Give Thanks

My church, Logos Central Chapel, is changing its website which means I’ll be blogging from a new site. The website will go live in mid-December. Haven’t written in some time. I’m thankful to God for my wife, kids, calling, church family, and most importantly for my Savior.

Reading List

In addition to reading the Bible, pastors should always be feeding the mind. I’ve been a multi-book reader, that is, I read more than one book at a time. For example, I’m currently reading four books: Using Old Testament Hebrew in Preaching by Paul D. Wegner; Lord, Shut Me Up! Anger Management for Christians by Karen D. Wasoba; Introducing Theological Interpretation of Scripture by Daniel J. Treier; and Why We’re Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be by Kevin Deyoung and Ted Kluck. Kevin and I actually went through three years of seminary together at the same time. He’s becoming a very influential thinker and pastoral scholar.

The reason I read multiple books at once is because I feel like I’m maximizing my limited reading time. I usually finish 3-4 books within a month’s time. It gives me broader exposure to a number of topics that pastors should read about.

This past year I’ve read: True Story by James Choung; The Next Evangelicalism by Soong-Chan Rah; Prodigal God by Tim Keller; Preaching John’s Gospel edited by David Fleer and Dave Bland; A Practical Guide for Life and Ministry by David Horner; From Midterms to Ministry edited by Hugh Allen Cole, Jr.; Should We Use Someone Else’s Sermon by Scott M. Gibson; Simple Health by David Biebel and Harold Koenig; Leading Congregational Change by Herrington, Bonem, and Furr; Nobody’s Perfect But You Have to Be by Dean Shriver; Ten Stupid Things that Keep Churches from Growing by Geoff Surratt; Pastor to Pastor by Erwin Lutzer; Brothers, We are Not Professionals by John Piper; Dear Pastor edited by John R. Cionca; Marriage at the Crossroads by Aida and Bill Spencer and Steve and Celestia Tracy to which Sarah and I contributed a chapter; among others.

I realize that feeding our souls is crucial, but so is feeding the mind. Continue to read, read, read, fellow pastors. Keep reading and absorbing all that God has to teach us.

Entering the 4th Year of Ministry at LCC

As year three comes to a close and a new season of ministry begins, there is much to be thankful for. At one time, we didn’t have any small groups. Now, we have 12 fully functioning small groups that meet throughout the week. Lives are being changed as people share their struggles and joys with others in the faith community. The pastoral leadership is becoming solidified with the addition of our associate/worship pastor, Joe Chun, who’s a tremendously gifted pastor, musician, and praise leader. Our youth group, led by Cliff Smith, is growing in faith and in number. We are beginning to focus on outreach endeavors in the Denver area and hope to solidify our partnerships. And lastly, our members are seeing the importance of God’s word as it transforms the hearts of God’s people. My prayer is that year 4 will continue our love for God’s word and that our outreach/evangelism efforts will bear fruit. God, we trust in you to perform surgeries on our hearts so that we will value what you value. May LCC bring you glory and may we bring people into the kingdom of God!

Words of Encouragement

As Asian Americans, we often don’t hear words of affirmation. I’m one of those people who naturally beats myself up and Satan likes to use that against me. For much of my life I’ve been a realist which is the other word for a pessimist. I tend to see the negative things in myself rather than the positive. It’s a sin and I’m not too proud of this.

One of my new heroes has become Francis Chan, pastor of Cornerstone Church Simi Valley, CA. He’s the author of a new book called Crazy Love published by David C. Cook. I went to his website to listen to a recent sermon in which he just shared with the congregation about God’s faithfulness to him, his family, and to his church over the last 15 years since its inception. As a young pastor, 32, I often wonder what it’s like to pastor the same church for 15 years plus. What an awesome thing that would be for God to use someone in the same place over such a span of time. What ups and downs one would see. Chan shared how God had done some amazing things in that church and he encouraged the congregation to keep growing and maturing.

My congregation, Logos Central Chapel, has been around since 1999. We’re a relatively young church comprised of mainly 30 and 40 somethings. We want to be a church that ministers God’s love and grace to the lost souls in Denver, Colorado. I want to take a moment out of my day and say a word of encouragement to my church. That I’m proud of them and proud to be their pastor. Yes, I’m young. I’m hard on myself which sometimes translates into being hard on my people. But, over the last 3 years I have been here, we’ve grown in so many different ways. I praise God for that. But, my encouraging word of the day is to thank God for our blessings. Thank God for all of the ways he’s been faithful. Let’s not be like the Israelites who forgot how much God had done for them. And let’s use that blessing and pour our lives into the wounded souls around us. Let’s love God with passion and be transforming agents to all the people we meet.

Forgive me for seeming harsh and always pointing out our flaws. I’m trying to be healed of my own insecurities and my sin problems. But I recognize that God’s grace is sufficient for me and for our church. Let’s be the body of Christ and save this world with the message of God’s love through his son Jesus Christ. Go out and live for him!

LCC 2009 Retreat “Transformation”

From August 14-16th, we had our annual church retreat. This year it was held at Deer Creek Christian Camp in Bailey, Colorado. We flew in a close friend and ministry colleague, Dr. James Choung, the national director of Asian American Ministries with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. He’s also the author of True Story: A Christianity Worth Believing In (InterVarsity Press, 2008).

James brought the book of Genesis to life as he shared about God’s plan to redeem all of creation. It was one of the first times that our church members heard that God created humans that were “very good” in his eyes. It was a refreshing and thought-provoking series of sermons. God truly blessed the congregation that weekend. I saw many people raising their hands to the Lord in praise and worship. People were sharing intimate and even painful moments from their past with each other in small groups. Everyone was praying for each other. God was truly evident in that place. My prayer is that the fire will not cease as time goes on.

Thanks James for bringing the gospel with conviction, clarity, and charisma.

What’s the point of this blog?

In this blog, my hope is to give reflections on what I’m learning as a child of God and as a pastor and also share what I’m writing on these days. I will also try to throw in some humor along the way. Please feel free to make comments and share what you’re learning about loving God and loving others.

Hello world!

I told myself today that I’m going to enter the 21st century and begin a blog. I’ve been told repeatedly that pastors need to blog. So, here it begins…