Today I begin a series of articles drawn from our new 30-day prayer manual for North Korea. You can get your free online copy by going to http://baekjeong.com/ and clicking on the appropriate link. You can also subscribe there to a free weekly North Korea newsletter. The manual is also available in the original Korean language.
The first entry I want to share from the manual is taken from the introduction. It begins with this praise poem... (All words in italics are directly from the book.)
"The air that I breathe, The sunlight that shines on my body
"Is completely filled with your love.
"I find that love in the hallways of my house, In the upper stories and the lowest floor.
"Your love is stacked in endless layers.
"By your forever-treasuring,Your warm encouragement,
"By your merciful love
"That wants to give to all again and again, I am astonished,
"Wondering how love can be so grand.
"Having been kept so long from love Only today, at threescore and ten
"Do I cry, though late, Finally comprehending.
"Ah, dear comrade Jung-Il Kim, You, man of passionate love,
"Are the incarnation of the greatest love."
Does this poem wound and offend you when you realize to whom it was sung? Then try for a while to understand the heart of God the Father Who has been offended by so many years of idolatry in this land. As long as the Enemy draws such praise, North Korea must be a frozen wasteland with no hope of deliverance.
Yes, this poem was dedicated to Jung-Il Kim, the leader of North Korea, by Mr. Li In-Mo who had returned to North Korea after spending 34 years in a prison of South Korea. In this work, one can notice the writer's boundless devotion for Mr. Kim.
By the time our prayers are answered, the North Koreans will sing songs like this to One Who is worthy to receive them, Jesus Christ.
The virtual worship of the present leader of North Korea, which is inextricably tied to devotion to his father, is truly alive and well. Children learn to say "Thank you Father Kim Il Sung" as they learn to talk. They move on eventually to...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
The "positive confession" movement may have had its start in North Korea. The people there are taught to revere their leadership by giving them fanciful titles. It is assumed that the saying of the name makes it so, I guess. Kim Jong Il, for...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
This is Paradise is the personal story of Hyok Kang who at age 13 managed to escape from North Korea. Here is one anecdote from his tale: (p. 5) "When I was very small, Kim Il Sung came to Onsong in person. My father told me that the whole...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
The following ideas were gleaned from Tom Belke’s Juche which I recommend for your reading, and from my own thoughts: One of the ways that the North Korean political philosophy (”Juche”) looks like a religion is in the realm of...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Tom Belke's Juche is, I hope, on your reading list. VOM and others offer it on their websites. I quote today from the foreword by Bahn-Suk Lee of Fuller Theological Seminary: Kim Il Sung's plan and the Juche ideology were initially presented as...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
