This sermon-only transcript omits timestamps, worship music, announcements, and session logistics. YouTube’s automatic captions may contain errors.

Good evening. It's so good to be with you here at West Coast Korean Camp Meeting. And yes, I did grow up in the Spencerville, Washington, Spencerville Korean Church. And I have very fond memories of coming to the West Coast because my grandfather Kim Hanok Mukanim was pastor of the Glendale Church for many years. So I have such good memories of coming to California during the zero humidity or what it felt like for for many years and my cousins uh went to PUC some of you may know Michelle Elliot Alex Kim are my cousins so very good fond memories and this is my first time to West Coast camp meeting and I just want to thank the organizers everyone's been so welcoming to me and my family and it's just a awesome privilege to be with you here throughout this week. I want to invite you to pray with me as we start. Father in heaven, we thank you for this investment of time that your people have taken out of their busy schedules to be

here this week. And we know that this time is not lost. It's quantified. It's an investment in eternity. And we pray that you'd bless every family that is represented here. Lord, you know that my lips are made of clay. I'm a weak vessel and we pray that you would use me for your glory and for your honor in Jesus name. Amen. Number of years ago I had the uh privilege of going to New York City. This was when I was in college in the 90s and I was part of a choir and we decided had some time off we'd go to the base of the Statue of Liberty. decided, why don't we climb it? And it's a hollow statue. And on that particular day, there was a line that wrapped around the base of it. And there's a staircase that goes inside. On that particular day, the the torch was going under some construction. You could only go to the crown. And we waited for what seemed like an eternity,

15 minutes sometimes, on one step. And up at the neck, it's a spiral staircase. Many of us were on our hands and knees, musty, foul air. But all of us thought this is going to be worth it because when we got to the top, I imagine like sound of music like the Alps, epic euphoria. So I go, it's just waiting. Everyone is there two hours and then we stepped out on the platform and I was like here it is the moment. I love this country. Don't misunderstand me please. And what we saw were these plexiglass slits are all scratched up. And I remember the gal behind me. She was like a Korean Korean like a real one. not like me like Chinja and and it was like she said she said this is it and and and there were so many people waiting behind us that we felt like bad and we could only stay there for like two minutes and we're coming down the other side.

It's a different staircase and I wish I could tell everyone coming up. It's not worth it. Don't do it. This is bad investment. But I couldn't. I couldn't. And our choir teacher, she got all philosophical. She said, "You know, this is kind of like life." She said, "You wait your whole life to get to a certain point and then it's downhill from there." I had no understanding of what she's talking about, but she's right. I mean, I'm middle-aged right now. It's like all downhill. And this is this is a statement from Jack Higgins, the author of the book The Eagle Has Landed. The only thing he knows now at the high point of his career that he wished he had known as a small boy is this. When you get to the top, there's nothing there.

And I think that there there's something about human nature. I'm reading a book on dopamine and dopamine is a neurotransmitter. It's the molecule of more. Dopamine. We need it. But it's something like dopamine has this effect of where you are striving for something that is in the future, but then when you get it, there's the let down. And here's the person that had it all, Solomon. He says, "Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, like chasing after the wind. Nothing was gained under the sun. Solomon is coming down the other side of the Statue of Liberty and he's saying, "Look, there's nothing there.

Absolutely nothing there." And this is uh from Dion Sanders in his book. He played offense and defense, world champion multiple times. And he says this, "I had just had the best season of my career. Everything I t touched turned to gold. But inside I was broken and totally defeated. I remember sitting at the back of the practice field one afternoon away from everybody. Tears were running down my face. I was saying to myself, "This is so meaningless. I'm so unhappy. We're winning every week and I'm playing great, but I'm not happy." He talks about how he got on the phone after winning the Super Bowl. He buys a Lamborghini cash and he hangs up and he's like, "I'm so empty." He goes on, "I tried everything, parties, women, buying expensive jewelry and gadgets, and nothing helped. There was no peace.

The Bible describes it in the first chapter of Ecclesiastes as chasing after the wind." And that's exactly what it was like. I tried to buy myself something to make me happy. And I was even emptier than before. All I could do was stay busy, occupy my time, doing whatever I could to keep working so the feelings of emptiness wouldn't come to haunt me. The pain was horrible. Few other quotes here. Sylvester Stallone. I thought I'd reached a point in life where everything would be smooth, but it's not. It just gets more jagged and pitted and filled with turns that take you into the dark recesses of your mind. It never seems to get easy.

Will Chamberlain. If I were given a change of life, I'd like to see how it would be to live as a mere six-footer, 7 feet tall. Elizabeth Taylor, I don't like my voice. I don't like the way I look. I don't like the way I move. I don't like the way I act. I mean, period. So, you know, I don't like myself. Boris Becker, he wins Wimbledon. And he says, "In one of the most striking confessions in the history of professional sports, Becker admitted to attempting suicide after winning Wimbledon." Liayakoka says this, "Here I am in the twilight years of my life, still wondering what it's all about, and I can tell you this. Fame and fortune is for the birds.

