JANUARY 2015
DELIVERING THE GOSPEL & THE TESTIMONIES OF GRACE
Special Article
Memoirs of a Missionary
We Bring the Joy to You
Until I Met the Truth
Salvation Testimony
Gospel Class
Jesus Defeated Sin for Me
Who Is My Neighbor?
The deeply moved American audience could not hide their tears as they were watching the Gracias Choir perform as part of their Christmas Cantata Tour. They cried when they saw how Jesus came to this world to save mankind from their sins. They cried with Anna when she came to realize her family’s love for her. And they were moved to tears when they heard Handel’s "Hallelujah" and "God Bless America" because they were thankful that God was continually blessing America. (Photo: During the Christmas Cantata performance in Alburquerque. Photo by Jin Wook Kim)
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Table of Contents 4
Monthly Sermon Spiritual Life Is When the Word Molds the Person
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Salvation Testimony Jesus Defeated Sin for Me
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Life Testimony When I Stopped Working, God Started Working
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NY Times He Was Bruised for Our Iniquities
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Memoirs of a Missionary Until I Met the Truth
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Meditation and Contemplation The Crow
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Gospel Class Who Is My Neighbor?
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Special Article We Bring the Joy to You
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With the Gospel to the Ends, with the Lord to the Last I Am Not One Of The Chosen!
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This Month's Sermon
Spiritual Life Is When the Word Molds the Person Pastor Ock Soo Park | Good News Gangnam Church
"This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin." (Hebrew 10:16-18)
Was This Through My Diligence And Determination Or Through The Word Of God?
Spiritual life is not accomplished through our hard work. Many people who do not pray will try hard to pray, those who do not read the Bible will try hard to read the Bible, and those who sin will try to refrain from sinning. They try to quit drinking and smoking. This is all mans’ effort and religion, but it is not true spiritual life. Spiritual life has to start from the Word of
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God. The heaven and earth were created through the Word of God. The plants, trees, fish, birds, and everything in this world came from the Word of God. Our salvation as well came out of the Word of God. Outwardly, it may seem like the same praying and spiritual life. “I have to pray, I have to read the Bible, and I have to zealously witness,” are all things that come out of our effort and determination, and we cannot say this is faith because it is from human effort. True faith is when we read the Bible and the Word enters our heart and stirs a new heart in us. Within that faith the power of God is living and works. Many people say, “I have to read the Bible more! I have to witness more!” They say that to themselves and try harder. That is mans’ works, and it is being under the law. Spiritual life must begin from the Word of God. The Bible says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” One day when the Word of God enters our heart, we realize: “My sins have been washed away!” Then we come to have a new heart that we did not have before. Regardless of our determination and self dependance, when we receive the Word of God the strength that comes out of the Word will lead us. While living spiritual life, we have to clearly distinguish between the heart that flows through my will and determination and the heart that flows through the Word of God. If it is through my will and determination then it is not faith and it is me at work. That work will not prevail. On the other hand when the Word of God enters our heart it stirs a new heart and thoughts which guide us. That is faith, and according to that faith God will surely fulfill that work.
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The Word, “If ye take the accursed things, ye will be accursed,” did not stand firmly in his heart. This is the same as the seeds that fall on the stony ground, which seem to sprout but have no strength. His heart lost all strength when we had the heart of taking the Babylonish garment.
The People Who Departed From The Word Of God, Had The Heart, “This Is Good Enough.”
God engraved the law on the tablets of stone in order to lead their hearts. Man read the law and attempted to keep the law at first, and eventually forgot the law and fell into the ambitions of sin. When the Israelites attacked the city of Jericho, they were instructed not to take any possessions. Achan had heard these instructions as well. Although he surely heard them, the moment he saw the Bablylonish garment his heart desiring to possess it was much greater than knowing that, “If ye take the accursed things, ye shall also be accursed.” We see that the heart of man was strongly at work. He took it, thinking that it would be fine. He knew that he would be cursed if he took the possessions, but he still thought to himself that he would be fine. Achan thought he would become happy if he took the Babylonish garment, silver, and gold. Through his actions, Achan and his family was put to death. The Word, “If ye take the accursed things, ye will be accursed,” did not stand firmly in his heart. This is the same as the seeds that fall on the stony ground, which seem to sprout but have no strength. His heart lost all strength when he had the heart of taking the Babylonish garment. With this heart he
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could only end up taking the garment. If the Word of God is firmly established in us, then it will defeat the temptations and darkness. The Word must be accepted by faith for it to firmly be establish in our heart, so that no matter how appealing the garment looks we would not take it. Let us go through what Achan was thinking. “If I take the garment, what would happen? Since I am taking the possessions that were forbidden, I would be killed and also my family!” If he thought accurately about the Word of God like this, then God’s will would have been firmly established, and no matter how beautiful the garment looked it would have defeated the ambition to commit sin. The heart that Achan would be cursed did not stand firmly in his heart. Like the seeds that fell on the stony ground, it looked like it sprouted but had no strength. This is why when the heart to take the garment arose he had no strength in his heart to overcome it. Today our hearts are like Achan. It seems like people know the Bible and read it, but most know it vaguely. Although they read the Bible, it is not read in detail, and they do not firmly believe in the Word. Therefore, so many people have departed from the Word of God with the heart, “This is good enough.” If We Come To Surely Believe In The Word Of God, No Matter How Great Gold And Silver Looks…
“...I will put my laws into their heart and in their minds I will write them.” (Hebrews 10:16) God said He would put His law in our hearts and minds,
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When did I want to become a preacher? I was not planning on becoming a pastor. The Word from within led me. This is how my life became a life where the Word was forming me, and I can see the power of God manifested in my life.
which means that we receive the Word of God by faith. God had recorded in our hearts and minds that our sins were washed and showed us the cross that Jesus was sacrificed on. And He adds that He remembers our sin no more. “And their sins and iniquities I will remember no more.� (Hebrews 10:17) Many people read this verse, but we see that this verse does not stand firmly in people’s hearts. God does not remember our sins. However, people identify themselves as sinners. It seems like we know and received the Word, but actually we do not know. When the Word is not erected firmly in our hearts we fall into temptation. The Word of God that warns us that we would be put to death crumbles down and loses strength. When the Word of God enters our heart and we surely believe in it, we know that whatever possession we take in the city of Jericho would lead us to be cursed and destroyed! We could not come to commit the sin to take the gold and silver, because if we take that we will die and be destroyed. All I Simply Did Was Accept The Word...
Many people in the world know the Bible. They know so much. However the Word is not established with faith and therefore the Word is easily folded up and the heart follows the flesh. Spiritual life is about the Word holding a place in
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our hearts, and that Word keeps our hearts. The Word leads us according to the will of God. Sadly, many people live that life of relying upon oneself. Any they say to themselves, “I should pray. I should read the Bible. I should fast. I should serve God well.” One day I came to believe that my sins were washed away through the blood of Jesus and I was freed. Even after that Word entered my heart, I sinned again and committed evil, but that evil was washed away and I was not a sinner anymore. I was able to say I am righteous, and my heart became close to God. And God led me. All I did was simply accept the Word, but that Word changed many things in my heart. The despair, sadness, wrath, and evil that was in my heart were cast away. I can see that the Word is still leading me today. When did I ever want to become a preacher? I was not planning on becoming a pastor. The Word from within led me. This is how my life became a life where the Word was forming me, and I can see the power of God manifested. All The Power Manifested Through Jesus Is The Power Of The Word
The power to create the heaven and the earth is in the Word of God. Jesus is the Word in the flesh who came to this world. All the power displayed through Jesus is the power of God. If the Word is settled in our heart, like the man with the infirmary for 38 years transformed, the same transformation would happened to us. Jesus who said, “Take up thy bed and walk,” also led me to become a pastor. The Word led me. In that way it was not my life but a life where the Word formed me. I could see God’s power manifested in me. The man with the infirmary for 38 year accepted the
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Words of Jesus and was able to rise, take up his bed, and walk. Afterwards he got a job, earned a living, bought a house, met a beautiful woman, got married, and had children. If we accept one Word of God there are many events that follow. We should open the Bible and sincerely thinking about what the Word is telling us, and we have to receive that Word. Then the Word creates a new heart and world, making a new and blessed life for us. Spiritual life is reading the Word, and discovering what the meaning of the Word is which leads us into a new life. Many people were destroyed during Noah’s flood. How was Noah’s family of 8 able to be saved? Although many thoughts raced through their minds, they did not follow those thoughts but followed the Word of God. That is why they were saved. Christmas is the day that celebrates the day Jesus was born into this world. Jesus is the Word made into flesh. Jesus is the Word. Accepting Jesus is accepting the Word. If we accept the Word, peace, joy, and hope from Jesus come upon us and we live a blessed life. We then live a life that glorifies God.
