2014 New Year UBF Senior Staff Meeting

From Jan 29-31, 2014 we had a senior staff meeting at the Double Tree Hotel in San Diego. Thirty four coworkers attended.

Thursday evening to Friday afternoon subcommittees discussed topics assigned and Friday evening there was a plenary session where following agenda were covered.

The agenda consisted of:

- Transitioning to 20 members to overseers (Acts 20:28) presented by Greg Lewis of Toledo

- North America UBF Chapter guideline for child education (Luke 2:52) (love for God, wisdom, service, friendship, discipleship) praise and worship, games, ice breakers. Group bible studies, personal prayer time, sermons/messages, eating fellowship, sports) Presenter was David Choi of Chicago. Useful website -

 http:// mbfhbf.blogspot.com

- UBF Guidelines for baptism, communion, weddings, funerals (UBF is non-denominational. Sample order of ceremony for baptism, communion, weddings, funerals made available by Pastor Ron.)

- House church by Dr Jim Rabchuck

(Bible study, Sunday worship, evangelism)

- Shepherding with integrity (a UBF code of ethics) by John Kwon (1 Tim 3:1-12) (Mat 9:36) (A process, accountability committee) 

Meeting was adjourned until tomorrow 8:00 am where program for the next N America staff meeting will be discussed.

Saturday morning Pastor Ron Ward presented the next Staff Conference Program, that is to study the Book of Galatians. The purpose is to rediscover the gospel and secure freedom from legalistic elements that might be present in the ministry.

The conference is from Wednesday till Saturday (6:25-28) in Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire. During this period we will study this book in 6 lectures.

Pastor Mark Vucekovich encouraged chapter directors to bring jonior shepherds/shepherdesses by communicating with him in advance for organization purposes.

Next senior staff meeting is to be May 22-24 in Chicago. 

Pastor Abraham Kim shared Prayer topics for:

**Andrew kim of sudan going to Egypt praying for Egypt then s Sudan (padiet deng and dr oyor Moses)

** Taipei - mark hsui from hong kong lost job, sp pray for his new job search

** Cambodia: Loyal and Grace Lee of kyunghee moon lost job and he needs to finish master degree

** Caleb kim of latvia (pray for self support ministry)

** CIA : peter and hanna oh of belarus (success in running Korean language school)

** Marcos Kim of argentina (childless)

** Pablo park of costa rica for his used car business

** Middle east - pakistan - church registration (more than 20 members are needed)

** Ab choi of saudi Arabia needs a permanent position

** Joan Kim of chicago going to Abudabi as a nurse (abudabi - hospital is being constructed)

Two truths or One Truth? [Missionaries shed blood for the Bible Korea, World Mission]

Only two truths or only one truth?

In the book "History of the World", J.M. Roberts writes at the end of the book, "Only two general truths emerge from the study of history. One is that things tend to change much more, and more quickly, than one might think. The other is that they tend to change much less, and much more slowly, than one might think. The past hangs around longer and is more difficult to keep peacefully buried, even by strenuous efforts, than we believe." (P. 1109)

But the Scripture advocates only one truth - the truth of the work of the gospel advancing from the Day 1 of Adam's fall to this date and beyond. Ninth century B.C., in 1 Kings 19:19 (through 21) we see the Lord commanding Elijah to anoint Elisha, whereupon Elisha burned the bridge behind, and became the servant of Elijah. Elijah means "Yahweh is God" whereas Elisha denotes "Yaweh is salvation". This looks to the appearing of Jesus the Savior who submitted himself to the will of God to save the world even to the point of death on a tree as a ransom sacrifice, only to rise again. (Phil 2:8-11) The history of Korea past and present is but one example this one truth. Watch two videos below.

So the history is "His" "Story", the story of Jesus, the story of true love.

Last Sunday Shepherd William Larsen called us to participate in this 'missionary' work on college campuses.

New House Church in Unilag (Univ. of Lagos, Nigeria) UB

On January 18, 2014, the Lord established a family between Bro Kunle and Sister Abigail. Bro Kunle is a lawyer working at  law firm. Sister Abigail studied French.Their parents are all pastors.Missionary Peter prays that 

they love Jesus and each other. May the Lord use them to preach the word to campus students.

Indiscriminate Killing in S Sudan

Msn Andrew asks for your prayer support! Jan 20, 2014

Dear prayer co-workers,

Please urgently pray for Malakal center in South Sudan. We heard that there has been severe fighting in Malakal for the last three days and people are being killed indiscriminately. They say that the situation is deteriorating from bad to worse. There has been a house-to-house killing of people. Some were killed in their houses and others were killed in their hospital beds. Women are being raped and killed. The UNMISS compound in Malakal is now home to 22,000 people who fled there to seek shelter from the conflict.