GK Chesterton makes this profound comment when he says, "Maninglessness does not come from being weary of pain. Meaninglessness comes from being weary of pleasure." And as Bla1 Pascal says, there's a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing, but only by God, the creator, made known through Jesus Christ. We're made to be addicted to God. That's that's in our DNA. And there's not nothing wrong with having a good income and and seeking these things, but but when it becomes a replacement for that God-shaped hole, that's where we start getting into problems. There's a real existential void that we all feel at some point. in his steps to Christ says that void is God speaking to our hearts saying I'm the I'm the answer. I'm the answer.

This is me back in 1997. This is cringeworthy but sure. back 1997. Uh this photo was taken with film and got a scan of it. This is in Cameroon, West Africa. And I don't know what it's it is about my skin or my blood type, but there no one else can be being bit by mosquitoes except for me. And I have welts all over my body. Uh for three weeks it was constant constant. There were even mosquitoes at the airport. I get back and I'm in college at the time. It's Christmas break at my parents house. I was staying with them and I start getting fever and chills. There's a flu bug going around and I'm your typical male. I hate needles and and going to the emergency room, much less getting a physical. And so I waited six days.

And on the sixth day, I felt this overwhelming impression. You need to go to the emergency room tonight. Like tonight. So I crawl upstairs. I say, "Obama, something's wrong. Can you like take me?" So they bundle me up, take me off to the hospital. And the physician that night had been to Africa. and he took one look at me and he said, "I think you have malaria." And he says, "It's going to take four days for the blood test to come back." He said, "You might be dead." So he said, "We're going to treat it like it's malaria." And uh later on it came back positive. I had a strain of malaria called felipum and it kills you after seven days. It was day six. It was day six.

And uh the the health official for the county, he called me later and he said, "If you would have met any other doctor, you'd be dead because they would have treated you for the flu." And you know, obviously I made it. Uh but I I want to tell you that when I was sitting there in the emergency room and the doctor was telling me that even if you make it, you might be on diialysis for the rest of your life or you know all these types of things. Um it it's amazing how priorities crystallize. you suddenly realize what's important and and basically it came down to two things. Okay, God and people. That's it.

That's it. My relationship with God. Am I ready? Number two, love, family, friends. That was it. That was it. And this this quote from Ecclesiastes 7:2, it says, "Better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men, and the living will take it heart." In other words, he's saying that it's better to go to a funeral than a wedding. And this is not because he's a morbid, melancholy individual. He's bringing out the point that when we go to a funeral, it it forces us to come to grips with our mortality. and that if the Lord doesn't come in our lifetime, all of us are going to be six feet under. And he said, "That's a good thing because when that happens, you suddenly realize what's important." There's a book I have in my library by Herbert Lock here, and he's compiled all of the last words of people that believe in God and people that don't. And when you read

the Bible, it's it's fascinating because the last words of somebody tell you something about their life, about the values, about the fulfillment. When you read in Genesis, Jacob, it's amazing. He would say, "I'm about to die." And he call his sons and then go from Reuben all the way down to Benjamin, say his last words, and then he would die. That's what the Bible says. So last words were sacred. Sacred. And it's interesting. I've just compiled a few statements from the last words of people that believe in God and people that don't. And it's fascinating what you can see. Some of them are a little bit, you know, kind of superficial like this one. This is a atheist.

Please tidy my hair. Oh, you know, the last words. Um, all right. Here's another one. I have not drunk champagne for a long time. Okay. But here here's one from an atheist that's famous. Voltater. Look at this. I am abandoned by God and man. And I would give you half of what I'm worth if you will give me six months of life. Then I shall go to hell and you will go with me. Oh Christ. Oh Jesus Christ. Voltater. Last words. And the nurse that attended Voltater said, "For all the wealth in Europe, I would not see another infidel die." It doesn't seem to be working, does it? All right, here's another one. Antus, you must not let me die. I dare not die.

Oh, doctor, save me if you can. This is a lot of fear. Thomas Payne, the one who wrote The Age of Reason. I would give worlds if I had them that the Age of Reason had not been published. Oh Lord, help me. Christ help me. If ever the devil had an agent, I have been that one. Regret. Regret. Now, let's transition to people that believe in God. Look at this last words. Hallelujah. What a contrast. Here's another one. God is faithful. God is faithful. Another one. Come Lord Jesus. Here's another one. Oh yes, I've known him these 40 years. Precious Savior, he is my only hope. What a contrast. I can go on and on. This vile body shall be made like Christ's glorious body. Oh, what glorious day will be the day of the resurrection. My life is hid with Christ in God. Matthew Henry, the famous commentator. A life spent in the service of God and communion with him is the most comfortable life that anyone can lead in this present world. comfortable.

