Written: Aug 7, 2019
Last Updated: Jan 28, 2024
Intro
This page is designated to convey, though indefinite, the community model of the future church. The reason for the “indefinite” is that I only received a small portion of the vision from God. It is my belief that as I grow more in God and am closer to the designated time, God will give me updates. There are additional links to future posts at the end. Thank you!
Defining Focus
To start off, I have always been a person that focused on quality rather than quantity. What does that mean? Basically, in terms of quality, I can do all that is possible to meet one’s needs, but because doing so can take much time, I can only serve a few people at a given time. On the other hand, in terms of quantity, I can meet the needs of many people in a given time, but I can only focus on a few needs and not all of the needs of those that I help. This is true in any type of service.
When looking at Christianity from the point of view of quantity vs quality, couldn’t we say that the preferences lean toward quantity? Doesn’t the rise in popularity of the mega-churches correlate? What does Jesus have to say regarding this? Jesus told His followers, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).
If we were to loosely summarize the above saying, we are to spread the Gospel of Jesus the Christ to people of all nations. Many pastors equate this to quantity. However, a more strict summary speaks of making disciples. In other words, spreading the Gospel of Jesus the Christ is important, but making disciples is the ultimate goal. This points toward quality.
Am I, then, saying that quality is better? No. Then quantity? Also, no. Then why did I bring out this talk about quantity and quality? It is to justify my vision of quality-based church services.
The Driving Philosophy
Point 1:
The history of the human race is fairly consistent in that no matter what country, the flow of time only leads to destruction. What country, as compared to its past, became a safer place to live? What country, as compared to its past, its inhabitants became more loving? What country, as compared to its past, became environmentally cleaner? What country…?
One of the basic, fundamental concepts that are covered in Chemistry is what’s called ‘The Law of Entropy.’ Entropy speaks of the natural progression to the disorder of anything structured. The general trend of entropy is that the progression toward disorder is fueled by energy that is already present in the environment. For the progression to be reversed, however, additional energy must be introduced to the environment.
If said in another way, water flows in the path of least resistance, and it takes “effort” to make it flow in the direction that we want. Couldn’t we say the same thing for human society? In general, so much more effort is needed for anything positive to be introduced into our lives. The same is true for “keeping” something positive to “remain” in our lives, such as a healthy marriage/family, a healthy church, and a healthy community.
Anything worth keeping in our lives requires us to invest time in them. We must put in an “effort,” and not just any effort, but a sustaining effort! TEoP Ministry/Church will support all our families in keeping what is important to them!
Point 2:
For whatever the reasons, for over decades, parents began, at increasing rates, leaving their children’s upbringing needs (moral, academic, spiritual, emotional, etc.) to public institutions and organizations such as daycare, schools, tutoring centers, and/or churches. What they don’t realize is that these institutions and organizations should only supplement what is being done at home. Yes, that INCLUDES academic achievements.
I am not telling parents to teach academic materials. I am saying, however, that parents should instill in their children a learning culture that should be fine-tuned at schools for optimization. If proper learning culture is instilled into kids of every age, the quality of their education automatically improves for them! This is true despite how much the public school system has “dummified” its education content (yes, even our public education system is influenced by entropy)!
So, am I planning to lead a domestic revolution to implement a change in every home? No. Our society has gotten entirely too busy, especially in the big cities, for such a revolution to be practical. Today’s parents, as well as tomorrow’s parents, are and will be just too busy. So what’s the solution? Though not entirely, we bring the home environment to our churches.
But didn’t I sort of suggest, above, that leaving children’s upbringings under the care of church as something negative? Yes. However, one of our proverbial phrases goes something like this: “When life gives us lemons, we make lemonade.” If we can’t direct the flow of the river, we can at least clean up the riverbanks! If the parents are going to depend on churches to help them raise their children anyway, why not, as Paul said, “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31), and do it well!?
