From the Pastor’s Desk (258) Years ago, I was made aware of a New Life house church shepherd who officiated his own house church members’ wedding. When I heard of the incident, it didn’t sit well with me because something that should not have been done was done. I left it at that because it was or seemed like one isolated incident. Just recently, however, I was made aware of another incident where not a house church shepherd but a member officiated one’s own family member’s wedding. I was happy for the couple who got married but not the way the wedding ceremony was conducted. Since I am noticing this trend more frequently in our ...

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From the Pastor’s Desk (257) A member of New Life asked me if I wanted to join him and his house church members to do the Spartan Race in Austin. Thinking that I am in great shape, I confidently said, “Sure, I am in!” The race will be on Saturday, May 15. I have about 50 days to train and prepare myself for the race. This past Thursday, I ran 3.3 miles and I nearly died! What happened? In the past, I ran and finished both half and full marathon! I have also been doing T25 occasionally during the pandemic to keep me in shape. And I do it pretty well, especially compared to the rest of the staff members! J But running outside for the first ...

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From the Pastor’s Desk (256) When I wanted to convey something urgent or important to you in the past, I used to do it through your shepherds. But now, thanks to the Church Planning Center, I have all your emails in one place and can do it directly. The following content is very serious yet I felt the need to send it to you. So, please read it and listen to what the Holy Spirit will say to you through my email and obey Him accordingly.  Yesterday morning, I read 1 Chronicles 11-16. 1 Chronicles is not one of those books of the Bible that I look forward to reading, especially the beginning part where it lists the ...

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From the Pastor’s Desk (255) (Email version via church app) It's so good to be able to send this email to all the members of New Life all at once! I thank our team leaders who got this church app so that through it we can give our tithes and offerings, register for classes and other events and also send emails like this without having to type all the email addresses or relying on the shepherds to forward my email to all of you. First of all, I praise God for containing COVID-19 from spreading in our midst. We still need to be careful but everyone who tested positive either fully recovered or are recovering well. Let's continue to ...

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From the Pastor’s Desk (254) I had a very encouraging and informative meeting on Friday with two members of New Life who have been in legal and real estate profession for many years. They approached me to share and discuss about our possible plan to relocate the church to a more strategic and central location. They started out by saying that they trust me as their pastor. They don’t want to trust me just in small matters because trusting me in small matters that they feel comfortable about doing is not trusting at all. Rather, they felt they are truly trusting in me when they are presented with something big that they feel uneasy about ...

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From the Pastor’s Desk (253) Thoughts and ideas come to my mind from time to time regarding New Life. Some ideas, I quickly forget and don’t remember. Some ideas, I remember and share with the shepherds or the team leaders, and they get implemented. Some ideas, I remember and share with them but don’t get positively received and therefore, don’t get implemented. Many of these ideas that don’t get implemented, I let go and move on. But a few of them stay deep in my heart and do not go away. And I have a hunch that they are indeed from God but perhaps we as a church are not ready or prepared to receive them yet. One of these thoughts ...

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From the Pastor’s Desk (252) As you know, I preached last Sunday about the difference between the little children and the rich young man. I will finish the message this Sunday with Part 2. The key difference between the two groups of people is trusting in God. The little children trust in God (and in Jesus) but the rich young man and those who are like him trust not in God but in something else. In the rich young man's case, it was his money. It's a trust issue.  And if we truly trust in God (and so in Jesus and his words), then sooner or later, obedient action will follow. Often people get confused between faith and works and they ...

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