Pastor Ock Soo Park Pastor Park is currently the senior pastor of the Good News Gangnam Church. He is the founder of the Mahanaim Cyber Theology School and International Youth Fellowship. Annually he is the guest speaker for Bible Crusades domestically and internationally and serves as a guest lecturer to university students. He is the author of several titles such as: The Secret of Forgiveness of Sin and Being Born Again, Repentance and Faith, Navigating the Heart. These books have been translated in 17 different languages, and in addition he is the author of 40 other books on spiritual life.
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Salvation Testimony
Jesus Defeated Sin for Me Esther Nyamekye Asare | New York
Before I met Good News Mission Church, I was very confused about life. Even though from the outside everything looked good, my heart was not at peace. I struggled with sin. Even though I went to church and read my Bible every day, I still felt very far from God. I grew up in a “Christian� home. Both my parents are ordained pastors, and so going to church was a priority. I was part of every Sunday service and activity. From a young age, I memorized the books of the Bible and every occasion at church my mother made me sing a solo. I really thought that Christianity was showing off what you could do, and that God only loves those kinds of Christians who prayed a lot, went to church often, read their Bibles daily, etc. I tried to be that kind of Christian. It was my goal that someday, I would be able to speak in tongues, randomly quote scriptures from the Bible, and even heal the sick. I thought that if I could not accomplish this, then that would be the end of me and my 12
Esther, a student at Stony Brook University 13
Culture Exhibition with IYF colleagues
relationship with God. It created fear in me because honestly, I did not have it in me to give myself to God. Reading the Bible scared me as well, because it reminded me of my sins and how I was not measuring up to what the law required. I saw and understood the words in the Bible as instructions that I had to follow, but still did not know what I was going to accomplish with that. My life as a Christian was full of pretense and hypocrisy. I was literally pretending to be a “Good Christian” just to save my image. I did not want the people in the church to criticize or judge me, however I was guilty of doing the same to others. My dad was someone I really looked up to because I thought in my mind that he had reached perfection in God. Everyone admired him, because from the outside he looked like an angel. I also believed this because this man lived and breathed the work of God. He would leave my family for church retreats, go to church members’ houses and pray for them, and more. Everyone loved him and he was really admired. Something happened to this same man who everyone thought had not ever spoken a curse word in his life. My dad who has been a pastor for almost 35 years committed adultery.
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When this news came out I laughed and thought it was a joke. I thought to myself, “How could this saint do such a thing?” I really thought he was being framed, but as the rumors kept spreading, I realized that it was true. I had put my faith in this man; I foolishly thought that since he was so good that maybe his goodness would allow me to go to heaven. So it really crashed down on me when it happened. The church couldn’t have him anymore and he was asked to step down as the pastor. So there I was, even more confused than I was before. It became clear to me that my chances of ever making it to heaven were gone. I became churchless, continuously depressed, my parents fought constantly, and I felt this dark cloud all over me. I remember one church pastor had once said to my dad that if he worked hard to ratify this situation with God, then the sin he had committed would not become a generational curse. What he meant by a generational curse was, either one of my sister’s, or all three of us would end up sleeping around with other men or that our husbands would find somebody to cheat on us because of what our father did. It made me question God’s grace. Why do I have to suffer for someone else’s sins? If being a Christian is this painful and hard, then why did Jesus die for me? Two years after the incident at my previous church, I met the Good News Mission Church at my school, Stony Brook University. I remember this day so well. I was having lunch by myself when I was approached by a student who introduced herself as a short term missionary. She introduced the IYF program to me but I was not interested, and at the time they were having a Bible seminar and she invited me. I said yes, and decided to go. I do not remember precisely what the message
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was, but the fellowship I had with the pastor afterwards really sent chills to my body. I could not believe what he was saying. He read the words from 1 Corinthians 6:11, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” The verse before also talks about all the sins we committed, but yet, though I am that person, what Jesus did on the cross has really washed them all away. I could not believe my ears. I really could not wait to call my dad to share this news with him. I really felt bad that he was going to hell because of what he did. So I told him that he was justified by the blood. He said he knew this, but I got to know later that it was only knowledge to him. He did not really believe in this message, and he was still trying to make up for his sins. All my life I saw God as this Supreme Being that only loved perfect Christians: Christians that tried their best to be like Him. I wanted to be that so bad that I ended up being the worst of them. I remember my mom always quoting this scripture, “Fight your salvation with fear and trembling,” but this part was never mentioned: “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” I thought it was all dependent on me. Even though I failed at all my attempts to be good, I still did not want to give up. Anytime I felt guilty about something I did, I would try my best to overcome that guiltiness by doing something extra good. But I realized after that was solved, I would sin again. It gradually became a vicious, never ending, and painful circle of trying to win my place with God. God has slowly shown me, through this precious church that He already fulfilled the Law that I have been fighting tooth and nail to obey. When he screamed on the cross that “It
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She met the IYF through a Bible seminar at Stony Brook.
is finished!” it was really finished. He finished everything so that I would not have to rely on myself. He saw how incapable and afraid I was, and that was why He shed His blood for me. My past, present, and future sins were all taken care of on Calvary’s cross. The Gospel might seem unreal when we try to understand it from the human point of view, but this is why we need the power and wisdom of God to believe in it. He truly finished it all and left nothing behind for us to complete. We can now live a life that is pleasing to him because now we are not the ones living a righteous life, but it is Jesus Christ who lives in us. Jesus Christ is the only one who is capable, he was the one that overcame sin, and sin could not defeat him. It is better I rest in this peace and assurance I have in God, then to believe in myself. When you read 1 Timothy 1:15, Apostle Paul said, “I am the worst sinner of all,” even though he had accomplished so much for God. Why did he say this? He realized who he was and had become was only by the grace of God. Now I know: I am washed, sanctified, and justified because of what Jesus did. Really, he finished it all for me. Praise God!
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Life Testimony
When I Stopped Working,
God Started Working Richard Gillman | Las Vegas
As I look back, 2014 has been a truly eventful and meaningful year to our family. God has worked in amazing ways in our lives this past year. We were able to sell our house for a very high price and buy a new home in just a couple of months; thus we were able to fulfill the commitment offering for the Gracias Christmas Cantata event in Las Vegas, Nevada. I can certainly say that, God did everything and all I did was just sit back and watch him execute his marvels. It all started last year. I was not giving tithe at church because my budget was tight. More specifically, I had a debt. I invested in internet based business projects and did not make any profit. Behind
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the downfall, there was a drive and a strong desire to make money. Since everything in this world is translated into money, I always felt a pressure to make more profit beyond my monthly paycheck. I followed what looked good to me, and I ended up with debt. I was making payments to get rid of that debt, in order to avoid an extended bad credit status. So, I could not afford making the payments for my debt and tithe at church. We also had the commitment offering for the Christmas Cantata at that time so I was truly clueless about how God would give us that money.
