It’s Bubble Time!

During our time at Seoul Land (amusement park) there was a special ride called “Water Works” where you would get into a big plastic bubble that would be filled with air and sealed before you would be pushed out on the water.  Think of a hamster in a ball, except you are on water.  It looked like a lot of fun.  Last year I was too embarrassed to do it myself, but it seems in the past year I’ve lost a lot of shame and just don’t care anymore.^^  I went for it and got my friend Semy to do it too, along with some of the kids.  Fun stuff!  It was actually a lot harder to move or balance than it looks…

Mi Yun was the first to go… they are filling up her bubble

About to be pushed in

Dal Woo having fun

Ye Rang

I was the only adult in a bubble (unless you consider Semy an adult…)^^

Hamster…

Soo Yun

Semy

Semy losing her balance…

Trying to attack Dal Woo

Now attacking Chae Yun… and failing…

Little Da Heen

Min Seung

Semy, having given up… it was tiring!

Hope you enjoyed the pics!  God bless! 

TRUTH – Jesus Wants You Healed… And Has the Authority to Heal You

A number of people who have terminal diseases or problems with their body or even an addiction to sin often soon become consigned to their condition and state, “I think I’m just meant to have this.”  They may say that there is a purpose behind it and say that, “Its my cross to carry” or “God is teaching me through this” or “Its my thorn in my flesh and keeps me humble.”  These are strong words.  Words that could be taken as arrogant, since the only person in the Bible who had some sort of thorn in his flesh was Paul (remember, Job got healed).  Paul was only perhaps the greatest apostle ever.  Everyone else you read about in the Bible who prayed for healing ended up getting healed.  EVERYONE (please correct me if I’m wrong).  Sure, for some their healing took longer to come, but in the end it always came!  James 5:14 tells us to pray with confidence that as we pray the person will be healed.  There is no “maybe” in the verse. 

If a parent were to not give their child medical treatment on the basis of “teaching them a lesson” through their sickness/pain, they would be accused of child abuse.  While God works all things for our good, it doesn’t mean He is behind every single thing.  God isn’t behind rape or abuse or other atrocities.  Any victim of a horrible injustice would never say, “It was for my good.”  No.  God is a redeemer.  He redeems such things and is able to turn them for our good.  He takes sinful beings and makes them whole and clean.  We don’t rejoice in the sin or darkness, rather we rejoice in His grace and His light. 

In John 10:10 Jesus clearly states, “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”  For anyone who asked, Jesus healed them.  Scripture repeatedly says Jesus “healed all who came to Him.”  Never once did Jesus say, “No, your sickness is for your own good.  I will not heal you.”  Never!  We also have to understand that all authority has been given to Jesus (Matthew 28:18) and that includes authority over sickness.  So Jesus wants us to have life to the full.  And He has the authority to provide it.  We just need to ask. 

No matter the sickness or condition, God is able to heal.  Deaf, blind, cripple, even amputee… God has been releasing amazing miracles of healing all around the world for a long time now.  We need to continue to worship Him and claim our healing and the healing of others.

God bless!

Seoul Land Amusement Park!

Last Sunday my children’s home had its annual trip to Seoul Land amusement park.  The park doesn’t have that much to offer, but it at least has two roller coasters with one of them being pretty decent.  My objective every year is to get at least one kid who has never ridden roller coasters to ride with me.  This year I only got one (Ye Rang), but its all good.  Enjoy the pics, I’ll have some more next week as well.  =)

With the boys I spent most of the day with… Dal Woo, Ye Rang, and Dong Yoon

We soon joined Ajoomah (the home’s cleaning lady), Mi Yun, Chae Yun, and Soo Yun (in front)

Group shot

Do Kyoon and Min Je also about to ride

Riding next to Chae Yun with Young Oong in the back

Soo Yun in a rope tunnel… at one point there was a huge rope ramp that a bunch of the kids were struggling climbing up because their small feet kept going through.  I just ran up the ramp because my big feet couldn’t fit through the openings.  I should have taken a picture or a video.^^

Chae Yun in the ball pit

Dal Woo and Ye Rang on a robot zebra

About to go see a “4-D” mini movie

In front of the funky mirrors with Ye Rang

Soo Yun

My favorite pic of the day… Dal Woo…

The last ride… one of those things that spins you around at a ridiculously rate, stops, and then spins you backwards at that same ridiculous rate.  It’s great if you are trying to get a headache, stomachache, or both.  The kids of course loved it and we rode it again.

