Youth Revival April 29, 2007

It was last Saturday when I spoke at Sung Kwang Presbyterian Church where a youth revival was held. Four small church youth groups got together and had a blast. The praise team was Kings' Region and they were terrific. I liked them a lot. The two vocals were great. In particular, the female vocal, who later turned out be the youth pastor at Central Methodist Church, was short and small yet fired up for God. At first I wasn't sure whether she was a male or female. After praise, I grabbed the mike and kicked off my message with a word of prayer. I spoke to the audience based on Galatians 5:7, "You were running a race and who cut in on you and kept you from following the truth."

I shared my own stories of failures, inferiority complex, getting dumped, and repentance, and acceptance of Jesus Christ. I encouraged them to get back in the race if they got out. And if they were still running the race, I told them to finish the race. I told them,

"The race we’re running is not a marathon. It is a marathon in a sense. However, it's more of a series of races (John Maxwell). In other words, you have to run a race daily. The race changes every day. Yesterday’s winner is no longer today’s winner. You have to overcome any temptation to not run. Because when you fail, you have to make much more effort to get back in the race. And you have to do this until Jesus Christ comes again. I have seen so many youth coming back from World Changers, mission trips, camps and then going back to their old ways. Come on, cheer up! " At the end of my message, I gave an altar call. It seemed like every one was already a Christian. Then I invited people to recommit their lives to God, and several students stood up immediately and I also saw a few adults standing up. I prayed for them with all my heart. After my prayer, another round of praise ensued, which made us all jump up and down again praising God.

I think about my own race. A race I have to run daily. I keep asking the following questions: What am I doing here? Where am I going? Am I impacting the world around me? Before I came to the States, I caught a vision of ministering to Korean Americans. Nowadays, the vision is still going strong. I want to reach and mobilize Korean Americans so that they can reach all nations. More than ever, I need Jesus to see me through the current battles in which I am engaged. I believe he will show me the way.