Our brothers who are in Juba say that shepherd Peter Angelo and Philip Angelo’s family are now in the compound of UNMISS in Malakal and shepherdess Regina, who is shepherd Johnson Deng’s wife, fled to an unknown area out of town with a baby who was born three weeks ago. However, we cannot communicate with them because all system of networks are down now. We don’t know the situations of the other brothers and sisters’ now. All lecturers in the university have moved to Juba, the capital of South Sudan, by a special airplane.

Dr. Oyor Moses is now in Egypt. Shepherd Johnson Deng, shepherdess Rose Peter, and Kimo (Philip’s wife) who delivered a baby two weeks ago are in Juba now. Please urgently pray for peace in South Sudan and our brothers and sisters’ safety.

Andrew Kim

-- 

In Christ,

Isaac H. Kim

LA UBF

http://laubf.com

http://isaachkim.blogspot.com

Cell: 562-714-0417

Paris UBF Sunday Worship

Sunday worship began at 10:30 and ended close to noon, Jan 19, 2013.

Dr. Marc served a message on 2 Ti 1:1-18 the Spirit of love power and self-discipline. 

About 40 plus people children included attended. 

Playing guitar Dr Marc led the worship in song. Before message two persons prayed. Hymn songs and offering followed the message. 

Sister Emmanuel shared a testimony.

 

She lives with a widowed mother. She prays that by faith she could find a thesis subject on Modern Theatrical Study on her PhD program so she could share the gospel as a professor at one of the Paris Decarte Universities.

After the worship I gave Dr Marc a gift which is a mug I bought in S Africa. Before presenting the gift I said, "Dr Marc this is a special mug I bought for you in S Africa. I give it to you to ask for your prayer support for Africa. Will you pray for and support the African mission?" He said "I will." So I gave it to him. I also took a picture with him to commemmorate the moment. 

He announced a winter Bible school during the last weekend of January and  exhorted people to invite students. 

Bible France World Campus Mission

Next desitination was to visit Dr. Marc Choi of Paris UBF. The flight for this trip began from Joberg to (Harare of Zimbabwe for stop over then to) Addis Abbaba of Ethiopia then to Charles De Gaule. The wait at the Addis Abbaba for the midnight flight was difficult (no toilets at the boarding area with limited seats.)

At the gate 3 the screen said "Hangzow" but the agent said "Go ahead: this is the boarding gate for the passengers going to Paris." I was confused so asked a passenger standing in line "You are not going to Hangzow China but to Paris are you?" He said "Paris! You know this is Ethiopean Airline!" I got the message and boarded the airplane with peace of mind.

Past midnight I was on board. It was a seven hours of flight to CDG. During the flight I read a novel "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad, describing an English man's adventure into Africa, the heart (land) of darkness. Here are some of the vocabularies and lines of interest.

- toga, chap

- We live in the flicker - may it last as long as the old earth keeps rolling!

- The worst that could be said of him (Marlow) was that he did not represent his class.

- He (one the Romans exploring England some 1900 years ago) has to live in the midst of the incomprehensible, which is also detestable. And it has a fascination, too, that goes to work upon him. The fascination of abomination - you know, imagine the growing regrets, the longing to escape, the powerless disgust, the surrender, the hate... Mind none of us would feel exactly like this. What saves us is efficiency - devotion to efficiency... What redeems it is the idea only. An idea at the back of it; not a sentimental pretence but an idea; and an unselfish belief in the idea - something you can set up, and bow down before, and offer a sacrifice to..."

Upon landing at the Charles DeGaul airport at 6:00 am I checked into a hotel near the Eiffel tower. In talking to Missionary Rebekah Choi of Paris UBF I learned this hotel is a little removed from the center so the next day I moved to a hotel near the Paris UBF center. 

Paris UBF does not have any meetings on Friday so that afternoon via Metro line I went out to a place called Shakespeare Street known as "the street of old bookstores." Nearby was the Notre Dame. There I saw modern day Quasimodos, Esmeraldas and Frollos floating around. 

Because of the trail I did in South Africa my legs remained sore. So I came back to the hotel and rested. 

This is 4th visit to Paris which shaped my view on the people of France:

- They (Parisians) believe in fashion style reflecting God's image. 

- They are thinking people just as Descartes said "I exist because I think." As a thinking people they try to make things creatively. Ex. - At the Mercury hotel they furnished the facilities with the stuff "made in France" not China. :-)

- Heavy Catholic influence (Consider Frollo in Victor Hugo's novel, a priest torn between obsession in continual lust and the church rules)

- Often they are a bit too creative, :-) as has been said by someone (unknown) - The British are good in doing what they are supposed to do; Germans good in not doing what they are not supposed to be doing; Russians are good in not doing what they are supposed to do, but the French are really good in doing what they are not supposed to be doing).

Bible South Africa World Campus Mission

On Jan 13, 2014 Monday we parted company, each going back home.

