Shinchonji Graduation Speech

“Because the congregation members, whom I loved, were always on my mind…”

The story of one pastor who willingly became a harvest sickle for his congregation
members that he loved dearly

I was born as a farmer’s son. I pursued the life of faith my mother led. Although I was
young at the time, I served and worked hard for God in many ways and later on even
had a vision to preach the word. And as time passed by, I became a pastor.

I started my life as a pastor by re-opening a closed church up in the mountains and
guided service from then on. As I continued to guide the services for a period of time,
the church was revived, soon regaining its stability.

With a grateful heart, I promised to make more of an effort as a pastor in front of God,
and when I did, I moved to a bigger church to carry out pastoral duties. Anyone could
see that I worked hard

However, the more effort I continued to make, the more I would reach my limits. I was
guilty about myself because it felt like I was only making an effort on the outside.

And then one day, I heard unfortunate news that a pastor, whom I knew personally,
passed away. So, I went to visit the pastor’s wife. This is how she and I became close.
After the pastor’s death, his wife was the first to encounter this word of truth, and she
would ask me if I wanted to learn it as well. She was my precious harvest worker.

Of course, I had no clue about any of this, so it raised suspicions for me and my wife.
We both kindly rejected her proposal. However, she was persistent and in the end,
we gave in and decided to study with a somewhat assurance that God would guide us
according to his will.

The instructor would make his way to teach us by personally coming to the woman’s
house.

The first thought I had in mind was, “Isn’t this the teaching of a cult?” I put up
my guard with the suspicions and disapproval towards the word, but as I began to
understand the word, I was assured that the word was true! All this time when I studied
and examined the Bible, my thirst for the word was never satisfied; it was like digging
into a spring that had no water. I didn’t understand myself, yet I was teaching people the
teachings of man. I was a frustrated blind but once the words opened up my eyes, I was
overjoyed.

I still can’t forget the deep impression I received when I had the assurance that only
through the promised pastor, promised tabernacle and promised theology school can
God’s and our hope of heaven be fulfilled.

From the basic knowledge of the Bible to gradually going deeper into the study, I
realized that all this time when I thought I was preaching God’s word as a pastor, I was
actually a wolf in a sheep’s clothing preaching things that were mine. And, the reality
that the Christian world was full of untruth really woke me up. It was heart-rending and
troubling to hear that besides Shinchonji, God was not with the any of the churches. I
was embarrassed at my pathetic and miserable self.

Of course, there were many troubles and difficulties along the way because I couldn’t
give up my belief system, a frame I was stuck in. However, I was able to perceive in
repentance, gratitude and happiness within God’s grace.

Now, I couldn’t stay still when I perceived the word of life!

I decided I could no longer preach the teachings of man in vain when I plainly knew the
truth.

The instructor guided me in the studies and with what I learned, I taught the
congregation members.

I could see the change in the congregation member after learning the word. They
were becoming a true believer. I was so happy as if I had become a priest inside the
Bible. My wife, who was learning the word as well, had many doubts, questions and
earthquakes, but the more she learned, the more she came to realize and believe that this
work was not the work of man but the work of God.

It has been already four months since I started the study, and now I finally began the
work of harvest at the church I was guiding. Regarding this, my wife would respond,
“If you get caught, that’s the end to your pastor duties there.” My wife was worried,
but that didn’t stop me from making a claim. This was because as I was watching the
congregation members change according to the word, I saw a form of heaven.

It was one day when the Bible study was slowly coming to an end. An elder, who
opposed the idea of Bible studying and held seminars at three times, spoke to me one
day with a look of suspicion in his eye, “Pastor, you seem to be preaching well, but one
might mistake it to be teachings of a cult.” The moment I heard this I became uneasy.
However, I couldn’t quit the harvest work that I had been doing so far.

The elder hasn’t exactly lived according to the word, which this impropriety was later
on revealed to the congregation members, resulting in a lost of trust. So, the elder
and assistant pastor was looking for a fault within me so they could replace me with
different pastor.

Thinking this was their chance, they spread a rumor saying that the pastor joined a cult
and was trying to destroy the church. They told me to hold responsibility for this, then
they suggested for me to retire. Once this incident struck, my wife and two daughters,
who have passed over in the center, would say multiple times, “It was an inevitable
matter. Let’s go to Zion.”

However, it wasn’t an easy decision to make due to the thought of leaving the
congregation members, who did not yet know this word and whom I loved very much,
behind. In addition, I had to admit that I was troubled, considering the responsibility to
take care of the family and the financial difficulties that I had to face.

In the end, I made a decision to leave all matters to God and retired.
My fellow pastors
and along with people I knew, who were unaware that I had met the word of light, heard
the retirement news. They worried by saying, “You’re a fool for not having a plan.How can you just come out like that without a guarantee?”

However, I had hope in the
promise and thinking how Abraham left his motherland, I answered, “I will show how
God will lead me.” I made this resolution over and over again.

But what was a relief was that even in a difficult situation that we were in, my wife was
steadfast and did not look back like Lot’s wife. I was very thankful for that.

The result of relying and fully believing in God was that me, my wife and two daughters
were able to at last pass over and enter God’s kingdom, Shinchonji Temple of the
Tabernacle of Testimony. And although there were many difficulties and persecutions
faced in the process, 22 of us have successfully graduated through God’s full guidance
in grace and truth.

Moreover, coming to heaven and seeing harvesters receiving training and working hard,
happiness and hope in me grew. I felt terrible that everyone could not be harvested, but I
told myself that I won’t give up until the end. I will harvest and pray so many souls can
be led to heaven.

Hired pastors become corrupt because they are unaware that they are being deceived
by Satan’s power. They only care about satisfying their own needs.

The nation knows
they are under the teachings of man and their ecclesiastically authority and that this is
the wrong path. Yet they are unable to come to an understanding.

Healing the nation
through the word of truth is the path to atone your sins. Remember that this is the path
to pay back for the grace God bestowed upon you. I will work hard to learn the new
song and become a leaf of the tree of life that diligently conveys the word.