Toronto shall be saved!!!

Honestly, I don't even know how to begin this post, but I'm going to just try my best to type out all of my thoughts in a clear and thorough post.

I attended the 1st Toronto screening of the "1040" movie, but honestly, that movie wasn't the highlight of the night. The most memorable part of the night was whenever Pastor Jaeson Ma went up to speak. I don't know how, but he literally turned my Christian perspective inside out; he called me out on what I've done and what I haven't been doing, and his messages really challenged me to take hold of my life and obey God in everything I do because frankly, I haven't been doing that. Let me try to piece it all together.

I'll start with the "1040" movie. This movie gave a great insight on the growing church in East Asia, especially highlighting the church growth in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South Korea. I'm amazed at God's work in the last 50 years or so in liberating those countries and bringing forth a new generation of missionaries that will literally rise up and bring the Good News to the ends of the earth. I sincerely believe in the potential from the Asians, and I feel that as an Asian, I need to take this call as well!

What spoke to me the most tonight was Pastor Jaeson Ma's words. There were many various topics that spoke to me, but ultimately, the theme that hit me the most was the topic about how I viewed my life. His words challenged me in the way no one had challenged before. I realized tonight that I was living a life where I was trying to achieve accomplishments for myself. I thought clearly about every commitment, task, responsibility that I had a part of, and I realized that I was doing all of these things for my own glory. Yes, I've always yearned to do my very best with what God has given me, but all of that ended up being for how I could better myself (i.e. how I can further extend my list of accomplishments). Jaeson Ma told me to throw that all away tonight. My life is for God and no matter how many Christian commitments I make, no matter how many prayer meetings I attend, no matter how many Bible studies I lead, if I don't do anything through the power of Jesus Christ for God and only God alone, then all of these things are meaningless. Jesus called every one of us to be a disciple, not a Christian. We are called to FOLLOW God. Every single thought and action should only be for God's glory. It's so easy to end up doing things for myself because this world tells us that we need to enhance our resumes or make ourselves look better to become the best candidate for jobs or whatever. But what radical thinking Jesus has called us to be: to throw everything we own away and give our WHOLE lives to God because everything ultimately belongs to God. What a powerful message!!!

Another thing that caught my attention was the story about the Korean pastor who chose to die so that his fellow 21 missionaries can survive. He was the living example of John 15:13.

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

We hear so often how we would sacrifice for our friends and family, but would we literally give up our life for them? I mean, this is real, this is our life. Would we ever give up living so our friends and family can live? This Korean pastor was a hero, but more importantly, he truly showed what love is, and he truly exemplified Jesus' love for mankind, which was to sacrifice his own life to save all of us. This was honestly the takeaway point of the night for me. Am I willing to sacrifice my life in order for my brothers and sisters to live? Maybe? But am I willing to be like Jim Elliott and sacrifice my life so that the non-believers in this world may one day know the Good News of Jesus Christ? My honest answer right now is no, but I want to say yes. I'm disappointed that I can't love the people of this world like how Jesus did, but I know that I can really turn my life around after tonight.

The last portion of the night included a extended period of confession, revival prayer, intercession, and reflection. I really felt God's presence tonight at the church through the many prayers to God and the yearning for God to revive this city of Toronto. Through the many confessions of lust, pornography, addictions, selfish ambitions, and other sins, we are one step closer to saving our city that is so multicultural, we don't necessarily even have to go to other parts of the world. We have all these ethnic groups here in our city that we must reach out to. I yearn to continue to pray harder and harder for this city, for the people, for the country, for the world.

Lastly, speaking of prayer, Jaeson Ma challenged us to start with praying an hour a day and see how God can revive the city and university campuses and church. I really saw this as a warning to how little time I've been spending on prayer recently. My prayer life really sucks right now, and I think I need to really shape up now. There are so many things that needs prayer and honestly, ever ministry here on this earth begins with the people praying and yearning for God's power to pour out. It's simple really. Little prayers, little power, MUCH PRAYER, MUCH POWER!!!

May the city of Toronto experience a revival like no other. I truly believe we can one day save this city, but it starts at the very first step: prayer. Who knows how long it will take, but we must keep our faith and trust in God's almighty power and never lose sight of God in everything we do in life. Toronto shall be saved!!!