At first I planned to stay in Botswana three more days. But Missionary Daniel Rhee strongly urged me to visit Pretoria S Africa. (They bought a new Bible center.) Since I spent two days with Missionary Timothy and Deborah I changed mind and joined the group going back home via S. Africa by bus. 

After breakfast the bus left the conf site for S. Africa - a 4 hours of journey. In half an hour we crossed the border.

After 3 hours of drive we had lunch at Mc Donald. 

By 2:30 pm we arrived at the New Pretoria UBF Bible Center. 

After seeing off the Uganda team (Dr Joseph Chung family, Dr Samuel Yoo and Dr Like Lim) Missionary James Lee took us to a national park where along with Moses Yoon Peter Park Andrew Yoon and I had did a trail. At the top of the mountain, 2,348 m above the sea level, we had a bible study on Exodus 25:40, "The Lord commanded Moses, 'Make the tabernacle according to the pattern shown on the mountain.'" We thought about the question, "Why did the Lord give "this" command on the "mountain"(away from civilization)? (Read Isaiah 55:7-8 for an answer.)

On coming back from the park area to Pretoria Bible Center the next day as we saw off to the aitport Moses Yoon (to Korea) Peter Park (Nigeria) and Andrew Yoon (to Yabatech via Korea) I shared "the mystery of Christ" (Eph 2:15) prayed for them. 

Missionary Daniel Rhee and his wife Miso invited me to lunch at the Korean restaurant called Seoul Garden. After lunch he took me to the Sammy Marks Museum. Then he imvited me and James Lee to a dinner fellowship at his house.

January 16, 2014 Thursday 

Next morning at 8:45 am Missionary Josephine came to the guest house to pick me up. 

We visited the Melrose House to learn the history of S Africa during the Victorian age. Unlike the advertisement on the internet this museum remained in ruins so there was nothing to see. Josie explained that whites all left the area blacks moved in losing tourists. 

During the visit I had a good fellowship with Josie. (She is from Kyungbeemoon UBF. For 2 years she served the Lord in Riyadh as a nurse. Then she came back to Korea and married James Lee.)

She them dropped me off at the Hartfield

train station at 9:40 am. After prayer we parted company. I bought a ticket for the express train bound for the O.R.Tombo airport at Johannesburg.

Bible Botswana World Campus Mission

After Sunday worship at the Kaisong Conference Center from 2:00 pm Missionafy Timothy And Esther Chung led us to visit the theee national dounders monument, Taekwondo Center, Univ of Botswana, and Sports Center.

-Taekowndo Center

Tim is a martial artist (Taekwondo- 5 Dan black belt). His family is self-supporting through running a Taekwondo Center.

For a long time he had difficulties to find a lease at an ideal location. He prayed and prayed. Then just one day before the conference the Lord provided him with a space. 

A friend of Missionary James Lee of Pretoria S. Africa, who is also a Taekwon master donated mattress for the Center.

The center is located on the second floor of a building inside a private school compound. In this compound alone there are 10 churches. Presently more or less 30 students enrolled as trainee. He prays to double the number of trainees this year.

- Three national founders

Then Tim took us to a monument housing three persons who contributed major values (like education system infra structure such as dam) to building the

 foundation of the present Botswana as a nation. 

The guide said the statues were made in North Korea. :-)

- Campus visit

Then we visited the campus of the Univ of Botswana. We had a prayer meeting in front of library building. According to Missionary Devorah this library has the largest collection of books among all the libraries in Africa. :-)

- At the community sports center we had sports fellowship and a dinner. 

1 kings study

Solomon’s Adversaries

1 Kings 1:1-22:53

[Skim through the book, but pay closer attention to Chapters 11-14, particularly 11]

Key Verse 11:11

“So the LORD said to Solomon, "Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates.””

Welcome to the study of the 1 Kings. The Bible can be compared to a high mountain with many ridges and valleys. Each mountain has good vantage points here and there, which give you a panoramic view of a mountain range or ranges. In the case of 1 Kings, there are several good vista points. Chapter 11 is one, and chapter 14 is another. But since Chapter 14 (particularly, the part where the Lord God announced judgment upon Jeroboam and his descendants and the cause of it) is an offshoot of the event developed in Chapter 11 (which describes the cause of Solomon’s downfall). Tonight we will mainly focus on Chapter 11.

It has been observed that 1 Kings begins with glory and ends with disgrace, and that 2 Kings begins with turmoil and ends with disaster. King David’s adultery set this downward movement in motion. King Solomon’s promiscuity sped up the motion. In Psalm 90 Moses prayed, “Oh, Lord, establish the work of our hands!” No one wants to see the work of his hands come to nothing. Everyone desires to work hard and accomplish something. We work expecting that the work of our hands would stand forever. For example, would you marry someone only to divorce? Would you get into a PhD program only to be expelled?

