The Goodnews - April, 2013

To Change into the Ground Which is in God’s Heart Sermon of the Month2013 Bible Crusade in Manhattan, New York Special Focus The Most Hopeful Truth in the World Good News Corps Testimony

April 2013

Delivering the Gospel & Testimonies of GraceDelivering the Gospel & Testimonies of GraceDelivering the Gospel & Testimonies of GraceDelivering the Gospel & Testimonies of Grace

Message of the Month

2 • The Good News April 2013

In Genesis 1, God said,“Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself.”When the land heard this, how difficult it must have felt? How burdensome it must have felt? “God, I cannot find any sweetness inside of me. Then how can I produce apples? How can I produce red roses? How can I bring forth the fruit trees, f lowers, and make them yield fruit?” If the earth could talk, without a doubt, it would have said that it was impossible to produce any of that. However, once the word of God touched the ground, it started to produce yellow mums and red roses.When the word of God enters our hearts, hope and joy arise from us even when we have no condition for them to arise. Not our efforts but the word of God defeats the desire of our f lesh and arouses our hearts to preach the gospel. The Word is the revelation of the will of God which is in His heart, and

it contains the power to accomplish His will.

Therefore, if the Word works in our hearts, we are not poor even when we have nothing. We are not lacking even when we are weak. We are not dirty even when we are wicked.

The Earth Produced Yellow Mums and Red Roses

4 Photo & news 6 salvation testimony

God Saw the Wickedness of Man was Great in the Earth 10 sermon of the Month

To Change into the Ground Which is in God’s Heart 16 ruth’s story Just as the Starlight is Highlighted in Utter Darkness 23 Meditation and Contemplation A Downhill Road 24 discussion topic Conscience: The Illusion of Good and Evil 34 Field of Boaz Purchasing the Moabite Woman, Ruth, to be My Wife 38 Life of saints O Woman, Great is Thy Faith! 42 spiritual tale The Blessings of Faith 44 testimony Mankind is Powerless 50 good news Corps testimony The Most Hopeful Truth in the World 52 a grain of Mustard seed A Brother with Cancer and Jesus 58 special Focus 2013 Bible Crusade in Manhattan, New York

The Good News (Vol.202) is published monthly by Good News Publications, Inc., 3500 W. 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90004 E-mail: [email protected] Chairman, Chief Executive Of� cer: Ock Soo Park Editor-in-Chief: John Park Art Director: Zinna Park Chief Printer/ Press: DLAP Printing, Co. Printed on April 11, 2013. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the written permission of Good News Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2013 by Good News Publications, Inc.

Contents

Delivering the Gospel & Testimonies of GraceDelivering the Gospel & Testimonies of GraceDelivering the Gospel & Testimonies of GraceDelivering the Gospel & Testimonies of GraceDelivering the Gospel & Testimonies of GraceDelivering the Gospel & Testimonies of GraceDelivering the Gospel & Testimonies of GraceDelivering the Gospel & Testimonies of GraceDelivering the Gospel & Testimonies of Grace

April 2013

Photo & News _ United States


Photo & News

5News •

The Christmas Cantata was held at the Mason Hall of the Baruch College, the City University of New York, on the third day of the Bible Crusade. The heart of the audience was so greatly moved that they gave a standing ovation at the end of the performance. It was the greatest gift in 2013 for the citizens of New York who had been spiritually thirsty.


God Saw the Wickedness of Man Was Great in the Earth

Grace Yang (Good News LA Central Church) Testimony

L ast March, I came back to America after living in Beijing for the last 8 years. My

friend in Beijing convinced me to come over to Los Angeles to help him make it in enter-tainment as a DJ. Being direc-tionless for most of my life, I agreed. I thought it was a good excuse to travel the world and party, which had been my dream.

After I arrived in Los Angeles, my friend convinced me that

it would be a good idea to put a $2,900/mo year lease for a huge loft in downtown LA under my social security num-ber, among other things like our 2-year cell phone contracts, internet, utility, gas, and DJ entertainment and software.

Although I lived in the penthouse, and the young people around me envied the life I lived (artists would come over to paint on the walls dur-ing monthly LA Artwalk and we would throw crazy parties

Grace(far right) pictured with her mother Lucy(left) and brother Humphrey (middle)

7

God Saw the Wickedness of Man Was Great in the Earth

that would get shut down by LAPD), I started to feel more dark and depressed.

With no income in sight and only expenses (I had refused to get a real job because in China I always worked in media and always set my own hours), I started to wander around LA.

Sometimes I would go to the beach to cheer myself up. One day I was in the metro deciding to take the train to Long Beach. After I got on the train, I thought it was the

wrong one so I got off. After I got off, I realized that it was the right one so I waited there. As I waited for the next train I saw this guy who I knew from the gym, named Brooks. We started talking and he said that he recommended I go listen to Pastor Eddie Pennoyer’s sermon in downtown Los Angeles, that it was “an interest-ing interpretation of the Bible,” and I decided in my heart to go the next Sunday.

In the beginning, I kept

Salvation Testimony

Testimony •

One day when I was feeling troubled and could not sleep, I tried on the thought that okay let’s just say that 2,000 years ago God really did send His son, named Jesus, to the earth to die for everyone’s sins. And as soon as I tried on that thought, great peace entered me, and I was able to sleep.

Grace(far right) pictured with her mother Lucy(left) and brother Humphrey (middle)


may kill them. I went to a fortune teller

and she offered to get rid of the bad feeling I had for $15,000. Because I didn’t have this money, I continued to go to church because it was free. During a retreat, again I challenged Pastor Eddie that man wrote the Bible. Then he showed me Genesis 6:5, “God saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent of his thoughts was only evil continually.”

Then it “hit” me, at that mo-ment I realized that man could not have written this verse in a million years.

Of all the different things I did in my life to find out the truth, from extreme sports, drugs, careers, and religions, never once have I ever fath-omed that man’s thoughts could be 100% evil 100% of the time. Plus the fact that I couldn’t believe this verse in my heart meant that I could be, in fact, evil, just as the Bible stated.

After having it been proven to me that this word was true, I was open to learning more

coming to the church because it was sort of fun for me to make church people angry with what I would say. I re-member once I made one of the elders face red with anger when I said that man wrote the Bible and that all religions are the same, only they have dif-ferent faces: Buddah for Asian people, Allah for middle east-ern people, and Jesus for white people.

As I became darker, my heart felt more and more rest-less. I couldn’t sleep at night until after about 4am, and when I went for a walk at night time, the shadows started to look like different kinds of monsters and demons.

Although I smoked weed every day to keep myself feeling somewhat hopeful, one day the reverse started to happen. I started to feel creepy, as if I was a serial killer in broad daylight. The feeling of wanting to kill my mom, what I had felt when I was in China, came on to me in full effect when I was high. Instead of feeling good, I felt a sudden terror and fear for all the people around me, that I

9

about what other things in the Bible were true. Especially about the part Jesus taking away our sins and that we don’t have sin anymore.

One day when I was feeling troubled and could not sleep, I tried on the thought that Okay let’s just say that 2,000 years ago God really did send His son, named Jesus, to the earth to die for everyone’s sins. And as soon as I tried on that thought, great peace entered me and I was able to sleep.

Since the time I accepted that Jesus took away my sin and that I didn’t have any more sin, my life has changed dramatically.

Although I used to want to drink and find a reason to go out and “have fun” Wednesday through Sunday, after I drank I felt “down” instead of happy. This was because my sober self was actually more joyous and the alcohol was giving my spir-it a “downer.” I tried to smoke cigarettes and it didn’t give me that satisfaction it once did.

Although I still fall into my thoughts once in a while, like not wanting to get up, when I believe in the word, such as the one, “Rise take up thy bed and walk,” my life has com-pletely changed to be bright and hopeful.

Salvation Testimony

Testimony •

Grace volunteered as a Mexico English Camp teacher. IYF gave her happiness after salvation.


Change that groundWhen God saw the world, it was “without form and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.” For hundred of thousands of years, although the world was in chaos and

darkness, nobody could save it. However, one day as God was hovering over the face of the water, He saw the ground; and in order to save the world from darkness, he command-ed for there to be light. To

To Change into the Ground Which is in God’s Heart

After God sent the word, the ground which was without form, empty, and dark has become different. Likewise, God has sent the gospel into our hearts. If the word comes into our hearts, we will change, just as the ground changes, and become the person that God had wanted us to be. However, Satan implants a thought of distrust towards God. Once accustomed to these thoughts, even when God’s words try to come into us, we be-gin to think, “that isn’t right,” and reject it. So God cannot work inside of us.

