Carwash anyone?

 The holidays are upon us and winter is here. Soon I'm sure we will see our first snow fall. Plow trucks will be out and the roads will be peppered with salt and sand. All of this will make for dirty cars in desperate need of a good wash.  Recently I went through a car wash, you know the kind where you can sit inside the car and go through the various stages.

 First an attendant uses a powerwash to get all the dirt and bugs off the fenders and at the base of the car. Then there is light mist to prewash before the first soaping. Long strands of fabric dangle in the air rubbing the car down as it passes through and then those twirling brushes, followed by multicolored soap, more wiping and a hard rinse, a soft rinse and then the fast blow drying...  Afterwards attendants clean the windows, wipe down the interior and finally vacuum the mats. Once the car makes it back to me, there is a final wipe down of any spots missed and then it's presented.

 Voila, my car looks new again! I almost forgot how nice a shiny black car looks when clean!  I didn't need a new car, I just needed a good wash to uncover the beauty that was already there underneath the gunk which had hardened on the exterior....

 I thought for a moment and it reminded me of the passage in John 13. Verse 10 says 'Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean.'  Did you get that?  Jesus says you are already clean, just your feet need a washing because it has dirtied while walking through this world.

 Sometimes the Lord may take a powerwash to forcefully release the sins that have hardened on our hearts and other times He will bring a soft mist to wet and soften strongholds before washing it gently away.  He uses whichever method he sees fit and sometimes pushes us through a wash cycle...  I can say for sure those powerwashes have been painful as I've walked through seasons of wilderness but looking back I realize why it was needed.

 As we celebrate the one true reason for this season, I hope we remember that He came to shed his blood so that we will be made clean, once and for all eternity!
 Next time you are at the car wash, take a moment to thank Jesus...

 With gratitude from an elder's heart... Michael

“Continue to Hope and Pray!”

Pastor’s Column: Rev. Brian Lee

I briefly mentioned last Sunday about what’s going on in Korea so let me use this column to share my thoughts on all the craziness that’s happening in Korea.
My heart is overwhelmed with grief, anger, and sympathy for my home country even as I write this.
I have never felt such a feeling about Korea regardless of what was happening in Korea over the last 20 years since I left Korea as a 14 year old in 1996. Maybe I was just too young and clueless to understand everything but now God is opening my eyes to see things more clearly.
It’s not a coincidence that I spoke on Nehemiah and Esther to Timothy the past two weeks. Nehemiah wept, fasted and received a calling to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem when he heard about the great trouble and disgrace of his home country (Nehemiah 1:3-4). In Esther chapter 3-4 we read that the Jews are in the verge of annihilation. When Esther was informed of the evil plot, she boldly speaks up by risking everything on the line to save all the Jews.
I heard someone say yesterday that people in Korea have lost smiles on their faces. People are not only in shock or angered by the whole situation, they are lost for HOPE. Who are they supposed to trust? Who has power to restore and set things right when the corruption has taken such a deep root in the government? Who’s going to restore the smiles on people’s faces? We find the same question in Ps 121:1 “I lift up my eyes to the mountains where does my help come from?” In the following verse we find the answer “My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Only God can heal, restore and make everything new. I pray and hope that people in Korea will seek God and find Him in this time of difficulty.
Let’s also continue to pray for the nation that we are living in. The election is coming up in two days. Many of might have already voted but let’s continue to lift up this nation and proclaim that God rules over this nation. In hopelessness, the hope of Jesus Christ is magnified. In darkness, the light of the Gospel will shine brighter for the whole world to see. God is calling the church to carry out its calling as a lampstand, the bearer of the light of Jesus. Let’s continue hope and pray!
“We wait in hope for the LORD; HE is our help and our shield. In HIM our hearts rejoice, for we trust in HIS holy name. May your unfailing love be with us Lord as we put our HOPE IN YOU.” (Ps 33:20-22)

“Seven Mountains” (Elder Alex Guo)

