South Korea’s Yoido Full Gospel, the Biggest Megachurch on Earth, Faces “Crisis of Evangelism”

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South Korea’s Yoido Full Gospel, the Biggest Megachurch on Earth, Faces “Crisis of Evangelism”

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Yoido Full Gospel Church began in 1958 and grew by serving poor and working class South Koreans who moved to the capital city of Seoul. Today, it's largest megachurch in the world. (Credit: Steve Smith)

Yoido Full Gospel Church began in 1958 and grew by serving poor and working class South Koreans who moved to the capital city of Seoul. Today, it’s largest megachurch in the world. (Credit: Steve Smith)

If the building didn’t have a giant cross out front, it could easily be mistaken for a sports arena. 

But this is Yoido Full Gospel Church, a Pentecostal congregation belonging to the Korean Assemblies of God — a household name in South Korea. The institution is also known as the largest megachurch in the world, with a congregation approaching 800,000 people, according to church officials.

Protestant megachurches, defined as those with at least 2,000 people in attendance every week, don’t just operate all across the United States. This is a global phenomenon.

Successful megachurches are operating in South America, Africa and Asia as well. And yet, no city has more of them than Seoul. The South Korean capital has 17 megachurches in all.

Still, Protestant evangelical leaders in South Korea are facing a new challenge. Their public image has taken a hit in recent years due to a series of scandals, and the era of boundless growth for their congregations appears to have come to an end.

Sunday services at Yoido Full Gospel Church start at 7 a.m. and run the whole day, until 7 p.m. They’re not in the same building at the same time, but officials say nearly 200,000 people attend worship services every week at the main church in Yeouido, an island in central Seoul that sits in the Han River.

Yeouido Island is also where the South Korean National Assembly building is located, along with several big media companies.

The scene inside the main sanctuary of the Full Gospel Church is impressive. There are seats for about 15,000 worshippers. Giant video screens carry simultaneous translations of parts of the service in Chinese, Japanese and English. Audio headsets are available with translations from the original Korean into numerous other languages. The choir has about 120 vocalists decked out in white robes and backed up by a full orchestra.

The message at Yoido Full Gospel Church is about faith, the Bible, and prosperity. The music is provided by a professional choir and a full orchestra. The message at Yoido Full Gospel Church is about faith, the Bible, and prosperity. The music is provided by a professional choir and a full orchestra. (Credit: Steve Smith)

The message at Yoido Full Gospel Church is about faith, the Bible, and prosperity. The music is provided by a professional choir and a full orchestra. The message at Yoido Full Gospel Church is about faith, the Bible, and prosperity. The music is provided by a professional choir and a full orchestra. (Credit: Steve Smith)

Talking with members of the congregation on the main steps outside of the church, several people echo a sense of awe. They say they can feel the presence of the Holy Spirit at Full Gospel Church, and that’s what keeps them coming back.

At certain times during the service, people in the pews close their eyes, raise up their hands and even speak in tongues, creating a real revival atmosphere.

“When I was in my 20s, I went to another church. But it was kind of superficial,” says Lee Chong-sook, a 55-year-old attending Sunday morning service with her husband, their two young-adult children, and Lee’s sister-in-law.

“When I first walked past this church and I heard the preaching, I started to cry. It touched my soul. I felt joy and I felt healed from pain and sorrow,” Lee says.

The message from the pulpit would sound familiar to a lot of Christian evangelicals in the US. It’s about a strict interpretation of the Bible, with a focus on the power of prayer and positive thinking.

Pastor Yong-gi Cho, now retired, founded the Full Gospel Church in Seoul in 1958. It all started with simple worship services for just a few people at a time, gathered under a tent.

“So many poor people had no place to go, no job, no income. Then, I came,” Cho tells me.

“I began to give hope to them [through the Bible]. Religion is useless if religion can’t give hope,” Cho says. “People began to swarm to the tent church, the poor people, they needed to have hope.”

Cho’s congregation grew and grew through the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, right along with the South Korean economy. He earned a reputation as a healer. Indeed, two people I spoke with at the church tell me they were healed from illnesses.

Cho also preached a Korean version of the prosperity gospel, which taught that leading a prayerful lifestyle will bring rewards not only in terms of health, but in wealth.

Click here to read more.

