When two people give two different versions of the same story, I tend to believe the one whose daily life exhibits integrity, because I believe that people's lives are the true measuring stick of their words. I take seriously advice from someone who lives a respectful life; not so much that from someone whose life lacks sincerity. "The Intellectuals," a book by Paul Johnson, discusses the inconsistencies in the lives of well-known intellectuals such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, an Enlightenment thinker, Earnest Hemingway, an American author, Jean-Paul Sartre, a French Existentialist, Henrik Ibsen, a Norwegian playwright, and Karl Marx, the Communist ...

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Some church members complain that our church is too bureaucratic. At many churches, newcomers become members simply by coming regularly, but our church asks people to come forward during worship services and fill in commitment cards before they can become members. Other churches give voting rights to everyone who's been a member for a certain time, but we ask people to be baptized and apply if they want to become voting members. Ordinary churches welcome all volunteers to serve at their churches but our church asks people to complete the New Life Bible class before they're allowed to serve. We're not simply being bureaucratic; we're trying to be ...

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Some time ago, an old friend sent me an email. Let me quote some of what he wrote: "You lost both your parents during the Korean War and had an unhappy childhood. You had to support yourself through school without any help from your family to earn your degrees. You lived a comfortable life for a while but gave up everything to become a pastor. Then your wife was diagnosed with cancer and is still receiving treatment. Have you ever resented God or complained to Him? If not, what's your secret? I'd really like to know." After I received this email, I asked myself honestly: do I resent God? The answer was a resounding "no!". He mentioned my wife's ...

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Traditional discipleship programs make disciples of Jesus through Bible studies. The house church makes disciples through modeling - by sharing lives. Most pastors favor the former. Their main tools for making disciples are Bible studies and preaching because they believe that people will change when they learn facts and grow in understanding. Their optimism has its roots in the Enlightment during the 17th century. The basic assumption of the Enlightment was that the primary problem with mankind was ignorance. Once ignorance was eliminated via enlightment, all human problems and social ills would disappear. That optimism received a crushing blow ...

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I'm known as a man who doesn't ask twice when asking for ministry help. I believe that working for our Lord is a privilege. When someone refuses an opportunity to serve the Lord, I don't offer it again because I feel that doing so would cheapen the Lord's ministry. I'd rather have my ministry undone than cheapened. Serving the Lord is a privilege granted only to God's children. It's a privilege to be given the opportunity to serve the Creator of the universe and the Savior of mankind, no matter how trivial a specific task might seem. Serving in the church kitchen on Sundays is such a privilege. It's something to be received with gratitude, not ...

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Brother Choong-Won Kang sent me a copy of a book he wrote called "Thanksgiving Strategy." He worked at Motorola, Texas Instruments, and GE as an engineer and manager and made great contributions in semiconductor chip manufacturing. He eventually started his own hi-tech company. He is also one of the 6 founding members of Seoul Baptist Church. The book's message is that giving thanks to God even in dire circumstances turns problems into blessings. He admonishes his readers to give thanks — constantly, audibly, specifically, earnestly, immediately, and for everything — and bless those who give you hard time. He calls this the "thanksgiving strate...

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The biggest concern for pastors who attend the House Church Seminar for Pastors is the frequency of the weekly meetings. "Our church members have a hard time even attending biweekly or monthly small group meetings. How can I get them to attend house church meetings every week?" They have this concern because they haven't experienced house church meetings. The house church is where people experience God. When that happens, people will come no matter what. When you enjoy something, you make time to do it, no matter how busy you are. If you like playing golf, for example, you'll go to the range and hit a few buckets of golf balls even when you're late ...

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