This transcript is organized from YouTube’s automatic captions. Names, Bible references, and specialized terms may contain recognition or translation errors.

If you say 'Amen' so quietly, you won't wake up. Amen. Amen. Amen. Yes. Let's walk toward heaven without stumbling. Let's sing it with such emotion that it brings tears to our eyes. Begin. Let's walk toward heaven without stumbling, looking only at my Lord [Singing] Lighting a lamp and holding it, let's walk toward heaven, my Lord [Singing] Amen. Amen. Nuri, this hymn is from the hymnal. A sinner who had no choice but to die, drowned in all the world's sins, but the Lord loved me and gave me a new life. Amen. Is it moving? Amen. Let's sing this hymn with emotion. It's in C. C. Yes. One, two, clapping. Drowned in all the world's sins [Singing] A sinner who had no choice but to die. The Lord [Singing] loved me and gave me a new life. The Lord [Singing] shared such a small love with me, but the Lord [Singing] bestowed a great love upon me. We who share the Lord's love are one family. We who share [Singing] the Lord's love are not... Let us share love with all the people in the world [Singing] Let us share.

Drowned in all the world's [Singing] sins, a sinner who had no choice but to die [Singing]. The Lord loved me and [Singing] gave me a new life. Amen. The Lord shared such a small love with me, but the Lord bestowed a great love upon me. We who share the Lord's love are one family. We who spread the Lord's love are one family. Let us share love with all the people in the world [Singing] Let us share. Let's hold hands with our neighbors and say we are one family sharing the Lord's love. Looking at the person next to you, we who spread the Lord's love are one family [Singing]. Let us share love with all the people in the world. Amen. Amen. Hallelujah. Amen. We who share the Lord's love are one family. Amen. You shouldn't sing this song with a frown. You should smile. Yes. Smiling brightly, we who share the Lord's love are one family. Please hold the hand of the person next to you and say something. I am happy because of you. We who share the Lord's love are one family. We who spread the Lord's [Singing] love are one family. Let us share love with all the people in the world [Singing] Let us share.

Cheers. Amen. Hymn 345, recommended by Pastor Kwon who will deliver the message today. Have you received the washing of your sins by the blood of our Savior's cross? Amen. Have you received it? Amen. The 'Amen' is too quiet. Have you received the washing of your sins? Amen. Hallelujah. Amen. Yes, should we sing this with a frown? Or with a smile? Amen. Please pass it on. It's going out. Two, three. Have you received the washing of your sins by the blood of our Savior's cross? Do you now surely believe in the power that washes away your sins [Singing]? [Singing] Have you received the washing of your sins by the blood of the Lamb? Hallelujah. Have you washed away the dirty sins in your heart and received the washing of your sins [Singing]? Do you walk with the Lord every day and act truthfully? Wherever you go, whatever you do, are you living while holding onto the cross? Have you received the washing of your sins by the blood of the Lamb [Singing]? Hallelujah. Have you washed away the dirty sins in your heart and received the washing of your sins [Singing]? Have you prepared your wedding garment to welcome the Lord Jesus as your bridegroom? Are you ready to enter that precious feast [Singing]?

Have you received the washing of your sins by the blood of the Lamb? Hallelujah. Have you washed away the dirty sins in your heart and received the washing of your sins? Amen. Amen. Amen. Lord, thank you for leading us to hold the 43rd Western Union Camp Meeting in 2026 by Your grace. Father, thank you for the privilege of gathering here on this hill to hear Your word, sing, pray, and fellowship, tasting the atmosphere of heaven. Not only here, but may the Holy Spirit be with us so that when we finish all our meetings and go down, we may return to our respective churches with a new resolve, being faithful to the duties entrusted to us, and leading all the beloved saints. Father, there are elderly people here, and some who are visiting this hill for the first time. Father, since they have been brought here by those seeking new truth in the church, may the Holy Spirit be with each one so that they may not be disappointed while here, and I earnestly pray that You open their precious spiritual eyes to quietly hear Your voice.

Now that You have given us a precious opportunity for God's word and dedication at the dawn prayer meeting, please bless us so that we may put into practice in our lives the precious lecture of Pastor Kwon, who practices love for neighbors. Grant power to the word, lead us throughout the hour, and especially for everyone from young children to the elderly, please be with us regarding safety so that we may finish safely without any accidents. Like the disciples who met Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, even if there is a desire to stay here forever while walking with Jesus, please lead us to become servants of the Lord who are faithful to their duties in their respective churches after receiving the opportunity, in the name of the loving Jesus, I earnestly pray. Amen. Thank you. Hello. Hello. You clapped before I even started the lecture. Yes. Oh, is that so? I think it's real only when the applause comes after the lecture ends, but well, thank you. I've had another special experience. I think some of you know me and some don't, so those who know me, please lower your hands.

Ah, I see. When I lecture with students, in the first session, I always ask about their IQ, EQ, and what is called SQ, social quotient, to understand their social connections, and I tell this joke. When I say, 'Those who know me, lower your hands,' some people are confused about the situation. They don't know if they should raise their hand or not. Yes. Those who know me, please lower your hands. Ah. Oh. There are many smart people here. As expected of West Coast. Thank you. I am very grateful for the privilege of being able to share the Lord's word. Thank you to everyone who invited me, especially Pastor Kim Sang. Thank you so much for not forgetting me and giving me such a big opportunity, and I give thanks and glory to God. During my presentation, starting from today, I will speak on the themes of 'Innovation of Salvation' on Monday, 'Innovation of Practice' on Tuesday, 'Innovation of Values' on Wednesday, 'Innovation of Recovery' on Thursday, and 'Innovation of Mission' on Friday. In the process of speaking on these themes, well, these days it's an era of self-promotion, so I will avoid what needs to be avoided and promote what needs to be known, and share my knowledge and experience with the saints.

My daughter Se-jeong and son Sae-chang have grown up a lot. They are already adults, and my daughter is... my son is already twenty-eight. My daughter grew up to be a nurse and is doing a lot of work, and my son is now a captain in the US Air Force. So he is currently serving at a flight wing. I have also been serving as a chaplain in the US Air Force and have now become a major. In 2022, I received the Volunteer Service Award from the US President. It's an honor for the family. Yes. So, I think it's okay to clap at times like this. Ah, yes. So, while working as a chaplain, I lecture on crisis stress management, that is, Critical Incident Stress Management, and PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, and that has led to this good opportunity. And as those who know me know, my lectures are based on my books. I published the book 'Boost Bubble' at our church's publishing house, Boost Big Press, and I don't know if people liked it, but it has been translated into Spanish, French, and Korean, and it is currently being translated into Portuguese and Serbian.

Can I see what I am looking at? Yes, thank you. Yes, I know what I look like, so I would be grateful if you could just show the slides. Ah. Yes. About 5 years ago, for 20 years, God truly blessed me to work in social welfare in the North American Division, and about 5 years ago, I started serving in the Leadership Department at Andrews University. So, I am currently in charge of the Master's program. Our Master's program has two degrees: a Master of Organizational Leadership and a Master of Social Innovation Leadership, and among them, the degree I am particularly promoting and developing is Social Innovation Leadership. So, we are talking about how to prepare as a social entrepreneur, advocate, and activist. During this week, I will share many stories, but I would like to start based on this word. John Milton said that the ultimate purpose of all learning is to know whom?

To know God, and from that learning, whom do we love more? We love God, and whom do we try to resemble? We try to resemble God. So, I hope that all this learning is not just an experience of acquiring some knowledge, but truly an experience of loving God more and trying to resemble God more. Amen. Yes. Yes. So, even if I tell a joke sometimes, please forgive me, and I hope you love God more and resemble God more, and thus forgive and have patience. This was a high-level joke, but it seems you didn't quite understand it. I came to the US in 1982. Yes. I came in 1982, so now it's at the point where I dream in English, so my Korean is a bit rusty. So, please bear with me. And I will always do this at the beginning and end of the lecture. If I say 'God is good,' the congregation says 'All the time,' and if I say 'All the time,' you say 'God is good.'

And when I say 'We are,' the congregation says 'World changers.' Oh, you do it well. Let's try. God is good. All the time. We are. We are. Let's start with prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you. Thank you for granting us so many blessings, mercy, and grace. May it be a journey where we love You more and resemble You more in our daily lives. I prayed all this in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen. This morning at 5 AM, we are having our department orientation this week, so I woke up at 5 AM to attend, and since there is a 3-hour time difference, this message suddenly came. The wife of our department chair passed away last night. She was 67 years old, and they had plans to retire this year and do a lot of traveling, but I was contacted this morning that she fell asleep in the Lord last night.

So, I really thought that I should live with gratitude every day. I think every day is grace given by God and happiness given by God. So, today, 'Innovation of Salvation,' the beginning of a new world, I will start based on Luke chapter 4. There was a very interesting survey. They distributed five questions and asked people which question is the most important. All the pastors and those studying theology answered that the first two questions are the most important tasks. 'Who is the one who saves us?' 'From what and how were we saved?' Those were the most important tasks. And the perspective that the laypeople, the believers we talk about, considered important was this part.

'How can I be saved?' 'How can I obtain eternal life?' Well, that's understandable. But a very interesting thing is that the question both groups were least interested in was the one in the middle. 'What were we saved for?' Yes. What are we saved for? So, it was a result that made me think about many things. So, I decided the overall theme for this week as 'What were we saved for?' So, I'm going to try to talk about a story we don't pay attention to. I think the theology we have determines our lives. I think our ethics are distinguished differently depending on what kind of theology we have. So, if we have a future-oriented theology, our lives and our ethics will be lives that follow that future orientation. And if our theology is interested in the present moment, we will have a different ethical view.

To put it simply, if we live with a heaven-centered faith, the most important task would be 'How can I go to heaven?' 'How can I obtain eternal life?' That would be the natural task. However, if we are living with a Jesus-centered faith, our ethics and questions will change. It will not be a life focused on 'How can I go to heaven?' or 'How can I obtain eternal life?', but a life focused on 'Why were we saved?' 'Why do we exist?' 'What kind of life should we live?' I have said some excellent things several times. Ah, you laugh at times like this. So, yes, thank you. Yes, I said this once, and some people use it. So, I said that if you want to know how excellent a faith community's theology is, you can tell by seeing how the members of that faith community practice their theology through faith. So, I think we can distinguish what kind of faith any individual or religious group or faith community has based on what kind of life the members of that community are living. You understand, right?

Yes. We all know this, but God created. God created the first humans, Adam and Eve, and intended for them to enjoy a rich life and an eternal relationship with God. However, because of sin, we fell. So, sin entered the world due to human disobedience, and the perfect life God intended suffered serious damage. So, Jesus came. He came as the Redeemer. God started the history of redemption to save humanity, which is the fruit of sin and evil, and through Jesus Christ, He freed humans from sin. And He promised to come again. And He will come again. The appearance of this Jesus Christ who will come again is the Reconciler. To reconcile. So, He is coming back to reconcile. So, in the end, God will completely fulfill all the purposes He planned at the time of creation, and He will reconcile this world again so that all creation can enjoy perfect life and recovery in God. Do you say Amen?

Amen. So, from this perspective, I think the more important task is not 'How can I go to heaven?' but 'Why do I exist here?' and 'What kind of work should I do and live?' in this world, the Kingdom of God. We think while looking at the Second Coming that we have to go toward the Second Coming through some effort, through some work, through some offering. That is a wrong thought. We are not people living toward salvation. We are people living from salvation. Amen. We are not people chasing a life of victory, but people living from the victory of the cross that Jesus Christ has already achieved. Amen. So, salvation is not something to achieve, but something to cherish. We live while cherishing the gift of God, the gift of grace. So, this journey starts from now and continues to be connected. It's not the thought that we go to heaven after dying at some moment, but being with God in heaven now. The journey with God is continuing now and tomorrow.

