While driving on the 110 south today, I heard this song called “Young, Wild, and Free” by Wiz Khalifa. This is another one of those pop songs now considered hip-hop. Frankly though, it wasn’t bad! And by it being not that bad I mean the song had catchy beat with clean piano melody. But for the other two general categories I use to judge hip-hop (rhyme and message), it totally failed. Just check out the chorus:

So what we get drunk
So what we don’t sleep
We’re just having fun
We don’t care who sees
So what we go out
That’s how it’s supposed to be
Living young and wild and free

Fail. But the scary thing is, I can totally see myself bobbing my head to this song, feeling proud that I actually live the words out, had I been a college student now. In fact, the lyrics above generally but accurately summarizes my 18 to 25 year old stage.

My brothers and sisters at Union, by now you may be thinking, “Yea I know where this is going. Hyonroh’s gonna talk about how we’re supposed to be holy and not go crazy on partying and stuff.” And individually speaking, you would be correct. I strongly advise you not to party too much. I’m all for freedom in the LORD, but please don’t use that freedom to carelessly drink and make a song about it.

But I invite you to think a bit wider with me. You would probably agree that the lyrics above represent the attitudes of most young people today. And by young I mean 18 to 35 (some 40-somethings may belong here as well). This should trouble us Christians. Not because we Christians are supposed to be these pruney party-poopers who don’t know how to have fun like Ned Flanders, but because such attitude contrasts so much with what God asks young people to be like:

Remember your Creator
in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble come
and the years approach when you will say,
“I find no pleasure in them”
- Ecclesiastes 12:1

Young men and women of URC, I pray that you remember your Creator now. Please understand that you are a part of a generation with world-changing potential. Earlier today I saw a friend’s Facebook post that said, “Who regrets not becoming a doctor?” As you get older, your window of opportunity to do the things that you like closes. My childhood dream was to become the president. As a 29-year old with no political experience or law degree, that dream is likely over. Still, I have an option to be a professor, which is something that I would enjoy doing. But if I’m contemplating over what I want to do five years from now, it may be too late.

Elders of URC, we see that you have established yourself faithfully. Please teach our young people (including myself) to remember our Creator now. Living young, wild, and free is not supposed to mean drinking till sun comes up. Let us live young, wild, and free in the LORD our God, whose ways are higher than our ways.

- Thank you to those who participated in the Mission Vision Worship…we look forward to increasing mission movement with you!
- Please think this week about your February Monthly Prayer Requests (MPR)…we will write them this Sunday!
- Small Group Leader Meeting: 2/5 (Sun) @ 2pm in EM Room
- URC Prayer Meeting: 2/8 (Wed) @ 8pm in EM Room
- Annual Valentine’s Day Feast: 2/11 (Sat) @ 4pm in the Won’s clubhouse in Chino Hills

I share an article with you that I found helpful. This article does mainly focus on the roles of men and women within marriage. I know that many of us are not married. There is no shame in that. The Bible is clear that singleness is to be preferred. But marriage is still recognized as a gift from God. Thus, I believe that there are lessons to be reaped here. I hope that you find them and make them your own, whether you are married or not.

One Flesh, One Purpose, One Rank
By Mimi Haddad

If you are like me, you never tire of attending weddings. There always seems to be that one moment where you are hit by the immensity of occasion – two become one. As bride and groom commit to love and serve one another, despite what life may bring, their boundless joy splashes over us. We feel a knot in our throats, a tear on our cheek, and we reach for the hands next to us. We also recognize that the ecstasy of oneness is one we have encountered before – in the early chapters of Genesis.

Standing amidst the infinite pleasures of Eden, Adam’s aloneness is the only “not good” in a perfect world. The parade of lively creatures marks his void. Among the many animals, Adam cannot find a suitable partner. Adam needs a creature like himself, made of his substance – a woman. Notice he recognizes her immediately: “At last! This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh” (Gen 2:23). Adam declares their shared origins with these words, “I will call you woman because you came from my body.” Scripture emphasizes not the differences between Adam and Eve but their unity of substance. They share in a metaphysical substance because they are both created in God’s image. They also share a physical being because Eve comes from Adam’s body. Because of their origins, they also share the divine mandate in caring for the earth and being fruitful in it (Gen 1:27-31). Their shared being reveals a shared purpose and a shared authority, not over one another, but together over the created world.

