The damage done by Hurricane Katrina seems to be much more severe than expected. As you know, nearly the entire city of New Orleans is under water. Some say that it is the greatest disaster suffered by an American city since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Reportedly, around 200,000 people have taken refuge in Houston. As a person who experienced the Korean War, I think I know how the refugees feel. During the war, our family sought friends and relatives we hadn't seen in decades and begged for a room. I was only 6 years old and didn't understand everything that happened. But I do remember 10 people sleeping in a single crowded room. I also ...

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On a recent trip to Korea, I watched a Korean movie on the plane. The heroine is a con artist. While getting off of a train, a young man mistakes her bag for his own and takes it with him. When she realizes this, she tracks down the man to a small village. The town people mistake her for being the man's fiancee and she decides to play along, using her con-artist skills (this is the fun part!) until she recovers her bag. Eventually, she falls in love with the man and decides to start a new, straight life in the village. The thing that makes her abandon her past and become an honest citizen is the love the man's family members show for one another. ...

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Our shepherds are divided into groups, around 20 in total, called Chowon (meaning pasture), which meet every Sunday after worship services. Each month my wife and I visit each group in turn, where I ask shepherds and their spouses to share two things about their house church ministry: one thing that made them happy and another that made them sad. The things that make them happy are usually trivial. One newly appointed shepherd said that he felt honored when much older house church members starting addressing him as "our shepherd" as soon as he was appointed. A shepherd's spouse shared that she was moved when a new house church member brought her ...

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Drinking itself is not a sin. The Scripture admonishes against getting drunk, not drinking itself: "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery." (Eph. 5:18) Wine and beer are common beverages in Europe. French cuisine tastes better with a glass of wine, and German food goes down well with a mug of beer. Despite this, I still encourage our church members to not drink. I have four reasons for this. First, it's easier to fall into sin when you drink. People who drive while intoxicated may have a car accident, hurting themselves and others. Some lose control of themselves when under the influence of alcohol and have sex outside of marriage. ...

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Life has become so complicated and there are so many things to do that we simply cannot do everything we need or want to. It is imperative for everyone - whether an individual or an organization - to be selective and do only those things that are important. Everyone's priorities are different. For a business, a good reputation is important. In ministry, relationships are important. With child rearing, discipline is important. For Christians, regular quiet times are important. Sometimes, what we think to be important turns out to be not so. When I was in seminary, I thought that grades were important. I worked hard and got good grades. However, after ...

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When we instituted house churches many years ago, some members were hurt when I announced that my role was just to be a pastor for house church shepherds. I didn't mean to offend anyone. I just wanted to boost the authority of our shepherds and let church members understand that it should be their shepherds, not I, who took care of them. It's now time for me to make a similar declaration which may hurt house church shepherds: I am no longer a pastor for shepherds. I am only a pastor for shepherd-overseers. Actually, I need to be a pastor for shepherd-overseers for the sake of our shepherds. We now have around 140 house churches. This means almost ...

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Years ago, after my wife and I had been dating for a while, I decided it was time for me to introduce myself to her family. So I bought a bouquet of flowers and went to her house. I rang the doorbell, and when her mother answered I made a Korean-style bow, prostrating myself on my hands and knees with my forehead almost touching the floor, and introduced myself as Haisoon's boyfriend. I found out later that after I left, my future mother-in-law turned to her daughter and said, "How about you? I like him!" It was love at first sight between future son and mother-in-law. When my daughter, Christine, was born, my mother-in-law came from Korea to live ...

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