My friend Semy also joined us but stayed mostly with some of the girls during the day.  As we were leaving together she saw a cotton candy vendor and had to buy some.  I think Semy mysteriously stopped aging around 14.^^

God bless

The Center of Everything…

Today I was reading through the last chapter of the Bible and found myself meditating on these two verses, “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month.  The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:1-2, ESV).

In the center of heaven is the river of life, known as the Holy Spirit.  John 7:38-39a says, “‘Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’  Now this he said about the Spirit.”

I believe as we get our identity set in who we are in God and receive the full revelation of the Cross (1Corinthians 2:2), God is going to release His glory through us and through the church (the family of believers).  No longer will sin or failure or selfish desire be our focus, but rather there will be grace, freedom, and pure love and healing flowing through us.  As we set Him as our center, there is nothing that can shake us.

Just yesterday I had to “have a talk” with one of the young teenage girls that I teach English to at the children’s home.  She has been rebelling and simply tough to talk to over the past few months and I have gotten pretty discouraged a number of times after trying to both discipline her but also be sensitive to her condition.  God has been making me stronger though.  I continue to speak the truth of God’s Word over myself and declare my joy, my strength, my wisdom, and my love are all from Him and are working through me.  I also declare God’s love and truth over the children in prayer.  These kids are so fragile that they need a lot of sensitivity, but at the same time they also need firm discipline.  I sat down with her and spoke clearly with her in Korean and God really guided my words… words of love, discipline, and guidance to her.  Her initial response was just head nods and a mumblings of “Yes” before leaving.  But I still felt strong and joyful.  Later in the evening she was normal with me in talking and smiling and I could tell the walls against me that had been put up around her had been broken down.  I know only God can do that.  His love is powerful!

My prayer is that the Holy Spirit become more and more welcome and honored within the church that His presence become the center.  The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives within us (Romans 8:11), but so rarely is that revelation meditated upon.  I know as He becomes the center that healing is going to be released in every aspect of life and in every season we are living in.  If the center of heaven is the Spirit which leads to the throne of God, then I want the Spirit to be the center of my life as well, leading me to clear, intimate worship before the throne of God.

God bless!

Basketball and Miscellaneous =)

Last week some of the boys I teach basketball to played with some of my church friends.  We had a great time together and my boys really enjoyed it.  I forgot to take pictures until the very end of our playing time.  These pictures are of my boys Yo Han, Myung Mook, and me going against my friends Roy, John, and Justin.  Below the basketball pics are some goofy pics my kids took using my phone.  Enjoy!

Action shot

More action… Myung Mook and Yo Han are the two in the middle

Not sure what Myung Mook is doing here…

Nice action shot… Yo Han has learned how to box out well

I missed the memo about wearing a white shirt… as if I needed another way to stand out…

My boys and I would end up winning…

And then a cute puppy came out to us by the court… very random

John may have lost the game, but he still got to hold a cute puppy…

This picture was taken during one of my basketball practices at the home… this is how my kids train at basketball… by doing hand stands…

Soo Jin studying hard

Dong Yoon and Yoo Min

After class we play games such as Rummikub… this picture demonstrates my ridiculous competitive nature… must… defeat… the children…

Da Heen playing with my coat

Goofy pictures with the sisters Eun Suh and Eun Ji

I love Eun Suh’s funny expression… not so much mine, but hey, a funny expression isn’t meant to be normal, right?

Blessings!

How Promotion Works…

Romans 8:28 (God works all things for our good) has been on my mind quite a bit lately, especially as I’ve had to claim this promise through different difficult circumstances.  Even through discouragement God is doing something.

The first place the Spirit led Jesus was into the desert to be tempted.  Jesus had to deal with the struggles of the desert before He was ready to go out in the power of the Lord.  As I’ve read books about great men and women of God and as I’ve studied most of the great men/women of the Bible it has become clear that God will allow suffering/temptation/struggles in order to make us stronger.  God isn’t trying to make us fall, instead He is teaching us how to rely on His Spirit and His grace rather than our own strength.  He is stretching our faith so that when we claim His promises like Romans 8:28 we claim them with confidence, even when we are struggling greatly. 

