Do you have dogs? My family has had several dogs over the years, and we have enjoyed them immensely. Today, I am going to talk about two of those dogs because their paths crossed in such a manner that one led to life and the other, in all likelihood, to death. After sharing about important aspects of their lives, I am going to extract one very important spiritual principle from it and then apply it to the believers. Now, before you scoff at the idea of learning anything spiritual from animals, be reminded that God’s word tells us to learn hard work from ants (Prov. 6:6-8), imitate innocence and shrewdness, respectively, from doves and serpents, respectively (Matt. 10:16). Happy New Year 2023!

Should we cancel the Christmas service this Sunday since many people won’t be coming? You know, traveling and, maybe, too much partying the night before. A pastor in Boston did just that (not meeting this Sunday) and then wrote an article, which appears in the Gospel Coalition website, that defends his decision. This videoblog is my response to this pastor’s rationale which he believes is firmly rooted in Scripture. I think not.  

If we are honest, and unless we read the Bible without ever mulling over implications of what we read, we must admit that there are accounts in Scripture that should really disturb us. One such story is God commanding Abraham to slaughter his son Isaac as a burnt offering to Him. That’s a problem! We can either gloss over it as if God didn’t really mean it or deal with it head-on, both biblically and philosophically. Recently, upon hearing a message given my pastor son Joshua, who just completed his PhD in philosophy, on this matter, my eyes lit up and my ears perked up. I think he offers a cogent and valid way to deal with this matter of God sanctioning atrocity, whether real or only in appearance. Listen to it and find out for yourself what I mean.

Did you have a nice Thanksgiving Day? Around this time of the year, the nine Israelis, who failed to thank Jesus for healing them of leprosy, get a lot of flak while the lone Samaritan, who did thank the Lord, gets a ton of praise. Do you really think that the nine didn’t have a thankful thought? Sure, they did, but it wasn’t enough to motivate them to return to Jesus to do what the Samaritan did: “He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.” Why? What’s the difference between them? How would you have responded if you were one of them? This videoblog shows that unless we “move” to where Jesus stays, a place called, “outside the camp,” we will do exactly what the nine did.

More than a week ago in Itaewon, South Korea, what is dubbed as Halloween stampede or crush took the lives of 156 young people. It is an incredibly sad moment and a catastrophic loss of lives, potentials, and possibilities. In this short video, I raise this question: Could it be that the Lord seeks to speak to churches in South Korea through this manmade tragedy? If so, then, what might be His message to them? Are there any spiritual ramifications to a body of churches like Acts Ministries International (of which I am its teaching pastor)? I bring this matter up because there is an uncanny similarity between those who perished in Itaewon and the kind of people who attend AMI churches. These are some of the questions I raise in this presentation in view of the tragedy that occurred on Halloween, a day of celebrating death, demons, and witches.

It is one subject no one wants to talk about, in churches of all places! Death. Sure, it is a morbid topic, but never talking about it certainly does not make death go away, and it leaves us woefully ill-prepared to deal with it when it's our turn to die, sometimes a lot sooner than we had hoped. Not that I myself was interested in the topic but that all changed when I witnessed how my father handled the devasting news that he had only several months to live due to cancer. So it is from my father that I learned about dying well in Christ. Yes, he died very quickly after finding out about the disease, but the way he died gave me a vivid picture of how I would like to depart this world when it is my turn. I hope you enjoy this video about a matter we rather not talk about. Thank you.

We spend most of our time in school or at work with people who do not share our faith and values rooted in the historic Christian faith. Yet, the truth of the matter is that many believers today will say, “So what?” Yes, there is hardly any tension felt by believers who have been co-opted by the mood of our culture that privileges inclusivity, plurality and zero-tolerance of anything resembling intolerance—whether real or imagined. This videoblog is about how we need to better understand our unbelieving coworkers and classmates, many of whom are atheists, agnostics and universalists, on the one hand, and foul-mouthed, party animals, on the other. To help us do that, I am going to share about my encounter with a UCLA professor who prompted me to rethink about my fundamental assumptions about the unregenerate unbelievers who are spiritually dead. Without seriously grappling with this matter, we will not evangelize (feeling no tension), and, when and if do so, we will greatly miss the mark.

Last Sunday I got to preach three sermons at Remnant Church in Manhattan: the first sermon in Korean, the second in English and the last one in Spanish. That was the first time that that ever happened to me. It was a very unique experience, especially because of surprise guests who came to the worship service in Spanish. And the Lord did something very special for these people who are facing great needs. This presentation done in three languages (with English translation) is entitled, "1 Sunday-3 Sermons in 3 Languages-About 1 Lord." God bless.

Many critics and opponents of Christianity have insisted that the Christian Church, from its inception in the first century, has been anti-woman, now more than ever because of her anti-abortion stance. If this is true, then, no self-respecting woman should ever set foot inside a church; sadly, many people, particularly the young and the educated, have done just that. This videoblog examines, historically, some of the major arguments against the church on account of her being anti-woman. What you will find is that much of the argument is disinformation: an intentional twisting of obvious historical truth to warrant a false narrative that the Christian church from the very outset was anti-woman. The fact of the matter is that the church has historically been pro-woman, with unfortunate exceptions. You may still insist that the church’s opposition to abortion qualifies her as anti-woman. Well, that all depends on what is inside a mother’s womb. The church’s teaching on the matter is consistent with its historical teaching that values the life of women.

The winter of 1985 was arguably the most difficult season for me as a Christian thus far. Having become a believer about four years earlier, I was experiencing a very real crisis of faith. This happened while I was temporarily attending a liberal seminary in East Coast, part-time. What I was hearing from my professor in the classroom and the books I was reading, particularly regarding the book of Daniel, finally got to me. By the end of fall semester, I was questioning everything I had believed about the Bible, including the existence of God. This video is about how God led me, first, to rediscover the truth of His Word, and second, to find out the value of research in order to learn what really happened in the past. If you are going through doubts yourself, I hope this presentation will give you hope and some ideas as to how to go about finding answers.