Hard Conversations

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.

My organization, Acts Ministries International (AMI), just completed its Missions Conference with over 700 people in attendance, and I must say it was a rousing success, which was punctuated by many people responding to the call for missions. But not everyone is happy about some Bible affirming Christians going overseas to preach the gospel. In this video, I will explain why postmodern progressives and those Christians who have been drinking their Kool-Aid may not be too happy about what happened at AMI Missions Conference. They may even use labels like “terrorists” or “haters.” Really? Why would they think like that? Well, tune in and find out as well as how to answer them. The video ends with two questions: one, what is the objective of missions, and two, what is the goal of missions.

No one wants to be hated, but Jesus said his followers will be hated by the world. Now, here is a message that tells you how you can avoid all that so that the unbelieving world will love you, not hate you. It is called the Church Growth Movement and it really works wonderfully if your endgame is getting the nod from those people around you who really find the Bible too offensive to their progressive taste. But I am suggesting that we don’t go, recognizing that “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12).

The most central question really is the origin of life. Our answer to that question does and can influence our responses to subset questions like what is it that is being aborted or can we make up as many genders as we see fit? Just because a person is a Christian doesn’t necessarily mean that he or she will get that question right. What are you? A Darwinian evolutionist? A theistic evolutionist? An advocate of Young Earth? Do you consider Genesis 1-3 to be historical or metaphorical? Your response has social, moral, and theological ramifications for you and the society in which you are a member. Check out this video and examine your outlook on this fundamental matter: How did life begin on earth?

The most central question really is the origin of life. Our answer to that question does and can influence our responses to subset questions like what is it that is being aborted or can we make up as many genders as we see fit? Just because a person is a Christian doesn’t necessarily mean that he or she will get that question right. What are you? A Darwinian evolutionist? A theistic evolutionist? An advocate of Young Earth? Do you consider Genesis 1-3 to be historical or metaphorical? Your response has social, moral, and theological ramifications for you and the society in which you are a member. Check out this video and examine your outlook on this fundamental matter: How did life begin on earth?