Old School New School The NBA Finals are going to be pretty exciting, now that it is determined that the Lakers and the Celtics will be playing. When I was younger I grew up with the Lakers and Celtics competing against one another. The old school lineup for the […]
Josiah’s 11th B-Day
We, as a family had fun today celebrating Josiah’s 11th birthday. In line with our family tradition Josiah picked a restaurant he wanted to go to and an activity that he wanted to do. You know that a kid has acquired and developed a taste for good food when he requests paella for his birthday. […]
Married Couples Hang Out
In our married couples’ ministry, we meet up every week to experience biblical community. I realized that it is not easy to get married couples to gather together every week for small group, but it has been a blessing to see so many couples in our church commit to meeting together (Heb 10:25). Out of […]
Cynicism and the Dying Heart
As I am doing ministry, I am coming across more cynical people than ever before. But if people only knew the cynicism that is overtaking many pastors as well, they would be shocked. Some years ago, I had to guard my heart because I started to find myself getting cynical about one of the greatest […]
UIC Strategic Meeting 05.26.08
Last night, I meet up with the staff of HMCC of Chicago and the leaders of the UIC ministry. We spent some time evaluating this past year’s small group ministry on the campus and then we read up on some statistical information about the campus. As we were sharing and reading up on the information, […]
Diane’s B-Day
Yesterday was my older sister’s b-day. We weren’t planning for it, but it just happened that my younger brother was coming in to Chicago from L.A. because of a wedding and I was here preaching for HMCC of Chicago so we decide to have dinner all together as a family. It was a special treat […]
Memorial Day Reflections
Today as I was heading back to my parents’ place after a meeting, I ended up driving pass a cemetery. For some reason, after seeing all the American flags and being reminded that it was Memorial Day, I had this great urge to stop by and take some time to reflect. I was thinking that […]
Chicago Trip 05.26.08
It was smooth sailing on my flight to Chicago. I was a bit concerning about the flight since it was the last flight that would get me to Chicago on time for the Sunday Celebration. I realized that Sunday mornings are the best time to fly – there are less people and fewer interruptions in […]
Chicago Trip 05.25.08
I am heading out to Chicago early this morning. I will be concluding the “Taking Up the Challenge” sermon series today. Not only have we been focusing in on evangelism and discipleship, but today I am going to share about the greater vision for Chicago and reaching out to various campuses within the city. I […]
Josiah’s Soccer 2008 Tournament
It was a beautiful day for a soccer tournament today – 60’s and sunny! As Josiah’s season is coming to an end, their team entered into the Canton Cup. This tournament has been going on for close to 30 years. It was an incredible sight to see – they had acres and acres of just […]
The Gospel for Real Life
For the Spring and Summer terms (May through August), we are going to start a whole new series on our Friday night ACCESS gatherings for our students. This series is based on Jerry Bridges’ book, The Gospel for Real Life. Jerry Bridges has written so many books on holiness, godliness, and […]
Signing the URC Contract
Today, a handful of us from HMCC of Ann Arbor’s Board of Directors and the University Reformed Church’s Board got together to sign the contract for the purchase of their properties. It was a monumental moment in our church’s history and theirs as well. Not only did we step out in faith to raise the […]
Thoughts on “The Multi-Site Church Revolution”
It was great reading up on the whole multi-site revolution that is happening in the churches across the United States, as well as around the world. God is definitely up to something. This book highlighted various churches are and have become the catalyst for the movement. They also give some practical […]
The Call to Leadership Series
Last night I did a video sermon for this new series on leadership. I think the topic of leadership has been misunderstood by so many people. The majority of people have always looked at leadership in terms of a position. This is why people who are not great leaders think they […]