Pastor Blog (Page 3)

I communicated about our membership policy before, but I think there are still some confusion or questions about it. So allow me to explain. Why do we have a membership policy? We strongly discourage already-Christians joining our church. Because we are committed to bringing VIPs (Non-Christians and Unchurched) to Christ and helping them to become his faithful followers. That is why we need to have a firm policy in place, when it comes to membership process for already-Christians. What does…

We just had our very first adult retreat last weekend. At first, I was a bit disappointed that some of our members couldn’t attend, but it turned out to be a cozy retreat that enabled deeper interaction with one another. Host team did an amazing job preparing and running the retreat and praise team lead an amazing worship sessions. The guest speaker Pastor Youngsu shared challenging messages, but he did it with such bright smiles that made them feel encouraging.…

When people get angry about someone or a situation, they search for people to vent. They think if they let it out, they will feel better. To a certain degree, that is true. But when we start doing that to too many people, especially to friends who tend to take our side without fully knowing the other side of the story, it stops being helpful. Because when enough people agree with the reason for our anger, we begin to feel…

Our joint outdoor service with KSC (Korean-speaking Congregation) was a massive success. We had about 247 participants including children and I heard a good deal of feedback how enjoyable and welcoming it was for all groups, especially our VIP friends. The great-turnout was significant because it was our very first time planning the service together with KSC. We had many doubts if collaboration would go well, but from what I hear, preparation was smooth and mutually enjoyable. And the preparation…

Many Christians think church should accept everyone. That’s why some don’t understand why we turn away already-Christians when they visit us. Some think that we are being too arrogant or unloving by doing so. But this misunderstanding comes from not distinguishing “the Church” from “a church”. “The Church”, which is the universal body of Christ made of all existing churches in the world, is absolutely and unquestionably for “everyone”. The scripture clearly tells us that Jesus came because he loved…

Everyone wants to be happy. Our desire to be happy is not a bad thing at all. God created us to experience happiness. The garden God created for Adam and Eve was called “Eden”, which literally means “pleasure” and “happiness”. God wanted them to be happy. And the way they found happiness was through intimate relationship with God. Everything else was an icing on the cake. However, after Adam and Eve sinned, everything changed. Since their intimate relationship with God…

My family just came back from annual family vacation. We spent a few nights with Jen’s extended family at a cottage to celebrate my mother-in-law’s birthday, and spent the rest of the week with my family in Hamilton and Niagara. As with most pastors, I find it challenging to take time off from ministry because ministry is a marathon rather than a sprint. There is always more ministry that can be done. But the reason I intentionally take time off…

Encouraged by the past I recently wrote the pastor’s exam and one of the four topics of study was church history. While reviewing the material I couldn’t help but be both encouraged and inspired. From the early church until now, there have been faithful followers of Jesus who passed on their faith. Although we don’t have a 4K video documentary evidence on how early Christians lived their lives, we do know that even among Ancient pagan people, Christianity was seen…

Our very first adult retreat is happening on 9/9-11 (Fri-Sun) and the registration starts this week. The theme of the retreat is “Helper” and the guest speaker is Pastor Young Su McCann, from Journey Christian Fellowship in California. I first met him at House Church conference and not only he is a great speaker but a great person to be around. I am excited to hear from him and for the opportunity for our members to fellowship with him at…

A few years ago, I remember listening to a leadership podcast and the topic was “How Canadian Church is different from that of US”. Even though we are so close to one another geographically, there is a big difference in how the church functions and is viewed. I found the explanation from the podcast intriguing. The pastor, who came out as the guest in the show, explained that Canada was founded by Loyalists, who were peacemakers in nature. This is…

My youngest daughter asked me to take the training wheels off her bike this week. She tried riding two wheels before, but she got scared. But for whatever reason, she was motivated to try again, so she asked me to teach her how to ride the two-wheels. I set up her bike, but I had a bit of doubt if she can master it quickly. As I taught her, she did pretty well, but she often stopped pedalling every time…

By the grace of God, we have had non-stop testimonies every week since the beginning of June. And it looks like we will have continuous testimonies for the month of July as well. As we witness many next steps from our members, I felt the need to highlight that church is not a place for the well-put-together people, but for struggling people. (Mark 2:17) We are all struggling in some areas. It is just that some are more visible to…