Point 3:
We do not live in a peaceful world. There are wars, killings, beatings, rapes, abuses, swindles, etc. What I just mentioned are happenings around the world that we can easily find with simple clicks of our TV remotes, a few taps on our computers, and a few swipes on our phones. Though these happenings are significant for us to take note of and guard against, as Christians, there is something even more horrendous “happening” that we must guard against. There is spiritual warfare that is happening all around us!
All around the world, Satan and his minions are, daily, enlisting lost and distraught souls for the coming destruction of the world. The sad thing is, those who are under the influence of Satan and his minions do not even realize it.
Now, at this point, some of the Christians who are reading this will have this secure and complacent thought along the lines of, “Those poor souls! I am sure glad that I know the Lord and am under the influence of the Good!” I beg to differ, Sir! I beg to differ, Madam!
We Christians may be under the influence and protection of our God, but we are constantly losing ground. Christians, as a whole, are constantly losing battles without retaking our lost grounds.
At this point, the readers may say, “But we see mega-churches going up everywhere, and there are tens, hundreds, and thousands of people that are being saved every Sunday. Our churches are sending many missionaries all over the world. How can you say that we are losing battles? How can you say that we are not retaking our lost grounds?”
I bring the readers’ attention back to the main theme of Point 1.
The Reality of Spiritual Warfare
There is a visible aspect and not so visible aspect to any warfare. Sometimes war is simple enough that the bigger gun and more soldiers win the war, but sometimes it is the invisible aspect of the war that wins the war. Spiritual warfare is no different in this respect. There are visible portions, and there are invisible portions. So what are some of the visible aspects of spiritual warfare and what are some of the invisible? How is Satan challenging God’s Kingdom?
I would imagine the visible aspect of “How Satan is challenging God’s Kingdom” will be easy to list, as much of what is going on in the world is orchestrated by Satan. As such, some of the answers are already listed on this site (beginning of Point 3). But what about the invisible? Haha. If it was easy to list the not-so-visible means of Satan’s challenge there wouldn’t be a need for this web page.
But before I begin, I am only sharing some of what is visible to me that is relevant to this ministry. I am sure there are OTHER tactics that are used by Satan that are not so obvious to my eyes and other Christians.
The Ignorance
There is a phrase that used to permeate our society many years ago. To my knowledge, the popularity of this phrase has dwindled over the years. This phrase is, “Knowledge is Power.”
It may just be that I have been out of the loop and that this phrase is still as popular as it used to be in the past, but if what I say is true, what is going on? Where is the motivation to educate our young? Is our “motivation” too much of an “effort?” Societal Entropy, MOTIVATED by Satan, is gradually taking away our children’s POWER! As mentioned above (Point 2), the public education system has been dummifying and will continue to be dummified.
I don’t think I need to list the obvious culprits (social media, smartphones, TV, video games, etc.) and how these have gradually shaved away the time our children spend on academics. Looking at the poor end of the financial spectrum, there are numerous kids that need to spend more time on academics to better themselves, wasting away their time on smartphones and all the other negatives associated with having access to the phones. Looking at the other end of the financial spectrum, there, also, are numerous kids, despite having plenty, doing the same with their time. The end result is that, regardless of haves and have nots, they come out of our public educational institute with cheap pieces of paper, but very little accomplishments in their brains.
This trend will only increase. Satan’s going to make sure of it!
Lack of Leadership
As with education, there is also a little phrase that goes with Leadership. “Leaders never cease to learn.”
As someone who has gone up all the way to receive an M.D. degree, I will share a thought. Many of my colleagues were ignorant of this even in medical school. I guarantee you that some still do not know to this day. They may know that, in order to stay in their profession, they must constantly learn, but they have not connected learning with leadership. The same is true with other doctors who were practicing even before I went to medical school (all it takes is getting to know them personally to know).
Human beings eat food when they are motivated by hunger (Of course some eat even before they are hungry, but that’s beside the point). The point is that there is a connection between hunger and food. If hunger does not drive people to eat, humanity will cease to exist. Similarly, If people can’t connect learning with leadership, how will they become motivated to be effective leaders?