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Around October or November of 2013, we had a strange incident. It was almost midnight on Sunday, I was in the bathroom and my wife was checking emails in bed, when the doorbell rang. We were very surprised since we were not expecting anyone. My wife went to the door wondering if it was the neighbor. Through the peephole, she saw an unknown big man with a baseball bat in his hands. Scared to death, she walked back to the room and called 911. Again, he rang the bell for a second time, but when I went to the door and I saw no one. I opened the door and looked outside and he was gone. It was the first time that this ever happened to us. My wife was upset and terrified, I tried to calm her down and we prayed to God to keep us safe. We tried to get over it. A few weeks later, someone came to our door. It was about 11:00 PM on Sunday. This time he was hitting the door hard. Through the peephole, my wife saw the same big guy with a bat. She was hysterical. This was creepy and I was startled too. He seemed to be calling out a name but I couldn’t understand what he was saying. We called the police again, but he left before the cops came. Now, my wife could not sleep and I was nervous. I didn’t know what to make out of it. She was afraid that someone was trying to get into the house and/or that our house might be watched and targeted by delinquents. She called pastor’s wife to vent her stress and they came over that night. We were talking and pastor told us that we had to believe that God is with us and is protecting us. He shared with us the passage where King Jeroboam stretched out his hand and said, “Seize him!” but his hand got paralyzed. He assured us that, even if others intend to harm us, if God stops them no one can do us harm. We could rest and gained comfort from those words. He also pointed out to us that it is crucial to serve God; tithe being a basic due for a Christian. To which my wife replied, “We do tithe, Pastor.” So I had to clarify that I had
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Richard with his loving children
not been tithing because of my debt payments. Pastor told me that I need to trust God, and to tithe even if it is difficult and there is no money to spare. Thus, I can see the glory of God and how God helps me. I had doubts and was hesitant. I had fellowship with pastor on a separate day again, and he reinforced that tithe is more important than paying the debt. I decided to put aside my own views and follow the voice of the church. Soon after, my wife proposed the idea that we should sell our house and move closer to the church. During the fellowship at our home on the night of the incident, she asked the pastor if this might be a sign from God to move to another house. Pastor suggested, that if she wants to move, she should look for a house closer to the church. I was hesitant. I was not sure that it was a good idea. First of all, I didn’t
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think our house would sell right away. We bought that house only 4 years ago for $115,000 on a mortgage. I wanted to sell the house at least for $140,000. But we really did not know what to expect. We agreed that if we could not get the asking price we would not sell it. Something very strange happened. We had almost 20 showings for the house in less than a week. And we received about 8 offers right away. It was unbelievable. We never imagined our humble abode would be so desired and let alone receive that many offers in a week. It was beyond our expectation. We could not help but be amazed and give all credit to God. God’s marvelous work did not end there and we received an offer for $160,000. That is an amount we did not even dream about. We were speechless. However, that buyer could not get approved so we had to re-list the house. But one of the people who previously made an offer, increased his offer after the house was placed back on sale. He offered us $10,000 over the appraisal price. We accepted that since it was the highest offer. Now, we knew that there was no control over the appraisal. If it is unfavorable, it is a loss and the deal is off. If it is favorable we thought it would come out at $140,000. If it ends up extremely well, it could come out as $160,000, which would be a miracle. It was one thing that could only happen if God made it happen. We waited anxiously, and when the appraisal came out at $160,000, we could not believe our ears. We were ecstatic. It felt like the Red Sea parting in the middle and making a path before our eyes. I saw God’s strong arm guarding us and enabling us. We were thankful and astonished by God’s power and mercy. Finally, with some adjustments, we sold the house in May 2014, for $167,500. We felt and saw the help and fidelity of God all along the way. We were able to pay our commitment offering for the Christmas Cantata. I could also pay off my debts and pay the down payment and closing costs for the new home located only 7 minutes away from church. We
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We became a happy family in the Gospel.
could see that God truly helped us and provided the money to make the commitment offering. Furthermore, we could move to a new house in less than 3 months after selling the old house. God gave us His grace by finding the house and also purchasing the new house $10,000 less than the asking price. It was a bank owned home, and many claimed it would be difficult to get it since banks easily receive multiple offers. But strangely, they accepted our offer and even adjusted to our price. All I can say is that God is behind me and he is my sponsor. The benefit God gives is not comparable to the benefits I try to make for myself. “When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.� (Deuteronomy 20:1)
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New York Times: Notes on Genesis I
He Was Bruised for Our Iniquities The Lord Hath Laid on Him the Iniquity of Us All Pastor Ock Soo Park | Good News Gangnam Church
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. (Genesis 1:1~5)
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Genesis Is the World of Our Heart
When we read Genesis, we see that there is truly a precious spiritual secret of God there. I have read Genesis many times throughout the years, and I used to simply think, “Ah, God created the heaven and the earth. The earth was without form, was void, and was in darkness.” But one day, I was amazed while reading Genesis. Genesis was actually talking about the world of our heart. The earth in Genesis chapter 1 was without form, was void, and was in deep darkness. Tens of thousands of years had passed by in that darkness. When God saw this earth, He thought, “Why is it so dark? Why doesn’t it have any life? Why is there no light?” and was not pleased with what He saw. God began to speak to the earth because He wanted the earth to bloom with flowers, bear fruit, and overflow with love and hope. “Let there be light.” “Let the waters above the firmament divide from the waters below the firmament.”
“Let the earth bring forth the herb yielding seed, and the tree yielding fruit whose seed is in itself.” “Let the fowl fly in the open firmament and let fish swim in the waters.” The earth changed into the image God wanted as His words came upon it. While reading the Bible one day, I discovered that this was exactly like the change that came upon my heart. When the Light of the Word Came upon My Heart
I had long been bound inside of sin, but I had all of my sins washed away and became born again through the Holy Spirit one autumn day in 1962. I used to sing, “Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away,” only with my lips, but it became a praise in my heart. I was freed from sin and had true liberty from the day I had all of my sins washed away. There was no hope in my life whatsoever before this. There was no light. Just as the earth was locked inside of darkness for tens of thousands of years and flowed towards
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I saw the Word of God changing me in an amazing way as it entered my heart. The Word of God would enter my heart from time to time when I would read the Bible, and it would change my life, little by little.
darkness, I too was born in darkness, and my heart only continued toward darkness until I saw the light of God. What is darkness? Distrust, hatred, spite, dissipation, lust. . . . Such things are all within the power of darkness. I had tried to defeat the darkness myself, and I tirelessly tried and struggled not to sin. However, it did not work no matter how hard I tried because the power of darkness was so great. Even though I prayed, “God, forgive this sin! And do not allow me to sin today!” countless times, I could not be freed from the power of darkness; the power of sin. But one day, the light of the Word of God entered my heart. This light cast out the darkness. This did not happen through me laboring and defeating the power of darkness. I could not cast out the darkness without light, hatred could not be cast out without love, and despair could not be cast out without hope. Love,
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light, hope. . . . These things belong to the light, and the things that belonged to the darkness, such as despair and sinfulness, all departed when the light of the word came upon my heart. I saw the Word of God changing me in an amazing way as it entered my heart. The Word of God would enter my heart from time to time when I would read the Bible, and it would change my life, little by little. I once read, “When you are bidden, sit down in the lowest room, then he that bade thee will make you sit in the highest room.” I would always strain to sit in places higher than others before this. But after this moment, I always tried to sit in the lowest room. Then I could see God exalting me. There is no change when the Word of God is accepted simply as knowledge or theory. Change arises when it is accepted into the heart by faith. It was so amazing to see the light enter my heart and destroy
darkness, to see love enter and destroy hatred, to see hope enter and destroy despair, and to see joy enter and destroy sadness. It Hurts but I’m Healed!
I suffered much from a gastric ulcer a few years ago. I lost about 15 lbs in three months. I would have diarrhea whenever I ate. I would chew one spoonful of rice a hundred times, but I would still get diarrhea. After about three months, I thought, “I can’t live like this,” because the medication would help only for a few days, then fail. I prayed before God. “God, my stomach hurts so badly. Please heal my stomach.” One day, while I was praying, a Bible verse came to mind: What things soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. (Mark 11:24) The Bible said, “Whatever you seek in prayer, believe that you have received it.” I then had the heart, “If that is so, since I just prayed to God to heal my stomach; if I believe that my
stomach is healed; then it will be done.” I thought in my heart, “What should I do if I believe that my stomach is healed? Since it’s completely healed, I should eat rice, spicy kimchi (a popular Korean dish), bean paste. . . . ” However, I felt that if I did do this, my stomach would rupture and I would die. I thought, “Should I believe these words, or just pass them by?” If I did not believe in these words, it meant that I do not believe in the words of God at all, and I could not do that. I once again thought, “Will I really die if I believe these words? The Word of God says that if I believe, it shall be done according to my faith. Then if I die, it means that God lied. That cannot be! I will not die!” I was able to have this assurance of faith in my heart. I prayed to God again. “God, thank you. I believe you will hear my prayer. My stomach is completely healed. I believe that it is healed.” My wife set the table for breakfast.
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She set up many different kinds of food because guests were over, and in one corner, she prepared a small bit of porridge, some soy sauce, and a few pieces of pickled beef. I did not eat them that day, but I finished an entire bowl of rice. My wife was surprised as she walked by. “Honey, what are you doing?” I smiled and said, “I’m completely healed,” to my wife. I put down the spoon after breakfast, but my stomach hurt so badly all of a sudden, and I could not bear it. I ran to the bathroom. Diarrhea gushed out of me. My stomach hurt so much and it was extremely painful. Right then, I heard a voice inside of me. “Hey, you don’t even have faith.
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Your stomach might rupture and you might die if you continue this. You get diarrhea even with porridge, and you think you are going to be okay doing this?” However, surely this was not the voice of God, but the voice of Satan because it went against the words of God, who said, “Believe that which you have sought in prayer. Then it shall be done,” was the voice of Satan. I said, “No, my stomach is completely healed,” in my heart. Then I heard another voice. “Hey, if you are healed, then why does it hurt? If it’s healed, then it’s not supposed to hurt. It hurts and it’s healed? Is this what you call being healed?”
