We had our Experiencing Membership class this past Saturday at HMCC of Chicago. Since we don’t have our own facilities, we ended up renting out the downstairs of a café near the Northwestern campus (a blessing in disguise). It brought a great atmosphere for this class. We had an open tab for people to get […]
Exaltation in Chicago
I will be heading out to Chicago today to do part 4 of our 5-part ACCESS series called, “Training for Transformation.” I will be talking about “Exaltation.” The more I thought about it, I realized that worship is a vital part of the HMCC experience. It is not just in our praise time but how […]
Family Portrait
Yesterday we took our family portrait. The last time we took one was when Josiah was about a year old. Oh, how things have changed. It is in these family portraits that you begin to see how quickly time flies. The kids are growing up, and Christina and I look a bit older. I think […]
Opportunities to be the CBTW
CBTW? The Church Beyond the Walls. This is what we have been talking about for a year and a half in our church. In order for us to be a missional church, we have to go to where the people are and also consider finding ways to bring the Gospel to the people in fresh […]
Leadership Principle: It starts at the top
“Everything rises and falls with leadership”… this is a principle even lived out in the sports world. When a team fails, do they fire the players or the coach? It is usually the latter. We found this out this week… read here. What should we do in the church? In sports they fight for millions […]
Staying Connected
Yesterday, I met up with an African-American pastor here in the local area. In the last 6 years we have developed a strong relationship with one another. It is kind of weird because he is 20+ years my elder, but for some reason we connected from day one and we have developed a good friendship […]
Courting Memories
This past Monday, I spent the whole day with Christina. It is easy to go through married life on cruise control because there are so many constants – the kids, the schedules, the activities, the routine, etc. Before you know it, your lives are going parallel rather than intersecting together. Therefore, we decided to spend […]
In Loving Memory of Sang Kim
Last year on October 17th, one of our dear brothers in Christ went to be with the Lord ahead of us. It was a difficult time for us as a church. Even today, we think about him a lot. I was just amazed at the kind of impact he had on people. […]
Free Car Wash
I truly believe one of God’s graces is displayed in rain. The other day, I was thinking that I needed a car wash because all the driving through the back roads to drop off the kids at school causes my car to get dirty quickly. I can’t even remember the last time I got a […]
Da Bears!
What can I say?! God is very, very good! What a game last night… probably one of the most exciting games for the Bears. There has to be a sermon illustration out of that game. 6-0 baby! Can I get an amen?
UG Retreat 2006
God did some incredible things at the Undergraduate Retreat this year. It was good re-connecting with the heart and soul of our church – the college students. As I was hanging out with them, it brought back a lot of memories of my college years, as well as the first two years of our church. […]
Making the Road Trip
3 days of worship… 3 days of hearing God’s Word… 3 days of prayer… 3 days of experiencing biblical community… 3 days of fellowship… 3 days of all-out pursuit of God… more to come!
Clergy Appreciation
October is supposedly the month for clergy appreciation. Why October? I don’t know but anyways… I was blessed to hear that each of the small group had “adopted” a pastor on our staff to show their appreciation. This morning right after morning prayer, I found an envelope on my windshield. When I got home I […]
Random Thoughts
This week has been a long week – and we are not even through with it yet! I spent some time in reflection and here are some thoughts that came forth: 1) Wounded people end up wounding other people… a vicious cycle. 2) People who play the victim will never be victorious 3) I need […]