Dad

I’m thinking about dad this morning.  Maybe it’s because I preached on the Father Love of God this past Sunday.  Maybe it’s because my dad is here visiting us from the East Coast and I’m getting to spend a lot of time with him.  Maybe it’s because today is my dad’s 61st birthday.  Maybe it’s because dad has always been in my mind and my heart no matter the time or season in my life.  So today is his birthday.  I’m going to take him and the whole family out to a nice buffet for lunch to celebrate!  As I reflect, I can truly say that I’m very thankful for my dad.  Over the years, there were times when I wasn’t sure we’d make it.  I remember many moments of anger and hostility in our relationship.  I remember the many arguments, disagreements, and the many fights that we had.  My dad is definitely not perfect and he has made his share of mistakes.  But then, how can I hold that against him when I consider the fact that I’m not perfect and that I’ve made a ton of mistakes as well?!  My dad is a good man and sometimes that’s the best a son could hope for in a world full of bad men.  I’ve really come to appreciate him.  I’ve very thankful that God has blessed me with a good dad.

He’s 61 years old today.  That means that he’s in the latter stages of his life now.  I’m determined to make the most of the time that I have with him while he’s still here.  He’s truly a gift to me from God.  Sometimes I forget that.  I want to be like my dad as I now have a son as well.

Our Baby Story

Hello everyone!

Here’s just a quick note as to why we’re still in the hospital.

Virginia labored for over 38 hours.  She almost had the baby out when she developed an infection.

She got sick and developed a high fever, which caused the baby’s heart to rise.  Because of the prolonged labor, Virginia was so worn out and her uterus could no longer push.  She was experiencing a lot of pain.

In the end, b/c of Virginia’s sickness as b/c of the baby’s heart rate, we determined to go into c-section.

She did great!  But during the surgery, she experienced a lot of pain and lost a lot of blood.

She is still recovering in the hospital.  She’s receiving medication as well as a blood transfusion.  She’s going through a lot.

It’s been incredibly emotional and tough for me to see my wife go through all of this.  Our first birth with Tabitha was traumatic as well.  We really thought it wouldn’t happen again.  But God has been good and faithful.

Virginia is recovering.  Please pray for her.

Barnabas was exposed to the infection so for precautionary purposes, he’s under observation and receiving some preventative antibiotics.  But so far so good.  He’s responding well and seems healthy.  He’s under observation for another day.

We will be here in the hospital for at least until Wed. afternoon.  Then the docs will evaluate.

Please pray for a speedy recovery for Virginia.  She’s simply amazing!

Thank you everyone for your support and prayers.

We hope you can visit us once Virginia is healthier and once Barns is a little stronger.

Praise God!  He is always good, no matter what happens.

– justin

Waiting For Barns

Our second child was due this past Tuesday.  He is three days late.  My wife says that the baby has “dropped” but that she feels no contractions at all.  All throughout this second pregnancy, we’ve been told that the second baby always comes a few days earlier than the due date.  Obviously, that’s not the case with our second baby.  He’s late and there are no signs of him coming tonight or even tomorrow.  So what do we do?  We just wait I guess.  I asked Virginia if she thinks the baby is going to come soon?  She doesn’t know.  All she knows is that she’s feeling no contractions but she feels the baby moving.  We went to see our doctor yesterday and we were told that everything is fine.  So I guess we’ll just keep on waiting.

We’ve decided to name our son, “Barnabas.”  With our first child, Tabitha, everything was so new.  Everything about the pregnancy and about the baby felt so “new” and wondrous.  But with our second, it didn’t feel like that.  Because we had already gone through the experience of having a baby, our second pregnancy was just normal.  But when we found out that we’re having a son, the newness and wonder came back to us. A boy!  A boy is not a girl.  A boy is different from a girl.  It will indeed be a new experience.  From dolls and pink colored shoes and clothes… now, it’s car toys and blue colored shoes and clothes.  What a big difference!