Do you understand? Amen. So, God is a good person. He is the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Reconciler. But some people look at the Bible with different thoughts. Especially, while looking at the process of truth, they ask the question, 'What is truth?' Of course, that's not wrong, but I think we should look at it from the perspective of 'Who' rather than 'What is truth.' Amen. Jesus Christ is the truth. Amen. So, when we look at the Bible, we call the Bible the 'Word of Truth,' right? The phrase 'Word of Truth' itself doesn't mean the Bible itself is the truth, but who is the truth? Jesus Christ is the truth. We discover Jesus Christ, who is the truth, in the Bible. We find Jesus Christ through the Bible. So, I think we should start from the perspective of 'Who' rather than 'What is truth.' So, shall we all read John 5:39? 'You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me.' In other words, the Aldergrove Seventh-day Adventist Church in BC, Canada, asked themselves.

This eternal life is not a process that starts after I die, but because we live a life belonging to Jesus Christ, who is eternal life, at this moment, that eternal life exists with us at this moment. Amen. So, I think we should stop thinking, 'How can I obtain eternal life?' 'How can I be saved?' Let's all read 2 Corinthians together. 'All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.' So, the ministry given to us is the ministry of reconciliation. The work we must do on this earth is the ministry of reconciliation that God wants. So, God says, 'When I come back, in whose appearance will I come?' He says He will come as the Reconciler.

He is not saying He will come in the appearance of Jesus who punishes and judges, but that He will weave back the broken relationships. So, Jesus said in Matthew, 'Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.' This word that appears in the Greek translation is not talking about some metaphysical Kingdom of God. The word Jesus is speaking of in this passage is talking about a Kingdom of God that is practical, substantial, and clearly visibly proven. It's not some Kingdom of God that we think about or discuss, but a Kingdom of God that people can feel, touch, see, and that clearly and substantially exists—a Kingdom of God that exists in my home, in my neighbor, in my workplace, in my society—that is the ministry of reconciliation we must do. Amen. Hallelujah. Thank you. Those who didn't say Amen seem to have a lot on their minds. Yes, that's fine.

I will start gently today. Yes, from tomorrow, I will go up a steep slope, but since it's the first day, I will start gently. The reason I say this is because there are 60 conferences in the US, and among the seven conferences in Canada, there is our conference here in Manitoba-Saskatchewan, and the president wrote a very interesting article recently. 'Holy Treason.' He wrote an article called 'Holy Treason.' So, the reason he wrote this article is very interesting. A serious problem has arisen. He said that a lot of our finances, time, and investment in Canada are being used to maintain the church. 90%. And he said that less than 10% of our time, resources, and passion are directed toward society. Yes. A week has 168 hours, and out of 168 hours, the time we spend worshiping and utilizing the church is only 3 hours. He says the church is empty for 165 hours throughout the week.

98.2% of the week's time, the church is maintained in an empty state. So, he is asking if this is okay. He was asking how much resources and time we are using for church maintenance and how much funds we are investing in changing the world. Saints, how many hours is the church open? How many days a week are we utilizing the church to serve God and serve God's people? If we are just using the church to gather and worship once a week on the Sabbath, why spend so much money to build a church? Just go to a theater or something to worship, or there are churches that worship under a bridge. In the US. Yes. So, I think we should stop this dualistic life value. This is called a 'separate rice soup' life in a very scholarly way. Yes.

The values you have when you come to church are different, and the values you have when you go home or to work are different, and when you come to a camp meeting like this, you live with different values, and it's all separate. It's playing separately. So, should that be or not? It shouldn't, right? It shouldn't be a dualistic life value, but we must live with a unified life value. Wherever we are, whenever we are, we must always live a life belonging to God. Whether at home, with neighbors, at work, or in society, we are people living only for Jesus Christ and people living to serve the people of Jesus Christ. But at some point, we became 'Sabbath-keepers.' Since we became Sabbath-keepers, we are Sabbath-keepers. We say we are Seventh-day Adventists, but we should be 'seven-day' Adventists. We should be Adventists all week long; how can we exist as Adventists only on the Sabbath?

Yes. So, I think we should consider how much the theology we have affects our faith and ethics. So, today, I would like to look at the 'Innovation of Salvation' in more detail. It is a passage in Luke chapter 4 under the title 'The Beginning of a New World.' For 40 days, Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, and as He started His first public ministry, He read the Bible in the temple, which is Isaiah 61. It is written there like this. Shall we read it together? 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.' He read this passage. So, we call this Isaiah 61 the 'Messianic Mission.' This Messianic Mission is divided into three parts as seen in verses 1 and 2. First is proclaiming the gospel. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. So, proclaiming the gospel, and second is liberation and healing.

What does it say here? 'He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,' and the third is 'Jubilee recovery.' It says, 'to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.' So, the Messianic Mission is these three things. Proclaiming the gospel, bringing liberation and healing, and also anticipating Jubilee recovery. So, I think this is the mission the church should do. I think the mission our church should have must be the Messianic Mission. Amen. Should our church say, 'Oh, Jesus, You do Your thing. We will do our thing'? Should this be separate? It shouldn't, right? Yes. We must live in a dualistic value with Jesus. We must practice and achieve the mission Jesus spoke of. On this earth. But some people say, 'Oh, it says poor people there, but I am not a poor person.'

So, the Bible is not suitable for me. I am not poor, I am a wealthy person, they say. But the interesting fact is that the word 'poor' appears about 2,000 times in the Bible, and 80% of its usage refers to when something is not whole. It is the word 'holos.' It is written like this in Greek. A life that is not whole physically, emotionally, socially, or spiritually. So, Jews say 'Shalom,' right? The root of that word 'Shalom' is 'holos.' So, when they just say 'Shalom,' it doesn't just mean peace, but it means, 'Are you living a life that is whole physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually as God wants?' But another interesting thing is that God says in the Bible, Jesus says, 'I want you to be perfect as your Father in heaven.' He says He wants you to be perfect, right? That word 'perfect' is 'telos.' It is 'telos,' and this 'telos' and 'holos' are connected together. So, what it means is that the perfection God wants is not saying to become a human without sin.

It's not saying to become a perfect human through a character chart. The perfection God wants is to become a person who is whole physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. Do you understand? Here, are there people who will say, 'I am not a sinner. I have no sin at all. I have never sinned until now'? What does the Bible say? It says there is no righteous person in this world. So, the thought that I can go to heaven because I don't sin must now be abandoned. We are people who need God because we are sinners. Isn't that grateful? Yes. If you look at me, I look normal, right? But I am a lump of sin. So, I am living as a person who needs God. Now, the second 10% became poor due to disaster. So, they were influenced by it. Famine occurred in the land, or war occurred, or there was no benefit for the farmers. When that happened, they became poor.

And the remaining 10% became beggars because they used their money wrongly. So, the poverty mentioned here refers to a life that is not whole. When Jesus speaks in the Bible, 'poor' does not refer to economic poverty, but refers to a state that is not whole physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. It includes everything. Right? Everyone here, including me, we are all poor people. So, we need the gospel. Will you say Amen? Amen. Yes. Interesting, right? Yes. I hope the saints also have fun while I lecture. Yes. Now, here is the second true word. Yes. 'To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn.' It is written like that in Isaiah. In Isaiah. But what is Jesus doing now? Jesus did not read this second part, 'the day of vengeance of our God.' He didn't read it and just stopped at 'the year of the Lord's favor.'

The interesting fact is that these people had no interest in the Lord coming and, honestly, proclaiming the gospel, bringing liberation and healing, and such things. Yes. They had no interest in the Messiah coming and doing such things in His mission, and these people were focused only on one of the two things at the end of the last verse: 'the year of the Lord's favor' and 'the day of vengeance of our God.' Yes. They lived with the thought and pride that if the Messiah comes, Rome will be driven out, Samaritans will be driven out, all Gentiles will be driven out, and 'We are the center of the entire universe once again,' Israel will stand tall in the entire universe. But Jesus didn't even say the words 'day of vengeance.' And 'the year of the Lord's favor.' So, those people decided to kill Jesus that day. That day, even before the worship was over, they dragged Him to a cliff and tried to kill Jesus. Yes. What does the Ten Commandments say?

It said not to murder. Even before the sun set, while worshiping, it was a situation that could not be tolerated. Why? Because they were thinking that the Messiah would come and do retributive justice. Yes. So, they were thinking of a Messiah who would judge, punish, and do such things, but what Jesus came and taught was 'restorative justice.' Yes. He said He came to reconcile. They couldn't handle this. Now, the interesting thing is the word 'God's year of favor.' This word 'year of favor' easily refers to the Jubilee. If you look at Leviticus, in the 50th year, Jesus... this is called 'restorative justice.' Yes. It is relationship-restorative justice. So, every 50 years, the land... people who lost their land, that land returned, and laborers were freed from that bondage, and servants were liberated, and debtors were forgiven—He made that system every 50 years.

God made this a decree. This was not something you could choose to do or not do, but something God's people had to do every 50 years. Yes, do you understand? So, we don't spend money on the Sabbath. The reason we don't spend money on the Sabbath is because of this Jubilee system. Not spending money on the Sabbath means that both the rich and the poor come to an equal position. Amen. So, the social Jubilee is being practiced. So, every Sabbath, we do the work of reminding ourselves of God's values regarding the Jubilee system. But we have long forgotten the values of that Kingdom of God Jubilee system. It's just a day not to spend money on the Sabbath. We don't even know why we don't spend it. Just our tradition and... our, just what we've been doing, those people did exactly that. The Jubilee system was not practiced even once for 400 years from Malachi to John the Baptist.

For 400 years, these people lived ignoring God's law. They completely ignored, didn't think about, and didn't teach the decree God told them to do. Instead of God's law, those people made decrees like temple observance and Sabbath observance, 638 of them, and focused on ethnicity, identity, and what to eat and what not to eat, and lived ignoring God's decree. What does Ellen White say? She said that the provision of the Sabbatical year and the Jubilee was intended to drastically reform the wrong points of the social, political, and economic structure of the whole nation that had occurred during that time. So, this is not just a decree, but He is telling you to do the work of changing the social structure. A world where the rich don't get richer and the poor don't get poorer. Amen. Do you understand? A world where everyone can enjoy in God's sight. So, she said that the regulations God established were designed to maintain social equality.

But at some point, even in the church, discrimination between those who have and those who don't began to exist rather than maintaining social equality. Why is that? Because they ignored God's decree. They completely changed the values of the Jubilee system God created into the theology and theology they wanted. Proclaiming the gospel is the work we must do. Bringing liberation and healing is the work we must do. Bringing recovery... practicing relationship-restorative justice is the work we must do. Will you say Amen? I will read the yellow text. Please read the white text, saints. We must connect people with God. We must connect people with each other. We must connect society and the church. We must connect people with the church. So, I will divide the words here and talk about them little by little. On Wednesday, I will approach disciple-making from the perspective of leadership.

To put it simply, the church is not an institution that does training. The church is an institution that does character formation. God told us to enlighten people. Those enlightened people are the ones who reform the organization, and those enlightened people are the ones who enlighten this society. For the Kingdom of God. But at some point, we don't do character formation, we don't do disciple-making, we do 'disciple training.' Interesting, right? It seems it's because they don't want the Kingdom of God to come. We seem to be living a life that makes forming our own institution more important. We must change our values so that the Kingdom of God is realized on this earth. Shall we all read together? 'Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.' I talked about the spark that fell from Manitoba-Saskatchewan earlier. But that spark started from recovery.

Last March, I was invited to Quebec and went to lecture. Quebec has 10,000 church members. But the 'Quebecois,' the white people who lived there after coming from France in the past, those people are not even 300 out of 10,000 members. Yes. About 300 are local people, and the remaining 9,700 of our members are all people who came from Africa or Central America. So, there are many pastors who came from there. So, what happened? The government, the province of Quebec, made a decree banning all religious activities. They say you cannot evangelize. They made a law that you cannot go out and distribute evangelistic literature or stand on the street and say, 'Believe in God.' Why? Those people said that. 'Can you ignore religious freedom?' So, what these people say is that atheists are also religious people, and religious freedom must be given to atheism as well.