An Excerpt from One of Pastor Ock Soo Park’s Sunday Services

11

this ground that was sunken under water, he commanded it to divide above and under the fi rmament to separate dry land from the water. Th e ground that was previously under the water now surfaced, and it was free from darkness and water; but the land was still void and empty.

Likewise, God has begun to create the land in our hearts. God has made the beautiful paradise fi lled with love, where birds sing, fl owers bloom, and deers roam, in our hearts, from the ground which was in darkness and in void.

Th ere are two types of land. One is the ground which is in God’s heart. It is a good and beautiful ground. However

the other ground is a land that you can see with your eyes, which is under darkness, void, and confusion. God loves the ground which is in his heart more than the ground which you can see. So he wants to change the ground that is under darkness, void, and without form to that of God’s heart. So God has sent the word. “Hey, word. Go to the earth and change that ground to be like the ground in my heart!” Th en the word of God came out of His heart to the ground which was dark and void. As the word arrives into the barren land, the grasses grow, the fl owers bloom, and the trees grow to bear fruits. God’s word has accomplished

Sermon of the Month

Sermon •


Although there was nothing, because God was there, He accomplished everything. He changed the world that was void, without form, and dark to a beautiful ground.

After Satan gives us a dis-trustful heart, we become attached to it. When God was talking in Genesis, does He just talk to the ground? No, not so. This story is about us, the human beings. When God saw us when we were first born, what was our im-age? Humans started out from sin. Our hearts were void and dark. However, God sent His Word. Now if the Word comes into our hearts, we will change into someone who God wants us to be. Just as the land changes, we too will change into someone who God wants us to become. But Satan who saw this from afar, thought “Look at that. When the word of God entered the land, it changed. Likewise if the word of God enters humans they will inevitably change. So before this hap-pens, we have to implant dis-

all this, and the ground has changed into a very beautiful land.

though there is nothing, god is thereWhen God created the world, the land was void. Genesis 2:4 says “This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.” What was the history of the creation of the heaven and earth? There was nothing on the land. No rain fell, no man existed to till the land, no vegetation grew. There was only the mist that went up from the earth.

When the word of god entered the land, it changed. Likewise if the word of god enters, humans they will inevitably change.

13Sermon •

Sermon of the Month

trustful thoughts.” So, Satan puts these distrustful thoughts into our hearts, and after we become accustomed to them, even when the Word comes to us, we think “This is not it” and we reject His words. Therefore, God can no longer work in our hearts.

My Word has no PLaCe in youJesus said, “but you seek to kill because my word has no place in you.” (John 8:37) Because of this, regardless of what kind of thoughts I may have carried so far, whether the Word fits into my thoughts or not, God transforms the

people into the people who can take in the Word. When we receive the word of God into our hearts, we change into someone who God wants us to be. Conversely, if we believe in our thoughts and don’t trust or accept the word of God, we become rebel-lious against God. During the time of Noah’s flood, people were killed not because they committed murder, adultery, or theft; they rejected God’s words and followed their own thoughts. In contrast, those who received salvation during the flood were not saved be-cause they were good or sin-cere; it was because they

accepted the word of God.

For the PeoPLe Who Love and BeLieve in god sinCereLyEven now, God has many plans for us. We are God’s righteous servants in His heart. But Satan works in order for us to reject the word of God. This is why God tells us, Isaiah 55:6,7.

Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. With my thoughts, we

cannot accept God’s words.

The man paralyzed for 38 years could never walk with his own thoughts. The ser-vants in the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee could never have drawn the water when they needed wine if they held on to their own thoughts. Abraham could never have a son with his own thoughts. Truly, those who believe and love God will believe God more than their thoughts. The true man of God is the one who trusts and believes in His word and is not bound to his own thoughts. At that moment, we can change. Not through our efforts, but through the word of God, we can change into beautiful saints; we will change into strong children of God.


Pastor Ock Soo Park

Senior Pastor of Good News Gangnam Church, KoreaChief Advisor of International Youth Fellowship (IYF)www.ocksoopark.com

A collection of sermons

by Pastor Ock Soo Park.

Forgiveness,

which is the greatest

gift that God has given us,

is now revealed.

THE SECRET OF FORGIVENESS OF SIN AND BEING

BORN AGAIN

••CONTENTS••

1. The Four Lepers

2. Jacob and Esau

3. Woman Caught in Adultery

4. The Man With an In�rmity for 38 Years

5. The Chief Butler and the Chief Baker

6. Eternal Redemption

7. Man Hit by Robbers

8. The Power of Samson

9. Cain and Abel

www.goodnewsmission.net Tel: 213-440-4369

15

A collection of sermons

by Pastor Ock Soo Park.

Forgiveness,

which is the greatest

gift that God has given us,

is now revealed.

THE SECRET OF FORGIVENESS OF SIN AND BEING

BORN AGAIN

••CONTENTS••

1. The Four Lepers

2. Jacob and Esau

3. Woman Caught in Adultery

4. The Man With an In�rmity for 38 Years

5. The Chief Butler and the Chief Baker

6. Eternal Redemption

7. Man Hit by Robbers

8. The Power of Samson

9. Cain and Abel

www.goodnewsmission.net Tel: 213-440-4369


Just as the Starlight is Highlighted in Utter Darkness

When aLL huMan hoPe dies, one Can hear the god’s voiCePeople, for the most part, want to live better lives. Thus, they continually move toward the places that seem good to them. But, according to the Bible, what “seems” good to us is actu-ally not good. In the Book of Ruth, Elimelech saw Moab as good:

And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehemjudah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there. (Ruth 1:2)

Elimelech remained in the place he believed good things were in store for him.

the PLaCe i Choose is a PLaCe oF ruinAs the Bible shows us again and again, the places we choose lead to pain and suffering. The best place for us is where God puts us. Although the place He puts us may seem burdensome at the time, when we are led by God to overcome those burdens we find true peace.

In Genesis, we see the place Jacob chooses to dwell in leads to pain and suffer-ing. On his way back from Padan Aram to Canaan, Jacob chose to dwell in

Ruth‘s Story #2

17

Succoth. And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth. (Genesis 33:17)However, when Jacob

allowed his daughter Dinah to go out to meet the other daughters of the land, Shechem, the prince of the country, took her to his tent and violated her. When Shechem asked to take Dinah as his wife (be-cause he loved her), Jacob consented with the condi-tion that Shechem and all the men be circumcised. After Shechem agreed, on the third day, when they were in pain, Dinah’s two brothers Simeon and Levi came and killed all the males because they were enraged that Shechem vio-lated Dinah. Jacob fell into great fear because of his sons. Although Succoth was the place that Jacob chose because he liked it and thought it would bring

him happiness, it actually brought him more pain and fear.

When there was strife between the herdsman of Abraham and Lot, because the land could not support them anymore, Lot depart-ed from Abraham and chose the land that was well wa-tered in Jordan. Abraham, on the other hand, moved his tent and dwelt in Hebron by the terebinth trees that God showed him. Although it seemed foolish for shepherds to lead their sheep to the forest, it was here that Abraham learned to seek God. In the forest, Abraham could not feed his sheep unless he sought God. When Abraham called out to God, he met God and gained faith and great strength.

Through the Bible, we can see that the place where we choose to stay is ruin but the place where God places us is where we can find true peace. However, many people continue to

Ruth’s Story •

Sermon


follow after what they think is good. When Eve was deceived by the serpent, she saw that the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil looked pleasant to the eyes. Just as Satan deceived Eve, today he continues to drag people to what seems good to their eyes and leads them to ruin.

a Land oF death and a Land oF LiFeJust as the book of Ruth starts with death and ends in life, there are also two lands that Naomi and Ruth dwelt in. The first land was Moab and the second was Bethlehem in the land of

Israel. In Moab there was only death, Elimelech and his two sons both died:

And Elimelech Naomi’s husband died...and they dwelled there about ten years. And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them...(Ruth 1:3-5)God carefully planned

the process for change in the Book of Ruth. As soon as Ruth left her dwelling place of Moab, God started to work with power. While in Moab there was only death, in Bethlehem there was life:

Now these are the gen-erations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron, And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab…And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David. (Ruth 4:18-22)If humans dwell in their

own thoughts, the result is death. On the other hand, if humans dwell within God, there is life and peace. The Bible says, “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is

Just as satan deceived eve, today he contin-ues to drag people to what seems good to their eyes and leads them to ruin.

