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 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 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 | 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 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...
