I have been trying to encourage a lot of our members to find avenues to influence the world for Jesus Christ. Sometimes people have a hard time trying to figure out how they can incorporate their gifts, skill sets, purpose, and passions together. Some people think there is an oxymoron when it comes to being […]
Praise Night 2008
I am looking forward to our annual Praise Night coming up tomorrow. This year we decided to do something different. Usually we have one big praise night for the whole church, but since our church is growing and the number of small groups wanting to participate is large, we are going […]
The 4Ever
There has been something brewing in my mind and heart recently. I was thinking about what it meant to be completely surrendered to God. I think in some of our honest moments, we will have to say that we are not fully and completely surrendered to God, as we would like to think or believe. […]
Slowing Down
Yesterday night, I was taking the laundry hamper downstairs and then I stepped on some books that my kids left on the staircase. It was an incredible mini-flight in the air and then I landed on my back. This morning my derriere and lower back was a bit sore. I had to take it easy […]
Chicago Trip Update 01.28.08
Since I am not going to Chicago every weekend, my traveling woes are less frequent. But for some reason I cannot avoid some of these delays. Maybe God is trying to teach me patience 🙂 After landing in Chicago on Saturday night, I had a strange craving for Chicago deep dish pizza. So, Pastor Jimmy […]
Someone to Die For
I have stated many time before that the reason why so many movies, which cause us to cry and move us emotionally, inspire us is because they somehow reflect some aspect of the Gospel message. It is not only in the movies but in real life, when we are able to […]
Changes in Indonesia
Today in Jakarta, the former president of Indonesia, Mr. Suharto passed away from multi-organ failure at the age of 86. This is pretty big news in light of some of the things that happened during his 32-year presidency. Some people have labeled him as a dictator and charged him with corruption. Others have spoken somewhat […]
Josiah’s B-Ball Tourney
This morning Josiah had a basketball tournament and they ended up coming in 2nd place. It is the heart’s desire for every parent to see their kids have more playing time, but we have to always remind ourselves that it is always about the team. Since this is his first year playing organized basketball as […]
Cutting EDGE
This week, after the retreat, I had some time to think and reflect. I was thinking, “What do we need to do now in light of the blessings that we have received from the Lord?” Especially, with only 3 months left in this semester. What we do in these next 3 months will lay a […]
Gender Differences in a Car Ride
Yesterday I spent the whole day with the women in our family (Christina and KiKi). Christina and I picked up KiKi from school and to see the joy on KiKi’s face was worth it all. After getting her buckled in, I asked her how school was and she would not stop talking! This got me […]
The Campus Blog Update
It has been exciting to hear and read about what God is doing in our undergraduate ministry. We have always been stressing the importance of this ministry. It has always been our “bread and butter.” It is a vital component of the greater vision of transformation – if we reach the campus, we will reach […]
The Amazing Band
One of my pastor friends, Dave Lee from Harvest Community Church in Chicago is a YouTube master and monster. He is able to find some of the craziest video on the world-wide web. It is insane! Either he has too much time on his hands or he is desperately looking for sermon illustrations 🙂 But […]
L3 Update – 01.23.08
The Leadership Lesson Luncheons (L3) have been going well. I have been enjoying my time with some of the undergraduates in our church as we brown bag our lunch and talk about issues relevant to leadership. There is no better context for me than having college students who are hungry to learn about leadership principles. […]
Faithfulness in Small Things
Today I sort of took a half day from work (ministry), even though I had a lot of things to do. I realized that it is so easy to get excited about ministry and transforming the world, but when it comes to some of the little things around the house it can become very tedious […]