Count Me In, Won…

​Good morning dear brothers, sisters, and friends... may your Thursday be one that is productive and blessed! Just want to say that I'm so looking forward to our Men's Meet-Up on Friday night.

As of 30 seconds ago, we have 8 men signed up. This past Sunday our EM attendance was 115 which is wonderful! Let's keep striving for more!!

Hold up Won...are you one of those pastors that's all about attendance #s and baptism #s so that you can boast to your pastor buddies about how your church is growing and thriving? Do you struggle with finding your identity in the growth and size of your church? Don’t you know that the Kingdom of God is vast and that when other churches thrive in growth, you should not be competing but rejoicing?!?

Yes…honestly, sometimes I do struggle in such ways...a whole lot less than some years ago, but it's still a sin I need to "put to death."

But let's be biblical about this because the Word gives us many lists or counts of people. Here are some examples: Israel took census counts, military counts, the early church took conversion and disciple counts (120, 3000, 5000 in Acts alone), they created lists of widows, counts of disciples, etc etc. Counting is entirely biblical; the motivations for counting may be unbiblical.

​So where am I going with this? Well, if we had 115 in attendance this past Sunday, and if we split that count in half by sex, that's 58 women & 57 men, but in actuality, the ratio according to studies show women outpace men in church commitment and attendance. But let's just say it's 57 men...8 of 57 is an abysmal 14% (sorry..not trying to be a Debbie downer..that was the first word that came to mind!).

Brothers / Men, please let me count the reasons why it might be good for you to make it out to our meeting:

1. The Lord doesn't need you there, but He wants you there.

2. You need to be sharpened in character and you need to sharpen others in their character (as iron sharpens iron).

3. If married, your wives need you to be there...if you have kids, your kids will benefit as well.

4. I need you to be there for my spiritual vitality and health.

5. We're gonna have fun chowing down on some yummy Brasilian food.

6. Brother Tyler Kim will be sharing an epic testimony.

7. Both the NY Giants and Jets need our collective support and prayers (btw, Ridgewood's own Younghoe Koo picked up by NY Giants).

​To wrap this up, if you have something going on Friday night, I totally get it and I'm not about guilting anyone into anything, really. But if you haven't given it much thought, and your Friday night is still free, why not make it out? RSVP here:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1B5123YiaS60FGEbhIXoAp6nJKQzxPplvQhHvh4WxCe4/edit?usp=sharing

Prayer Is Looking God in the Eyes

Many of us grew up as third culture kids [TCK]. TCK is a term sociologists created to define children who were raised in a cultural environment different from their immigrant parents'. I am a TCK and navigating the east/west divide has at times been tricky at best and angst-inducing at worst.

I recall learning very quickly to never ever look at my father’s face, let alone his eyes, when he disciplined me. If I ever came close to this, it was quickly turned away by a hard slap to the cheek or a knuckle against the forehead. When I was young, fear was the emotion that overwhelmed me until later in life when fear took a backseat to hostility as a hot-blooded Korean. This was the eastern culture side of my identity.

But then as a 5 year old who was very fluent in Korean (believe it or not), I entered St. Mary’s Roman Catholic school for kindergarten. Almost immediately I learned that not looking at the faces of teachers, authority figures, coaches, and especially Sister Mary Elizabeth (school principal), would warrant a similar, albeit western, slap in the face reaction (corporal punishment was no joke in the RC school system). “Look at me when I speak to you!” was the western culture side of my identity.

What does all this have to do with prayer? Before Christ Jesus, we were not able to be face-to-face with Yahweh. Recall Moses’ experience after Israel’s dreadful, even grotesque incident with the golden calf. Moses requests that God show him his glory [Ex. 33], and while the LORD obliges, He only allows Moses to see his backside glory:

Exodus 33:18–23 ESV

[18] Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” [19] And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. [20] But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” [21] And the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, [22] and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. [23] Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”

But God (pun absolutely intended!)…in Christ Jesus!!!

The Koine Greek word for prayer is προσεύχομαι (proseuchomai). It literally means “facing toward, before.” My dear sisters & brothers, think about what this means. It means that we can look God in the eyes with our tear-strewn eyes and cry out in submission, confession, petition, supplication, intercession, praise, and thanksgiving.

Please consider this powerful truth and let it transform and motivate your prayer lives, your relational communion with our Abba Father.

The Relationship of Prayer

[9] Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. [10] Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. [11] Give us this day our daily bread, [12] and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. [13] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

~ Matthew 6:9-13 ESV

The Lord’s Prayer is more than a set of words—it’s an invitation into the heart of God. Jesus didn’t just teach us what to pray or how to pray. He showed us that He came to be the Way for us to be able to pray to Our Father.

“Father” reminds us of our identity—we are God’s children, beloved and cherished.

Notice how Jesus begins his teaching to his disciples…not with a title of grandeur, but of affection:  Appa / Abba (it's pretty universal). You cannot get any more personal.

Without question, prayer is a spiritual discipline, but it is just as much a relational communion. And while it is so easy to neglect and squander, when we return to sweet fellowship with our Abba through prayer, the Father is always waiting to delight in us!

Prayer starts with and ends with relationship, not performance. Relationship  Therefore, before we ask for anything, let’s remember who we are speaking with.

But one more thing before I let you go. Let’s dare not forget the possessive adjective, “our”. This hit home for me in an experience I had 13 years ago while I was ironically, readying to lead (all-the-while dreading) a corporate prayer gathering with my churchplant family. Here’s the journal blog entry:

[Friday, March 16, 2012]

Dear Maranatha,

CPG Tonight @ 7:30pm (if you need a shuttle pickup, please call 201-298-3377) *CPG = corporate prayer gathering

So the other night, Owen anxiously volunteered himself to pray for our family dinner. He did so because he likes to pray, which is to our delight, but also because he's always excited to eat (this also delights us).

His prayer started off strong with as much passion a hungry six-year old can muster, "Dear Gawd... thank you for the gospel and God's glory. And thank you that Jesus died upon the cross for our sins. Please help those who don't know the gospel to know it, and please help those who don't know you be saved. And please help the children in China have milk and food..."

But then he got stuck, and he really struggled with not knowing what to pray for or even say next. And as he stopped mid-thought and stammered with a succession of "And... and... umm... and... uhhh... and..." I sensed him getting discouraged and even slightly upset that the words were no longer flowing with ease (I'm sure he was also frustrated for being the reason our meal was delayed!).

At that moment, as I was about to bail him out, his big sister Bethany chimed in with, "And thank you so much for mom preparing for us this yummy dinner" and almost simultaneously his bigger sis’ Madelyn offered a "Please help us to love each more self-lessly because You sacrificed Your Son for us..." and soon it became this corporate, family affair-prayer as Diane and I also pitched in. The brief moment was truly glorious, and the dinner was dee-lish!

As one member of the body struggled to pray, we struggled together as a family and through the experience, God revealed his heart for us as a family. Owen needed his family to help him as he faced some difficulties even as he was attempting to pray.

And as much as I'd like to say I never struggle with prayer, I'd be lying through my teeth! My prayer life seems so ineffective and shallow and contrived. So this is one of the reasons why we pray together as a church family...we hope to experience praying for one another altogether, but we also gather like this to experience God using another to help us in our time of not knowing how to pray or what to pray for. This is how God has designed us to live life, as a community of God's redeemed people, loving and serving the body of Christ sacrificially and engaging the mission prayerfully because He is our Father.