This I Believe Part 1: Conversion and Christian Experience

I'm starting a reflection in preparation for an ordination interview in April 2014. As I consider all of the factors which I will be required to speak to, I realize there are a lot of loose ends from being a religious studies student in college and a divinity student in seminary. So I'm taking the advice of a trusted friend and starting with what I know. That, of course, doesn't mean that I'm certain. But I hope I can eventually take these thoughts and develop them into a coherent creed that I can give to family members and friends who really want to know what I believe. For me, my journey started sometime when I was a child. I attended a Berean Christian School, and one of my teachers is reported as telling my parents I "asked Jesus into my heart". I don't remember that but I am sure I asked Jesus to be my savior numerous times. The one I remember and report as my "conversion" experience was when I attended a revival service with my family. After the sermon, the evangelist and my pastor, Ken Heller, opened up the altar, which means they invited anyone to come forward to trust Jesus as their savior for the first time or to surrender their lives and experience God's transforming grace which Nazarenes call "Entire Sanctification". My older brother turned to me and said, "Brent, we should go." I don't remember if I was willing or reluctant but as I did many times, I chose to follow my brother. So we went to the altar and Pastor Heller led us through the "sinner's prayer". I don't remember feeling any different that night but perhaps it felt good to follow in the faith of my family. From there on out, I don't remember much except that I eventually started reading the bible more regularly than my brother and my father and maternal grandfather always urged me to be a preacher. I told people at church about my desire to be a preacher and they eventually talked to me about becoming a pastor. I always thought I should be a preacher but since that was the lingo, I followed suit. I never went to camp until I was sixteen years old. I remember because I had a driver's license but I didn't have a car. I just went because my youth pastor encouraged me to go. I really wasn't all that interested. More than anything I was afraid. I didn't have a very high self-esteem. I got picked on more than I made friends so I had learned to stay quiet most of the time. Then I was amazed to see how emotional the services were. I think people cried so much you felt like something was wrong if you didn't cry. I didn't respond to the altar call the first night but I started the second night and every night after. I confessed that there were some things I was doing that weren't right and believed I experienced immediate victory over. When I went home, it wasn't too many months later that I was tempted in the same areas but I experienced victory with God's help. I went to the following camp and learned more about how to sustain the "fire" that young people often experience in a camp meeting like that. Unfortunately, many difficult struggles lied in front of me that threatened to take my passion for ministry away. The first was a struggle over whether or not I was really "called" to be a preacher. I got so sick and tired of hearing that word as a kid. I couldn't figure out why my brother was being encouraged to follow his dream of going into auto body with or without God's direction but that I couldn't become a pastor without God's direction. I struggled with that for a long time but it really came to a crossroads when I got my first car and was approaching my high school graduation. I enjoyed doing minor mechanical work and even seem to be able to get the job done with little guidance from others. I couldn't figure out why God would give me this desire if God wanted me to be a preacher. After much consultation with my pastor and youth leader, I remember sitting in the living room of my parents' house one summer day. As I was watching tv, I thought I heard a voice or had the sense of someone talking to me whom I couldn't see. The voice or the peace said, "I want you to be a preacher." That was enough to help me make up my mind as to what direction to go after I graduated from high school. I wanted to major in religious studies at a denominational university but my dad was opposed to liberal arts education so he found a bible school that he thought would give me a good foundation. I wasn't all that crazy about that idea myself but since I didn't have the means to support myself at an expensive private Christian university, I went to what seemed to be the only viable choice at that time. More to come later, I hope.

FREE Method for Viewing Hangeul Word Perfect (hwp) Documents on a Mac

I don't typically write this sort of thing on my blog because I figure there are enough technology experts out there that what I have to say won't mean much. But one of the most frustrating things I have experienced living in Korea is not being able to open .hwp files on my Mac. It seems that nearly every time I use my wife's Samsung I am always complaining about how slow or confusing her computer is. So, while I was eating lunch that my wife prepared so well (as usual), and granted her some alone time, I was looking for ways to print things from .hwp files off of my Mac which I thoroughly love in spite of the fact that it is about three or four years old. Sorry for the drama. I'm just not stating things simply and to the point. Just click on the link below. http://member.thinkfree.com/member/goLandingPage.action When you get to the website, just click on "View Document" under "Viewer". Then click on the "browse" button and find your file. Double click on the .hwp file and voila, there is the information. Just copy the text and paste it into your favorite word processing program (I use Pages as a way of protesting Microsoft, though I have to admit there are a few features that I hope Pages adapts in its future versions) and there you are. Yet another way to use a Mac and still live in Korea at the same time. FYI, I only did this with one to two-page files my students sent me. Feel free to comment on how it works out on larger files. I hope this makes somebody's day like somebody made mine. http://hangukdrama.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/how-to-view-hwp-files-on-mac/