That's his last words. James Spurgeon, famous preacher. That would be but sorry comfort to me now. The earth is slipping away from me. No, firm as his throne, his promise stands. Matthew Cotton. I'm going where all tears will be wiped away. My heart is resting sweetly with Jesus and my hand in his. Martin Luther, our God is the God of whom cometh salvation. God is the Lord by whom we shall escape death. John Wesley, the best of all, God is with us. Farewell. Few more here. David Livingston, famous missionary. Build me a hut to die in. I'm going home. Charles Wesley. Oh my dearest Jesus, I come. And when you get to the end of life, Bla1 Pascal says this, he there's an exercise he says, and I believe he got it from Solomon. I've lived to define life backwards and live it forward. In other words, if you want to find out what's really important, imagine your deathbed or your funeral and reverse engineer your life. That's what he says.

I I did youth ministry for a number of years and uh I thought God had forsaken me. Um I just got out of the seminary, read Bart Boltman, and I I was not called for youth ministry. I don't know how I ended up there. I do know how I ended up there. Um I was single and uh the brethren very worried. So they put me in Bering Springs as a youth pastor and it worked. It worked. But during those three years uh before I met my wife, it was the wilderness. It wilderness. And I'm dealing with these young people. Frontal loes not fully developed. Elevator doesn't go to the top floor. Hormones.

And I'm like I'm trying to reason with them. So I said, "Look guys, imagine that you're flying across the ocean. Pilot comes on the airways and says, "Look, we're running into some technical difficulties." which is translation for if you have any religious persuasions, now is the time to express them. 10 minutes to impact into the ocean. Use your time well. And these teenagers, I asked him, "What would you do for the last 10 minutes of your life?" I said, "How many of you watch video games, play video games, be on Netflix?" Not a single hand went up. I said, "What would you do?" All of them said, "If I could, I would call someone." I said, "Who would you call?" They said, "My parents." I said, "Your parents?" He said, "Yeah." I said, "What would you tell them?" Three words. I love you.

I said, "What else would you do?" I would pray. I said, "Isn't that interesting? Right now, as a teenager, we just done an exercise and you suddenly realize what's important. But typically for a teenager, what's at the bottom of your list? Parents and God. But suddenly, you're going to die. And you know what's important? September 11, it was the 10th anniversary. It's 2011 and there was something that came over NPR story core. They were interviewing all these people that had lost loved ones September 11 and I'm listening and these testimonies are just like gut-wrenching gut-wrenching testimonies. There was one I'll tell a couple stories and uh there was one where a guy he was he was had the terrible task of doing triage on the people that had jumped out of the buildings and he he he said he needed counseling after doing this because he's going around and he's tagging them dead. you know, he's tagging them dead and the

ones that So, he tags a person dead and he walks away and then he hears a voice saying, "Hey, I'm not dead." And he goes back and and he sees them and I'm not going to go, but he says, "From here down." It was just okay. landed feet first and he knew this person had just minutes. So he goes back and he sees the person. He says he doesn't know what to say. And he said and the person, you know what the person said? He said, "Tell my family, tell my family I love them and I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm not I'm not dead. I'm not dead." So he goes back. He says, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Look, you're you're fine. You're fine. They're going to come." And he he he said he grappled to this day because he lied whether he told that person should have told the person the truth or just comfort them.

He said just a few seconds later the guy the person was gone. And there was another story where u the husband worked in the north tower and kissed his wife goodbye like any other day. and she's going about her morning, receives a phone call. It's her husband and he says, "Turn on the television." Turns on the television. He says, she says, "Honey, I've tried every exit. I'm above the explosion and I'm not going to make it. Not going to make it." So, they're on the phone and this is their last conversation and they don't know exactly when the final moments are going to be. And she says at some point all they were saying was, "I love you. I love you. I love you. Click."

And he was gone. And she says she just held the phone to her heart and she wanted to stay up that day that night because she felt as long as she stayed up it was the last day with her husband. I was at West Coast, East Coast camp meeting a couple years ago and I went to flight 93, the memorial out there in Pennsylvania and there's a place where you can pick up the phone to hear the voice males of the people that are on the phone that Flight 93 that got hijacked and you can pick up the phone and you hear these voice recordings and there's a common theme. I mean, people are just crying listening to these voice recordings and they say, "Hey, tell the kids I love them. I'm not going to make it. I love you and I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. These are the last words. I mean, these are these are precious sacred moments. And it says, "If we discovered that we only had five minutes left to say all that we wanted to say, every cell phone would be occupied by people calling other people to stammer that we love them." This is this is what it's about in the end. when you crystallize life down and you know I praise God for the amount of people that are here at camp meeting because this is an investment in family in eternity and you can't quantify that. You can't this is an investment in relationships because when you distill everything down to its bare bones and synthesize it this is all we got.