That's what those people say. Like us, having such an affiliation, such membership, and being organized is called an 'organized group.' Many people say, 'I don't belong to such a place, but I'm still spiritual.' They say they serve God. They say the God of what appearance it is is different for each individual. So, they say atheism is also a religion. So, because we have to acknowledge everyone's religious freedom, we have become unable to evangelize. The problem of not being able to buy or sell on Sunday is not the serious problem now. It has become a state where we cannot do religious activities. Do you understand? It is a state where we cannot go to anyone and share God's word. It is becoming a world where we cannot share God's word. That started in Quebec and is now being positively reviewed in other conferences, in other provinces. If Canada completely designates that as law, who do you think is next?

It would be the US. Even without that, the voice is getting louder every time in the US, and the voice is getting louder among the churches. 'Why don't you pay taxes?' You have the best land in our area and built a very good building, and you gather and worship once a week, but you have never brought any change for our society, and you haven't changed our lives, so why should you receive tax benefits? Pay taxes. Do you know what the second thing is? It's the voice about pastors. Pastors receive tax benefits. It's a benefit, but that 'personage benefit' is from when the church was first established in the early US, the pastors were not just pastors of that church, but played the role of spiritual leaders of that local community. So, they used the word 'parish.' So, a pastor should exist not just as a pastor of one church, but as a spiritual leader of that region.

To express gratitude to them for that, they gave tax benefits. Do you understand? But today, pastors are not existing as spiritual leaders in that region. So, why should they receive tax benefits? Pastors don't even live where the church is. Do you understand? It has been a long time since the church was not a church. From Malachi to John the Baptist, we are already existing in that space. So, I said, 'Designate and invest at least 30% of the church budget for local community service activities.' Do service in places other than the church. And start having a bond with leaders of public institutions, for-profit institutions, and non-profit institutions in the region and work together. Participate in community functions and social activities. It's not just 'come to the place where we are doing church,' but we must participate in other social activities.

Amen. And I told you to discuss social service and social activities regarding the local community at every church staff meeting. For a lot of time, we... at church staff meetings, 'who did what and got hurt,' well, anyway, it becomes a state of mind like eating a lot of sweet potatoes. It's frustrating, right? We must invest more time in the Messianic mission of the church. Every week, we must experience that new people in the local community are forming a faith community. Do you understand? But we can't do that. Why? Because of the habit we've been doing until now, it's tradition. Just do evangelistic meetings once a year, present biblical truth, and if we come to our church in that state, 'do this, do that, change this, change that.' If they seem to do something well, we acknowledge them and make them deacons and elders. The fact that such a generation has passed is that in the 21st century, the current era, what we should focus on is relationship-restorative ministry. Ministry of reconciliation. That is exactly what I said from the beginning.

To reconcile. We must focus on the work God said He is coming to recover. In that process, people change, and in that process, people have more confidence in their faith. But we pursue external change rather than internal change. So, I am going back in October to have a conversation with these people. I gave them homework. I said to them, 'Find ways to help by meeting local community leaders for 6 months.' When I go in October, they will talk about what kind of experience they had. And I said, 'A pastor must invest one day a week in local community service and activities.' Many pastors in the US are wasting too much time soothing the crying babies in the church. I said in English, 'crying baby.' To many crying babies. Yes.

Of course, you must exist as a shepherd in the church, but a pastor must exist as a spiritual leader of the local community. Amen. Amen. I told you to encourage church members to participate in local community service and activities, create opportunities, study the local community, and discuss what kind of problems or needs the church can solve. So, I think like this. I think this question is wrong. I think we should stop asking, 'How can we become the best church in this local community?' Because of this, it has focused on quantitative things like bigger churches, churches with more programs, churches with more activities. God has never once told us in the Bible to build a bigger church. Where in the Bible did He tell us to build a bigger church? What does it say in the Bible? He told us to be the salt and light in our society. Amen.

So, it's not that a bigger church is important, but we should ask, 'How can we become the best church that joins with society for this local community?' We must become a church that exists with society for society. That is when the church becomes a true church. Amen. Hallelujah. But at some point, we stopped asking these questions. 'How can we build a bigger church, and how can we invite more people to the work we are doing?' So, I think the question must change. If we change the question, our thoughts change. If our thoughts change, the method of the ministry we are doing changes. If the method of our ministry changes, we can bring different results. 'Kingdom of God on earth as in heaven.' If I change the question, you shout 'The world changes.' If you change the question, the world changes. If you change the question, the world changes.

We must change the question. 'How can I obtain eternal life?' 'How can I be saved?' We must stop asking these questions. Amen. Until when must we agonize and make ourselves miserable by asking such questions? Jesus is telling us not to ask such questions. Instead, we must ask, 'What were we saved for?' Amen. 'Why do we exist?' Easy, right? To proclaim the gospel. To bring liberation and healing. And to bring Jubilee and recovery. God called us to do this. The Messiah came to do this, and He called us to complete the Messianic mission. Pastor Ransair said this: 'What is clear through Jesus is that the announcement and manifestation of the Kingdom is the core of His message and life.' So, the Bible should not end with just delivering some message. That message must truly exist substantially, clearly, and visibly. Do you understand?

When I was in Dayton, I was in Dayton, Ohio. I was there for 8 years. They wanted to create the first social welfare institution in North America where the Black conference and White conference work together, and medical institutions and educational institutions work together, so they gave me an opportunity. So, when I went, the conflict between the White people and Black people was so severe that Dayton is divided by the Miami River in the middle, and White people live on the right side, and Black people live on the left side. But they don't talk to each other. Even our church members didn't talk to each other because of the conflict between Black and White. But I had many experiences and received much grace there. One of them was this. Dayton is above Cincinnati, and here is Indiana, and Columbia, and Chicago, and Andrews, where our university is, you all know, right? Many people want to go to Cincinnati. Homeless people, drug addicts, homeless people, etc., there is a very good system in Cincinnati that can systematically change their lives. So, they want to go there, but since it's too far to go directly, what do these people do? They come to Dayton.

They come to Dayton and spend 3 or 4 days, and then go to Cincinnati. So, Dayton, Ohio, is famous as a city that people pass through. It's called the '3-day city.' These people come and ask us, 'Give us food, give us clothes, we ran out of gas, give us a place to sleep.' I was a member of the Rotary Club, Rotary International, and a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and I attended the association where all the pastors in the region gather. Every time I went, what these people said was, 'People passing through come and ask for money, food, clothes, gas, a place to sleep, how can we solve this problem? Each institution is working hard, but it's like pouring water into a bottomless pit, it's too difficult.' So, I made a proposal. 'Let's not do it separately, let's do it together.' I made a proposal to do it together.

So, these institutions invested money, and with that money, we went to gas stations, bakeries, motels, clothing stores operated by Chamber of Commerce members and Rotary Club members, and said, 'We will give you a part, so if you give us a voucher worth about 2 dollars, we will distribute it.' So, they said, 'You are doing a good thing. We will give you a voucher worth about 5 dollars,' and we received all the vouchers. So, we went to the police station and gas station in the neighborhood and distributed them all, and we said, 'If people who need this come, we will send them to the police station and fire station, so you decide what they need and distribute the necessary voucher.' Do you understand? So, what happened? First, this social... it's a flaw, right? The churches don't talk to each other. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, and the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing.

Churches each do their own work. Even within the same denomination, they don't talk to each other even though they are not far apart. Do you understand? Yes. So, they do it separately. So, people go here and say they need it, go there and say they need it, and go there and say they need it. And they go around suffering. But by doing it together like this, what happened? They can't do that anymore. Now, right? Yes. And by doing it together, what happened? Would people who lied to the police and fire station go to the police station? They wouldn't, right? People who lie go to the police station and... is their liver swollen? Yes. Would they go to the police and lie and... it's not one thing. So, it became a situation where benefits go only to those who really need them. Do you understand? It's not one church doing it alone, but all church institutions doing it together. So, I received an award then.

They gave me an award as a 'great young leader under 40' in Dayton. It's not that I'm great, although I am a little, but this is exactly what God is doing. It's not thinking about what my church will do, but thinking about how the Kingdom of God should exist practically, clearly, and visibly in this region, in my home, in my neighbor, and in my society—that is God's work. So, I think we must change this divided perception. In the church, they say, 'Oh, social innovation activities, service, that's social gospel, it's not work we should do.' They attached nonsense reasons and made excuses to not do social activity innovation service. 'We just need to do prophecy evangelism, we just need to proclaim the three angels' messages, this is evangelical ideology. This is our identity. Keeping the Sabbath is the reason we exist.' They said that and sent me letters, and they sent me letters. Honestly, I'm not lying, you know Dr. Barna, right? I have three boxes full of Barna.

Some people, well, I'm sorry to say this, but we have become frogs in a well. It's useless to explain the ocean to a frog in a well. Because a frog trapped in a well doesn't know the ocean. The reason I say this is because we are not the only church that keeps the Sabbath. Yes. Do you understand? Someone said to me, 'We are the only church that keeps the Sabbath besides the Jews.' They say that. But that's not true. Even just the Seventh-day Adventist line is already over ten, and just the Seventh-day Baptist line is three big ones. There are over 20 Churches of God. There are over 50 denominations that are officially religiously recognized as churches that go to church and worship on Saturday in the US. Do you understand? Amen. I tell my friends, 'We think we are the only vegetarians in the whole world.'

We think as if we are the only vegetarians in the whole world. We have already become frogs in a well. So, it's been a long time since we forgot what the ocean looks like. What does John 3:16 say? 'For God...' Who is this God? He is the source of love. '...so loved the world...' What is the scope of 'so loved the world'? Where does it say 'God so loved a certain nation'? Where does it say 'so loved a certain denomination'? Where does it say 'so loved a certain church'? No. 'So loved the world.' Amen. It says 'so loved.' Amen. Amen. At some point, we started thinking about loving only my church, my denomination, in the well. 'His only begotten Son...' It's the greatest gift of love. '...gave...' It's the characteristic of love. '...that whoever believes in him...' It's the invitation of love. '...should not perish...' It's the warning of love.

'...but have eternal life.' It's the promise of love. We are people living in that promise. Jesus Christ is eternal life, and we are people living belonging to Jesus Christ. So, we exist in eternal life now. Ellen White said this, shall we read it together? 'There is need of coming close to people by personal effort. If less time were given to sermonizing, and more time were spent in personal ministry, greater results would be seen. The poor are to be relieved, the sick are to be cared for, the sorrowing and the bereaved are to be comforted, the ignorant are to be instructed, the inexperienced are to be counseled. We are to weep with those who weep, and rejoice with those who rejoice. When the power of persuasion, the power of prayer, the power of the love of God, is exerted, this work will not be without fruit, and it cannot be without fruit.' What power is needed?

The power of persuasion, the power of prayer, the power of God's love. Could you prepare to play that video later? Thank you. Every lecture, I plan to show one example of what kind of local community change churches are bringing in the US. What is it called? Yes. Yes. I was going to say 'unworthy thought,' but yes. Yes. I know this Chinese character well. It goes back and forth. So, the power of persuasion is exactly that. When our reason, emotion, and personality become one. Logos, Pathos, Ethos. So, reason is cognitive inquiry and conversation, Pathos is emotional appeal, and Ethos is evidence through the life of the messenger. When we speak biblically, reason is proclaiming the truth of God's word, and emotion is experiencing Christ's love through empathy and compassion. And our personality, our life, must show holiness and trust. Why would this be important?

Because if you don't trust the person who is delivering it, you can't believe the word they are delivering. Amen. Could you show the video? The Aldergrove Seventh-day Adventist Church asked themselves. If our church door closes, would someone in the local community notice? The answer that came back was... 15 years ago, the Aldergrove Seventh-day Adventist Church in BC, Canada, asked themselves. If our church door closes, would someone in the local community notice? I forgot. You worked hard for several nights preparing this, and I sent you this video. I asked you to add subtitles, it's in English, so I thought it would be comfortable if Korean subtitles appeared, but it seems there is a problem with the 'Pius.' You understand all the high-level jokes. Thank you. Then I will send that tomorrow, and I will give the closing words for 5 minutes. 15 years ago, the Aldergrove Seventh-day Adventist Church in BC, Canada, asked themselves.

