From the Pastor’s Desk (291) July 11, 2025 To Pastor Jaewon Kang and the Building Committee of Portland Onnuri Evangelical Holiness Church, Grace and peace of God be abundantly upon your beloved church. We give thanks to God that the building project of Onnuri Church is now entering its final stages. We are also deeply grateful for the many church members who have faithfully and sacrificially participated in this process thus far. We understand that throughout the course of the construction, there have been various difficulties—such as delays caused by the unexpected COVID pandemic and the increase in material costs. We also ...

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From the Pastor’s Desk (290) I get the sense that some shepherds believe they are doing a good job as long as their members consistently attend house church meetings on Friday evenings and form a closely knit community. Because of this, they don't seem overly concerned when their members neglect Sunday corporate worship or weekday Bible studies. However, the truth is this: unless all three axes—weekly house church, weekday Bible studies, and Sunday corporate worship—are fully embraced and practiced, people will not grow in a holistic way: emotionally, intellectually, and volitionally, as God intended. Even if a person is fully commit...

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From the Pastor’s Desk (289) Lynette and I visited Japan, Korea, and Taiwan from Tuesday, May 13 to Thursday, May 29—a total of 17 days. This was the longest time I’ve been away from church, except for two occasions: when my family and I took a vision trip to Southeast Asia, and when I took my first sabbatical in 2019. We spent five days in Japan with my son Enoch, seven days in Korea—three of those in Seoul and four on Soan Island—and four days in Taiwan. Every portion of the trip was different but special. In Japan, we were able to spend some quality time with Enoch. He is planning to wrap up his teaching career by the end of ...

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From the Pastor’s Desk (287) We will have only one worship service at 9 AM on Sunday, May 4. This is to support our KSC, who will be using our sanctuary as an overflow space for their 11 AM worship service that day. Before 2021, KSC had over 1,000 people attending their Sunday services. However, due to COVID-19 and other challenges they faced, their attendance dropped to around 750–800. As a result, their morale over the past four years hasn’t been very high. However, KSC is making a concerted effort to reach out to their VIPs and grow their church again—not through transfer growth, but through conversion growth. To help accomplish ...

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From the Pastor’s Desk (286) One of the unhealthy tendencies athletes display as they start to improve and become good is neglecting the basics that got them to where they are. That’s why a good coach will emphasize and drill the fundamentals into their players over and over again. New Life has become a healthy and solid church because we have humbly and diligently partnered with God over the years. Therefore, I, as your spiritual coach and pastor, would like to do the same. First, make Sunday corporate worship a priority before serving in ministries. I’ve noticed that some of you come to church on Sunday only to serve in a ministry, ...

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From the Pastor’s Desk (285) I write articles like this in the Facebook Pastors’ Group to inform, encourage, and challenge its members. “Many of you in this group know that I do house church ministry. I have been doing it for more than 25 years. Unchurched unbelievers, whom we call VIPs, are reached through our house churches. Instead of inviting VIPs to our Sunday worship first, our house churches welcome them into their gatherings, where they witness and experience Christ’s love and the power of prayer through the members. Eventually, our house church members encourage and invite their VIPs to Sunday worship and to RJM (Receiv...

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