Likewise, those who share in a spiritual rebirth are inaugurated into Christ’s body as equal members- the church. Rank, authority, and hierarchy are unnecessary among those born of the same substance – the Spirit. God is building a New Covenant people, with Jesus as head, and you and me as joint members of Christ’s body. Thus, Paul celebrates Junia as an apostle. He asks the church in Rome to respect Phoebe, a deacon and prophetess, or “leader,” in the church of Cenchrea. He observes Priscilla as a teacher, and Lydia, Chloe, Nympha, and Apphia as house church leaders. Slaves, Gentiles, and women serve equally with free people, Jews, and men in the purposes for which God has gifted them because they too are born of the same Spirit.

In marriage, Paul also calls husbands to love their wives as their own bodies. Ten times Paul reminds husbands to love and have empathy for their wives. Authority, rank, and hierarchy are unnecessary among those who are one flesh. To emphasize the union between husband and wife, Paul quotes Genesis 2:24, “For this reasons a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” Just as all Christians submit to one another (Eph 5:21) because they are born of the same Spirit and are joined together as the church, so too husbands and wives submit to one another as one flesh.

A husband must nurture and love their wives as they do their own flesh, because her body is his, and his body is hers (a point Paul also stresses in 1 Cor 7:3-7). In Christ, husbands now exalt with Adam, “At last! This is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh! I love her as I love myself. We share the same substance and a common purpose, with equal authority.”

• URC Prayer Meeting: 1/25 (Wed) @ 8pm
• Worship Prayer This Week: Deacon Andrew Won
• Mission Vision Worship: 1/29 (Sun) @ 4pm; open to all interested in missions, dinner provided by Elder Yoo after service…this means it’s good food!
• Annual Valentine’s Day Feast: 2/11 (Sat) @ the Won’s clubhouse in Chino
• Those who are interested in becoming baptized, please tell Hyonroh any time
• Tax Statements for 2011 are provided at your request; please talk to Won or Hyonroh

I have also been watching Channel 5 News in the morning with her. This morning, Clayton Kershaw, a pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers was on the show. He came on with his wife to talk about their service in Africa – they have been building orphanages. He talked about his new book, baseball career, marriage, and especially his faith. He has been a devout Christian all his life.

I had no idea that Kershaw was a Christian. This guy was just a baseball hero to me. He is the ace (the number one pitcher) for the Dodgers, my favorite team. He just won the Cy Young award, given to the best pitcher each year. He led the league in just about all major aspects of the game. The 24-year old wears number 22, because he started in major leagues at the same age.

Yet when asked about Tim Tebow (a Christian football player whom I wrote about recently), Kershaw said how glad he is to see someone being a Christian who happens to be an athlete, not the other way around. He continued by saying that he also strives to be a Christian first.

Are you kidding me? Clayton Kershaw can identify himself with so many accomplishments in his successful, young, and famous life. Yet he said what matters is his faith, that he is a Christian above all else.

This shames me. I am a professional Christian. I get paid to be a Christian. Yet so often I catch myself not wanting to live faithfully to the God that I profess. Instead, I focus on other areas of my life. I identify myself as a Korean-American graduate student. But I wince a little every time I am open about my faith, especially around non-believers. How about you?

Although we often do not realize it, most of us live life trying to figure out the answer to a simple question: Who am I (remember our blacklight pantomime for Christmas)? So who are you? What’s the first thing that you think about when you think about…well, yourself? Is it your job? Is it your significant other? Is it your ethnicity? Your gender? Or is it your calling as a follower of Jesus Christ, our Lord and King?

• Small Group Leaders Meeting: 1/22 (Sun) @ 2pm
• URC Prayer Meeting: 1/25 (Wed) @ 8pm
• Worship Prayer This Week: P Sam
• Please keep praying for your January MPR’s!