If our church door closes, would someone in the local community notice? Proclaiming the gospel... the church started service to influence the local community, and we named the Seventh-day Adventist community program 'Acts of Kindness,' abbreviated as AOK. So, I think like this. Shall we read it together? Proclaiming the gospel to the poor means, on a spiritual level, how do we do it? We must do the work of filling spiritual poverty by sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and sharing the news of salvation on a spiritual level. Also, physically... you can't see it. Ah, from next year, I should raise the attendance fee. Yes. Ah, physically, on a social level, it is like this. Shall we read it together? We must practice the gospel through holistic ministry and fill the needs of neighbors who need the gospel. Also, the word 'proclaiming liberty to the captives' means, on a spiritual level, we must teach that the life that was a slave to sin has ended in Christ, and on a physical and social level, I think we must participate in social responsibility and justice movements for the freedom of humanity. The word 'recovering of sight to the blind' means, on a spiritual level, we must awaken ignorance about God and spiritual darkness and make them see the truth. Also, on a social and physical level, we must help those in disease and pain through medical missions, etc.

The word 'proclaiming liberty to the oppressed' means, on a spiritual level, we must proclaim that they have been freed from the power of sin and evil, and on a social level, we must do the work of helping those in oppression and injustice to actually enjoy freedom and pursuing liberation. The word 'proclaiming the year of the Lord's favor' means, on a spiritual level, we must share eternal hope and grace to those in death and despair, and on a social level, we must do the work of practicing relationship recovery and justice and building a faith community. Will you say Amen? Amen. Yes. We were called to do exactly this work. The identity of why we exist is not in some task we want, but must be in the Messianic mission. If our identity does not match the Messianic mission, we must change the question. Do you understand?

This big church building, the church building itself does not determine the value of existence in the local community. Rather, how each church member lives and serves in the local community proves the true value of the church's existence. No matter how many church members there are and no matter how big a church you have, if you are not existing as salt and light in this local community, we have the wrong faith. Do you understand? Yes. Shall we all read with one voice? Now. 'Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.' So, I will continue to talk about changing questions, changing thoughts, changing methods, and bringing different results in the future. If you change the question, the world changes. If you change the question, the world changes. God is good all the time. All the time. We are. We are. Yes. Thank you. Shall we pray? Heavenly Father, thank you. Every day is a blessing to me, grace to me, and mercy to me. In our daily lives, may we become people who live looking at God, not people who live looking at ourselves.

May we become people who look at God and look at God's people. Amen. May the end of all this learning be that we love God more and want to resemble God more. I prayed all this in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen. Facilities have become necessary. We... Let's bow our heads and pray together. Let's pray. Let's do the greeting later, and I hope you seek the Lord first. Oh, loving Lord, thank You for coming to our dark hearts as light, restoring us with the warmth of Jesus Christ, and helping us live as disciples of the Lord with that precious grace. Today, when Your son, Jong-sang Ik, who experienced that in life, in medical ministry, and at home, delivers the word, please clothe him with the Holy Spirit, God's Spirit, and may we all thank God for the grace that changed his life and help us walk the same path with an obedient heart.

Throughout the hour, may it be a time for both the speaker and all of us listening to look at the Lord who is the light of God, I prayed all this in the name of the loving Jesus. Amen. If I speak in the tongues of men and [Singing] of angels, but have not love, [Singing] I am a noisy gong [Singing] or a clanging cymbal, [Singing] and if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, [Singing] and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, [Singing] but have not love, if I have not love, [Singing] I am nothing. Following the Lord's word, let us love [Singing] each other. If I have not love, if I have not love, I am nothing. Following the Lord's word, let us love each other. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, [Singing] but have not love, if I have not love, [Singing] I am [Screaming] nothing. Following the Lord's word, let us love each other. If I have [Screaming] not love, if I have not love, I am [Screaming] nothing. Following the Lord's word, following the Lord's word, let us love each other, each other, each other, each other [Singing] each other. Amen.

Yes. Hello. Yes. Yes. Hello. Yes. Yes. [Clearing throat] Uh. Yes. All the saints I met at the Western Camp Meeting. Uh, I don't know if I should welcome you, but welcome, and I'm glad and thankful. I am a family medicine doctor from Korea. Uh, I completed my residency and fellowship in family medicine at Samsung Seoul Hospital, and I previously served as a full-time professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Chosun University, and now I am an adjunct professor at Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, and I am running a clinic called 'Shin-Shin Plus Clinic' with faithful friends. Yes. And also, because 36 University needed someone to teach health messages, I am lecturing on health messages as a visiting assistant professor at the Graduate School of Addiction Science. And also, because we wanted to correctly study, practice, and share health messages in Korea, we created the Biblical Health Society, and I am currently serving as the general secretary there. This is my realistic background. Yes. I have a dream. I became a doctor because I wanted to be a person who shares God.

Yes. And among those, I am someone who decided to become a family medicine doctor because I wanted to be a doctor who could effectively share the health message found in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, which my mother loved so much. However, I am not a pastor, a professional minister, or someone who gives many lectures, so I don't know how nervous I get when I stand in a place like this or in front of the congregation. This really doesn't suit my aptitude. Yes. It really doesn't suit me at all. But when I was attending Pusan National University School of Medicine, I wanted to offer some dedication and service to God, so I served as a student teacher during my four years there. There is an inexplicable sympathy and love for these young people and children in my heart. Then, in 2016, thankfully, I became the top resident at Samsung Medical Center, and with a full scholarship from the Samsung Seoul Hospital, I was able to go for training at Harvard Medical School's affiliated medical center in the U.S. and our denomination's Florida Hospital. But I had to stay in Boston for a while, and my wife insisted that I must go to church. No matter how busy I was, I went to great lengths to find and attend services at the Boston Korean Church. Yes. The senior pastor of the Boston Korean Church asked me why I had come all the way from Korea, and I told him about my dream.

Although I am very lacking, I came here because I want to be a doctor who works hard to share how lovely God is and how wonderful this health message is. But after he listened to that intently, I received a call the next time. I had returned to Korea, and he asked, 'Dr. Jo Sang-hyun, are you doing well?' Yes, I am doing well. But he said there was a middle school youth retreat and asked if I could come. Because I had been a teacher for these young people, middle schoolers, and elementary schoolers, I have a dream for these young people. Wow, but I was moved. I thought, 'The U.S. really has a large scale. They ask a lecturer to come from Korea if they like them for a middle school retreat.' I was so deeply impressed that I said I would respond to the call. But since I had to know how many students there were, and safety is also important, I asked how many elementary school students and how many middle school students there were, and he said he didn't really know. Oh, he said there were so many church members that he didn't know how many elementary and middle school students there were. I said, 'Pastor, then what do you do? If you don't know the number of middle school retreat participants, how do you lead them?' He said, 'Oh, teacher, what are you talking about? It's the Middle East (Jung-dong-bu). It's the Middle East,' using his dialect.

He kept saying 'Middle East.' But I had never been to the U.S., so I didn't know what 'Middle East' meant. [Sniffle] So, I was preparing for this 'Middle East' retreat for a long time, and when he suddenly said 'Middle East,' I couldn't refuse. I thought, 'I can't go there. Why would I go there? I'm not prepared and I'm not suitable,' and I don't know how many times I refused. But because it was God's will, after much prayer, you can see my embarrassed expression regarding the Middle East retreat, right? I am a person who shouldn't be here. In 2017, I went as a lecturer to share the health message at the Middle East youth retreat. I don't know how much I prayed. Because I am lacking. I shouldn't share the knowledge I know. The moment a lecturer shares their own things, they fail. I don't know how much I prayed, saying, 'God, please empty me completely and fill me with Your things.' I prayed every day, read the Word every day, and kept praying while reading the Word, asking Him to fill me with His things so that it wouldn't be a wasted time for our congregation, as I would discard all the knowledge I have.

So, I have one calling. The title I showed you earlier is a worldly title, and I call myself a 'Remnant Youth Doctor' with my dream in it. It is because I am a doctor with the hope of the Second Coming, and I am also a doctor who wants to share the love of Jesus and the hope of the Second Coming. So, I worked really hard to live up to the name 'Remnant Youth Doctor,' and thankfully, it seemed like the congregation listened well. When I thought I had fulfilled my duty as a Remnant Youth Doctor, I heard some news. 'Oh, teacher, do you know what they call you in the U.S.?' 'A Remnant Youth Doctor?' 'No. You are the Crybaby Doctor.' Because I cried so much every time I gave a lecture, they said they had never seen someone who cried so much. So, from then on, whenever I have a lecture or am asked to give a testimony, they usually give me water, but they give me tissues. They give me a huge pile of tissues.

But last year, I received another call. Pastor Jang from the Western Youth Retreat gave me a call. 'Dr. Jo Sang-hyun, I would like you to come as a lecturer to share the health message at the Western Youth Retreat.' As soon as I received it, I wrote down 100 reasons why I absolutely shouldn't go and sent it back. 'Number 1, I can't go because of this. Number 2, I can't go because of that. Number 3, I can't go because of this.' I absolutely cannot go. I am not a suitable person for that. I was so distressed. But the pastor sent a reply without any hesitation. He refuted everything I said. 'Number 1, this is an excuse for this reason. The first of the two reasons seems to be an excuse.' It felt like he was scolding me. In Revelation 2:4-5, it says, 'Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.' Yes. And he scolded me fearfully. 'I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place.' And at the end, he comforted me again. 'Everyone misses that beginning and wants to recover it.'

It felt like he was saying, 'You did your best to share God at the Middle East retreat, so why won't you come to this Western retreat?' But I am so sorry, but to each and every one of the congregation members from last time, I am so sorry, but I don't know you. When I close my eyes, my first love doesn't come to mind, but people I don't know at all come to mind. Only grumpy grandmothers and scolding elders, scary people come to mind. 'Then, did I have love at the Middle East retreat? Did I have my first love?' I am ashamed. I didn't have love from the beginning. I was a person without love. So I worried. 'God, I don't have my first love. I don't have love for the people who came to this retreat.' I shouldn't go. While meditating, praying, and reading the Word like that, I said to God again, 'God, how can I love people whose faces I don't even know?' While it was flowing, God told me—you know the pastor said everyone wants to recover if they miss the beginning, right?

I stood up because I really wanted to change the title of 'Crybaby Doctor,' but I don't know if it's possible. I would like to talk about my first love for a moment. Everyone, what does this look like to you? I worried because I thought it would be hard for you to know, but it looks like a star. Who made this star? Do you believe that? Amen. Do you really believe it? Amen. Yes. There were many times when that faith was tested. I definitely believe that God created it, but there were many times when I thought arrogantly in various ways that I contributed a lot. [Clears throat] Oh, sorry. Oh, yes, various... [Sniffle] ...a bit... [Clears throat] I... Oh, thank you, thank you. Thank you. Yes, yes. If you look at me now, I look very happy and comfortable, but I had an abusive childhood. My father was a very smart and capable person, but he abused my mother because she believed in God. And he persecuted me.

Yes. The more my mother tried to make her children believe in God, the more harshly my father persecuted my mother and treated her with violence. So, I had a fear of marriage in my heart. 'Is marriage happy?' Second, I was beaten so much when I was young that I was afraid that if I had children, I would do the same. Yes. I wasn't confident about having children. That was a big wound in my heart that I couldn't tell anyone. But I met a very wonderful young woman, and I liked her first, and cowardly, after I liked her first, seduced her first, and approached her first, I couldn't talk about marriage. Yes. When it came time to talk about marriage, I would run away from it. Yes. So [Sniffle] my current wife was very embarrassed. 'Why do you step back in that situation, Oppa? I don't really want to get married either, but you're an old bachelor.'

