Video – In John 3:21, What Does it Mean to Come Into The Light?

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Pastor Foley

Pastor Foley admits that no one really likes having their deeds exposed by coming into the light.  But in order to live in the light, we have to overcome the lifestyle of inwardly struggling with sin but outwardly being holy.  Despite a common fear of being judged or rebuked, the apostle John assures us that coming into the light is for the purpose of seeing that “what he has done has been done through God.”  And one of the ways that we come into the light is when we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness.  This is truly a work that is “done through God.”

For all of the latest podcasts on Forgiving and Reconciling and on past Works of Mercy visit our Seoul USA Podcast Page!

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What Does Forgiveness Have to do With Bad Acting?

Posted on August 28, 2013 by tdillmuth

WLO_forgivereconcilePost by Pastor Tim – On a daily basis, we encounter situations in which we need forgiveness or in which we need to offer forgiveness.  Take for example, a situation that we discussed in church this past Sunday.  A mother and her daughter related a story in which the daughter responded inappropriately to her mother.  Specifically, the daughter who was responsible for cleaning the kitchen didn’t clean properly, and when she was confronted with this fact, she responded defensively instead of humbly accepting her mother’s correction.

You might be thinking, why reference such an insignificant case of sin in relation to forgiving and reconciling?  Why not focus on something a little bigger and harder to forgive?  Quite simply, because these are the types of everyday encounters that we have to be willing to learn and grow from.  Otherwise, we are apt to continue repeating the same patterns of sin and unforgiveness that we first experienced, even though they were only experienced in a so-called “insignificant” event.

As a part of Offering Sunday, we focused on those “daily forgiveness encounters” by role-playing them in front of each other.  The above story was reenacted twice, one time with the way it really happened and the other time with the way it should have happened had humility and forgiveness been involved.  By reenacting this in front of the congregation, it not only enabled the mother and daughter to learn from their situation, but it caused everyone else to reflect and examine some of their own “daily forgiveness encounters.”

My own family began to think about a “forgotten backpack at school” situation in which both my wife and my son had reactions that were not conducive to forgiveness.   My son forgot his backpack, which of course is not a sin, but he specifically withheld this information from my wife, until it became too late and difficult to get the backpack that day.  When confronted with his sin, he became defensive and prideful instead of humbly asking for forgiveness and recognizing that he needed help in retrieving his backpack.

Role-playing real-life “forgiveness encounters” like these can accomplish a number of positive results.  First, it can give you the much needed perspective of the other person who was involved in the situation.  Second, it can give you a better understanding of your own actions. And by taking the time to examine these mundane “forgiveness situations,” it also helps you to plan how to respond better in the future.  In fact, my own family was able to use the lessons we learned in church, later that very same day.

As a church, we role-played a number of situations on Sunday, and one of those situations involved a problem that one of our younger members was experiencing out on the playground.  I wanted to share a short clip of our church reenacting this.  You’ll notice that we aren’t Broadway trained and our video is rather grainy.  But these things aren’t really so important.  It’s much more important to have a willingness to laugh at yourself a little bit, a willingness to learn and a willingness to be humbled and forgive as a result of what you’ve learned.

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How To Sign Up For 100 Days Of Worship In The Common Places With The North Korean Underground Church

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Pastor Foley

SUSA-KoreanDuring the roughly two decade long period in which Kim Il Sung was consolidating his power in the new Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea (popularly called “North Korea”), North Korean Christian leaders had full knowledge that the state was marching inexorably toward the systematic and intentional annihilation of all Christians.

Remarkably, however, the focus of these North Korean church leaders was not on how to hunker down and survive the churning hurricane of Christian genocide.

Instead, they strategized how they could advance the gospel in the teeth of their own destruction. They asked themselves and God, “How can we continue to be church in the most Christian-hostile nation in human history?”

They selected four “pillars”—one in the area of theology, one in ethics, one in prayer, and one in worship—to constitute the vital teaching and worship ministry on which the North Korean church would stand or fall, by the grace of God. They committed to receive and pass on these fundamental historical Christian pillars even at the cost of their own lives, believing that anyone who professed, memorized, and lived by them would not only be able to endure the storm but also grow to full maturity in Christ.

Every one of these Christian leaders was ultimately martyred.

But wisdom is known by her children.

On September 23, 2013, the North Korean Underground Church will lead the church around the world in one hundred days of the worship of God in the common places. Each day for one hundred days, on through December 31, 2013, Christians around the world are invited to follow the lead of their North Korean Christian brothers and sisters to do what led to their persecution in the first place: Gather together in handfuls of two, three, or more believers for daily public worship in the common places of their life—their homes, schools, workplaces, parks, libraries, bus stops, and more–using the historic four pillars liturgy of the North Korean underground church.

These will be outwardly modest and unremarkable gatherings. There will be no megaphones, no shouting, no political messages, no recruitment, no voices of concern about the state of religious freedom in America. Neither will the liturgy be conducted in hushed whispers in private corners when no one else is watching.

Instead, in calmly expectant and reverent conversation, without effort to draw attention or deflect it, Christians will undertake the liturgy of the North Korean underground church, which is rooted in the liturgy of faithful Christians throughout history:

  • The Apostles Creed (the pillar of theology)
  • The Ten Commandments (the pillar of ethics), followed by confession of sin
  • The Lord’s Prayer (the pillar of prayer)
  • The public reading of the gospel of Luke, which has pride of place in the North Korean church as the first book of the Bible translated and distributed on the Korean peninsula
  • And once each week during the hundred days, the Lord’s Supper (the pillar of worship), using elements consecrated by North Korean Christians and sent around the world for this 100 Days campaign
  • The closing hymn—once a Christian song but later recast by Kim Il Sung to serve in the cult of his worship, the original has been recovered for the purpose of this 100 Days campaign

If you are interested in participating, here is what to do and what you can expect:

  1. Visit www.facebook.com/seoulusa for more information and to register
  2. Once you register you’ll receive a package by priority mail containing the 100 Days worship booklet and communion packages (one for each week of the campaign) consecrated by North Korean Christians. You’ll receive a password enabling you to view the inaugural worship service for the campaign, led by North Korean Christians. That password will enable you to participate in worship with them via special online worship times spread throughout the length of the campaign.
  3. Assemble your worship group. This is not a campaign for personal devotional time. In the spirit of partnership with our underground North Korean brothers and sisters, you must commit to public worship in the common places with at least one other person.
  4. Create your list of the common places you visit every day where your group will worship. This should include your home but also extend beyond it—to your workplace, the schools attended by group members and their families, the coffee shops you frequent, anywhere where you go on a regular basis. If the list compiled by your group includes less than one hundred locations, feel free to repeat locations or visit new ones. Avoid privatizing the experience or turning it into a publicity stunt. The purpose is to worship humbly in the common places, acknowledging Christ’s lordship over each one, embodying his presence in the world for which he died.
  5. Share your stories of what happened and post video and photographs of your worship at www.facebook.com/seoulusa to encourage others, including North Korean believers.

Expect opposition as you carry out this simple act of worshiping with others in the common places of your lives. North Korean Christians were not persecuted simply because of the private practice of the faith in their own homes. They were—and are—sentenced to death for their small acts of faithfulness to God in the common places of their world. The Apostle Paul, speaking to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:12, said that we should not expect anything different: Everyone who seeks to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

Seoul USA is honored to share as the convening mechanism for this important event. Please visit us today at www.facebook.com/seoulusa to sign up for the 100 Days of Worship campaign and show your solidarity and partnership with the North Korean Underground Church.

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