Hello everyone! I hope you’re doing well. I hope these resources and stories inspire your faith journey in this new week. God bless you abundantly.

Last week I volunteered at my church’s vacation Bible summer camp for children as a Bible time teacher. Our prayer group always pray ahead for this week but actually working on it was a totally different experience! First of all, I learned that first graders are a tough group to teach. 😂 They are so cute; they remind me of puppies. (Imagine having 7 puppies in a room.) I also taught 5th and 3rd graders and they were much calmer and easier to teach. I had a very good experience this past week and it brought me joy and laughter. I also met many people that I’ll never meet otherwise because my church is so big and we are in different stages of life. 

I also saw how physically exhausting it can be, and so I’ll have to pray more for strength and stamina. I also saw that the spiritual warfare is intense because there’s actual salvations and divine wisdom being deposited into the children and the camp helpers (many of them are teenagers or about to leave for college soon.) 

I experienced my own spiritual warfare in that week; and I remembered all the good prayers that our prayer group prayed for the leaders, volunteers and campers in the spring semester. God already knew the battles that we will fight and had prepared more than enough grace, mercies and strength to help us all. 

The five lessons that the children learned that week were excellent foundational lessons, and it was even good for me to revisit those core principles. First day lesson was about Jesus being the first foundation of our life and that building on another foundation is like building your life on sand. I subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren’s devotional and it was exactly about this topic. Here it is for your review:

https://www.pastorrick.com/current-teaching/devotional/four-steps-to-strengthening-your-worldview-2025

The book of Ecclesiastes made a great impression on me when I read it in college. It was at a time when God was trying to teach me about letting Him guide my life. Having an orphan spirit, I didn’t last too long once I left the safety of my college church community. That is why I stress so much about belonging to a church community. Lone Ranger Christians are always in danger and won’t last long in their faith. 

The late Pastor Tim Keller’s podcast just released a great message from the book of Ecclesiastes. I would have loved this kind of message in college when we are trying to figure out on what/who/how to build our life. 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/timothy-keller-sermons-podcast-by-gospel-in-life/id352660924?i=1000720875059

I’ve often felt so inadequate to share my learnings with my mom because of the language barrier. My Korean is about second grade level. Biblegateway now has two Korean versions! Here is one in Easy-to-Read version. I just texted and shared this Ecclesiastes chapter with my mom. It was fun to read this serious chapter in Korean. Their translation was funny. 😂 (Biblegateway has many languages if you want to share with your parents and grandparents in your birth language.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes%2012&version=KOERV

I highly recommend hearing this lady’s story. She got her master’s degree in social work at Columbia University in NYC. She was introduced to New Age teachings by her mentor and career/life coach. When I was a young professional in NYC in the 90s, I was desperate for advice on how to make it as an “adult”, and so I read many books about relationships, careers and finances etc. I was looking for mentors too. Without a church community, I was an easy prey for Satan. My immediate supervisor and I shared a cubicle for about six months due to overcrowding. He was into the New Age teachings. He confused the heck out of me about my foundation on Jesus Christ and the Bible. Like this lady on the podcast, he also left it all – his career, family and friends; and went out west to pursue greater spiritual enlightenment. I wonder what happened to him…I should pray for him. Please give this lady’s story a listen because if it happened to her and my super-smart and nice supervisor then it could happen to any one of us in this group. 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/no-longer-nomads/id1738986336?i=1000719619224

If you want to learn from a good marketplace leader, please check out John Maxwell’s books, conferences and podcasts. He is a Christian pastor and I am impressed by his faith and dedication to help all people in their life, work and in leadership. Here’s a good one about the importance of having accountability and receiving feedback. 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/maxwell-leadership-podcast/id1416206538?i=1000716429475

Here is his website for more training conferences and offers. It is good and wise to invest in yourself especially from good reputable ministries and leaders. 

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I’m reminded about Queen Sheba of Ethiopia who made a HUGE effort to visit King Solomon in Israel (the one who wrote the books of Ecclesiastes and Proverb) to learn from his divinely-gifted wisdom. By the way, she brought many gifts to King Solomon and his kingdom to learn from him; but she also left with many gifts by him to bring back to her country and people. Did you know that there are many Ethiopian Jews? This tribe has one of the puriest oral Jewish customs and traditions and today, many are migrating to Israel whenever they are able to. They face much persecution and prejudices in Ethiopia. 🇪🇹 Here is a brief recap of their history:

https://www.icej.org/blog/the-incredible-story-of-ethiopian-jews-and-their-journey-to-israel/

I thought this article about Ozzy Osbourne was very interesting. I hope that we see him in heaven. It sounds like there’s a very good chance that he is there. Let us pray for the rest of his family members and his many fans.

http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/entertainment/2025/august/ozzy-osbourne-heard-the-gospel-inside-the-moment-he-got-a-bible

This new summer animation called “K-pop Demon Hunters” has been very popular with the young people. It’s about a K-pop girl band who are also demon hunters. I’ve never seen it since I don’t have Netflix but its story reminded me of a dream that I had. I rarely remember my dreams and so when I do remember; I jot it down immediately and then ask the Holy Spirit to give me insights into the dream message. 

Here is an article by Teen Vogue about the animation: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/kpop-demon-hunters-sequel-everything-you-need-to-know

Here is my dream that I had in August 2024 and I titled it “Demon Slayer Dream”. 😴 

In my dream, I was an active member of a community or town. There were these young people who were very disruptive to the community and people living here. Wherever this group went, there was mayhem and chaos. Sometimes they even went into people’s homes in town and created great chaos. The people (basically grown-ups) in the community were doing everything possible to reason with these young people – provide good opportunities and to appease them.

As I was also trying hard to understand them and work with them; suddenly they started to throw very sharp knives at me! I was able to do these incredible maneuvers like a Kung Fu master and none of the knives pierced me. I was so shocked and confused and asked them why they are trying to kill me. Then suddenly their human faces turned into demonic faces. Then I made another kung fu battle pose and said “Ah, I see. You are demons. Bring it on.” Then I beckoned them with my fingers to come and attack me.

I woke up so shocked and confused! Because I thought I’d run for my life but I didn’t! I guess that’s why I call this dream “demon slayer dream.” I’d like to think that on the next scene I’m slaying demons. 😆 

It’s my opinion that what is happening to our youth is demonic. I believe that they opened up demonic portals and are demon-possessed or demon-influenced. They need deliverance in the powerful name of Jesus Christ and be set free from demons. Lord Jesus, have mercy on us and send revival to our churches and country. 🙏