From the Pastor’s Desk (264)
Today is New Life’s 25th anniversary Sunday and the word that describes my heart is grateful. I am grateful to many people as I reflect on the past 25 years of New Life’s ministry. Seven, however, come to my mind.
First, I am thankful to God. Why is God using a person like me who is full of flaws to build His glorious church? I do not know. It is His grace.
Second, I am thankful to Deacon Suh and his wife whom I met in Boston in 1990 when I became a Baptist while studying in seminary and went a small local Korean Baptist church. They introduced me to Pastor Young G. Chai by providing me with his sermon tapes and Sunday bulletins from where I read his “From the Pastor’s Desk.” From the moment I met them until I left Boston in 1994 to come down to Seoul Baptist Church of Houston, they had been faithfully loving and supportive to me and my family.
Third, I am thankful to Pastor Chai. While in seminary, I felt a strong need to find a mentor who can guide me in this pastoral ministry. One day during my last year in seminary, I prayed to God, “God, I want to meet a mentor who can show me what it means to be a pastor and how to pastor a local church.” God heard my prayer, and after three years, He answered my prayer by bringing me down to Houston to serve under him. I worked with him for almost 20 years and it has been one of God’s greatest blessings in my life. Where would I be as a pastor had I not met him? I would be somewhere in New York City pastoring a megachurch made up of Korean-Americans and doing a traditional ministry, not experiencing the joy of seeing VIPs coming to know Christ and becoming His followers.
Fourth, I am thankful to our Korean-speaking congregation and their deacons. Many English-speaking pastors who are serving in ethnic churches, particularly in Korean immigrant churches, complain and grumble about their Korean senior pastors, elders and deacons. Instead of focusing on the mission of the church that Christ gave to His church, these church leaders often fight over and expand their energy on something that is trivial and insignificant. For example, these Korean church leaders pressure their English-speaking pastors to teach their English-speaking members to learn and speak Korean language, embrace and practice Korean culture, reach out only to the second generation Korean-Americans, marry only to Koreans, wear suit and tie on Sunday, bow their heads properly to greet their elders, and give their offerings to the Korean side and get money from them like children getting allowance from their parents. Our KSC deacons have never done that to me or New Life. Instead, they allowed us to focus on reaching the lost and making them disciples of Christ as they were doing themselves.
Fifth, I am thankful to New Life and all the shepherds. I am aware that some members of New Life gossiped about me, slandered my character behind my back, and even left the church. However, I, too, hurt and brought pain to some of you knowingly and unknowingly because I at times failed to have a big father’s heart that chooses to cover a multitude of sins and shortcomings. Yet, you trusted and stayed with me. I teach and preach that you must show up at your house church and Sunday corporate worship service unless you are dying on your deathbed, and many of you listen and follow well. Tithing is not a membership requirement. Yet, I teach that if you want to grow spiritually, or if you want to minister to our children, youth or adults handling God’s word, then you must tithe. Again, many of you do a great job of listening and obeying.
Sixth, I am thankful to my wife and my three sons. We have been married for 30 years and she has been right beside me faithfully serving the Lord and going through the joys and pains of ministry together with me. She has been my faithful friend, companion and partner in life. My sons grew up in this church when the church was very young and small. We did not have the children’s or the youth ministry back then the way we have them now. Since my wife and I needed to visit all the house churches one at a time, we could not have our own house church where my sons could experience stability. They had to follow us visiting different house churches each week. And often, they spent their time alone quietly drawing because almost all the house churches during that time were made up of singles. Someone, or some family, has to be a pioneer blazing the trail. My sons, without any choice of their own, served as pioneers together with me in building New Life.
Lastly, I am thankful to my parents and parents-in-law. They understood that good pastor’s life is not possible without self-sacrifice. They wanted me to become a good pastor. Therefore, they never pressured me to come and visit them often. They simply left us alone, but prayed for us much. I have deep regret for not spending enough time with them when they were still alive. When I go to heaven, I will spent much time with them thanking them.
Grateful! This is what my heart says on this day.
Your pastor,
Eric
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