After many years, I feel that I've finally reached a point where I truly love God. Just whispering "Father" brings me to tears and makes my heart flutter. I feel that it wouldn't be exaggeration at all if all the beautiful words in the world in their most superlative forms were applied to God. I am amazed at my own feelings. I'm cautious by nature and have rarely trusted anyone with abandon like this. I'm also a passive person and it's unnatural for me to love someone as passionately as this. But I am happy. My trust and love for God did not grow overnight. It was a long process. It began when I truly came to believe that I was justified through ...

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One of our church members was having nightmares every night. She frequently woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. She came forward for prayer during Sunday worship, but it did not help. But when she stopped to think about when her nightmares began, she realized that they started right after she accompanied a friend (at her urging) to see a well-known Korean fortuneteller. Seeing the source of her problem, she confessed to God her sin of seeing the fortuneteller. That same night, she was freed from her nightmares. Let me share another story. One time, when I was serving at a church in San Jose, a mother brought her daughter to me, ...

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We just completed the 78th House Church Seminar For Shepherds. We will hold the 100th session later this year. At first, we only had a seminar for pastors. But pastors started to see a need for a seminar geared towards laypeople, because converting traditional churches to house churches is not possible unless pastors and lay leaders own the same dream. So pastors turned to us for help. At that time, we offered the House Church Seminar For Pastors twice a year. Having another house church seminar and providing room and board for participants would have been too great a burden for our church members. So we decided to have a seminar for lay leaders at ...

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When I am out of town, it feels a little awkward to write about personal matters or church affairs. So I'll be writing about the house church for the next few weeks. Today I will share how the House Church Seminar for Pastors started. I did not start the house church with a grand vision. I received Christ in my thirties by reading the Bible. The Bible has been the most important guide in my life. When I became a Christian, I tried to live by the Bible. When I became a pastor, I tried to build a church based on Biblical principles. I had been bothered by the fact that most traditional churches did not follow Biblical principles in their ministries and ...

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There has been rapid increase in the number of Christians in China. This started in early 80s. Before then, churches in China were underground house churches, and their members were old, having become Christians through Western missionaries before they were expelled by the Communist government. Young people became Christians through these underground house churches and started witnessing actively. As a result, the Gospel spread far and wide and house churches sprang up in many places. Some house churches became so large that their membership grew to 100 or 200. The leaders of these house church movements were uneducated rural laypeople. As the ...

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I write my Pastor's Corners in advance. When I get an idea, I write a Corner based on it, and each week I choose one from the set of Corners I have written. I currently have 40 Corners written. The following is one of the oldest ones. The events described occurred a long time ago but the message is still relevant. Someone recently posted an interview with Jin Soo Lee that appeared in a Korean journal. He served as a Shepherd at our church before he went to Korea to become the hospital director of the Korean National Cancer Research Center. The interviewer marveled at his decision to leave M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, arguably the best cancer ...

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As the House Church movement spreads, I can't avoid traveling frequently and for long periods of time. It's become my custom to take two weeks-long trips in the spring and fall. I think this is better than taking several short trips. I am able to take these long trips because Pastor Lee can take my place when I am absent. He is so good in filling my shoes that our members don't feel any difference when I am home or away. In fact, some young members enjoy Pastor Lee's sermons so much so that they look forward to when I am gone. This is a critical time for the House Church movement. It's become an important issue for some denominations in Korea. ...

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