, and the only way for Him to release it was if I abided in Him. Bill Johnson, in his book, When Heaven Invades Earth, says it perfectly, “The life of power is a life of abiding.”) So almost every evening this past summer, I took 20 minute walks with God around my neighborhood to simply pray, commune, and have conversations with God. I especially prayed for my two upcoming summer missions trip to Ivory Coast in August and Colombia in September – just general things like finances, protection, unity within our teams, etc. But I remember one evening God telling me, “Ask for more! I’m going to release new power. So ask for more!” In faith, I responded back to Him, “God, I want to see miracles, like the ones I read in the Bible, on these mission trips this summer. It’s not enough to hear from others about your miracles, but I want to experience you healing your people, where it could only be done by you, for myself!” God responded back, “You will receive what your faith expects (Matthew 9:29).” I want to share...
by Sam | Nov 6, 2018 | Inspiration, Reflection
It’s been said numerous times that teamwork makes the dream work. God will never give you a dream that doesn’t involve people. A dream that you can accomplish on your own is too small and not worth attempting. But it’s a big dream that requires all hands on deck. I love what Pastor Brian Houston says about the global movement that is taking place through his church. He says that Hillsong Church isn’t built on the gifts of the few, but on the sacrifice of the many. Wow! That’s exactly what a team is about. Ever since we officially established our Core Leadership Team, we’ve seen a giant leap take place in our growth. That’s the amazing thing about working as a team. The fruit and effectiveness doesn’t grow by addition, but by multiplication. So does the effort. It’s been a joy and journey learning how to function and operate as a team. If I’m honest though, working as a team isn’t my natural preference. Whenever there were school assignments, I was that one student who always preferred working alone because group projects required extra work. Now working as a team does demand more, but I’m learning that it’s worth it. Even God Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit work as a team. When He first created Adam, He chose to partner with Him to name the animals. If anyone could work alone, it’s God, but He Himself values teamwork and partnership. Apostle Paul writes that you and I are co-laborers with Christ (1 Corinthians 3:9). As the director of our ministry, I’m learning how to create a...