I had nothing to say. I thought about it again. “No. My stomach hurts now, but the Bible says that if you believe that you have received what are you seeking for in prayer, then it shall be done. I believed that my stomach was healed, and He said that it would be healed, if I believed. My stomach is healed. It hurts now, but it is healed!” Although I was having diarrhea, I had assurance in my heart that my stomach was healed because it was the promise of God that my stomach would be healed. I had another bowl of rice for lunch. Again, I had diarrhea. Nevertheless, I believed in the promise without a single doubt in my heart regardless
of such a circumstance. That evening, someone invited me to dinner which was at a hotel buffet restaurant. It had 350 kinds of food, and I thought, “Since my stomach hurts, I’m only going to have some porridge,” as I entered the restaurant. Then I thought, “Oh yeah, I’m completely healed!” I cleared five plates that evening. I was so full that I had a difficult time driving and coming back home. I did not have diarrhea that night. When I woke up the next morning, I felt extremely comfortable inside. My stomach was completely healed. This was because of the promise of God. Such incidents deeply led my heart from believing in my experiences or
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in myself to believing in God. Before I was born again, I could not refrain from my thoughts, even if they were opposite from the Word of God. I spent much time in confusion, thinking, “Well the word is right, but the circumstances are like this. . . . ” I could not stand in faith. The problem with spiritual life is that you listen to the words of God, but you listen to the voice of Satan at the same time. The two voices enter you and the latter keeps you from going one way or the other. The change that was upon me after I received the forgiveness of sin was that I was able to believe more and more in the Word of God, no matter what the circumstances were. Would there be light simply because God said, “Let there be light,” on this earth which was without form, void, and in deep darkness? But amazingly, although we do not understand how, light was there because it was God who spoke. When He said for the water above the firmament to divide from the waters below the firmament, it did so. It was done according to the
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Word of God. Whether I understood it or not, I saw that the Word of God lived and worked in my heart when I believed in the Word of God. Laid on Him the Iniquity of Us All
A few days ago, I met a precious person and preached the gospel to him over dinner. “I would like to introduce a Bible verse to you.” He was joyful and said that he would like to accept. I read Isaiah chapter 53 to him. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:5~6) He and I were talking about something else, so I was worried that he would feel awkward and would not be accepting if I spoke about the Bible. But unexpectedly, his eyes widened.
The Bible says that Jesus was wounded with thorns for our transgressions and that He was bruised for our iniquities. It says that God has laid upon Jesus the iniquity of us all. This is the Word of God. In the Word of God, it says that all of our sins have moved onto Jesus Christ. It means that it was we, who sinned, but it is not our responsibility. Jesus must take the responsibility, and He has to take care of it. According to this promise recorded in Isaiah, Jesus bore our sins, was crucified, shed His blood, and died.
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will surely die,” but Satan said the exact opposite, “You will not surely die. The day you eat it, you will become like God.” Satan is the same, even today. Sadly, Adam and Eve believed the words of Satan rather than the Word of God and ate the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. Although there are clear words of promise in the Bible, there are many people today who hear those words and then make their decisions based on their own judgment. The Bible says, “The Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all,” but Satan says, “But you are a sinner But You Sinned That is what the Bible says, but because you sin.” That is why, when thoughts different from the Bible rise a person hears these two things, he in us. thinks of himself and comes to the “But I’m still a sinner because I conclusion, “Jesus was crucified for sinned.” my sins, but I am a sinner because I “Jesus was crucified, but my sins are sin.” They try to live a spiritual life probably not cleansed.” with a conclusion completely different “Other sins may be washed, but not from the Word of God. this one.” Jesus was tempted by Satan in This is what Satan tells you. God Matthew chapter 4. The difference told Adam and Eve, “If you eat from between when Adam was tempted
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and when Jesus was tempted was that Adam made the decision himself, after he heard the voice of God and the voice of Satan. However, Jesus said, “This is what is recorded in the Word of God,” no matter what Satan said. Jesus did not add His own opinions whatsoever. When Satan said, “Make these stones into bread,” Jesus did not consider whether that was a good thing to do or not. He simply said, “This is what the Word of God says.” Only the Word of God was living inside of Jesus. According to the Word
Receiving forgiveness of sin and becoming born again is not through us doing something or putting forth effort. Sin cannot be forgiven through our own effort. It is impossible to wash away sins through our strength. If it were possible, God would not have sent Jesus. Jesus would not have been crucified. Because we could not take care of our sins, God sent Jesus and had Him crucified on the cross. The Bible says, “The Lord hath
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laid on him the iniquity of us all.” God laid all of our sinfulness upon Jesus Christ. If so, no matter what sin we commit or what life we live, all of our sins have been moved onto Jesus. There is no sin in us. Jesus is responsible for washing away all of our sins. It is something Jesus has to take care of. It has nothing to do with us. We change when the Word of God enters us. It is not that we should labor to have our sins washed away or to cast out despair, sadness, and distrust. We only need to accept the Word of God into our heart. He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. Jesus was crucified not for His sins, but for ours. If our sins had not moved onto Jesus, He could not die for us. God passed our sins onto Jesus even before we were born, and Jesus received the punishment for our sins. If so, then our sins are cleansed. How cleansed are they? 70 percent? 80 percent? 90 percent? No. 100 percent! Jesus completely washed our sins clean
We change when the Word of God enters us. It is not that we should labor to have our sins washed away or to cast out despair, sadness, and distrust. We only need to accept the Word of God into our heart.
at the cross. This is what the Bible is telling us. Satan deceives us into feeling as if there is still sin in us, as if our sin had not been washed away. You may have the memory of committing sin. You may feel guilty in your conscience. You may be suffering from sin. Anyhow, according to the Bible, your sins have been moved onto Jesus, and He received the punishment for all your sins. That is why the Bible says that we are righteous; that we are clean. One Thing We Have to Do
Now there remains one thing we must do. “Will you believe in your own thoughts, or will you believe in the Word of God?” Everyone, I hope that you will throw your thoughts away and believe in the Word of God that says the blood of Jesus has completely cleansed your sins and has sanctified, justified, and purified you. This is what 1 Corinthians chapter
6, verse 11 says. “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” The Word testifies, “Although you have done such evil and wickedness, you have been cleansed, sanctified, and justified within the grace of God.” Believing in God is not believing in your own thoughts, but believing what the Word of God says; that your sins have been washed away, and, that you have been sanctified and justified. Judging for yourself upon hearing the Word of God and the voice of Satan, as Adam did, is not true faith. The 66 books of the Bible are the Word of God. If these words come to you by faith, the word will cast away the doubt in you, cast away the sin, and cast away the despair to lead you to a joyful, blessed life.
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Memoirs of a Missionary
Pastor Joon Hyun Lee | LomĂŠ, Togo It is truly beautiful to be a missionary. It is heart-breaking if there is no one to witness the Gospel to those longing to see the light and gasping for breath amidst the pitch-blackness of sin. If only we could turn back the hands of time and have someone preach the Gospel to those people, so that they could see the bright lights of heaven and experience overwhelming joy and gratefulness springing forth from the deepest parts of their hearts. Nothing in the world would be as touching or heartening. It is beautiful to save those lives that are slaves of sin and move them to the glorious world of God, even though they may not express their joy and thankfulness outwardly. Missionary Jun Hyun Lee does the work of saving the lives of Togo, Africa. Through his memoir, we can see how God has led him and how joyful his life is being one with the Gospel in Togo.
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Until I Met the Truth
I give glory and thanks to the Lord to meet you through this memoir. Why Should We Believe in Jesus?
I was born in 1965, in a small village called “Yang Ji” of “Yeon Mu Eob” of the province of “Choongnam, Nonsan-gu.” I was the third of three brothers. The village was surrounded by mountains and there was no church in the village growing up. I noticed a couple of people travelling to other villages to attend church while concealing their Bibles. Going to church was such an oddity, and people were mocked for it. I did not care for church as well. The idiosyncrasies of religion were not very appealing. From a young age I believed that a meaningful life was one which was diligent and benefitting others. People who were devoted to church seemed very weak and impractical to me. Thus, I did not understand why people went to church. When I was in junior high school, there was one math teacher who taught uniquely compared to the other teachers. He would teach for 25 minutes, and for the remaining 20 minutes he would talk about the Bible. He spoke about David and all the characters in the Bible. I thought to myself, “What an odd teacher.” Of the 60 or so students in the class, there were only a handful of students who attended church. He would often say, “If you don’t attend church and believe in God, you will end up in hell.” I did not take his words to heart. Despite all the teachers ridiculing him, he would constantly read the Bible and talk about it. His influence was so strong that 20 students began to attend church which grew to 50 or so students attending church. I was one of the 10 remaining students who did not go to church.