So the name “Barnabas” was chosen because the name means, “Son of Encouragement.”  I’ve always wanted to have a son and name him “Barnabas.”  The name is also a strong name.  Barnabas in the Bible was a great character who encouraged the church leaders to accept Paul into fellowship and also encouraged and helped Paul in his ministry.  Barnabas was a self-less and generous man and like Tabitha, he’s found in the Book of Acts.  He’s a minor character who has a major role in the expansion of God’s Kingdom and God’s Church in the Book of Acts.  We know people will be tempted to call him “Barney.”  I’m okay with that.  I prefer people to call him, “Barns” or “Bas” or simply “B.”  His middle name will be “Justin” so people can also call him, “BJ.”  I think it’s finally hitting us that we’re actually having another baby and we’re actually having a son.  Wow, wow, wow!  I can’t wait to meet the little guy and to hold him, love him, and teach him.  I can’t wait to lead him spiritually and to pray with him.  I can’t wait to teach him how to shoot a basketball or to throw a baseball.  It’s going to be great!

Barnabas, hurry!  Come out and meet the world!  I want to see your face!  Hurry!

Mom, Dad & Father Time

My parents are in town visiting from the East Coast and let me tell you, it’s so fun having them around!
My parents have been a big help for us just with Tabitha and with things around the house, but more than anything… I’d forgotten how fun they were and how much they love me.  I especially enjoy seeing my parents interact with their granddaughter.

Watching my parents and seeing them for the first time in 7 months, I was shocked to also see how much they have aged.  I guess when you don’t see someone on a regular basis, you can accurately gauge what Father Time and age does to a person.  It reminds me that life is indeed short and that time never stops for anyone.  All the more reason for us to make the most of the life that God has given to us.
I write this to encourage myself and to you to keep living each day for God and His glory.  Let’s not hold back.  I’m reminded of our One Month to Live campaign earlier in the year and how helpful it was for me to live life each day to its’ maximum potential to glorify Christ.
Let’s do this together!

The money God

“The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain. This also is vanity. When goods increase, those who eat them increase; and what gain has their owner but to see them with his eyes?” – Ecclesiastes 5:10-11

I preached on money, wealth and finances not too long ago.  It’s not my favorite subject or theme to preach from the pulpit. I’ve seen too many churches get jacked up because of money issues and I know that talking about money in the church is always a sensitive thing. Three subjects that I’ve noticed to really put people on the edge of their seats and make them feel uncomfortable are the subjects of sex, politics and money.  But regardless of the responses and whether people like it or not, the Bible has a lot to say about these subjects. So I tackled the subject of money & finances. I know that these are tough times economically. I know of folks in my own church who are dealing with joblessness and struggling to make ends meet. But I think it is imperative that the Church, the people of God, understand that we must not allow money to be the source of our hope, our security, our identity, our significance… to be a god in our lives.

Now, I don’t want to write my whole sermon here… it would be too long for you to read and you probably don’t have all the time in the world to be reading blogs anyways. But here’s what I’ve got to say about money.

Money is relatively a good thing in the Bible… especially in the book of Proverbs. We all need money to make it in this world. The Church needs money to do ministry and so on and so forth. There is a strong connection between hard work, originality, creativity, self-control, discipline with prospering… prospering materially and economically. Proverbs like “Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth,” or “He who gathers crops in the summer is wise, but he who sleeps during harvest time is disgraceful.” Proverbs 10:22 says, “The blessing of the LORD brings wealth.” So money and wealth are incredibly great gifts from God. But money also has incredible spiritual danger attached to it. For example, money has the power to destroy integrity according to Proverbs 11:1. Secondly, money has the power to destroy community because you become self-absorbed according to Proverbs 11:26. Thirdly, money has the power to distract us from what is really important in life. Proverbs 11:4 says, “Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.” This verse is talking about judgment day. Questions like “What is my life amount to?”, “What am I really doing with my life?”, “What difference am I making in the world?”, “Who am I really helping?”, and “What contribution am I making?.” Wealth blinds us to judgment day questions. Wealth instead pulls us away and sucks us into a frantic cycle and a frantic life of consumption.

Lastly, money makes us proud and over-confident according to Proverbs 30:8-9. When people have money, they often tend to say, “I don’t need God. Why in the world would I need God for? I have everything I want and need.” Who’s the LORD?” There is nothing like economic success to make one feel over-confident. The more money a person makes and the more successful he or she becomes, the more the person will think he or she got it because they were so smart or so disciplined. And this makes the person feel over-confident and proud. Bernard of Clairvaus once said, “To see a man humble under prosperity is the greatest rarity in the world.”

