Faith & Life

True Filial Duty Starts from Understanding

Whenever I read a Bible verse, “Anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Mk 8:34), I was reminded of my family. My father, who received a pastoral education in a Protestant church in his youth, opposed my faith when I said I attended the Church of God. Even my mom, who wasn’t interested in religion, stood on my father’s side; an invisible wall was built between my parents and me. When I was about to get married, there was a change. To prepare for the wedding, I had to talk with my parents frequently. While conversing with them, I realized that I had mistaken my parents; I felt through their words how…

Lee Si-won from Incheon, South Korea

In Order to Save My Brother

In April, 2013, a primary school girl and a boy, who are siblings, were on their way home from a study room in Seoul, Korea. They saw some children jumping up and down on the plate of a flood pumping station near a playground. Then, the boy too began to jump on the same spot after all others left. Seeing him doing that, his older sister came near to him to take him out of there. Suddenly the plate tilted and both of them fell into the pumping station which was eight meters (26 ft) high. The depth of water in it was 130 centimeters (4.3 ft). Fortunately, the girl was 153 centimeters (5 ft) all that she could breathe…

A Note That Changed a Thief’s Mind

Eileen was a visiting nurse in a small resort city in the U.K. She rode a bike whenever she visited patients. One day, when she came out of a patient’s home after counseling and treatment, the bike vanished. As she had to visit more patients and it was a gift from her friend, she was very angry. But soon, she calmed herself and wrote a note and stuck it to the wall. “Please return my bike. It is old but loved, and will be frightened without its owner.” The next day, she went to the place where she lost her bike with little expectation. There she wore a smile of joy. The bike was fastened to a lamp post with…

Even with a Little Act

The International University Student Bible Academy [IUBA] is an education program of the Church of God, through which college students go abroad and enlarge their experience during their school break. I, too, joyfully volunteered for it, wanting to have a meaningful school break. I went to Jakarta in Indonesia. Among many activities I did there, I cannot forget our voluntary work at an orphanage. From a week before we visited the children, we thought over and over the way to give the children a precious memory. The guide told us that the kids would be greatly interested just for the fact that we are from Korea, so we prepared traditional Korean games such as Jegichagi [Korean hacky sack] and Ddakjichigi…

Lee Jeong-yeon from Bucheon, South Korea

What the Brain Does Not Know

Our body moves as the brain orders. If the brain loses its function, other parts of the body cannot play their roles properly, so the brain is the most important part of the body. The brain receives a great quantity of blood, which is fuel for the body, because it performs that much important function. However, the brain has a weak point. When you say something, your brain does not know whom your words refer to. If you say negative words to others, the brain does not know if the words are applied to yourself or to someone else, so it orders to release stress-producing hormones. On the contrary, if you say positive words to others, the brain recognizes that…

That’s Not Me!

“That’s not me!” You might have reassured yourself with this thought at some point in your life. While watching TV or browsing the Internet, you may have thought that lewd or violent content may adversely affect others, but not yourself. This is called the “Third-Person Effect.” This perception stems from an arrogant mindset that you have more self-control than others. On the contrary, the “First-Person Effect” is when you think that positive mass media messages have a greater impact on you, compared with others. You do not think that others will be able to understand the message as well as you do. The thought, “That’s not me,” leads to over-confidence and puts our souls in spiritual danger.

Time to Reap Wheat

I work at the office of a construction site, where there is a laboratory to measure the solidity of cement. Earlier this year, we had a new director who is in charge of the lab. From the first day, I noticed that the new director was different from others. Although an employee from a cleaning company comes to clean our office, but he himself cleans the lab of 1,500 square feet by himself, worrying that it’s hard for the employee to clean two floors alone. Even though he can give instructions to his subordinates, he is humble to them and kind to clients. I truly wanted to deliver the word of God to the director. When I started to talk…

Ham Hye-jeong from Goyang, South Korea

The Power of Words

“Be careful with your words. Once they are spoken, they can be only forgiven, not forgotten.” “The tongue has no bones, but it’s strong enough to break a heart.” There are many quotes concerning the way we use our words. Most of them warn you to be careful of what you say because once you spit out your words before tasting them, you may get in trouble. Speaking too comfortably or jokingly may bring about irreversible negative results to your relationships. The power of words is greater than any weapon in the world; the slightest word can bring about a snowball effect. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is…

Every Family Member Is the House Owner!

If the strength of a person pulling a rope is 100, theoretically it should be 200 for two persons and 300 for three persons. However, the result of an experiment with a tug of war showed that the power of an individual was used by 93% when there were two persons, 85% when three persons, and only 49% when eight persons. As the size of a group increases, an individual’s contribution to the task decreases. It is called the Ringelmann effect. It happens because of the thought, ‘Someone else will do it, though I don’t.’ The same thing happens at home. Your home is where all your family members live together, but sometimes they tend to pass the house chores…

In Unity

Chlorine [Cl] is a very toxic gas. If chlorine [Cl] and sodium [Na] combine, they become salt [NaCl], which is indispensable for our life. The process of forming water is similar. When hydrogen [H], that is flammable, is combined with oxygen [O], water [H₂O] is formed, which is also essential for life. The principle that two different substances combine and become a useful element is reflected in our life of faith as well. If alone, it is difficult to achieve the goal of our faith, have a joyful religious life, and receive the blessings of heaven. This is because it is difficult to throw away our sinful nature while walking the path of faith alone. God has prepared rewards for…