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taught Ruth about God. When the pain of her whole family dying made her real-ize that Moab was the land of death, she started to serve God the source of life.

Similarly, Adam did not realize how precious life was until after God cursed him with death. In Genesis 3, God clearly told Adam before he ate of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, “In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” The moment that Adam ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam instantly died to God.

However, because Adam had no idea that death had come to him, God gave Adam the curse:

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.(Genesis 3:19)Through the word, “for

life and peace.” (Romans 8:6)

For dust you are and to dust you shaLL returnRuth first came to know God when she married into the family of Elimelech. She saw how Elimelech and Naomi called upon God. As Ruth dealt with both the death of her father-in-law and her husband, Ruth had to think about all the things that were happening in her household. Ruth realized that the reason her father-in-law, brother-in-law and her husband died was be-cause they dwelt in Moab after leaving the promised land. Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law, confessed it was God who was interfering with her as she stayed in Moab. Later when Naomi returned to Bethlehem, she said, “Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.” (Ruth 1:20)

The confession of Ruth’s mother-in-law accurately

Sermon

Ruth’s Story •


dust you are and to dust you shall return,” God showed Adam the end. After God gave him this curse, Adam knew that he was inside death. After Adam knew he was inside death, he named his wife “Eve,” meaning “life”“And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.”(Genesis 3:20) By showing man death, God teaches man to seek Him for life.

When i CruMBLe doWn, i Can reLy on the WordWhen her husband and her

sons died in Moab, Naomi’s hope of Moab also died. When all her hope in Moab ended, something amazing happened: the news that God had visited his people in Israel by giving them bread entered her ears:

Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the coun-try of Moab how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread. (Ruth 1:6)Similarly, many people

listen to God’s words. However, because they have hope in themselves, or have their own way, those words never enter into their hearts. Because my own way is still alive. I am still my own master. So the words of God cannot become my master.

According to God, there are only two types of people: those who listen to the words, and those who rely only on the words. To

after Peter trusted the words of Jesus, he caught a lot of fish. he was finally able to see how he relied on his own efforts without the Word until now.

21

illustrate this point, take for example when Jesus preached the Word to Peter at the Sea of Galilee in Luke 5. Although Peter was a fisherman, he had not caught any fish all night. Although it is difficult for experienced fisherman to obey somebody else’s advice about fishing, Peter’s heart crumbled down and was able to accept the words of Jesus.

When Jesus told Peter to “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught,” Peter accepted it because of his failure. Peter answered Jesus, “we

have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: never-theless at thy word I will let down the net.” After Peter trusted the words of Jesus, he caught a lot of fish. Peter was finally able to see how up until that time, he relied on his own efforts without the Word. Peter confessed, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” From then on, Peter entrusted his life into the hands of Jesus and God used him power-fully.

The fisherman who caught no fish represents people who failed in life. However, failure does not

Sermon •

Sermon


Pastor Sung-hoon KimSenior Pastor of Good News Hanbat Church, S.Korea

mean misfortune for it was through failure that Jesus was able to enter Peter’s boat. Just as the starlight is highlighted in utter dark-ness, our failure becomes the perfect condition to meet God. Thus, faith means to rely only on the word of God. If I rely on a cane to walk, this means that I cannot walk on my own strength. Only when I real-ize that I cannot walk on my own strength will I seek the cane.

the tiMe When one Can hear god’s voiCeThe voice of God can only be heard by those who are dead. It is when we realize

that we are dead in front of God that we can hear the voice of God:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. (John 5:25)When Naomi saw that

she would soon die in Moab, she was able to hear the news that God was working in Israel to give the people bread and life there. That news gave Naomi the strength to go back to Israel. Similarly, when hope in ourselves finally dies, then the words of Jesus can enter our ears and move us from the land of despair to the land of hope.

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A beginner mountain climber usually tries to get to the summit, or top, as soon as possible. However, a seasoned mountain climber knows the importance of saving his or her strength for climbing down the mountain safely.

Written by Doctor Yung-Man Yoo, the book “Th e Practice to Come Down” delineates the diff erence between a person who knows he should come down and a person who is eager to go up.

Although a person focused on getting to the top can get there, he must know that he can’t stay there. Getting to the top is only half the journey. But it may seem painful to have to come down, but if you prepared to come down, the journey will be peaceful and free.

A Downhill Road

Meditation and Contemplation


As a pastor, people often come to me seeking help in understanding the

Word or discerning what is the true and correct way of belief in God. There are also often times when I confront people about what they believe while having spiritual counseling with them. Our church has a reputation for engaging people who attend our services in one on one fellowship. Some people enjoy discussing their faith

and the challenges they face in living spiritual life. There are also those who are uncomfort-able with sharing for a variety of different reasons. Some feel as though they know about God and the Bible and do not need spiritual counseling, while others are intimidated because they think it’s shameful to reveal their lack of knowledge about the Word or past in-stances of indiscretion.

I recently had fellowship with a young man in his early

Conscience: The Illusion of Good and Evil Part 5: The Wide and Narrow Gate

Eddie PennoyerPastor, Good News Central Church in Los Angeles

25

churches and so many different religions. He said he wanted to find a church where he could feel comfortable instead of feel-ing empty.

I was very happy and im-pressed with his question. In my experience, it’s very rare to find a young person who is sincerely seeking God. In our increasingly technology driven lives, people are easily distract-ed by social media and digital entertainment. Have you been interrupted when talking with someone by email, facebook, twitter, or text messages? With all these modern distractions, it’s not often you meet a young person who is willing and in fact interested in reading the

twenties who came to the Bible Crusade with Pastor Ock Soo Park in Los Angeles. He was listening very closely to the Word and seemed to be sin-cerely seeking for God. One of our church members intro-duced him to me and asked if I could have fellowship with him. I was unable at the time because I already promised to have fellowship with someone else. He also attended the post conference at our church after the Bible Crusade. I was the speaker, and when I finished preaching I approached him to see if he would still like to have fellowship. I asked him why he seemed so interested in the Word because I don’t meet many young people like him who are seeking for God. He told me that he was raised in the Catholic Church and was unsatisfied with his spiritual life. He wasn’t sure why but he often felt empty in his heart and so he was attending the Bible Crusade to see if there was something else. He asked how to know the truth when there are so many different

Discussion Topic •

Essay


Bible and knowing God. So to help him fi nd the answer to his question, I wanted to lead him to think about God’s heart. Th ere are many reasons why people go to church. Some go because they were led there by their parents. Th eir attendance is often just a matter of habit. Th ey go to church because that’s what they do on Sunday.

Th ese days many people reject church because they feel it’s a waste of time. Going to church because it’s Sunday is not reason enough for them. Others go to church because they seek a social gathering with people with like values and morals. It’s a place to meet “good” people that share simi-lar interests. Young men and

women who are looking for a prospective spouse often seek them at churches. Th ere are also those who are suff ering from trials in their lives and want to fi nd peace and comfort in faith in God.

Th ese are all various reasons that people attend church, some more legitimate than others. However, I challenged the young man to think about why God wants us to attend church. He couldn’t readily fi nd an answer so I gave some examples of the purpose that leads people to seek help in other places. If my car is broken, I would take it to a mechanic with an expec-tation that he would fi gure out what was broken and explain how much time and money it would take to fi x it. However, if the mechanic told me that he thought it might be broken but couldn’t tell me what was wrong or what it would take to fi x it, I’d be very wary of leaving my car with him. If for some reason I let him try to fi x it and I brought my car back home only to fi nd it was still broken, I would be so upset

27

that I’d probably go back and demand a refund. Furthermore, I would never go back to get my car fixed there and would let everyone I know to stay away from that “mechanic.” When my car is broken I seek a me-chanic, and I have an expecta-tion that the problem can be resolved by him. So what is the problem that leads me to seek a resolution inside the church?

The young man said he came to church to fill the emptiness in his heart. That’s the

problem from his point of view. So what’s the problem from God’s point of view? There is an account of a paralytic man who had four friends that brought him to meet Jesus in Mark 2. When they came to the house where Jesus was, they found that it was so crowded inside that they couldn’t go in. So they decided to go up to the roof and open it up so they could drop their friend down in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw the para-lytic man he said, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” It might not

seem strange at first, but if we were the friends who brought the paralytic man, what would we think? The friends brought him so that he could be healed by Jesus so when He said his sins were forgiven, we could imagine that the friends might have felt like Jesus didn’t fulfill their expectation. But what did Jesus think when he first met the paralytic? We can’t say for sure but the fact that He told the man that his sins were forgiven can lead us to believe that He didn’t think him being paralyzed was as big of a problem as his sin.

