The first one was: The Girl who kicked the Hornet’s nest. Waste of Time. I had to force myself to finish the book.

The second one was: The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges. This should be required reading for all Christians, especially the ones who are in the process of going through some kind of “Discipleship” program in a local church. Wish I had known the work of Jerry Bridges earlier. In fact, Mr Bridges parked his car right next to me when he received D.D. at WTS back in 2005. Could have gotten his autograph. But seriously, this was one of those books that you highlight every sentence.

The third one was:

Have you read this? Probably not. I remember seeing this on WTSbooks.com, but come on, why read the story of an “ordinary” pastor when I myself am one? Just because he’s D.A. Carson’s dad? (FYI: D.A. Carson is a well known Bible scholar).

Few weeks ago, I came across C.J. Mahaney’s sermon “Ordinary Pastor” from Resolved Conference. And when Mahaney quoted from this book, (in fact, his whole sermon was based on this book), that’s when I thought about getting it.

The title says it all. The story is about a nameless pastor who served in a bilingual, bicultural (French-English) ministries near Quebec, Canada (in that sense, it was remarkably similar to Korean American context). He pastored couple of small churches and resigned when he was in mid 50′s. Then he worked for Canadian government (tent-maker) and continued to help out a local church where he was attending as a member. Nothing stands out. Nothing….yet he was faithful servant of Christ. Faithful to the end.

D. A. Carson does amazing job describing his own dad’s life. This was not “this is how I remember my dad.” Rather, being a world class scholar as usual, he sorted through thousands of mails & journal entries that Tom Carson wrote in his life time (in the context of his church, family, denomination) and reconstructed his life from a church historian’s perspective. Amazing…

We live in a culture where “ordinary=depressing, if not ‘cursed’”. That’s why so many Americans gather around the dinner table and watch “celebrity gossip.” We hate our lives because it’s so ordinary and mundane. It’s black and white. It’s no 3D.

In this social setting, what does it mean to be a Christian? Or to me, what does it mean to be a pastor, especially a “reformed” pastor? Usually, it means you will be pastoring a congregation less than the size of 150 (A 150 will be a rather established one! as Witmer once said). It means, many of our lives will be like Tom Carson’s whether you like it or not. In that ordinary life, we are called to be faithful to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

As a pastor, I’m going through what Tom Carson went through (and so many others). The church seems to be stagnant with no prospect of “revival” any time soon. Some might say, “Pray more, Trust God.” Yes. But you don’t understand. It’s not that I’m not doing my job. But I’m limited by my own limitedness and circumstances. Then discouragement sets in. Then…despair. That’s why Tom Carson resigned from active pastoral duty. That’s why many people (whether you are a pastor or a Christian) quit.

The book was monotone until the very last page. Until D.A. Carson’s magnificent pen described Tom Carson’s most ordinary death in the most extraordinary way.

Tom Carson died alone in his death bed.

“Tom Carson never rose very far in denominational structures, but hundreds of people in the Outaouais and beyond testify how much he loved them. He never wrote a book, but he loved the Book. He was never wealthy or powerful, but he kept growing as a Christian: yesterday’s grace was never enough. He was not a far-sighted visionary, but he looked forward to eternity. He was not a gifted administrator, but there is no text that says, “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you are good administrators.”…….His own ecclesiastical circles were rather small and narrow, but his reading was correspondingly large and expansive. He was not very good at putting people down, except on his prayer lists. When he died, there was no crowds outside the hospital, no editorial comments in the papers, no announcements on television, no mention in Parliament, no attention paid by the nation. In his hospital room there was no one by his bedside. There was only the quiet hiss of oxygen, vainly venting because he stopped breathing and would never need it again. But on the other side of all the trumpets sounded. Dad won entrance to the only throne room that matters, not because he was a good man or a great man-he was after all a most ordinary pastor-but because he was a forgiven man. And he heard the voice of him whom he longed to hear saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant; enter into the joy of your Lord.”

That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? What Jesus has to say. Not what people had to say.

It’s been quite a journey: me and yj. And he’s been (taking time out from his busy schedule) designing bunch of stuff for our church.

So went out to Sushi Village yesterday. Had a good time but wasn’t so sure that they were real fish.

Blessings to you..

It didn’t strike me as much at the time, but as I took my weekly drive back to my school, I tried to remember the sermons that Rev. Shishko and Rev. Holst gave to the congregation today. As much as today’s sermons and exhortations were to encourage Pastor Sam in his ministry, It was to me, a glimpse of what may happen to me in the (hopefully) near future. Rev. Shishko went on to say that a minister has a wonderfully difficult responsibility: to preach the Word of God. Not only does he preach it, but he must do it with the authority of the Holy Spirit, with power, and with conviction. This hit a mark with me with a sermon I heard a few weeks ago; When we truly accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, our lives will change. Some people might say that the “life-changing” aspect is subjective, but when you enter into Christ’s service, there is a kind of a tug in your heart to do what is pleasing to God, and not to yourself, and therefore you actually “live” the Gospel. How do we “live” the Gospel? We gotta listen to it first, through preaching. We have Pastor Sam, who preaches to me and the congregation with conviction and authority, not really caring about what people would say or think, but speaking only Biblical truth and praying for them, that the true Gospel will take a hold of their lives. So not only is it a change of heart, a renewed Christian life is a physical change as well, and as I was driving, I started to really see the grandness and importance that all preachers and elders of a church have. Already I feel the pressure, but I think I can comprehend it now.

