Back when my wife was 8 months pregnant with our son, Andrew, we were living in Sacramento, California. I had come home from the church office on a Thursday late afternoon. We had an appointment to take a tour of the hospital that we were planning to go to have our baby. This was before we even knew we would be moving to VA and having Andrew here. We were running a little late, so my wife made a makeshift dinner. We sat down to eat, and there in the middle of the table was a plate of what I thought was sautéed red onions. So I started eating it along with rice and the rest of the side dishes of meat and kimchi. As I was eating the red onions, something just did not seem right. It seemed raw and uncooked. Rather than questioning her cooking, I said “This tastes good!” and kept on eating it. I just thought maybe this is how people eat red onions in Korea nowadays. I don’t know if some of you have ever had raw red onions, but the taste and smell is so strong. Some of the pieces brought tears to my eyes from the spiciness, but I kept on chomping away and ended up finishing the whole plate.
After we quickly ate, we rushed out the door and started driving to the hospital. The smell of onions was beginning to take over the car. I tried everything. Driving with the windows down. Blasting the AC. Closing my mouth. But nothing worked. Just as it was getting unbearable, we arrived at the hospital. We signed in for the tour and waited in the lobby. Slowly, the lobby was getting filled with other people who were taking the tour. The onion smell reeked. There was absolutely nothing I could do to stop it. What made it worse was for parts of the tour we had to pack into the elevator. It was a short trip up and down, but if felt like an eternity for us and the people packed in that confined space with the stench of onions as our only source of air. I don’t think I have ever smelled so bad in my life. I don’t think I will ever smell so bad in my life.
Towards the end of the tour, we were walking behind the rest of the group (it was the least I could do to help them deal with my stink), and my wife turns to me and says “You really smell bad!” I replied “Yea, I know, it’s from those red onions.” To which she said “I didn’t want to tell you that I had forgotten to cook them and that you were eating raw onions because you seemed to be enjoying them so much!” We both just bust out laughing. We were laughing because I stunk so much. We were laughing because all these people were suffering because of me. We were laughing because they knew I was the source of the smell. We were laughing the whole car ride home. Needless to say, I was so happy to rinse my mouth and brush my teeth when I got home. I’ve also become more careful with my onion consumption after this had happened.
That day, I literally experienced what Jesus meant when he said “Nothing that goes into a person from the outside can make him unclean. It’s what comes out of a person that makes a person unclean.” in Mark 7:15. Although, we may not be able to “smell” things like cursing, blasphemy, pride, judgement, condescension, envy, lewdness, and other things that can come out of our mouths, I’m sure that it probably smells worse than the smell of red onions coming from my mouth. Let’s not take lightly what comes out of our mouths. Instead, let’s watch our stank!

From Pastor Eugene’s Heart
June 14, 2015

As Summer begins, I’m sure many families are planning out family vacations. I grew up in a family culture where a family vacation was not on our family calendar of events. I don’t remember going on any vacations growing up in Korea and even when we moved to the States, we didn’t have the luxury of going on family vacations. My parents, just like any other immigrant families, were always busy working so I can’t really recall a time when our whole family went on a family vacation. However, things are different now with my kids. We’ve already been to a couple of family vacations in the past so the kids are looking forward to going on a family trip over the summer. I was just doing a random search on “taking vacation” on google and came across an article titled “Take a vacation, or die?” The article basically talks about how taking vacations is needed to be physically and mentally healthier. They refer to studies that link health problems for people who fail to take annual vacations. So make sure you plan a vacation over the summer, you deserve it!
There are many of us who have served in ministries for so many years without any breaks in between. I say this very carefully because I don’t want all teachers and volunteers to step down from serving all at once, but you should know if you are due for a “vacation” to refuel and to be replenished to be able to continue in your calling that God has given you. If you are serving out of duty and responsibility rather than the joy of serving God’s people or if you simply are overwhelmed with too much “workload,” you may want to ask God for His wisdom and guidance in taking necessary steps to have the passion and the joy of serving restored before you completely get burnt out. I recently started reading a book called “Leading on Empty” by Wayne Cordeiro. It’s a book that deals with “burnouts” among church leaders and those who are actively involved in ministry. Not that I didn’t know about the potential burnout that I could face in ministry, the book is reminding me to take preventive measures to avoid the same mistakes that the author made which eventually took him longer to recover from. Just as a family vacation takes a lot planning to make it happen, a spiritual “vacation” needs to be well thought out, planned and has to be followed by God’s clear prompting. Please discuss with your spouse and talk with your ministry leaders and pray together to find creative ways to make it happen if you are suffering from burnout.
So start planning your vacation now if you have not done so! It doesn’t have to be a week long vacation in Hawaii or Cancun. A short trip to ocean city or even a day trip to a nearby location will do. However, when you plan your vacations, try to avoid missing Sunday services if you can work around it. Maybe I have an old school mindset but Sunday service is something that we should value as Christians. And the children have to grow up learning that coming to church on Sunday and worshipping together with the church family is very important. However, I know that missing one or two Sundays due to a well-deserved family vacation is needed and very understandable.  Just make sure to attend a nearby church service if you happen to travel on a Sunday and if you go to a place where you can’t find a church, I suggest a family service. For those who may not feel comfortable leading a service and sharing the Word with your children, there are “Online or LIVE STREAM” worship options available on many church websites as well so don’t let a Sunday go by without coming together to worship wherever you are! =)

From Pastor Brian’s Heart
June 7, 2015