I am finally catching my breath at Chicago O’Hare Airport. The retreat was a landmark retreat. I was able share the vision and values of our church. I realized that after 10 years of being in the same place, it is easy to take things for granted or just assume that people know the DNA […]
Christmas Show in January?
Yep… you got that right! Josiah’s and Elliot’s school Christmas show was suppose to be held on December 22nd, but there was a power outage on the night of the show; therefore it had to be postponed. I am guessing enough kids complained and the administration decided to have it after the winter break. The […]
2007 HMCC Winter Retreats
Starting this Friday we will have our annual congregational winter retreat for the Ann Arbor church. Then in a couple of weeks we will have our first ever congregational winter retreat for the Chicago church. As I was reflecting on the past 10 years of our church, I realized how […]
Truly Torturous
This past Sunday in Ann Arbor, I had to wear an USC t-shirt while I preached God’s Word. I know, I know… it is worst than the defilement of the Israelite people by offering sacrifices to the Baal gods. But we all need to be a person of our word. I guess a “friendly” pastors’ […]
Telling It Like It Is
Christina and I had our weekly breakfast date. It has been awhile since we met for breakfast due to all the holidays and travels. So it was good catching up again – just the two of us. We talked about a lot of things – the approaching EARLY midlife crisis, church, kids, us and etc. […]
Board Summit ’07 Part 2
By the time we finished the Sunday Celebration in Chicago and drove out to Benton Harbor, it was late. The guys from Ann Arbor arrived before the Chicago board members. Since it was late, we spent some time in prayer and then went to sleep. We started early this morning at 6AM. We have already […]
HMCC Board Summit ‘07
After both Sunday celebrations in Ann Arbor and Chicago, the Board of Directors and I will be heading out to Benton Harbor (mid-way point from Chicago to Ann Arbor) to have our summit. We will be spending some time in prayer and also discussing a book that I had everyone read over the break. Please […]
DDR – Kids’ Version
Do you know what this is? It is called DDR (Dance, Dance Revolution). My brother-in-law bought this for the kids for Christmas… and it has been a hit with the kids. The concept is pretty simple. The person moves his feet to a pattern that appears on the TV to […]
Bulwarks in the Faith
I had the privilege of meeting Dr. J. Robert Vannoy. When I first heard his name it sounded so familiar… then I realized that he contributed to various translations of the Bible as well as various commentaries. He contributed to The NIV Study Bible and The Reformation Study Bible. He was also on various translation […]
2007 OIL Conference
Even with all the various events going on around this time, there are still a good number of people at the OIL Conference. I could not believe that this was the 20th year anniversary of the OIL Conference. God has truly been faithful. There is something about the Montrose Bible Conference here in northeastern part […]
Personal Retreat ‘07
I am heading out for a one day personal retreat today. Before I go out to the OIL Conference to speak, I wanted to spend some time in prayer and personal reflection. I realized that 2006 was a busy year for me. I just want to make sure that 2007 starts off with basking in […]
New Year’s Day ‘07
Yesterday, our family had some of our staff and executive team members over for our traditional New Year’s Day lunch (now we are in our 9th year). It was pretty funny looking at the food table. We had the international flavors of food on display – Korean, Mexican, American, and some fusion-oriented stuff. The whole […]
Lost the Bet
Man oh man… Here is a good lesson in life – the more you love, the greater the heartbreak. This is why so many people are afraid to love. They just do not want to get heartbroken. But I tell you… my heart has been breaking for 30 years with the Chicago Cubs, so this […]
Rose Bowl ’07
There is a lot on the line for this year’s Rose Bowl. Not only is Blue pride on the line, but my pastoral pride. A couple of weeks ago, Pastor Graydon Jessup from Eastside Christian Church in California wagered a “friendly pastoral” bet. If USC wins the Rose Bowl, then this coming Sunday I will […]