House Church ministry is based on service. Jesus said that he came not to be served but to serve. He also said that whoever wants to be first must be a servant of all. Churches became weak when the leaders they select are willing to manage but not to serve. One mission of the House Church is to restore servant leadership. Authority comes from sacrificial service. A diminutive mother can make her huge football-playing son obey her because she has authority that comes from many years of sacrificial caretaking. In our church, some Shepherds are younger, less educated, and make less money than their House Church members, but they are respected and obeyed ...

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As I wrote on our church website, I'm still excited about what happened in Japan at the first House Church Seminar For Japanese-Speaking Pastors. I think that the seminar will be remembered as a watershed event in Japanese Christian history. Japan has the highest missionary-to-population ratio in the world, but shows the least fruit. It's unbelievable to me that the percentage of Christians is around 1% (and only half of them Evangelical) in a country where religious freedom is guaranteed. The average number of members in a Japanese church is only 32. Pastor Nam-Soo Cho, who pastors a Japanese church at Kawasaki, a suburb of Tokyo, translated my ...

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The third worship service on Sundays will be moved from 7:30 PM to 2:30 PM in November. When we started the third worship, we had two purposes in mind. First, we wanted to let young people take charge of worship and lead them according to their own tastes. Second, we wanted to provide a time for people who need to open their businesses at flea markets on weekends to worship, since they had to open their shops on Sunday mornings and couldn't attend our morning worship services. The first reason was the main impetus for the third worship service, but the second reason was also important to us. I dress more casually for the third service to help small ...

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We recently had the rare experience of being in the path of a major hurricane. We also had the rare experience of having Sunday worship service in the dark, due to the power failures - just like the first century Christians who worshiped in dark catacombs - and me preaching without a microphone. I will never forget the love and care our church members showed us after the hurricane. One brought a portable burner for us to cook with, and many brought food they bought or prepared at home. The morning after the hurricane, a deacon and his wife came and removed large tree branches and debris that had fallen on our lawn before taking care of their own ...

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Our church webpage has steadily grown in popularity. It is now common for a post on the site to get more than 1,000 views - quite a contrast from when we launched it and 100 views was considered a lot. The posts are friendly and moving, which is rare. Many churches close their discussion boards or limit posts to registered users because too many people leave nasty and negative comments under false names. Our website does receive derogatory or accusatory posts. However, they are deleted, according to our policy that requires posters to submit their real names. People say irresponsible things under false names because they feel that they can get away ...

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I'm living a life I never dreamed I would. And I'm being used by God far beyond my capabilities. The Apostle Paul said that God's power is made perfect in human weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). I am a living example of this truth. God has placed me in situations where my weaknesses become strengths and my shortcomings virtues. For example, I don't react quickly to sudden changes in situation. When I saw "Saving Private Ryan", in which Tom Hanks portrays a platoon leader, I thought that I would be a terrible one, because I can't react quickly to rapidly changing circumstances. But God turned this shortcoming into strength by making me someone who prepares in ...

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I started the New Life Bible study as a layman at the church I attended 30 years ago, at the request of my pastor. It was very from the beginning popular. Which puzzled me, because the class dealt with very common subjects of Christianity that ordinary Christians should already know. When we were planning the first House Church Seminar for Pastors, our Children's Pastor Seo suggested that the New Life Bible study be included in the curriculum, because the spirit of the house church, which includes servant leadership, is the most important aspect of the house church, and the New Life Bible study teaches that. Without understanding the spirit of it, ...

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