I was going to do a Bible contradiction post but that can wait till next week. A Christian friend shared with me this was incredible interview with Jonny Kim, a Navy SEAL sniper, Harvard Medical School graduate and Astronaut. I was just floored and the interview was nothing that I expected. I mean already his accomplishment is already incredible what he’s accomplished by his mid30s. But to hear him speak starting with what he experienced with his traumatizing childhoood was unexpected.
Here’s the video:
The host of the show doing the interview was actually one of Jonny Kim’s officer in Ramadi Iraq. This group of two SEAL platoons consisted of some famous SEALS including Chris Kyle the American Sniper.
Listening to it I had some Christian reflection:
- Our world we live in is sinful. We shouldn’t be surprised in a world with people totally depraved that there are people who are victims of abuse. It should make us be more careful of assuming people’s life being all easy.
- There’s many things in life that are meaningful to do but doing it won’t be easy.
- As Christians humility is important. Jonny Kim display incredible humility with all that he’s accomplished. For instance he’s said that going to Harvard doesn’t make one a better doctor, one can be a good doctor from other medical school. But he wanted that degree to have a platform to make a bigger impact. He’s also said he’s not the strongest guy, not the wisest guy but he’s a guy that keeps going. Part of humility is knowing oneself realistically as opposed to false humility.
- I thought his story about transitioning from the SEALs to university was interesting. The story of how he was working on the university giving traffic tickets to cars might be humbling which some people say they won’t do as too low but he’s made a point that we shouldn’t have the mentality of being too good to do something.
- He’s mentioned about the danger of narcissism and the danger of social media feeding that. That’s so true. I love how he talked about the silent professional. Narcissism robs the glory of God with self-glory.
- A very powerful point he made is every kind of life style has some kind of “bubbles.” We often think of those in a safe bubble in certain kinds of lifestyle, which is true but he’s made a point that’s true that even in the military there can be some kind of buddle too with certain things that are safe or stable. I think this makes me count my privileges and also gracious with others.
- The most powerful thing in this video was Jonny sharing about how the deaths of people he loved motivate him to do the things he’s doing. Because some SEALs in his platoon was killed he wanted to learn medicine. I mean its a powerful motivation for him to go through college, Harvard Medical school and also working hard through it. I think of the death of Christ who died for us. The death of Christ is a powerful motivation for us to obedience and love of God and love of others.
The Domain for Truth 
I confess I won’t be devoting the time to listen to the podcast/interview, I like the synopsis in the numbered points you provided.
I understand I can’t believe I watched the four hour and forty minute interview! I guess I watched it intently since his background was interesting, he’s my generation veteran, he’s from Southern California and Asian too. Thanks for reading and commenting! Have a good morning! Going to Sleep!
Yes, almost 5 hours is a LOT of time! But I can understand devoting that much time to something that interests you, has much in common with your background, and strikes you emotionally.
Well, I missed the conjunction “but” in my sentence. I’m in sleep debt, and it’s time for me to get back to bed!
Wow! What a great find. Thanks for bringing it to us.
Blessings.
What a modern day Renaissance man is Doctor Jonny Kim. The two biggest lessons for me (without watching beyond few minutes) is humility and determination. Thank you for sharing, Jim! GOD bless you, Nancy, and your kids!
Yes indeed humility and determination is very important. From a Christian perspective we need to understand the depth of God’s grace to us who are undeserving which fuels humility and also do all things all out for His glory which fuels determination. Sometimes people think humility and determination are incompatible but I think they can be from a biblical life and worldview versus a secular motive of glorifying self. Here I think the Gospel is amazing and practical even for our area of life such as dealing with our dreams, accomplishments and occupation and calling. What an amazing Gospel and furthermore an amazing God amen?