My parents have been looking for a place to move. They currently live with Reverend Lee, our retired founding pastor, who happens to be my uncle. My parents and I originally moved into his place back in February 2009, to housesit for my uncle who had left for a teaching position in Korea. Now that he is back and I am gone married with my own place, my parents no longer have a reason to stay there.

Yet finding a suitable place has been tough. Not that my parents are picky in choosing a place, but they have a blemished housing record. In 2006, I stole their rent check and used it to support my addiction. Consequently, we were evicted.

Previous evictions are not supposed to affect a person’s qualifications for housing once three years pass. Still, property owners avoid people who have been kicked out. So far, my parents’ application has been rejected twice in the past three weeks. I have been struggling with major guilt; it is clearly my fault that my parents are having a difficult time finding a place to move.

But every time I talk to my parents, all they say is, “It’s ok. God will give us better.” The faith in the invisible God they have is overcoming the apparent hardship in the visible world; even when the hardship is not of their own fault.

Brothers and sisters, we talked this past Sunday about loving God with our heart, soul, and strength. Loving God in such manner requires acknowledging God as the only God, repeatedly practicing, and sharing with others. Furthermore, loving God this way ought to be done in spite of our situation, not because of it.

Church, I challenge you to love our God this year. This does not mean one-time choice that makes us feel good. Rather, this is a painstaking decision that takes persistence. The good news is that we have each other. We have a community of believers that are called to love one another. Thank you for being a part of this community. Let’s love our God together.

• Congratulations to our new deacons: James, Jane, and Mike!
• Congratulations to our scholarship recipients: Brian, Eugene, Kristine, and Michelle J!
• Please begin praying for your MPR’s; they will be returned this Sunday (1/15)
• Prayer Meeting: 1/11 (Wed) @ 8pm, EM Sanctuary
• Praise Team Meeting: 1/15 (Sun) @ 2pm, EM Room
• Gender-based Discipleship has begun! Please join us in the EM Room after worship!

I can’t believe it’s 2012! That just sounds really weird for me. Actually, the entire 2000-somethings have been awkward to me. Growing up in the 90s, I’m just used to calling the years with higher numbers, you know?

I remember in 1999, we had a world-wide scare called Y2K. Standing for Year 2000, Y2K was a fear that every computer in the world would malfunction because computers would supposedly not recognize the first digit changing from 1 to 2. This would make the computers think that it’s year 1000 rather than year 2000, bringing never-before-seen destruction to our planet. People braced themselves by buying up instant noodles, spam, and other canned goods. Some even built bomb shelters to avoid the mayhem.

That mayhem never happened. In 2012, there is another fear-striking mayhem that will not happen: the end-of-the-world predicted by the Mayan calendar. I read an article printed by NASA (the really smart guys that build space shuttles and stuff) explaining five different reasons why the Mayan calendar doomsday will not happen this year. The conclusion: planet that is supposed to crash into ours simply does not exist. However, I bet that some people will still try to prepare, just in case.

In both 1999 and 2012, the expectations of the future change the way people live now. This is called in fancy terms “eschatological.” As Christians, we too, need to live eschatologically; but not in fear of the world ending by a computer glitch or cosmic clash. Rather, our eschatological lifestyle comes from the hope of the Lord Jesus returning.

Revelation 1: 7 says of Jesus, “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and ‘every eye will see him, even those pierced him”; and all peoples on earth ‘will mourn because of him.’ So shall it be! Amen.” Whether this is interpreted literally or allegorically, one thing is for sure: Jesus Christ is coming back. And this should change the way we live now.

My family at Union, as we embark on the beginning of a new year, I pray that we can think about the end, and live accordingly. We believe in God who is the Alpha and the Omega. It is then fitting for us to look to the end in the beginning.

• Happy New Year Everyone! We return to our 10am worship this Sunday 1/8.
• Congratulations to James Kim, Jane Lim, and Michael Lim for becoming Jip-Sah-Nims (deacons)! We look forward to serving with you even more!
• Gender Discipleship: 1/8 (Sun) after worship; we’ll find out what our spiritual gifts are, using the method created by Biola University.
• All-Leaders Meeting: 1/8 (Sun) after lunch; you will receive text reminder if you are requested to be there.
• Prayer Meeting: 1/11 (Wed) or 1/12 (Thu); date is still to be determined.