Rev. Holst then gave an exhortation to us, beginning with the fact that a Christian life, and even more so a minister’s life is a constant spiritual battle. It has been going on since the first Man, and it continues still. The word ‘enmity’ was thrown around, and when we see this word, we simply pass over it without thinking of the full meaning. If ‘enmity’ was on a scale from 1 to 10, it would be an 11 in terms of serious hostility, and that’s the sort of battle we have with Satan. We gotta really be able to visualize what a war is and how it is fought. It’s not the prettiest picture, and it’s not as cool as movies would portray it to be. It’s gritty, real, and most of all, it’s constant danger. In this case, the only thing that gives us hope about this war is that we have already won. God said so. From today’s passage in Genesis we know that Jesus is the one that overcame such things, even death, and He will come to eventually literally crush Satan. I know this declaration of a battle between Man and the Evil One is a terribly long-standing one, since it has been since the beginning of time. However, we look forward to the day when Christ comes back in all glory, by that time, all of those who believe in Jesus will be saved and united under Him. Wonderful news, no?

Well, now that we belong to a presbytery, we have all this support from it. Our own elders, in addition to those who know our burdens and struggles (church planting is seriously tough!) are constantly praying for our church and strength for Pastor Sam. As we enter our third year of this church planting ministry, this is a drastically new chapter from the past two years. I really believe that God is working through this church. Only time will tell, but until then, we fight the good fight. And I fight Summer Hebrew.

In his “Warnings of Future Punishment don’t Seem real to the Wicked” (1727), Edwards gives us penetrating insights into “why” people don’t care about the doctrine of Hell.

Simply, he states: DOCTRINE. The reason why men no more regard warnings of future punishment, is because it don’t seem real to them.

(FYI: Edwards’ sermons usually have clear cut divisions such as: Doctrine, Proofs, and Applications, and it’s loooooooooooooong.)

Then, he elaborates on his Doctrine:

1. They know but little what it will be to bear misery forever without change and without end.

Then, the ultimate reason why people don’t care:

Their soul’s being wholly possessed by a sinful and wicked nature hinders any truths of religion taking impression on it. The nature of the man’s soul is contrary to every truth of religion; it opposes and resists all that light. [Sin] has a great influence

For me and others in NSC, doctrine of hell is not simply a teaching. Simply because we have many unbelievers in the midst of us worshiping.

After the sermon, we had our discussion groups and many vocally expressed their unbelief in what they have just heard (this is what I go through every Sunday). “I can’t believe what you just said.” At that point, someone asks, “Pastor Sam, how could we put the fear of God (please, when we say ‘God’ we are talking about Triune God of the Bible) into their hearts?” It’s a heart-felt question because he and I know that a person he invited won’t stay around long. I as a preachers and NSC as a church, we have at most only couple of weeks before the person never returns. So for us, time is ticking and we can feel it. As I preach sermons on Hell, how can we make them not to fall into Edwards’ category?

The answer is: I can’t. We can’t. Only God can.

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:44).

Knowing that the person is born again from above, we stay faithful. We love the sinners just as Christ has loved us. And we stay patient, just as God was (is) patient with us.

All Korean news media reported his death. But they all missed one thing: he died on the anniversary date of his and my yet another best friend’s death (1997).

On the last day of June 1997, when a month-long monsoon was approaching Seoul, while I was visiting Korea for the summer, we mourned the death of Lee.

13 Years later, on the night of the anniversary, he committed suicide. And once I heard the news, I checked the date. The same day. No one knows the despair that YH went through after Lee’s death. No one knows kind of friendship they had. And no one in the media will ever know why Yong Ha died on that day. Why he chose that day.

But after few minutes of lightheadedness, the reality dawned on me. He died outside of Christ. And I couldn’t say: R.I.P my friend because he is not resting in peace.

Then, I found out I was resisting the thought, in vain, of the reality of Heaven and Hell.

And I came to conclusion: not many Christians believe in the reality of hell.

The Bible’s message is clear: either one’s united to Christ (Heaven) or he/she is not (Hell).

But what is hell? What do I know about hell? Do you know much about hell? Probably not.

Among many questions, one may ask: What can hell fire do when I don’t have a body (after death)? So, hell fire must be a figurative language to scare people.

So I began my quest for hell.

