Another family reunion for North and South Koreans was held in the DMZ of Korea this past week. 96 families had private reunions with their relatives living in the North. Such a family reunion event began as a result of the first inter-Korean summit in 2000. Twenty face-to-face family reunion events have been held so far.
Nearly 130,000 South Koreans are registered in the government’s database as having family in the North, separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. Half of them have already died, with around 66,000 people on the waiting list. The border between the two Koreas remains tightly closed, with no cross-border travel, phone calls or email exchanges allowed. The two Koreas are technically still in a state of war as the Korean War ended in a ceasefire, not a peace treaty.
The Korean War separated millions of Koreans from family members for a multitude of reasons. What they have in common is shock that South and North Korea remain so bitterly divided after so much time. A mother, 95, reunited with her youngest daughter, who was 2 when she left her and is now 64. She said before meeting her daughter, “I am not sure if I will even be able to recognize her. I don’t even remember how she looked as a baby.” In another reunion, a husband who was separated 65 years ago met his wife. They were separated after 6 months of marriage when the Korean War started. She said that she can't even cry because it has been so long but she missed him a lot. She thought her husband died and has had a ceremony every year for the past 37 years. She gave birth to his son after he disappeared and raised her son alone with hard jobs. These similar stories were commonly shared from everyone who was fortunate enough to be selected to be a part of this reunion.
What a tragedy! The war separated them from being together for such a long time. And there is yet another divde that separates people. Hurt separates! What does hurt do to relationships with other people? It divides. When a person hurts another person, it drives them apart and separates them.
Have you been hurt by someone or have you hurt someone, and as a result, the relationship has been broken? And are you longing to restore that broken relationship again? How can you be close again? Something needs to be done. The hurt has to be forgiven. You may say, “It wasn’t my fault that our relationship broke!” But Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus, being blameless, voluntarily offered Himself to be the sacrifice that would overcome our sins against God.
And the Apostle Paul says in Colossians 3:13, “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Not only did Jesus bring us close to God, but Jesus also wants us to forgive others and be forgiven from others. Jesus can give us the courage, strength and love that will enable us to forgive. No human can remove the hurt. Only Jesus can. Are you having a hard time forgiving someone even though you’ve been wanting to forgive because your wound is too deep? Ask Jesus to give you the courage, strength and love that will enable you to forgive. Jesus desires to restore our broken relationships with each other. What a tragedy it would be if the relationships remain broken for 50, 60 years or even beyond! You don’t want to wait too long before it becomes a little too late. Our God is a God of union, not of separation.

From Pastor Neil’s Heart
October 25, 2015

I had the privilege of attending the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta, GA last Wednesday to Friday. This is a conference for all Christian leaders so you can imagine how many pastors were there along with small group leaders, Sunday school teachers, Elders, Deacons, and etc. The last time I went to this conference was back in 2009 when I was living in Raleigh, NC. I chose not to fly but rather drive 10 hours down. Unlike a lot of people, I enjoy long road trips. I love being in a car and on the road (unless there’s traffic) and just take in the sights along the way. Since I chose to drive down, I had the chance to visit the church I served at in Raleigh and meet up with some of my former youth who are now in college. It was really nice to see how much they’ve grown spiritually. I also had the chance to visit my parent’s house and have dinner with them. I think it’s been around 5 years (?) since I’ve been “home.” I have to say that my mom’s mandoo is still the best in the world.
When I finally arrived at the conference, I was deeply challenged and inspired by the opening session. The speaker was Andy Stanley, who is one of my favorite pastors. In fact, when I was there in 2009, I actually got a chance to talk with him as he signed the book that I bought. It was one of the coolest moments of my life. In the opening session, he was talking about how we as leaders need to stir and disturb the imaginations of the people we lead and awaken the wonder within them.
How many ideas have been shot down not just at church but anywhere because it was “new” and unfamiliar? At times, it’s easy for leaders to say no to an idea because we don’t understand it, but sticking with only what’s familiar is how we become stagnant. If you think about it, stirring up and disturbing the imaginations of the people is exactly what Jesus did. Isn’t that why the Pharisees hated him so much? He did not fit into their religious box. Isn’t that why so many people were following him? No one had met someone like Jesus, who taught the way Jesus did. They were amazed at his teaching. He awakened the wonder of the people.
 Maybe a reason why we try to stay clear from new ideas, is that wonder can be as threatening and disruptive as it can be inspiring. New ideas mean disrupting the norm or the tradition of doing things. We use phrases like “it’s always been this way.” New ideas can be scary because it pulls us away from our comfort zone and puts us in unfamiliar territory. As leaders, we should embrace the unknown. We should encourage new ideas. New ideas have the potential to inspire people and to awaken the wonder within us. Think of all the innovation that is around us. I just read the other day that Japan has now invented a train that goes 1 mile in 10 seconds! It floats on magnets so it has frictionless motion. This allows the train to go really fast reaching speeds up to 374 mph. To put things into perspective, it can go from NY to DC in about 35 minutes.
Ideas like this came to fruition because of thinking outside the box; by thinking outside of “how it’s always been done.” Imagine what can be done if we think outside the box and step into the unknown at church. Let’s not get stuck on doing things the same way just because that’s how it’s always been done. Let’s open ourselves to new ideas and see how God leads us. As a church, let’s start to be a people of wonder.

From Pastor Eugene’s Heart
October 18, 2015