SOURCE: PRI
Matthew Bell

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‘Modern-Day Dietrich Bonhoeffer’ Reveals the Truth About the Worldwide Persecuted Church — Charisma News

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‘Modern-Day Dietrich Bonhoeffer’ Reveals the Truth About the Worldwide Persecuted Church — Charisma News

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Persecuted Christians around the world are fighting for their lives. (ACLJ.org)

Join us on our podcast each weekday for an interesting story, well told, from Charisma News. Listen at charismapodcastnetwork.com.

Here in the 21st century, we are seeing first-century persecution of Christians. The good news is that, here in the 21st century, we are also seeing first-century Christianity.

Rev. Johnnie Moore, an author, speaker and humanitarian who has been called one of the world’s “most influential young leaders,” is living proof of this good news. In addition to his advocacy, which has helped provide tens of millions of dollars in emergency assistance to persecuted Christians around the world, Moore, 33, helped lead the charge to get genocide resolutions against ISIS passed unanimously in both houses of the U.S. Congress and in the British and European Parliaments.

In his new book, The Martyr’s Oath, released Tuesday, Moore calls not only for the church to pray and have compassion for persecuted Christians around the globe but to act on that compassion. Appropriately, the book’s subtitle is Living for the Jesus They’re Willing to Die For.

“There is so much missing in our experience with Jesus,” said Moore, who is also a member of President Trump’s White House Faith Advisory Council. “You can only see it when you step into the life and experiences of those who not only have Jesus, but without Him, they cannot imagine life itself.

“We have so little to lose, and they have so much to lose. We have so little faith, and they have so much of it. … I want to make sure these people will not be forgotten because as brothers and sisters in Christ, they are our family.”   

I recently recorded a podcast with Johnnie in which he and I discussed his new book. The Martyr’s Oath, which details specific stories of persecuted Christians worldwide. It includes one about a woman in Nigeria named Rose who, despite the murder of her husband and children by the terrorist group Boko Haram and the threat of the loss of her own life, did not denounce her relationship with Jesus. She escaped with her life and is still serving the Lord.

Moore also recalls a Bible-school graduation service he once attended in India. Before members of the graduating class received their diplomas, Moore said, the budding pastors were charged with a unique responsibility. They took an oath not only to live for and preach Jesus, but if necessary, to give their lives for Him as well.

In the past, I have been vocal in my support for the persecuted church. I was honored to be invited to speak at the United Nations in April 2015, and here is a transcript of what I said.

The Martyr’s Oath is a very important book. Take its message to heart. And visit Johnnie’s website at martyrsoath.com for more information.

Let’s start a movement in which persecuted Christian become a priority of the church. We need to bring persecution like this to light and bring it to an end.

Will you help Johnnie and me spread the word? Share this with your social media followers and get involved.

 

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Christian Churches Encourage Faithfuls to Celebrate Event with a Religious Twist

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REUTERS/Mike Blake

A remote-controlled plane in the form of a witch flies over a neighborhood as the sun sets on Halloween in Encinitas, California.

While many of those who belong to the Christian faith are skeptical about celebrating Halloween, various Christian sectors and ministries are now encouraging believers to embrace the celebration and observe it with a twist.

Although Halloween is a secular event that is no longer associated with any religion, many Christians are uncomfortable with the celebration because of the involvement of the scary supernatural creatures associated with evil in it. However, for the past couple of years, various Christian churches and denominations encourage the people to embrace the celebration by giving it some religious flavor.

Paul Stockwell of the Scripture Union, for instance, has been sending out its Light Party packs for the past four years already as a replacement for the traditional trick-or-treat loot bags.

Instead of filling the Light Party packs with chocolates and candies, it is filled with ideas for light experiments, games, a service plan, and Bible-based activities. According to Stockwell, the Light Party packs are way safer than trick-or-treating, which has children knocking on strangers’ doors for goodies.

Stockwell has also revealed that, while the Light Party packs they sent out four years ago only numbered 4,000, they are expecting to send out twice the quantity this year.

Apart from the Light Party packs that are meant to be an alternative to the trick-or-treat loot bags, Christian-style Halloween celebrations have also introduced alternatives to the arguably most popular Halloween symbol, the Jack-o-Lantern. While the alternatives still involve pumpkins, those who want to decorate their houses with the said Halloween character are encouraged to carve positive symbols, such as heart and cross, instead of the usual scary faces. In fact, the Christian children’s charity World Vision has even introduced the Halloween character Patch the Pumpkin, a pumpkin with a carved heart and emits light, as the more religious version of Jack-o-Lantern. 