Ah, it was difficult to easily talk about the wound I couldn't speak of. But truly by God's grace, I was able to marry that lovely young woman. She is my wife whom I cherish so much now. But after we got married, I don't know how much I tormented my wife. I was a husband who was busy finding faults in my wife, making excuses that I liked logical things. I'm still doing that. Every day, I am committing sins. But in the early days of our marriage, it was worse. Yes. I started to argue with every reason for what my wife said. 'Ah, that's not right. Why are you like this today when you were like that yesterday? I have complaints too, I have complaints too.' [Sniffle] Because of my lack of love, my wife was getting hurt. But one day, my wife said, 'Oppa, I'm having such a hard time lately.' But do you know what I did? 'I'm having a hard time too. I'm having a harder time. Shall we compare how hard it is for us? Let's write it down. Write it down. How many hours do you commute? How many hours do you travel?'

'How many hours do I work? How many hours do you work?' Everyone, I am that kind of person. I really don't deserve to be here. But as we were married for two years and time passed, we didn't have children. People were curious. 'Is there a problem? Why don't they have children?' But there was also my fear in us not having children. 'What if I don't love them if I have children? What if I hit this child like my father did to me?' I was afraid. But as time passed, maybe I started to have a heart that it would be nice to have a child, not because I craved it instinctively without knowing. Around that time, my wife told me. 'Oppa, I have something to [Sniffle] tell you.' 'What is it? Is there some good news? Or is there some bad news?' 'Oppa, don't be surprised,' she said. 'Oh, I have no reason to be surprised.' 'Oppa, I think I'm pregnant,' she said.

Yes. But when my wife said she was pregnant, she said, 'Oppa, I went to the hospital...' My wife is an OB/GYN doctor. 'I thought I was pregnant, so I checked the ultrasound myself. But Oppa, don't be surprised. Oh, the baby doesn't seem to be doing well,' she said. Yes. Oh, that was such a shock. What does that [Sniffle] mean? Oh, because it was my first time being pregnant with that child. I couldn't even see it professionally. But my wife looked at me and said, 'Oppa, the baby is pregnant, but it might miscarry. It's happy news, but I think you need to prepare too,' she said. And when it reaches 6 weeks, we can see the baby's heartbeat on an ultrasound. I was just waiting for it to reach 6 weeks. I never wanted a child, but I waited for it to reach 6 weeks, brought the ultrasound home, and watched it. We didn't even have time to spare.

So, my wife and I put the ultrasound on her belly and watched it. Both of us together. Then, inside the white ultrasound shadow, you can see a pitch-black background. In there, you can see a white house like a round pea. That's the baby's sac. But just because there is a baby sac doesn't mean this child is alive. Yes. Inside the baby sac, when it reaches 6 weeks [Sniffle]—stop crying, stop shedding tears. Yes, yes. The heart must beat. I was looking at the ultrasound, but the heart wasn't beating inside the baby sac. So, um [Sniffle] I couldn't give up with that ultrasound, so I searched for a long time. I searched for a long time, but the heart wasn't beating. So, we... my first child was miscarried. Ah, but... but after that miscarriage, ah yes, yes, tissues... as time [Sniffle] passes, large tissues start to come out. From small ones to large ones, it's okay. Yes [Sniffle] yes.

Ah, I really had an experience of collapsing. I thought that if I got pregnant, everything was life. I thought that if a man's sperm met and made a house inside the womb, everyone would become a child and an adult. But they said there was no life there. There was no life in my life and my efforts. I knew that fact and collapsed. 'There is no life in my life.' And after a long time passed, truly by God's grace and love, with a love that covers even a sinner like me, a baby came to our family again. Ah, yes. Clap. Yes. Yes. Yes. One day, my wife said again, 'Oppa, don't be surprised.' Ah, really now [Sniffle] I was so afraid of getting pregnant, but I really wanted there to be a person. 'Oppa, I think I'm pregnant again.' So, I took my wife and prayed. A man who was afraid of marriage and had wounds in his heart and was afraid of having children held his wife and prayed to God.

God, I have no love. Oh. Yes. [Sniffle] I have no love. I have no life either. This life can only be given by You. Amen. Please, please let this child be alive. The person who was afraid of the child started to pray earnestly for the child. And it became 6 weeks. I have to bring the ultrasound and see it again. [Sniffle] There is no time to go to the hospital. Because my heart is anxious, I brought the ultrasound machine, and I can't even wait for the 6 weeks. I've been watching it since 3 days ago, 2 days ago. It's delicious [Sniffle] It became exactly 6 weeks. When I put the ultrasound on, the whole world was pitch black again. Ah, I have to find the womb. I'm looking for the baby sac, and I see a baby sac the size of a pea again. It has a white border. I don't know how lovely that is. Yes. It's a pea circle, but I start praying from then on for the heart to beat. God, please, please grant life to this child. Please let this child's heart be beating.

You can do it. I will believe that You created our child. God, if this child is alive, I will not claim this child. You are the real parent of this child. Please let this child's heart beat, I prayed. And I put the ultrasound on and looked for the heart, and it's really pitch black inside the ultrasound. Inside that black sky like a pitch-black night sky [Sniffle], a single dot was flickering. If you don't know it well, you can't even see it, but I can see the heart appearing and disappearing, appearing and disappearing. [Sniffle] So, my wife and I were watching that heart, and I don't know how much we cried. Yes. When the first child went wrong, we were both so heartbroken that we couldn't even talk, but only after seeing the second child's heart beating could we cry together. Everyone, life comes from God. Not only the stars in the night sky, but the heart inside our bodies was also created by God.

No life that He does not allow can exist in this world. [Sniffle] At that time, the members of the Miju Church who are here came to mind again. Yes. Ah, God, I have really loved people whose faces I don't know. [Sniffle] Now, I still don't know the face of my first child [Sniffle], oh. Yes. Although I don't know the face of my first child well, just as I really love that child, God, please let me prepare with a heart that loves these congregation members whose faces I don't even know well. Amen. And please let me share not the knowledge I know or my own things, but God's providence that makes the heart beat. And if there is a soul in this America whose heart is not yet beating, or a soul that is hurt and exhausted, Lord, please make their heart beat again. Amen. [Sniffle] And God, by His grace, yes, yes, allowed us to have a second child. Everyone, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to love my children.

But everyone [Sniffle], the amazing fact is that the children forgive me and love me every day, every moment. Yes. When my first child couldn't hold its neck up, my wife would wash the first child. The husband is afraid of holding the child. Because it can't hold its neck, I feel like the neck will fall off if I'm not careful. But my wife skillfully said, 'Oppa, take it quickly,' and I was too embarrassed. I thought it would fall if I held it like that, so I quickly brought a large swaddle and wrapped my first child tightly like this. Because I was afraid it would be cold. And just in case the neck would fall off, I hugged the neck tightly with my arms. I was really holding my breath and looking at the child, and the thought that came to me was a thought given by God. 'Oh, God, how could I not love this child?' In 'Patriarchs and Prophets,' the purpose of creation comes out. God is love. His nature and His law are also love. It was so in the past, and it will be so forever in the future.

Every manifestation of creative power is an expression of infinite love. God's sovereignty includes complete blessings for all creatures. [Sniffle] God created humanity in His own image, and this was so that they could realize God's love and constantly share in a communion of love with Him. The God of love created humanity as beings who could receive His love intact and enjoy happiness. Amen. Everyone, life comes from God. Yes. When God grants life, He also grants love together. Amen. Because He is perfect love, He creates life with love. [Sniffle] So, in 1 Peter, this word comes out. [Clears throat] I'm sorry. God created us with love and also has expectations. There are many things God expects, and that is well stated in this word of 1 Peter.

[Sniffle] Above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging. As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. After God created us with love, He asked us. It is to serve one another, cover each other's faults, love each other, and serve each other. But this service is not just standing up fallen objects or picking up trash. [Sniffle] As a husband, you must serve your wife, and as a husband, you must serve your children. Everything must be done with love. Except for the selfish human heart, nothing lives for itself. As long as all creatures acknowledged the loyalty of love, there was perfect harmony in God's entire universe. [Sniffle] This is the purpose of creation for which God created us. When we lived according to this purpose of creation, the whole universe was harmonious and there was no dissonance.

So, the word of wisdom in Ecclesiastes says this. Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth. Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. This is the purpose for which we were created and the direction we should go. [Sniffle] But everyone, do you know how Korean society is now? Yes. What is the number one condition for happiness for teenagers these days? That's right. Yes. The essential element of happiness that teenagers think of these days is wealth. [Sniffle] What about parents? What are Korean people chasing now? In 2026, the personal goals of all citizens were surveyed, and number one is being healthy, and number two is earning a lot of money. Their dream is to earn a lot of money and keep their own body healthy. Everyone, then shouldn't they be happy? Yes. Shouldn't people who are healthy and earn a lot of money be happier? Or even if they don't earn more, if they earn one, shouldn't they be as happy? But what is Korean society like now?

In 2024, there are major causes of death by age group, and from teens to 40s, the number one is suicide. A whopping 48% of the death rate for teens is suicide. The Republic of Korea is dying of emptiness now. It is dying of futility. The reason for that is in 'Steps to Christ.' It says that the purpose of the deceiver, that is, Satan, is to make God's plan for the creation of humanity fail—and God's plan is love. It is that love that He hopes we love each other—and to make this world full of ruin and desolation. This ruin is the body getting sick, and the desolation is the lack of happiness and fullness in our hearts. That is what Satan wants. By making us distant from God, he makes us lose the purpose of this life and wander and become depressed. I would like to introduce a girl I met when I was a family medicine resident. When I was a family medicine resident, I was dispatched to the pediatrics department. Family medicine residents rotate through departments.

Yes. I went to the pediatrics department [Sniffle], and a middle school student with anorexia was hospitalized in the pediatrics department. But this child was so thin that originally, anorexia should go to the psychiatry department, but the psychiatry department said they couldn't accept the hospitalization because this child was too thin, so they were afraid she would die. The pediatrics department said that until this child is physically healthy, nutrients must be supplemented to treat this child's body and mind, so the psychiatry department agreed to accept her, and on that condition, she was hospitalized in the pediatrics department first. But what I'm saying here is not that the treatment method of the psychiatry department is correct, or that I am saying which treatment method is more correct or wrong. Please understand that in all the words I say for 5 days, there is my imperfect knowledge, faith, and word, and please understand that I am not talking about worldly knowledge. Yes. Because God also gives light and guidance to worldly knowledge, I am not talking about what is right or wrong. Yes. This child came to the pediatrics department like that, and she was entrusted to me as the attending physician. It's a very difficult case, and even though there are many residents in the pediatrics department, the reason this patient was given to a dispatched family medicine resident is because they think anorexia is medically difficult to treat.

But this child was really a special child. This child [Sniffle] was a middle school student, but she attended an international school and was ranked first in the whole school there. She spoke English very fluently, so she was playing with foreigners hospitalized at Samsung Hospital every day. During break time, she would go around to other wards and just play with the foreigners there like friends. I don't know how bright and kind she was. But this child also had really wonderful parents. This child's mother was a famous medical school professor in South Korea. This child's father was a lawyer at the most famous law firm in South Korea. But this child's parents couldn't love each other. Yes. It's information only we know. Even this child doesn't know. Um. [Sniffle] The two of them never came to visit this child together. Yes. Either the mother came separately or the father came separately. As the attending physician, I had many conversations with this child and spent time with her.

What can I do for this child? She is a child who cannot even be accepted by the psychiatry department because her weight is too low. In the pediatrics department, they see anorexia as an incurable disease, so there is not much to do. So, there is not much to do, so she is a child entrusted to me. What can I do? Yes. I started praying for this child. And I started thinking about what God wants for this child. I listened to many stories and supported her to convey the parents' love that seemed to have been lacking for this child. This child would never eat if there was any oil. So, when she saw food, she would press it with chopsticks, and if there was even a drop of oil, she wouldn't eat it. I would put that child down and repeat endlessly that it was okay to eat it. 'It's okay. Try eating it once.' 'Shall I try eating it?' 'Oh, try eating it.' I supported her, listened to her thoughts, played with her, and then this mother came. To have an interview with the child. But I am a resident, and this child's mother is a famous professor.

