So this past sunday night, my good friend phil pae passed away unfortunately. He's from my hyung's (older brother/friend) church in south jersey. chpc to be specific. i knew him for a few years because i played drums for their summer retreat. i knew phil was a really great kid from the beginning. and i really mean that. so basically what happend was andrew, phil's older brother, pastor paul, and phil were going home that night. pastor paul usually lets andrew drive sometimes ever since he got his license in january. while andrew was driving, he dozed off for a second and the car started to spin a little and andrew paniced and accelerated more. this caused the car to spin out pretty bad and hit a tree off the side of the road. andrew and paul were almost perfectly ok since they had their seatbelts on in the front of the car but phil's body was thrown out of the back window. He died on impact. I attended the viewing service yesterday night to say my goodbyes to my brother. He was only 17, a junior in high school.
He really really loved the Lord with all his heart. and i can say that with confidence. He loved everyone actually haha. He was just an all around great guy and the reason im telling you all of this is for a few reasons. one, he was just a high schooler. younger than some of us. and it goes to show that this kind of stuff can happen to anybody. haha im not trying to scare you guys but just really think about it. i really thought about how much i've given my life to the Lord so far in my life. of course there's always more time we can give to our God. So i challenge myself and all of you to do that. To give every last bit of energy to the Lord and His kingdom. Not because we might die tomorrow and we want a sure way to get into heaven, but because He deserves it. God deserves for us to live for Him. I never really knew what it was like for someone close to me to die but Jesus our Lord and Savior died. and he didn't just die. he died for US. for each and every one of us. that we can have a relationship with God because of that death. that even though we don't deserve it at all, Jesus' blood covers us so we can approach and get to know our God. and because of the most important death EVER, God deserves everything we have to be given to him. Phil did that and even though he's younger than i am, he really is an inspiration to me. Secondly, i realized just how precious the gift of salvation is. i could probably go on and on about salvation but the one aspect of it that i've come to be thankful for is the power it has to overcome some of the biggest things. Phil was saved (praise the Lord!). because he had salvation, we don't need to be sad for long! He is in paradise right now. resting with our Lord. and salvation is such a powerful gift that when we or our friends have it. we don't even have to fear DEATH! phil may be gone from this world but he surely is alive. that's really amazing to me. that even when someone dies, we don't have to worry. idk how else to say it right now but i hope and pray that you guys can see the gift of salvation as i do right now. hopefully it won't take what it took for me to get to this understanding. Life's too short to take our time and go at an easy pace. we need to get a little uncomfortable for God and RUN after Him.
For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may remain for a night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.
Psalm 30:5
I'm gonna see phil in heaven so therefore i rejoice! you'll all see him too and i know you'll love him as well :)
rest in paradise brother. i'll miss you. we'll catch up later ;)sorry if it's a little morbid. hahahah. God really works in mysterious ways. but He does work.
This is justin kim, and Jesus fulfills my life.