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Top photo: With my childhood friends. Bottom photo: The house I lived in when I was young.
“Why do they say God’s alive, when they can’t see Him?” I too unexpectedly followed my teacher to church one day. He prayed, “God, thank you for sending so many students. During this time, please show them that you are alive. Please show these students who you are.” Listening to his prayer, I thought to myself, “This is the day I’m finally going to meet God.” For an hour, I intently listened to what my teacher had to say. I still thought the only way I would believe in God was to see Him. The meeting ended after an hour and my teacher prayed once more. “Dear God, thank you for showing these students that you are alive.” I kept my eyes wide open and looked around. I didn’t see God. "Hey, this teacher is a liar!” From that day on, I never set foot inside church again. I lived according to my own philosophy of life. My brothers did not attend church as well. 36
After my eldest brother got married, my sister-in-law persuaded him to go to church with her. It was the same case with my other brother. I was the only one who did not go to church. Whenever I visited my second brother’s house, my sister-in-law would constantly tell me to believe in Jesus. One day, when my sister-in-law was telling me to believe in Jesus, I had asked her in return, “Why do I need to believe in Jesus?” “If I believe in Jesus, will he work in my life?” “How does Jesus work in your life?” She began to tell me a story that happened to her one night. She was dreaming in her sleep when Satan appeared and started to strangle her. She yelled out, “In the name of Jesus Christ, get away Satan!” As soon as she said those words, Satan began to tremble and quietly disappeared. After hearing her story, I closed my heart toward church even more. “Satan has never appeared in my sleep and strangled me. If I believe in Jesus like her, then Satan will appear and strangle me.” I thought all I needed was to live an upright life. “I’m not going to sin like other people. I’m not going talk bad about other people. I don’t even like to talk behind peoples' back, why in the world would I do that?” Is There Anyone More Unfortunate Than Me?
Our family was not very religious, but we all got along very well. We were poor and life was difficult, yet there was a strong sense of brotherly love and we were close with our parents as well. My eldest brother was able to graduate from high school. Our family could not afford to send my second brother to school, so he ended up graduating elementary school and then moving to Seoul to find work there. When my parents were not able to send my brother off to school, they were so guilt-ridden so they decided to send me to school no matter what. Even though there was a lot of work to be done on the farm, they never asked for my help and let me study. Because of that I studied very hard. I was a true over achiever 37
and I decided to go to college once I graduated from high school. My parents had high expectations since I had very good grades. However, I completely flunked my college entrance exam and was not accepted to any college. My parents could not believe it, and my father went to visit my teachers, telling them that I was a good student. Despite my diligent efforts, my scores were so bad that my teachers were not able to do anything about it. My father cried the entire bus ride home and I was so disappointed with myself. On my second attempt my scores were still low that I ended up going to any school that accepted my score and studied there for two years. After my sophomore year in college, I had enlisted in the air force. I was under the impression that I would still be able to continue studying in the air force. I was dispatched to the Yecheon Air Force in October 1987, which was after 6 weeks of training. There were approximately 30 pilots in Yecheon’s 202 Air Force battalion and 4 airmen in the task force. My life in the air force started as a member of the task force who assists the pilots. The 32 months in the air force were very depressing. The duration of a new private usually lasts for 3 to 4 months because once the fresh recruits start to enroll, army life begins to lighten up for the existing people. However, I did not have one subordinate under me for 20 entire months. Is there any one more pathetic than me? Other soldiers climb the ranks as early as one month once a subordinate enrolls. I was still at rock bottom in terms of rank until the day I received my badge. After entering the air force, it was instilled in me to always follow the orders of my superiors, and coming from a moral household within Choongcheong, I was able to hold it in for a year. However, after a year of climbing the ranks I began to gradually change. It hurt my pride that I was always had to clean the bathrooms and do all the dirty work. Jun Hyun, I Do Not Want To Die!
One day, I received an urgent call that my father became sick. Once I arrived back home in the countryside, my father, who was healthy for as long as I could remember, had stomach cancer and did not have 38
that long to live. The hospital gave him three months and told my mother to watch over him and to offer him whatever he wants to eat, so that he can spend his last days in peace. When we asked about performing surgery, the doctor said he would only have a month left to live with surgery. Without the surgery, he would have three months to live. My mother had no choice but to take my father home. Never did I imagine my father getting cancer. I thought, logically, cancer only occurs in people who drink or smoke a lot. I could not believe that my father who never drank alcohol or smoked cigarettes in his life, had stomach cancer. My father held onto me and cried heavily. “Jun Hyun! You aren’t even get married yet. I wouldn’t be so sad if I saw you get married before I die, but I can’t bear to die without seeing you get married. I don’t want to die, my son. I really don’t want to die! I don’t want to die!” I was speechless in front of my father as he was grabbing onto my arm so desperately to hold onto dear life. Exactly three months later, my father lost all his hair and weight, spat up blood during meals, and pitifully passed away. I was so sad when we held the funeral. We placed my father’s withered body in the casket, and there was so much empty space surrounding his frail body. Is this the end of life? Does life really end like this? It was all vain. My father passed away at age 53 towards the end of 1988. After my father futilely passed away, I experienced much difficulty. My eldest brother was going through hardship as well. Misfortune fell upon our once happy family. Who Is The True Me?
After coming back to the Air Force, I was not able to control my feelings. I enlisted when I was 23 years old and now I was 25, but my superiors were younger than I was. It was very difficult and so many things annoyed me. The most difficult thing was my pride constantly being hurt. Despite the fact that I now held a badge, I 39
was still the lowest among ranks. I would clean bathrooms and even do the dishes. I would have to cook instant noodles for my superiors and bring them coffee. I had to wait on them hand and foot. Slowly I was reaching my limit. One day, I was yelled at by a superior after cleaning the bathrooms. “Are you not going to do a better job cleaning the bathrooms?” This superior was two years younger than I was. Anger was boiling up inside me. I began to fight back, keeping my hands in my pocket. “Is this how you’re going to play? Go out the hall and lie on your face!” I retaliated and he went outside to get a small weapon. He followed me into the hall. “Get on your face!” I was infuriated I grabbed him by his collar and yelled at him. “Do you want to die?” He was shocked at how I reacted and never bothered me again. I thought I lived controlling my feelings well. However, there were so many things that angered me. Gradually, I became belligerent. Towards the end of my army career, there was an eighteen year old subordinate under me. I was twenty five at the time. He spoke to me informally and I took him to the top of the mountain on a rainy day. We took our uniforms off and fought with each other for an hour. I ended up with a swollen eye and he ended up with a blood running down his ripped ear. Every evening when my superiors ordered me to make them instant noodles, I would spit into the noodles as I cooked it. I laughed to myself and mocked those superiors as I watched them enjoying their noodles. Even when they asked for coffee, I would spit into it. However, after incidents like those I would think to myself right before I fell asleep. 40
What is wrong with me? I wasn’t like this before I entered the army. Why have I become so vulgar? I really didn’t fight with anyone but why have I become so hostile? I would get angry and fight over the most trivial things. Before I enlisted, I was truly a nice person, but in the air force, everyone thought of me as a jerk. Who is the true me? If anyone belittled me or looked down on me, all I wanted to do was take revenge and fight with them. At times like those I would be very conflicted. I truly am an odd person. I appear to be nice on the outside but inside I harvest all kinds of bad thoughts; I was such a hypocrite. Things at home made me difficult but my own character made me difficult as well. Why is life so hard? Why? All the other soldiers seem to be doing fine. I’m the only one living this abnormal life. Are You A Sinner Or Are You Righteous?