I don’t know about you but integrity and character, community and humility are all important to me. I don’t want the might of money to destroy these things in me. I don’t want money to control me and how I live my life. My wifey and I are not rich. We don’t have anything saved up for the future but we are hoping to start very soon. We only have one car. We don’t own a house… we rent. We live off of one income so that my wifey can stay home and be a mom to our daughter… it’s been tough at times. We’ve had to dip into our savings and learn some hard lessons along the way. Budgeting and staying true to our budget has been equally difficult especially for a guy like me who’s not as detailed oriented. But with all of this, still I feel that we are incredibly rich and wealthy. We’ve always had food on our tables and a roof over our heads. We’re not living for this world or trying to be comfortable. We’re trying to be more “Christ-like.” This world is not our home. We are just passing through. We are resident aliens in this world. We have a Father who owns a thousand cattle on a thousand hills. My Father is rich! We know that there are people all over the world that can’t eat like we do and don’t have anything near what we have in terms of shelter and just basic neccesities of life. So what God gives to us, we accept and we are thankful. I know that others who read this will not like what I’ve written. But it’s safe to say that all of us (including myself), whether we know it or not, or whether we like it or not… have too much love for money. It has become either our significance or our security. Money either makes you feel important and proud or it makes you feel safe and secure. Instead of God being our significance and security, money is. It is the alternative to God and it has enormous spiritual power over us.

We need to be aware of this. Now if you are someone who is struggling to make ends meet… or maybe you’re not even doing that… I know that our country is in recession. But God is still God and He is still in control. He’s sovereign over the affairs of men. He knows what He is doing. We can trust Him for all things. And even if God doesn’t do what we’d like for Him to do concerning our money and finances… let that not change our commitment to live for Him and our devotion to Him. Even if He doesn’t save us from this economic crunch, “Blessed be His Holy Name!” You have a wealthy Father and you are truly rich beyond all measure.

Habakkuk 3:17-18, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on teh vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there areno sheep in the pen and no cattle in teh stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”

If God has given you wealth, that’s great. More power to you… or I should say, “more money to you!” But with wealth comes great responsibility to be a great steward of what God has given you. Use it wisely. Apply the scattering principle, which is that the more you scatter your wealth, the more you’ll gather wealth in a different form. It’s called “Agricultural wealth.” Proverbs 11:24 and Psalm 112 pretty much says that he who scatters gathers and he who gathers scatters. It’s a paradox, but it works in God’s economy. In agriculture, you scatter seed and the more you scatter, the more you gather. The more you sow, the more you reap. But if you hold onto your seeds and won’t scatter them, you’ll starve. But if you’re willing to scatter your seeds and give it all away, you’ll gather. Now when you gather, it comes back in a better form. The only way for you to turn your wealth into real riches is by giving it away. I’m not talking about the wealth and health prosperity junk that’s out there. I’m not saying that if you give it away, God is somehow going to make you richer in the end… no. I’m saying God will give you wealth in a different form. Also, you will have broken the power of money over yourself.

In 2 Corinthians 8, St. Paul is trying to get people to give to the poor. And in doing so, he doesn’t go after their will. He doesn’t say to them, “You better give or God is going to punish you!” He also doesn’t go after their emotions. He doesn’t say to them, “You have to give because these people are so poor and look how much they’re suffering…” He goes after their hearts! 2 Corinthians 8:8 says, “No! Listen. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. That though He was rich, for our sake He became poor. So that you through His poverty might become rich.” He’s talking about Jesus. Jesus Christ on the cross was literally broken into pieces. On the cross, he was broken. On the cross, he was distributed. On the cross, he was scattered. Why? So that we could be gathered. Paul is calling us to see that Jesus on the Cross became the ultimate scattering to gather, the ultimate example of agricultural wealth. The cross is the picture of the ultimate act of generosity, the ultimate act of wealth distribution, the ultimate place of becoming poor in order to get real riches. Jesus gave up heaven and glory because He valued us more than those things. Jesus Christ is the ultimate treasure who died for us. Give your wealth away and you’ll receive ultimate joy.

