“…through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.” -Gal. 5:13-15
Before starting the English Bible Study for Koreans ( where we systematically go through the numerous attributes of God and how we should respond to them), I told the group that I would always tie every class in with the Cross and grace. Somehow, in the last few weeks, I forgot that. I was ending the Bible study a few nights ago and God pricked my heart. I had just explained how God is so great, marvelous, and perfect; and that in response we should love His word, praise His mighty Name, obey and worship Him.
I realized that for an hour and a half, I’d only given these people half the story. I was in the process of telling them how much they should love the Word of God when God convicted my conscience. My last few minutes, I tried to recover and show how we cannot do any of that without divine assistance–how Jesus fulfills all that we lack and empowers us to grow more in His likeness. I ran out of time.
After the class, I had a young lady come up with tears in her eyes and said, “I know I should pray more. I know I should love His Word. I know I should praise God–but I am having such a difficult time doing all that.” She confided in me that she was suffering a lot of hurt because of an ended relationship and could not bring herself to do the very things she knew she should do. I felt so much love for this woman at that time and so much disappointment in myself for not directing her to faith in Christ. I told her to forget about the “doing” part, rest in His grace, and ask Him to help her to worship Him, pray, and love His Word. She was visibly relieved.
So, I learned a valuable lesson. Grace must be communicated clearly every time the Bible is opened. Many a preacher has inadvertantly taught only Law though they have grace in their hearts. The Gospel can never be assumed nor should it be. The Gospel is the power of God for salvation–applying to every situation in life. Books in the Bible such as Deuteronomy were written by God with grace in mind. People should never be left to themselves to conjure up character improvement or holy living. No one has ever accomplished either except Christ. We cannot expect the law by itself to stimulate a person towards holiness. It is grace that teaches us to renounce ungodliness and it is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance.
For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. -Romans 6:14
GOD
- God is holy, righteous, loving and perfect
LAW
- So, we should love and obey Him perfectly
- We have not done so and cannot do so in the future because of sin
GRACE
- Christ did and paid for our failure
- Through sincere faith in Him, we are deemed perfect in God’s sight and can/should/will increasingly live a God-pleasing life.
…to go to the US for a couple of weeks. So, its just me and the eater of my favorite Bible–Murphy (I named him after “Murphy’s Law”–the irony of it all is becoming more and more annoying).
I had the opportunity to spend several hours at the local bar devoted to English-speakers. It was a good experience. We met several people and began building relationships. God really opened a lot of doors for us to speak to people. Since this is the only place I’ve found where English-speakers gather, I’m going to devote a lot of outreach time to this place.
The process of building a church from scratch is very daunting but very exciting. There is only one other church that I know of for English-speakers in this city. It is in a Methodist Korean church on the other side of town. I will aim at building a friendship with the pastor of English ministry.
It has been very discouraging the last several weeks (I hope you don’t mind that I’m honest). It seems like little has gone right and I question sometimes whether I’m qualified to do this. It has been very difficult. Every day is a fight to recognize Jesus Christ as supremely valuable for myself and others. Every day is a fight to stay in the joy of the Lord. Sarah has been a wonderful encouragement to me in these times. She always encourages me to put my trust in the Lord and not in myself or my ability. The wonderful thing about these experiences is that I am left with nothing but to depend and rely upon God through Christ–which, no matter what happens, is exactly where He wants me. It has forced me to bury my face in His Word and spend more time in prayer–for that which I am grateful.
Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast your burdens on the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.” Christians can take comfort in the fact that the most insignificant insecurity, worry, hardship, and stressful situation can be surrendered to God. He will never ridicule, despise, or scoff at the burdens that we allow on our shoulders. He gave His Son to die for sins, he will not ignore the requests of the children He loves.
Please pray for us. Also, there are countless missionaries in the world who struggle with things far greater than anything I’ve experienced. If you know any, encourage them in Christ.
Yes. Many church buildings are attended regularly by hypocrites. It is an unfortunate reality. There are people who go to church buildings, expect others to live one way, yet live in a completely different way. It may sound awkward to keep saying “church buildings” instead of just “church.” There is a reason for that. The Bible says that the Church is a group of people, not any specific building. In some sense, 100% of God’s Church are hypocrites. I have been/am certainly one at times and God is quick to remind me. But in the greater sense, there is not one hypocrite in God’s church. The meaning of hypocrite is actor. Hollywood has some great actors. Many times an actor can play a humble, kind, and heroic role in a movie; yet be far different if we met him/her on the street. God is never fooled by anyone. God knows every single person whose heart belongs to Him. God know’s those whose heart does not belong to Him. Both of those kinds of people attend church buildings (or meet in homes or coffee shops). But, the Church (the group of people from every skin color, language, culture, and nation) is full of very imperfect people whom God is changing daily to reflect His glory. We must have patience with these people; we are one of them–not because its a nice thing to do, but because God, through Jesus Christ, has lavished patience and forgiveness on we who trust Him.
