I have an "Urgent Prayer List" that includes the names of people who are in emergency situations and need immediate, focused prayer. These days, this list is filled with people who recently lost their jobs. When I hear of church members losing their jobs, my heart aches because I understand the sense of shame people feel when they are laid off, and the uncertainty and fear they have until they find a new job. I understand because I was once out of a job myself. My first child Danny was due to be born around the time I was to graduate from my PhD program. I had planned to stay at the university as a post-doc for an additional year because I felt that ...

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I was shocked when I heard that former South Korean President Roh committed suicide. Most Koreans in their 60s have negative opinions of him, but I liked him. I defended him in the past, writing that "he has advanced democracy in South Korea by making national and local elections free of government interference." "His open government policies dramatically reduced government corruption." "His common folk attitude helped reduce authoritarianism among high government officials." "He destroyed instead of building during his tenure, but that was a necessary step for South Korea to modernize and become a world economic power." "Future historians will judge ...

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Some of our church members who were not able to go on foreign mission trips because of their visa statuses started a Native American mission trip last year. Many young people who didn't have enough time or money for an overseas trip also got involved. On Sunday, this year's mission team gave a special music presentation during the worship services. About 40 young people and some mothers (who are accompanying them to cook for the team) sang on stage. Their presentation moved me to tears. A missionary who has long been involved in Native American missions recently sent me a newsletter that examined two Native American missions efforts, one a failure, ...

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The only exercise I get consists of three 30-minute walks each week on a treadmill a church member installed in my office. Walking for 30 minutes is boring and I made various excuses for skipping it. But after Pastor Lee bought a DVD player for me, and his wife started renting Korean dramas for me to watch while I exercise, I rarely skip it because I'm so anxious to see what comes next in the drama. I'm currently watching "Beethoven Virus", a drama that got high ratings in Korea. It's about musicians who lead ordinary lives as policemen, housewives, grandfathers, and college students who form an orchestra under a world class conductor. Because the ...

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The 5th House Church Conference for Shepherds will be held in July at the Sheraton Hotel. We're able to host this conference at the luxurious Sheraton because its owner, Brother Kyu-Sik Cho, gave us a deep discount. He is not a member of our church, but he is an enthusiastic supporter of the house church. I feel a little uneasy writing about a specific person in a Pastor's Corner but I'm going to write about him anyway. His primary business is a janitorial company, of which he's the president. He started it 20 years ago in New Orleans, where his first customer was a local Hyatt. The manager was so satisfied with his service that he recommended him to ...

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The entire world is in recession. It started in the U.S. as the result of greedy people ignoring huge risks and has spread all over the world. I think that this crisis might be a preview of what will happen when the end time comes. Human history will eventually come to an end. We humans don't know when and how the end will come. But God, the main actor in human history, foretold through His prophets what will happen in the end times. There are many different interpretations of the Biblical passages concerning the end times. Let me describe what I think is the most likely scenario: Some sort of disaster shakes the stability of the entire world. ...

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Let me share the current status of the house church movement for those who prayed for me during my one-month trip, especially the 333 Prayer partners. The House Church is spreading from the U.S. to Korea on to other countries. The number of missionaries attending house church seminars has increased dramatically. During my trip, I gave a special talk on the House Church to Korean Baptist missionaries. Their response was enthusiastic. Leaders of the Korean Baptist mission organizations said that they would seriously consider having future missionaries attend house church seminars for pastors and participate in intern programs before they are sent to ...

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