I think the church needs to learn how to tithe. How a church gives is a reflection of how the church is doing. Proverbs 11:24 says, “One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.” The part about “withholds unduly…” is talking about a stingy person who is not giving away what is required. What would be required? In the Bible, it says 10%. In many places in the Bible, it’s says that if you’re not giving away at least 10% of your income to charity and to ministry every year, then you are disobeing God’s rule for generosity. But I think it’s more than that… tithe is the rule, but the Cross is the wisdom. Jesus didn’t save us by tithing His blood. Jesus didn’t save us by tithing His glory. We are alive by His giving of everything! Jesus’ Cross means sacrificial giving. Don’t you dare think you’re being wise about money if you only tithe! If it’s not making any measureable difference in the way in which you live, in the way in which you do things, in the way you take your vacations, in the way in which you buy things… you’re obeying the rule, but you haven’t brought the cross into your economic life. Everything already belongs to God… He’s just letting us keep most of what He’s given to us. An authentic believer who is striving to live in obedience to God, who is loving God will tithe faithfully to his or her church, but on top of that… they will give sacrificially to charities and to missionaries and to other ministries. This is hard, but this is God’s wisdom for His people.

Jesus Christ gave himself away and look at his harvest! It’s you… it’s me… it’s the people of God!

“No one can sever two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” (Matthew 6:24)

“Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:14-15)

As for the Kim Family… we will serve the LORD!

Son of Encouragement

William Arthur Ward once said, “Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore  me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you. Love me and I may be forced to love you.”

When my wife was prego with our daughter, we went through name after name. At that time, we didn’t know if it was a boy or a girl. But if the child was a boy, I wanted to name him Barnabas. There were a few other names that I liked as well, but Barnabas stuck out for me. My wife probably doesn’t remember this, but when I mentioned the name, she shot it down quickly and with might. She thought the kid will get ridiculed and be called “Barney” the rest of his life. Well, I still like the name and I like the person in the Bible even more!

Barnabas the man isn’t mentioned much throughout the Bible but whenever he does appear, he’s always seen in positive light. The first time he’s mentioned in the Bible is Acts 4:36. “Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostle called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostle’s feet.” Wow! What a man of character. His real name was Joseph and right away we see a glimmer of what sort of man he was. He was a man of great kindness and generosity. He sold what he had and then gave it away to meet the needs of the church. But more than that, the apostles called him Barnabas, which was his nickname. Everyone has nicknames, right? When I was younger, folks called me “Roadrunner” like the cartoon character because I ran fast and it seemed I would never tire. In football, my coach called me, “Studpuppy,” because… well, obviously i was! I was a good football player in high school despite my diminutive stature.

Around that time, there was a hater named Saul. The guy absolutely despised the Christians to a point he would go far away to find them, arrest them, and then bring them all the way back to have them in trial. He was the infamous guy who held people’s coats while they stoned and murdered Stephen in Acts 7. This infamous hater was on his way to Damascus when he had a conversion experience. The Lord Jesus met Saul and revealed Himself to him. Saul was saved and became Paul. He changed from being a hater of truth to a lover of Jesus. He was blinded by his vision of Jesus, but in reality, he could really see for the first time in his life. After this experience, Paul tried to join the church. But according to Acts 9:26, the disciples were afraid and didn’t believe that Paul had really been transformed. Here I can totally empathize with the disciples. Paul’s reputation precedes him and here he is, the persecutor who hates the church and now he wants to join the fellowship? I don’t think so. Rightly so, the disciples were afraid that this could be a trick to deceive the Christians. But this is where our hero shows up. Verse 27 says, “BUT Barnabas took him (Paul) and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.” Barnabas encouraged the disciples to accept Paul into their fellowship and it worked. Later on, Barnabas would accompany Paul on his missionary journeys. Think for a moment where Paul would be without Barnabas supporting him and encouraging him. As the Holy Spirit inspired him, Paul would go on to author almost two thirds of the New Testament. Where would Paul be without Barnabas? Then again, where would we be without Paul?