And aloha! By the time you read this, I will be in Hawaii for my honeymoon. Thank you once again for being family to me and Hannah. Our lives really evolve around the community we have with you, and we can not be thankful enough for being in the journey of faith at Union.

For the first time in my life, I will be without my three-column schedule that disects my week in thirty-minute increments (gasp!). I am also going to turn off my phone, so don’t panic if you try to call me and it goes straight to voice mail. You shouldn’t be calling me in the first place any way this week! Lol….with all seriousness though, please call Hannah if there is an emergency.

I share with you an article written by Richard J. Mouw, the President of my pastor school, Fuller Seminary. I think it captures the spirit of Christmas better than what I can write at this time. Merrcy Christmas!

A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE FROM DR. RICHARD J. MOUW:

He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found!

I love those lines from the popular carol “Joy to the World.” To me they capture the heart of the Christmas message.

There certainly is a lot of cursedness around these days. There are the “macro” curses of homelessness, poverty, political oppression, the sexual slave trade, religious persecution, whole populations devastated by war and disease. But there are also the “micro” curses that afflict many individual lives in highly personal ways: grief, abandonment, loneliness, abuse, fear of the future, difficult illnesses—and much more.

The good news of Christmas is that Jesus has come—born a baby in the manger of Bethlehem. Some might think that it would have been a better message if he had come as a mighty conqueror, descending from the skies to overpower all that afflicts us in our human condition. That is the kind of solution, I think, that many Old Testament folks looked for, when they expressed the hope that the day would come when the kind of victory described in Isaiah 52:10 would be fulfilled: “The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” The divine Deliverer would bare his arm and let his enemies have it! That’s how the curse would be lifted.

But the baring of the divine arms took place instead in a manger in a stable. God chose to experience the curse in a very intimate way, experiencing our cursedness from the inside by becoming one of us.

The final “conquering,” of course, came at the end, when Jesus was crucified, buried, and rose victoriously from the tomb. But it had to begin with his utter helplessness in the Bethlehem stable. “God with us”—in the cursedness of our helpless estate.

Because of the manger, we can be assured that ultimately the curse will be fully lifted from all of the creation. All of it: “Far as the curse is found!” And for all who rejoice in the birth of the Savior, the blessings of that victory have already begun to flow among us. May you know those blessings in a special way in this Christmas season!

- THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING IN OUR CHRISTMAS PANTOMIME! IT WAS A HUGE SUCCESS!!!
- THANK YOU PRAISE TEAM FOR LEADING THE WORSHIP AND PASTOR SAM FOR PRESIDING THE NIGHT!!!
- New Year’s Eve Celebration: Traditional Korean New Year’s dinner & game at 8pm at EM Sanctuary, worship at 11pm at KM Sanctuary
- New Year’s Day Family Worship: Joint worship with the whole church at 11:30am at KM Sanctuary
- WE WILL MEET AT OUR REGULAR TIME, 10AM FOR ENGLISH WORSHIP ON 1/8

Damaging just one part of the body definitely impacts the whole body. At retreat, we learned that loving God is something that requires our whole being. This can be applied to not only us as individuals, but also us as a church. Loving God requires every single one of us, which makes up the whole church.

This means that we need to love one another. Really, love one another! At the retreat, I saw many of us praying for each other. I saw others sharing meals together. I saw all of us laughing nonstop until the wee hours of the morning. These are all signs that we are on the right track.

What is important now is that we conscientiously make efforts to continue to love each other. This applies to all of us, whether you came to the retreat or not. There will undoubtedly be someone in the church who makes you mad. There will certainly be times when you don’t feel like coming to church. There will definitely be occasions where God doesn’t seem all that relevant, even when you come to church. This is why we must strive to love each other. Most people come to know God better through the relationships they have with others who love in ways that are strikingly differently than the world does.

Brothers and sisters, thank you for being a part of this community. I intend to keep serving you so that our church truly becomes what it professes to be – a union. Please remember that we are Union, especially when you don’t feel like we are; this will strengthen us as a union.