Isabella, Matthew and I are very grateful for your prayer covering while we were attending the Discipleship Training School (DTS)!
Looking back with hindsight, attending DTS was 100% God’s orchestration because He brought a specific speaker to unlock the meaning of the prophetic words given to us.  One was to build “new superhighway for missionaries” and the second was “to raise up a banner for His Nations”.  The speaker’s focus was on Isaiah 62 Highway.  Specifically, Isaiah 62: 10-“Pass through, pass through the gates!  Prepare the way for the people.  Build up, build up the highway!  Remove the stones.  Raise a banner for the nations.”  Through this speaker, I found out there is a new silk road being built from China connecting around 60 countries within the 10-40 window.  Our call is to build Kingdom businesses along the new Silk Road with focus on discipleship and social impact.  Kingdom business is real business and real mission.
Loren Cunningham, the founder of The Youth with a mission (YWAM) received a vision from God in 1975 regarding the 7 spheres of a society. Interestingly, Dr. Bill Bright, founder of campus crusade received the same vision around the same time and he called it the 7 mountains. A month later, Dr. Francis Schaffer also received the same vision. God was telling these 3 change agents where the battlefield was. The message was that in order to transform a nation, all 7 mountains of the society have to be transformed.
These 7 mountains are Business, Government, Media, Arts & Entertainment, Education, Family, and Religion.  Think of the 7 Mountains as the 7 areas of influence within a Nation. These 7 mountains shape the culture and the belief system of a Nation.  The laws of a Nation are shaped by the Government Mountain, the music, movies, TV shows contents are shaped by the Arts & Entertainment Mountain, the information represented in the news is shaped by the Media Mountain, and the school teachings given to our children are by the Education Mountain.  I think you get the picture.
We are doing a good job with the Religion Mountain, it is well established, protected, and anchored by many anointed leaders - but this is just one of the 7 mountains.  We need to take the other 6 mountains and anchor them with anointed leaders as well.  Imagine with me: the kind of movies and TV shows we would see if we have the Arts and Entertainment Mountain, the kind of Government we will have if we have more believers on the top of the Government Mountain as Mayors, Governors, Senators, Congressmen, VP and even President.  The same is for Education, Media, Family and Business.
I believe we are all called to be Kingdom missionaries:  Kingdom business missionaries, Kingdom Government missionaries, Kingdom Education Missionaries, and so on. What if all 7 Mountains are working together to represent God’s Kingdom here on earth?  What if all 7 mountains are working in concert with each other? It’s time to reclaim the other 6 mountains!
He has given us different gifts and talents, we are not made to be ordinary but to be extraordinary, we are call to be the head and not the tail.  We are called to be change agent, anchor and watchmen on all 7 mountains.
Which mountain will you take?

The true indicator of the health of a church is not the size of the congregation, the offering,
the staff, the building, or any of the worldly measures we like to use. I believe the true
indicator of a healthy church is a church that is fully and completely dedicated to fulfilling the
Great Commission. When evaluating all of our ministries, we are to ask ourselves, “Are we
going, sending and equipping people to do this?” “Are we involved in the disciple-making
process?” And if we are not doing that, then we ought to make changes or adjust our
ministries to bring them back into focus with the heartbeat of Jesus. The bottom line is this –
we are called to be Great Commission Christians and to build a Healthy Missional Church!
Jesus only mentions the church in two verses (Matthew 16:18 & 18:17). Based on these
verses, it would be difficult to determine that Jesus was focused on the size of the
attendance or the offering. As I read the Gospels, Jesus placed heavy emphasis on our
obedience as He sends His followers to go and make disciples. What if our church actually
focused on winning the lost and making disciples? And what if our church were intentional
about training every believer to make disciples who make disciples…so on and so on?
As your pastor, I want to see NCFC become a church that’s being filled with spiritual
multipliers: a church full of people who can reproduce themselves. Each of us taking the
responsibility of winning, teaching, baptizing, bringing people into the church, equipping
them and sending them back out. I pray that we would all be dedicated to such an
unending cycle of spiritual reproduction. For there’s nothing more important and powerful
than we, as a body of Christ, becoming this kind of people and church.
Over the years, I’ve noticed that new Christians often have fervor to share their faith.
In time, however, many find their hearts cooling off as they wander away from their
relationship with Jesus. I pray that we would all rediscover the passion of our early
Christian days! We must keep it fresh and vibrant in our daily walk with the Lord.
Meditate, read, and study the Word of God. Learn to remain in Him who promised
to remain in us (John 15). Take your personal time with the Lord and your prayer life
seriously. Take time today to praise God for His salvation. Then commit to carrying
out your part in the Great Commission by talking about Jesus with someone in your life.
Look around, we are surrounded by broken lives everywhere! No more excuses! No
time to waste! Let us reawaken the passion of going and making disciples for His
Kingdom!