Tonight then we would like to take a good look at the causes of Solomon’s downfall, for the study of this so-called “wise” (or wisest) King Solomon will help us to keep ourselves on secure ground. Regarding the causes of Solomon’s downfall, there are many conjectures and theories. Chapter 11:1-13, however, describe his problem in detail. Further, the three adversaries the Lord raised against him also help us better understand the problem. With this in mind let us delve into the three adversaries of Solomon and then come back to the discussion on 11:1-13, especially 11:11.  

First, Hadad the Edomite.

Hadad gives us an inside look at the way in which human activities are connected to deeper roots. Let us read 11:14-22. In these verses we find:

1. Satanic influence on Solomon. Verse 14 says, “Then the Lord raised up against Solomon an adversary…” Here the word “adversary” in Hebrew is “Satan,” which in English means “adversary”. This alludes to the fact that a lust problem traces its origin back to Satan. The problem Solomon had was no different than the problem of Eve. When tempted by the serpent, Eve gave a good look at the forbidden fruit and reflected on what the serpent said about the fruit. Then she ended up eating it. After becoming an adulterer she seduced her husband to eat the fruit as well. The Bible is clear about this point, for 1 John 3:8 reads, “He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.” But thank God. The Lord sent Jesus Christ to destroy the work of the devil, as 1 John 3:8b says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the work of the devil.”

2. Idol worship held a grip on Solomon. Hadad is the name of a Baal god worshiped in Palestine. With the desire to be like God, Satan puts himself in the place of the throne of God. Baal worship in the land of Canaan is one of the manifestations of the devil’s desire to be worshiped. In the case before us, it is interesting to note that Hadad is another name for a Baal god worshiped in Palestine. Why then was it Hadad who rose against Solomon? It is because by way of bowing down to the heathen gods worshiped by the unbelieving women he held onto in lust, he literally worshiped Satan. This means that by way of coming to the worship of the heathen gods Solomon exposed himself to harm’s way and the devil was free to come in and cause havoc to Solomon and his kingdom.

3. Solomon allowed his flesh to take an upper hand over his spirit and soul. Hadad was an Edomite, a man from the royal line of Edom.  Edom refers to the descendants of Esau, Jacob’s brother. Esau is the anti-thesis of Jacob. Jacob represents spirit, whereas Esau represents the flesh. There is always a conflict between the flesh and spirit. The Bible commands us to let the spirit rule over the flesh (John 6:63; Genesis 2:7). But as Solomon succumbed to his fleshly desires, naturally, Edom, the king of flesh, came to take control over him. The Bible says, “Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up.” And the first thing on the list is “A servant who becomes a king.” Here a “servant” refers to what is fleshly. We should not let the flesh rule over us. Otherwise we will only suffer. In fact, when a man of flesh rules, the whole house, fellowship, kingdom, and even the whole earth trembles.

4. Love of the world took over Solomon. Note that Hadad fled to Egypt and Pharaoh was so pleased with him that he gave his sister-in-law in marriage. This turn of events is very interesting and revelatory for it reveals the truth that the cause of one’s downfall begins with leaving a spiritual land for Egypt, which is symbolic of the world. Moses fled from Egypt to the Promised Land, but Hadad went the other way around. The Bible says, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” The Israelites used to live in Egypt as a slave nation. The Lord God had mercy on them. In his great mercy the Lord saved them “out of Egypt” into worshiping him. But by first marrying with the daughter of Pharaoh, he effectively invited the world into his private life. Then he lost his heart to the world. This constitutes the cause of his downfall. Why then should one not go back to the world? Why should one flee from the love of the world? What is wrong with loving the world? First of all, while the love of the Father is not in him the world then causes backfire. It gathers forces to bring havoc to house of the worldly. Consider the exchange of conversations between Pharaoh and Hadad in vs. 17-20: “What have you lacked here? Nothing! But do let me go!” Verses 17-20 provide us with so much information about Hadad. In Egypt, he enjoyed high status. As he was closely related to the Pharaoh of the Egyptian Empire he lacked nothing. Yet, why did he decide to go back to Israel all of a sudden? Why did he leave all the success behind and choose to suffer in rebelling against Solomon? The only logical answer is because the Lord caused him to rebel against King Solomon. Solomon sinned. The point of sinning was to scorn the love of God and lust after the things of the world, only to fall victim to the temptations of the world.  

Second, Rezon the leader of a band of rebels.

Let us read 11:23-26. Here we see a pattern of Solomon’s downfall, which is more or less the same as what we saw in regard to Hadad.

1. Satanic influence on Solomon: verse 23 states, “And God raised up against Solomon another adversary…” This expression, especially the word “adversary,” gives us a glimpse into the spiritual world. In a physical realm it looks as if people operate with their own ideas or agendas. But in the invisible realm, we know that the Lord God is in control of all that are going on. Nothing escapes the sphere of his rule. And the Lord God has all different ways to punish those who need to be punished.

