From the Pastor’s Desk (305) My wife’s birthday is on September 1st. She turned 63 this year. We were married in March of 1992, so we have been married for over 34 years now. I grew up in New York, and my wife grew up in Southern California. But for the past 32 years, we have been living and serving in ministry here in Houston. Because of that distance, we had to raise our three children without any outside help. My wife majored in Computer Science at UCLA and worked for a company called McDonnell Douglas for several years. Thanks to the money she saved during those working years, we were able to make the down payment on a $105,000 house ...

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From the Pastor’s Desk (304) New Life provides all pastoral staff with a sabbatical every five years. My last sabbatical—which was the first one I took after serving at Seoul Baptist Church and New Life Fellowship since December 1994—took place from July to December 2019. That means I took my first sabbatical after 25 years of ministry, and it has now been six and a half years since that time. As many of you know, I applied for and received the Lilly Clergy Renewal Program Grant, which means I am not using any of the church’s budget for my sabbatical this time. The theme for this grant program is “What will make your heart sing?” ...

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From the Pastor’s Desk (302) (This is a letter I wrote to all the participants of the House Church Pastors Conference on Friday night.) “Whenever I traveled to lead a revival meeting or attend a conference, I used to head straight home like clockwork as soon as the schedule ended. The reason was simple: I couldn’t justify staying an extra day or two for sightseeing after the work was done, and I always had duties waiting for me starting Monday. In addition, when attending non-House Church conferences where accommodations were not pre-arranged by the hosting churches, I intentionally chose budget hotels to steward the church’s finances ...

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From the Pastor’s Desk (300) Choosing a gift that truly brings joy to another person’s heart is no easy task. To do so, we must know what that person desires and what brings delight to the depths of their heart. Yet we cannot fully know one another’s hearts. That is why, at times, cash becomes the safest gift—it allows the recipient to choose what they truly want. But God is different. He knows us better than we know ourselves, and He understands even our weaknesses, longings, and needs that we cannot fully express in words. Therefore, God prepared for us the most precious and perfect gift. That gift is Jesus Christ. Long ago, ...

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From the Pastor’s Desk (298) We just completed our Fall Retreat with about 800 adults, college and youth students, and children attending at Camp Allen, which is probably the most beautiful retreat center in Texas. Everything went so smoothly, and everyone was blessed in so many ways. This is what happens when Christ’s church functions the way it was intended, according to the Bible—with everyone doing his or her part joyfully, gratefully, and skillfully in response to the grace shown to us through Christ and His finished work on the cross. When everyone contributes, ministry becomes easy, and no one gets burned out. Pastor David Larry ...

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