Rev. Jason Kim

The U.S. Supreme Court nomination debate heating up since Justice Anton Scalia’s recent death is a historical moment for all Americans, especially Christians. The next Justice joining the Supreme Court will be a member of a very exclusive group whose decisions they make about our country will have far-reaching effects.
A law professor once made a comment about the U.S. Supreme Court that the individual justices on that court have a greater impact and influence on our society’s daily lives than either the President or any member of Congress. When you consider the full spectrum of cases they make final decisions on that shape our culture and society this is so true. One well-known example of this is the Miranda case. Everyone knows Miranda from movies and TV. But did you know that it originated from a Supreme Court case out of AZ in 1966? Ernesto Miranda confessed to a crime but the Supreme Court decided police must first advise a suspect of the constitutional rights against self-incrimination and the right to a lawyer. And thus to be Mirandized is to be advised “You have the right to remain silent, if you give up that right anything you say . . .” well, you know the rest.
Miranda was a 5-4 majority vote decision (so only 5 of 9 justices are needed to decide the law of the land!). Furthermore, the justices decide which 100 cases or so that they will even consider each year which is less than 3% of the thousands of possible cases filed for review. They’re influence throughout U.S. history is tremendous. They decided desegregation in public schools in 1954. They decided the 2000 presidential election. Recent cases involved issues of free speech, voting rights, campaign contributions, race-based college admissions and death penalty laws. All lives are touched, regardless of socio-economic class.
But in the Christian context, they’ve decided many controversial issues such as gay marriage, prayer in the school, creationism vs. science in education and abortion. You may be frustrated with the way the Court has seemingly decided against Christian values. God has been systematically removed from our culture and educational system. I think what has been occurring is that the American public is realizing for the first time that Christian traditions such as prayer in the school are technically unconstitutional under the doctrine of separation of church and state and that a vocal minority of non-Christians can successfully challenge these traditions in court and win. But did you know for the first time in the 225 year history of the Court, none of the justices are Protestant Christian? All are either Roman Catholic or Jewish and all are Ivy League law school grads.
The Republican controlled Senate is attempting to block President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee until after the presidential election in the Fall (although, the thought of a President Trump making his choice for Supreme Court is probably a shock to their senses). Judge Scalia’s replacement may very well turn out to be the pivotal swing vote to break the tie between an equally divided conservative and liberal Court. It’s likely in the coming years the Court will re-visit the landmark cases such as abortion as well as capital punishment to name a few. So I hope you see just how influential these Justices can be and take notice of the judicial process whose decisions ripple and reverberate across our entire country for generations. Does that make you sit up and take notice with a greater sense of urgency to vote in the Fall? I hope so. This is both our civil right and responsibility as Christian Americans.

From Pastor Mark’s Heart
March 20, 2016

This past week, an epic showdown took place that has been much anticipated for a very long time.  This battle has been talked about, blogged about, speculated about for months.  People have gotten into huge arguments over which side is right, which side is the one they are pulling for.  No, I am not talking about the Republican or Democratic debates.  I am talking about the preview for the new “Captain America: Civil War” movie due to release in May 2016.
I’ve been a comic book fan for quite a long time.  I can talk about comic book characters and story arcs longer than most people can talk about anything.  I know more about Wolverine’s origin story than my own children.  I have a collection of comic books stored in four huge plastic bins in my old bedroom in my parents’ house in NJ that I refuse to let my mom throw out.  I’ll be 33 years old this year.  My mom hates me.
We have this nook in the entryway of our home that my wife Mina likes to decorate with seasonal paraphernalia like garlands and bells at Christmas.  I make sure that a Batman figure is prominently exhibited in front of the display.  Whenever Mina takes it down, I promptly put it back up despite her warnings of impending death.  My wife hates me.
My kids have tons of super hero Legos and other figurines.  I get really upset with them when they mix up the pieces and lose them.  I yell at them and make them put them back in the right places and play with them “with the respect due to Silver Surfer and Green Lantern.”  My kids hate me.
Some people might say, “David, it’s time to grow up.  Let’s move on from comic books and focus on, you know, raising your children.”  To them, I’d respond, “Is being a grown up that fun?  Is it really that much better to let go of things you used to love as a child but is frowned upon now that you’re older?  Am I supposed to stop laughing at fart jokes now too?”  As the apostle Paul said, “BY NO MEANS!”
Sometimes, we the church take being a Christian too seriously.  We sit around and debate matters of theology and church business as if we are the very gatekeepers of all that is holy.  We sit in service and worship with frowns on our face, perhaps in concentration, but where is the joy?  Where is our childlike faith?  Where is our unbridled excitement and anticipation to be with our Father?  Maybe for some of us, we’ve been at this “church” thing too long.  Maybe for some of us, we feel like God stuff has to be serious stuff – this is the Creator of FOREVER we’re talking about, right?
Yes, this is all true.  And 1 Corinthians 13:11 says “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.”  But I think this has to do with matters of spiritual maturity, not necessarily the posture of our heart before our Father.  As a father myself, nothing makes me happier than when my kids are happy…especially when they’re just happy to be with me.  So while we should all be growing up into adults in terms of spiritual maturity, let’s remain children in our joy and anticipation of being with our Father.
Also, who wants to watch Captain America: Civil War with me?  My mom, wife, and kids all refuse to go.

