October 26, 2024

Both of my daughters carry two passports: a US passport and a Korean Passport. They obtained their US citizenship by being born on US soil and their Korean citizenship because Hyemi and I are Korean citizens. So when we flew out to Korea recently, the girls used their US passport to leave the US, and used their Korean passport to enter Korea.  It was the other way around when we returned: they used their Korean passport to leave Korea, and their US passport to enter the US. These passports are proof to show that they are rightful citizens of both countries. 

The USA is the strongest nation in the world, and having US citizenship is coveted by many others from outside to fulfill their American, which is still true today. And that is why my daughters are fortunate to have both citizenships. And that was the case for Paul in Acts 22:22-29. When the Roman soldier bounds Paul, he reveals that he is a Roman citizen. The centurion said, “With a large sum I obtained this citizenship.” To this Paul says, “I was born a citizen.” It was quite the privilege to be a Roman citizen and Paul was born to be one, even as a Hebrew. You can see that the centurion spent a lot to obtain his, similar to what many immigrants do today to become a citizen here in the US.

But we have a better citizenship. And that is heaven: “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Philippians 3:20. We were given this citizenship through Jesus Christ, who paid for us so that we can receive this eternal citizenship, and we can rejoice in that and give glory to our God in heaven!

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October 19, 2024

We were gone for about 16 days to a time zone that was 14 hours different from central daylights saving time. They say it takes one day per one hour to adjust to the new time zone. So that would take 14 days for us to adapt to the new time zone, cycle, and pattern. It wasn’t easy for us, especially the kids. For me, I had to run at odd hours, and just try my best to stay away during the daytime and sleep at normal hours. That was not the case for the girls. Around after mid-afternoon, they would start dozing off and go into a deep sleep mode, and it was quite challenging to just keep them up. This went on for about a week and they were finally adapting to the new time zone.

After 16 days, when we, at last, were feeling normal in the Korean Time Zone, we flew back home again. Now we have to adapt to our home time zone, repeating the whole process again. It was over 12 hours of flying. We left Korea in the morning, so the girls were wide awake for almost the entire flight. We landed at O’Hare at 10 am, and went through immigration and customs, the girls immediately fell into a deep sleep when we got into the car. I had to fight off sleep while driving back home. They are still sleeping in their rooms at the time of this writing. They will likely get up around 9pm ish and won’t sleep for most of the night. It will take another 2 weeks to adapt again.

When Jesus returns, we will be on a journey to our heavenly home. The distance to the heavenly kingdom is more than a 12-hour flight. We will be traveling through the galaxies and exploring the universe that God created on our way. How will we adapt to the new time zone? This is what the Bible says about the change: “who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body” Philippians 3:21; “For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:52. Physically, we won’t have issues to adapting in heaven. 

What about our character? It was challenging to adapt to the driving practices and the traffic laws and patterns in Korea (yes, driving in Korea is different). It took time to remember how I drove back in the days in my motherland. Our character is the same about living in heaven with Jesus. And we must be changed to live in heaven. As we are justified by faith, the Bible says, “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Romans 5:3,4. Jesus will help us change our character! May we all look forward to that day in heaven. And please be merciful when you see my family fall asleep during worship today!

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October 12, 2024

I had a unique experience today in Korea. Due to high population density and continuous development of infrastructure, we had to move four gravesites of our family to a new location. This was not a part of my plan in Korea, but I ended up joining my extended ‘Kwon’ clan in this project. During the process, I got to see the remains of my great, great-grandfather, great-grandmother, grandfather, and uncle. These remains were put into new wooden boxes (I can’t say they were caskets, they were small) and buried at a new site, which was about 50 minutes away from the old one. 

Once they were buried, my other uncle and cousin, who are not Christians, paid respect to the god of the land to submit our ancestors’ remains to the new site. Then they offered drinks to our ancestors by pouring alcoholic drinks over the new site. My father and I watched all this with amusement because we know what the Bible teaches about death, the second coming of Jesus, and resurrection.

At the second coming of Jesus, Paul teaches us, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16. Leviticus 25 talks about Jubilee, which occurred every 50 years. In this year, there was the redemption of property, and slaves were made free, among many other blessings. This is how Jubilee started, “Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; and the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land.” Leviticus 25:9. When the trumpet was heard throughout the land, there was redemption. And that’s why when Jesus returns, trumpets will be heard to free us from the bondage of death and give us eternal redemption.

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