It was 1989 and I was at my post with a heavy heart. The person next to me was reading a book with a red cover titled, The Secret of Forgiveness of Sin and Being Born Again. I borrowed that book and began to read the book at my desk. I was not an avid reader but I felt that this book was different from others. I felt that this book was talking about something completely different from other books. The owner of the book was Lieutenant Sung Hui Lee, who was the pilot of the 205 battalion. He went looking for his book, knowing that someone would be reading it, and came to my battalion once he found out I was the one reading it. “Corporal Lee, did you read this book?” “Yes, I did, Sir.” “Alright then, are you a sinner or are you righteous?” “I am a sinner.” I answered “sinner” because I knew how disgusting and vile I truly was. But then again, it was the first time hearing the word “righteous” and I was not sure what it meant. 41
“Really? I will be in the emergency waiting room for night duty. If you are available around that time, could you stop by? “Yes, I will be there.” Although I was not permitted to leave my service area, I told him that I will go there secretly. I had no interest in church, but I started to think about meeting him all day long. I went to the senior soldier who I fought with and asked if I could go out because of an appointment. He easily gave me the permission. On March 1, 1989, around 7:30 pm, I left my service area and went to the emergency waiting room. I remember that day very well. First Lieutenant Lee’s Bible was opened, and he was waiting for me. That night, he talked about the bronze serpent in Numbers chapter 21. People of Israel committed sins before God and He sent fiery serpents. While people were dying of fiery serpents, Moses made a bronze serpent according to God’s word and set it upon a pole saying; “Whoever is bitten by fiery serpents and look upon the bronze serpent shall live.” I could not understand why he was telling me this story.” Corporal Lee, the bronze serpent upon a pole represents Jesus who was crucified on the cross. Although man committed sins, Jesus received judgment like the bronze serpent upon a pole. Corporal Lee’s sin has been carried over to Jesus, and now Jesus had to receive the judgment. If there is any reason why Jesus had to die, that is because He bore our sins. Since the wages of sin is death, we have to go to hell because of our sins. However, Moses said they will live if they look upon the bronze serpent. That means our sins will be washed when our hearts are connected to Jesus who is crucified on the cross.” That story left a big impression upon my heart. “Ah! Jesus received judgment on the cross for my sins!” I was able to connect my heart with the meaning of the death of Jesus. “It’s funny! My sins are washed away! I don’t know exactly what salvation is, but truly my sins are gone!” I came back to my service area, and I was so thankful that First Lieutenant Lee preached the Gospel which I will never forget. 42
At the airforce base
First Lieutenant Seung Hee Lee
After I was discharged from the Air Force, I was not able to meet First Lieutenant Seung Hee Lee for 22 years. However, one day, he sent me an e-mail. I was so surprised. A long time had passed and I wondered how he was doing. He told me he had been listening to online sermons and reading the Good News Magazine. Especially, whenever he reads the Good News Magazine, he looks for my family pictures and knows about what I have been up to. I was overwhelmed after I received his message. He said he works as a pilot in an airline after he was discharged. First Lieutenant Lee often had Bible studies at the Yechun Air Force base. Saved brothers and sisters did not attend the church in the base but had a separate meeting during lunch time. The First Lieutenant lived in an apartment where other pilots resided. When pastors came from outside, he invited us to his apartment and let us listen to pastors’ sermons. After we listened to the sermon, he served us a hot meal, drinks, and delicious snacks as well. He served us with all his heart. Soldiers cannot go out of base unless they are 43
on vacation or permitted to stay out. For a few months we held Bible studies on the base, and First Lieutenant Lee bought a car. One day, he told me to change into plain clothes and we went to church in An Dong nearby Yechun. Air police at the gate saluted First Lieutenant Lee and permitted us to leave without knowing who was in the back seat. We drove about an hour, and it was my first time attending the service. First Lieutenant preached the Gospel to me, loved me with his heart, and connected me to the church. Through all that, the Gospel was able to be established preciously in my heart. I thought people go to church because they believe as if I believed after I heard the Gospel. For that reason, I joyfully shared my salvation testimony with whoever I met in church. However, as time passed I realized that my faith and their faith were different. I started to realize how precious this Gospel is in my heart. Persecution Is Evidence That Jesus Is With Me
A few months after I heard the Gospel, I invited the base Chaplin to the Bible study at First Lieutenant Lee’s apartment. After the meeting, the Chaplin had spiritual fellowship with one of the pastors. He firmly thought he was sure about his belief in God and salvation, but he realized after the fellowship, that he actually did not receive salvation. He was very shocked and cried after. After the meeting, the Chaplin went back to church on the base crying. The pastor in church saw him in sorrow and asked him what had happened. “Pastor, I did not receive salvation.” “What are you talking about? Who did you talk to?” The Chaplin explained what happened and the pastor said, “What are you talking about? They are a cult!” The Chaplin heard that and ceased to doubt his salvation and continued thinking, “I knew something was strange.” The pastor from the church on the base received the list of people who attended the Bible study since the Chaplin knew who they were. It was a total of seven people including: First Lieutenant Lee, first class sergeant, sergeant, corporal, and a few others. Of course, my name was on there as well. The pastor posted 44
an official notice saying; “This cult is sending wrong messages to theses soldiers, and you should keep away from them because they are very dangerous.” This became well known throughout the base and the brothers experienced a difficult time because of that message. At that time, I had five months remaining before being discharged from the military service. First, I was thinking, “Why did these things happen to me?” but through the fellowship with the other brothers, I realized that anyone who received salvation after listening the Gospel would experience persecution. For example: After Joseph received the dreams from God, his brothers started to hate and persecute him. “Why do we have to experience persecution?” Afterwards I looked in the Bible, and it was evidence that God is with us. I came to really appreciate that there was persecution in our lives. Lieutenant Lee and the others were deeply concerned. They were considering to be promoted and continue military life, however this may negatively affect their chances. The Bible study meeting had been greatly disrupted. One brother told me. “Sergeant Lee, I am not planning to go to church after I am discharged from military service.” “Why?” “I can’t do what I want if I keep attending church and I will go to Australia to study after I am discharged” I envied him so much. I thought, “You were born in a wealthy family and able to study abroad, but not me.” After five months of being discharged, the brothers and sisters abandoned the military church. Even Lieutenant Lee who had preached the Gospel to me was not seen in church anymore. Persecution had become a big difficulty to them, but I was so happy because the persecution was evidence that God is with me. When I looked back on what happened to me, I was very thankful. I frequently thought that the Gospel is more precious than anything else I have come to know. 45
After I Met The Word Of Truth
There was an officer in our military unit who used to listen to our pastor’s sermon tape but he was not able to receive salvation after persecution began. When I compared myself to him, I was very thankful and speechless because I used to be just like him; having never been to church and not seeking God. Afterwards, I wanted to preach the Gospel to people. I was able to preach the Gospel which was more precious than doing anything else in the world. As the word of the Bible is truth, it could solve every single problem in our lives. The Word could also correctly answer every question that we face in our lives. After I received salvation, not only did I become free from sin, but also free from studies. This does not mean I stopped studying. Before I receive salvation, my life was completed congested, painful, and stifling. “Is there anyone more unfortunate than me?” I thought this problem will not be resolved in just a few years. Amazingly, I changed after I received the word of Bible. “Is there a luckier person than me?” After I received the Word in my heart, I saw how I transformed into a blessed person. The Word of God gives us the heart that we could never make in our heart.
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Meditation and Contemplation
The Crow Many birds tried hard to boast of their beauty after hearing the announcement that the winner of the most beautiful bird contest would become king. The crow covered up its filthy, ugly feathers by covering itself with the feathers of other birds. The crow became king this way, but soon it was expelled because the original owners of the feathers picked off their own feathers from the crow. In God's eyes, all people are like the filthy, ugly crow, yet they try to cover themselves by paying tithes well and volunteering in order to stand before God. Although the Pharisee, who prayed to God saying, I fast twice in the week, and I give tithes of all that I possess (Luke 18:12), was a dirty sinner, he tried to stand before God with his actions. Even today, many people adorn themselves with their own works like the Pharisee and try to go to heaven through their own efforts. Nevertheless, everyone must first receive grace and be born again.