Hi Jim, I watched about an hour and I will have to get back to this because of how long it is. I picked up on some of the words that he used, about praying, about the grace of God, so I am wondering if that will develop into a statement of belief or faith. Heavy stuff, what with the abuse and the self determination developing and the different motives involved. The statements about “packets of time” caught my attention because I think all of us have those. I will watch all of it because I think it is worth the investment of time. It brought back a lot of memories about my own situation, being adopted, being verbally and physically abused, coming to understand how it does affect you and how Jesus can change all that. And then of course, there are the self induced aspects of oneself that one does have to eventually have to deal with. I’m always amazed on how it it those who could really draw attention to what they have accomplished that shy away from doing that and basically push it aside as not being that much, when some of those who have accomplished a lot less, talk about it all the time. It’s the ones that don’t talk about it, that I listen to, because they are different and have a mindset that is different from the norm. Being in the military is a “packet of time” and of course, there are positives and negatives. How the concept of self dignity and caring for others develops. The parallels one encounters with how Jesus handled Himself and how His thoughts were so different from the norm always intrigue me. Jesus’ connection with The Father was so strong. Thank you for sharing this, I will try to get back to you when I finish it and give you a summary of my thoughts. Blessings Jim, I am so grateful we are brothers in Christ.
Wow Bruce thanks for sharing all that in your comment. Didn’t know about the abuse you faced, being adopted and trials faced. I guess why I made a whole post about this was because the first 30 minutes of him sharing was so shocking and so compelling at the same time. I too wonder if he’s a Christian with his understanding of not being deserving, forgiving, praying, naming his son Christian, and just a humility that is so uncommon and a
Brutal honesty that goes against the grain of pride found in this world. By the way the guy interviewing him was the leader of the two platoon of SEALs Jonny Kim was a part of that was in Iraq at an important turning point in the war and the interviewer himself is quite famous but probably the most well known was Chris Kyle the guy they call American Sniper which was a book turn movie, I don’t know if you ever heard of him before? On a more personal note when I was in Iraq I served with a Navy Corpsmen (medic) that was friend with one of the guys they talked in the interview about who was killed and I know it was quite emotional for my friend knowing his friend and fellow Corpsmen who was killed. It’s emotional hearing these two men talk about it brief as it was and was a bit mind blowing. I’ll be sending him this video to him later today. There was so much in that video. Let me know your further thoughts. I’ll admit it I teared up listening to this.
Yes, I know who the guy was who was doing the interview and yes, I do know about Chris Kyle and I did watch the movie. It’s a whole different story when you know people who were there. I will get back to you!
[…] Christian Reflection on a Navy SEAL, Harvard doctor and Astronaut Jonny Kim […]
Thanks for this podcast! I started listening this morning and I’m going continue through the day when I can.
Awesome. I’m still blown away with what I heard in this interview, he’s just a year younger than me and man what he’s went through is rather crazy. Did you have any further stomach issues after you are the second round of surf and turf?
I’ve gotten to the 1.5 hour mark. It’s an amazing story! Wow! What a terrible environment to grow up in with his abusive father. I’m sure all of that fueled his drive. It would have broke a lot of people.
Thanks. I really watched the amount of food I consumed last night, no appetizers like Thursday, so no agita last night.
How is your day going? They’re painting a bleak picture in the media about the C-19 situation In SoCal.
That’s some intense observation and discussions in this thread
[…] Christian Reflection on a Navy SEAL, Harvard doctor and Astronaut Jonny Kim — The Domain for Truth […]
What an amazing story, praise God for our military. Thanks for sharing this SlimJim ☺️.
My nephew just joined the Navy! I appreciate the synopsis and plan on sharing with him as he is under Covid quarantine at the Great Lakes for the rest of this week! He will probably be able to watch this!
Thank you, brother!!
Thanks, Jim! Excellent thoughts. For what it’s worth, if anything, I also had some thoughts about Jocko’s interview with Jonny Kim:
http://epistleofdude.wordpress.com/2018/12/08/jonny-kim
1. Very true. A med school provides the foundation for medicine, but residency is where one learns to be a “real” doctor. In this respect, med school is general, while residency is specialized. Everyone learns the same things in med school (e.g. anatomy, physiology, pathology, microbiology, immunology) and does the same or similar rotations in med school (e.g. med school level internal medicine, general surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry). However, residency (and fellowship if one wants to subspecialize) is where one learns their chosen specialty.
2. In fact, the vast majority of places in the US won’t allow you to practice medicine unless you complete a residency.
3. Also, within medicine, there are rankings for various residency programs just as there are rankings for med schools, law schools, MBA schools, etc.