 

2. Solomon changed his master from the Lord God to heathen gods. Rezon is described as the son of Eliada, who fled from his master. The personal background of Rezon reveals another cause of Solomon’s downfall, that is, fleeing from his master for something or someone else. Being the “son” of the one who fled from his master, Rezon rose to cause trouble to Solomon who fled the God of Israel, his master. The Bible says, “The ox knows his master; the donkey knows his manger…” (Isaiah 1:3). But Solomon became worse than an ox or a donkey. Even a donkey knows his manger. A manger is a food box (trough) where animals feed. In Solomon’s case the Lord God provided him with so many things [cf. Read 1 Kings 4:20-28 for Solomon’s daily provisions.]. Yet he did not recognize the Lord as his master. Rather he turned his back to his master and went to worship idol gods. What then will God do to him?

3. Solomon exposed himself to the spirit of rebellion. Rezon is described as “the leader of a band of rebels.” The word “rebel” means those who are rebellious. A band of rebels is tantamount to a bunch of gang-bangers in our day. Rezon was a leader of the gang-bangers of Solomon’s day. Rebels make a living by breaking laws, peace, and orders of a society. This reminds us of Romans 2:8, “But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.” By disobeying the Lord’s commands and departing from the Lord’s decrees, Solomon rebelled against the Lord. Then the Lord raised Rezon, the ring leader of a bunch of professional thugs, to teach him a lesson.

4. Solomon lost the sense of mission. The rebels went to Damascus, where they settled and took control. According to 2 Samuel 8:5-6, with a pioneering spirit, David conquered Damascus and included the area into his empire. But now that Solomon sinned against God, he lost the sense of mission. In its place, a pleasure seeking desire took over. As a leader of the kingdom of priests and a holy nation, he was supposed to work hard to get people educated on the Bible and trained to bring God’s light to all peoples on earth. When God’s people lose the sense of mission, what will happen to the nation? The nation will lose territories. They will lose the tug of war. So, instead of Israelites under Solomon taking control over Damascus, a bunch of thugs began to take control over the area. Figuratively speaking, the rebels who settled in Damascus and took control over Damascus are like a certain section of one’s body becoming cancerous. The tissues around will continue to deteriorate, making the whole body dead. The Bible says that Rezon became Israel’s adversary as long as Solomon lived. It is interesting to note that Rezon is described as “Israel’s” adversary as long as “Solomon” lived. This indicates that it was specifically due to the sin of Solomon that all of Israel came to suffer.  

 

Third, Jeroboam, one of his favorite officials.

Let us read verses 27-40. These verses show us:

1. Solomon invited enemies of God into the inner life of the Israelites. To teach him a lesson on what it is to keep the life of God’s people watertight from worldly influence the Lord God raised an enemy of God from someone inside, that is Jeroboam, an Ephraimite, which means that Jeroboam was from one of the 12 tribes of Israel. This man represents an enemy within. When Solomon sinned, the Lord God also raised enemies from within. Specifically, Solomon had built the supporting terraces, and he saw how well the young man did his work. This is the account of Jeroboam. What is interesting here is the reason why Solomon recruited him. The supporting terraces refer to the terraces mentioned in 1 King 9:24. “After Pharaoh’s daughter had come up from the city of David Solomon had built for her, he constructed the supporting terraces.” The terraces were for Pharaoh’s daughter. Solomon appointed Jeroboam to be in charge of the forced labor working on the project. Jeroboam did so well that Solomon promoted him to be in charge of the forced labor from the house of Joseph. It was no coincidence that the Lord appointed Jeroboam to take the ten tribes of Israel out of the hands of Solomon.

 

2. Solomon tried to get the best of both worlds. Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but he fled to Egypt. This turn of events also indicates that you cannot get the best of both worlds. Solomon loved the world. In fact, having been sold by the beauties of the world, he even married the daughter of the unbelieving Pharaoh. Then he tried to kill Jeroboam, who in turn fled to the dungeon of the wicked, the house of Pharaoh. This reminds us of what James says in James 4:4, “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”

Now let us stop for a moment and re-examine Solomon’s problem as mentioned partially in 11:9-11.

Verse 9 says that his heart had turned away from the God of Israel who had appeared to him twice. Why did his heart turn away from the God of Israel? Was it because he did not know God sufficiently enough to know that it is not a good idea? The answer seems to be “No,” for in the first place it was out Solomon’s own mouth that it was said, “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” The Scripture also says that the Lord appeared to him not once but twice.