A Note from Baby Twins

“Hello! We’re twin baby boys on our first flight, and we’re only fourteen weeks old! We’ll try to be on our best behavior, but we’d like to apologize in advance just in case we become uncomfortable, get scared, or our ears start to hurt. Our mom and dad have ear plugs available if you need them. We are sitting in 20E and 20F, just in case you would like to come by and get a pair. We hope you have a great flight!” The note from the twins was actually written by their parents. A passenger took a photo of the above note, which was attached to packaged sweets, and posted it on social media. The parents handed out the…

Getting Rid of the Old Yeast

Last Sunday, I volunteered to paint a school located near our church with the brothers and sisters from the 5th Lima Church in Peru. This time, my husband and my son were also able to join it. My family hadn’t had much time to get together with the excuse of being busy, but we spent time together at this voluntary service, which made it even more meaningful. We peeled the old paint before painting it over. We had to do that, otherwise it wouldn’t be painted smoothly no matter how good the quality of the new paint was. I thought the spiritual principle is similar to this. If we want our souls to be cleansed by Mother’s water of life,…

Luz Angela Benites Carpio from Lima, Peru

A Letter to Dad

A nine-year-old boy named Mac, who lived in Alaska, baked cupcakes and hosted a party every year on the birthday of his father, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2009. This year, however, he wrote a special letter. “Dear Dad, I have some questions. What is it like to be in a tank? How old are you now? How old were you when you died? What is your favorite food? What is your favorite animal? What is your favorite hobby? What is your favorite activity? What is it like to be in heaven? Have you seen what I have accomplished?” Mac was only five when he lost his dad. So, he was curious about many things concerning his dad. He…

Give a Cheerful High Five!

High five is an action to celebrate victory or to express happiness in which two people raise one arm each and hit their open hands together. Sports players often do high fives to improve teamwork during games. A study says that the teams with good results often had a light physical touch like high fives, handshakes, and hugs among the players. Another study says that the students whose teachers patted them on the back or arm to encourage them participated in class activities nearly twice more than other students. Just as you clap your hands unawares when you’re excited, clapping makes you feel positive, refreshed, pleasant, and even confident. Clapping hands is good for health, too! Tip Do high fives…

Find a Family Resemblance

When you look in the mirror, do you think you look like your parents? Have you been surprised to see your child talking or acting like yourself? When you went out with your brother or sister, did people recognize you as a family? Do people say that you look like your spouse? Family members resemble each other in appearance, habit, taste, palate, voice, and emotional expression. Of course, the genes play their roles, but people also get affected by the surrounding environment. So it’s natural that the family members in the same environment resemble each other. Above all, when you love someone, you want to follow whatever he or she does, and while following the person, you become alike. This…

Nicole Weber from Parsippany, NJ, U.S.

One sister performed pansori, a Korean genre of musical storytelling, and sang an English New Song in the form of pansori at Carnegie Hall. It’s completely different from American music, especially for those who have never appreciated folk music or theatre arts. Many brothers and sisters attended the event. As the pansori chronicle continued, the show’s host informed us that a typical pansori performance takes eight hours but we would experience several parts that give a better understanding of Mother’s love. The sister eagerly wanted to not only preserve Korean culture but wanted brothers and sisters in the U.S. to realize and appreciate Heavenly Mother’s love. Thanks to her sincere efforts, those who had never flown to Korea could learn…

Nyanong Koung from Lincoln, NE, U.S.

Since I began my journey of faith, I’ve sought for wisdom from the words of God, and I’ve studied the Bible to know God whenever I had time. But sometimes there were some parts that didn’t make sense to me. Then I just kept praying to God to help me understand the Bible, believing the words, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3). I truly believe that Jesus is God who came in the flesh, and I was baptized at a church. But they didn’t study the Bible thorougly. They didn’t go beyond speaking about love and being a good person. I wanted to realize more…

Normisha Boyd from Salem, OR, U.S.

Over a month ago, a little girl kept on following us while we were preaching. When we delivered the word of God to others, she listened closely. I thought, ‘Why is she following us?’ Moments later, we approached the apartment complex where she lived. She then ran ahead of us, yelling, “Mom, mom!” Again I thought, ‘Is she trying to hinder us?’ Then her mom came towards the door as if she was expecting us. We shared with her that Heavenly Mother came to the earth to give us salvation, and she invited us into her home to my amazement. Though we had little time, we shared with her about the Second Coming Christ and Heavenly Jerusalem Mother. Like this,…

There Is No Appropriate Age for Receiving Salvation

In my young adulthood when I could do anything, I was called to the overseas mission under the special grace of God. As I’d always dreamed of it even though I had a job, God let my dream come true. I was determined to repay God by bearing fruits. However, things went different from what I had thought; there was no fruit for a long time, so I was torn by anxiety. Meanwhile, I went on a short-term mission trip to Huai Khwang in Bangkok. I had been there a few times before. Many foreigners live in the district with a high standard of living. But almost no one listened to the words of God. ‘Who will listen to us…

Bangkok, Thailand

Michael Potter from Hayward, CA, U.S.

In the U.S., it is reported that seven people die every day in house fires, with fire departments around the country responding to a new fire every 24 seconds. Especially here in California, fires have become a bigger and bigger problem in recent years as the climate continues to become warmer and more arid. In the midst of this danger, fire alarms are an important device to keep a household safe. They are especially important if a fire starts while everyone in the house is sleeping. Unfortunately, the kinds of fire alarms which are present in most houses are not very good at waking up young children. According to a paper published recently in the Journal of Pediatrics, only 53%…