Ultimately, what was Jesus’ great purpose in coming to the world? It was to save man from sin. If Jesus had healed the man and not saved him from his sin, certainly the man might have been happy in the short run, but when he died later on, he would have been so disappointed that he met Jesus face to face but was not saved by him. There is the reason why the man wanted to meet Jesus but then there is also the reason why Jesus wanted to meet the man. Which is more


Essay

important? Likewise, there is the reason why we go to church but then there is the reason why God wants us to go to church. In both cases, the reason is the same; God wants to save us from sin.

This is the single great-est and most urgent purpose that God has for us. If we die in sin,

we can’t go to heaven. Another way of saying it is that we will go to hell if we are not saved. And this is where people begin to turn away from the gospel. Many find it difficult to accept that a loving God would allow people to go to such a place for no other reason than that they were sinners like

everyone else. There are those who refuse to believe in God, let alone Jesus, because they feel it is unjust that “good” people can go to hell for not believing. There are also those, however, who were raised to believe in Jesus and claim faith in Him but are still not free from sin. Whether they know it or not, they carry the same bias in that they believe that because they are good, God will overlook their sin. So unbeliev-ers and “believers” both share an inherent flaw in their beliefs. That flaw is the notion that there is “good” in man. This false faith leads unbelievers to deny the existence of God and “believers” to deny the blood of Jesus Christ.

A clear symptom of this un-belief is the lack of expectation that people have towards Jesus taking away their sin. They just take for granted that they are sinners and that they always will be regardless of what Jesus did for them. When I gave the example of taking your car to the me-chanic, I explained that we have an expectation that the mechanic would be able to find out what was wrong with the car and tell


so unbelievers and “believers” both share an inherent flaw in their beliefs. that flaw is the notion that there is “good” in man.

ing it back home again broken and being satisfi ed by it. I expect that my car will be fi xed when I bring it home. If the problem of my sin is fi xed inside the church, why do I return home as a sinner?

Th ere are countless numbers of people who attended church for decades and have never found resolution to the problem of their sin. What’s worse, they didn’t think there was anything wrong with that. Th ey went to church as sinners and returned home as sin-ners. At some point, we should be able to go to church as sinners and return home as righteous, otherwise there is no good reason to go. Would you take your car to a mechanic if you knew he

us how much time and money it would take to fi x it. If he said he thought the car was broken but wasn’t sure, we’d be at a loss. It’s obvious that it’s broken otherwise we’d never come to him. If he attempted to fi x it and we found later that it was still broken, we’d be furious.

We seek resolution to the problem of our car being broken by going to a mechanic. If he doesn’t know what’s wrong or doesn’t know how to fi x it, we would be unsatisfi ed to say the least. It is a reasonable expecta-tion to believe that if we bring a broken car to a mechanic that not only will he be able to diagnose the problem but also be able to fi x it. How does this correlate to spiritual life? We have a problem that needs to be resolved; it is the problem of sin. Where can we go to seek resolution for this prob-lem? We can go to the church, of course. But what’s strange is that people go to church without any such expectation. Th ey are satis-fi ed to fi nd themselves in sin and remain that way. Th at would be the same as taking a broken car to the mechanic and then bring-

29

Essay


wouldn’t be able to fix it?So I asked the young man

if he had sin. He said matter of factly that of course he had sin. So I asked him why he had sin and he said it was because he committed sin and would most definitely commit sin again. So I asked him if he thought he could go to heaven and he said yes. I asked him why he thought he could go to heaven even though he had sin and he said it was because he was a good person. And so this is the false faith that has led this young man to deny the blood of Jesus Christ. Even though Jesus died to take away his sin and save him from Hell, he thinks that he can go to heaven by his own merit. I asked

him if he believed in Jesus and he said of course he did but when I tried to show him the contradic-tion between his thought and the Word, he became upset and closed his heart. Even though he thought he believed in Jesus, it is clear that his false faith in himself blocked him from having true faith in Jesus. Even though Jesus wants to meet this young man to save him from sin, He doesn’t think that it’s very important to be saved because he believes in his “goodness.” If he is able to see himself from God’s point of view, he will be able to meet Jesus for the same reason that Jesus wants to meet him. In other words, if he becomes a real sinner, not a “good” sinner as he imagines himself to be, he will come to know who Jesus really is. Even though he knows that Jesus is his savior intellectually, Jesus has not yet become his savior in his heart.

Because this young man is satisfied that he is good enough to go to heaven, he is also unable to realize the true purpose of go-ing to church. The true purpose of going to church is to gain the faith of Jesus Christ. The faith of


if he becomes a real sinner, not a “good” sinner as he imagines himself to be, he will come to know who Jesus really is.

Jesus Christ is what saves us and makes us righteous before God. Romans 3:22 says,

Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference. Apostle Paul is saying that

righteousness comes by faith in Jesus Christ; more precisely, the faith that he has taken away all of our sin. Even though we may see that we have sin, the Bible is telling us that God has taken away our sin by the offer-ing of his son Jesus Christ. But rather than believing that Jesus took away our sin by faith in the word, we try to be righteous of ourselves by trying not to sin. This is not God’s righteousness by faith in what Jesus did but rather our own righteousness by faith in what we do. Because we believe we are good, we believe we can stand in front of God by our good deeds. Thus we despise the blood of Jesus by believing in our own goodness. Philippians 3:9 says,

And be found in him, not hav-ing mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that

which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.Paul is saying faith in our self

righteousness derived from keep-ing the law keeps us from being in Christ and His righteousness. So then we are not sinners be-cause we commit sin, but because we aren’t able to believe that Jesus made us righteous by His sacri-fice for us. We are sinners not by deed but rather by unbelief.

In Matthew 7:13-23, Jesus concludes his famous “Sermon on the Mount” with a warning to the audience about how to discern between the true and false path. He tells them about the wide and narrow way. The wide way is the path that many follow but it leads to destruc-tion. The narrow way is the path

31Discussion Topic •

Essay

to life but there are few who go that way. Why do so many fol-low the wide path to destruction? Certainly if people knew that it lead to destruction, they wouldn’t go that way. Proverbs 16:25 says, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is the way of death.” The reason many people go in at the wide gate is that it seems like the right way. What is the wide gate in literal terms? The wide gate rep-resents the world’s religions. The world’s religions are as varied and numerous as man’s thoughts because they are the products of his imagination. But there is one thing that they all have in common. Because they are from man they are humanistic. They

reflect what man thinks is true about himself. What does man think about himself? Humans believe in the inherent “goodness” of humanity. Because of this belief, man’s religions are moral-istic and call upon man to strive to be “good” so that God who is also good will accept us. If we are more bad than good however, God will reject us. Whether we are Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, or of any other religion, we are taught from an early age to be good and to do right. However, this premise does not acknowledge the need for faith in a savior. If we can indeed be good and do what is right, there is no need to be saved and Jesus becomes superfluous and vain. This is why so many “Christians” live in contradiction to faith in the word of God.

As we have seen in previous install-ments of this series on conscience, there

is a difference between what man sees and what God sees. Living by believing in what man sees is following our


if we can indeed be good and do what is right, there is no need to be saved and Jesus becomessuperfluous and vain.

conscience. Living by believ-ing in what God sees is faith. Because we see that we are good, we can’t live by faith in God who sees that we are evil. But we are not evil in the sense of what we know evil to be. We think evil is doing “wrong” things but God sees that anything that is not from Him is evil. Jesus said, “There is only one good, that is God.” Romans 14:23 states, “…any-thing that is not of faith is sin.” God sees that we are evil be-cause we believe in things that are not from Him. Those that went through the wide gate didn’t go by faith in God but by faith in what they thought was right and that’s why they met destruction and death. If something seems right to me, do I need faith to go that way? No. However, if something doesn’t seem right to me, how can I go that way? Everybody goes the way that seems right to them because they believe in their judgment of good and evil aka their conscience. This is the wide gate.

Those that go through

the narrow gate don’t go because they think it’s right. In fact, their judgment tells them it’s not right, but they follow by faith because they can’t trust in what they think. They know there is a way that seems right to them but that the end is the way of death so they deny their thoughts and follow the way that God leads them by faith in Jesus. Does it feel right to say I am righ-teous? My conscience says no but faith tells me yes. We need faith to be led by God, not an evil conscience based on humanistic beliefs.

