Someone shared with me his experience at a recent event. Many of our church members were in attendance. When one of the programs ended, the church members stood up and exited as a group, even though the event had not yet finished. He was concerned that such behavior might give an outsider a negative impression of our church. Our church's goal for ministry is to reach non-believers and make them disciples of Jesus. To achieve this goal, we must have a good reputation in our community, because non-believers are easily persuaded by reputation. Let me make the following suggestions to ensure a good reputation for our church. First, attend as many ...

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When people say, "Please pray for me," sometimes I'm not sure what to do with this prayer request. Many people, perhaps most of them, make this kind of prayer request without sincerity. We occassionally have guests from Korea stay with us, and when they leave, they frequently tell us to call them when we visit Korea. But if you do get the chance to visit Korea and actually do call them, you often find that they're too busy to meet you. You realize that they said to call out of courtesy; they didn't mean for you to take the remark seriously. Similarly, when people ask me to pray for them, I wonder how seriously I should take their request. "Pray for ...

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The day I returned from my recent 5 week trip, I received a phone call from a woman who introduced herself as the wife of my high-school classmate. She said that her husband was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. He was immediately flown to the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center for treatment, but before his treatment even began, his vital organs stopped functioning and he fell into a coma. He was now on life support, and the doctors advised her to remove it, because there was no hope of recovery. The next day, I visited my friend in the ICU. I had not seen him in more than forty years, and I could barely recognize him. As I spoke with his wife, I ...

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It has been 10 years since we offered the first house church seminar for pastors. The house church movement is spreading rapidly, and has now started to experience opposition, especially in Korea. The anti-house church sentiment is strongest among conservative Presbyterian churches in Korea. Some church leaders oppose it because they think that the house church system belongs to Baptists churches. Other leaders oppose the house churches as being a congregational system, which is contrary to the Presbyterian system of elders. Lively discussions are being carried out on synod and denominational levels. It is fortunate that discussions like these are ...

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During my last trip, which lasted 5 weeks, I read the Koran, the Holy Writings for Muslims. Honestly, I have to say that the book is not on par with our Bible. But I'll write a more detailed report on the Koran some other time. I'd like to share what I'm reading these days. For the last year or so, I've read almost nothing but classics. People say we live in the Information Age. But most information is inessential. We can go without watching TV or reading the newspaper for months and have no big change in the quality of our lives. Classic books are both more useful for our lives and more entertaining. I started with the 10 most influential 20th ...

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During my sabbatical last year, when I was in town on Sundays, I visited different churches in the Houston area. Visiting different churches gave me a good opportunity to learn how visitors to our church might feel. Some churches plant greeters in the parking areas, kindly directing newcomers like me to the right buildings. Others have greeters inside the sanctuary. Some posted big maps that made it easy for us to find our way. Others didn't, and we had a hard time figuring out where to go. The main purpose of house churches is to reach non-believers and make them disciples of Jesus. We must make every effort to make a good impression on visitors. ...

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I lead seminars for pastors I frequently talk about our shepherds who experienced God's blessing when they faithfully served the Lord. I sometimes wonder if my remarks are construed as promoting Prosperity Theology. Despite this concern, I can't help but share the fact that God blesses our shepherds. The following is an example. I'm quoting verbatim from a shepherd's weekly ministry report. "I had not participated in house church seminars for a while because I live in a small apartment and felt that I could not provide adequate accommodations for seminar participants. But during my times of prayer, and especially during the Three-Strand Prayer ...

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