By the time you read this, I will have left from IAH on my way to Sydney, Australia, arriving there on Monday morning. It is a little more than a 20-hour flight including a two-hour layover in LA. I am going there because Pastor Isaac Min, who attended our House Church Seminar for Pastors two years ago, asked me to come and speak at a joint retreat that he is part of. In fact, he had asked me if I could come and speak in the beginning of 2014, but I couldn't go because of the multiple eye surgeries I had in 2013 as well as the process of recovering. Pastor Isaac has been persistent in approaching me about coming to speak at this retreat. So ...
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Several thoughts and ideas were shared during the last Village Leaders' Meeting. And we sensed that it would be great to make some changes in our house church ministry to reflect what was shared. These are the changes we will make starting from January 2015.
House church shepherds' meetings
As of now, our shepherds meet every Wednesday from 7:15 to 9PM except on the first Wednesday when we have House of Prayer and on the last Wednesday of even months when shepherds' wives meet with my wife for a time of sharing, encouragement and prayer. Beginning next year, however, shepherds will meet monthly on the third Wednesday of every month, from 7 ...
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People think they will be happy if they take and possess stuff. But Jesus teaches the opposite. He said, "It's more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20: 35) We experienced it once again this past Friday when we gave and served the community through Fall Festival.
As I was working in my office on Friday afternoon, I could hear the New Life members outside who had come early to set up for Fall Festival. When I left my office at about 6:15pm and went to the church parking lot, everything was pretty much ready to host the community. I saw the entire church coming together to serve the community with love and joy. It was a beautiful ...
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Tears came down as I was praying for the 32 participants who will be coming to this year's House Church Seminar for Lay Leaders. They are coming from 13 different churches from the states of Washington, California, Illinois, New York, Tennessee and Texas and the countries of Canada and Brazil. Praying for them brought different memories and thoughts to my mind.
I remembered how I used to go to church conferences in the earlier years of New Life. And if I thought that a conference was good, then I would take New Life leaders with me later so we could learn from other churches. My one and only desire was to help New Life become a biblically healthy ...
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In the past two years, I have been given a senior citizen’s discount on coffee at McDonald's – on three different occasions. Just a few weeks ago, I pulled my hamstring while running a little faster than usual. Recently, while dining at a sushi restaurant with some New Life members, I asked a waitress how old I looked. She said that I looked about 55 years old. I couldn't believe what she said. When I asked her the same question again, she said that I looked between 50 and 60 years old. She wouldn't go below 50 years in guessing my age.
The truth is I am 50 years old, my body is breaking down and I guess I look old. Okay, I do ...
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I participated in the bi-annual House Church Conference for Pastors in Louisville, KY from Monday to Thursday this past week. There were about 130 pastors, pastors' wives and a few missionaries. This was my sixth conference and the highlight of the conference for me was hearing the five speakers presenting their case studies about house church ministry in their church context. The sharing is always filled with joys and pains, successes and struggles, discouraging setbacks and encouraging changes which cause all the participants to laugh and shed tears at the same time. When the speakers end their presentations all the participants give ...
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Everyone knows "Extreme Makeover." It's about a rich person helping a poor family that is going through a very tough time by building them an extremely fancy house. The show was quite sensational because there were tear jerking stories, exciting demolitions, fun-filled vacations and thrilling surprises in the end. However, I have always wondered how those families with their brand new homes are doing after three, five or ten years. Assuming that the houses are completely paid for, are the families able to pay their taxes and utilities, which must have gone up significantly due to the increase in value and size of their homes? Are their ...
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