Bill, in his forties, just recently obtained his GED and is motivated about being a good leader. Now that he is motivated, does he automatically become learned? No. Isn’t his GED enough for him to be a good leader? Can we say that an ignorant leader is a good leader? No. A high school education only makes up a basic foundation on which a person can function in society. It does not give a good foundation for someone to lead others beneficially. A leader must be knowledgeable, and if a person only has high school-level knowledge, s/he can’t benefit another in a leadership role. Sufficient level of knowledge doesn’t automatically diffuse inside Bill’s head just because he woke up one morning with the motivation to be a good leader. Does that mean Bill’s chance of being a good leader is lost? Of course not. It simply means that Bill has a lot to catch up on, but it won’t be easy. However, the chances of Bill becoming an “effective” leader will be much more difficult (There is a difference between a good leader and an effective leader. Sorry, I can’t really elaborate on that here).
Bill’s scenario, though it is an extreme example, is a template for what will happen to our children if Satan has his way!
Lack of Personal Strength
Just as education is a must in being an effective leader, the same is true with the development of personal strength. Why is education a key ingredient of personal strength?
I have stated above, that knowledge is power. It’s so because knowledge gives us confidence whereas ignorance gives us doubts, which make us weak. This is evident when we see our children. They are shy when they don’t know the answer, but they are confident when they know the answer. The same applies to adults. When we go to a foreign land, where we don’t know their language or their customs, we hesitate to ask for help when we are lost or don’t know something, because we are intimidated.
Next time in a similar situation, evaluate yourself for the strength of your voice. Is it softer? Is it shakier? Is it less fluid? Does it take extra effort to sound out your question? Do you stutter? Etc.
In terms of the physical description of power and strength, the two are similar but are not the same. Physical power describes the explosiveness of utilization of energy whereas strength describes sustained utilization of energy to achieve maximum gain. So what about the characteristic description of strength and power? They, too, are similar but are not exactly the same thing. Personal power is what is experienced by the audience (usually with accommodating acceptance of the person’s influence over themselves), and personal strength is what is exuded by one during his/her interaction with others. In summary, characteristic power is observed while characteristic strength is generated.
Though personal power and personal strength differ in this manner, they both are influenced by the acquisition of knowledge. Therefore, lack of education/knowledge leads to a lack of personal strength as well. Satan’s on a roll!
Complacency
Why are we complacent? What leads us to our complacency? We are complacent because Satan, “…who leads the whole world astray….” (Revelation 12:9), the great deceiver, made it appear as if troubles are miles away, while in the shadows, he is plotting our destruction. It is a false sense of security that he programmed into our minds with desensitization. How does he do that? Through social media.
We live in a society where we are constantly fed with cheap thrills labeled as the “new hype” and the “next best thing” through social media. We are bombarded with these cheap thrills as remedies to take away our “boredom.” We are slaved into telling people that we like them when we don’t even know them…when we don’t even like them (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), in real life. We live one way, in real life, and we “invent” a whole new identity for social media. Our lives are “perfect” in our social media, but in real life, we are starved for attention and scared of abandonment. Because our real life is a mess, we, instead, live the lie on social media platforms.
Social media has fed to our children, and to ourselves, different colors of truths and different colors of lies when there is only one truth and one lie. We have reached a point where we can’t distinguish what’s real and what’s not. It is no wonder that our society is so depressed and anguished. We have lost sight of what is right and what is wrong! We can’t make the right decisions anymore. We can’t stand up for what is right or wrong! Who is responsible for our miserable state? Satan is, through social media platforms!
Russel Kim
Below are the links to already published materials, plus ones that are planned, but not yet written:
* = Completed * = Not Written
A church that Fights Societal Entropy through Discipleship of All Ages
The Reason(s) Behind The Eye of Prism
Caring for the Needy
Community Chess Tournament
Early Morning Calisthenics for the Elderly
Culture Free Congregation
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