WPCA English Ministry

I Love KM

     by David Park

I spend a lot of time here at church during the week, and whenever I’m here, I see members of the Korean Ministry (KM) praying mightily in our church sanctuary.  Whether it be early in the morning, or even at lunch time, these people truly show diligence in their prayers, praying 30 minutes, an hour, two hours etc. They come before they set off to work; some even come out during their lunch breaks, or before they pick up their kids from school. 

On Mondays, I see our elderly janitor clean every square foot of this church, with him knowing that it’ll just get dirty again.  And every time that I greet him, he smiles back at me, with a humble greeting.

Other KM members come during a Wednesday afternoon to clean up pots and pans, so that they can be used on Sunday.  Some members come to prepare food 4 days in advance so that we can eat lunch after Sunday service.  

These are people who work, have kids, have lives.

Which leads me to the next point..

Little to no EM members at church during the week.

Our EM is spoiled.

We are spoiled.

We are still kids.  

I feel that we have MUCH to learn from the KM.  And I’m not trying to bash on anyone.. Our beloved EM members serve actively too!  But after a two hour meeting, I here people complain about how tiring it was. After an hour long worship practice, everyone looks exhausted.  After listening to a 30 minute sermon, people complain about how long it was, or how un-engaging our pastor is.

And we hear this, over and over again :  

     ”Sorry I was late to service, I hung out late last night..”  

     ”I couldn’t make it to practice, I had other things to do.”

     ”I’m 23, 24, 25, I’m too old for this now.”

     ”I just dont have the energy to keep doing things like this.  I work from 9 to 5”

Does that sound like you?  

Because I can hear myself say things like this all the time..

In closing, I’d rather not say anything from own heart/mind, but leave with these verses, and a quote: 

What Do I Do With This, God?

by Jon Walker

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:8–9 NIV)
When we confess our belief in Jesus as the Holy One of God, we often assume our lives will become easier. It doesn’t help that many people with good intentions teach this as biblical truth.

Certainly Jesus taught that his yoke is easy (Matthew 11:30), and the apostle Paul spoke about the Sabbath rest of God (Hebrews 4:9), but both these examples teach the need to develop a deep trust in God and not that following Jesus is easy. We’re to step into the will of God and stay there, trusting he has our best interests at heart (Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28).

With God’s Spirit working in us and through us, we can get through what we’re going through. The apostle Paul says this is the very time we can learn to trust Jesus: “Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am” (Philippians 4:13 MSG).

If we want to make a significant contribution to the Kingdom of God, we cannot sidestep the difficult seasons of life. Like Paul, we can watch God keep us from being crushed when we’re under pressure, give us hope when things don’t make any sense, reveal his presence when we are rejected, and pick us back up when we’re knocked senseless to the ground (2 Corinthians 4:8–9).

Getting through what you’re going through requires a shift. Instead of asking, “Why me?” ask, “What do I do with this, God?”

Talk About It

Why wouldn’t God take away all our problems when we commit our lives to Jesus?
What do you think God would do if you prayed, “Lord, help my unbelief?”
Where are you saying “Why me?” in your life? What do you think will happen if you ask instead, “What do I do with this, God?”

Abandon Your Old Wineskins Before 2012 by Jon Walker

“No one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.” (Mark 2:22 NIV)
Near my house is a gas station/convenience store that just underwent a makeover, changing their utilitarian look into a warm and inviting neighborhood haven, something like a coffee bar with gas pumps.

When I walked into the place, however, it appeared the employees missed the makeover memo. The kid behind the counter wore a new uniform that matched the new look, but he still wore the same sullen expression from before, perhaps a little bored and a bit put out that an actual customer had walked in to disturb him.

It made me think about how we try to put new wine into old wineskins. Jesus says we’re doomed to failure because “the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined” (Mark 2:22 NIV).

For you to become the person God wants you to be in 2012, you will have to abandon the old wineskins in your life so that God can pour himself into the wineskin of your new life-in-Christ.

This may mean, for instance, that we cannot try to pour the new wine of “honesty at work” into an old wineskin of “cutting corners.” Otherwise, “both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined.”

This year, you will have to change in order to be the person God wants you to be. Are you ready to make the changes? Do you feel the excitement of knowing God is right there with you, not just helping you change, but leading you in the change?

God is for you, and He wants you to succeed in 2012. What are some of the old wineskins you will need to discard as the New Year approaches?

Digging for Gold

I walked into church last night to hang out with some friends, and something inside of my heart kept urging to go into the sanctuary and pray.

Why?

Did I do something wrong this week?

When I felt that inside, I thought to myself and protested “Why do I need to pray right now? I dont need anything!”  Then it had occurred to me..

I am a gold digger.  A spiritual gold digger.

Immediately, I walked into God’s dwelling place, and leaned against the wall with my eyes closed.  I rested in His presence. 

It’s so easy for us to forget that God desires a relationship with us. A friendship.   Sometimes, you just hang out with your friend(s), in the same room, not really doing much.  But the fact that you’re with good company is all that matters to you in that very moment.  

¹He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

⁹Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place … Psalm 91:9

For a lot of us, we tend to go into prayer when we need something.  This week, I heard someone say “play now, pray later.”   

It’s like we turned God into a genie, and prayer into a lamp.

Let’s not limit our creator.  Let’s stop going to God only when we need something. Let’s be a good friend to the one who saved us.  Let’s love God back.

David Park

Try something new

by Rick Warren
“Some men arrived carrying a paraplegic on a stretcher. They were looking for a way to get into the house and set him before Jesus. When they couldn’t find a way in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof, removed some tiles, and let him down in the middle of everyone, right in front of Jesus. Impressed by their bold belief, he said, ‘Friend, I forgive your sins.’” (Luke 5:18-20 MSG)
Here is the fifth of seven ways a small group can reach people for Jesus this Christmas season:

Your small group needs the courage to do something different.

When faced with a discouraging situation, these four friends decided to do something different to get their friend to Jesus: They went through the roof!

Sometimes we have to do something different to get people to Jesus as well.
Although you might not crawl through a roof to get someone to Jesus, you might host a party during the Christmas season, and invite your unsaved friends.

For a small group in a San Diego church, “something different” meant buying season tickets to see professional football games. Besides buying their own tickets, the couples bought one extra ticket — for someone who didn’t know Jesus. That group brought 13 couples to Christ through that experience.

We can have courage as we tell others about Jesus because the Holy Spirit is working through us. It doesn’t matter how well we talk or how educated we are because God inhabits our abilities: “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13 NIV).

The Bible Says Love Is a Habit by Rick Warren

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.” (Luke 6:32 NIV)
If you only love on and off like a light switch, you do not love others like God wants you to love. Jesus said, “If you only love those who love you, what credit is that to you?” (Luke 6:32a NIV)

His point is this: All of us can love those who love us back. Becoming a master lover means you learn to love the unlovable – when you love people who don’t love you, when you love people who irritate you, when you love people who stab you in the back or gossip about you.

This may seem like an impossible task, and it is – that’s why we need God’s love in us, so we can then love others: “We know and rely on the love God has for us” (1 John 4:16a NIV).

When you realize how much God loves you – with an extravagant, irresistible, unconditional love – then his love will change your entire focus on life. If we don’t receive God’s love for us, we’ll have a hard time loving other people. I’m talking about loving people who are unlovely, difficult, irritable, and those who are different or demanding.

You can’t do that until you have God’s love coming through you. You need to know God’s love so it can overflow out of your life into others.

Love Does Not Procrastinate