Now, where do I go to learn more about Hell? The first person came to my mind was: Jonathan Edwards.

There are three sermons you must read.

(i) “Warnings of Future Punishment don’t Seem real to the Wicked” (1727)

(ii) “The torments of hell are exceeding great” (1728-1729)

(iii) and of course, “Sinners in the hands of an angry God” (1741)

Once you read through (I doubt who will but..) these, then you will have some big picture about Hell.

But more than anything, where do we go to learn about hell in the Bible? What does the word of God say about hell? That’s more important question.

But for today, try to read Edwards.

I slept over to stop by at the OPC headquarter: to see our elder Rev. Dick Gerber (I liked when Rev. Shishko emphasized “house visitations” during MTIOPC: that’s how we are supposed to pastor our flock). When you can visualize the place, it’s easier to pray for them as well. So I went to WTS first. And on to Willow Grove, PA (about 15 min from WTS). And found the place. Click for larger images

We prepared gifts for Pastor Gerber’s grand-daughter but she was at the office!

He was packing some stuff for a week long (yes one week!) General Assembly (hence, polo shirt).

Anyway, I got to see the whole place. Met Mrs. Tipton (for the first time) and few others. Most of men had already left for G.A. so couldn’t see them.

I am thankful for OPC and our elders.

I know many of you are working but here’s the challenge: pray and talk to your boss whether you can take a day off or not. And let me know if you can go.

Check out some pix: Click for bigger picture

Prof. John Muether and Dr. Darryl Hart are well-known writers and historians of the OPC. Dr. Greg Reynolds is the head editor of the Ordained Servant journal. I was amazed by the amount of knowledge they had of over 80 years of Orthodox Presbyterian history and shared some of the less-known facts that had occurred that shaped the church to be the way it was today, and engaging with some issues that Reformed Theology faces in today’s world with formal seminars and informal discussions. I, once again, was the youngest, with some of the brothers who had attended already married or already engaged in a ministry somewhat. While daunting, it surely encouraged me, since I, at a fairly young age, was experiencing and getting more immersed in Reformed Theology (which was what some of the older brothers regretted, being involved in Reformed Theology in later years rather than earlier). I also got to know the pastors in informal and casual talks with them. (For example, Prof. Muether thinks I’m a Mets fan)

While I won’t bore you with the things I had learned, I will share with you a video of the Atlantic Coast off an island in Maine.

Clear Maine Coast

That conversation came to me as a shock: There are people who never heard a good Christian prayer in their lives. And we often forget the privilege of prayer: having access to the Father in heaven. And think it’s burdensome. And many of us were taught (implicitly or explicitly): the longer, the louder, the earlier you pray, God will pay more attention to your prayer. Well, that’s a pagan notion of prayer. In fact, most of you learned how to pray by observing someone else praying, not by examining what the Bible says about the prayer. If you care, I encourage you to first listen to: A New Motivation to Pray.

Tonight, before you go to bed (if you are at home), I want you to read what the wise men had taught the people of God back in 1647 regarding the topic of prayer.

This is taken from the Westminster Confession of Faith Larger Catechism:

Q. 178. What is prayer?
A. Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, in the name of Christ, by the help of his Spirit; with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies.

Q. 180. What is it to pray in the name of Christ?
A. To pray in the name of Christ is, in obedience to his command, and in confidence on his promises, to ask mercy for his sake; not by bare mentioning of his name, but by drawing our encouragement to pray, and our boldness, strength, and hope of acceptance in prayer, from Christ and his mediation.

Q. 181. Why are we to pray in the name of Christ?
A. The sinfulness of man, and his distance from God by reason thereof, being so great, as that we can have no access into his presence without a mediator; and there being none in heaven or earth appointed to, or fit for, that glorious work but Christ alone, we are to pray in no other name but his only.

Q. 182. How doth the Spirit help us to pray?
A. We not knowing what to pray for as we ought, the Spirit helpeth our infirmities, by enabling us to understand both for whom, and what, and how prayer is to be made; and by working and quickening in our hearts (although not in all persons, nor at all times, in the same measure) those apprehensions, affections, and graces which are requisite for the right performance of that duty.

Q. 184. For what things are we to pray?
A. We are to pray for all things tending to the glory of God, the welfare of the church, our own or others’ good; but not for anything that is unlawful.

Q. 185. How are we to pray?
A. We are to pray with an awful apprehension of the majesty of God, and deep sense of our own unworthiness, necessities, and sins; with penitent, thankful, and enlarged hearts; with understanding, faith, sincerity, fervency, love, and perseverance, waiting upon him, with humble submission to his will.

Q. 186. What rule hath God given for our direction in the duty of prayer?
A. The whole Word of God is of use to direct us in the duty of prayer; but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer which our Savior Christ taught his disciples, commonly called The Lord’s prayer.

I really love WCF & its LC, SC! How succinctly, beautifully, and Biblically these questions are answered!