Apostle Paul was a great scholar with much learning and knowledge. But he considered "knowing Jesus" to be much, much better than all his prior knowledge. So, he gave up all his prior knowledge and learning, so that he could devote himself to knowing more about Jesus.

The apostle also had many great accomplishments and titles. But he says: I gave them all up in order to "gain Christ." Why? Because unless we let go of what we have, we cannot gain something that is greater.

Why did Paul talk about "gaining" when he had already been saved? Because after getting saved, Apostle Paul wanted to learn about this love and grace of Jesus Christ more deeply. This is a beautiful attitude to have. I think we also need to have this beautiful attitude in our faith. Let`s try to understand the love and grace of Jesus Christ more and more each day.

Many people throughout history have given up so much to preach the Gospel. There are some very smart and successful men and women who gave up everything to bring the Gospel to faraway lands. In the past, this often meant spending the rest of your life in that foreign land, and being buried there, too. One person I really respect is a missionary to India, she has been there for decades. Compared with her home country, the standard of living there is really incomparable, but still she devoted most of her life to India. What made many missionaries throughout history walk such a difficult path, giving up everything to serve in a foreign country?

Apostle Paul explained it this way: There is so much more that I can gain by taking this path. What he meant by "gain" is: To know the heart and mind of Jesus more, and to know his love and his grace better. He considered "knowing Christ" to be more valuable than anything else in this entire world. That is why he gave up everything in order to "gain Christ." I hope we can also do the same -- let`s gain what is better, that is, let`s gain Christ. ...

The name Zacchaeus appears in Luke 19, and it means "innocent." You know one of the most famous Shakespearean sayings: What`s in a name? There are a lot of people with holy names who don`t know the meaning of their names. Zacchaeus` name meant "innocent" but he was a chief tax collector, which meant that he loved money. So, a lot of believers live self-contradicting lives in this way.

We should think about our names, what they mean, and try to live up to that. Elijah means "My Lord is God," Michael means "Who is like God?", Samuel means "God has heard," and Joseph means "The Lord will add or increase." So, especially if your name has the element "Ye" or "El" (meaning Lord or God), you should think about what your name means, and whether you live up to the meaning of your name. ...

The first time I saw the Grand Canyon, I was shocked because I thought I had seen it before. But seeing it in person made me realize I had only seen photos of it before. Seeing firsthand, versus seeing it in pictures, is completely different.

Experiencing for yourself is so important. How do you know that miracles are real? You can know not by reading about them, but by experiencing them for yourself firsthand through prayer.

What are miracles for? Not just to heal, but so that we may know that "the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Matt. 9:6). When we pray and people are healed, then they will know that Jesus is the Son of God. And no matter the outcome, when we pray for people, then through our care they will come to know the love of Jesus Christ.

So, if you don`t know how real miracles are, it is because you haven`t really tried to pray for someone with love and care. You need to experience that firsthand yourself, then you will know how real miracles are.

We need to be a church that is full of prayer, miracles, and healing, so that people may know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God through our prayers. ...

The more that society becomes modernized, the more we want to establish how valuable human beings are. But ironically, since modern society is growing further away from God, our value is rapidly being undermined. We cannot establish man`s value apart from God. Objectively speaking, our value is really nothing apart from God. But he has restored our great value by sending his one and only son Jesus Christ to this earth. And Jesus paid the immense price of his precious blood to redeem us from our sins. When we accept Jesus as our savior, we can recover our great value. When we accept Jesus, we become the apple of God`s eye once again. ...