Are you trying to be good and not commit sin? This is the wide gate; it is the way that seems right to a man but ends in death. Deny your thoughts and accept the word of God by faith. Faith is believing something unbeliev-able. We who are evil and commit sin daily are righteous by faith in Jesus Christ. Now that’s unbelievable! And that’s why we have to believe it.

33Discussion Topic •

Essay


Purchasing the Moabite Woman, Ruth, to be My Wife…

Ruth was the most unfortunate wom-an in the world. However, by sharing

her love with Boaz, all of her misfortune ended. The book of Ruth tells us how this unfortunate woman came out of her misery and curse by meeting the most blessed person. Through a short story in the Bible, God portrays in detail the process of escaping from the curse and receiving the amazing love of God.

On her own, Ruth could not escape the curse, poverty, or the pain that was given to her. The moment she entered into Boaz’s world and be-longed to him, all her misfor-

tune was removed from her. Ruth didn’t do anything to receive the blessing. The only condition Ruth had in receiv-ing the blessing was that she loved Boaz and that Boaz loved her. We, too, have been cursed like Ruth and are too weak to get out of our own situations if we are left alone. Nevertheless, when we re-ceive the love of Jesus, change occurs in us. It is written in Colossians 1,

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.

Sung-hoon KimPastor, Good News Hanbat Church, S.Korea

35

(Colossian 1:13-14) As soon as we received the forgiveness of our sins, we were transferred to the world of Jesus. From that time on, all the laws that applied to us were changed.

The larva, which belonged in the water, sheds its cocoon and becomes a dragonfly. Now, it belongs to the sky and cannot live in the water anymore. The confined life that it spent in the cocoon beneath the water’s surface has passed. From the moment the larva becomes a dragonfly and unfolds its wings, the mountains, bushes and other objects cannot be obstacles to it anymore. It is the same

with the person who belongs to Christ. From the moment we belong to Christ, things that seemed to be problems can no longer be problems to us. Before, we were bound to disease, making money and to difficult problems. Now we can overcome all the problems through Christ.

Many people, before re-ceiving salvation, were stuck in very difficult situations. After receiving salvation, they learn to f ly by faith and become free from the things they have been bound by. I am very thankful when I think about the true freedom that people who entered into Jesus Christ enjoy because of

Field of Boaz


Him.Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife…(Ruth 4:10)Boaz did not take Ruth

secretly. He purchased Ruth and took her as his wife. Through clear steps and pro-cedures, he took Ruth as a person who belonged to him. Originally, we were sold into sin, and we were under sin. However, by paying the debt for our sins, Christ cleared our sins and took us for Himself. He paid with His blood and bought us. “Being justified freely by his grace

through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:24)Here, “redemption” refers to the act of repurchasing the lost object by paying for it. Jesus clearly purchased us and allowed us to belong to him. “Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ.” (Romans 1:6)

Now, because our Lord is Jesus, He cannot help but to care about us more than we do. We were released from sin and from our old self and entered into Jesus’ world. Just as the riches of Boaz reached Ruth, we also received the riches of Jesus.

37

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son oF davidJesus told the Pharisees and the scribes, who knew that the Christ would come as Son of David, that they were blind. Even after seeing the miracles of the fi ve loaves and two fi sh, they did not believe Jesus to be the Christ who was to come. It was because the image of Jesus was so diff erent from that of the Christ, Son of David that they had imagined. Seeing the outer appearance of Jesus, who did not even have a set of clothes, a house to stay in, and who looked like a homeless man because he could not bathe properly, the Pharisees and the scribes could not believe the truth that Jesus was the Christ, the son of David, who would come as a king. Th e Pharisees and the

scribes were waiting for the Son of David who would glorify them in this world. Th ey were spiritually blind and could only see outer appearances.

Just as the Pharisees, who did not know the Christ at all but thought that they believed in God, we also live according to our circumstances but think many times that we live the life of faith well.

However, the person who responds to visible things is spiritually blind. In Matthew 15, there is a story about a woman of Canaan who had a demon-possessed daughter. Th is story contains a very signifi cant mean-ing which teaches us the bless-ings of spiritual life which the woman of Canaan gained by

O Woman, Great is Thy Faith!

Life of Saints

Hun Mok LeePastor, Good News Yang Cheon Church, S.Korea

39Sermon •

Sermon

overcoming neglect and disregard through seeing a totally different world. The woman of Canaan clearly recognized that Jesus is the Christ, Son of David, a fact that other people could not see. So she cried out, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou of David!”

not By the things WhiCh are seenJesus healed every sick person who came to Him, but it seems as though He ignored this woman of Canaan. The woman des-perately called Jesus but neither did he say a word nor would pay attention to her. Even His disciples urged Jesus to help her, but we could see that He refused to do so. However, the woman of Canaan was not disappointed at all and rather cried out to Him, being assured that Jesus came as the Son of David and that He would heal her daugh-ter. Still, Jesus seems to refuse her wish saying, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the Bible says, “I the LORD… and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;” (Isaiah 42:6)

Jesus is the One who came to the world to shine the light upon the gentiles. However, He speaks as though He didn’t come to shine the light on the woman of Canaan. There are some parts in the Bible where Jesus expressed the outward meanings and the inward meanings differently. This mysterious world is hidden to those who do not have faith. The words of Jesus may sound to other people as if He was refusing the woman of Canaan, but this woman had discovered the heart of Jesus that was different from the outward meaning, so, she was able to continue to come to Jesus.

Truly, Jesus came to the region of Tyre and Sidon to fulfill the word, “for a light of the Gentiles” to the woman of Canaan. The woman knew pre-cisely that Jesus came to heal her daughter so she was not discour-aged or saddened by the rejective sounding words of Jesus. Rather she cried out all the more. “Lord, help me!” The woman of Canaan cried out this way be-cause she knew exactly where her help was coming from.


“My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.” (Psalms 121:2)

We can tell how much faith this woman had in her plea. This woman was saying words to Jesus that no one in Israel had said.

you shaLL Leave the harvest oF your Land For the strangerTo the woman of Canaan who cries out, “Lord, have mercy on me!” Jesus says, “It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.”

Jesus refused the woman’s request more aggressively. The woman could have felt of-fended, have thought He was just too harsh, or have considered going back rather than being insulted in that way. However, being treated that way by Jesus was not a problem to her.

She cries out as if she was excited, “Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

God often spoke in the law saying,

And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make

clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 23:22)The woman of Canaan had

known that God had left those for the gentiles like her so she was asking the Lord for what was hers. It is not just a level of having her daughter healed with humility. The woman of Canaan, who knew the heart of Jesus and believed Him, did not give up or was discouraged by Jesus’s refusing words and despising attitude. She was not affected at all. What about us?

We do not know how much we are affected by those situa-tions. How tied up are we with being refused, despised, rebuked, chastised, or not being rec-ognized by other ministers or saints around us as we live our spiritual life? How many times do we look around, hide ourselves, or distrust others by closing our hearts?

Satan has always shown us

41Sermon •

Sermon

Zarephath. I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” However, when Elijah met the widow, she did not recognize him, and did not have a heart to provide for him, nor had food. Elijah, the prophet was not affected by the circum-stance either and believed the Word instead. Elijah put faith in this widow through the Word; so the bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, and finally, every-thing was done according to the word of God. Now, I hope that we, too, overcome our circumstances, like the people of faith, enter into the word of God, and receive the amazing heart of God.

deceitful circumstances and has constantly tempted us to be af-fected by them. That is why it is so evil to follow my deceitful eyes and my deceitful judgments.

Woe unto them that draw in-iquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope (Isaiah 5:18)

Faith is not dragged around By deCeitJesus spoke to the woman of Canaan, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed immediately. Just as the woman of Canaan had clear faith that was not shaken in her heart, even though she faced numerous circum-stances where she was refused and despised, we also need to have such faith. The woman of Canaan received this faith from Jesus. The woman over-came her circumstances and experienced an amazing world of the Lord by this faith. Being rejected and turned away only made her faith shine.

God spoke to Elijah, “Go to


“Father, please take me on the next voyage.” “Okay, but you shouldn’t cause trouble.” “Yeah, great!”Once upon a time, there was a captain in Spain. He had a twelve

year old son. Th e son begged to follow his father on the next sailing trip. Finally, the father allowed him to go. Th e son was very excited because it was his fi rst trip to the sea. He also liked the fact that he could stay with his father.