This is what life is about. I uh this this young lady uh a couple years ago won the lottery to to climb Halfdme with her father and got up early that morning, brand new hiking boots. If you ever climbed a halfdme, this is sheer granite. Sheer granite. And this is how this is how it looks. This is how it looks. And on this particular day, you know, they made it to the top. This is not her, but they made it to the top and she was working her way down with her father. There was a crowd of people and it started raining. Started raining and there was just sheets of water just coming down the face of Half Dome. And she's coming down with her brand new hiking boots. 20 years old and she slipped. She slipped underneath the cables. Her father her father was ahead of her and he tried to reach out and grab her underneath the cable, but he couldn't and she slipped.

All right. Every time I tell this story, I'm like, "Sorry to traumatize you here." Yeah. I mean, you're like you're ruining the mood. There's a point to this. There's a point to this. Okay, coming down the face. 20 years old. Okay, now imagine imagine if that was you. Okay, imagine if that was you. Now I'm dramatic. All right. All right. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Okay. All right. Boom. Lights out. According to the Bible, death is like asleep. Okay. I miss my funeral. Hope the mortician does a nice job. I miss all the nice few things people hopefully say about me. You miss all of that. Best sleep you ever had. And the next thing it's one of two realities. Here's reality number one.

Huh? Trumpets, angels. I must have died. So I tell young people, if you're disoriented and you you hear trumpets, angels, you die. You die. You die. That That's the Praise God. I'm at the right one. That's That's the reality. All right. Woo. Hallelujah. All right. Or it's sitting in area number two. Boom. What's that? It's a gold city. Who's that? Kind of looks like Hitler. It is Hitler. Genghaskhan. Mussolini. Julius Caesar. And every day people are dying and they're waking up at one of those two realities. That's the thing. One or the other from their vantage point. And here's the thing that that just struck me. Last story. I was at a pastor's retreat number years ago and this pastor gets up and he says, "Look, I got a testimony. My wife was praying to God and saying, "Lord, show me your heart. Show me your heart." So she falls asleep and she has a dream that she's inside the city of the new

Jerusalem inside. Praise God. Walls are transparent gold. She's looking out. She's like, "Whoa, this is amazing." And on the horizon, she sees a shadow that's coming toward the city. And the shadow gets closer and closer. It's people lining the whole horizon. It's faces. And she says one face gripped her heart. It was her son. her dream and she says in her dream she sees her son outside of the city, she's inside and she loses it. She is just hysterical. Hysterical. Her son is lost, breaking down. And she says in her dream, her son comes to the walls of the city of the new Jerusalem, puts her hands on the walls. She puts her hands on the wall and he's saying something. She could read his lips. He's saying, "Mom, let me in.

Mom, let me in." She turns to try to let her son and she realizes she can't. She wakes up. It's traumatic. She wakes up and she said she felt the voice of God saying to her, "Now you know my heart. Now you know my heart." One of the themes this week is family. And I think that you've come to the right place. Praise the Lord. camp meeting, spiritual investment. You can't compound this time. This time, seeds are being sown for eternity. Our children, they're ultimately going to have to make their their own decisions. We pray that they make the right ones, but we believe in a God that answers prayer.

But if there's a breath left in my body as a parent, I want to do everything I can to give him the best opportunity to choose Jesus, to choose eternity as places I can. Being that the Holy Spirit is poured out, gives God a fighting chance to touch that precious heart of your son and daughter. So you choose him and say, "Lord, come into my life." Amen. And we have an opportunity as parents to recommmit our lives to Jesus, saying, "Lord, use me despite my weaknesses." And I believe he will when we pray to God, it gives him permission to intervene in our son or daughter's life. And I pray that throughout this week as we as we focus on God, family, the church, and our faith that uh we'll recognize by his grace to to live for the eternal, to live for the things that don't pass away, to define our lives backwards and live it forward. Let us pray.

Oh Lord in heaven, we thank you for the heart of God that breaks for the lost. Lord, forgive us for the times that we have not defined our life backwards and lift it forward to let the cares of this life crowd out the most important thing that is you and people that we love. And we pray that when we are inside the city of the new Jerusalem that not one will be lost. That you will use us. The love of Christ will shine through us to be a loving and lovable Christian to win hearts and minds so that all of us can be there. We can be there. All of heaven was poured out in the gift of Jesus.

need to call on you. We pray that you'd help us to call on you every day to save our children. We trust you. We believe in you and we love you. We ask these things in the precious name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen.