My youngest son, Josiah, graduated from high school last Sunday. I don't know why schools have graduation ceremonies on Sundays these days or when this all started. For some reason, it doesn't sit well with me. Last Sunday was Pulpit Exchange Sunday with our Korean speaking congregation. They have three worship services. The third one begins at 2:30pm and ends at about 4:15pm. So, I was able to make it to the graduation after preaching three times since it began at 7pm. Once again, I didn't get to sit in one of those seats where the family members of the top ten students sit. smile emoticon Now, I will never know what it will feel like to sit ...

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Just recently I received four support letters from college students who are not members of New Life.  They are all planning to go on a mission trip this summer and they each needed to raise at least $3,000 if not more for their trip.  This is a lot of money. As I was making online contributions for them, various thoughts came to mind in regards to church and missions.  Why are they asking for money to go on a mission trip?  Why is it that their church is not taking care of them?  What will they learn and gain from participating in these mission trips? Many churches don't have a robust mission strategy and program because they are either too ...

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New Life has come to a point where we can't just think about our own well-being. There are several churches that are looking to us for direction and guidance. And this is especially true among those churches whose pastors attended house church seminar and are committed to do house church ministry. In light of this, I would like to ask you to make Sunday corporate worship non-negotiable. When you are on vacation with your family, it is perfectly fine to worship at another church if you are outside of Houston. And if you are camping with your family in a remote place during your vacation, then it is more than fine to worship as a family enjoying the ...

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We have some members who are alcoholics. Some struggle a lot with alcohol and lose the battle repeatedly. Some, on the other hand, struggle but are making a courageous decision to stay sober each and every day as they rely on the power of the Holy Spirit through prayer and others holding them accountable. It is a beautiful thing! Due to the fact that we have members who are fighting against alcoholism, my stance on social drinking has been very firm especially for those who are serving in a leadership capacity: no drinking in public period! However, as I watched and observed New Life members over the years especially at wedding receptions taking ...

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We have many medical school students here at New Life. After four years of studying, they all have to apply and get matched to a residency program to get more practical training to become a full-fledged doctor. Some will stay in Houston but some will leave to go to other places for their residency. This past week, I heard from two members that they got matched to places in California. One is a shepherd and the other one is a core member in our Missions Team. A great loss for Texas but a great gain for California! From God's perspective, however, this could turn out to be a great thing if these two things are true: one, our medical school students ...

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In the Bible, we see pastors devoting themselves to God's word, prayer, equipping God's people and providing leadership to church. Therefore, prayer is one of my main responsibilities and I try to take it seriously. It also is one of my great joys in pastoral ministry. I routinely work about 60 hours a week and prayer takes up about 15-20% of my work hours. The rest is approximately divided up 35%, 30% and 15% in the order of God's word, equipping God's people and providing leadership to church. I use various things to pray for you. Using the prayer request form that I give out to you at the end of each year and collect in January, I pray for ...

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I subscribe to this quarterly journal called "Leadership Journal." In this issue, they are dealing with the topic of "Declutter." Bill Hybels was interviewed by two editors and they addressed the issue of simplifying your life to do all that God has called you to do. They also included an excerpt/story from the book Hybels recently wrote called "Simplify." I made copies of this and put one in each of our team leaders' mailboxes because I wanted them to read it with their wives. In this short story, Hybels talks about how he had decided to stay home four nights a week when his children were very young because of the question his daughter asked him ...

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