Hello friends. Watching the Gather25 event
https://live.gather25.com brought to my memory this powerful moment that I had about 14 years ago. Over the years I had forgotten about it and I am grateful that I shared it with my prayer group ladies in 2019. I just shared it again with my prayer group.
Here is the shorter version of my message:
Sent: Monday, December 23, 2019 7:00 AM
Subject: Gather my sheep š
Good morning ladies! Iām not 100% sure how this works theoretically, but Iāve heard from few noted preachers that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God, the Father. Itās the Holy Spirit who are with us on earth. This explains my encounter nine years ago when I felt a special and unique visitation from Jesus Christ. I had just recently rededicated my life back to God through series of supernatural encounters. I knew that if I ignore these experiences then Iāll be re-crucifying Jesus and I wasnāt sure if this kind of sin would be forgiven. I was at a fork on the road and I had to choose between one path of following Jesus or another path of rejecting Jesus. Praise God that I chose to follow Jesus Christ! (I wonāt take the credit since it happened after many, many gentle nudgings and even firm, fearful moments orchestrated by the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Holy Spirit!)
In this very special visitation where I knew that it was Jesus Christ himself visiting me; I heard a gentle but strong and powerful voice of Jesus. I remember exactly where I was in my kitchen. I was home alone that morning. My children were at school and my husband went into the city for work. Jesus first called me by my Korean name. I replied with great surprise and said āYesā¦! Lord?ā (It was kind of like a movie scene when the highest general would walk into a room without a heads-up and a private would immediately salute š«” and stand attention for instructions.)
Then Jesus said to me three times – āGather my sheep.ā And I said āYes, Lord!ā back to Jesus three times too. Trust me you would too if Jesus came to you in-person and asked you to do something. You do not think what that means or how to do it or if you have what it takes.
āāāāāāāāāāāāāāā
Why am I sharing this personal encounter with you today? As I hear revivals that are continuing throughout the colleges, the young people will have supernatural encounters like I experienced. They will need discipleship, support and guidance from the church community of āeldersā (thatās us) especially those without believing parents who followed God wholeheartedly. I always felt like a spiritual orphan in my faith journey. Perhaps I had to experience this lonely journey in order to understand what the new believers need to safely mature without any of the interruptions that I had. I lacked the support and understanding during critical moments. When you are young and educated in the USA, you have too many options and opportunities.
By the way, if you make a vow to Jesus in an emotional encounter like I did; just an FYI that it is God who will make it happen. I learned that from my many failed attempts in the flesh, and after much Bible studies and reflections. Please read this detailed commentary on Genesis 15 when God makes a covenant with Abram.
There was a revival event at Purdue University recently. Purdue is only an hour away from Indiana University where my daughter attends. I was led to create a prayer group for IU parents on Facebook over three years ago. Today there are 557 members in our group. I donāt know how people find us since it is a private group. (I changed it from public to private once I had a few people to pray with.) We have been praying for a revival since our inception. We pray weekly on Friday mornings. Lately, Iāve been praying for the local churches and college ministries to get themselves ready to support the many, new believers when revival begins in IU.
I am always nervous about walking away from my faith again. I vividly recall one time, the Holy Spirit telling me that if I gather then I will not scatter. So whenever I see myself hardening with unbelief, I grab the āDaily Breadā devotional booklets at my church lobby and give them away. If that happens to you too, please do āgatheringā activities aka āevangelizingā. Our area is extremely hard to evangelize and so when Iām feeling worn down and I canāt handle a rejection, I leave the booklets on public tables when Iām out. Itās rewarding and refreshing to see the booklets all gone when I go back to the tables again. š
30 āWhoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.ā – Matthew 12:30 (NIV)
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2012&version=NIV;VOICE
Bible theology, end times prophecy, political, religious and social justice issues will continue to dominate and get louder and louder. You will have many occasions to discuss these things with friends and colleagues, and at family gatherings. Just remember that only the enemy wins if through these discussions, the relationship is broken and deep wounds are inflicted. Living with my family these past 14 years as a committed follower of Jesus Christ, I have learned many thingsā¦one key lesson is that Godās blessings flow down when there is relational unity.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20133&version=NIV;VOICE
Blessed are the peacemakers. Love never fails. Only love weakens the formidable walls of Jericho. Like Joshua and his fighting men, please walk around your walls quietly and prayerfully. One day, the walls will fall down. And in the process of circling around the walls, you will also reign in your poor mouth, impatience, short temper, self-will, rebellious and uncooperative spirit, and many other negative traits. I can say this with confidence because that has been my testimony. I still have these negative traits but they are simply under controlā¦majority of the time. If you see me not having control, PLEASE pray for me!
As older church members or āeldersā to the new generation of believers, your activities and conversations should be filtered by this question – Is this āsheep-gatheringā or āsheep-dispersing?ā If there is doubt about it, then pause and pray for clarity and confirmation before any action or reaction. Seek counsel from your fellow older believers who know the Bible well and have good spiritual fruitfulness.
Thank you for your prayers and support for me. Please continue to pray for me. I really am listening and leading as best as I can. Please overlook my flaws and offenses, and Iāll do the same for you too.
This was an excellent interview if anyone is interested in hearing how the founder of Wikipedia, Larry Sanger is now a believer. Those who study philosophy would like this interview. He is quite the expert on philosophy. I pray that Larry Sanger will write a book about his story.
https://www.lifeaudio.com/the-becket-cook-show/wikipedia-founder-converts-larry-sanger-interview
Iāve tried watching this debate between Bill Nye and Ken Ham twice already. Itās on Creation vs Evolution. Itās very long. I canāt seem to finish it because I drift off after an hour of the debateIf anyone listens to this whole debate, please let me know what you think about this debate. Iām not going to try a third time. If itās good, Iād like to share with younger believers. Thank you.
Journal of Faith 