• Christmas Gift Exchange: 12/22 (Thu) @ Hannah & Hyonroh’s (261 N. Madison Ave #102, Pasadena, 91101). Our place will open at 6pm, and we’ll have catering from Buca Di Beppo around 730pm. Please bring a $15 max gift.
• Christmas Eve Presentation: 12/24 (Sat) @ KM Sanctuary. Dinner is provided at 7pm, and worship begins at 8pm. Our praise team will lead worship for everyone!
• Christmas Day Family Worship: 12/25 (Sun) @ KM Sanctuary 1130am. We will NOT meet for our service at 10am until 1/8.
• New Year’s Eve Celebration: 12/31 (Sat) @ EM Sanctuary. Traditional Korean New Year’s dinner is provided at 8pm, followed by Yoot-Nori (Korean new year game), then worship.
• New Year’s Day Family Worship: 1/1 (Sun) @ KM Sanctuary 1130am. We will NOT meet for our service at 10am until 1/8.

Yesterday, Hannah and I went shopping to get holiday gifts for our parents. But we only ended up getting something for my mom. We walked around Pasadena Macy’s looking for suitable gifts, checking out some jackets, sweaters, and cosmetics. If a jacket looked warm, it didn’t have the right size. If a sweater looked like a good fit, then it didn’t feel soft enough. The cosmetics available smelled too strong. But we kept on searching, swooping around first and second floors.

We finally found a section with scarves and gloves with matching color. They were reasonably priced, warm, and soft. They seemed like good holiday gifts. We started to mix and match some colors, when Hannah asked, “You don’t really know what your mom likes, huh?” Strangely, I was actually arriving at the same conclusion at the same time! I tried to imagine how she would look with certain things, or whether she would enjoy other things. But I had no idea what she likes and what she doesn’t like – color, texture, style, etc.

How can this be? I lived with my mom for about 20 year of my life. She raised me with everything she’s got and I consider her the reason why I have been given an opportunity to be faithful in life. I know I love her. But how is it that I can’t even pick out a Christmas present for her?

I think to many of us, our relationship with God is similar to that of mine with my mom. We grew up in the Church. We heard about Jesus so many times. We know that God is almighty and gave us life. We know that we are to love God. But do you really know God? Do you really know what God is like? Do you know what God likes? Do you know what God doesn’t like?

I’m not really talking about general things, like God doesn’t like murder or child molestation. Even people who do not believe in Jesus think the same way. I’m talking about specific things about who you are, what you are doing, and what is happening in your life in regards to God. Is there anything happening? May be that is an issue for some of us. Let’s start getting to know God through prayer and Bible. Perhaps too much is happening. Let’s find some time to breathe through prayer and Bible.

Friends, I know that we all grew up under different parents. Some of us might not even have had one. But God considers all of us his children. John 1:12-13 says, “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” This is why we call each other brothers and sisters, because we have one Father. Brothers and sisters, then let’s get to know our Father. Not generally, but specifically. Wouldn’t you want to know what your Father would like for this Christmas? I think the Father wants YOU.

• URC Winter Retreat: 12/18 (Sun) – 12/20 (Tue); $80 per person, please see your email for details. Everyone is welcome!!
• Christmas Eve Celebration: 12/24 (Sat) dinner @ 7pm, Presentation @ 8pm, both at church. We will perform the greatest pantomime/rave hand dance ever! Please come!
• Christmas Family Joint Worship: 12/25 (Sun) @ 11:30am, Korean sanctuary across the street
• New Year’s Eve Celebration: 12/31 (Sat) dinner @ 7pm, yoot-nori @ 8pm, worship @ 11pm, all at church…We will eat dduk-guk (Korean new year soup) and play yoot (Korean new year game) together with the whole church!
• New Year’s Day Family Joint Worship: 1/1 (Sun) @ 11:30am, Korean Sanctuary across the street
• URC Sunday Worship: 1/8 (Sun) @ 10am, we go back to our regular service!
• And no, the photo above is not my family!

For those of you who do not know Tim Tebow is, he is a professional football player (a quarterback – that’s the guy that throws the ball) who is playing his first season as a pro for the Denver Broncos. The Broncos were 1-4 when Tebow got the call to start for them, and they have been 6-1 ever since. He was wildly successful during his college football days at the University of Florida, winning two national championships and a Heisman (awarded annually to the best college player). But Tebow’s illustrious football career is not the only reason why he is the most talked about athlete at the moment.