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Gospel Class
Who is My Neighbor? Pastor Sung Gyun Oh | Good News Ulsan Church, Korea
"And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, what is written in the law? How readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, and who is my neighbor?" (Luke 10:25-29)
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The parable of The Good Samaritan in Luke chapter 10, is well known to people. Although it reveals the great and amazing salvation of Jesus Christ and its secret, many people have an incorrect understanding of the parable. This Word is not a simple moral lesson for people to be good. It presents a wonderful fact and way of salvation. Jesus’ parable begins after verse 30 in response to the question: “Who is my neighbor?” In verse 25, there is a conversation between Jesus and a certain lawyer. The lawyer asks Jesus, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” This lawyer comes to Jesus who is the only one who could give an answer to the most desperate and great man’s question on the problem of eternal life. Jesus came to the world to give eternal life. Jesus does not answer the lawyer’s question but rather asks him a question instead. Why did he do that? From Jesus’ perspective, the way of inheriting eternal life is not by the lawyer having to do something but something being done for him. Even today, there are many people thinking in the same way as the lawyer. People think that they have to do something to inherit eternal life. If they do not come out from this mindset and approach, they can never inherit eternal life. The reason is salvation is not by man’s work but by God’s grace and His method. This is why Jesus asks the lawyer, “What is written in the law? How readest thou?” The lawyer mentions the main subject of the Bible. He replies, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” After hearing his reply, Jesus says, “This do, and thou shalt live.” This is the perfect and spotless Word of God and His law, yet is there anyone who could keep it perfectly? The Bible declares
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that there is no one who could do keep the law perfectly. In Galatians 3:10, it says, “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” According to this verse, there is a condition for a person to inherit eternal life. This condition is keeping all 613 laws including the 10 Commandments continuously without ceasing. There is no one among Adam’s descendants who could inherit eternal life by keeping the law according to the way that the lawyer thought. Now Jesus has to make the lawyer realize that eternal life is not by the deeds of man but it could only be fulfilled by the grace of God in his heart. The good news is that receiving the forgiveness of sin (Gospel), is not through what man has discovered or created, but it is something that God has prepared, sent, and shown. This is the sound of heaven and not earth. The lawyer asks another question, “Who is my neighbor?” after Jesus had said, “This do, and thou shalt live.” Think about this lawyer. He knew God’s commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself. Though he was ignorant not knowing who was his neighbor, he tried to justify himself. Even today, I meet many people who think in the same manner as the lawyer. In Mark 7, there are many lawyers of present time who are satisfied with their own ways, efforts, and good deeds. They do not realize that they are in a position of destruction and judgment but rather try to present their righteousness unaware of their true image and situation. Prophets, people who cast out demons, and miracle workers thought they did works of God and believed Him well. However, Jesus says that He does not know them. Why? They believed God according to their thoughts
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and will, but they did not know the will of God and therefore did not follow His will. Maybe, they thought being a prophet, casting out demons, healing diseases, speaking in tongues, and performing miracles were the will of God? There are so many people who are like this! People who misunderstand the will of God do not realize they cannot please God with their works and deeds. In Isaiah 1:10, God says to people who think in the same manner, “Hear the Word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.� In other Words, the people in their own ways, tried to please God and follow His will regardless of the Word of God and His law (Holy Spirit). The Words in Isaiah shows that this angers God and makes Him tired. This is a spiritual life of a common hypocritical church-goer. God is saying do not come to Him in that manner and all those are offerings in vain. God does not say this because they are not trying hard, lack of diligence, or lack of heart, but because they do not know the true heart of God. Even in Isaiah 55:1, God calls upon the people who are
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ignorant of the will of God but try and work hard. God sincerely speaks to them to let them know His heart; “Hearken diligently unto me.” The will of God is for people to listen to His Word, stated in Isaiah 1:18. The Bible is the Word of God. In this Word, God reveals His heart and will. God says, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” This verse means God washes the sin away for us. Yes. God does things that people could never do. No matter how much deception and sins people may have, there is nothing that God cannot resolve. Faith is knowing the fact that I am unable but God is able and relying on Him. In Luke 18, the lawyer tried to gain eternal life through himself, which is why he could not satisfy what Jesus asked for. Jesus said that it is harder for a rich man to enter heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. Then who would receive salvation and go to heaven? Jesus’ answer is simple. It is impossible for men but is possible for God. The one who could cleanse one’s sin as white as snow is God. Look at the attitude of the lawyer and the Word of Jesus. Who is my neighbor? The answer of eternal life is meeting and knowing the neighbor. The parable of The Good Samaritan is the answer to eternal life. Who is your neighbor? Have you met your neighbor? And, do you love and serve your neighbor?
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Special Article 2014 Christmas Cantata U.S. Tour
We bring the Joy to you 8,153 miles. 20 cities. 1 message. 20-city Tour Schedule (Sep. 26 - Oct. 17) City
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Date
Venue
Attendants
# Performed
Los Angeles
9/26
Shrine Auditorium
7,000
1
San Jose
9/27
Flint Center
2,400
1
Las Vegas
9/28
Cashman Center Theater
2000
1
Salt Lake City
9/30
Kingsbury Hall
2,000
1
Denver
10/1
Temple Hoyne Buell Theatre
2000
1
Albuquerque
10/2
Tingley Coliseum
4,500
1
Amarillo
10/3
Amarillo Civic Center Auditorium
2,500
1
Dallas
10/4
The University of Texas at Arlington
2,500
1
San Antonio
10/5
Lila Cockrell Theatre
2,500
1
Houston
10/6
The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts
2,650
1
New Orleans
10/7
Lakefront Arena
5,000
1
Memphis
10/8
The Cannon Center for the Performing Arts
2,100
1
Orlando
10/10
Orange County Convention Center, Chapin Theater
4,100
2
Miami
10/11
James L. Knight Center
7,000
2
Jacksonville
10/12
Florida Theatre
2,600
2
Atlanta
10/13
Atlanta Civic Center
4,600
1
Charlotte
10/14
Ovens Auditorium
2,500
1
Indianapolis
10/15
Old National Center, Murat Theatre
2,600
1
Chicago
10/16
Genesee Theatre
3,000
1
Detroit
10/17
The Fillmore Detroit
4,000
2
The 2014 U.S. Christmas Cantata with the Gracias Choir and orchestra ended with great success after trekking 8,153 miles in 20 North American cities. A single message was delivered to more than 67,000 Americans.
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Special Article 2014 Christmas Cantata U.S. Tour
Salt Lake City, UT
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Las Vegas, NV
The first act presents the birth of Jesus, the second musical act shows the importance of family, and the third act is a composition of choral acts such as: “Handel’s Messiah”, "For Unto Us a Child is Born", "Glory to God in the Highest," and "Hallelujah." The choir delivered love and hope to the audience. The choir traveled from September 26th to October 17th, starting from LA to San Jose, then to Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Denver, Albuquerque, Amarillo, Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, New Orleans, Memphis, Orlando, Miami, Jacksonville, Atlanta, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Chicago, and Detroit, with a full house in every location. It was a sea of various emotions, as the audience at times teared and smiled, overwhelmed by the performances. Also, the cantata became a huge spectacle as 11 cities officially named the event “Christmas Cantata Day,” and 8 cities sent countless Letters of
Letters of Appreciation and Thank You letters from 8 different cities
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Special Article 2014 Christmas Cantata U.S. Tour
Appreciations and Thank You letters. Why is the Christmas Cantata able to receive the love and interest of so many Americans? The Gracias Choir communicates the true meaning of Christmas with the audience and draws them into the performance. The choir’s portrayal of glory and joy in times of distress have brought heart felt tears to the soul. This year, the Christmas Cantata was held for the fourth time in New Orleans. As Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, flooding the whole city, many people lost families, assets, and the basic grounds of living. Although 9 years have passed and many things have changed, the deep wounds that has yet to be healed is still visible in the hearts of the people. However, through the Christmas Cantata, New Orleans changed into a place of happiness from a place full of sadness. The audience was mesmerized with admiration as they watched each and every performers’ expressions and motions. The audience exploded with their cheers and sending the Gracias Choir a standing ovation for their spectacular performance. The Christmas Cantata also came to Detroit, which was once the biggest city in the state of Michigan and was ranked as one of the 5 biggest cities along with New York and Chicago. However, as the city fell into bankruptcy, the city started to be called a dangerous city of death. Of course, as many years passed, buildings were reconstructed, but the area outside of the city was still full of burnt buildings and wastelands. Just like Jesus, who was born in a cold and dark manger for us, the Christmas Cantata planted hope and vitality in the lives of these people. Surely, each and every one of Gracias Choir's Cantata performances were special and precious, but the most important part was the powerful message that was spread to the hearts of all the audiences, "But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you
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Los Angeles, CA
Dallas, TX
Alburquerque, NM
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Special Article 2014 Christmas Cantata U.S. Tour
Christopher, saluting the performance of God Bless America
“The Cantata was full of life! It felt like I was performing up on stage with the actors. I’m so happy right now, I want to spread my arms wide open! My life was pitiful, dark and sad. But after coming here today, I’m leaving, full of happiness and joy. I was a sinner bound for hell, but because God took all my I have been freed today!
sins, I am now free from sin! I’ve received freedom!
Hallelujah!!!
