Jesus Culture

Just saw Jesus Culture at the House of Blues with my friend Amy who blessed me with a free ticket! Yay for my friend Yuri who blessed me with $5 for the coat check. Yes, too steep! We saw no less than 6 miraculous hearings tonight. One woman with a 17 year heart condition was delivered. One man's knee now no longer has problems. Another woman was numb in her knee and she now has feeling again. One man's arm, completely pain free. One boy's stuffy nose, gone. (That one was the cutest!) I'm stil waiting for a healing on my chronic neck and lower back pain but God said He would deliver me tonight. I'm on fire for Him and I am hearing Him so clearly tonight it's off the chain! He is bringing revival THROUGH US!!!!!!!! Hallelujah!!!!! This fast has been amazing, and I can't wait to tell you about my new friend who is an Orthodox Jew who said that two things that he has been waiting for ONE year came to pass yesterday. I KNOW that was Jesus moving in his life to show him how much he loves him and wants to bless him abundantly. I know God is moving and is powerful beyond belief. God, you are so good...

Anti-human trafficking activism with Not For Sale and UNICEF

Today was awesome.  I joined up with UNICEF and Not For Sale's T-blitz campaign at Park Street station.   We chose Harvard Square, which PERFECTLY coincided with the Chocolate Festival.  At first we were just on the sidewalk handing out placards of information, but we weren't having much success.  Then suddenly there was a huge line for the chocolate and it was kind of amazing, because they couldn't run away!  It became the perfect opportunity to engage with people one on one about the atrocities of human trafficking.  We were handing out placards with information on what they could do about the issue, and most people in line were more receptive.  But when they weren't..my gosh!  Usually I'll at least be polite and take whatever people are giving me.  Now I am absolutely determined never to be rude to a homeless person or person canvassing again!  The least we can do as Christians is smile and politely say No thank you, but God bless you or Jesus loves you.  It's takes two seconds and it will put a smile on someone's face. I never thought before that just saying something like that might help but after getting rejected 100 times today (and many times with incredible rudeness), I have seen the light.

The three women and I working together bonded on this short two hour spree to bring awareness to Harvard Square.  Perhaps one of the most disappointing aspects of this activism was realizing that there is so much apathy and people are just so involved in themselves and putting up walls that they can't even connect on a basic human level.  It's not even a busy time thing, because they were waiting in line for chocolate for crying out loud, and they didn't have anywhere they had to be.  Sorry, I guess change takes time and it takes effort to bring about awareness.  People like to live in their own bubbles.   But there were a few highlights.  One woman came right up to us to ask us what we were doing and asked us for more information.  That was pretty exciting as we got to share the knowledge we had.  Marta shared her friend's personal experience with being trafficked and exploited and I learned something new today.  There was another woman who had just moved here from LA attending law school and wanted to get more involved with what was happening in Boston.  It was exciting because she was studying immigration and wanted to be more knowledgeable and possibly bring more awareness to her campus at BC Law.  Overall, the positive experiences outweighed all of the apathy and negativity we experienced.  I made an important decision this morning to leave my warm bed and be a part of a global movement that IS already influencing the lives of many.  We must NOT be apathetic to the suffering of fellow human beings.  People looked away from the slave trade once before.  But WE CAN NOT AVERT OUR EYES AGAIN.  This is how Christians and others in this nation tolerated slavery.  WE CAN NOT TOLERATE SLAVERY AGAIN.

Jesus said in Matthew 22:36-40 (NKJV)

³⁶⁾ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

³⁷⁾ Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸⁾ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹⁾ And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰⁾ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

We must rise up as a nation against the 30,000,000 who CURRENTLY live in human bondage.  Join me.

Join Not For Sale. http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/  http://www.facebook.com/NFSMA
And UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/protection/57929_58005.html

2013...don't give up!!!!

Don't Quit 

When things go wrong as they sometimes will, 

When the road you're trudging seems all up hill, 

When the funds are low and the debts are high 

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh, 

When care is pressing you down a bit, 

Rest if you must, but don't you quit! 

 Life is queer with its twists and turns, 

As every one of us sometimes learns, 

And many a failure turns about 

When he might have won had she/he stuck it out; 

Don't give up though the pace seems slow--You may succeed with another blow, 

Success is failure turned inside out--The silver tint of the clouds of doubt, 

And you never can tell how close you are, It may be near when it seems so far; 

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--It's when things seem worst that you must not quit. 

