Three Strand Prayer

There are many problems in our church that can only be solved by prayer. We will be holding a special 10-day prayer meeting from August 24 to September 3. We have had 10-day prayer meetings several times before but this time will be different. We're calling this a "Three Strand Prayer" meeting. The term was coined by Rev. J.C. Lee of the Open Door Church in Seoul. It comes from Ecclesiastes 4:12: "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." Before the prayer session begins, church members should find two other ...

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Controlling the Sunday Worship Schedule without Controlling God

When my mother visited me last January and attended New Life's Sunday worship service, she noticed that the worship was rather long (I think I preached a typical 45 minute message!) but was very surprised and impressed at how all of you were very focused and attentive throughout the worship to the end. My mother, however, isn't the only one who thinks this way. I feel the same way about you and our worship. Every great once in a while I see one or two of you dozing off during my message time because you probably worked very hard all throughout the week and are physic...

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Hurting People With Good Intentions

In high school I once read a story by a French writer about a baker's daughter who was attracted to a young man who came to the store every morning to buy bread. Every day he bought a loaf of bread, but he never bought butter. The girl felt sorry for this apparently poor young man. So one day she put a cake of butter inside the bread as a surprise gift. The next morning, the young man stormed into the store hopping mad. It turned out the young man was an architect. He used the bread he bought each day to erase his penciled lines when he made a mistake. The butter the girl ...

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Natural Spirituality, Life Style Serving

There are two things I would like our church members to have: natural spirituality and a serving lifestyle that isn't dependent on programs. For these things to happen the church needs to be accepting. I've heard of churches that fire staff members when they receive poor yearly reviews. I've also heard of house churches being disbanded when they do not multiply within a certain time period. I think this is wrong. The church must be a healing community as well as a mission community. The church should be a place where even the less competent feel at home. Churches should ...

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Aggressive Faith

Many Christians lament that it is hard to keep their faith at work. I understand how they feel: I worked a secular job myself for several years before I enrolled in seminary. I know how hard it is to live with Christian ethics in the workplace. But what makes it more difficult is a passive attitude characterized by the word "keep" when talking about keeping faith. It is a passive and defensive word. I was six years old when the Korean War broke out. The night before U.N. forces retook the city of Seoul, I was in a bunker shelter with my great-grandmother. I still ...

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From Rebecca’s Desk

Why T.? I grew up knowing that missionary work was important and that praying for "lost souls" in other countries was important as well. But I always believed that missionary work was not that important?it wasn't central to being a Christian, it was just for people who wanted to take that extra step and make that extra effort. Even though I went on several short-term missions as a student (and one after graduating college), I still had the mindset that my summers?my "dead time"?were times for missions, but the school year was for things much more important like school ...

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KSM / ESM Resolutions

This week we had a guest writer for the corner, which may not be relevant for the English Speaking Congregation. So let me post the agreements made between the ESM and KSM leadership last January, which might be more interesting. - Pastor Chai Results of the KSM / ESM leadership meeting Background We are one church divided by language (English & Korean). The two congregations are designated as the Korean Speaking Ministry (KSM) and English Speaking Ministry (ESM). Senior Pastor 1. The pastor of the congregation with a larger number of members and the larger budget ...

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