The Parable of the Reckless Samaritan Who Is My Neighbor? Mercy and generosity are terribly difficult for me. It turns out, I'm not alone. I remember back to my college days when a good friend of mine, Scotty, who was a member of the freshman Bible study I led came up to me after a meeting flustered and upset. We had talked earlier that night about giving to the poor. ...

Dear Family, We are thrilled with how well the Love the Door building campaign has been tracking. We have received over 60% of our commitments so far, and as an elder board, we are humbled by thegenerosity of ourchurch. We do need to update you on a recent turn of events, however. The landlord has sold the East building where the Live For More Center (or LMFC) is located...

Back in my early 20s I went to a church in Fayetteville, NC.Village Baptist Church. Great church. Had the old school choir of about 50 people in it who sang their hearts out every Sunday. And I decided to join it. I'll never forget as I was leaving the sanctuary one morning, and older man walked up to me and grabbed my head with large hands. He then puckered his lips and ...

Despair and the Key Called Promise Despair is it's everywhere. It's become such a part of our experience of life and society. Just a couple weeks ago, I learned that Kate Spade had been found dead in her apartment in New York City. I never bought a Kate Spade handbag but I admired that her philosophy of accessible fashion made a huge impact on women all over the world. De...

Brandee and I always dreamed of having kids. Even when we were kids, one of our greatest ambitions was to become parents. Well, you know, independently we didn't know each other when we were kids. But hey isn't it convenient that we eventually did meet each other? For most of us when we get married, the idea of kids is both exciting and terrifying. Being responsible for a ...

This past Sunday, our Lead Pastor shared a story about one of our elders who had a conversation on a company trip with his boss about a video of the Pope addressing a young boy's question about his deceased father. Not exactly work conversation (well, I guess it is for me, but not for most). Still, for our elder, it was an incredible opportunity to share with his boss what...

Who is he? He is in the beginning Coequal with the divine father and son God from God Perfect in essence United in substance Distinct in person He is Holy God, the unchanging one Power and might Silence and song Fire and Fragrance He is the very breath of God Hovering over the deep In the darkness he is light In the void his is creator In the decay he is sus...

But Some Doubted: Jesus' Response to the Hesitation of our Hearts This past Saturday, I experienced one of the greatest challenges of my life: coaching Sammy and Avvy's preschool soccer team. Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it was legitimately very difficult. The weather had taken an unexpected turn from sunny and 80 degrees the day before to mid-fortie...

How a Torn Piece of Fabric is the Greatest Hope for Humanity It's funny to me how many adults my kids know. I love that our church is a place where they have so many eemos (Korea for aunt) and uncles as a parent it gives me so much joy to know that they are well loved by my brothers and sisters in Christ. It gives me even more joy because they're experience with adults i...

Weakness How the Weakness of Jesus Rescues Us From Humanity's Vain Pursuit of Strength I hate feeling weak and nothing made me feel weaker when I was a kid than being an immigrant. My family immigrated to the U.S. from South Korea just before my fourth birthday, and growing up I had a very complicated relationship with my Koreanness. On the one hand I appreciated that I ...