Why then did he turn away from the Lord? 11:4 says that as Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God as the heart of David his father had been. This passage raises another question: “As one grows older, one tends to become more experienced on what is right or wrong, so that he can get wiser. Why then did he become stupider as he picked up human age?” Normally, when one is young, because of his youthful passions, it gets harder to control lustful desires. But in Solomon’s case it appears that things worked the other way around. Solomon lived to be 52. This is based on the assumption that he became a king at the age of 12, as some Jewish resources maintain. We are told that he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. We are also told that it took 7 years to build the temple but 14 years to build his palace. Seven plus 14 equals 21. Let us assume hypothetically that he started out the temple project during the relatively early period of his reign, let’s say 14. Let us also assume that as soon as he completed the temple he started working on the palace. This gives us this number: 14 + 21 = 37; 52-37 = 15. For the remainder 15 years of his life he indulged in pleasures of the flesh using what he had built. Most likely, he got involved in this pleasure seeking lifestyle in the royal palace with his women. And the deeper he got into this pleasure seeking lifestyle, the weaker he became spiritually, so that he was able to exercise self-control less and less. This analysis reminds us of the problem Mr. Felix had, as described in Acts 24:24-25. “Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. As Paul discoursed onrighteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, ‘That's enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.’ ”

The expression, “the Lord appeared to him twice,” supports our conclusion in that the second time the Lord appeared to him was after Solomon had completed both the temple and his palace. Unlike the first time the Lord appeared to him, when the Lord appeared the second time he issued a strong warning against Solomon: “But if you...turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land…” One may say, “Look, everyone needs a shepherd. Solomon does too. But Solomon was without a shepherd. So he lacked discipline.” But we know that it is difficult for any human shepherd to shepherd over a man like King Solomon. After all, wasn’t he a king, the top gun? Plus he was known as one of the wisest men. Yet, the Lord God chose to be a shepherd over him. As a shepherd the Lord appeared to him at a critical moment and warned him about the consequences of him turning away from the Lord.

So what was Solomon’s problem? The answer that comes to mind then is “over-confidence.” He was confident that despite the challenges, such as the number of unbelieving women influencing him into worshiping idol gods, he should be able to sort things out and come out to the right path on his own. But it was a miscalculation. His own word testifies against him: “Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud…” (Pro 18:12). Consistent with this proverb, the Apostle Paul says, “It is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh…” (Philippians 3:3).

This observation leads us to the key verse we have for tonight, 1 Kings 11:11, “So the LORD said to Solomon, ‘Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates…’ ” Here the Lord pointed out Solomon’s problem: his attitude. It has been said, “In the school of success attitude is everything.” With this in mind, let us all read Philippians 2:5-11. Solomon lacked a humble attitude. At first he was humble, but later he became proud.

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  So the conclusion is that Solomon’s real adversary was himself, particularly him maintaining a relativistic attitude towards the Lord and his word.          

One word: your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus

Class Exercise:

---

1. How long did it take Solomon to complete the Temple? [                   ] years
2. How long did it take Solomon to build his royal palace? [                    ] years
3. How many times did the Lord appear to Solomon? [               ] times
4. When was it that the Lord appeared to him the second time? [                    ]
5. How long did Solomon rule as king? [                   ] years
6. What was the key to his success as a “governor”? [Give a Bible verse] [              ]
7. True or false: Solomon’s downfall came because (or because of):

1. T ____ F _____ his wives misled him
2. T ____ F _____ he was not able to overcome lustful desires
3. T ____ F _____ over-confidence
4. T ____ F _____ poor attitude [toward the Lord and his word]
5. T ____ F _____ all of above

8. Which of the following statements in regard to the wisdom and the word of God is correct?

6. Wisdom is more important than the word of God
7. The word of God is more important than wisdom
8. Both bear equal importance
9. None of the above is correct

Preach the Word! 2 Tim 4:2

The African coworkers hosted The 2014 New Year conference from January 10 to 12 at Gaborone, Botswana. 

From the US Dr. Abraham Kim and his wife, Shepherd Kevin Albright of Chicago and I attended the conference. I carried in an immigration bag 50 towels with the conference title "Preach the Word" (2 Ti 4:2) printed thereon, socks, and other gifts. I also carried christmas offerings addressed to the Botswana UBF.

The total round trip hours including layover added up to 78 hours 40 muinutes (including stopover period in CDG Paris) going from LA to Paris then to Addis Abbaba to Joberg, then to Gaborone and back to LA. Airfare added up to $2,595.48.

The layover at the Charles De Gaul airport for 15 hours was extremely difficult; the weather outside the airport was windy cold and gloomy, and inside at the departure lounge was furnished with hard chairs with no possibility to lie down.

There was only 15 minute free wifi service so I bought 24 hour package for 10 Euros; the company gave me username and password but they did not work. 

I copied from the UBF Missionary Address book the phone no of Dr. Mark Choi the director of Paris UBF. But the nos were outdated. So staying inside I read Henry David Thoreau (7/12/1817 - 5/6/1862).

The vocabularies I looked up in the dictionary included: Quarry, bay (as in a dog baying the moon in farmlands), burgle, impel, rill, ditty, patter, quire, rustle, sough, hale, gad, muscarat, perchance.