From Pastor David’s Heart
March 13, 2016

What is ESL? And why should we start an ESL ministry? The past weekend, eleven of us from NCFC had the opportunity to attend an English as a Second Language (ESL) Training Seminar at Chapelgate Presbyterian Church in Marriottsville, MD. The training seminar was for churches who have a burden to start an outreach ministry, especially to their surrounding community of international students, immigrants, refugees, and non-native language speakers. NCFC is definitely situated in an international neighborhood and community in Germantown, MD, and there are still many who do not know our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ! We learned that the primary goal of church-based ESL ministries is “to intentionally share and demonstrate the gospel of Jesus Christ as we help people learn to speak English.”
Some of us were frightened at first by the packed schedule, which ran from 6pm to 9:30pm on Friday evening and from 8:45am to 5:30pm on Saturday. But after helping ourselves to a cup of Keurig coffee and the variety of sweet and salty snacks provided, we were ready to tackle the training! We learned the nitty gritty details of how to organize ESL classes and recruit/train volunteers, how to place students in the appropriate class levels, how to plan out an ESL lesson and effectively teach it, and how to deal with cultural misunderstandings. At the same time we also learned how to incorporate biblical material into our ESL classes. We realized that ESL ministry is more than just about providing quality language classes, but also about building relationships with people, meeting basic human needs, physically demonstrating Christ’s love, and providing a natural setting for sharing the gospel. Oftentimes, ESL ministries also result in new missions and church starts.
But perhaps the most inspiring part of the training seminar for me was the many testimonies that the trainer, Nancy, shared from her 25+ years of involvement in ESL ministry as a lay church member with no professional training in ESL. Here is one that I would like to share with you.
After much prayer and hard work, Nancy finally witnessed the wife of a Chinese couple come to believe in Jesus Christ as a result of attending ESL classes. Even though the husband is not a believer yet, both of them decided to start a weekly bible study at their home. At one point, they were expecting her parents to visit from overseas, and they were hoping that her parents would sit in on the bible studies as well. What they did not realize was that her parents were extremely against Christianity. In fact, they had called the police on a house church just above them in their apartment complex, which led to the church shutting down. As you can imagine, the parents were adamant about not joining the bible studies during their visit. But the Holy Spirit was working! By the second week, the pa rents were eavesdropping from the staircase in the house. By the third week, the parents continued to eavesdrop, this time pretending to clean in the kitchen which was situated closer to the bible study. By the fourth week, they were finally sitting in the bible studies. Her parents eventually became Christians through the bible studies, and returned overseas with the intention to start up the house church that they had originally helped shut down!
I hope this testimony inspires you as well. Our God has literally brought the nations to our doorsteps right here in Germantown, and he desires for us to engage with and transform our community for His namesake! May NCFC take on the call “to love those who are foreigners” (Deut. 10:19).

From Pastor Dave’s Heart
March 6, 2016

Wednesday night, my wife and I were craving some ice cream, so I went to the store to buy Haagen Daz Vanilla for her because that is what she wanted. I got Ben & Jerry’s Cookies & Cream Cheesecake Core, which contains half cookies & cream and half chocolate ice cream with cheesecake flavor in the middle. We were able to enjoy our ice cream in peace as Andrew was sleeping. Poor boy, doesn’t know the joy of ice cream yet.
Thursday night, I get home after our young adults Bible study and my wife tells me that she really wants some chocolate ice cream (AKA half my ice cream)! I told her to just enjoy her vanilla Haagen Daz, and that she should have chosen chocolate instead of vanilla yesterday. After several minutes of dialogue, I reluctantly went to the freezer and took out my Ben & Jerry’s ice cream along with two spoons. We sat there eating MY ice cream together. I was holding onto it for dear life. I was literally hugging it. She had to reach over my arms for every bite. It was so painful watching her take spoonful after spoonful of MY ice cream, while hers was nicely tucked away in the freezer.
When I had first bought the ice cream, I was thinking how nice it was going to be to savor every bite and just really fully enjoy it all to myself. She had her vanilla, so surely, she wouldn’t bother to eat any of mine. I think it was the shock at how wrong my thinking was, that made it so hard for me to share my ice cream with her. To be fair, my wife is not some evil ice cream stealer. She is a very kind and sweet person. We are both just very passionate when it comes to ice cream.
About half way through, I was able to let go of my death grip and actually place the ice cream in the middle of us. We were able to finish the rest of it in peace. I realized that it was only ice cream. I could always buy more. As much as we both love ice cream, there is no need to be so serious about it.
I think love has a way of putting things in perspective. Whatever your “ice cream” might be, we realize that it’s not greater than the ones you love. You wouldn’t want your “ice cream” to come between you and the people you love. To take it one step further, you wouldn’t want your “ice cream” to come between you and God. Having been in a relationship with God for some time now, there are many things that I had to let go because it was interfering with our relationship.
Looking back at each of them, I do not view them as a loss at all. I do not regret giving them up for God. I have definitely gained more than what I gave up for my relationship with Him. Moving forward, I know that there will be more things that I will have to let go, and I will gladly do so because my relationship with God is far greater than whatever that might be.
Do we have “ice cream” that is coming between you and your loved ones? You and God? I hope that we can realize that in the end, those things are not greater than the relationships that we have. As people of God, we should be putting way more value in people and relationships rather than things. That is the example we see from Jesus. He had love for God the Father and the lost. He never had a love for things. Everything He did was for God and for people. Let’s take the time to invest in relationships rather than things.

