Konnect Magazine - Asian American news, features, opinions, and other miscellaneous ramblings
Asian American news, features, opinions, and other miscellaneous ramblings
Here’s an inside look into how the New York Knicks’ Jeremy Lin deals with temptation as a member of this team. As you can imagine, temptation lurks everywhere – for every man and woman. But think about what NBA players experience, playing at home and when traveling from city to city.
Jeremy Lin shares some insight into some of his deep rooted values and the things he witnesses during his traveling days. It’s also encouraging to read about the influence of his parents and his need for the Lord.
If you feel as if you are at the end of the road, perhaps Nick’s story could bring you back to the narrow.
Simply inspiring. I understand that this has nothing to do with Asians, but I just couldn’t help it.
(A special thanks to a Konnect Magazine reader/guest contributor who shared this with us)
(By Teresa Armor - with references to the book Sacred Parenting by Gary L. Thomas)
One of the most important responsibilities we have as parents, yet might take lightly, is that of raising our children to know, love, and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. But just telling them about God, or even regularly attending worship isn’t enough. The Bible tells parents that we should, “[R]aise [our children] with Christian discipline and instruction.” (Ephesians 6:4). When each of my kids were baptized, some of the promises I made were to faithfully bring them to church, have them attend Sunday School, and eventually get confirmed. Until recently, I often felt overwhelmed (even frustrated) when I thought about this huge responsibility. Because of this, there were many times when I would avoid weekly worship services and some of the ministries I enjoyed.
It’s possible many of you reading this article may have felt something similar at one time or another. Maybe you also chose to sleep in on a Sunday morning, in lieu of going to worship. Maybe you have also sat bleary-eyed and oblivious to the lesson of the day in a church pew while your pastor sermonized. Maybe you have also watched other families who seem to have their act together on a Sunday morning and have prayed for the day when that might be you someday.
[Read more...]
(By Garam Yun) As a recent undergraduate, I’ve often felt a yearning to belong in a close-knit community. I miss the familial manner in which I went about daily life back at campus, often meeting up with friends for a quick bite in between classes and reconvening with my roommates once a week to share our weekly highlights. Since moving back home and entering what most people title post-college life, aka ”the real world,” I’ve gravitated toward my Christian roots and searched to quench my desire for companionship within a body of believers at Calvary Vision Church (CVC) in Blue Bell, PA.
Like most other life lessons, I’ve discovered the value of authentic charity without planning for it. This real commitment to others— I’ve learned from the dedicated leadership of my pastors and fellow church and community members. While I had my own intentions of attending my church to engage in meaningful friendship, I received another gift of meeting inspirational individuals equipped with a real sense of caring for the needs of others.
(By Moses Yoon)
Dear Son,
You make me proud. I’m the proudest dad there is. You crack me up, and we laugh like crazy. We’ve been wrestling in something called a moon-bounce recently – it’s this bouncy thing where kids go inside and bounce around. We play this game called “King of the Hill” where the stronger one throws the other outside of the moon-bounce – the object of the game is to be the last one inside the moon-bounce. We like to roar at each other like Symba from the Lion King movie. We are like little children (you and me). It’s utter bliss.
I’m not sure why I wrote the above, but I guess I just want to remember some of the great times we had this past week. I hope that I never forget these precious moments, but I’m bound to forget because I have a very bad memory. Ask your mother.
Anyway, somebody on Facebook shared a YouTube video of a pastor named Francis Chan giving a message. When you get a chance, my son, take a look at this 4 minute video below. I know you can’t really read right now at your age, but one day, you will. I hope that you will soon bump into this article, and I most certainly hope that you take a look at this video and what it’s trying to convey. [Read more...]
(By Moses Yoon) I love church.
There is nothing better than people coming together to worship Christ, fellowship with others, and reflect upon one’s inner self. It is some deep, profound stuff I’m talking about here.
I also love the iPhone.
It is probably the most important digital gadget that I need and depend on the most – a to-do list, calendar, email, texting capabilities, internet, and the bible app.
Recently, I’ve been noticing a very disruptive trend during the Sunday worship service. The pastor would ask the congregation to open the bible to a particular chapter and verse(s). So I do – I’d turn on my spify iPhone and click on my Bible app.
(Bible app is loading) Pastor begins to read the verses.
(Halfway through his reading, the bible app finally takes me to the book via the iPhone app.) I then click on the chapter. [Read more...]
(By Pastor Jong Park of The Redemption Church in Naperville, IL)
Korea to America
A couple of weeks ago, I stared at my near-octogenarian father on the doctor’s bench and thought to myself, ‘When did he get so old?’ Long wispy white hair, paper-thin skin with faint blue veins showing through, his timid walk a step slower than the crowd – all signs of a man whose wonder years are a distant speck in his rear view mirror. His story is typical of an immigrant who made his way over to the States to provide a “better life” for his children. Over three decades ago, my father showed his Korean passport for the last time at Kimpo airport. Did he know how hard a new life in his mid-life would be?
When we landed at O’hare airport, we drove straight to our apartment on the north side of Chicago. The refrigerator had one thing in it – orange juice. It was tasty. Throwing back some OJ, mingling with my new Russian, Indian, African-American, Irish-Catholic friends on the block… I liked it instantly. This was America: the land of fruity drinks and friendly people! However, my world and my father’s world couldn’t be more different. His world was one of manual labor, dirty factory, stress, and fatigue. His initial immigrant hope would be swallowed whole into the jaws of reality. [Read more...]
(By Pastor Young Kim)
Grace Covenant Church (GCC) was founded in September 1996 with the purpose of reaching the campuses of the Greater Philadelphia area for Christ. At the time, there were just eight of us, including my wife and my one year-old daughter, embarking on this journey. I had no idea how to plant a church. Yes, I certainly had read books on church planting, but the more I read, the more I found out how wrong I was going about it. For example, most church planting books will tell you that you need to start with a healthy core group of members and to start planning at least six months to a year in advance.
We also had almost no financial backing. Because we were planting an independent church, we did not have any denominational support. On top of all this, during that first year, the only place that would allow us to use their facility was a church in North Philadelphia. So here we were, a church trying to reach the campuses, located nowhere near any actual college campus. I felt the only way that this church was going to survive and succeed would be by the grace of God and the promise that He had called me to plant a church. This is why I named our church Grace Covenant. Even to this day, it is the grace and covenant of God that has allowed GCC to exist and flourish. [Read more...]
