[Charlotte, US] We Must Only Exalt Jesus!

On September 14th, at 5pm, 80 pastors and their families, more than the expected number of 28 attended the <Christian Leaders’ Forum> held in Charlotte. The lecturer, Pastor Min Cheol Lim spoke about the 10 spies sent to the land of Canaan and asked, “Everyone, how do you view the church?” Then he said two things, “Everyone wants to serve God well and live a blessed life but in order to do that our hearts need to be connected to God and become one,” and “You may view the saints with your eyes or view the saints with God’s eyes. You may also view your country, church and unbelievers with your own eyes. On the other hand, you can view this earth through God’s eyes.” The church pastor couples were challenged by Pastor Lim’s message and paid careful attention to the Words. “Why can’t people be connected with God’s heart? People have the heart to live more sincerely, live a little more nicely, and become a better person but such heart actually push us further away from God.”

On the other hand, in the Scriptures, people saw the daughter of Jairo and said she was dead but Jesus said she was ‘sleeping.’ People who cannot accept the heart of Jesus live their lives judging everything through their eyes. On the other hand, when the 12 spies were sent out to the land of Canaan, there was the land of Canaan, giants, and themselves that they saw and talked about, but Joshua and Caleb saw with the eyes of God so their hearts were different from others. “In Romans chapter 3, God said ‘Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar.’ Try calling the pastor beside you ‘a liar.’ Are you truthful people or are you liars? People acknowledge themselves according to their heart to want to be truthful so people who seem diligent and truthful are established in church but actually, liars are doing good deeds and trying to serve God. Therefore, many churches are losing strength!” Pastor Min Cheol Lee said, ‘We are all liars so no human being should be established or relied on in the church,’ emphasizing that only Jesus should be established and looked towards.

80 pastors responded throughout the message exclaiming “Amen!” A pastor that had come from Colombia last year said, ‘There is a lot of things to learn from Good News Mission,’ and ‘We want to continue this relationship.’

Pastor Frank and his wife, Laura, who attended the Christian Leaders Forum are carrying out volunteer activities under the Chaplain Federal Government and are part of US Christian Chaplain Association. Mr. Frank’s couple recalled their encounter a month ago saying, “Mark Lee (Missionary Sang Joon Lee) asked us to help him; writing letters and delivering them – we even came to help usher for the Christmas Cantata today.” Mr. Frank met with Missionary Sang Joon Lee since two and a half months ago. The Missionary he first encountered was extremely young but reminded him of the Scriptures, “Let no one despise your youth,” and ‘If you are together with God, you are God’s servant,’ which made him welcome him. “I was surprised when I found out that such a big event was taking place with little people and I also wanted to hold this event. Although I hadn’t seen it myself, I was really shocked when I saw the video through YouTube. As I saw it, I thought the method to preaching the gospel was extremely important.” Throughout the Christian Leaders’ Forum, Mr. Raul’s wife reacted with shouts of “Amen!” continuously.

Missionary Sang Joon Lee presided over the meeting, and the interpreting volunteer was his daughter. Pastor Frank’s couple said, “Today’s message was extremely impressive. We wish to continue this relationship.”

Pastor Raul who attended today with 8 of his church board members listened intently to the message of the lecturer, Pastor Min Cheol Lim. When asking his thoughts after attending the Christian Leaders’ Forum, Pastor Raul honestly confessed that he felt a strong change. Although he had been ministering in a church in Charlotte, there were unspeakable difficulties he was experiencing but he was greatly shocked after listening to today’s message. He welled up with tears throughout the interview and said God had clearly shown him his place through today’s sermon. “Tonight’s meeting was a big turning point for me. I think I have completely changed through the message. It was a challenge to my heart. The Words completely shook my heart. My heart was cleansed through Jesus and made me much stronger. If there is no Jesus, I have no hope. I had to preach that Jesus’ gospel; I had to only preach those Words that Jesus told me to preach. Through the words, I could see clearly where I stood and which direction I had to go towards. My heart was completely flipped over today. My heart has totally changed. I think I have found where I stand now. All this time I thought I loved Jesus. But as Pastor Min Cheol Lim says, that also is a false thought. As today’s sermon, I was a liar. I learned that I should no longer say those things that I know or want to say but only preach the gospel of Jesus. Now I have become able to serve God in my place. As soon as I get back from El Salvador on October 6th, I will contact Missionary Sang Joon Lee and I want to go to Dallas on December 25th.”

We could see Pastor Ock Soo Parks’s message that soon 500 churches will be established in the United States is a step closer to being fulfilled through the Christian Leaders’ Forum today. They responded to the Words and wished to attend the conference in Dallas on December 25th as well.