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    Empowered by Joy: Reflections on Paul's Letter to the Philippians
    Empowered by Joy: Reflections on Paul's Letter to the Philippians
    Empowered by Joy: Reflections on Paul's Letter to the Philippians
    Ebook102 pages1 hour

    Empowered by Joy: Reflections on Paul's Letter to the Philippians

    By Paul S. Jeon and Paul Kim

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    About this ebook

    The temptation to give up while running the race of faith is all too real. Despite our best attempts to be faithful witnesses of the gospel of Christ, we oftentimes feel overwhelmed by discouragement and doubt. Empowered by Joy is a devotional inspired by Paul's letter to the Philippians. It focuses on how we can enjoy an endless stream of joy through our relationship with Christ and thus experience power to fulfill our calling to make known the good news of God!
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWipf and Stock
    Release dateJun 8, 2012
    ISBN9781498271103
    Empowered by Joy: Reflections on Paul's Letter to the Philippians
    Author

    Paul S. Jeon

    PAUL S. JEON (PhD, Catholic University of America) is visiting professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary (DC), an ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church in America, and lead pastor of NewCity Church. He is also the author of two books published by Wipf & Stock: Introducing Romans (2010) and True Faith (2012).

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      Book preview

      Empowered by Joy - Paul S. Jeon

      Empowered by Joy

      Reflections on Paul’s Letter to the Philippians

      Paul S. Jeon

      2427.png

      Empowered by Joy

      Reflections on Paul’s Letter to the Philippians

      Copyright © 2012 Paul Jeon. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

      All Scripture quotations are the author’s own translation.

      Wipf & Stock

      An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

      199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3

      Eugene, OR 97401

      www.wipfandstock.com

      isbn 13: 978-1-62032-286-4

      eisbn 13: 978-1-4982-7110-3

      Manufactured in the U.S.A.

      This work is dedicated to Dr. John Kim, a servant of Christ Jesus who has empowered countless people to partner together for the cause of the gospel.

      Foreword

      The word devotional comes from (surprise!) the word devotion, which, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, means love, loyalty or enthusiasm for a person or activity. Apropos then that Dr. Jeon’s devotional on Philippians is dedicated to Dr. John Kim, whose life embodies a love and loyalty for Jesus Christ as well as a passionate enthusiasm for the activity of exhorting others to have that same love and loyalty. The Global Leadership Development Institute (GLDI), on whose behalf this devotional is written (and where I first met Dr. Jeon), is a testament to this. Dr. Kim’s loyalty to Jesus outweighed his dedication to his vocation, which only made him a more distinguished and decorated academian and a trusted adviser to many companies and state and federal officials. Integrity is a constant refrain from those that were taught by (and worked with) him. His commitment to our Lord and His beloved bride (the local church) made him a more effective elder in tirelessly serving, building up and unifying the body of Christ (Phil. 1:27c). The church Dr. Kim planted in Alaska—which grew to be the largest Korean-American church in the forty-ninth state—held its first services in his living room and got its start when he would, in the evenings after a long day of work, go door to door asking people to come. Dr. Kim’s allegiance to his identity in Christ (and his citizenship in heaven), made him all the more patriotic, willing to stand in the gap for this nation’s renewal and revival. And his love of our Savior, surpassing his love for his own family, has only made him a more affectionate and selfless husband, father, and grandfather (I would know since I’m his son). Not a day goes by when we don’t talk—and he always ends our conversation with, I love you. My dad’s certified status as a septuagenarian is belied by his infectious energy, the age of his friends and partners in the gospel, his bear hugs, the romance of his marriage to my mom, his teachable-ness, and his constant smile—all because of the joy that comes from his prayerful focus on the Messiah.

      Not yet getting off my etymological horse, devotion comes from a Latin word meaning consecrate, or making or declaring something sacred or an object of honor. That is precisely what Dr. Jeon has done in his treatment of Philippians. By taking an originalist view of the text, he has approached the words of Apostle Paul’s letter as they ought to be, as God’s sacred word. In that regard, Dr. Jeon has written a devotional in God’s own words for God’s own ends, not his own (not a surprise given who Dr. Jeon is, as I’ll mention below). Yes, there is reflection and real-world application worthy of a devotional intended to edify and empower Christian (servant) leaders-in-the-making, but that is done without forsaking a deeper dive into the text. In an age of sound-bites and 140-character limits, it would have been easy, especially in a devotional, to choose feel-good slogans over serious study. Thankfully, Dr. Jeon doesn’t succumb—and really, if you truly share in Paul’s prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:9–11)—would you want it any other way? Refreshingly, there is a delicate reverence in this work without the context-less reinvention. I’ve been immensely blessed by that reverence, that holding fast to the word of life. (Phil. 2:16).

      I’ve also been blessed by my friendship with Dr. Jeon. One of the things that I love about him is that he’s a man of many accomplishments, but he never takes himself too seriously. And although never having seen him in action as one of his congregants, I’ve always felt that I was under his care. In that way, Dr. Jeon constantly looks to the interests of others—whether that’s me and my family, his family, his friends and colleagues, his congregants, or to you, the reader, in the pages that follow.

      Paul E. Kim

      March 17, 2012

      Faculty Member, GLDI

      Executive Leadership Team Jesus Awakening Movement for America (JAMA)

      Preface

      It is my privilege to write a brief devotional on Paul’s Letter to the Philippians on behalf of The Global Leadership Development Institute (GLDI) and in honor of Dr. John Kim, its founder and president.

      First, a word about Dr. Kim. I met Dr. Kim in the summer of 2008 and was immediately struck by his passion for God’s glory and his commitment to form partnerships for the sake of the gospel. Dr. Kim is no young buck, but his zeal for the Lord is like that of a new believer. For me, there is no passage that better captures his essence than Philippians 1:18–21: The only thing that matters, whether from good or bad motive, is that Christ is preached; in this I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. . . . It is my expectation and hope that I will not at all be ashamed, but will have full courage so that now, as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. I, along with many others, thank Dr. Kim for exemplifying a life empowered by joy. I am confident that many generations will benefit from the fruit of his labors.

      Now, a word on the devotional. I sought to write a devotional that, on the one hand, is faithful to Saint Paul’s original meaning when penning Philippians. There is no shortage of devotionals that compromise the original meaning of the text for the purpose of being inspirational. I do not intend to be mean-spirited or snooty here. My concern is borne out of the conviction that God’s word is most edifying to

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