What can I say to the professor who is a resident? I told this mother to take an interest in this daughter. Yes. But no matter how busy you are, yes. This child seems to miss her mother. Yes. When this father came, I said, 'Lawyer, no matter how busy you are, it seems like this child needs her father.' But strangely, this child's weight increased little by little. It really increases little by little. Everyone, everyone, it's not the few kilograms you think, but it increases by a few grams. But she even records those few grams that increase. Because it increased, it shouldn't drop further. But this child had a deadline, and if her weight reached a certain point, she had to go to the psychiatry department unconditionally. Because she was hospitalized on that condition. But everyone thought that condition would not be met by anyone. But one day, it started to exceed that weight significantly. We always talk the same way, yes. We support the story, listen to the story, set a promise, and say, 'Let's try as much as you can. Oh, it's okay.'

'It's okay to fail.' I wanted to teach her little by little the love I received from God. But I made a big mistake. I made a promise with this child every day, practiced it, and was really, really happy, but one day this child said she would eat oily food. 'Oh, thank you so much.' While saying that, she started eating that oily food little by little, and one day we promised to eat it all without leaving any. But when I took out the side dish, she had eaten it all. I praised her for doing so well, encouraged her, and turned around, but that side dish container was thrown in the trash can. But what did I do when I saw that? 'Oh, it's okay. That can happen.' Did I say that? No. My lack started scolding her. 'Oh, how could you do that to the teacher? Oh, even if you do that to others, shouldn't you not lie to me? Oh, how could you throw this away? I trusted you, we promised to eat it all.'

But that was when our professor was urging us to send this child to the psychiatry department quickly. But this child kept saying she wanted to stay in this family medicine department even when she had an interview with her parents. 'Teacher, please let me stay a little longer.' I said something so harsh to that child: 'Teacher can't wait for you anymore.' I said, 'Teacher can't wait for you anymore, because you lied, so according to the rules, you will go to the psychiatry department now.' I spoke so harshly to the professor, and this child was moved to the neuropsychiatry department after that. To the inpatient ward, now that her weight had increased, she went to treat this disease called anorexia. And I forgot this girl. A long time passed, and I got a call from the pediatrics department. Now, the pediatrics department has a grand round every few months, and that means it's not just a case report that only exists in the pediatrics department, but it's a grand round that cooperates across all departments, meaning multiple departments are joined. It's a place where they gather all the related people and do a case report with a case where the pediatrics department showed a really great achievement when collaborating with multiple departments.

There, not only the pediatrics department but also professors from related departments, all residents, come and listen, even more than the congregation members coming now. Doing a presentation there is done by outstanding or very central doctors. But I got a call asking me to do that presentation. I'm not a pediatrician, I'm a family medicine doctor. I went on dispatch and returned, right? But why should I do the presentation? They said, 'Oh, this case is the student you were in charge of.' I said, 'Oh, why? Is something wrong?' 'No. We are talking with the psychiatry department, and the psychiatry professor said this. 'How did you do it to the pediatric teacher that the weight could increase this much?'' They said they were asking. At Samsung Seoul Hospital, we treat and deal with countless anorexia patients, but we see anorexia as an incurable and difficult disease. But they are curious about how you could make her gain so much weight in a short period and come to the department, so they want to ask. But in the pediatrics department, there is no one who can give an answer. Because they don't know why. So, the fellow teacher there said the teacher who was in charge should prepare it, so they are calling me. So, I did a presentation in a place where all the pediatric teachers and all the psychiatry teachers gathered about how this child's weight increased.

I thought it was a failure, yes. I gave up because of my lack, but God's method was something that the world couldn't follow even a little bit. But after that happened, I fell into a slump. A sense of guilt about this child started to rush in. 'Ah, how could I give up on her? How could I say so harshly, 'You lied to the teacher, so go to the neuropsychiatry department'? How could I be so harsh?' I was so distressed. Why am I so distressed? Is it because there is love in me? No. It is because the One who waited for me is the One who never gave up on me. It is because the One who taught me to do that to me is the One who never scolded me even once. I learned love directly from God, but the love I showed was so lacking that I felt so sorry, so even now, when I think of that child, my heart hurts and I am distressed. 'Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.'

Amen. Everyone, the God who loves us is also the One who never leaves us. Yes. Thanks to that God, I can stand in this place. Yes. I am really... I'm sorry. I will drink some water and go on. Yes, yes. Yes. I am really a person who is worthless and cannot share anything, but thanks to the One who waited for me endlessly, I am changing little by little. Even yesterday, a few days ago, I was told that I was a worthless and excessive husband, but sometimes I am praised that I have improved a lot compared to the beginning. Although you ask me to share about the health message, the health message in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, the story I will share today is the health message in my life. But that story is actually a story about Jesus in my life. Also, it is a story about Jesus who changed me. My house is... I'm sorry. I drink water when I'm nervous, so I drink a lot of water, so my mother saw the video and said, 'Did you get diabetes? Get tested quickly, you'll get sick first,' she said. I'm really nervous, so I keep drinking water.

[Clears throat] Yes. Ah, it's okay. Ah, there is one more bottle. Yes. Thank, thank you. Yes. Thank you. Yes, yes. I drink a lot of water. My father always persecuted my mother, but the lighting was too strong, so I was a bit... my father was a very capable and smart doctor. But when my father saw the world, he was very wise and prudent, and sometimes he had a strong sense of justice, but the one thing my father could never tolerate was God. My father strangely couldn't tolerate anything about God. I don't know how much he persecuted my mother. From the time they were newlyweds, he tormented, persecuted, and oppressed my mother with words that couldn't even be put in one's mouth and violence, every day I have memories of. But my mother shared God with my father at every moment. My father used to say childish things every day. 'Do you like me? Or do you like God?' No, where is such a childish question? But he asked that every day. 'Me or God?'

'How can you like God more than me?' Then my mother's words were always the same, everyone. 'Ah, honey, God and [Sniffle] you are not something that can be compared.' Yes. Thank you. 'God created you. God also created me. God is the One who existed before we were here. And honey, if I say I love God and betray God when you hit, persecute, and oppress me, won't I betray you too when I'm having a hard time someday? Honey, me trusting, loving, and serving God without change is me serving you, being loyal to you, and loving you. Why don't you know that?' My father said, 'Where is such a thing? Choose,' and tormented her again. Since I was young, my mother and father fought almost every day, and when I was [Sniffle] young, that became a very big wound. Yes. When I was young, our hospital beds were all hospital beds. My father was a doctor, so he used hospital beds as beds at home.

But inside that hospital bed, it's empty. Yes. When I was sleeping and heard the sound of fighting, I was scared and hid inside. Inside the bed. Then I pray. Because my mother told me to pray. 'God, can You hear me? If You are there, please stop that fight.' God didn't answer that prayer. So I started to distrust and hate God. One day, I hated my mother. 'Mom, if you didn't believe in that God, you wouldn't fight like this. Can't you not go to church?' Then my mother would cry her eyes out. 'Sang-i, I can endure and bear your father not knowing God. If I think you don't know God, Mom, I think that's hard to endure. That hurts my heart so much,' she said. Then my mother always talked about God. 'Sang-i, you are also given to me by God. You are also created by God.' 'Then Mom, why do we fight like this every day?'

'You said God created us and is love, but why do Mom and Dad fight like this every day?' 'Ah, Sang-i. Sang-i, you shouldn't resent Dad. You shouldn't hate Dad. That is not done by God, but by Satan. Satan is moving your Dad to break our family. But we must never hate Dad. That is the work we must do.' But my mother has never, ever in her life, until now, spoken ill of, resented, or cursed my father. And even when my father inflicted any persecution, she never denied God even once in front of us. But when my father and mother fought, they fought really, really scarily. When they fought, there was always a rite of passage. That is that they would divorce. Yes. 'I'm going to divorce Mom now, so choose between Mom and Dad.' It's childish, but they really did it every day. But this is a public vote. Like this. Yes. If my mother went to church, read the Bible, read the Spirit of Prophecy, or cooked brown rice, from that day on, it was a mess, and they fought all night, listened to admonitions, and called everyone to say they would divorce. I knelt all night and listened to the admonition. From my father. Then when dawn came, he said he would divorce, so choose. He tells me to raise my hand.

'Raise your hand if you follow Dad.' Then I have to raise my hand. 'Raise your hand if you follow Mom.' But if I raised my hand to follow Mom, I was really beaten to death. Yes. But my youngest sister followed Mom without exception since she was young. No matter how much my father hit, persecuted, didn't give allowance, and said, 'You are an abandoned child,' my sister would cry and say, 'Dad, I believe in God and want to follow Mom,' and followed Mom. When it was time for us to choose, my mother's eyes would shake. 'Sang-i, please, please don't be afraid. Choose Mom. Please, Sang-i.' So I looked at Mom once and really wanted to go to Mom, but I raised my hand to Dad. 'I will be with Dad.' I raised my hand to Dad without exception every time. I was so scared. I grew up as almost my father's right-hand man. I grew up as the son who most resembled my father. That was such a big pain for my mother.

But now that the children were growing up, my father was even persecuting the child who followed Mom. 'Let's see how well you do. Oh, God seems to really exist. God seems to protect you. I have wealth, honor, and power, so I will make the child who follows me do well, but I will make the youngest one who follows you see the sight of failing,' he cursed. My mother prayed in her room crying every day. 'God, when the child doesn't fear my husband and chooses You...' But my father hit her, so when my father persecuted my mother, all the neighbors gathered. To stop them. In our neighborhood, there was no one who didn't know our house. All the neighbors knew this house, that child was always kicked out of the house following Mom and had to run away, that child who followed Mom, please protect her so she doesn't go wrong. Please let him know that choosing God is not bad, that it is right,' she prayed.

But strangely, my father's power didn't seem to collapse. But my first sister and second sister studied really well. But it didn't work out. My father had such a strong pride as a doctor that he said, 'I am a doctor, I am very smart, so I see that the Bible is nonsense. I see that you are wrong.' He said many arrogant things. So he hoped that I, who followed Dad, would become a doctor following Dad. But I couldn't study. I can't study well. How can I study in this family? I had no joy. I had no joy in the world. I had no goals. I was addicted to games and addicted to comic books. If I went to high school, my five close friends and I would sit in the back row, and since I had a lot of money, we would pass around comic books I borrowed and watch comic books without even listening to class. Our class had 45 students, and I was always 40th, and my close friends were 41st, 42nd, 43rd, 44th, 45th—we were the 'Dottori' five brothers.

I can't study well. No, why should I study? I have no joy. When I go home, we fight every day. In high school, there was only one subject I liked, and that was ethics. 'Why were we born? Why do our parents have to fight like that? Does God exist?' That was so fun. The study about existence that people say is boring is so fun. 'Why was I born?' But one day, my father came to find me—I really couldn't study. 'Don't you want to go to medical school?' he said. At this time, I was almost at the end of puberty, so I was as cold as you can't imagine now. It was really difficult for anyone to talk to me in our house. Even my sisters couldn't talk to me. I was completely rebellious and twisted, and I rejected all people and interests in this world. Even my father saying such things was a courageous word. I didn't even eat well with my parents.

'Why, why should I go to medical school? Dad, I don't even want to study,' I shouted. My father was coaxing me with all sorts of things. But my father hoped that someone in his power, someone who followed him, would do well. 'Dad, I don't want to.' My father was seducing me. 'I'll do this for you. I'll do that for you.' Then one day, he said to me, 'Sang-i, if you go to college, I'll do everything you want.' He said. 'Everything? I'll do everything for you. Anything, anything.' What my father said to explain how much 'anything' was, was, 'If you go to college and go to church, you can go to church,' he said. Yes. That means do everything. In our house, if a Bible was seen, he would tear it all up, and he would come with hammers and take it all away. Such a person said, 'If you want, you can go to church.' 'Wow, then Dad, I've never studied before,' I said. Then my father said he would teach me. My father was an orphan, but he was a live-in tutor since he was young, so he taught really well. From then on, I was injured at my father's hospital, so he taught me to study. Yes. I didn't know it was such a hellish place.

