Living God vs A Dead God

The speaker begins by expressing their longing for Jesus to come and bring healing and hope to the world. They encourage listeners to share their testimonies of God's goodness and invite non-believers to come to Christ. They then discuss a testimony of a man from Asia who prayed to his own god but found no answer, until he called out to the true living God and was saved. The speaker then transitions to discussing the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal, highlighting the power of the Lord over false gods. They emphasize that God's power is still present today and can heal and deliver people from bondage. The speaker also mentions that those who serve other gods often hate Christianity. Sometimes I fall to my knees and pray Come, Jesus, come, let today be the day Sometimes I feel like I'm gonna break But I'm holding on to a hope that won't fade Come, Jesus, come, we've been waiting so long For the day you'll return to heal every burn and right every wound We need you right now, come and turn this around Deep down I know this world isn't home Come, Jesus, come, come, Jesus, come There'll be no war Come, Jesus, come, come, Jesus, come There'll be no change Let today be the day Come, Jesus, come, we've been waiting so long For the day you'll return to heal every burn and right every wound We need you right now, come and turn this around Deep down I know this world isn't home Come, Jesus, come, we've been waiting so long For the day you'll return to heal every burn and right every wound We need you right now, come and turn this around Deep down I know this world isn't home Come, Jesus, come, we've been waiting so long For the day you'll return to heal every burn and right every wound Well, the last one, Building Up, Testimony of the Goodness of God, has got over 176 and counting. And we thank everyone for that, and we'd just like you to continue to share them and listen to them, and we hope that it fills your heart with joy, makes you think a little bit, and that you just overall enjoy the content that we try to put out for everyone, for all our believers. And hopefully every once in a while we'll get ahold of someone that doesn't believe or hasn't given their life to Christ, and maybe the words that we speak, the songs that we sing or play, and some of the words of God, and some of the clips that we play of testimonies can help that lost child come back to Christ, those that have backslidden, or help those that never came to Christ in the salvation that He offers us. That's the hope of the podcast. We just hope you enjoy them, and obviously you are, and we love the messages we get. Still waiting on a request for testimonies. If you've got a wonderful testimony of how great and how good God's been to you, send us an email, tgoodnessofgod at gmail.com. We'll get back with you and get you on the air with us, or record your testimony and share it with the world. That's what we should do, friends, is to share our testimonies of what God and how God has done great things for us, and how we've witnessed Him do great things for others. It's just wonderful to testify about it, and it brings happiness and joy, I know, into my heart and to others when you hear a wonderful testimony. Of course, every person's testimonies are wonderful, right? I don't think I've ever heard a bad one. I don't think there's such a thing as a bad one. But we're happy to have you with us today, and we hope that you enjoy our content today. Today's a little different. We're going to discuss religions of the world overall, the living God versus your dead God. And I know that's a little strong, if you will. I don't know if it's strong. It's a little bit different than some of the things you'll hear. And I've got a great testimony by a gentleman who is from Asia, and he testifies about how he prayed to his God, and he shouted, and he did the chants that he was told how to pray to his God and how to chant to his God, and all things would be answered and delivered unto him. And when he came in a time of need, he went to his God, and he chanted and raised his hands, and nothing. And he was on his deathbed and ready to die, and he yelled out for the one true God. He said, if there's one true God in this universe, let him manifest himself to me right now. And guess what, friends? The living God that we know through the Holy Bible, Jesus' only Father, our only Father, the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, came to him and showed him the light and gave him a wonderful testimony and not only saved his soul, but saved his life from the predicament that he found himself in. Just a wonderful, wonderful testimony, and we'll get to that here in just a few moments. But again, glad to have you with us, and we're going to dive right into it. In preparing for the podcast, I went back to 1 Kings 18, a very familiar book in the Bible and a very familiar story in the Bible, where Elijah goes to the king Ahab and wants his people to gather at Mount Carmel. In fact, he tells the king, gather your people at Mount Carmel the next day, and I alone will be there representing the Lord. And they did so, and the people showed up, and there were 450 men for the prophet of Baal. They were all prophets, and but one for the Lord, which is Elijah. So they got one bullock, and they dressed it, and then he said, put it on the altar. Put no fire under that altar, and they took the bullock as it was given and dressed, and they started that morning chanting and calling out for their god, Baal, to come and consume that bullock that was placed on the altar, that was dressed and placed on the altar. And then by noon, Baal wasn't hearing them. There was no voice, nor any that answered, and they jumped up on top of that altar. And at noon, by that time, Elijah started mocking them and said, cry aloud, for he is a god, either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure, he sleepeth and must be awakened. And that angered them, and they cried aloud and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lances. Blood gushed out upon them and all over the bullock, and when midday had passed, they prophesied until the time of the offering and the evening sacrifice, and nothing. Baal never showed up. And then Elijah said, Come near unto me. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down for all the chaos and the four hundred and fifty prophets yelling and screaming and cutting themselves. And Elijah took twelve stones that represented the twelve tribes, Israel, and he built the altar back up, and he made a trench about the altar, to contain two measures of seed, and he put the wood in order and cut the bullock in pieces and laid it upon the wood and said, Fill four barrels with water. Now friends, remember, the gods, either Baal or the Lord, was going to come and fire and consume that bullock. So he had four barrels of water and poured it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood, and he said, Do it a second time. He didn't do it once, he did it twice, friends. He didn't do it a third time. We all know that number three in the Bible, very prominent, and they did it a third time. And the water ran round about the altar and he filled the trench also with water. And it came to pass at the time of the offering and the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel and that I am thy servant and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God and that thou hast turned their heart back again. And at that very moment the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench. And finally when all the people saw it, they fell on their face and they said, The Lord, He is the God. The Lord, He is the God. And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal and let not one of them escape. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And he slew them there. Then Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of abundance of rain. They had been going through the drought and pestilence at that time. Elijah went on up to the top of Mount Carmel and he cast himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees and said to his servant, Go up now and look toward the sea. And he went up and looked and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. And on the seventh time that he said it, Behold, there arises a little cloud out of the sea like a man's hand. And he said, Go up and say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not. And then the heaven was black with clouds and wind and there was a great rain. And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah. And he girded up his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. That's just one example of so many in the Word of God that show the power and the strength of the Almighty's hand. This was in the Old Testament, friends. And there are many other stories in the Old Testament about how God revived His people, the Israelites, how He led them throughout the wilderness during that time, how He let the Israelites overcome the dominance of the world where some kings, when Israel would do evil inside of the Lord, they were bound to be conquered. Jerusalem would be torn down and built back up. Of course, if you read the Bible and you've heard sermons, you know all about that. In today's world, in 2024, it's still true today that our Lord thy God, the God of Israel, the God of the Gentiles, the God of humanity, He's still here. His Word is still the living Word. It tells us in the Bible that the Word is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Amen. It's shown today. How many of us have heard testimonies, or how many of us have our own testimonies of the healing power of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? How many have seen the broken, the people in bondage to sins of this world, to alcohol, to drugs, to abuse, to abuse of themselves, to abuse of another, violence and vile acts towards another, and seen those people break those bounds, break those chains, because He's a chain breaker, friends. He's a way maker, friends. Hallelujah. And who hates it most? But those that serve other gods. Don't let the atheists kid you. They worship a god. They just don't do it aloud. They worship this world. They live in this world, in this time, for themselves and no other. They're selfish, and they live for nothing but the world and the sins of the world. And think about all the others that hate Christianity. Now, I'm not going to talk bad about other religions. I'm going to tell the truth. There is no other religion. There is no other god. There is no other Savior available to us on this earth in 2024, just like there wasn't in the time of Elijah, just like there wasn't in the time of Abraham, Jacob and Isaac and King David and King Solomon and so on and so forth, up until God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, and whosoever, not just the Israelites, but whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Don't let the world get into your head. Don't let someone tell you that chanting to Buddha, chanting to this one, yelling to this one, playing your tambourines and shaving your heads and dancing around in the airports or putting a cap on your head that's going to change your life, it's all symbolism. It's all adultery. Not adultery but idol worshiping. We don't need the idol. And you say, well, Steve, wait a minute. You all worship the cross. No, we don't worship the cross. We worship the man that hung on that cross, the man that went to that cross, who was not guilty, who had never committed a sin, who was innocent, the only human being that's ever walked the face of this earth and had no sin, committed no sin, had no lustful thoughts, was meekness, long-suffering, et cetera and so on. He loved us because God so loved us, the world, that He sent His Son to die for us. And when the Son died and was in the grave for three days, He arose just like He said He would. Then as He ascended into heaven, He sent the great Comforter that He had promised His apostles and disciples. And the Holy Ghost is still here today and will be here forever and always until Christ returns to gather up His elect and take us home. Now, I don't hear any other God making that promise. I've never seen any other God at work, not that I've looked for it. I've not read any other doctrine. I've not seen any other practice that produces the results of our living God. I've seen people converted from Buddhism, from the Muslim practice, and from others. I've read testimony. I've heard testimony. And the testimony we're going to share with you today is a Buddhist. And I'm going to let this testimony speak for itself. But friends, don't forget this. I'm not asking you to go