Servants

Pastor Hakan Kuh

Our ancestors in the Bible all bore the “marks of Jesus” on their bodies (Gal 6:17). They had something to boast of before the crucified Jesus. For proclaiming the whole, pure Word of God, they were sawed in two, pierced to death, burned to death, torn to death, or drowned to death. If not martyred, they were stoned, whipped, struck on the cheek, spit at, or put in prison. If not persecuted, they often went without food, without clothes, without shelter, or without sleep. I don’t have any such marks that the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles of the New had on their bodies. But I do have a clear call that I received from the Lord. It is to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to everybody, in accordance with the will of God to save everyone. It is to preach the wisdom and power of God hidden in crucified Christ to non-Christians, who do not know their sin and thus consider the message of the Cross “foolishness,” and to quasi-Christians, who have not yet met Jesus in person and so find the way of the Cross “a stumbling block.” It is to see the dead souls come alive and the saved souls live an abundant life, by the power of the whole, pure gospel and through the work of the Holy Spirit. It is to see the individuals, homes, and workplaces transformed, through the church, into the kingdom of God full of holiness, love, and righteousness. And it is to enjoy a kingdom life with other saints, a life full of peace, joy, and freedom in the Spirit. I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus … I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen (1 Tim. 1:12-17).

Pastor kyungmin Kim

The choice for those who have climbed over the threshold of salvation should inevitably be sanctification. However, intoxicated with the hard-won joy of salvation or drenched with the sentimental memories of the joyful moments, people resist the crucial process of sanctification with all their body. That is the portrait of today’s generation and of us. The saints and the churches that do not grow should be blamed, not on the saints themselves, but on the pastors, who neglect them and overlook their ills, as they look ‘pleasing to the eye’ and otherwise ‘attractive,’ despite their lack of growth. And before anyone else, I myself should be held accountable. God gave me that realization, and a subsequent challenge, in my early years of pastorship. He then had me go through a period in which I rebelled against, complained about, and argued with Him, over the shameful self and church, and finally repented. And when I was about to find peace in my heart, He firmly planted in my heart the following Word: “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2). God told me to preach the Word and not to add to it. He told me not to agonize or sorrow over the faithless self and church, but to live, with all my might, in accordance with the Word. He told me not to complain or argue but to bite my tongue and just do it. So I am now pouring all that energy that I used to waste with tears and sighs into the sanctification of the church commune and myself. And I am striving to remain alert and focused, in order to shoot the arrows of the gospel that the Lord gave me at the mark of sanctification, with the single-mindedness of the archer in the battlefield. I still see many people around me who, having just crossed over the threshold of salvation, have run of out of breath and do not go forward. I also see many people who, watching them, just deplore and sigh and weep, wasting their time. Please, do not sigh any more. Do not weep any more. Do not waste your time and energy on sighs and tears, but bite your tongue and grow.