November 18, 2023

“Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Matthew 24:44.

Ttori ttori. That’s what Sebin used to say as a baby when she wanted to go pee. 

After some months of potty training, Sebin could go throughout the day without a diaper on. The only time she’d wear was at night when it was time for bed. She wouldn’t wear it during daytime naps because she can hold herself pretty well.

During the day while she is playing she would say “ttori ttori” and go to her little toilet and pee. But you know what happens when she is having so much fun playing? She will hold her pee as long as she can. She wouldn’t go even when we could tell that she wanted to pee. Her body language clearly said she wants to go. She would start twisting her legs or start running back and forth in the living room, but she wouldn’t go! We would tell Sebin, “Go ttori ttori right now!” And she wouldn’t listen. She was just having too much fun at the moment and she didn’t want to be bothered. 

At last, she could not hold it anymore. She would run to her little toilet and blast! But you know what, sometimes it’s too late and later I would find that her pants are slightly wet. Hyemi and I would always tell her, “You should have gone earlier. It’s ok go when you need to go because you can play again after!” 

We can make a similar mistake in our lives as we dearly await for Jesus to come. It may be just too much fun in the world that we wait and wait before we let out the sins of our lives. We hold it as much as we can, saying it’s not the time now, that we can hold it a little bit longer. Cleansing ourselves from our sinfulness must be done now. There is no time to wait. We should ask Jesus to clean us now. If we wait, we might just wet our pants and it’s too late…

#pastorsblog #waukeshachurch

November 11, 2023

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation…” Romans 1:16.

Hyemi once told me a story of her friend from Los Angeles. So her friend had gone to her daughter’s school for a parent-teacher conference. When she got to the school, the daughter told the mom, “Mom, don’t speak to me in Korean at school!” We may think, what’s the big deal for a Korean mom to speak in her language to her daughter? It turns out that her daughter was ashamed of her mom for not being able to speak English well. So she ensured that her mom wouldn’t speak to her in Korean in front of other people at school. It’s a sad story. I wish this little one would have more pride in her language and culture. Moreover, she does not need to be ashamed of her mother for not speaking English that well. 

Sometimes, we may make similar mistakes as we represent Jesus in our lives. Being a Christian, a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, may not be easy among your peers. It may not be easy talking about Jesus to other people around us. But how would Jesus feel if we were afraid (or ashamed) to talk about Jesus and the Bible? There is no shame in being a follower of Jesus Christ.

#pastorsblog #waukeshachurch

November 4, 2023

“And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there, yet he did not go in.” John 20:5.

When I entered basic training in the army many years ago, one of the first things we learned was to manage our personal locker. By the headrest of where we’d lie down for sleeping was a locker where we kept all of our personal belongings including our blankets. Everything needed to be in order. There were rules, too. You couldn’t place anything anywhere you wanted. There was a proper location for everything. 

They also had rules on how to fold your clothes. You couldn’t fold your clothes in any way you wanted, but there were proper steps to fold the clothes. It was the same with the blankets as well. One thing I remember about the blankets was that once you folded the blankets, you had to use your fingers to pinch the edges of the folded parts so that it’d be a perfect 90-degree angle. Once you stack up the blankets it would be a perfect square. It took us minutes to do that. It wasn’t about how fast you can do it but rather about how disciplined you can be. 

Once all the lockers of the trainee are fully made you’ll be able to feel the uniformity and the discipline of everyone. When Jesus was resurrected He didn’t just leave the gravesite. He made sure that the linens that had wrapped Him were neatly folded. This simple statement tells us a lot about Jesus. He wasn’t careless. He was always organized and disciplined. It’s something we can learn from Him.

#pastorsblog #waukeshachurch