One day, the son was playing with his pet monkey he took with him. Suddenly, the monkey took the boy’s hat and ran from him. Th e little boy ran after the monkey to get the hat back. He chased the monkey in the cabin until it eventually went up on the deck. It even started to climb up the mast of the ship. Without hesitation, the boy climbed the mast to catch the monkey. Just when he was about to grab the monkey, the monkey suddenly jumped down from the mast. Th e boy shouted, “What? How dare you? Stop!”

Th e boy was shocked to fi nd himself clinging to the top of the mast. Th e sailors seemed as small as ants. He trembled with fear. A gust of wind blew and caused the boy to break out in a cold sweat. Making matters worse, his palms became very slippery. Just when he started to lose his strength, someone shouted, “Oh my God! Th e Captain’s son is on the mast!”

People gathered, worried about the boy, but no one fi gured out what to do for him. Th e captain saw his son was hanging on the mast. He thought about it very briefl y and pulled a gun from his belt. People thought, “What’s the point of killing the monkey now?” Th e captain aimed the gun at his son and yelled,

“Hey son, do you hear me?”

The Blessings of Faith

Spiritual Tale

43

“Ah...please save me, Dad,” the son replied. “I can’t hold on anymore!”“Jump into the sea right now,” the father ordered. “To the sea? No way! I’m scared, Dad. I will die!”The father raised his voice. “Hurry up and jump off the mast. I will

count to three. If you don’t jump, I will shoot you.” The son didn’t know what to do, but there was no choice but to jump off. The father started to count. “One. Two. Three!” The son bounced off the mast, then jumped into the sea water. In the end, the sailors brought him to safety.

The father knew what was going to happen if the son insisted on clinging to the mast. After a short period of time, the son would have fallen on the deck. The captain held a gun to his loving son to change his son’s thought. Although it was scary to jump from the mast, when he listened to his father and let go of the things he was holding on to, that is when he could be saved.

We can’t establish our spiritual life through our efforts. God is hold-ing your life through His grace. Let go of the things you are holding on to. Whether it is sincerity, diligence, effort, or even pride; for what-ever it may be, it keeps you in difficulty if you are holding on to it. You can dwell inside of grace and mercy after emptying those things from your heart. That’s when true spiritual life begins.

Words of Wisdom


Norbert Esty (Good News Manhattan Church) Testimony

T his year marks my 12th year in the Good News Church. As I look

back on my life, I can see clearly how God led me to this point. During the 2013 Manhattan Bible Crusade, when Pastor Ki told me about becoming an elder, I was speechless. My first thought was, “Me? Nooooo!!!!” I was very bur-dened about it but, thank-fully, God was preparing my heart through the series

of Pastor Park’s sermons. The sermons were about the prodigal son in Luke 15. I always thought that the prodigal son’s going away from his father and living a riotous life were problems. But the true difficulty came from not giving himself to his father.

If I understood God’s love toward me, why wouldn’t I stay with Him and be grateful for His hand in my life? This realization made me see a new aspect about

Three sons: Jordan,Jeadon,Jacob pictured with me

45

Mankind is Powerless

becoming an elder. This is God’s work; God called me and God will do the work of an Elder, not me. All of the burden was lifted and peace began to arise inside my heart. The message at the ordination service was especially touching for me because I began to fear do-ing the work of the Lord deceitfully, as I read in the book of Jeremiah 48:10. I repented before God and now I am living with a lively hope that God can use a

worthless man like me.I was born the fourth of

seven children to a hard-working, tough as nails, no-nonsense Jamaican woman we affectionately call Picky. In the Jamaican neighborhood we grew up in, we were the proof that good things can come from a bad place – the Esty kids: Victor (deceased), Noel, Nadine, Norbert, Nicola (deceased), Norville and Natasha. By the time I came into being, there were only 6 of us.

Testimony

Testimony •

Then, on the morning of September 11, 2001, I watched in shock as planes flew into the World Trade Center, three blocks away from where I worked. I watched as people jumped out of the flaming towers, saw people covered in blood and dust and watched as my world was changed to darkness when the dust and debris from the collapsed building turned daylight into night.

Three sons: Jordan,Jeadon,Jacob pictured with me


Elder Norbert with his wife Kerry

it had finally fixed me, but somehow I always lost this feeling somewhere between church and my home. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t hold on to it.

After a few years of bouncing across the religious spectrum; from Pentecostal to Baptist to Catholic to Seventh-day Adventist, I gave up on church and tried my hand at a music career. I was never musically inclined but I sang in a choir, and I wrote wicked poems that maybe someone would put music to. My foolish hope resulted in me f lunking out

My father was never really an inf luence in my upbring-ing. For as long as I could remember, he struggled with alcoholism and even-tually left us when I was 7 years old.My older brother, a genius who rarely got into trouble, became my idol. In trying to curb my bad habits of failing in school, fighting, smoking and stealing – all before I was 10 years old - I became an active member of the Interschool Christian Fellowship. I made it my personal mission to answer every altar at church. Every time I got “saved” I felt that

47

of high school with only a passing grade in English Language.

Around this time, my mother lost her job so our sole source of income was Noel, who had graduated at the top of his class, landed a nice job and was now the family bread winner. This made him even more admi-rable and me even more dif-ficult. With no money, I was forced to stay home for over a year where I became like Jacob, clinging to his mother (Noel preferred to call me “Manderella” – the male equivalent of Cinderella). I learned to cook, clean, sew, crochet, iron, wash and ex-ercise. In that year, I grew in so many ways. Finally, with Noel’s help I entered evening school, resolved to prove I could be as good as he was. Math was the first challenge I overcame, and I soon land-ed a job with a government agency and paid my way through school.

Staying home enabled me to study religions from

across the world and draw some strange solutions to fix the issues I was having in my heart. This is when I stumbled upon a certain church where I felt I could get to know God. Surprisingly, Noel met a young lady whose sister also attended the same church. As fate would have it, another of her sisters hap-pened to be Kerry, who is now my wife. To be honest, I never gave much thought about Jesus and God in that place. I was more comfort-able I around people my age. Later, that church disbanded and I was not particularly sad, I just missed my friend.

Twelve long years after leaving high school, I finally made it to an university and graduated in May of 2000. However, I didn’t want to stop there. I wanted to make up for lost time and fix my image. My high school friends were now either lawyers, doctors or executives, and I wanted to prove myself worthy. By worldly standards, I was doing okay – I had

Testimony

Testimony •


Ordained as an elder during the 2013 Bible Crusade in Manhattan, New York

watched as people jumped out of the f laming towers, saw people covered in blood and dust and watched as my world was changed to darkness when the dust and debris from the collapsed building turned daylight into night. That is when I realized, we have no control of our destiny – mankind is powerless. Around this time, my brother had gotten into the habit of sending me excerpts from the Good News Magazine with articles like: “Human Beings with the Heart of Satan.” Kerry and I were in the midst of a budding relationship at this

moved from a low level clerk to being an Analyst and along the way had many strange and wonderful ex-periences. I thought for sure I was blessed by God. I was respected and liked, especially by my many girlfriends, all of whom I loved and adored. I thought life was good. I applied for a Master’s Degree and got accepted to Pace University in New York, in May of 2001.

Then, on the morning of September 11, 2001, I watched in shock as planes f lew into the World Trade Center, three blocks away from where I worked. I

49

point and her sister was also fired up about this church. I thought for sure they were in a cult and needed rescuing so I eventually agreed to pay the church a visit.

In preparation for my first visit, I prepared a slew of questions that would prove to the entire congre-gation and the world that this church was not biblical. After all, I studied the Bible a lot in my time at home so I was an “expert.” To make a long story short, during a Bible study in Long Island, I heard for the first time the words that made me free from sin. Hebrews 10:14-17. I became born again that Sunday evening in late December of 2001. Kerry received salvation shortly thereafter, in January 2002 at the winter retreat in the Poconos. We haven’t stopped attending since that strange October day in 2001. Kerry and I got married inside the church on March 30, 2002 and we are raising three boys inside the gospel: Jordan (8),

Jaedon (6) and Jacob (2). Living spiritual life was

not easy for me. My experi-ences left me with all this drive and ambition to prove to the world that I was not stupid and that I could make it. Whatever I did, I tried my best to excel at it and gained a reputation for being very patient and a quick learner. All of these things made believing that Jesus did all the work for my sal-vation a difficult pill to swallow. Yes, I knew he took away my sin, but I tried to prove myself worthy of this grace. In trying to be good, I started losing hope because I was not seeing sufficient evidence of this spiritual rebirth in me. In spite of this, the church saw fit to ordain me a Deacon in 2008 and now again, to pour grace on me to become an Elder. Everything inside of Christ is grace, not works and I thank God for putting me in a position where I can truly appreciate His heart toward me and my family.

