English Language Church Service home page               Some of Pastor Graven's sermons

   Now the coming of Graven to Korea happened on this wise:

     One morning the Good Shepherd was leading some of His faithful sheep in the Paths of 
Righteousness, and contentedly listening to the bleating of their thankful praises. As He 
led them on in the Upward Way, He tripped over a Rock of Offence, lying listlessly in the 
Highway of Holiness.

     The gentle Shepherd smiled back at His sheep, and then turning to the rock, He scowled, 
and quietly admonished it, Better for thee if none of these, my Children, shouldst stumble 
against thine execrable ubiety. Then He called over His shoulder to the sheep to be careful. 
Nevertheless, one of the little lambs tripped over the accursed rock too, and fell and bruised 
her little Dignity.

     After anointing her shattered ego with the Balm of Gilead, He led the sheep on by the 
Still Waters and caused them to lie down in the Green Pastures. Then He started them back
along the way toward His Sheepfold, where He fully intended to protect them from wolves in 
sheep's clothing and other mischief-makers until the Day of Righteousness shouldst fully have 
dawned.

     The Good Shepherd was mulling over all the intercessions that the Saints had made that 
day, and trying to decide which sins to forgive and which ones to remember until the petitioner 
might at sundry times perchance have repented more humbly and contritely. About then, He 
tripped over that same untoward Rock again.

     As He rubbed His stubbed toe, He muttered under His breath, I really need to move that 
worthless thing. Again cautioning His sheep to be careful, He led them around it, lest it 
might batter the self-esteem of yet another one of His precious Little Ones, as it had done 
earlier that selfsame day in the morning. Then He glared down at the miserable rock and growled 
something about its having caused Him enough trouble for one eternity.

     The next morning, the Good Shepherd let His sheep out into the Srait and Narrow Way again. 
Then, as He was diligently reviewing all of their petitions for His Protection of their immature 
and egoistic ambitions against the depredations of reality, and for sustaining Grace too, He 
tripped over that same old, ugly, fat, bald, stupid Rock again! This time, the patient Shepherd 
lost his patience. He promptly called a halt to the Glorious Procession up the Hills of Light, 
drove His rod firmly into the road on one side of the rock and, using His Staff as a divine 
fulcrum, He pried it loose from its comfortable delusions about predestination, and chucked it 
unceremoniously into the closest mudhole He could see.

     As the impertinent rock settled ignobly to the bottom of the mudhole, He sternly commanded 
it, Now, serve Me there for awhile.

     Pastor Graven was chucked into the mudhole on Thanksgiving Day, 1997. He passed through 
the Yale children's language institute in Sunchon, Chollanamdo, the Munwha Language institute in 
Masan, Kyungsangnamdo, and the Davis Language Center in Chonan, Choongchungnamdo, before settling 
to the bottom in the Chonan (Boys) Middle School, in 2001. In March of 2005, he became an 
Adjunct Professor for the Missions English Department at Han Young Theological University 
in Seoul, and in April 2008, Pastor of the Global Church English worship service in Sung Suk 
Presbyterian Church (also in Seoul), until the church changed Rocks at the beginning of 2011.

     For information, call 010-8702-6996 (English), or 010-3136-6861 (Korean),
                    or send e-mail to graven@pgrmk.org.