Four years ago, Archbishop Socrates Villegas of the Philippines, which is a predominantly Catholic country, dissuaded the parents in his parish from dressing their children in costumes that represent demons, witches, vampires, zombies, and creatures from local folklore as, according to the prelate, scary costumes are not in sync with the Christian faith.

Fr. Alvin Platon of St. John Cathedral, still in the said country, organized a March of the Saints event as an alternative to the traditional Halloween parade, with the participants dressing in saint costumes rather than the scary ones.

“(Monster) are not our friends so why should we dress like them? How can we reconcile the belief that we are good Christians but we are friends with bad creatures? Let us celebrate ‘All Saints’ Day and not ‘All Monsters’ Day,”’ Platon said.

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Apricots and Eggs Proven to Help Lose Weight

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Reuters/Stringer ChinaApricots have been proven to help weight loss.

Scientists claim that apricots and eggs are two of the best food items that can help people lose weight effectively. Meanwhile, the new Teri Ann Nunns Diet can help people lose as much as seven pounds per week.

Based on recent research, apricots can help people with weight loss since they have been discovered to provide the feeling of fullness, the Molecular Metabolism journal reports, Express confirmed.

Apricots help people feel full because of a certain signal it sends to the brain. According to the study, brain cells known as tanycytes detect nutrients from the apricot that help control one’s appetite.

But apricot isn’t the only food item that provides that feeling of fullness. Other food items that have a higher number of amino acids help simulate tanycytes better than others.

Aside from apricots, the study also found that almonds, lentils, plums, chicken, pork shoulder, sirloin steak, mackerel, and avocados all help weight loss by giving that full feeling in the tummy.

Aside from that, these food items have high amounts of protein that satisfy hunger longer.

According to Dr. Nicholas Dale, professor of neuroscience at the University of Warwick, who headed the study in the journal, said that amino acids play an important part in providing the feeling of fullness.

Other than the mentioned food items, eggs have also been proven to help lose weight in a short period of time.

Having eggs for breakfast have been reported to help weight loss of up to 65 percent in just eight weeks.

According to a study from the U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, egg breakfasts helped obese participants lose weight of up to 61 percent in their body-mass index (BMI) in two months.

Meanwhile, the new Terri Ann Nunns diet, which is composed of a seven-day cleanse with combined exercise, claims that it can help lose weight of up to seven pounds in just a week, the Daily Mail confirmed.

However, the diet regimen requires much determination and commitment, because it only allows an intake of 1,000 calories per day.

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Church urged to show mental ill health compassion

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Church urged to show mental ill health compassion

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The message from the Association of Christian Counsellors comes as leaders of the UK-wide charity also praised celebrities who have spoken publicly of their mental health issues.

David Sinclair, Director of Pastoral Care, told Premier: “People like Prince Harry talking about his struggles with depression have helped enormously but I think in some of the other aspects of mental health there is a huge stigma.”

 

An annual initiative first marked by the World Health Organisation in 1992, the 25th World Mental Health Day is focusing specifically on promoting wellbeing in the workplace.

The Association of Christian Counsellors warned that a significant increase in the number of families where both parents work is one factor behind a rise in mental health issues linked to home and work pressures.

Mr Sinclair said there is a need for mental ill health to be treated with the same seriousness as physical illnesses. He also said churches are in a position to face out to those struggling.

PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo

 

He explained: “While there are those [in church] that judge, I think compassion is a huge driver towards accepting those whose life experiences may not have been as fortunate as our own.

“The simplest way of supporting somebody who is struggling with life is simply to be there for them. Just give them your time [and] your presence.”

Click here to listen to David Sinclair speaking with Premier’s Rosie Wright:

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Corruption Scandals Drive Young Christians In South Korea Away from Megachurches and Toward Café Churches

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Corruption Scandals Drive Young Christians In South Korea Away from Megachurches and Toward Café Churches

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A couple talks at a coffee shop in central Seoul. (Han Jae-Ho / Reuters)

A couple talks at a coffee shop in central Seoul. (Han Jae-Ho / Reuters)

How corruption scandals are driving young Christians away from megachurches—and conservative politics

The electronic keyboard and acoustic guitar kicked in as the junior minister opened this past Sunday’s service with a public prayer. He spoke in a rapid-fire cadence as the 20 members of the evangelical church tried to keep pace, before rising to recite the Apostle’s Creed, a proclamation of their faith.