I’m holy, clean, and righteous!! I’m going to church this Sunday. I want to learn more at the church. Oh, I’m just so~ thankful. Thank you so much for sharing this good news with me! Tomorrow morning, I’m going to spread this good news to my family and friends!!! Hallelujah!!!” –Christopher Rodie
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Los Angeles, CA
Orlando, FL
God Bless America - San Jose, CA
San Antonio, TX
were justified.� (1 Corinthians 6:11) This message, made known the fact that regardless of our works, everyone was made holy and righteous through Jesus, who brought true peace and freedom to the hearts of us all. Regardless of what kind of problem or difficulty the audience came with to the performance, everyone returned home with tears of thankfulness and immeasurable happiness in their hearts. We believe, that America, which was founded on a Christian foundation, will once more stand strong in it. A huge movement has already begun in America. We are looking forward to the 2015 Christmas Cantata, which will reach out to more cities and people next year!
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With the Gospel to the Ends, with the Lord to the Last
I Am Not One of the Chosen People Testimony of Pastor Ock Soo Park
My mother attended church since she was young. After she got married, she could not dare tell her parents-in-law that she was attending church. When I was young, I often heard the hymns that my mother would sing while sewing. "When Christ Jesus returns to this world..." Then one day, my mother started to take us to church. I attended church since I was very young. At church, there were so many fun things such as Sunday School, Summer Bible Camp, and Christmas preparations. I received many awards and heard many compliments. It is not an exaggeration to say that I basically grew up in church. Therefore, it must be normal for me to be a good person. However, that was not the case. I started to commit more and more sins as I grew up. At first, I committed small sins as I hung out with my friends thinking, "It is fine as long as I do not commit too many sins." But strangely, while it was extremely boring, not committing any sins, it was so fun when we actually did commit sins. So I grew up drinking and feeding off of sin. As a result, it was so painful for me to go to church on Sundays. 62
As I moved up to Seoul, I attended school while living with some older friends. Every month, my family would send some money from home, but for about three months, they did not send me anything. My older roommates would pressure me more and more for the rent to the point where I would not even want to go home after school. I thought to myself, "I shouldn't just sit here, I should make some money." Coincidentally, I saw an advertisement in the news for a newspaper delivery boy, so I went to the newspaper agency and had an interview. They told me that I would need to put down a deposit of 10 won in case I would run away with the money collected from selling the newspapers. Back then, 10 won was a large amount of money, so I just barely got the money. The manager told me that I would not be able to get my deposit back if I quit within 3 months. After agreeing and signing the contract, I was given around 300 houses for newspaper delivery. I was told that the money remaining after submitting in the set amount to the agency would become my income. I estimated that around 50-60 houses would amount to be my income. But after diligently delivering newspapers to households for about a month, many households would not pay, saying, “Who asked you to give us newspapers?” There were around 50 households like that. It seemed the agency included those houses to increase the number of subscribers. I delivered like a madman for a month, but there was no money remaining, whatsoever. I wanted to quit, but I would not be able to get the money I deposited if I left within 3 months. Thinking back, newspaper delivery was a completely unprofitable job. After thinking, “How should I pay the agency back?” I collected all the delivery money in one day, and ran away with the money which was about twice the amount of the deposit. I felt nervous staying in Seoul, so I returned to my hometown. My father and brother were concerned, saying “Why did you come back in the middle of your semester?” However, I could not tell them 63
anything. It would not have been a problem if I just told them, but I was very scared. Whenever my father called me, I just put my head down and did not answer. My roommates and the school sent letters, saying that they would take responsibility for whatever happened, but I ripped up all the letters. Around 2 months later, the incident was appeased, but the countryside was just so boring that I could not bear it anymore. My father told me, “If you are going to play, go and weed the barley field,” so I went, but all day long, I only weeded one row of barley. Country life was so boring, and whenever I would hang out with my friends, I would only go around doing bad things. I would also go to church all the time because I had no other choice. At church, I would fall into this fear: “I think Jesus will come soon, but I think I would fall into hell as soon as He comes.” I was always tied down to the fear and guilt I felt from sin. 1962, was a year in my life which I do not want to remember. I could not continue with school or farming, and I did not have the skills to take the civil service exam. My last resort was enlisting in the military, but I failed the physical exam. I begged the medical officer, I'd rather die if I can't get into the army.” but he rejected me saying, “I can clearly see that your front tooth is broken, so how can I pass you?” Nobody welcomed or wanted me. This is when I realized that there is no greater loser than me in the world. Before this occurred, I thought I was great and smart. I decided to kill myself, but being a man with complicated thoughts, I was not able to. I was also afraid of death. I considered what I did back in Seoul to be just, but at church, all of that was considered sin. I drank and smoked out of distress. When I got together with my friends, we would go to the peanut or sweet potato fields. Once, I dug up and ate a whole bunch of peanuts in someone's field, but that field turned out to be ours. Even in church, all we would do is play, when we got together. In the summers we went to the orchards, and in the winters we went to the movie theaters or bakeries. As soon as service ended, the youth 64
group members would put away the New Testament pocket Bible in their pockets, and we would meet to eat, drink, and play. It was fun when we played, but it was painful to stand in front of God later on. “Yeah, I've done wrong all this time, but from now on if I set myself straight, things will work out fine.” I would try to depart from sin, but strangely, the more I tried with all my heart, the worse it turned out. Every revival and every New Year, I cried, vowing not to sin and repenting; but I fell into sin again. “Oh, I'm not one of the chosen people! I am destined to hell.” I even thought, "I'll just sin all I want and go to hell with a comfortable heart, since that's where I'm going anyway." It would have been okay if I felt comfortable after sinning, but my heart felt much pain. So once again, I had to go back to church. Once during a revival, I heard the words, "Jesus washed all our sins away on the cross." It would have been good to stop there, but I also heard, "If all your sins are washed, you won't remember any of them." I was distressed for a long time thinking that my sins were not washed, because I still remembered them. On the days we did not have service, I would go to the chapel and cry, "God, tell me if my sins have been washed or not. If all my sins are washed, just tell me they're forgiven." No matter how long I waited, God did not speak and all I 65
heard were the sounds of rats shuffling around in the ceiling. I always confessed and asked for forgiveness of sins in my prayers. It was embarrassing to confess my sins in front of others, so I would go out to early morning prayer service. Being the first to arrive, I would turn on the lamp and ring the bells. It was a huge bell, with a sound reaching more than a meter long so the only way I could ring it was by hanging onto the ropes. After ringing the bell, I would go to the parsonage and wake the pastor up, saying "Pastor, it is time for early morning prayer." After that was a time for me to confess my sins alone. I would sin and repent, sin again and repent... I did not know the basic way of dealing with my sins, so I cried and confessed. One evening, I went to see the pastor. "Pastor, I came for spiritual counseling." "Oh, Mr. Park, come in." "Pastor, this is embarrassing, but while studying in Seoul, I committed these kinds of sins. And I'm a bad person who also committed such other sins. I tried confessing my sins, and they told me that my repentance should bear fruit, so I even paid them back. But the root of sin in my heart still remains and torments me. Pastor, what shall I do! Without getting this off my back, I can't live a spiritual life any longer." It was so serious, that I still remember the conversation that I had with the pastor. "Mr. Park, I too have three daughters whom I send away for school. Nobody knows the things they do away from home. Mr. Park, everyone commits similar sins when they're young. Just because they're my daughters, I can't say they do not do the same. Mr. Park, it is times like these you have to strengthen your faith. If you fall down here, your faith will crumble, and it'll be the end of you. It is times like these you should pray and live a life of faith even more zealously.
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Mr. Park, do you understand?" "I understand." I answered, but I had no strength. Even if the pastor did not tell me, I knew that I had to pray and read the Bible zealously. But those things did not work out for me. On October 7, 1962, it was a Sunday early in the morning and I was praying alone in the empty chapel. While I was confessing my sins, people started flooding in, so I stopped, and continued my confession after everyone left. But that morning, the fact that "Jesus washed all my sins on the cross," had entered my heart. No one preached to me about the Old Testament sin offering, or about the eternal remission of sins Jesus brought. But my heart felt at peace as I thought, "All my sins were taken care of back then on the cross." Amazingly, I started to change without even realizing it. I started to feel that God was close to me, when he seemed so far before. I did not pray formally as I did before, but I started to pray one by one about the things that were in my heart. The Bible became more and more exciting each time I read it. I could not put down the Bible from my hands, and oftentimes, I fell asleep holding it. God first showed me what kind of a person I was before he gave me salvation. He showed me how I was a lacking, incompetent, and dirty sinner, and I could only go to hell. After receiving salvation, I only looked up to God because I hated my old life so much. When I stopped expecting things from myself and looked only to God, He amazingly held onto me with the Word and began to lead me.
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