It’s been a while since I’ve been to a youth conference. The last time I went to the Ocean City conference was about two years ago with a bunch of high schoolers. As I briefly shared last Sunday, I had a great time at the conference hanging out with 18 middle schoolers and 3 adults. Once again, my patience was put to test by some of the boys by their constant complaints about everything but I must say that everyone had a great time being away from home for a couple of days. My biggest fear of attending these conferences is the long drive because I tend to fall asleep behind the wheel too easily.  However, thanks to Yohann who kept me company, I was able to stay wide awake the whole ride and actually enjoyed hours of quality talks. I would also like to thank Mrs. Kelly Kang and Mrs. Heejung Park for taking good care of all of us throughout the conference.
As I drove into Ocean City, I was able to witness the aftermath of the recent hurricane and the damage it left in the city. There were piles of sand in the middle of the main road, the boardwalk was completely destroyed, the beach looked horrible and many shops took a heavy hit and closed down. However, we were still able to enjoy the board walk, at least what’s left of it. I realized that I never fully appreciated the amount of work and effort that went in to making the boardwalk nice and appealing to tourists. It was a good reminder for me to think about the victims of the hurricane Sandy who are still struggling to recover from their loss.
The conference was well put together with great speakers and other guests. They had many seminars and workshops for the kids and leaders to benefit from. Yohann and I both were very excited to see the “Million Dollar Man” at the conference as one of the speakers. My grandparents used to watch pro wrestling on television all the time. I’m not so sure why my grandparents loved watching wrestling but I remember enjoying watching it as well. I recall a video game that had featured “Million Dollar Man” as one of the main characters you can choose to represent in a wrestling match. Thus when video footage came out on the screen to introduce the speaker, I was in total shock. Never in my life had I imagined seeing the million dollar man at a Christian youth conference as a guest speaker. Going along with his title, his famous line was “Every Man has His Price.” He claimed that anything and anyone can be bought with a price. As the Million Dollar Man, he was surrounded by money, fame, limousines and there was nothing money could not buy for him.
Then one day Christ entered his life and bought him at a price, and that price was Jesus Christ himself. According to Ted DiBiase (Million Dollar man’s real name’s biography on http://www.milliondollarman.com). He has then taken on new roles outside of professional wrestling. He is a spokesperson for the Sunshine Foundation, an organization that grants wishes for critically ill children, and has founded Heart of David Ministries (for which he travels the world as an evangelist furthering the Gospel of Jesus Christ). Also through Heart of David Ministries, Ted shares his prayer of hope all over America in motivational assemblies speaking out against the results of drug and alcohol abuse - warning America's youth about the trap of being addicted to drugs and alcohol. He also encourages them to stay in school, set reachable goals and pay whatever price it takes to become the best that they can be. Ted's speaking ministry is not focused only on youth. He actually has an even stronger message for "macho men" and struggling married couples. He speaks at men's meetings, whole church congregations, and special events. He has started his own small federation which is run as an outreach of Heart of David Ministry. Along with this he is presently considering starting his own wrestling school. 
How amazing is that? I was very challenged and encouraged by his testimony. I felt like God was telling me that what I do is worth the heartache and trouble I go through and that I need to have faith in God that He will bring about His good and perfect will at His time. I encourage the high schoolers and the adults to sign up for the ocean city conference in March. I can’t wait to wait to go back there again!

From Pastor Brian’s Heart
November 25, 2012

King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes that there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven. As we celebrate Thanksgiving Sunday, it’s time for us to remember God’s faithfulness in our lives and express our gratitude to Him. We have so many reasons to thank God because we enjoy God’s abundant blessings that many around the world are not able to benefit from. Last week we watched a video of a brother in Laos who went through 10 years of persecution because of his faith. How can we not thank God that we don’t have to worry about anyone or anything coming after us when we gather together to worship God?
There is an old hymn written by Johnson Oatman, Jr. The refrain goes like this
“Count your blessings, name them one by one
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.”
It’s a simple hymn that reminds us how important it is to count the blessings God has bestowed upon us. Just like the Israelites in the wilderness, our lives are filled with discontentment. We easily forget what God has done in our lives as if we are suffering from a spiritual Alzheimer’s disease. We grumble about what we don’t have and even our prayer lists are full of things that we want. Let’s count our blessings as we go through the Thanksgiving week. Share with your families and friends of amazing things God has done in your life.
What are you looking forward to this year’s Thanksgiving week? I’ve been getting countless emails of black Friday sale ads at various shopping centers and websites. And I have to admit I’ve been looking at every single website and ads to see if there are good deals out there. They were just too hard to resist. Lord, help us! Are you looking forward to watching and playing football? I know that some of our young adult members will be playing in a flag football tournament this weekend and many people will be watching football games on TV.
My family will have a Thanksgiving luncheon with a small group of people. I miss having large gatherings on Thanksgiving Day with my extended family. This year will be the second year of not having a pot luck luncheon with my grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. Ever since my grandmother passed away we stopped meeting as a big group and I have to admit that I miss it very much. I will also miss my brother as well because this will be our first Thanksgiving without him. He was usually the one who initiated family gatherings and our family surely will miss him very much.
There is a new tradition that started with Reina being born on Thanksgiving Day four years ago. We will be celebrating Reina’s birthday when we have our family gather on Thanksgiving Day. God has been so faithful to Reina over the last 4 years. She’s has grown up to a beautiful young girl and my wife and I know that it was because of our awesome parenting skills. Ryan is so strong and healthy as well. As many of you know, Ryan loves eating and we love feeding and watching him eat especially when he puts on a cheesy smile after being satisfied over food. And the list goes on and on. Thank you Lord! 

From Pastor Brian’s Heart
November 18, 2012