This house of worship in central Seoul is one of the tens of thousands of small Protestant chapels across the country that are trying to lure believers away from South Korea’s megachurches. Some, like this one, are doing so by satisfying the longing for a close-knit religious community as well as the craving for a cappuccino.

The church’s name is Jesus Coffee.

“Churches and cafés have the hardest time surviving in Korea,” said Ahn Min-ho, a 42-year-old ordained minister and certified barista. “Combining the two is mutually beneficial.”

South Korea is divided between Buddhists (15.5 percent), Protestants (19.7 percent), Catholics (7.9 percent), and non-believers. Among the large population of Christians, the model of the combined “café church” has taken off in recent years. These grassroots affairs provide a counterpoint to the massive, hierarchical, institutionalized megachurches in a country where many are distrustful of major institutions, both religious and political. Megachurches have lately been implicated in high-profile corruption scandals; the founder of Seoul’s Yoido Full Gospel Church, which claims a congregation of nearly 800,000 people and is the largest megachurch in the world, was convicted of embezzling $12 million in church money in 2014. In the political realm, former conservative president Park Geun-hye—whose father once served as president as well—was impeached in March for her alleged masterminding of a vast bribery scandal that has landed her in prison.

Customers at Ahn’s café church can peruse a selection of Christian literature while nursing their lattes, which are about a dollar cheaper than at some of the neighborhood’s big-name franchises. A cross-adorned wooden shed in the corner, marked “Prayer Room,” contains a desk with a Bible on top. The sanctuary is located in a windowless room in the back, behind the espresso machine and industrial-strength coffee grinder.

Ahn told me he welcomes newcomers who, like him, feel Christianity in South Korea has become “too institutionalized.” That seems to be a sentiment shared by many worshipers in their 20s and 30s, who are, according to reports, increasingly leaving their churches amid feelings of disillusionment with organized religion.

And many don’t hold the same political views as older generations.

“Christians over the age of 50 are more likely to vote for the conservatives,” said Ms. Lee, a 40-year-old mother of three who was slowly finishing an iced vanilla latte at Jesus Coffee after the service. “We think differently from them.”

This generational divide mirrors a rift among the general population: According to a recent Gallup poll, ahead of Tuesday’s election most South Koreans aged 60 or older preferred the conservative or centrist politicians who take a hardline policy on North Korea, while voters in their 30s overwhelmingly favored the progressive candidate and care more about clamping down on corruption. Indeed, in a survey conducted by local pollster RealMeter, 27.5 percent of respondents said that a candidate’s “intention to resolve deeply-rooted corruption” was the most crucial quality; by contrast, only 18.5 percent said “protection of national security and liberal democracy” was most important.

Unlike American evangelicals, who have long been considered a coherent voting bloc, Korean “evangelical voters are not a unified bloc, and the voting patterns are complex, but politicians pay attention because many voters are evangelical,” David Halloran Lumsdaine wrote in Evangelical Christianity and Democracy in Asia. Survey data about the impact of religion on voting in previous elections is scarce, but interview data suggest that “Christians’ voting responds more to regional than religious affiliations,” Lumsdaine wrote.

Click here to read more.

SOURCE: The Atlantic
Jason Strother

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Heterosexual Sin Is a ‘Far More Intense’ Issue Than Homosexual Sin — Charisma News

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Heterosexual Sin Is a ‘Far More Intense’ Issue Than Homosexual Sin — Charisma News

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    Episcopal Churches Toll Bells in Memory of Las Vegas Massacre Victims

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    (Photo: Washington National Cathedral/Danielle Thomas)A procession at the installation service for the Rev. Michael Curry, first African-American Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, held at the Washington National Cathedral in the District of Columbia on Sunday, November 1, 2015.

    Episcopal Church congregations nationwide, including the Washington National Cathedral, tolled their bells Tuesday in memory of the 59 people killed in the mass shooting in Las Vegas Nevada, Sunday night.

    Bishops United Against Gun Violence, a group of over 70 Episcopal bishops, promoted the event and several congregations responded, tolling their bells once for each victim.

    Jim Naughton, spokesperson for The Episcopal Church, told The Christian Post that he did not have an exact tally for how many congregations took part in the solemn observance.

    “I know it occurred across the country because I’ve seen media reports from Maine to Florida to Indiana and Chicago to Las Vegas,” said Naughton.

    Expand | Collapse
    (Photo: Reuters/Chris Wattie)A candlelight vigil is pictured on the Las Vegas strip following a mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., October 2, 2017.