 - Edgar A. Guest

2012 was The Year When Everything Unfolds Beautifully

2013 is all about not giving up and pressing in.

We all know what it feels like to give up.  People don't like New Year's resolutions, always talking about how easy it is to give up in a month or two or three.  But I LOVE the New Year.  I love the significance of new beginnings, new hopes, fresh fire to fresh dreams.  Shoot.  Even if you only last three months, it's at least three months out of the year that you're doing things differently, with hope, with joy, with vigor.

For me, that determination has to at least last me until my birthday, which falls around March 20th, which is perfect, because then I get to look at my life resolutions and start with fresh vigor, which will last me through the summer, which is always a time of rejunvenation and vigor as I go swimming almost every day.  Which brings me to Labor Day, always reminding me of back to school and the fresh excitement of new teachers, new seating arrangements, new clothes, new sneakers, new school supplies, and sometimes even a new school!

God be with you this year.  My church, Aletheia, will be embarking on a 40 day fast this January 13th to February 21.  I pray that you can join me.  It doesn't have to be a complete liquid fast.  It can be a Daniel, or chocolate, or any kind of sacrificial fast that will be meaningful to you AND the Lord!  God will reward your fast, and you will see some breakthroughs in your life.  God bless you and your family.  Should you choose to fast, please let me know at sungyun320@gmail.com.

convenience store ministry

One of the great benefits of having a ministry in a place like a convenience store is that you get to see the same people over and over.  Usually it's for cigarettes or lottery, but sometimes it's something as innocuous as cold drinks or ice cream.

I've seen God move here, in the faces of the people I serve.  I truly feel blessed to be God's servant and to be able to minister to the lives around me.

Today's day was Jessica.*  She is an older woman, about 65 or 70.  She always comes in to buy cigarettes. It's clear she feels incredibly guilty about it, too.

Last time she was in here, I was singing a Christian song or saying Praise the Lord.  She said, "I knew it!  I knew you were different!"  She asked me if I was a Christian, I said, "Yes, indeed I was saved and a follower of Jesus!"  It made me so happy that I hopefully did shine some of God's light in a place of darkness.

Today she came in and was visibly upset.  She started sharing about her grandson who was acting out, and I got a chance to pray with her and lend her my book, titled BOUNDARIES.

What an incredible blessing to ME to be able to let her release her fears and let HER pray for JESUS to take control over her life.  To encourage HER to live in FAITH rather than fear.  Really, I feel so blessed to be an evangelist and a prayer warrior for my neighborhood.  God, you are so good.  Thank you for dying for your sons and daughters so we can be free from our sins, chains and bondage.  Jesus, I pray in your name that many people in Coolidge Corner can give their lives to love you and serve you and receive heavenly salvation!

What can you do to be salt and light?  Just be an open vessel to be used by Jesus.  Pray with strangers, co-workers, family members and friends.  Listen to this AWESOME sermon.  It will move you and change you!!!!

https://ptv.org/radio/radio-broadcasts/?utm_source=Pathway+to+Victory+Newsletter&utm_campaign=fe6acae242-Seven_Days_of_Prayer_Politics_Day_1&utm_medium=email&mc_cid=fe6acae242&mc_eid=c3b7184bbf

*name has been changed to protect people's identities.

Comments are welcome! Email me at sungyun320@gmail.com if you don't want to make your comments and suggestions and replies public.  God bless you and thanks for your prayer for my ministry.

Hanging out with non-believers

I think I realize how much of a Christian I truly am, and how far I have come in the 7 years I've become a believer in Jesus Christ.

I love Jesus so much.  He is amazing, beautiful.  He gives me so much love, life and hope.

Even if Jesus were a delusion and this was all a lie, which it's not, I think I would choose to believe anyway.  I feel so much love and hope for life that I can NOT imagine returning to a life without God and a belief and love from Him, for Him.

Chains are broken, but it's tough to be around non-believers who rail against your beliefs as though you are foolish, imbecilic, ignorant beyond all doubt.

But the truth of the matter is, if none of us know the answers, then they don't know either, so why are they trying to convert me back?  They are just as guilty of trying to convert me to be a non-believer.

Conversion is only evil if a Christian is attempting to share their faith and love of Jesus?!?!?!?!  If you're a non-believer trying to convince someone of atheism, then OH MY GOSH, that's okay and has nothing to do with conversion.  What's wrong with conversion?  Everyone has an opinion and is entitled to believe what they want and share what they want.  How come everyone else is allowed to share except Christians?  You call us hypocrites, but the mirror is staring at you in the face.

