I get to hear many interesting stories about what's happening in the house churches by reading the shepherds' reports or when I visit house church meetings. I'd like to share a couple recent ones. The first is about the miraculous power of prayer. About a month ago, a non-believing woman visited a house church meeting. She had come from Hawaii to receive treatment for stomach cancer at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. In Hawaii, her cancer was diagnosed as being in an advanced stage. A team of six doctors at MD Anderson concurred with this diagnosis and made a treatment ...

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Starting this month, we'll be initiating the office of Church Administrator. Until now, the chairmen of deacons have been in charge of church administration but our church's administrative responsibilities have become too large to be handled by someone with a regular full time job. Many large churches hire a Minister of Administration to handle these duties. Most of them have seminary degrees. But I don't want someone with a seminary degree to handle our church administration. For one thing, they did not go to a seminary to become a administrator. For another, seminary ...

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I recently saw a picture of former South Korean President Kim Dae Jung in the newspaper with agony on his face as he heard the news of his son being arrested for political impropriety. President Kim's former aids are also being investigated on similar charges. Justice should be pursued regardless of a person's current or former position, but I feel that the current administration is overdoing it. I feel that they are dishonoring the former head of the country. During his term, President Kim helped the nation overcome the IMF (International Monetary Fund) crisis, the ...

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People are sensitive to titles. When I visited Korea last May a friend of mine took me to a hotel spa, treating me to a massage. During the massage the masseuse addressed me by a title reserved for CEOs of large companies. Apparently, people are so sensitive to how they are addressed that he played it safe by using the most honorable title possible. Unfortunately, this penchant for honorable titles seems to be creeping into our church. Some of our newer members who moved here from other areas seem to feel offended when they are addressed as "Brother" or "Sister". They ...

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Our teenaged sons and daughters are under attack. A sexual attack. When they open their email images of copulating men and women attack them. Hidden messages saying that it is all right to have sex outside of marriage attack them through the TV shows they watch. And many parents are oblivious to this. Recent surveys indicate that most teens lose their virginity before they graduate from high school. Many more have intimate sexual experiences such as oral sex even if they do not have actual sexual intercourse. These are not just non-Christian teens; they also come from ...

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I get up 4:20 AM every day, including Saturdays and Sundays, and get to church at around 5 AM. I spend the next 3 hours praying, mostly for church members, and for breakfast I eat a fruit and vegetable smoothie lovingly prepared for me by my wife. I spend the rest of the day at church. Thursday is the only day I get up late as it's my day off. Sunday is the busiest day of the week for a pastor. But business does not stop at the end of Sunday. I attend various meetings on Monday evenings, such as monthly meetings with shepherds or events for some of the Bible study ...

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I have been preaching on the book of Matthew for over a year. People have asked me which book of the Bible I plan to preach on next. I actually have an ambitious goal. I plan to preach through every book of the Bible over the next few years. I got this idea from Chuck Smith, a well known preacher from Calvary Chapel. In one of his seminar tapes he mentioned that he covered five chapters from the books of the Old Testament and one chapter from the books of the New Testament so that he could preach through the entire Bible every few years. If I follow this system I may be ...

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