Testimony

Testimony •


My name is June Kim, and I am currently in Quito, Ecuador as a short-term missionary. At first, I did not want to be a Good News Corps volunteer. After I graduated UC Santa Barbara in June 2012, Pastor John Park at the Good News Church in Los Angeles began to ask me to go abroad as a short-term missionary. Because I had a job, and I hated living a carnally difficult life for one year in a different country, I never wanted to follow what he said. Although I received salvation in 2010, for two years I avoided church events and meetings, and I never learned how to overcome burdens. Because of this I could never grow spiritually, and my heart always flowed toward the flesh.

For the New Year in January 2013, I attended the annual Winter Camp in Dallas, where Pastor Ock Soo Park gave a sermon on Galatians 4:21-31. He spoke about Abraham’s two sons Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael was born through the humanistic methods by the slave Hagar. Fourteen years later, Isaac was born through the promise of God by Abraham’s wife Sarah. When God told Abraham to throw Ishmael

The Most Hopeful Truth in the World

June pictured second to the left with Ecuador Church Members

June Kim (Good News LA Central Church) Testimony

51Testimony •

and Hagar out of his home, Abraham did so. Because when the broth-ers fight, Ishmael always wins. In our hearts, we also have Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael represents our flesh, our desires, our own knowledge, and our own righteousness, whereas Isaac is the heart of God. In my heart, Ishmael is much stronger than Isaac and always blocks me from going out in faith and receiving the heart of God. This Word pricked at my heart, but for the whole month of January, I refrained from sharing the Word that I had received because I thought that if I testified it, Pastor John Park would send me as a short-term missionary. I was frustrated until when I finally gave my testimony in early February, I felt at peace and God gave me the heart to volunteer as a short-term. With this faith I was able to come to Ecuador. Not only did He give me a promise, but He also gave me the exact amount of money for my plane ticket and the monthly payments that must be made at home while I am gone.

I have been in Ecuador for almost two months, but in such a short time, I have been able to overcome many difficulties and burdens here through the grace of God. In early April, we traveled to Guayaquil on a missionary trip to prepare for the new church that will be established there. There, God gave me the grace to preach the gospel in Spanish and to experience the joy that only comes from preaching the gospel. On our second day in Guayaquil, we sang acappella songs in the middle of a popular park called Malecón, and although we sang terribly, we were invited to speak about IYF and sing for thirty minutes at a famous Guayaquil radio station by a DJ. During our four-day stay, we were able to witness God’s immense love for Guayaquil, and I realized that regard-less of our weaknesses God has already prepared everything for us, and all we have to do is to go out in faith.

I realized that I never knew the heart of our mission or the heart of the pastors and brothers and sisters inside of the church. The gospel is the most precious thing in the world, that to be used for the gospel is an amazing grace that gives me joy and thankfulness. Each day God shows me that I am useless, but that is the most hopeful truth in the world, because I can only look to Jesus who will fill all of my lacking.

Good News Corps Testimony

June pictured second to the left with Ecuador Church Members


A Brother with Cancer and Jesus

Jesus sureLy heaLsIn Acts 3, after Peter raised the lame man, he said, “Why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or ho-liness we had made this man to walk?” The lame man was able to walk, not through Peter’s holiness or power, but by the name of Jesus Christ.

From time to time there are sick people who come to me to receive prayer. However, when a person with cancer visits me, I think to myself “Will I be able to heal this sick per-son?” Whenever I have these thoughts, I doubt 100 percent. “I can’t heal him. How can cancer be healed through my

prayers?” Then again I think, “Would Jesus be able to heal this sick person?” Suddenly, I gain the heart that “Jesus can surely heal!” Then I think, “Would Jesus want to heal this person’s sickness?” At those moments, I opened up the Bible and read that Jesus never turned his back against a sick person. He never said he couldn’t heal them, but he healed them all.

iF Jesus CoMes, What WouLd haPPen?Once, a loving brother and his wife came to visit me. The brother was diagnosed with cancer and was in a serious

A Grain of Mustard Seed

53

speaking with you. I will be leaving now. Good bye.’” The brother replied, “He wouldn’t do that.” Then I asked,“Then what would he do?” Then he replied, “He would heal my disease and then leave.” I asked him again.“Brother, are you sure of that?”He said, “Yes.”

WouLd the Lord ignore us iF We Were Lost?I continued to speak, “In the past, I didn’t know anything about Jesus. When I used to attend church as a young boy, I asked the pastor, “Pastor, if I believe in Jesus this way,

state. They said, “Pastor! Please pray for us.” I wanted to pray for that brother. “Brother, sit down for a while. Let’s talk first.” Sitting across from the couple, I began talking to the brother. The brother was fac-ing great difficulties because of cancer. “Brother, let’s say that Jesus were to come here at this time. What do you think would happen? Of course, I would stop talking and sit right next to you, brother. Then Jesus would come and sit where I am sitting and preach, right?” I said, “Yes, that is true.”

“After Jesus finishes preach-ing, would he say ‘I enjoyed

Testimony •


would I be able to enter heav-en?” Then the pastor looked at me with a straight face and said “Who knows? You have to get there to know. No one knows other than God!” Then I asked, “Pastor, then how are we supposed to believe in Jesus?” He began to say that we have to believe in God with all of our hearts and ef-forts, but even then we won’t know if we can go to heaven. At that moment, I became very hesitant and thought “I probably won’t be able to enter heaven!”

However, we are able to discover Jesus as we read the Bible. We no longer believe it to be so as we read the heart

of God in the Bible. As we saw how Jesus did not con-demn the woman caught in the act of adultery and saved her, no matter what kind of sinners we may be, Jesus doesn’t condemn us but rather saves us. Even though we have not met Jesus, we believe that we will go to heaven because we know the heart of Jesus. We see how the father ac-cepted the prodigal son when the prodigal son returned to the father. The son might have thought to himself, “Will he accept me? Wouldn’t he turn his back to me?” Contrary to his thoughts, the Father ac-cepted him. That’s when the prodigal son knew the father’s

A Grain of Mustard Seed

55

heart.“Brother, just as you have

stated, Jesus will not ignore healing you. If you read the Bible, Deuteronomy 22:1 of the Old Testament says,

Thou shalt not see thy broth-er’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother.Then it says, Thou shalt not see thy broth-er’s ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again.(Deut 22:4) God did not speak for the

ox or the donkeys but for us. Will the Lord who said not

to hide yourself from the ox and the donkey that has fallen from his way, hide himself from us when we lose our way? Not so. Will the Lord who said to surely help an ox or a donkey when they have fallen from their way treat us like so? He will not. He will surely heal us.” I spoke up to there and asked the brother. “Brother, do you surely believe that Jesus will heal you?”“Yes, pastor. I believe” If Jesus has the heart to heal your dis-ease, and if you believe that, then your disease is already healed. It’s a problem because God’s heart and our hearts are the opposite. If your heart and the heart of Jesus becomes

Testimony •


one and flows with one an-other, Jesus’ heart flows into your heart. His power comes with it; therefore, that disease is nothing.” I prayed for the brother and the couple went home.

reCeiving the graCe that god gives us By FaithAfter a few days, he called me and said, “Pastor! All the pain has vanished!” I don’t do such works. God does them. After a few days, the brother asked me, “Pastor! Could I enter the Mahanaim Theology School?” I answered, “Yes, once your body fully recovers, then come.” I thank God who has given faith

to this brother and has perfected him. God truly loves us and be-stows grace unto us. Therefore, it is not that we have to do something well in front of God, rather we just have to receive the grace that God bestows by faith.

God wants to heal us of whatever disease we have. But when we don’t have faith, we listen to the voice of Satan; we think “I will not be healed! How can this disease be healed? I will end up dying!” Such thoughts are blocking off the work of God. The brother is not perfectly healed yet. But, his health is getting better. Without doubt, I believe that God will heal this brother and I can only give thanks to God.

57Testimony •

Inspire

BIBLEWith Pastor Ock Soo Park

Manhattan, New York

2013CRUSADE


Th e Bible Crusade with Pastor Ock Soo Park took place at Baruch College in Manhattan, April 9th, 2013. It’s been three years since the Bible Crusade was last held in Manhattan.