    “A number of parishes commenting on our Facebook post said they’d rung their bells and those included churches in New York, Colorado and Texas. I know the National Cathedral took part as well.”

    Naughton directed CP to a Monday press release from the Bishops United Against Gun Violence, which vowed to offer both “thoughts and prayers” as well as action.

    “As Christians, we are called to engage in the debates that shape how Americans live and die, especially when they die due to violence or neglect. Yet a probing conversation on issues of gun violence continues to elude us as a nation, and this failure is cause for repentance and for shame,”  the Bishops stated.

    “It is entirely reasonable in the wake of mass killings perpetrated by murderers with assault weapons to ask lawmakers to remove such weapons from civilian hands. It is imperative to ask why, as early as this very week, Congress is likely to pass a bill making it easier to buy silencers.”

    On Sunday evening, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opened fire from the Mandalay Bay hotel on a country music concert in Las Vegas, killing 58 people and wounding 489.

    “Thousands of panicked people fled the scene, in some cases trampling one another as law enforcement officers scrambled to locate and kill the gunman. Shocked concert goers, some with blood on their clothes, wandered the streets after the attack,” Reuters reported.

    The Las Vegas massacre is widely considered the worst mass shooting in American history, topping the 49-person death toll of the 2016 Pulse Nightclub mass shooting in Orlando, Florida.

    Last year, some congregations within The Episcopal Church tolled their bells 49 times for the victims of the Orlando shooting.

    Follow Michael Gryboski on Twitter or Facebook

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    ‘Psychiatric Drugs Common in Shooters,’ Actress Claims

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    Scientologist and actress Kirstie Alley weighed in on the recent Las Vegas massacre, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, claiming the common denominator between mass shooters is psychiatric drugs.

    Reuters/Lucy Nicholson

    The site of the Route 91 music festival mass shooting is seen outside the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. October 2, 2017.

    In a series of tweets, the actress spoke out about the Las Vegas shooting which claimed the lives of 59 people on Sunday night and left 500 injured.

    “We have to solve the mystery of why there were no ‘shooters’ or almost 0 before the 1980’s. I know one common denominator other than guns,” Ally wrote in a tweet, suggesting the gunman’s medication is probably what drove him to the massacre.

    “One additional common denominator of “shooters” is USA’s mass usage of psychiatric drugs. A % do have side effects of VIOLENCE & SUICIDE,” she continued.

    The 66-year-old was called out for seemingly being insensitive of the situation. She then defended herself, saying that the claims are statistics based. Moreover, she emphasized that violence and suicide are side effects of these drugs, which users are typically warned about.

    What is bizarre about Alley’s claim is the fact that there have not been any reports of the 64-year-old gunman, Stephen Paddock, using any sort of prescription drugs.

    Amidst the backlash of her controversial opinion, Alley sent out another message saying that she has sympathy for the victims as well as their loved ones.

    Paddock open fired at a crowd of concert-goers in Las Vegas from his suite at the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay. The retired accountant showed no indications of volatility prior to the shooting, his brother, Eric Paddock suggested.

    Authorities found 23 weapons stashed inside the gunman’s hotel room. They also found 10 suitcases which they believe were used to haul the cache of weapons.

    As of now, investigators believe that Paddock worked alone. The motive behind the shooting, however, has yet to be determined.

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    Rev Coles ‘gutted’ he can’t do Strictly tour because of church duties

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    Rev Coles ‘gutted’ he can’t do Strictly tour because of church duties

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    According to the Northampton Chronicle and Echo, a close friend of Rev Coles said he will have to miss out on the 20-date tour that starts next year.

    They added: “Basically he said the Bishop of Peterborough had put the kibosh on it because the tour would interfere with his ministerial duties.

    “He said the decision was out of his hands but I think he had been hoping he could have gone on it.”

    The friend continued, saying that the decision was even more disappointing since Rev Coles is now out of the competition.
     
    “He brought some real humour to the dancing and it’s a shame for him and his fans that they won’t see him perform again,” the person said.

     

    Rev Coles conducts Sunday services at St Mary’s Church in the parish of Finedon.

    According to the paper, when Rt Rev Donald Allister, Bishop of Peterborough was asked why Rev Coles would not be taking part in the live tour he said: “This is a matter for Richard’s judgement. I trust him and will continue to support him.

    “Richard Coles sought and received goodwill for appearing on Strictly.

    “His parish ministry is half-time and he has always fulfilled this commitment.”

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