4. Most physicians will probably tell you it’s more important to go to a strong residency than a strong med school if you can only pick one. Of course, in reality the people who tend to end up at strong residencies are also the ones who tend to have come from strong med schools. So it’s not as if the two are completely unrelated. It’s like how the people who end up at a strong undergrad school will more likely tend to go on to a strong grad school. Still, if a physician can only pick one, I think most physicians would prefer to pick a strong residency than a strong med school, because residency is where you learn your specialty inside-out, which is far more relevant to your next 30+ years of medical practice than med school.
This is such an insightful comment with medical training of doctors
Thank you, Blessings.
You’re welcome. Also thank you Maw Maw for the comments! Hope your Sunday is warm, dry and cozy!
It is, Thank you.
Well I did finely listen to all of it . What a lesson for our people. He is humble and very compassionate. Every one should listen and learn. He chose to rise about a hard beginning and God has blessed him. My cousin is aformer NASA space nut and says Jonny Kim is in line for the trip to the moon in 2024. May God continue to bless him.
I hope he goes to the moon. Listening to it I wonder if he’s a Christian with his mention of the word sin, forgiving his dad, appreciation of what he’s had, his prayers, and his name of his child name Christian. I’m not tonight to lie I was moved to tears hearing it. I think I understand your comment to be that your cousin worked for NASA before?
Yes, my cousin worked on some of the first space traveling.numbers etc to a successful lift off and return. Stuff I don’t understand.
I would like to know more of Jonny’s beliefs too . There were times he seemed to want to say more but was hesitate.
What an amazing story! Thanks for sharing it!
He looks so young still
What’s up?
I found this article very interesting…please read!
Do you remember the blockbuster hit film The Matrix that was released in 1999? You may not know this, but it has deep spiritual implications concerning the times we are living in and Bible prophecy.
It tells a story of how these “agents” are trying to turn us into machines. We are closer then ever before for this to become a reality when they cause us to receive an implantable microchip in our body during a time when physical money will be no more.
You may have seen on NBC news concerning the implantable RFID microchip that some people are getting put in their hand to make purchases, but did you know this microchip matches perfectly with prophecy in the Bible?
“He (the false prophet who deceives many by his miracles) causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name…
You also may have heard of the legendary number “666” that people have been speculating for possibly thousands of years on what it actually means. This article shares something I haven’t seen before, and I don’t think there could be any better explanation for what it means to calculate 666. This is no hoax. Very fascinating stuff!
…Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666″ (Revelation 13:16-18 NKJV).
GOD is sending out His end time warning:
“Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name'” (Revelation 14:9-11).
In the Islamic religion they have man called the Mahdi who is known as their messiah of whom they are waiting to take the stage. There are many testimonies from people online who believe this man will be Barack Obama who is to be the biblical Antichrist based off dreams they have received. I myself have had strange dreams about him like no other person. So much so that I decided to share this information.
He came on stage claiming to be a Christian with no affiliation to the Muslim faith…
“In our lives, Michelle and I have been strengthened by our Christian faith. But there have been times where my faith has been questioned — by people who don’t know me — or they’ve said that I adhere to a different religion, as if that were somehow a bad thing,” – Barack Obama
…but was later revealed by his own family members that he indeed is a devout Muslim.
So what’s in the name? The meaning of someones name can say a lot about a person. God throughout history has given names to people that have a specific meaning tied to their lives. How about the name Barack Obama? Let us take a look at what may be hiding beneath the surface…
“And He (Jesus) said to them (His disciples), ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven'” (Luke 10:18).
In the Hebrew language we can uncover the meaning behind the name Barack Obama.
Barack, also transliterated as Baraq, in Hebrew is: lightning
baraq – Biblical definition:
From Strongs H1299; lightning; by analogy a gleam; concretely a flashing sword: – bright, glitter (-ing, sword), lightning. (Strongs Hebrew word H1300 baraq baw-rawk’)
Barak ‘O’bamah, The use of bamah is used to refer to the “heights” of Heaven.
bamah – Biblical definition:
From an unused root (meaning to be high); an elevation: – height, high place, wave. (Strongs Hebrew word H1116 bamah baw-maw’)
The day following the election of Barack Obama (11/04/08), the winning pick 3 lotto numbers in Illinois (Obama’s home state) for 11/5/08 were 666.
Obama was a U.S. senator for Illinois, and his zip code was 60606.
Seek Jesus while He may be found…repent, confess and forsake your sins and trust in the savior! Jesus says we must be born again by His Holy Spirit to enter the kingdom of God…God bless!