Some of congregation think that it is better for deacons who say the prayer during Sunday worship to speak without written notes. Maybe because of this, I also noticed some offered prayers without notes. I believe this is because of the congregation’s expectation that deacons of our church should be able to say a 3-minute prayer without notes and that is why they made such a request. However, my thought is different. Since the basis of prayer is a conversation with God, anything can be said. Therefore, remembering our Father is with us, using our daily language without any pretense to report all the details of our lives tends to help deepen our ...

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How I perceive myself unknowingly is called self-consciousness.  This self-consciousness has a strong influence in our lives.  For example, if someone considers himself a lovable person, it is easy for him to relate to others, to have self-confidence and to be positive toward others or their words.  However, anyone who does not have a positive self-view, tends to hear other’s words in a distorted way and could think it is about him when it is about something else. One well known theory about self-consciousness is called ‘Johari Window’.   This theory claims that there are four areas in everybody’s self.   One is an open area which is ...

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Last week, someone left a letter in my church mail box.  Often, anonymous letter causes some heartache, so I opened it reluctantly.  Inside, there was a handwritten letter.  It went as follows. Dear Pastor, I am a member of xxxx church in Houston.  I was compelled to let you know of someone who is very dear to me.  She attends Houston Seoul Church and I work in her store 4 days a week. According to her, she does not read the Bible and she seldom prays, but she fears God and she knows what it is to have reverence of God.  She is also filled with the joy of God. She has a tight cash flow and she works from 5 in the morning, but she ...

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Recently, I visited a repair shop to receive service on certain item. I knew the owner well and the product was serviced not too long ago, so I knew that it was a simple procedure. When the job was done, the owner said, “I spent lots of time and energy to work on yours especially because you are a pastor.” On his exaggeration, I replied that he became quite voluble since he had become a business owner. He answered, “This is unavoidable in dealing with Koreans.” Then, he told me the followings with all seriousness. According to him, it is more difficult to deal with one Korean than dealing with 10 Americans. Koreans tend to argue about petty ...

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Someone asked this question during Living Life Bible Study. “My parents recently received Jesus and were baptized. When they moved furniture, they followed the rules of feng shui. They said that feng shui was accepted as a branch of science and awards a Ph D…” It is natural for older generations who have been accustomed to the traditional belief system of Korea to be drawn to such a theory. In fact, my mother was saved in her advanced age, she often mentioned her horoscope and I had to correct her each time. It has been more than 10 years since she was saved and she attends church regularly and reads the bible diligently. I am pleased to ...

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When my wife and I came to America and joined the house church, we were in our thirties.  At that time, my shepherd's wife was in her fiftieth and my wife saw something which was difficult for her to understand.  Even during house church, the temperature was comfortable, but then she complained that it was too hot and lowered A/C to a freezing point. Then in another moment, she said it was too cold.  My wife could not understand such behavior. On top of that, Mrs. Shepherd who used to be kind toward us as a new young family would suddenly become cross and difficult so my wife thought, 'Oh, no, I did not know she was such a person!  She is very ...

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As I wrote before, we gave much thought to the successor of Pastor Sam Oh since he was leaving. It is not easy to find the right candidate. Especially, due to the unique dimension of sharing with English speaking congregation, our youth ministry has its challenges which in turn demands special qualifications for the ministry worker. First, the person has to be bilingual. This is important not only to communicate with parents but also to deal with many VIPs who are coming from Korea. Second, the person should know about house church. Since both congregations are involved with house church ministry and as a continuation the minister of youth should ...

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