Because I couldn't study, my father evaluated me and said, 'There is no answer for you.' But you... 'No, this level...' he was trembling. Because I knew nothing. He came to the school. To the homeroom teacher. 'Teacher, my child is a child that this public education cannot handle. This self-study and everything is meaningless, so please take him out.' 'No, this child doesn't even understand, and it's meaningless, so just send him away.' But what was so cowardly and so wounding was that the teacher also acknowledged it and sent me away. 'That's right. Father, it seems like the child is like that. Please take him.' My father had an IV room at his hospital. That small IV room, there's no window. He locked me in there and made me study every day. So, 'You can't study well, and you don't deserve to know difficult things,' so he bought only one of each workbook, so there are many workbooks, but I can't know. So he bought EBS workbooks. 12 subjects, only one of each, 'Don't even buy two.'

'You don't have the brain for two.' Instead, he made me know everything inside this one book, even the investigation. I was locked in there and started looking at books for the first time. At first, it took a week to look at one book. 'I looked at it. Dad, I looked at it all.' But I couldn't even go out until I looked at it all. He even brought me food. He said eating time was a waste, so he always spread butter on bread, baked it, and brought it to me. Breakfast is buttered bread, lunch is buttered bread, and dinner is buttered bread. He said if I don't spread butter, I could die. He said if I spread butter, I wouldn't die. So he always spread butter, but it was really killing me. My mother was worried, so 'Sang-i,' when my mother met me, my father would make a fuss. 'Sang-i, it's okay.' 'This buttered bread is really killing me.' Then my mother would put carrots and lettuce, like lettuce, inside. Like this. Wow, everyone, I knew then that carrots were so delicious. Carrots are completely honey-flavored. Honey-flavored. 'Really, Mom, are there any more carrots?' 'Hey, Dad is coming. Dad is coming.' Then run away. 'Ah, eat bread again and gain weight.' Just solve and solve and solve. 'Dad, I think I solved all 12 times. Now let me look at other books.' Then my father would take the book, erase it all with an eraser, and put it back in. 'Solve it again. From the beginning.' Then solve it from the beginning, and I solved one book about 100 times.

Later, when I close my eyes, the book comes to mind. My father asks, 'What is this problem?' Then, 'Ah, that book is what book? What page, what number problem? 1 is what, 2 is what, 3 is what, 4 is what? The answer is 3. The reason 1 is not it is what, the reason 2 is not it is what, 3 is what.' 'That's it.' I memorized it all. The book was worn out and tearing. 'Mother, the book is torn. Please show me another book.' 'I see. I understand.' Then he threw the book away. But he went to the bookstore and bought the same book again. 'Since the book is torn, look at it with a new book,' while looking at it again, and again, and again, and again, I don't know how much I solved those 12 books until I became a senior. And when I became a senior in high school, I took mock exams. Every time I took a mock exam, my grades went up by tens of points. So, really absurdly, by the time the senior year was almost over, my mock exam grades were good enough to go to medical school.

I was last, but I was going to the top tier. But the day of the CSAT exam came. I was so nervous. I had never been nervous taking an exam. If you don't study, you really don't get nervous. If you don't study, you don't get nervous at all the day before, and you just wait for the exam to end quickly. 'Oh, just write quickly and wait for it to end quickly.' Because I studied like this, everyone, I was taking the exam, but I was so nervous that I couldn't sleep. I hold the pencil, and the pencil shakes more. 'What if a problem I don't know comes out? I don't think I can live this life again.' I couldn't even dream of retaking. And then, just before taking the CSAT, I was locked up and studying without even seeing sunlight, and then the door opened and they told me to go take the CSAT. Now, a martial arts master locked in the mountains goes to the CSAT exam hall holding a pencil. I was dying of nervousness, so I took the CSAT.

I don't even know how I took it. I was so nervous, [gasp] I took it all. I have to grade it, but I was so nervous that I couldn't grade it. At that time, bookstores sold answer keys. I went to the bookstore and bought the answer key, but I couldn't grade it. I was so nervous. And if someone asked, I would get angry. 'Sang-i, don't say anything.' But my mother, 'Sang-i, don't say anything.' I hid everywhere. Even when everyone fell asleep and it became night, I was so nervous that I couldn't grade it. I lived in Bucheon, and I walked around here all night. Until my heart calmed down. I turned and walked and walked, and when it was quiet at night, I graded it. 'One, correct. Correct. Correct.' I graded it, and there were almost no wrong ones. At that time, at that time, this is our '98 class, but in the '97 CSAT, the mock exam was like this: if you exceeded 260 points out of 400, you went to any university in Seoul.

If you exceeded 260 points, if you exceeded 280 points, it was the top tier. If you exceeded 300 points, you could go to the top department at Seoul National University, and if you exceeded 330 points, it was the top of the year that year. So, the top was decided from 325 points. Do you know how many points I got? 335 points came out. 'Wow, life is one shot.' I lived like this, but 'Buttered bread is worth eating.' Wow, really, I opened the window and shouted. 'Hey, life is one shot.' I couldn't be happier. So I held the exam paper, and it's dawn now, and I kicked the door of the room where my mother was sleeping and went in. 'Mom, Dad, wake up. Wake up.' Then my mother, 'Why, what's wrong? Oh, did you grade the exam score?' she said. 'Don't ask. Don't say anything.' At that time, because I was so excited, Dad, 'Why, Sang-i, did you do well on the exam?' he said. 'Dad, I told you not to say anything,' then 'Why are you like that?' I laughed and said, 'Mom, Dad, don't say anything, just imagine the university and department you want your son to enter. I will achieve it.' So I really felt like I had everything. 'It's over. This life is over.'

If I go to college, 'I'll do everything for you,' wow, it's over. 'This hell is my liberation, liberation.' Do I need to go to school early the next day? No. I went to school in the afternoon as a winner of the world. I went to school, and our class president studied well. He and someone else were playing baseball. They were playing baseball. 'Wow, now with a sense of achievement,' 'Hey, class president, what score did you get?' '380 points,' he said. 'Oh, 280 points, 280 points, 380 points,' he said. It's strange, that's a score that can't exist, so to the kid catching, 'Hey, catcher, what score did you get?' Then '350 points,' he said. Something is strange. So I went into the classroom, and the news came out, and it was the biggest 'water CSAT' in history, so everyone's scores went up by 60, 100 points. Wow, it was a mess. Yes. I have to find out where to go. Now, I was so surprised that I was frozen and sitting there, and those 46th, 47th, 48th, 49th who were close to me kicked the door and came in, 'Hey, if there are kids who got over 300 points, come out,' they said.

'Hey, be quiet. Don't you have a sense of atmosphere?' 'Hey, sit down quickly,' and now everyone sat down and was watching the news. It was a mess. I consulted with the homeroom teacher. 'Wow, it's a big deal. What should I do?' I consulted with Dad. 'Dad, I don't think I can go to medical school this time.' And my school record was almost 9th grade. So we have special admission and regular admission, and special admission reflected school records, and regular admission... ah, special admission didn't reflect school records, and regular admission reflected school records. So I had to go to special admission unconditionally. If school records were reflected in regular admission, there was no university I could go to. I had to go to special admission, but I couldn't retake it again. 'How can I eat this buttered bread for another year?' I went to find the homeroom teacher, 'Homeroom teacher, anywhere is fine, so please send me to a place where I can be 100% accepted.' The homeroom teacher thought about it and said it seemed like I could be 100% accepted if I went to Kangwon National University Pharmacy School. I didn't do that poorly, after all.

Oh, but [Sniffle] 'Oh, would pharmacy school be okay?' he said. Then I asked my father, and my father said, 'It can't be helped. You did your best, so let's go where you can go.' So he told me to go. Then I said to my father, 'I don't need anything else, Dad, but will you keep your promise even if I go there?' Then my father said, 'I will keep my promise.' 'I will not interfere in your life,' he said. 'I will do everything you want. Just go to college.' Wow, I had no dreams. It doesn't matter here. Wow, it's so good. Kangwon National University, how far is it? I don't have to see my parents fighting anymore. I can leave this house. Wow, I don't know how happy I am. So the day before the interview, 'Ah, if I do the interview, it's over,' and I fell asleep, but when I opened my eyes, I felt very refreshed and the sunlight was warm. It's strange. It felt like something important happened, but I couldn't think of it, and it felt comfortable as if all the fatigue of my whole body was relieved.

It's strange like Sunday, and I went out to the living room and turned on the TV, and it was 1 PM. I had something important today, but when I thought about it, that day was the interview day. So, 'Oh, today is my interview day, why is it 1 PM?' [Clears throat] Is it a dream? I saw my mother doing the dishes. 'Mom, isn't today my interview day?' My mother said naturally, 'Oh, that's right,' she said. 'Oh, what is this?' and I went to Kangwon National University very urgently, but the interview time was all over, so I failed to get into Kangwon National University. Because I overslept, it doesn't make sense. So, a long time later, that was so impressive that I asked my mother. My mother takes good care of things like that. 'But Mom, when I applied for Kangwon National University Pharmacy School through special admission, why didn't you wake me up then?' I was so curious. My mother laughed. Then, 'Sang-i, you won't be angry, right?' she said. 'Why would I be angry? Tell me.' My mother's words were, 'I heard from your Dad that you were going to Kangwon National University Pharmacy School.'

'He said you would be 100% accepted.' But Mom, I heard that and my heart hurt so much. Yes. My mother heard that I would be accepted to Kangwon National University Pharmacy School, and she cried from then on. Yes. Until I turned 20, my mother hadn't been able to share God with me yet. Yes. 'My son who doesn't know God is now leaving my arms and going to Kangwon, so who will share God with our child?' 'If he goes to Kangwon, will there be even one friend who will share God with our child?' 'Will there be even one professor who will talk about God at that university?' 'Can my son, who even when we are together like this, doesn't want to listen to Mom and makes a fuss like that when I bring up Bible stories, can he even dream of a dream where he can talk about the Bible with Mom when he comes home?' She said her heart hurt so much. She wanted God. 'God, why is it not Sahmyook University?' There is a professor who can share God at Sahmyook University. There is a friend who can talk about God at Sahmyook University.

'God, why is it Kangwon National University?' and she prayed all night. 'God, what should I do?' But they say I will be 100% accepted to Kangwon National University. What should I do? She kept praying, and it became dawn, and now the sun was rising. Then God felt so resentful. My mother prayed. 'God, You created this child.' 'God, You gave me our son.' 'So please, God, meet our son.' 'God, have I ever even once hoped that our child would live well and do well?' 'God, have I ever even once hoped that our child would become a doctor?' 'God, have I ever even once hoped that our child would go to Seoul National University or a good university?' 'God, my hope is only one thing from the moment You created this child until now, that our child knows You.' 'So please, meet our child.' 'God, please, You gave him.' 'You created him.' 'But why is it not our child?' she prayed all night. But no matter how much she prayed, that prayer didn't seem like it would be achieved. 'God, what should I do?' 'I wish tomorrow wouldn't come.' 'I wish the sun wouldn't rise.' But how can the sun not rise? The sun is rising.

My last prayer was, 'God, just don't let our child wake up.' 'God, Sang-i, can't You just not let him wake up like that?' 'Just let him stay asleep.' 'I wish that child wouldn't wake up.' She prayed, cried, and fell asleep, but when she opened her eyes, it was so quiet. So she came to the room, and I was really sleeping. 'Oh, God, what is this?' But God, this child is still such a young child, so even if he stays a little longer, he is a child who will go to the interview somehow. 'God, please let him sleep a little longer.' 'Please let him sleep a little longer.' 9 o'clock, 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock, 12 o'clock, and since I didn't wake up, she did the dishes with a grateful heart. She was doing the dishes, and I came running out. 'Mom, isn't today my interview day?' But my mother couldn't turn her head then. I thought, 'How can she be so indifferent?' but she couldn't see me because she was crying.