From Pastor Eugene’s Heart

February 28, 2016

Remember the story that I shared last Sunday about my soccer tryouts? It was probably one of the most embarrassing memories I can recall during my high school years other than all the silly mistakes I made not knowing much English. As I was preparing my sermon, God brought up this shameful memory and highlighted an area that I overlooked because I was so caught up in not making the team. So even after I told the story on Sunday, I couldn’t shake off the thought of appreciation and love for my brother. Now that I think back, I should have told my brother how much I appreciated his loving and courageous act that he showed on that day. Can’t believe my brother, as a teenager himself, decided to come run with me for another mile or two after he finished the five mile run. I honestly don’t think I would have done that for my brother. Although I love him very much, I would have been very embarrassed of him and would not have had the courage to run out to finish the race together. No wonder I’m the younger brother!
Many of you may not know my brother Jacob. He is only two years older than me so we basically grew up together going to arcades, playing sports and even getting in trouble together in our early teenage years. When I was in 4th grade, I got in trouble with some older bullies in my school because I stood up against them. They threatened to beat me up after school for what I did. So that day my brother, along with some of his friends came out and protected me from those bullies. It sounds so silly now but it mattered greatly then because I was so scared that something might happen to me. Another memory that I have is when we got into big trouble because we stole something and lied to our dad. Long story short, my brother took everything on himself and kept me from getting a good “spanking” from my dad for what we did together. We lived in a house with two rooms at that time and I remember that in one of the rooms, my brother was being disciplined and in the other room, I was crying because of what my brother did for me. There are many more stories I can share but due to limited space I can’t. Just wanted to share that my brother has been there for me all along and I truly honor and love him for being such a wonderful brother to me.
Please understand that I’m not trying to brag about my family and how blessed I am. I shared about my brother because his love helped me to understand how Jesus loves and cares for me. And what I want to ask is that we need to practice such love toward one another in the context of church communities as well. We have been brought together as a family through the wonderful work of Jesus Christ.
There is a story of friends who brought a paralytic to Jesus in Luke 5. These men must have had a great desire (love) to see a paralytic get healed so they went out of their way to make sure that he is seen by Jesus. When they could not get through the crowd, the friends went on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. What a wonderful picture of how a faith community can be! These men didn’t care about what others thought of them. They were willing to do whatever it takes to bring their friend to Jesus. How many of us will go out of our way to help and minister to a brother or sister in our community? And how far will you go to bring someone to Christ? I just love how the bible describes that the paralytic was brought “right in front of Jesus.” There might be people in your life that you want to bring to Christ. What are you willing to do and how far will you go to bring that person “right in front of Jesus?” Something to think about…
BTW, my sister (Jenna) who might be reading this right now may feel left out that I didn’t write anything about her. I will do that in my next column!  

From Pastor Brian’s Heart
February 21, 2016

A couple of Sundays ago, I shared the story of Cornelius from the book of Acts and said that it was a very important event in the early church that brought about change to break the cultural barrier in order for the gospel to move from Jews to Gentiles. Most people don’t like change because change is uncomfortable, and it can be hard. Churches are known for resisting changes. Even when people know in their head that the change would be good and pleasing to God, they still resist.
And yet we all know also that responding to change well is critical to our success in everything we do, especially doing God’s work. Jesus rebuked the religious leaders of his day because they couldn’t read the signs of the times and refused to change. And change doesn’t come easy either. With change comes much uncertainty and unsettledness, if it is a major change.
But during the unsettling times, it will help people to keep moving forward if they can focus on what can or might be done, rather than fixating on events over which they have no control because with change new opportunities are created. Of course, with new opportunities you are going to face new challenges. But when you allow your uncomfortableness and turbulence to push you forward, you will be able enter into uncharted territories and gain new experiences in life.
When we were dealing with a major change as a church three years ago, we were faced with much doubt, unknowns, uncomfortableness and unsettledness. But God told us to stay calm and focus on Him alone and later gave us His assurance through His Word as we were going through a transition as a congregation from Isaiah 43:18-19, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Basically what He said was, “I know what’s going on, and your situation is under My control, and I am going to fix it. You simply watch what I do, and trust and follow My lead.” And God brought many great speakers through our conferences and spoke to us the words that we needed to hear on a timely basis as well. God’s faithfulness was great and amazing.
Also, during this transition time, God challenged every one of us to step up and be involved in the process. He taught us how we should work together as a team rather than depending on a few gifted and capable leaders who are making all decisions and giving directions. He also wanted us to understand that God’s work is not depending all on your gifting, abilities, or intelligence. Rather God wanted everyone to be involved in His work and to give whatever they could give, and work together as a team through acceptance, patience, love and forgiveness. God was making a cultural change in our congregation. And I truly believe you’ve responded well.
I personally want to thank all of you for trusting and believing in our leadership during this transition time, even though none of us were best qualified for doing His work. Our pastoral and support staff worked hard and faithfully, and we functioned well as a team. Our lay leadership was just amazing. They served willingly and sacrificially. But most of all, our God’s been so faithful and gracious to us, and He never let us down.

It’s been an amazing ride. Now the time has come to pass the baton, and God has perfectly orchestrated it. With the new Sr. Pastor expected to come on board, God’s work at NCFC will continue on in even greater measures. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us as we move forward. Once again, thank you all and God bless!

From Pastor Neil’s Heart
February 14, 2016

Except for a few remaining dirty piles of snow here and there, the trace of the blizzard of 2016 is almost all gone.  Looking at the roads in front of my house, it’s hard to believe they were once covered with up to 36 inches of snow, trapping my entire family inside for 5 days.  I enjoy living in a single house on a quiet cul-de-sac except when a monster snow storm hits and the VDOT trucks visit your neighborhood last!  I had to use a vacation day because I couldn’t go in to work. Finally I made an arrangement for Pastor Eugene to pick me up at the nearest plowed road.  Imagine how ecstatic I was when I heard the beeping sound of the plow truck later that night!
I am sure everyone has a story or two to share about the blizzard of 2016.   As much as I desperately wanted to be set free from my ‘house arrest’, I do have to admit I enjoyed the valuable time I got to spend with my family.  Thank God we had food (lots of it!) and electricity to keep us warm and entertained.  We even got to play a fun board game called Sequence!
The VA Campus was closed altogether because of the unplowed parking lot. My family had our own family worship and was greatly inspired by one of Francis Chan’s Youtube messages. I was supposed to preach that Sunday so I had a sermon ready, but I would have felt awkward preaching to just my own family, especially with our dog sitting there as well!  My husband and I also joined the KC Service being broadcast live from the MD Campus via internet.  I was indeed thankful to those who ventured out in the snow to make the live broadcast possible. Rev. Dae Young Kim, the KC Senior Pastor, had to walk to the nearest plowed road to be picked up by one of the elders. No one would have complained had he decided to close the church, but he has emphasized the importance of the corporate Sunday Worship all along, and he was determined to ‘walk the talk.’ 
The church service being affect by the blizzard reminded me of the conversion story of Charles Spurgeon, one of the greatest British preachers of the 19th century.  Though he grew up in a Christian home, he always struggled with his salvation. He felt condemned by God. One winter Sunday morning, the 15-year-old Spurgeon left home to go to church, but due to a major snow storm, he had to take a detour onto a side street. There he entered a small church to escape the snow storm.  Only a handful of people were sitting inside, and an unknown substitute preacher nervously stepped into the pulpit and read his text, Isaiah 45:22 “Turn to me and be saved,  all you ends of the earth;  for I am God, and there is no other.”
What happened next was recorded in Spurgeon’s Autobiography as follows:
 “He had not much to say, thank God, for that compelled him to keep on repeating his text, and there was nothing needed—by me, at any rate except his text.… Then I had this vision—not a vision to my eyes, but to my heart. I saw what a Savior Christ was.… Now I can never tell you how it was, but I no sooner saw whom I was to believe than I also understood what it was to believe, and I did believe in one moment.”
The sovereign God had orchestrated the events of that day to deliver Spurgeon from his misery and call him as his instrument for the next 40 years.  We serve the same amazing God. Whether we are going through a monstrous snow storm in life or enjoying a warm sunny day, we should remember “that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28)

