As you know, my wife and I visit a different house church each week. On occasion I find people who used to belong to a different house church. This might be a good time to remind everyone of our church's policy on switching house churches. It is our church's policy that you cannot leave a house church once you become a member. The reason for this is that the house church is the training ground for Jesus' disciples. Becoming His disciples means that you are becoming more like Him. One way in which this is accomplished is through human conflict. As you work to love people ...

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There is a close relationship between spiritual growth and worship. People who are spiritually vibrant are also really into worship. Conversely, people who seem to be backsliding spiritually do not enjoy worship. If you consider your own life, you may see that periods of spiritual growth were times when you worshiped wholeheartedly, and that periods of spiritual stagnancy were times when you worshiped half-heartedly. It is hard to tell whether you grow spiritually because you engage in meaningful worship, or whether you have meaningful worship experiences because you are ...

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Many of our members say that their church life is one of the main reasons for their happiness. This has happened because we make God's desire our number one priority. God wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4). God does not want anyone to perish, but for everyone to come to repentance (1 Pet 3:9). The happiness we experience is a reward from God for seeking to fulfill his wishes. Some say that it's impossible for them to find non-believers even though they're willing to help others come to know Christ. Their difficulty is understa...

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I came home the other day to a hot house because my wife had set the thermostat to 82. A few days later a laundry rack appeared in the backyard where my wife started sun-drying wet laundry before putting it in the dryer. These days she follows me around and turns off the light whenever I leave it on. She's obviously trying to cut our household expenses since she no longer works. I don't know how much money we save by doing these things or whether these extreme measures are really necessary. But I do appreciate what she's doing. My wife is a good household manager. She ...

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For years I've been listening to sermon tapes of a well-known pastor that his church mails to me for free. At first, I enjoyed them immensely. But after several years, I've started to get a little bored with them because I find that he covers the same topics over and over again. He also uses certain words repeatedly. Some of his favorites are "blessings", "success", "vision", and "challenge". I began to wonder whether I bore our church members because I also have favorite words that I use often, such as "happiness", "mission", "obedience", and "service". For this reason ...

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The most insulting phrase to Americans is "You are a liar!" Accusing someone of this could lead to a fight. The reason why Americans are sensitive to being called liars may come from the Christian culture they are surrounded by. Christ called himself the truth: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6)." He called Satan the father of lies": "He [the devil] is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44)." Avoiding lies and telling the truth is important in Christian culture. Asians in general are not particularly shy ...

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