What Was I Thinking?

"God is so good. God is so good. God is so good. He's so good to me."  We have been singing this chorus this week in many places, and it is my testimony. We learned in Survey of Doctrine class that God is omnibenevolent. Just like he is all-powerful and all-knowing, God is all-good. If it's good, it's God. Jesus said that there is none good, but God, and He would know, right? In my last blog entry, I mentioned that the young people would be singing in church on Sunday morning. They sang well, and I was proud of them. Youngjae prayed and played the drums, Dongsu and William sang, Bella did a wonderful job playing piano, and Jooah prepared the worship slides and led the singing. I enjoyed working with them to plan their song service. We met after church during the youth time and discussed how we can get more out of the messages, and this coming Sunday we are going to listen to the message for one special word from God for us to share with the group or ask one ques...

It is Friday again, so it is time for another update. A lot has happened since last Friday. Where do I begin...? Sunday I was invited to join that day's worship team and sing along whenever the English lyrics were sung. I don't think I had ever sung any of the three songs we sang that day, but I learned how in the hour before the service began and had the advantage of having the words on pieces of paper on a music stand in front of me. I enjoyed humming along when the Korean lyrics were sung, and I opened in prayer as well. I was hoping that my new friend Isaac would be in church so that I could give a Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) gift, but he did not show up. There were a number of people missing and a number of visitors too, just like during Thanksgiving season in America, because people travel to be with family.  I don't think I have mentioned Isaac before. Isaac is a young man not long out of high school who recently began attending our church. He stands out in a...

It is a beautiful September Friday afternoon here in Uijeongbu, South Korea. The weather is cooler, the humidity is lower, the skies are blue with some fluffy white clouds, and I opened the windows of the apartment to let in the sweet air. I describe weather conditions like this as "summer in Maine," for some reason. Perhaps I am recalling carefree days of my childhood. I have been staying here in Uijeongbu since last Saturday at Tain Palanun's apartment. Tain is in Thailand trying to obtain a Chinese visa. My roommate this week is William, a Thai student attending Uijeongbu International Christian School. William has been living with Tain for three years now, and he will be graduating from high school next June. My life has been different this week, since Uijeongbu is north of Seoul and it takes longer to get to the church from here by subway or car. When Pastor DeVries is heading to the church for service or Bible college in the morning, he drives by and picks me u...