From Pastor Sara’s Heart
February 7, 2016

Spiritual giftings such as prophetics, healing and speaking in tongues are always amazing to encounter. Our God is a mighty and awesome God and so naturally we’re drawn to actual manifestations of the works of the Holy Spirit. But is there more to what we merely see on the surface level? In the last several years we’ve had the opportunity to witness and experience these kind of supernatural displays of God’s power during the various conferences and retreats.
Hearing the message over the last weekend when Pastor Stephen and his wife Ann spoke was another reminder of what we’ve learned from previous retreats/conferences about the timing of the impartation of spiritual gifting. Pastor Stephen and Ann shared not only of how God speaks to us through visions and dreams and Scripture, but more importantly of their deep relationship with Abba Father as their Lord and Savior. Pastor Stephen shared that we are all promised the fullness of the Spirit but as followers of Christ where is our hunger and desire for this anointing? Apostle Paul tells us we should want and desire these spiritual gifts. But at the same time we ought not expect them to simply fall into our laps out of random coincidence. Much discipleship and discernment is needed.
There were two common themes I observed from these various pastors speaking about developing spiritual gifts. One was that they first and foremost pursued a deep and intimate love for the Lord. And it wasn’t until then that spiritual gifting began to flow from that relationship. According to my notes, when Pastor Shin spoke at the church retreat last September he shared that his physical healing ministry didn’t come about for 10 ten years despite the fact he fasted and prayed for up to 5 hours daily and even then he humorously shared that his initial gift of healing others only started out healing minor allergies before progressing to an ability of greater physical healing. Can you imagine waiting on the Lord for 10 years!?!
A second theme that struck me about developing spiritual gifting such as speaking in tongues and prophetics is that one would need to continue to work at them in order to fully realize this gifting. Even Pastor Jamie had made comments in years past that one would have to practice speaking in tongues in order to fully develop this gift. And Pastor Shin also remarked that one should spend time in discipleship with those who have these giftings in order to get better at them. I realize developing this kind of supernatural gifting isn’t exactly a hard science but it came as somewhat of a surprise to me to hear that one would need to continue to work at developing and refining spiritual gifting. I’m pretty sure these are all very simple matters for God and that He didn’t have to “practice” them like one would have to practice scales to learn a musical instrument. But perhaps that’s the very point about our having to work at these miraculous works- our physical human minds and bodies are but crude vessels to be used as divine instruments of God. So it may very well take years of devotion and intimate pursuit of God in order for the Spirit to refine and align one’s mind and body with God in order to be used in this way. Pastor Stephen stated that spiritual giftings and the power of the Holy Spirit are not limited to only a chosen few but are for all who believe. But the message was also that these giftings are not merely a superficial display of God’s power pleasing to the eye but rather they flow from a place of deep commitment and intimacy with the Lord in ways that strengthen, encourage and comfort others. Maybe that’s the kind of lifelong relationship God intended all along for each and every one of us amen to that. Otherwise, as Pastor Stephen put it, we might just become spiritual body builders with all of this muscle but with no real greater purpose.