'Mom, do you know why I cried then?' she said. 'Sang-i, God is really alive.' 'God is the One who really created you and me.' 'He created this whole universe and is the One who governs everything.' 'The One who even granted the small prayer of not letting you wake up, wouldn't He grant Mom's lifelong prayer of meeting you?' 'Mom had that conviction, so I cried a lot,' she said. And then I went to school, and now I have to go to college. Because I failed the special admission. So I was looking at the placement table, and I really had no strength. There is no university I can go to. Now I have to go with regular admission, adding my school records, but since I was 9th grade, if I add school records, there is no university I can go to. But while looking at the placement table, there was one university that didn't make sense. This is [Sniffle] there is a university, but they said they would reflect school records for only two subjects. Selective school records for two subjects. I called that school. That school was Sahmyook University.

Wait. Yes. No, among all universities, there is one university that evaluates by selecting and submitting only two subjects from all school records, and it is Sahmyook University. [Sniffle] I called the administration office and asked. 'Does Sahmyook University really evaluate school records only with those two subjects if I select and submit only two subjects from all my subjects?' 'Yes,' they said. 'No, then does it not have to include Korean, English, and Math?' 'Yes. It doesn't have to include them.' 'It doesn't matter which one.' 'Music too?' 'Yes.' 'Physical education too?' 'Yes.' 'They said to select and submit any two subjects.' My heart started to pound. My heart is pounding. I went to school for the first time and looked through all my report cards. Because I was always last, I didn't even look at them, but I was trembling. I just need two subjects to come out. English, 'Yang' (C), Math, 'Yang' (C), 25 points out of 100. Ah, I can't even bear to look at it, but 'God, please,' prayer comes out. 'Please, please,' but it's there. 3 years total 'Su' (A).

Yes. One was physical education. Almost 1st place. 'Su' (A). 1st place is 100 points. Almost. Wow, God, prayer comes out naturally. 'God, please give me one more subject.' I'm looking for it, but there's no way. 'Yang' (C), 'Yang' (C). It's hard to find 'Su' (A) or 'Mi' (B). 'Yang' (C) comes out, but in a really desperate moment, it comes out, and one subject is 'Su' (A). 3 years total 'Su' (A), almost 1st place. That is ethics, ethics. [Sniffle] The subject that I asked 'God, why did You make us?' every day because I didn't know why I had to be born and suffer like this, is almost 1st place. So I submitted ethics and physical education to Sahmyook University with almost excellent grades. But to go to this Sahmyook University, I have to get my father's permission. Sahmyook University is a university that I really can't even imagine. So I went to find my father. 'Dad, I can go to college, but where? Pharmacy school.' 'You are going to pharmacy school? With your school records?' 'Ah, Dad, don't say such hurtful things.'

'I am 1st grade in school records.' 'Only at one university.' 'Where?' 'Sahmyook University.' He was frowning. But I was very afraid of my father. But at this time, looking at that frown, I was angry. 'Dad, are you frowning at me?' I lived locked in a prison eating only buttered bread for a whole year to keep Dad's honor, but now that my son is going to college, he is frowning. It's absurd. 'Dad, my son is going to college, are you unhappy?' It's so absurd. But Dad laughed and said, 'Do you want to go?' he said. Yes. It's not 'Do you want to go?' It's in heaven. I looked at the placement table, and it's really in heaven. 'If they pick me, it's an honor.' 'I'm grateful.' 'What are you talking about?' My heart changed. Then Dad said, 'Yes, go.' [Sniffle] And then, for the first time in my life, really for the first time, I went to find my mother. I persecuted and bullied my mother. As I grew up, I resembled my father and ignored my mother together with Dad. But I, who was like that, went to find my mother. It's a son who is hard to even talk to, but 'Mom, let's talk.'

She was so happy. 'What's the matter?' 'What can Mom help you with?' I had failed the interview. Other people don't even care about the interview, but I was dying of nervousness about the interview. Even though my grades were excellent, I was nervous about failing the interview, so Mom... my mother graduated from Sahmyook University Nursing School. 'Mom, how should I prepare for the interview to go to Sahmyook University?' Dad has no interest. I don't know how happily my mother taught me. 'Sang-i, Sahmyook University is different from worldly universities.' 'Worldly universities will ask about wisdom and knowledge, but Sahmyook University will ask about something special.' 'How about preparing by thinking about whether you met God, whether you love God, whether you grew up in a family that knows God?' I don't know how hard I prepared. [Sniffle] 'I'm so nervous, Mom.' I couldn't hide my heart. 'Mom, what if I fail? I'm so nervous.' 'No, Sang-i, they will definitely recognize you.'

'They will definitely recognize Mom's son there.' I thought there was Mom's connection among the professors. Is there a professor who will recognize me? I found out a long time later. Who is the person who will recognize me? Yes. It is the God whom my mother prayed to from the moment she conceived me. And I... Yes. And I went to Sahmyook University for the interview. My mentors, whom I love and respect so much now, and who really... I really love, were sitting there. And they are asking the question my mother said. Really. Uh. Uh. I'm sorry. I wrote this resume very cowardly. 'Born-again Christian,' it says. Yes, that's right, Professor. I have lived my whole life serving God as the son of a deacon who is a born-again Christian. The world... it can't be more cowardly. Ask other teachers. 'Oh, a Christian friend has come.' Your grades were also okay. You were 1st grade, so if you come to our school, 'An-gyo' (Sabbath School)... I didn't even know what An-gyo was.

There is something called Sabbath School, and I was actually worried because there weren't many church members. If they come, they will be diligent in Sabbath School too. What are you talking about? Professor, I will become a leader there. The moment I heard I was accepted into the university, my heart was pounding completely. I was truly ready to lay down my soul for the word 'acceptance,' and by God's grace, I was admitted to Sahmyook University. I was admitted, and there I met friends who talked to me about God, for whom my mother had prayed her whole life. Yes. I went to the freshman orientation for the first time, and the atmosphere there was completely different from the world I came from. At the freshman orientation, professors were talking, and one professor came over and said, 'Hey, do you guys have a special song prepared?' But at that time, friends who had graduated from SDA schools took good care of me. We hung out together. But those friends were looking at each other, nodding their heads. They were sitting with me, but they were signaling each other, excluding me. When asked, 'Don't you guys have a special song prepared?', those four nodded their heads.

Among themselves. And then they just went out. I thought I had to go out too, so I stood up with them, but one friend pressed down on my shoulder. 'You just sit still. This isn't for you to join in.' They told me to sit. I sat down. Those four men went out, covered their ears, and pressed them with their fingers. Then they were doing something, and they were like, 'Wow,' among themselves. I watched, wondering, 'What are they doing?' It became quiet, and then they started singing. 'Heavenly music spreads gently over the sea.' That beautiful melody. As they sang that song, for the first time in my life, I heard the song that my mother sang while being persecuted, chased away, and beaten—the song about the God that my friend, who was the same age as me but had lived a different life, was singing, acknowledging that the One who created him was God. I cried endlessly. I felt a beauty that could not be expressed in words, so I sat there, unable to lift my head, and cried.

God knocked on my door through the lives and voices of my friends, which I could not deny. And I started living in the dormitory, and there was a friend there who was even more of a character. Yes. There was one fat guy, and he was huge. He was a lighthearted and funny friend who would record everything in the dormitory and cry and talk. He always came to play in my room. We would just hang out, joke around, laugh, and enjoy ourselves. But one day, on a Sabbath, Friday evening, after the worship service ended—I didn't go to church—he came back from the service and said, 'Sang-hee, wasn't the message today so good?' What was the message today? Didn't you go to church? I didn't go. Why should I go to church? You didn't go to church? The message today was so good. He started talking about the message. 'Today's message was about the soul. Today's message was about the Kingdom of Heaven. It said we can live forever in the Kingdom of Heaven. Isn't that great?' I was so bewildered.

No, what's good about that? Hey, why should we live forever? We should die at the right time. He was so embarrassed. He probably didn't know I had no faith. Since we lived in the dormitory, most of the friends who had faith in God lived in the dormitory. 'Sang-hee, why are you saying things like that?' But I have pain regarding that eternal life. When I was young, I really wanted to die if I could die without pain. Yes. I had no joy in life. I resented God for giving me fear and pain. But when I wanted to die, I didn't have the fear of pain; I wanted to die, I didn't want to live anymore, and I don't know how much I resented Him. But he told me to live forever. 'Hey, why should I have to live forever?' I argued with that friend and got angry at him. I struck him with my cold knife, thinking, 'You give your opinion too.'

Who do you think you are? Who are you to lecture me? I scolded him. I thought he would get angry. The world is like that. 'You get angry at me too.' I was getting so angry, but that huge guy was crying his eyes out. He was really crying his eyes out in front of me. 'You stupid kid, why are you crying like a grown man? What is it?' I was so flustered that I couldn't speak, and he said while crying, 'Sang-hee, God is truly alive. God is truly alive. That God created me and created you too. But why did God give me such an earnest longing for eternity, but not give that heart to my beloved friend Sang-hee?' and he was crying. 'I live forever, but if you don't live forever, we have to part ways someday,' he was crying. 'Hey, you stupid kid. Why should I live forever with you? Go live forever with your wife. Ugh, I don't even want to see your face.' I scolded him.

I am very grateful to that friend now. There was a longing for eternity in my heart. It was there, but an evil spirit made that heart deny it. There is power, and God does not create life without love, and He does not abandon us, and the Eternal One does not create us without that soul, but Satan makes us deny that love and the thirst for the soul. I was about to go to Kangwon National University, but I ended up going to Sahmyook University. Through such friends, I changed little by little, and I also saw the light, having lived a childhood where I wanted to die in the darkness. To me, the light was the prayer and life of my mother, who sacrificed and devoted herself for me all her life. To me, the light was my friends who, although lacking, put aside their shame every moment and talked to me about God. I wanted to go because that light was so good, but bad voices kept making me deny myself. 'Sang-hee, what kind of light can a sinner like you find? Hey, how can a person without ability like you become a light? Hey, what kind of light are you?' Bad voices make you give up. But in the Gospel of John, God clearly said.

While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light. No matter what wounds we have, what flaws we have, what shortcomings we have, what mistakes we have made, what sins we have committed, or what wounds we have, we can become children of light through Jesus. Amen. Do we look like we can't do it because we are lacking? That is why God gave Jesus Christ. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. We received His life, seeing the pain of death we had to endure. Satan tried to separate God and love forever, but the Savior took on human nature and bound Himself to humanity with a bond that would never be broken. The King of the whole universe and the Creator God loved us so much that He bound Himself to us for fear that we might fall away. Although I have existed through many ages and have tried to frustrate this love and prevent it from flowing toward the earth, this love is still flowing abundantly to us for whom Christ died. What do you think is the most terrifying disease in the world? Is it cancer? Or is it high blood pressure or diabetes?

As a doctor, I would like to say this: the most terrifying disease in this world is forgetting God. It is us, who are to become children of light, losing our Creator. So, the core of the health message, the core of all health messages in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, lies in remembering our Creator. Amen. And it lies in conveying the Creator God to those souls who are still wandering, hurt, depressed, and wanting to commit suicide because they do not know God. We cannot do it, but we believe that we can through Jesus Christ. Everyone, it is scary, but I hope we can hold hands and move forward together, relying on the cross of Jesus Christ. Amen. By His stripes, we are healed. Thank you. Yes. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, thank you for creating our hearts. Thank you for letting that heart beat without rest from the beginning of time until now.

Let us not forget that that life comes from God and that it is love. We have no love. Lord, please fill us with love. Let us serve and share with one another. Thus, in the life where we were wandering and living without purpose, please help us remember the purpose of creation for which You created us and help us live a life according to that purpose, I pray earnestly in the name of the loving Jesus Christ. Amen. Thank you.