out and make fun. I'm not asking you to go out and chastise another's beliefs or opinions about who they worship. All we can do is share the Gospel and show that we love them and show that we want them to join us in love and in harmony with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let them hear the Gospel. Proclaim it with your lips. Confess with your lips that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. He is the only one, the living and true God. The words of the Holy Bible are the living words of our one and true God. That's what we want. To shame another or to act hastily against them or to do other things to them I've seen and read, that's not godly. In fact, that's unbiblical in today's times. Jesus sat with the publicans and the sinners and those that did not believe. He didn't sit down to party and have a good time with them, friends. He sat down to minister to them and to let them know that the kingdom of God is at hand. It's here. And that's what we should do. Spread Jesus' good news, Gospel, and that's it. They'll either accept it or they won't. Here's the testimony today. I want you to listen to it good and enjoy it. And I hope you can get over his dialect because he does have the hard accent. But his testimony is just wonderful. And to see how Jesus can set upon whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Before I become a Christian, I was born and raised up as a Buddhist. I didn't know anything about Christianity. In our town, there was no church at all. There was plenty of temples. So I was born and raised up as a Buddhist, and I was trained to chant prayer to Buddha. Day after day, my father and I would kneel down and pray and chant to the Buddha. My father was a very devout Buddhist, but I was nominal. So I followed after my father, chanting until I became spooky. But when I was 17 years old, I was struck down with tuberculosis. This was right during the Korean War. Our society was terribly broken down in great chaos, and the doctors told me that I would only live three, at most six months. So I came home. We had no money to receive any treatment, nor any means to go to hospital. So I was left alone, flat on my back, looking to the ceiling, counting the specks and spots on the ceiling every day. I had nothing to do. Vomiting blood, fever running high, and I was praying to Buddha, Oh, Buddha, come help me. I've been such a faithful Buddhist for ten years, and why don't you come and touch me? And I was begging and begging, but nothing happened. Finally, I wondered if Buddha went on vacation. Nothing happened. I said, Buddha, I don't know where you are. God, if there were God in the universe, would you come instead of Buddha? In less than one week, one Christian high school girl visited my home on her way from school to home, witnessing about Jesus. And she told me about Jesus. But I first was very rebellious, but she kept on coming day after day, crying for me. Finally, I was persuaded by her concern and love, and I began to read the Bible, and I found Jesus. Up until that time, I had never been to church. I had never heard any sermon. But because of the witness of this young girl, she left the Bible to me, then she would not come back again. So I read from Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and I said, Well, this Bible would be like a Buddhistic Bible. I was well-versed in the Buddhist Bible. But the Bible was so different. The Bible was talking about one person, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus who forgave sin. Jesus who cast out the devil. Jesus who healed the sick. Jesus who fed the hungry. Jesus who raised up the dead. And all of this wonderful work that Jesus was doing. Buddhistic religion is very logical, profound, philosophical. But at that time when I read the Bible, the Bible was so practical and pragmatical. And I needed a practical God, not just a philosophical God. Because I was dying from tuberculosis. So one day I knelt down by myself, and I didn't know how to pray. So I said, Mr. Jesus, if you were truly the Son of God, why don't you prove on me? I'm a young man, 17 years old, too young to die. You would get tremendous benefit out of me if you would ever heal me. So I tried to make a bargain with God. If you would ever touch and heal me, then I'll become your servant. And I will go any place wherever you want me to go and preach. But suddenly I felt such a peace. Oh, that unspeakable peace and joy flooded me. So I stood up. And I shouted, but I didn't know the Hallelujah. I didn't know even one Christian song. So I shouted, something happened. Oh my God, something happened. Something happened. I was jumping all around. But later when I came to America, they were singing my poem. Something happened and now I know that He touched me. And now I am saved. Wonderful song, but I wrote that poem at that time. So God miraculously intervened in my life and delivered me from another God, the Buddha, to our Heavenly Father in Jesus Christ. And the tuberculosis never relapsed in my life. Christ healed me and He finished completely. Isn't that a wonderful, wonderful testimony of what our God, what Jesus Christ, our Savior, can do for whosoever? Believe it in Him and call upon Him. Hallelujah. His name is Dr. David Youngi Cho. Dr. David Y-O-N-G-I Cho. And he's got several other ones. I just listened to one the night before last about him being baptized in the Holy Ghost. And maybe one day I'll share that with you. Or I'm sure it's on YouTube and you just type in his name. You'll hear his wonderful testimony about what God has done in his life. He now preaches the Gospel all throughout the world. And I believe he now lives here in the United States. So glory to God. I just thought that was a wonderful testimony. And another example, friends, of our living God. Another example of the grace and mercy of our Father. He didn't ask for it. He just asked if you're there. And he sent that little girl with the Bible to teach him about Jesus. Oh, hallelujah. This can happen to you too, friends. If you don't know the Lord, it's easy to do. Call upon Him. The Bible tells us, He shall be saved. Well, I hope you enjoyed this testimony of the goodness of God. It's been great giving you this testimony and information and the wonderful testimony of Dr. Cho. And we look forward to our next podcast. As always, stay blessed.