Last spring our mission team members and I visited the International Mission Board Headquarters in Richmond, Virginia, I rode in a car with a brother in his early fifties. He told me a sad story about what had happened to him that morning. He shared that as he and his wife entered middle age it was harder for him to win an argument with her. His wife was giving him a ride that morning to church where members were meeting to carpool to the airport. But as they left their house they found heavy rush hour traffic. They decided to take a shortcut but differed in opinion as to which was faster. Her husband, who had more experience in avoiding heavy ...

Read More

Many visitors to our Sunday worship services compliment our choir, remarking that they were touched by the music. I usually reply with a smile, "Yes, our choir members may not be musically talented but they are spiritual." Our choir members actually are very musically talented but I try to be modest. But there's actually another motive behind my response. I want to convey the message that the role of the choir is to worship, not just to sing. Our late brother Baek played a critical role in transforming our choir from a singing group to a worshiping one. As far as church music was concerned he knew exactly what I wanted. He changed their singing ...

Read More

This year I've had to decline many speaking invitations. The Korean World Mission Conference, held every four years, asked me to give a seminar on House Churches. I declined and asked Deacon Yoo to lead the seminar in my place. Korean Students Abroad (KOSTA) invited me to be a speaker for the plenary session. I declined because it interfered with the New Life weekly Bible class I was leading. The most important things for me are my church members, so my ministries at Seoul Baptist are my highest priority. I became a pastor to help church members become genuinely happy. To be honest, my own church life was not that great. I had also seen many other ...

Read More

I received an anonymous letter, which read as follows: "I recently attended a house church meeting and was flabbergasted at the selfishness of the members. When they prayed, the subject was solely what they might get out of God. They didn't show any concern for society or mankind. The church has changed! It wasn't like that before! They were also irrational, considering everything an answer to their prayers. They were not rational, reasonable people." This letter made me smile because the writer reminded me of myself 30 years ago when I was not a Christian. He spoke as I did at that time. Our love must begin with our next-door neighbors. It is ...

Read More

The greatly anticipated Three Strand Prayer Meetings (TSPM) begin on Wednesday, August 26. It will be accompanied by 10 days of fasting. This is a partial fast, where participants refrain from eating after 5 PM until breakfast the next morning. Fasting will start a day before the first prayer meeting. During the 10 days of TSPM dinner will not be served at any church events, with the exception of the New Life class on Tuesday, since attendees are mostly non-Christians and few are participating in TSPM. I don't want to force them to fast. But people are encouraged to fast on that day if they wish. Dinner is also acceptable Saturday, August 28, since ...

Read More

"How long have you been a Christian?" I ask this question to every visitor when I meet them in the greeting room. Some say, "I just started going to church for the first time in my life," and others say, "This is the first time since I was a child." Answers like these make me smile because these are the kinds of people we're seeking. But some answer, "I've been a Christian since birth." And then I can't help but get frosty toward those people. This puzzles them, because in most churches people who have been Christians for a long time are welcomed more eagerly than non-believers. The reason I give the cold shoulder to long-time Christians, especi...

Read More

When I gave our deacons questionnaires to evaluate my ministry, I also gave self-appraisal forms to our shepherds. One of the questions asked them to rate their ministries as excellent, good, fair, or poor. 52% of the shepherds rated their ministry, "Fair", 23% "Good," and 25% "Poor". None rated their ministries as "Excellent". I think they're being too modest. Another question asked "Is there anything the church can do to help you improve your ministry?" Most didn't indicate anything. Some said that the current training programs were good enough and others said that they need to improve their ministries on their own. However, some did suggest things ...

Read More