[Seoul] Abandon Your Thinking and Just Follow the Word (May 06, 2011)

Seoul Bible Seminar: 3rd Day

On Wednesday, April 27th, Bible Seminar with Pastor Ock Soo Park began its 3rd day at Seoul Olympic Gymnasium. Before listening to the word, all attendees were utterly mesmerized by the beautiful praises of God sang by the Gracias Choir. In particular, audience cheerfully exclaimed to the passionate marimba performance, and the Choir sang lyrics that conveyed the love of God to many hearts.

Newcomers who’d come out of curiosity after seeing advertisements and those who’d been experiencing spiritual problems had their problems answered and are being renewed each day through the word of God. It is hopeful to see that misleading knowledge of the bible is being corrected and people are changing their hearts from Esau’s condition—a spiritual life in which “I” must work hard and do well—to the true life of faith in which man commits himself to God.

“I used to attend a Presbyterian church. In my knowledge, repentance referred to the sins I’d committed. But I was shocked when I was told that true repentance refers to discarding my thoughts and accepting God. This is my first time to the seminar, but I think I should keep coming. I am quite amazed by this new truth.” (J.S. Choi, Yangju)

As I listened to sermon today, I was able to see Esau in myself. I tried to follow the word of God and my ego was ahead of everything. I’ve been attending church since youth, but I lived a deceitful life of faith I couldn’t keep Ten Commandments that my words and actions differed greatly. Also, even though many pastors urged that we should obey the word of God, their words and actions were distinct that I disdained their hypocrisy. But here, it is different in that this church speaks about committing ourselves to God unlike other churches that demand submission. (O.R. Seok, Euijeongbu)

In the evening, Pastor Ock Soo Park preached that man cannot understand the world of God with limited scope of his thoughts and that we need faith because God’s works are beyond our understanding.

“If you read and accept the word, and if it is the word of God, then God will be responsible. Because God works beyond our judgment, experience, and knowledge, we must abandon our thinking and only believe the word. As God has worked in the last 49 years of this wicked, filthy man like me, He will also work in you.”

That dead Lazarus came back to life, the Red Sea split open, and a student named John Choi was healed from a scorpion bite—such stories about almighty works of God were enough to implant faith in many hearts that nothing is a problem before God.

“Though I often heard about Jacob and Esau, I only temporarily acknowledged the word. But I felt that Pastor was truly grieved to see us following our thoughts that he’d shared this word with us. Now we won’t look at our circumstances but only proceed onto grace by the guidance of the word.” (B.J. Kwon, Bundang)

To this day, we’ve failed as a result of following our thoughts. But through this bible seminar, many are repenting their hearts from trusting their thinking to believing in the word of God. Following the footsteps of Jacob who obeyed his mother’s words, “Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them,” many people will stop pursuing their thoughts and only follow the word of God in that the Lord will take full responsibility of their lives.