Th e brothers and sisters witnessed something in common. People on the street remembered the Bible Crusade and many of them received salvation during the Bible Crusade pre-conference. About 5000 people that attended the Easter Cantata were looking forward to the Crusade.

Attendees were amazed by the performances of the Gracias Choir and Pastor Park’s message. He said that we can’t be made perfect through the law but God can wash our sins perfectly. He preached, “If God says you are righteous, then you are righteous! If He says you are holy, then you are holy.”

A few years ago, Pastor Park received a promise to establish 500 churches in the U.S. We are thankful that God gave us faith through the Christmas Cantata Tour, English Camp, the Easter Cantata, and the 2013 Bible Crusade to march without ceasing. “If God says we can do it, then yes we can.”

Special Focus

59

2013 Manhattan Bible Crusade


One on One Fellowship After the Bible Crusade Message

Testimony

61

I was always thirsty. Boyfriends, music, part-time jobs, volunteering, Yoga, drugs... Can I

really fill my empty heart with all this? Or should I try something new to be happy? When I was a child, my parents got divorced. As my mother granted me whatever I wanted, my desires grew big-ger and bigger. I always felt vague even though I had the best things. I lived in Hawaii

Okay! Thank you, Lord!

with my mother and moved to New York for a bed of roses, but I was not happy even in New York. I wandered here and there for happiness, but I would come back to the same place I started from. While I was trying to forget the empti-ness, I realized something was wrong two years ago. I tried to do everything hard and well, but nothing got better. It seemed like I was totally sepa-rated from God.

Rosanna Perch with Church sisters


Now I’m 30.“What is wrong?” I wondered, “How can I overcome this situation?” I tried many things to get closer to God; I read the Bible hard and I attended church. I also did music that I love, had a good job, made good money and was doing three different kinds of out-reach at the same time. Among everything I did to get out of my bad situation, I depended on Yoga the most. If anybody was sick, I said that it was caused by not doing Yoga, but this belief was over when I got sick. I went to many churches like Times Square Church in

During preparation for the Bible Crusade , Rosanna received a booklet on the street

Manhattan and Tabernacle Church in Brooklyn. Through one Christian book that I borrowed on the street, I went to a Seventh-day Adventist Church. I liked spiritual life there but they spoke about of-fering money a lot, even in the book. I continually felt that there was something wrong. I was not happy at all. I was still seeking for a church; I was not satisfied with my life as a sinner. I was walking on the street without any motivation one day and a girl wearing a blue sweater gave me some-thing, saying “Please, come to the Bible Crusade!” It was

Testimony

63Testimony •

a booklet called, “Abraham’s Faith.” Even though I got it unintentionally, I read it that night, and I became free from certain feelings that had made me suffer until that point. I was so curious. Afterwards, a person named Quan called me saying, “Rosanna, do you want to have Bible study?” This is how I came to the Good News Manhattan Church for Bible study.

There, I met a young man that was a minister of the church. Even though that was the first time I met him, he talked to me frankly about his weakness as if speaking to an old friend of ten years. This made me open my heart, and I started to tell him about it. After that day, I started to attend Sunday service. The pastor shouted in his preach-ing, “Why do you still try to lead yourself?” That exposed my past life following my stupid thoughts. I went to a Bible Seminar continually, and I was able to find answers to my questions through Bible study with the pastor. That

day I realized I was righteous. It was so easy. I did nothing. I just needed to accept what the pastor said to me. Whenever I had a question, the pastor opened the Bible and showed me.In the book of Hebrews 10:17 it says, “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” “Okay!”, I agreed. In the book of 1 Corinthians 6:11, I read,

“And such were some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the name of the Lord, and by the Spirit of our God.”

I said,“Okay! Oh!! Thank you, Lord!”

This is how I became righ-teous. I didn’t do anything. Salvation was already accom-plished, and I just accepted this fact. If I express my life before salvation with a song, it was like ‘Motherless child.’ The lyrics, “I feel like a mother-less child, long way from my home...” seemed like my story. I have my mother, but I was always alone and I felt like I was a long way from God.


However, now I feel like my life is portrayed by the hymn, “Amazing Grace.” I have God leading me home and many brothers and sisters in Christ. I found a shelter for my heart and I no longer have to seek a solution for my problems. In the past, I tried hard to do everything and wanted to solve my problems by, and believing in, myself. Now I forsook my-self completely. I learned that everything can only be done by God.

Finally, the Bible Crusade began. Attending the seminar, I’m so thankful to listen to the Word from Pastor Park. This is God’s gift to make me rest. I work and I don’t have enough time, but I make time to

listen to the sermon every day. Another thing that makes me happy besides the word of God is the music of the Gracias Choir. This is very special to me, having been a major in classical music. Others make me analyze and comment on melody and rhythm, but the music at the Bible Crusade enters into our open hearts like God’s voice. I just accept the beautiful melody, denying my thoughts. Their music is different from others. It’s natural to make people be moved. Everybody falls into their music and listens to the Word.

God’s calling will cover New York City. To me, the Bible Crusade is God’s bless-ing to New York City.

Rosanna having fellowship with GNC volunteer

65

I woke up thinking, “Is this just my feeling?” and remembered the word I heard at the

Bible Crusade yesterday that said, “Don’t believe your thoughts.” I wondered why God woke me up early, and then I realized that the Bible Crusade with Pastor

To the Lord Who Made Me a Righteous Man

Ock Soo Park was being held again today. I was able to attend the Bible Crusade because someone called and informed me about it for a month. I continued to re-ceive updates since last year when I met her and thought how much they valued other people.

Testimony

Anthony Artits(Pictured Left) with Brother Daniel Oh

Testimony •


I’m a photographer of 15 years. I often walk around Manhattan streets to take pictures. Every corner of a street - rain or shine - smil-ing faces with blue T-shirts are easily seen. Seeing them made it difficult to ignore a second invitation, so I decid-ed to attend the 2013 Bible Crusade.

The music of the Gracias Choir was breathtaking. It was impossible to not be moved by their lovely ap-pearance of beautiful smiles and voices that conveyed thankfulness and love in their hearts. Everyone gave high praise to their perfor-mance once it was finished. It was followed by a sermon about the prodigal son. In order to not be led by the word of Satan, we have to accept Jesus Christ in our hearts. Because I get defeated by Satan so easily, I need God in my heart.

I spent my childhood in church. My father didn’t take care of the family and my mother wasn’t able to

support us financially. I end-ed up living with my grand-mother. Moving from one shelter to another, I came to live in a church. But that church forced me to abide by the law. I knew that my heart was becoming difficult when I tried to keep the law. In the end, I ran away from church and lived my life against Christianity.

I wanted to relax with my girlfriend on Sundays like other people and I was financially stable. That life seemed so enjoyable. But I felt guilt and something inside said, “This is not the behavior of Jesus living in my heart.” It was that voice that compelled me to return to the bosom of God.

I attended the 2013 Bible Crusade and a light came into my heart. As I listened to the sermon, I replaced the prodigal son with my own name, ‘Anthony’, and ‘God’ with the father. I read the scripture again and nearly cried.

In counseling, I heard

67Testimony •

1 Corinthians 6:11 that states, “But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord.” I was then able to believe that I was a righteous man. “If God says you’re righteous, then you’re a righteous man!” The pastor’s message helped me to be freed from sin.

The Easter Cantata was held in the evening. I hesitated in attending, but then re-membered the story of the “prodigal son.” So I found myself sitting with many others in Mason Hall. It was amazing. People were so

moved that some even cried. In the play, Jesus was resur-rected and embraced Peter who had denied and cursed Jesus. I couldn’t hold my tears anymore.

I heard that the empty tomb of Jesus represents our hope. I was thankful that Jesus was not in the tomb anymore, but rather He came and gave me hope as well. It was such an impres-sive play that the sensation lingered throughout the hall long after it was finished. In all my 32 years, those two days were the best of my life. I have true peace in my heart

Testimony

Anthony having fellowship after sermon at Mason Hall


with the salvation of Jesus Christ. I’m resting here, today, in Mason Hall, Baruch College. To my friends wearing blue sweaters who kept in touch with me; to Pastor Park who preached with tremendous energy; to the Lord who made me a righteous man;

I’m so thankful.IYF is an amazing organiza-

tion that works hard every year and introduces others, like me, to many different activities. This year, in June, I hope to attend the Haiti English Camp and take pictures of smiling faces.

At the 2013 Bible Crusade, He could realize God made him righteous

69

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