Tim Tebow was born in the Philippines under parents who were Baptist missionaries. Tim’s mother was told that she would have a stillbirth by the doctors when she was pregnant with Tim, meaning her baby would be born dead. Obviously, Tim is alive and well. Tim and all four of his siblings were homeschooled by their parents, who insisted that they instill Christian values in their children. In 2010, Tim was drafted by the Broncos, and signed a contract worth more than $8 million in guaranteed money, with up to $33 million possible. By now, you should be thinking that he has it all – good parents, international upbringing, solid education, lots of money, youth, physique, and fame. But these aren’t the reasons why people talk so much about Tim right now.

People love to talk about Tim because he talks about God all the time. He thanks God for every achievement and attributes everything in life to God on national television. In an article I just read, Tim is quoted, “If you’re married, and you have a wife, and you really love your wife, is it good enough to only tell your wife that you love her on the day you get married? Or should you tell her every single day when you wake up and have the opportunity? That’s how I feel about my relationship with Jesus Christ.” Amen, Tim.

Last night, Hannah and I talked about how men who faithfully practice their faith in Jesus either end up being a pastor, or almost drop their faith all together. They are either faithful but unsuccessful (in worldly sense), or unfaithful but successful. Tim Tebow, then, is a rare exception that is faithful and successful. I know plenty of parents of our youth group students (perhaps your parents too for that matter) that would love for their children to be faithful and successful at the same time.

But what if God asks you to choose? Would you rather be faithful or successful? This is the same question that Jesus asked to the rich young ruler in Luke 18:22. When the person who seemingly had it all – he was young, rich, and powerful – sought eternal life, Jesus told him to sell all of his possessions to give to the poor and follow him. Not just some, or even most, but all. What would you do in that situation?

I think many of us would struggle with that question. I know I would. I do not think that such ‘either or’ mentality is what God wants from all of us, for we see some people being faithful and successful, like Tim Tebow. Still, I do think God demands most of us to choose between faithfulness and success. A simple way to tell which category we belong to may be asking ourselves whether the call to choose between the two is a struggle or not. If you can’t convincingly choose faithfulness over success, then I think you are the 99% (a little stab at the Occupy movement here). There is no shame in this. I know I belong to the 99%.

What does this mean for you? Well, ask yourself to choose between faithfulness and success! Do you want to go for both? I urge you not to, unless you can talk about God like Tim Tebow. If you can’t, then your call is to go for faithfulness, which is really the only reward that actually matters. If placing faithfulness over success is easy, more power to you! Keep going for faithfulness; God may add a cherry of success on top. Just don’t forget me when you become faithful and successful.

• Congratulations to Jamlise/Elames!!! May you continue to grow as a couple of God!!!
• Thank you to everyone who has served our church this year!!!
• Winter Cleaning: 12/11 (Sun) after worship
• Winter Retreat: 12/18 (Sun) – 12/20 (Tue), $80 per person, sign-up now
• Christmas Gift Exchange: 12/22 (Thu) @ H & H (261 N. Madison Ave. #102, Pasadena, CA 91101)
• Christmas Family Worship & Presentation: 12/24 (Sat) @ 8pm

This week’s blog will be a list of the relevant announcements. I apologize for the lack of an article. I will be sure to post up something next week. Thank you for your grace!

- Congratulations to Elise & James!!! May you be a couple of blessing for God!!!
- Thank you 2011 Coordinators for your service!!!
- Praise Team Lunch/Meeting: 12/4 (Sun) after Youth Group Bible study
- EM Room Cleaning: 12/11 (Sun) after discipleship
- Winter Retreat: 12/18 (Sun) – 12/20 (Tue); $80 per person, sign-up starts this Sunday
- Christmas Gift Exchange: 12/22 (Thu) @ 7pm; Hannah & Hyonroh’s (261 N. Madison Ave. #102, Pasadena, CA 91101), $15 max per gift, dinner & desert provided!!