Like gold or silver nuggets the book offered insights or interesting remarks/views on man, animal and nature. Below I bothered to quote a few of them as many as my two thumbs allowed me to type on my iphone.

** That ancient universe  is in such capital health I think undoubtedly it will never die. Heal yourselves, doctors; by God I live. - Then Idle time ran gadding by

And left me with eternity alone;

I hear beyond the range of sound, I see beyond the verge of sight.

** The Universe seems bankrupt as soon as we begin to discuss the character of individuals. :-). !!!

** To say that a man is your friend, means commonly no more than this, that he is not your enemy.

** A worm is as a good traveller as a grasshopper or a cricket, and a much wiser settler. With all their activity these do not hop away from drought nor forward to summer. We do not avoid evil by fleeing before it, but by rising above or diving below its plane; as the worm escapes droughts and frosts by boring a few inches deeper. The frontiers are not east or west, north or south, but wherever a man fronts a fact, though that fact be his neighbor, there is an unsettled wilderness between him and Canada between him and the setting sun, or further still between him and it. Let him build himself a log house with the barkon  where he is, fronting IT, and wage there an Old French War for seven or seventy years, with Indians and rangers, or whatever else may come between him and the reality, and save his scalp if he can.

- Why should they eat their sixty acres when man is condemned to eat only his peck of dirt? 

- The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom ---on fruits, cab be preserved only by delicat-e handling. Yet we do not treat ourselves nor one another thus tenderly.

On Friday at 7:00 pm Via Air Botswana I iarrived at the Conference site located at about 20 minutes away from the airport. Donald from the conference site greeted me with UBF sign.

Conference took place at the Kafisong Comference Center. Total 40 attended. Most of the African shepherd could not atend some due to financial reason some visa problems some for both. Timothy and Hanna Chung of Tanzania did not attend.

Friday schedule:

Opening message by Andrew Kim

Chapter reports (in a separate file)

Two group bible studies (1st on 1 Tim 1:1-20; 2nd on 1 Ti 2:1-3:16)

News/announcement - Shepherd Daniel Rhee resigned from the position - Korean UBF Representative for Africa. From this year on Moses Yoon of Chong-no UBF Seoul Korea will replace him.

I slept at room 11. I shared room with James Lee of Zimbabwe. 

Saturday January 11, 2014

Motning - 3rd group bible study (1 Ti 4:1-5:25)

Afternoon - 4th group bible study (1 Ti 6:1-21)

5th group bible study ( 2 Ti 3:14:8)

Main message by Dr. Abraham Kim "Preach the Word"  (2 Ti 4:2)

Next year new year comference will take place in Kenya Nairobi either the last weekend of 2014 or the first of 2015. The direction is to invite national leaders as well as missionaries. The language will be solely in English with Korean translation on a projector.

Sunday Morning:

I woke up at 5:00 am, came out of the cabin #11 took a deep breath. The morning air was fresh though a little chilly. 

After taking a walk around the camp I sat down on a rock to pray. 

Then I met Phillip Lee of Sudan. I listened to him. We shared prayer topics and prayed together. 

From 10:30 am we shared testimonies. (Dr Abraham and Missionary Daniel Rhee served Korean missionaries, whereas I served the testimony meeting among African shepherds)

Andreas Cortese of Cape Town was mindful of the call for the evangelism of 55 African nations by African leaders. He is father of a lovely daughter Sarah Little. He caught 2 Tim 4:2 as the New Year direction for the Capetown UBF. 

Shepherd Desmond a shepherd from WITS UBF is an engineer working at a lab of a small comapny of Joberg analyzing mineral components. He has a heart for his father and brother. His father lives 400 plus kms away. He prays to be a better witness to his family members. 

Shepherd Abijah finds himself introverted very much like Timothy, though he works as a policeman at a local police station. From next week on he, joseph kim, and joshua surh and Daniel Rhee will have a worship service separately from James Lee and shepherd Christian.

Shepherd Christian Coetsee used to live as a pleasure seeking man. The Lord had mercy on him saved him from a pleasure seeking life to the life of mission as a campus shepherd. In the past he never understood what it is to teach the Bible to college students. Now the Lord helped him understand how to carry out this mission. To live as a fruitful Bible teacher he learned that he needs to go through strict self disciple be a godly man pray and preach the Word. He works full time as a financial manager at a small company. He prays to repent of the desire for money for the sake of financial independence.

Pastor Kevin Albright has four sons and one daughter. During college days 1984 one year after his father's death he was invited to a UBF spring conference where he met Jesus or rather Jesus found him.

He repents of spending too much time searching internet for secular music. According to his new year key verse psalm 1:2 he prays to meditate on God's word and discharge his duties as a minister. 

I shared my testimony. 

2 Timothy 4:2 NIV

[2] Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage---with great patience and careful instruction.

This passage has 3 parts: what to do in general how to do what to do and areas of work that need to be done.

What to do in general

How to do

Areas of work

The Word refers to Jesus the Savior. In the book of Romans paul elaborated in detail the way of salvation that is by faith in jesus.

For this I need to be prepared. For this I got published the book of romans. I also uploaded it online in audio files. 

The Word refers to all Scriptures which in turn testify about Jesus. 

Thus far the Lord enabled me to publish 39 lectures on 39 OT books. It is my ambition to get 27 lectures on the 27 NT books in the early part of the new year.

Areas of work in preaching has three categories: correction rebuke and encouragement.

Correction: daily i need to correct myself so i would be in sync with jesus. I do not live the old life without jesus but live the new life in jesus. This is my biggest thanks topic and prayer topic. It is a thanks topic for thanks to him giving me new life I no longer had to carry old sinful self and struggle to babysit. 

It is a standing prayer topic for as the apose paul warned I can so easily lose Jesus my head. 

2 Timothy 4:5 NIV

[5] But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

Here "all" means "all". In modern term all means 24/7. 

During the conference time I lost Jesus my head for a while. Due to jet leg I felt tired. Then the title preach the word hit me as burdensome. So I said to M James my roommate "you know when I was in my thirties I was so full of vision that walking on the UCLA campus I thought I could turn the whole world to Jesus. But as Grew old I lost vision. Even as I am here looking at the African mission field I lost conviction for the Bible Africa and the world campus mission."  In this way I became a source of curse to James. But this morning I woke up at 5:00 am went out to a solitary place and c prayed. Then I recovered jesus my head. Instantly tiredness was gone. Joy filled my heart. 

Heavenly Father thank you for the blessed call to Preach the Word! Please help me to hold onto  this call despite all of my limitations! One word: preach the Word

We closed the testimony sharing with pastor Kevin praying.

Sunday worship

Jesus' Early Morning Prayer 

Mark 1:21-45

By Missionary Timothy Chung

Jesus drove out demons. Jesus healed Perer's mother of fever. During evening many brought the sick. That night Jesus must have been tired. The next morning without an alarming clock Jesus woke up early next morning. Jesus went out ro a solitary place. There he prayed for God's wisom love and power to help the helpless. Psalm 5:1-3 

If Jesus prayed how much should we?!

There are obstacles to prayer. One is doubt! He found it hard to find a space for Taekwondo. But when he kept praying the Lord granted him a nice place near the college campus. 

There are many problems these days. 

Botswana is a good country. School tuition is free. Wifi is free at the school dorm. College graduates can find jobs. There are 10 churches near the Taekwon club. But AIDS is raging in Africa. His family came to Cameroon 2004. Then his family moved to Botswana. May the Lord bless us to serve the African people with the early morning prayer.

Hymn - Tell it to Jesus Alone

Offering - Cbf special song

Dr Abraham Kim made an announcement: thank God - 1) for Daniel Rhee and his wife having served more than 20 years; 2) Moses Yoon replacing him; 3) Isaac H Kim continues to sercing as the US representative for Africa.

When we have God's Word with it through prayer the Lord empowers us to emvangelize Africa! 

Special prayers for Sudan and S. Sudan. 

European and CIS summer bible comference in the latter part of August and the International Leadership Conference among continental directors.

Happy New Year

Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your strength. Deut 6:4,5

In reading the passage a question arises, "Why does the Scripture emphasize the 'one'[ness] of the Lord?"

An answer is found in the passage that immediately follows: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength." And the answer is the security complete integrity of a person and thereby of 'all'.

One is not what is divided but united as dictionary defines it. Dictionary.com says there are no definitions available for the word 'one'. Miriam Webster defines it: being a single unit or thing; being one in particular; being preeminently what is indicated; being the same in kind and quality; constituting a unified entity of two or more components; being in agreement or union; being a certain individual specified by name; only.

 Heart can be broken, soul can be crushed, and strength might be gone. When one's person falls into disrepair how can one fix him up? The answer is to love the Lord who is 'one' with one's 'all'. The Lord is the source of oneness; he is the Lord of divine singularity.

This way is also the way to keep the integrity of one's relationship with one's neighbors. Many are broken hearted due to the broken relationships with one's neighbors. A mother suffering from the broken relationship with her daughter or son, a wife estranged from her husband, divorcees, and children from broken families bleeding inside. And here in the U.S. so many suffer from the 'father' problem. A father who has a problem with his own father is prone to have a problem with his own son who in turn is open to dropping the ball in his relationship with his children.

The cure? There is no magic remedy except for this: Hear O Israel, the Lord 'our' God is one. He is my God and your God, as each person loves his or her God who is one, all will be one.

The Lord God wants all of his children to be happy. He wishes you and me a very "Happy New Year". So the Lord says, "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is 'one'!"