I watched a movie a while ago about teenagers in a Christian Academy. It received poor reviews, but as a Christian pastor I felt compelled to rent it. As I expected, the Christians in the movie are depicted as narrow-minded and cruel, while other characters, such as delinquent students and homosexuals, are painted as understanding and warm-hearted. In one scene, a Christian girl's car crashes into a tree. The girl thanks God for not getting injured. Her non-Christian friend sneers: "If there is a God, why didn't He prevent the accident in the first place?" Non-Christians frequently say things like this when bad things happen to Christians. In fact, ...

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I've been asked why we haven't hired a choir director. The main reason is because our pianist Eun-Mi Kim leads the choir well and I don't see a real need. Many visitors compliment our choir. They seem to be moved by the short and sincere testimony given by a choir member before they perform, their happy smiles, and their heart-felt singing. Many churches disband their choir after converting from traditional churches to house churches. House churches take the Great Commission seriously and make "reaching non-believers and making them Jesus' disciples" their primary goal in ministry. In order to do that, church members must invite and worship with ...

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I have four grandchildren. One granddaughter is through my son, Danny, who lives in California (and is expecting another baby), and I have one granddaughter and two grandsons through my daughter, Christine, who lives in Houston. All grandchildren are dear to me, but Ellie is special simply because she was my first grandchild. She also does things to make herself special to me. When I come back from a long trip, she embraces me with her short arms and says, "I missed you, Grandpa." When we eat together, she says, "I want to sit next to Grandpa." She says things that make a grandparent's heart melt. Since her mom got her a children's Bible, Ellie and ...

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A pastor recently posted a video by a Christian journalist about the "candle demonstrations" that are taking place en masse in Korea right now. They are protesting the FTA agreement between Korea and the U.S. that they claim allows the importation of beef from cows infected with Mad Cow Disease. In his talk, the journalist argues that there is practically no chance of being infected with the disease by eating imported beef, and contends that the demonstrations are orchestrated by North Korean sympathizers whose aim is to topple the new right-wing government by creating chaos. I don't necessarily agree with his conclusions but the facts he presents ...

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I read an alarming report about Christian youth: according to a survey of college students by a Christian research group, 70% - 88% of college students who regularly attended church at home stop going to church during the 4 years they are in college. To help our children continue as strong Christians in college, we must train them properly before they go. This training must start early and the entire children's department - including toddlers, preschoolers, elementary students, and teen-agers - must have a unified goal and consistent programs. Their education must be such that even when the leaders change, the goal of the education does not. In ...

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"People are saying bad things about our church," said a Shepherd of the house church for singles. He went on to say that it is a struggle to invite non-believing students who recently came to Houston to house church meetings, because they have heard so many bad things about us. And the sources of these rumors are people who used to attend our church but left for other churches in the area. I had a similar experience myself. Several years ago, I invited pastors in the Houston area who attended the House Church Seminar for Pastors to dinner, to test the possibility of having regular pastors meetings. It was a very candid evening. I learned that some ...

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I just came back home after a 6-week-long trip. I visited Korea, China, Canada and cities around the U.S, speaking at seminars, conferences, and revivals. It was very tiring but fruitful. Here is a short report for those who prayed for my trip. The first house church seminar for pastors in China will be held next year. It will use the same format and the same lectures as the seminars in the U.S, except in Chinese. We've so far offered seminars in the U.S. and Korea. Now it's spreading to the rest of the world. One will be held in Japan this year and another in China the year after. The title of "Regional Director" for the house church was changed to ...

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