A major contributing factor to the recently increased divorce rate is cited as personality differences. One way to test personality is the Myers-Brigg Type Indicator (MBTI). I took the test in seminary. A very readable and helpful book, called "Do We Love Each Other, Or Hate Each Other?" takes the personality types categorized by this test and looks at their relation to marital conflicts - what causes and them and the remedies for them. The MBTI lists measures personality in four areas. They are Introversion vs. Extroversion, Sensing vs. Intuition, Thinking vs. Feeling, and Judging vs. Perceiving. Many conflicts arise between couples because they do ...

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I dislike two things: seeing people dozing during the sermon and seeing people enter the sanctuary after the service has started. There are two reasons why I dislike it when people sleep during the sermon. First, I feel like they're sending me a message that my sermon is so boring that they can't remain awake. The truth may be that they're just physically too tired, but that's the impression I get. Second, it makes them look lazy. When someone sleeps while the people around them are awake and working, they seem lazy. So when someone sleeps during the sermon while others are listening attentively, I can't help but feel like that person is lazy. And I ...

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At our Wednesday evening prayer services, house churches take turns giving presentations. This includes the testimony of one of their members. At a recent service, one of our newer church members mentioned an incident involving me at the end of his testimony. He was taking our introductory Bible class, The New Life, and was in charge of the class roll call. Class members drop their name tags into a box at the end of class and he checked attendance by looking at the box. One day, there was a slip up and the name tags of those who came to class that day were mixed up with those who didn't. I separated the tags for him and helped him finish his record ...

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We're currently seeking volunteers to be 333 Prayer Partners. They pray for 33 seconds three times a day for our church and their pastor. The 333 prayer request for 2005 is: let there be many house churches settled all over the world, and grant our pastor a gentle heart. I have mentioned the first part of the request in recent columns, so let me now explain the second. I believe that a Christian minister should hate no one. He is in charge of the body of Christ, and Christ commanded us to love our neighbor as ourselves. For him to hate someone would be contrary to the words of Jesus. I myself don't hate anyone. When I pray in the morning I often ...

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Life must be tiring for people who need everything to be done exactly as it should be. After all, in general, real life is messy. Life must also be tiring for those who insist on living without rules; there will be no order to their lives. To enjoy life fully, there must be a balance between rules and freedom. Our church tries to maintain a healthy balance between the two. Sometimes our church demands that rules be followed exactly. When people want to be voting members of our church they must follow set procedures. When we need prayer support, we don't make a general request to the congregation but ask those who volunteer to sign up and commit to ...

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I seldom contribute to relief funds when natural disasters hit South Korea even though it's my mother country. It's not that I'm indifferent to disaster victims or stingy with money. In fact, when I was in middle school in Korea, I once participated in collecting money for flood victims. A huge typhoon hit the southern provinces of South Korea and many people lost their houses and possessions. Two friends of mine and I decided to collect money for the flood victims by knocking on the doors of merchant shops near our school. The fact that we were youths in our student uniforms must have put shop owners in a generous frame of mind and we were able to ...

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In our staff meetings we study a book chosen by a staff member. We are currently studying "Built to Last" by J.C. Collins and J.I. Porras. It examines companies that have been leaders in their respective fields for more than 100 years. The authors try to find principles that made these companies successful for such a long time. One of the common factors for these companies is that they all have core values which are never sacrificed for the sake of profit. Competing companies that have not held values like these become successful for a short time but do not last. Our church seems to be enjoying a golden age. An average of 3 people a week accept ...

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