Towards the end of this video the former war lord/murderer/rapist/cannibal now turned evangelist cries out the message of Romans 8:28.  In his story, and the story of Liberia, it can be very hard to see.  Why didn’t God show up sooner?  Why does God allow such horrors?  Some things we can’t answer in this present life, but what we can do is claim God’s truth in prayer and reach out to help in the physical. 

The full video in best quality can be found here… http://www.vbs.tv/watch/the-vice-guide-to-travel/the-vice-guide-to-liberia

Children’s Day Eating…

May 5th marks a special holiday in Korea called “Children’s Day.”  I went to my home for lunch and we ate some nice meat together that a church volunteered to grill for the kids.  Later in the day I played basketball with some of my boys and some church friends.  I’ve saved those pictures for later.  For now, pictures from lunch that day… all of these were taken by young girls running around with my camera.  Enjoy!

Hae Ran

With Sun Ran (Da Heen with a goofy expression)

Da Heen

Hyun Bin

Junior high boys eating

With Myung Bae still eating his hot dog

With Min Ho

Jung Hyun

Sun Jae

God bless!!!

You’re Either In or You’re Out

This past Sunday at our church in a bar (New Philadephia Itaewon), praise leader Brian obeyed the Spirit’s leading to take some time amidst his worship set to just let us sing in our own words (spontaneously, also known as “spiritual songs” in Colossians 3:16) as he continued to strum his guitar.  It was a little quiet at first, but soon people begin to sing as the Spirit led them and a beautiful sound began to fill the bar.  God’s presence became thicker and thicker.  It was beautiful!  Brian soon continued on with the worship set, with the atmosphere of worship being set.  As I greeted newcomers after the worship time I could tell some of them were a bit uncertain what to think… it was perhaps a worship time they had never experienced before. 

Later in the service, after preaching on experiencing God’s love, power, and goodness, Pastor Marcus was led to invite a couple leaders up to give words of knowledge (words/visions/impressions) they felt God releasing for the church.  With each word given, we would ask members of the congregation to stand if the word related to them (one was specific about a broken relationship with their father and some details regarding that, another was about struggling to accept/receive the moves of God’s Spirit, and another was about pain in their wrist joints).  A number of people stood with some of them having every word given relate to them.  They were deeply ministered to and some of them were in tears.  God’s presence was thick and one member, without even prayer, was healed of her sinus infection.  Amidst this time, I noticed five or so people leave the church.  I think the worship was one thing, and then this time of ministry was too much for them.

When God’s presence shows up, people either run to Him or run away from Him.  There is no room for lukewarmness.  You’re either all in, or you’re all out.  Sadly a lot of times we minister in ways that never require God to show up.  We set an agenda… four songs, prayer, shake hands, sermon, announcements, etc… and don’t leave much room for the Spirit to step in.  And this has caused a lot of the church to become lukewarm.  Everyone is comfortable.  Everyone is happy.  But it’s when the presence of God shows up that the separation occurs.  Like this past Sunday, people are healed, delivered, and strengthened by God’s love and presence.  And others, well… like the Christians in the time of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5)… they get shook up and choose to leave.

We can’t regret those who have left but instead hope that their experience in His presence will come back to them and that they will eventually return.  Our purpose isn’t to make people feel comfortable, but for us to obey God’s Word and the leading of His Spirit.  And the reward of His presence and His touch is like nothing else the world could offer.  Seek His presence and run to Him!

Playing Outside with the Kids

We got a stellar new playground installed at the home just recently and the kids love it.  In a future update I’ll try and include a picture of all of it.  The kids love it when I chase them throughout it and try and catch them.  It never grows old for them.  =)  Here are a few pics from a recent play time… I gave my camera to some of the girls so they could take pictures…

Eun Ho hiding on the third level of the playground

Seung Hwan, who while trying to evade me scraped his left arm a bit, but he is a trooper

Kang hanging on

Jung Ho

Soo Yun posing

Soo Yun and Hyun Bin

One more

About to catch her

Eun Ji, Mi Yun, and Chae Yun… our three 8th graders

Blessings!