Barnabas is a hero! And who doesn’t need to be encouraged today? I know I do. I think everyone needs to be encouraged in some way or another often. Everyone needs a Barnabas in their life. And everyone should strive to be a Barnabas to someone every single day. Opportunities abound for us to encourage someone whether in word or deed… all we have to do is open our eyes and see.

“A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success.” (unknown)

Wedding Bliss

In less than two hours, I will be officiating a wedding.  It will be my second time ever officiating a wedding and for some reason, I’m not that nervous.  I was incredibly nervous at my first one, but I feel more confident today.  As I have a moment right now, I’m feeling incredibly contemplative and nostalgic about my own wedding day.  My wifey and I got married on November 24, 2007.  I can’t believe how fast time has flown by, but I still remember that day as if it happened yesterday.  We had a great wedding rehearsal and dinner with family and friends.  Our wedding day itself was just perfect.  The autumn falls were turning and falling and despite being a bit chilly, the sun was out.  I woke up knowing that my life is about to change forever.  Not only that, I woke up incredibly thankful that God brought me the perfect girl for me.  I had waited 30 years for her and today, I was going to meet my soul-mate.

We woke up early to take pictures… first at the hotel and then at the church.  It was a great time of fellowship and fun as the guys and gals in the wedding party laughed and posed and pretended that we were all superstars.  I began to get really nervous about half an hour before the start of the ceremony.  My boys and I went to the side of the room and they prayed over me.  They prayed for me, for Virginia, for our marriage, and for our ceremony.  I was so encouraged and so thankful for my groomsmen.  The wedding started and off we went to our places.  The Processional went perfectly with each bridesmaids coming down beautifully and radiantly.  All eyes were rightly fixed on them.  Even the flower girl, Eden, and the ring boy, Curtis… they were just perfect!  And then finally, my beautiful bride made her entrance with her dad.  Whenever I am in guest at a wedding, at these moments when the bride makes her entrance, I would often look back at the groom standing at the altar.  I would like to see what his reaction was.  Often, the look on the groom’s face was blissful joy.  I wondered what people would think when they looked at my face.  All I remember is that my eyes were glued to her and it was the happiest moment of my life.  She was beautiful… splendidly dressed in her white gown… indescribable joy welled up in me.  I was in love all over again.  And in my heart and mind, I praised God for giving me such a wonderful gift.

The ceremony went perfectly.  The officiating pastor did a superb job.  Everyone who was involved with the ceremony, including our wedding coordinators did a great job.  I was so happy.  My new bride was so happy.  The reception times were fun and full of laughter.  My favorite part was watching my wifey dance with her daddy.  It was a dance of love.  I don’t remember much from the reception, except that we took a lot of pictures and laughed a lot.  I do remember my wifey and I winning the dancing competition.  It was great!

I think it’s so right to have a wedding in front of family and friends because to not do so would not do justice to the great moment.  I think it’s also right that these great moments are celebrated in the Presence of God.  Weddings are important to God.  Marriage was sanctified and blessed by God.  The Book of Ephesians exalts marriage as the clearest picture of Christ’s relationship with His church.  Among all human relationships, marriage is the most sacred, satisfying and permanent.

Lord, you are a God of love.  Thank you for lavishing love upon my wifey and me.  May our lives be marked with love that comes from knowing you.

Bless me as a husband.  May my strength be her protection, my character be her boast and her pride and may I live in such a way that she may find in me the haven for which the heart of a woman truly longs.

Bless my loving wife.  Give her a tenderness that will make her great, and a deep sense of understanding and a great faith in you.  Giver her that inner beauty of soul that never fades, that eternal youth that is found in holding fast the things that never age.

Teach us that marriage is not living merely for each other; it is two uniting and joining hands to serve you.  Give us a greater spiritual purpose in life.  May we seek first Your Kingdom and Your righteousness.  May we minimize each other’s weaknesses, be swift to praise and magnify each other’s strengths, and see each other through a lover’s kind and patient eyes.

May we never take each other’s love for granted.  And when life is done and the sun is setting, may we be found then as now still, thanking God for each other.  May we serve you happily, faithfully, together, until at least one shall lay the other in the arms of God.  Amen.

Thank you for the gift of marriage.  Thank you my wifey.