One Life

We’ll be home for furlough from the end of August through February of next year. I’m hoping to get into as many pulpits as possible to share a missions vision. Also I hope to do some recruiting for new missionaries and add a few churches to support CBS.

If you know of any good opportunities – particularly churches that are larger with lots of open-hearted young people – I’d be happy for help scheduling my speaking engagements. Fridays are also open, but here are my Sunday openings. Places within driving distance of Philadelphia would be great – but I’m happy to hop on a plane to travel as well – especially if the church can help with transportation costs. It’s my passion to see Christians have a heart for the nations and for the Lord of the nations!

Below is my schedule as of now:

8/20 (Korean United Church; sharing not preaching)
8/27 (Grace Covenant Church)
9/3 (Shady Grove Presbyterian Church, MD)
9/10 (Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church)
9/17 (Fairfield Pres, NJ)
9/24, 10/1 (Lausanne Younger Leaders Gathering, Malaysia)
10/8 (KUC)
10/15 (Emmanuel Church / Renewal Church)
10/22 (Trinity Presbyterian Church, MD)
10/29 (Antioch Church, NJ)
11/5 (First Presbyterian Church Margate Mission Conference)
11/12 (Tenth Presbyterian Church Mission Conference)
11/19 (Bethany Collegiate Presbyterian Church)
11/26 (Living Faith Community Church, NY)
12/3 (Cityview Church, IL)
12/10 (Covenant Presbyterian Church, CT)
12/17 (Chamsarang Church, NY)
12/24 (family time – no preaching)
12/31 (Redeemer Pres, MA)
1/7 Lakeview Church, IL
1/14, 21, 28 (with CBS students)
2/4 Praise Presbyterian Church, NJ
2/11 open
2/18 Covenant Presbyterian Church NJ
2/12-19 Westminster Seminary Mission Conference
2/25 First Pres Jackson MS Mission Conference

I can be reached at  ohfamily at gmail.com. Thanks!

You’re probably familiar with the famous quote from Harvard Philosopher George Santayana: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” In a recent lecture on church history with my students at Tokyo Christian University I realized not only how true this statement is for the church and for us Christians but also it made me pause to think about history and the Evil One. Satan, unlike the church, has the benefit of having experienced all of the history of mankind himself. He lived through the Garden of Eden, Babel, the divided kingdom, the crucifixion, the initial advance of the Gospel, Constantine, the Middle Ages, the Reformation, the Great Awakening, the fall of Communism, modern day evangelicalism, and globalization. There is no sin and temptation to which man is susceptible that Satan does not know, has not used, has not used effectively and devastatingly, and will not continue to use. Satan knows history.

This puts him at a great advantage as the church and Christians repeat their follies again and again sometimes ignorant of even having an enemy. At other times we have so domesticated the very idea of the Devil that he has no bearing on either our lives or this world.

Not all is lost to the Devil’s historical advantage however. There is an historical record, a very good one, to be read for those willing to read. Wonderful accounts from the early church through the modern age that bring the story of the work of God to light, a work more often despite the ways of man rather than because of him. Of course our primary historical account is contained within the Scriptures themselves, a book too often ignored by those who profess faith in the truths contained within it.

Finally our greatest comfort is that God knows history. Not only that, He authored it. Imagine the frustration of the Devil! Throughout the whole history of man Satan has worked wisely, diabolically manipulating the sinful hearts of man within this fallen world to great effect, only to know that at every turn and in every circumstance that God has desired, He has not only thwarted his schemes but has used the very works of Satan’s hands for the GLORY of Jesus Christ. You would think Satan would just give up, but it’s not in his nature but to do as he does.

So Christian, don’t forget the lessons of the history of the church. Know the ways and works of the evil one, mankind, and the Holy Spirit. Read biographies and autobiographies of the great saints – John Bunyan, Jonathan Edwards, Hudson Taylor, Augustine. They will be faithful companions in times of trial which in turn will lead to triumph in God’s due time. They have been my dearest mentors….

Tonight as I put down Elliot, my 4 month-old daughter, for the night, as always I put my hand on her head and said a benediction from Numbers 6:24-26. I’ve probably said that blessing more than 1500 times not that I’ve know that many Sundays either in the pulpit or in the pews but because I’ve blessed my children each night since Pearl became pregnant with Hannah close to 7 years ago. The blessing goes like this:

Num. 6:24 “‘“The LORD bless you and keep you;
Num. 6:25 the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
Num. 6:26 the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’

It’s one of those passages that if you really think about it doesn’t make sense. What does it mean to ask God to make His face shine on you? Why pray again for His face to turn towards you? As many Biblical concepts I think where my not-too-long-ago understanding of the meaning of this blessing really came from contemplating it’s opposite. And like many opposites or paradoxes we can see it in the life of Jesus. Christ’s cry from Psalm 22 on the cross, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” teaches us the very opposite of the Aaronic benediction – that at the moment when Christ took upon Himself both our sin and the punishment due it from the hand of the Father, God’s face neither shone nor inclined toward Him. It was turned away from His son.

Christ forsaken that we might be forgiven. The face of God turned away from Christ that He might ever turn His face towards us. The Aaronic benediction is a blessing only in Christ and only because of Christ. May the Lord so bless you and shine His face upon you….

How often is our joy circumstantial. We rejoice and celebrate when a certain blessing comes, when a victory is won, or when difficulty is averted. Rejoicing in such things is good and proper, but we live in and seek such blessings almost like a drug without which we can’t be happy. There is a contentment regardless of circumstance and a rejoicing in sour circumstance that is far more foreign and set apart from this world than the circumstantial joy that it too shares. This distinct and holy (set apart) joy in definitive relationship with Jesus Christ that trumps every circumstance is the light that shines drawing people to our Lord. When the non-believer sees that for the Christian every sunrise is more beautiful, every dark valley less gloomy, and every smile brighter they will know that you are a child of the Living God.

Psa. 32:1 ¶ Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

For those familiar with our ministry you know that the first Wednesday of each month we fast and bring before the Lord both our urgent prayer requests but much more so our own hearts and lives. Here’s a short post of my email to our teams (FONTS and CBI):

If you ask me the thing that I am most proud of during my time at Harvard I know immediately how I would answer. During those two years I made a promise to God that I would never say no to Pearl. She was always reluctant to ask me to go out for a movie or shopping or even to the grocery store with Hannah (after she was born), but whenever she did I said yes without any reluctance. It was a message that I wanted to communicate to her that she was more important than anything else in my life – that I was never too busy to spend time with her. I thanked God on the day of graduation for helping me to keep that commitment and also for the first time I told Pearl about it.

There are times when I will set aside everything for a day – all my work, hobbies, etc. – to spend the day with my family. Like my time with Pearl at Harvard, it’s not that my studies or ministry or work are bad. It’s simply that there’s something that’s MORE important – my family. And this is exactly what fasting communicates. It’s not that food is NOT important or good or a blessing from God. It just that there’s something, SOMEONE, so much more important – someone WORTH setting aside everything else for – someone to whom we should want to never say no.

Enjoy your fasting… Or much more so enjoy the sweetness of fellowship with the Lord. More of Jesus in our lives….

Michael