I love being converted to a bible believing Christian.  I embrace it.
I love that I'm saved.  I'll share my beliefs until the day I die and I'm taken up to heaven.

If I'm wrong, I'll have lived a fantastically full and exciting life filled with LOVE, PEACE, HAPPINESS, and CONVICTION.

I never want people to feel that I didn't try hard enough with them.  That I didn't love them enough to share the reality of heaven and hell.  Oh, we can only live our lives with the love of Christ, and share the Gospel, that Jesus is the son of God, sent to die as a human on the cross to be the ultimate sacrifice for all of the sins of mankind once and for all.  He died and resurrected (there are many witnesses) and he eventually returned to heaven.

It may be a delusion.  But to me, it's real.  And my life is the better for it.  And yours will be too.

I see the lives of people around me who don't believe, and money, lust, success, careers....it does not satisfy.  People want something more.  How badly do you want to know God?  All you have to do is get on your knees and pray, and crack upon the Bible to the book of John or Psalms.  I invite you, stop looking at the superficial things of Christianity that turn you off.

You don't believe in the Bible because some people think fornication is okay or don't think gays should be able to get married, or something like that...eternity is a long time to base your decision to choose God on something like that.  I'm just saying.

A funny testimony of faith & the lottery

Two days ago, a customer came into the store and won 100 dollars on a scratch ticket. she didn't tip me and admittedly I was a little bit peeved. tips are not mandatory but a gesture of goodwill, kind of like when you go to a restaurant and get good service! it's the unspoken culture in the lottery world. anyway I was joking with my friend william and asked him, Hey, if you won 100 dollars, how much you would tip me? he said, 25 dollars. 25 dollars? That's so much money, I exclaimed! he said yeah yeah I would do it. So I enthusiastically started praying and ask God to send him a 100 dollar winner. he scratched a couple tickets and didn't win anything. I completely forgot about it yesterday when he came in again & asked me for $15 worth of scratch tickets. I ripped off a bunch without a thought and gave them to him. He came back to me with a funny look on his face & said, "I think I won 100 dollars!" I was like wow and I scanned the ticket. it was actually a red 10 that matched, so it was 200 dollars! I jokingly said, well since it's $200 are you going to give me $50? and he said yeah! The backstory is that my friend William completely refuses to believe in God. He lost his mother when he was 10 and I think he completely lost his faith. Since I met him 3 months ago, I've been praying fervently for his salvation. I said to him, you have to admit it's pretty amazing how God answered our prayers for a winner! He said, YOUR prayers, I didn't pray! I said, true! You don't have to believe in God in order for Him to bless you! William noted astutely, maybe God wanted to bless YOU! I said, DEFINITELY! But He wanted you to believe! There are many morals to this story. Most importantly, have Faith in God, he can answer any prayer. Secondly, you shouldn't gamble! But if you do; pray, and pray fervently! ; ) God can use any method to witness & testify to people, believers and non- believers alike. I believe God used that opportunity to show him how much prayer works and how much He loves William and how real He is. Sometimes, it takes a LOT MORE to prove the existence of God than a winning lottery ticket. But, that tiny answered prayer planted a little seed of hope in my friend's heart. And if it didn't do that... it surely shocked me and increased my faith! (Not to mention I was $50 richer!)

Mini miracle?

I had the most interesting dream last night. My chiropractor is right. I've got to lay off the melatonin. You have these really crazy trippy dreams that are so out there. Last night I had a dream that my friend John brought three of his friends and we were all in an auditorium. At some point, I look down and see that I have two Massachusetts Lottery BLACK tickets. I scratch one, it's a loser. I scratch the next one, and it's $15.00 but the code is ONE, and I get the feeling in the dream that it's One Million Dollars. So John comes into the store today and it reminds me of the dream. So, I tell him and he asks me what the number is. It's 007, the movie that we've been talking about all week. So I am debating whether to buy the tickets myself or not and he grabs it. Then I am debating on buying the next two with my friend Russell and then Tim comes in and buys one. He loses. So I tell him about my dream and so he buys the next one and then wins $100. Thankfully he tipped me $20. But I was kicking myself for not buying them. I could have won $100!!!!!! But the feeling of my dream coming true was worth every penny that he won.