Rick Warren Urges 14,000 Believers to Strive for 3rd Revival in Korea
PUSAN, South Korea – After a successful Purpose Driven Church Conference in Seoul, South Korea, American pastor Rick Warren went further south to a megachurch in Pusan Friday night. Some 14,000 believers filled up both a large and smaller sanctuary space at Sooyoungro Presbyterian Church, with some even listening to Warren from the ground and stairs.
Warren told the believers that he wanted to visit Pusan the most in his trip to Korea and is praying for a third revival to spark in Pusan.
Following two great revivals in Korea – the 1907 Pyongyang Revival and the 1973 revival with Billy Graham – Warren encouraged the ministers and lay people to make efforts for a third revival by doing five things.
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First, Warren said, is to know God and love Him more. The U.S. megachurch pastor told the crowd to pray in the morning, saying that even if the plans for that day are not accomplished, let it be a day to know more about God and to love Him more. This life is a successful life, he said.
He then requested the South Koreans to live the life of a steward. Everyone knows that Korea is greatly blessed spiritually and physically, Warren noted. While Korea was a poor country a few decades ago, it developed so much that all the electronic products in Warren's house are made in Korea, he pointed out. This is the beautiful Will of God to save the world through a small country like Korea. Now, we must give out what we have received, Warren said.
Third, a healthy church must build a new church. Just as a mature believer gives birth to a child, a mature church must pioneer a new church. Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., started 25 years ago with Warren and his wife Kay, but they pioneered one or more churches every year, he told the audience. We have currently set up 35 churches, and registered believers at Saddleback are over 100,000, he said. Just like when you give blood and new blood forms, when you pioneer a church, you will bear many more believers, he continued.
Fourth, Warren emphasized the unity of the church. And lastly said, we should devote in spreading the gospel. The Bible records that Christ will come again when the gospel reaches the ends of the earth. If we devote ourselves to world mission, then in our generation, Christ can come. When the train of Holy Spirit is going forward, do not miss it, but go together with it, he added.
Pastor Suk-woong Lim, who led a prayer meeting during the conference, excitedly highlighted God's great work happening in Pusan, pointing out that 15,000 people had gathered at the 1907 Pentecost Conference and this time, 14,000 came together.
Christian Post correspondents Karen Hwang in San Francisco and Seung-hee Yu in Pusan, South Korea, contributed to this report.
