I just came back from the House Church Conference for Pastors sponsored by Mannam Church in Southern California. It was the 49th House Church conference. We also just finished the 87th House Church Seminar for Pastors and the 219th Seminar for lay people. It all started when we decided to offer a seminar on the House Church in October 1996. We never expected to start a movement. I didn't start the House Church with a grand dream of renewing today's churches or restoring the New Testament church. I was simply discouraged by the sad state that many churches were in. Most Korean churches seemed to have deviated in practice from those in the Bible. I was ...

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During the New Life Bible class, I mentioned that I suffered from an inferiority complex until my mid-forties. Someone in the class sent me an email saying that she had the same problem and wanted to know how I overcame mine. The following is a part of my response: Attacking your inferiority complex directly doesn't work. No matter how hard you try to convince yourself that you aren't inferior, the small voice that says you're inferior doesn't go away. An inferiority complex comes from comparing ourselves with others. So to overcome our inferiority complex, we should stop comparing ourselves with others. To do that, we must learn to see ourselves and ...

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People today don't like to be told what they ought to do because we live in a pluralistic society. People have this idea that everyone is right and no one is wrong, so it's all right for people to have their own convictions but they shouldn't impose them on other people. The basic assumption behind this idea is that there is no absolute truth. But this assumption is illogical and self-contradictory. If we take that belief as truth, there is no reason to take that belief seriously because the belief itself may just be an opinion. Taking something illogical as truth seems to be the sign of the times. Instant messaging and texting seem to encourage ...

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There are ongoing arguments concerning the creation of the universe between those who believe in God and those who don't. These arguments occur even between Christians. One camp tends to fit scientific data to their interpretation of the creation passages in Genesis. These people believe that the earth and every living thing on it were created in six literal days, and that the earth is a few thousand years old. The other side tends to trust current scientific theories of creation more than the Bible; they treat the creation passages in Genesis as mere myths or legends. They believe in a god who is the first cause of the existence of the universe but ...

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I received an anonymous email from someone whom I'm guessing was a member of a house church in Korea. He criticized his pastor for implementing the house church not because he wanted to save souls, but because he wanted his church to grow. He also complained that his pastor pushed his church members to evangelize even though they were not yet ready. I'm posting my reply here because my answer may be helpful to some of our church members. "You accuse your pastor of implementing the house church not because he truly desires the restoration of the New Testament church but because he simply wants to grow his church, that the latter is his primary motive. ...

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In many U.S. states, gay marriage is now legal. The general perception is that people who support the legalization of gay marriage are caring and accepting and those who oppose it are unloving and prejudiced. Many people think that Christians are unloving and prejudiced because they belong to the latter group. Christians themselves are responsible for this negative view of Christians. Many times throughout history, contrary to Jesus' teaching, they didn't fight for the oppressed but sided with the oppressors. Many Christians used the Bible to defend slavery. Many opposed womens' rights arguing that it's against Scripture. Because of this, many people ...

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I led a seminar at Raynes Park Korean Church in London last week for pastors and missionaries ministering in Europe. 150 pastors, missionaries, and their spouses attended, some coming from as far as Africa and the Middle East. The topic of the seminar was the House Church. I had read that churches in Europe are declining but didn't realize the seriousness of the problem until this trip. The major historically Christian European nations - Germany, France, Netherlands, and United Kingdom - are no longer Christian. According to a recent poll, only 5% of British people attend Sunday services more than once a month. One English pastor who was knowledgable ...

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