I have recently been thinking of the magnitude of what God has asked us to do here in Korea–plant a church for English-speakers here in Korea. I never really considered church-planting much. I like Mark Driscoll (a famous church-planting pastor in Seattle) but I have always tended to skip over his resources about church-planting. It would have been a bit useful now. I am really considering placing the ministry I’m starting under the church-planting oversight of either Sovereign Grace Ministries, Acts 29 Network, or Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. I am in desperate need of English resources and ministry accountability (especially in these beginning stages).
The average Westerner here seems to be the independent, free-spirited, “life is an adventure” kind of person–not interested in any organized religion and mildly influenced by Eastern mysticism or just good old-fashioned hedonism. I really want to reach these people with the Gospel of Christ. Please pray for me:
- That I would be faithful to the Gospel.
- That God would give me wisdom for church-planting and what organization would be best to come under.
- That I would place ministry to my wife as highest priority.
It has been difficult for me to update the last few weeks. I continually feel that I am a mile behind on everything. I started Yonsei Korean Language School a few weeks ago. It has been great to be plunged into the language a bit. I can read in Korean now (albeit very slowly) and have some very basic language understanding. I’m also teaching two English Bible studies, two English conversation classes, helping Sarah with the English children’s ministry, and starting a foreigner church plant. It is the last one that I feel ridiculously unqualified for. So far, its me, Sarah, a guy from Florida named Cintron, and my coordinating deaconess from Kyesan Church. If it doesn’t grow by December, we can count on at least one more member 
. Kyesan Presbyterian Church has impressed me in so many ways. The leadership (though they have me beat by at least by a couple of theological degrees) have been so humble and helpful to Sarah and me. They have been so gracious to us. They refuse to interfere whatsoever with the foreigner ministry but have given us so many resources to start it. The freedom and trust I’ve been given is a bit intimidating. Please pray that I’d be faithful in my service to God and this church.
One thing that I’ve noticed in the last two months is that the reason my faith is so miniscule is because, in the U.S., I created an atmosphere around me where I didn’t really have to trust God. In a sense, my life didn’t model faith because it didn’t require any. Now, I’m in a place that is so different that faith is a requirement. I am legitimately out of my league here. But, God has shown Himself so clearly in His care for us. People have shown so much kindness in making sure our physical needs are taken care of. I have had four doctor visits in which the doctor refused to charge me. People are constantly giving us stuff. It has really been a huge wound to my pride. It has also revealed how selfish I have been in the past. Sarah and I have really been inspired by God to be more giving.
We both know we are supposed to be here. It has been very difficult for both of us, but I truly believe we are growing so much closer to each other. God has truly given me a wonderful wife. I can’t believe that she has followed me half-way around the world with a baby in her womb. That takes a lot of faith in God and a lot of trust in me that I do not deserve. Please pray for us. We have so much to be thankful for. God, through Christ, has been so good to us. He is so worthy of our full attention. Christianity is not for the spiritual elite. It is for the weak, the whiner, the pathetic, the sinful, the hurting, the cynic, the abused, the depressed, the annoying, and the foolish. The world’s view of Christianity sometimes seems to be similar to the people on those “erectile dysfunction” commercials. Pop one pill, and life becomes full of exceptionally good-looking middle-aged couples who gently caress each other while having those annoying slow-motion smiles. Passionate Christianity bears no resemblance to that. It is not for the devout or pious. It is for dirty sinners who are being transformed by a powerful love.
2 Corinthians 5:14-15- For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
I look back at my years of being and claiming to be a Christian. I think I have been one of the worst examples of a Christian many more times than I’d like to admit. I am glad that God’s love for me transcends anything I deserve. God’s grace is so wonderfully compelling. I am so deserved of the exact polar opposite of what God gives me every day. My heart is filled with all manner of sin. Yet, He loves me. He died for me. He died in my place and was treated as if He’d lived a billion evil lives–one of which was mine. How unimpressed people would be if they could peer into my heart. Even the most charitable would say, “Look at this Christian. Look at this coward; this lazy, arrogant, filthy hypocrite.” All ”what a nice young man” talk and praises would abruptly disappear. It would be invariably replaced with an awe and wonder at how God could dump so much mercy on such a selfish, unintelligent jerk. One might say, “O, he is so humble to be so open about his failures.” How disappointed that one would be if it was known that I eagerly crave those kind of praises. The network of impure motives and half-truths are too complex to trace. Only Christ can untangle such a mess. How could I not love Him? How could I not love Him who knows every time I’ve belittled my wife and yet remains unchanged in His affections for me? How could I not love Him who has watched me judge a sinner knowing I was a worse one? I love God. He’s not impressed with me. But, He doesn’t have to be to love me like He does.
Clint
Sarah Fortner
