Isaiah 41:10 (KJV)

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

Fear is sneaky. It doesn’t always show up as panic or terror. Often times it disguises itself as caution, logic, or what we call “being realistic.” We tell ourselves, “I’m just protecting myself or others,” or “I don’t want to get hurt again or hurt others again.” And in that moment, fear convinces us that it’s smarter to hide, isolate, cut off, or even run.

Fear makes us believe we can prevent outcomes. Nothing we do in our own strength can stop or change what God has already ordained. We cannot undo God's plan. 

Fear pretends to protect you, but all it really does is prevent you. It prevents you from true happiness, true peace, true love, and true relationship with God. 

Fear Feels Safe, but It's Not Stable.

Fear says, “Don’t reach out—they might reject you.”

Faith says, “God is with me even if they do.”

Fear says, “Don’t step out—it might not work.”

Faith says, “Even if I fail, God will use it.”

Fear makes isolation feel logical. You withdraw from people, opportunities, and even your calling because it seems safer.

Fear is very similar to pride in that it leads us ultimately to death. Death of the spirit, emotional death and mental death. 

Fear doesn’t lead you to peace, it leaves you to pieces.

We fear because we believe the lie that we can control the outcome. That if we avoid, overthink, or try harder, we’ll be safe. But the truth is: we were never meant to control life. We were meant to walk by faith.

Fear comes from Satan. Faith is trusting that even if things don’t go your way, God is still leading the way.

We make decisions that seem safe, not because they’re rooted in faith but because we’re afraid to stay and trust. We even walk away from people God placed in our lives not out of peace, but self-preservation. But God never called us to live safely. He called us to live surrendered. 

Fear never protects, it only projects. 

Fear tells you to protect yourself or others while faith says you don’t have to protect yourself when God has already promised to do it.

Fear will always try to convince you to run. But God wants to show you how to stand. You don’t need to figure everything out. You just need to trust the One who has it all figured out. 

I hope we can operate boldly on faith and not fear. God wants us to live boldly and not scared of anything. Your career, family, and life are all in the hands of God. Let us live boldly today in front of our Lord. Amen!

NEW PODCAST! I sit down with my older brother James to unpack our shared past growing up in the projects, gang violence, prison trauma, and deep family wounds. What unfolds is a story of pain, forgiveness, and how Jesus transformed our broken relationship into vessels of hope and healing.
🎙️ Watch/Listen to Unlearned Wisdom on every platform: ⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/unlearnedwisdom

Timestamps: 
00:00 - Intro with special guest
02:00 - Johnny’s and James’ Childhood
05:30 – Their mom saves Johnny Chang from abortion
11:30 – Johnny and James earn respect at school through fights
24:07 – The first time James Chang got arrested
31:56 – Home life while Johnny was in prison 
37:00 – Johnny faces 14 years and mental struggle
47:00 – Prison life: KFC, spreads, and survival hacks
52:00 – Prison trauma and memories 
58:30 – Mom finds Christ while sons are in prison
59:30 – Pastor Kim knew Johnny Chang will preach one day
01:04:10 – The first time James Chang meet God
01:06:30 – Understanding what being a sinner means
01:10:11 – Cop recognizes James from Johnny’s testimony videos
01:13:00 – Former rivals now respect Johnny’s prison transformation
01:16:35 – James feared Johnny wouldn’t survive gang life
01:22:30 – James kept Johnny grounded while he was angry 
01:26:00 – From gang life to preaching grace and truth
01:28:30 – Johnny leads James to Christ post-prison
01:29:22 – James teaches Johnny forgiveness through example
01:35:00 – Johnny shares to a non-prison crowd for first time
01:37:30 – James’ favorite childhood memory of Johnny
01:38:52 – Johnny’s favorite memory of James
01:42:30 – Johnny and James reflect on God’s redemption
01:45:34 – Final thanks from Johnny Chang 

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Hi All!

My apologies, I will be traveling to Korea from the 17th to the 22nd. Therefore I need to postpone our deep dive bible class to next THURSDAY 04/24 @ 3PM PST. 

Thank you all for understanding and look out for the links, they will be emailed in another announcement.

Proverbs 16:18 (KJV)
“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”

There are moments when we feel overwhelmed by our own emotions, frustrated that we’re even frustrated, mad that we can’t seem to shake a thought, or hurt by someone else’s words more than we’d like to admit. But if we peel back the layers, we often find a common root, Pride. 

Pride doesn’t always shout, many times it disguises itself as frustration, comparison, or self-defense. We get jealous of others, not because of what they have, but because deep down we’re afraid we don’t measure up. We argue and defend ourselves, not because the other person is wrong, but because we can’t bear to feel exposed. We judge others, not because they’re broken, but because we haven’t faced our own brokenness. 

What you resent in others is often what you refuse to confront in yourself.

The truth is, most of the time, we’re not mad at people.....we’re mad at God. 

Mad that life didn’t go the way we wanted.
Mad that He didn’t answer that prayer faster.
Mad that we still feel stuck in our habits or emotions.
But we don’t want to say we’re mad at God, so we misdirect it. We snap at our friends, get cold towards and judge our leaders/servants, or silently compete with people we should be celebrating with. 

At the heart of pride is the belief that “I can lead my life better than God or anyone else can.” 
It’s why we push people away.
It’s why we isolate and “figure it out” ourselves.
It’s why we resist correction and resent those who’ve helped us.

The truth is however that when we lead our own lives without God, we end up in shame and exhaustion. We weren’t designed to guide ourselves. The path to peace isn’t self-reliance, it's surrender.

Most of us need to stop pointing outward and start looking inward. We must be 100% honest with ourselves. You must let go of the idea that you know best. If you could lead your life better than God, you’d already be at peace. This type of honesty opens the door to healing. We must recognize that we don't argue because we're right, often times we're arguing because we're insecure. 

I hope we can all depend on God and recognize that pride has hidden itself in our reactions. I hope we can see that we cannot lead our own lives and that's the reason why God sent Jesus. Let us ask God to humble us down, surrender our lives, and receive his peace. Amen!

In today's episode, Johnny Chang shares stories from his trip to New York, breaks down why Leviticus isn’t about legalism but a hidden love story pointing to Jesus, and dives deep into how trauma, control, and unbelief can affect our faith. Johnny also reacts to viral memes and answers honest questions about grief, salvation, and what it really means to walk with God. 

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💙 For those that want to gain a deeper understanding of the Bible & get closer with God, to unlock true peace and happiness: https://coreoftheheart.com/
🕊️ Use code WISDOM for 50% off your first month.

Core of the Heart is our digital community to support you in getting closer to the true Gospel. Membership includes: Weekly Bible Class with Minister Johnny, hundreds of hours of livestream content, sermons, Q&A's and resources to help you understand the Bible faster.

Detailed instructions on how to sign up here: https://shorturl.at/ZuAFD

What if I told you that Leviticus 16 is one of the clearest pictures of Jesus buried in the middle of Old Testament law?
Read here

I had to read the Bible 7 times before I understood this 🤔

Jesus reveals himself throughout the Old Testament in MANY ways..

I’ll be talking about the High Priest’s goats in deep dive Bible Class, tomorrow at 10am PST. This is for Tier 2 and Tier 3. 

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In this class, you’ll be able to unlock this story, which took me YEARS to truly understand.