Author: Seung Ryong Choi

BY BROTHER SEUNG RYONG CHOI IN THE BOOK "NO MORE WANDERING -- 26

TESTIMONIES OF SALVATION," GOOD NEWS PUBLISHING HOUSE, SEOUL, KOREA.

"True Rest Lies In Jesus Christ for those who are Born Again." -- by Seung Ryong Choi, a Child of God.

It has been 15 years since I entered martial arts to become the strong. With commitment and strong interest in martial arts, I put all of my effort in learning the techniques and skills of martial arts in spite of hardships and difficulties that were before me, and opened a Hapkido Center in 1986 to train younger men.

 

I devoted myself to learn martial arts, even though I was neglecting my duty as an eldest son and as the head of a family for my wife and daughter.

 

Then, I unfortunately encountered a traffic accident as the preparation for my late wedding ceremony was being completed and as I was in the process of moving the Hapkido Center to a different location. The accident brought me a skull fracture, nasal bone fracture, and a knee cartilage fracture. As a result, I had to receive two surgical operations, and I was hospitalized for seven months afterward. Cardiac arrhythmia (a heart disease), and the aftereffects from the hospitalization, were fatal blows to me because my body, for me, was my life at that time. Therefore it put me in a great deal of suffering.

 

After the accident, I overcame my helpless physical condition with a strong mind, and reopened the Hapkido Center during June 1991. For a certain period of time, I was feeling well -- high spirited with a strong motive for success, and with my skilled talent of martial arts in mind, I had self-confidence as well as pride. However, I soon became sluggish and physically unable to act as a free and healthy man due to the aftereffects of the traffic accident. It made me lose my confidence in everything I worked on and I stumbled constantly.

 

"A spiritual man must be free of greed for money and should not be tied to the physical form," was one of my personal beliefs, but in reality, I pursued the physical material. As one achieves spiritual understanding, words and deeds exceeding the physical form should not deviate from the truth. But I pursued money continuously, and I was bound by the physical form more and more as I fell into the habit. Also I condemned myself for not being righteous even though I was teaching "righteousness" and "polite manners" as a Hapkido instructor.

 

At the same time, I suffered because I still had a lingering desire for life although I always believed that I was free from the thoughts of life and death. The way of "truth" was so far away from me, so I resented the corrupted world. Without knowing the Bible and God, I first believed in Buddhism and I was living my life in despair and continuous agony. Meanwhile, I gradually became interested in God. But I couldn't decide which church I should attend because I had witnessed many impurenesses and negative sides of churches and churchgoers, so I sought some advice from my wife. My wife had been a sincere churchgoer of several churches. She advised me that it was useless to go to untruthful churches and recommended the church where her cousin Yang (Sister In Ja Yang) was a dedicated member. My wife said that her cousin seemed to have realized the truth and received God's salvation, and she heard there is also such a church in Cheonan, a city in Choong-Nam province.

 

After our talk, I reached my wife's cousin, Yang, and she visited my house. After talking about several issues, Sister Yang presented me with the book titled, "The Secret Of Forgiveness Of Sins And Being Born Again." While reading the book, I realized that God would judge me, and all sinners would never escape from hell, where there is the lake of fire. At that moment I remembered the public bath where I could barely endure the hot water. So if hell is a fire lake, I thought hell was the place where I should never go. As a result, I visited the Cheonan First Church with my wife with the thought of searching for a way into the Heavenly Kingdom.

 

At the church, I was given a religious faith counsel from Brother Kim (Im Kon Kim, a student of Korea Gospel Missionary School). While I was listening to the words of God, I fell deeply into the words, leaving my thought behind. Among the words, in Ecclesiastes 1:2-9 -- "Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher: 'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labor which he takes under the sun? One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full: unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun."

 

While hearing these words, my expectation of being able to die peacefully after achieving the expert status in martial arts collapsed, and I realized that everything I had worked hard for with confidence until now and all the efforts I put in were wasted and meaningless.

 

The next day, I heard from Brother Kim that not believing the Gospel is the most evil sin, and the thoughts of hatred, lust, and wickedness that arise in my heart continuously are also sin. Then I am the man to die a thousand times for my sins. In fact, I was troubled with myself for not carrying out my words with good deeds even though I was the teacher of martial arts. The same day as I was listening, from Romans 4:5 -- "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."

 

I realized the grace of God. I was forgiven of all my sins through God's grace and received holiness by Him. I found that the truth I was so eager to discover is in the Bible.

 

My wife was also saved through the counseling the next day. I am very happy and thankful for God's grace.

 

By ending the previously bitter life, now the fellowship with brothers and sisters through God's words became my pleasure. I am living in peace with God's grace.

 

And also, God healed my headache, which made me unable to read, and the cardiac arrhythmia which recovery from was always questionable, was also alleviated so I can now read the Bible all day long. The words of Matthew 11:28 -- "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heary laden, and I will give you rest," became my own testimony.

 

I thank God for saving me, who was destined to be thrown into death because of sin. Through the blood of Jesus Christ, I am saved.