Everybody know how many sacrifices Shepherds and their spouses make, in terms of time and money. Some new members think that their expenses are reimbursed by the church. Of course, this is not true. The only benefit they get from our church is an expenses-paid annual retreat for Shepherds and their spouses. We used to have this retreat at a denominational retreat center. The primary purpose of the retreat was training, but we encouraged Shepherds to bring their families and let them have some time together. The retreats had been in other cities and required a long drive. So last year, we moved the annual retreat to the Sheraton Hotel in Houston. ...

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Jesus said that whoever wants to be first must be a slave. To me, a slave is someone who helps others succeed. As a pastor, I am a slave to our Shepherds and their spouses. My goal in ministry is to help them receive more rewards than me when we go to heaven. When I correct or scold them, it's because I want them to succeed in their ministries and in life. As President of House Church Ministries, International, I am a slave to other house church pastors. So I have made it my goal to help them succeed in converting their traditional churches to house churches. When I see pastors with leadership qualities, I give them opportunities to exercise their ...

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The other day I watched a special report on the paparazzi. The paparazzi take pictures or videos of celebrities to sell to magazines or TV stations, employing every means possible, including using long range telescopes to capture celebrities' secret moments. They have no problems intruding on their privacy because their pictures and videos can fetch tens of thousands of dollars. Naturally, the stalked celebrities get upset and sometimes angry. But the paparazzi aren't even bothered by that; pictures of angry celebrities bring in more money. In one scene, a female celeb asked - almost begged - the paparazzi camped on the front lawn of her house to ...

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Today's corner may hurt some people but I feel compelled to write it. As you know, it's our policy to not allow people from other area churches to become members of our church, even if they are not yet believers. I won't rehash all the reasons for this policy, but let me mention just one: we don't want to hurt other area churches. Some churches in the U.S. and Korea grow by leaps and bounds, their memberships increasing by hundreds or thousands a year. But most of their new members come from smaller churches in the area. Behind the success stories, there are many pastors who are discouraged by their church members moving to these large churches. ...

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I once heard an elderly pastor say that pastors can reuse their sermons after 7 years after because people forget them after that time. I can't do that because our church's members have long memories. Some surprise me by quoting sermons I gave more than 10 years ago. Many of them remember my sermon illustrations for even longer than that. So I have the burden of preparing a fresh new sermon every week. I don't particularly enjoy preaching; it's not one of my spiritual gifts. I would rather listen than speak. I know some preachers who can speak for 3 or 4 hours and hardly wait for the next opportunity to preach. I envy them. Although I neither have ...

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When new church members talk about their first impression of me, they describe me as being like a "farmer" (meaning that I'm not very polished), "musically deficient" (meaning I don't have a good singing voice), etc. I know they mean this as a joke, so it doesn't bother me. But when people say that I'm "cold" or "indifferent", it does. Several years ago, a member of our church posted a letter on our church website that begins, "You look so warm and kind on the pulpit, Pastor Chai. But when I see you in the foyer, you look like someone who is determined to not smile. It bothered so much so that I decided to write this open letter, even though it took ...

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I have never missed a Sunday preaching assignment since I came to Seoul Baptist except once, three years ago after an appendectomy. Even then, I wanted to preach on Sunday after having the surgery on Thursday, but my doctor forbade it. I did preach the following Sunday, sitting on chair. I feel strongly that people must keep their commitments and promises. I think I got this conviction from my late grandfather, who is enshrined in the Hall of Korean Martyrs for being arrested and killed for his faith by North Koreans during the Korean War. I was too young to remember him personally, but I heard many anecdotes about him. Obviously, he was a man of his ...

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