"When the earth totters, . . . it is I who keep steady . . . Selah " (Psalm 75:3).  Do verses in Scripture sometimes just jump out and grab you? Stop you in your hurrying tracks and virtually demand that you pause and ponder them?  This one did to me this morning.   I had just returned late last evening from a delightful visit over the Thanksgiving break with dear friends at Handong in Pohang.  I enjoyed wonderful times of table fellowship, worship and ministry as I was invited to share a message from God's Word with the precious believers who gather at Pohang International Community Church (PICC). Travel around Korea is quite pleasant.  The highways are well-planned and always maintained to perfection, so driving across the pennisula is smooth and uneventful.  I was thankful to have been provided a vehicle again from Valor that made my trip a true joy -- no troubles, no accidents, no flat tires -- no tottering of the earth. But even when all ar...

  What is your pace of life? Do you find yourself always in a hurry? Do the pressures and demands of the immediate call you to urgency?  How's that working out?  How's your physical health?  How's your mental health?  And, above all, how's your spiritual health.  Now, I readily agree with brother Bonhoeffer when he says: Just as the Christian should not be constantly feeling his spiritual pulse, so, too, the Christian community has not been given to us by God for us to be constantly taking its temperature. The more thankfully we daily receive what is given to us, the more surely and steadily will fellowship increase and grow from day to day as God pleases. While it is true that we do not have to be constantly taking our "spiritual temperature," we would though do well, as I am learning once again through my life abroad, to acknowledge that the general pace of our life says a great deal about the depth of our life.  The more we feel that we are running,...

  This past weekend it was my true delight to travel to Seoul.  I didn't plan to tour any of the cultural sites or explore the shopping districts.  My sole objective (pun intended) was to spend time visiting with students I had the priviledge of teaching at Handong who are now engaged in a variety of callings serving others.  It turned-out to be a glorious autumn weekend filled with soul-refreshing times of fellowship! I stayed at a small guesthouse near Gyeongbokgung Palace that I had discovered last summer on my visit following an extended stay at L'Abri Fellowship in Yang Yang where I gave lectures on Luther during their summer session.  The guesthouse was very quiet and comfortable, so I enjoyed a restful night's sleep on Friday and arose energized to meet a day filled with appointments. I met my first student, Heather Moon, at a cafe near the metro station, and then we enjoyed a morning walk around the grounds of the Sajikdan Altar originally founded in 139...

This past Wednesday, I was asked to speak to our high school chapel on the topic of abiding in Christ.  Last week, the students were challenged and excited to participate in our school's autumn retreat.  Many were touched by the worship songs and our guest speaker's message from God's Word.   It was truly and literally a mountaintop experience as we all hiked up the mountain for the Thursday evening retreat service at the family camping facility located on the top of Bibongsan. Here are the videos of my chapel message: