Putting Away The Sword: Uniting Around The Essentials
Recently, I asked my congregation to come with me, listen and sit close to Jesus as he petitioned his Father in John 17. What a privilege it was to listen in and glean from this most sacred prayer. We as a church sat up close as Jesus’ love for his…
You Can Have Anything You Want: Lessons in Focus and Long-Term Vision
As a young man, one of my mentors said to me, “John, you can have most anything you want. You just can’t have everything you want.” He was talking about finances and his point is well taken. With hard work, saving and planning, even a minister could afford a nice…
The Art of Feedback: Building Trust and Encouraging Growth
I am a fan of A. A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh. I find his writing to be so clever and creative. I’ve read through his books several times and still let out a hearty laugh at the characters. When I had the chance to watch Disney’s Christopher Robin, I couldn’t…
5 Ways To Give Our Families The Best of Us
Our family was walking through the airport, doing our best to make it to our gate on time. Unfortunately, my two children weren’t moving at my preferred pace. Like most 9 and 12-year-olds, they were easily distracted and slowing us down. There was a back and forth of me…
Simplifying Church Organizational Structures
There are few experiences in life more satisfying, fulfilling, and joyous than serving the Lord on a church leadership team where: Each member respects and trusts every other member. There is no confusion over responsibilities and roles, and each person works diligently to uphold their part. There is a…
Discipleship Pathways for Kids
When it comes to discipling children, there is no limit to the thoughts, patterns, and opinions you can find online. You can probably ask around your immediate community and get another few dozen different answers. So how do we disciple today’s children in our churches, and how do we know…
I’ll Rest When I’m Dead
This past August, my family and I spent 7 days in New Hampshire. We were blessed to attend Week 7 of Camp Spofford’s Family Camp. It was an awesome week of rest, fellowship, family time, faith development, and fun. Our days were filled with canoeing, kayaking, hiking, tubing, fishing, and…
Love the Ones You’re With
“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” Galatians 5:13 We see a great deal of service to one another in the realm of God’s people. Missions trips abound. Benevolent funds overflow. Community…
How To Function With Few On The Floor
“My team is on the floor.” This is Gene Hackman’s line from an absolutely crucial scene in the movie Hoosiers. Do you know it? What a movie! It is based on the true story of a tiny town in Indiana going all the way to the state championship where they…well,…
From Grinch to Griswold
Something happened to me a few years ago… I’d never been one to do a whole lot of Christmas decorating. Maybe it was laziness, maybe it was PTSD from a childhood full of mountain vacations with hour after hour of my mom dragging the entire family into every kitschy Christmas…
I Thought You Ought To Know
As you can tell from my picture below, and from my last name, I am Asian – Korean to be precise. I was born in South Korea and immigrated to the U.S. at the age of one. I grew up in Southern California and came to Virginia 18 years ago…
They’re Just Not That Into You: 5 Ways To Avoid The Pitfalls of Celebrity Status in Ministry
We don’t need to drop any big names, but we can all think of someone in ministry who rose to celebrity status only to cave under pressure or temptation. They were doing great work for the Kingdom of God and then they weren’t. Sure, for argument’s sake, it may not…