From Pastor Mark’s Heart
January 31, 2016

This past week, I said goodbye to one of my good friends as he moved on to the next chapter in his life.  Ok that sounds kinda morbid like he died but actually he just moved to Kansas City.  You guys know him as Pastor Keeyoung.
In the past, I used to have a lot of trouble dealing with change.  When I was younger, I never wanted to go far away from home and I always got upset whenever one of my friends moved away.  In fact, when I first moved to Maryland from NJ, I used to go back to the land of pizza and bagels at least once, sometimes even twice once a month just so I could see my friends again.  I tried convincing my parents to send me to Rutgers University, the equivalent of 13th grade in NJ, so I could stay close to home instead of going to UVA which seemed millions of miles away.  (In hindsight, that decision turned out ok… hehe hi, Mina!  I guess parents are right sometimes)
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve either grown more accustomed to change or just accepted it as a part of life.  There are moments it still hits me, like when I look at my oldest son, Josiah, and realize he’s about to turn 4.  I remember when he was born and looked like an alien and couldn’t do anything for himself.  Now he comes into my bedroom and tells me my breath smells.  Even Connor pushes me out of the way when I try to hug him sometimes.  They have become toddler teenagers already.
But change is a part of life.  And one of the reasons I’ve come to accept change better is because I recognize that it’s a necessary part of growth.  Particularly as a pastor of the young adult group, I’ve seen so many people come and go to our church the past few years as part of obedience to the Lord.  And while selfishly, I’ve always wanted them to stick around, I know that their leaving is part of God’s plan for their life.  God has always done the same thing; whether it’s Abraham’s obedience in leaving Harran, Paul’s obedience in going all over Europe and Asia, God is constantly calling many of us to go.  This is not to say that staying somewhere is disobedience to God – in fact, staying somewhere is a calling itself and sometimes even more difficult to obey!  But the truth is, staying or going are decisions mature men and women of faith need to deal with at periods of transition.  By ignoring the tugging at our hearts or the wrestling we need to do with the Lord, we are simply putting our heads in the sand and not living out the full lives that Jesus died to give us, lives worthy of the calling we have received (Ephesians 4:1).
So, even as I said goodbye to my friend, my heart was filled with more joy and excitement than sadness.  I have no claim on his life, on his future any more than I do on any of your lives.  We all belong to the Lord and our tomorrows are His.  How can we say no to the One who always says yes to us?  He has our future in His hands, and if we say He’s a good good Father, then why wouldn’t we obey Him?  Romans 8:28 says “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”  As Deuteronomy 31:8 states, “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”  So I won’t.
Though there will be an empty space on my couch where Keeyoung used to take naps, I’m at peace knowing that he’s gone because God said to go.  Besides, now Frank can fully stretch out on the couch without worrying about kicking Keeyoung’s head.  By the way, Frank, you’re not allowed to move anywhere.

From Pastor David’s Heart
January 17, 2016

“A few more minutes, Dad!” was the groggy response I heard back as I tried to wake my 2 older boys. With the start of the New Year, I have asked Caleb and Caden to commit to waking up early with me to do bible reading and devotionals before they head off to school (in the past, we had read the bible together before bedtime). With Old Man Winter finally arriving, the lure to stay a little longer in a warm and cozy bed is very inviting. Lately, God has placed on my heart the hope and prayer to see the next generation raised up, a creative and passionate generation who would be willing to take steps of faith and at the same time persevere when the going gets tough!
Working with the younger generation can be very capricious at times (just ask any parent)! There are days when you scratch your head and wonder if any change will come about. But I was reminded of God’s goodness and faithfulness in the midst of our perseverance through a Facebook message I received a few months into our Home Assignment here in the U.S. Over ten years ago when I was still a single man, working as a civil engineer, God had given me the privilege to meet up and disciple a group of students at the University of Maryland.  Week after week for about four years, I would commute to campus right after getting off work, and lead a bible study with this group of young men in their dorm room. After they graduated, we parted ways and I didn’t feel like much really resulted from my efforts.
A couple months ago I received a Facebook message from one of the young men in that group. All he wrote was, “Thanks for making those long commutes out to College Park, Dave!” And right under the message was a link to a testimony he wrote for a Christian website. You have to understand that he was the only non-Christian in the group at that time. In fact, he shared in his testimony that he was furious when confronted with the existence of hell and the exclusivity of Jesus as Savior and Lord in one of our bible studies. He even exclaimed that he would rather be in hell than believe in our kind of God. But along his spiritual journey, he came to believe in Jesus Christ by God’s grace through the Alpha Course in a local church, and is now currently a fourth year graduate student at Westminster Theological Seminary preparing to be a pastor.
So what is the point of sharing this story? Sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with the younger generation is not always easy. Ministering to and discipling the next generation is not always effortless. Many times we may not see any immediate results or fruit either. Yet, the bible says, “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58).
With the recent Timothy Retreat, it was quite encouraging to see so many young adults be small group counselors – to listen, to love, to pray, and to pour into the lives of the Timothy students. As a church, may we recognize the need for inter-generational ministry, and learn to cherish and invest in the next generation with perseverance!

From Pastor Dave’s Heart
January 10, 2016

No, I’m not talking about the New York Football Giants. They’re not going anywhere (sorry P. David! I feel you though as a Cowboys fan). I’m talking about the Timothy group. This past week we had our Timothy winter retreat and the theme was “Giants Are Birthed From The Intimate Places.” On the last night, Pastor Chris really challenged all of us to rise up as giants for the Lord. He shared with us his vision and dream that he had 11 years ago. In this dream, he saw a lion roaring and behind the lion were 10,000 youth marching into battle in the DMV area.
It’s no secret that the DMV, along with the rest of America, needs revival. We, as a country, have strayed too far from God. This was a Christian nation, but I don’t think that can be said any more. We are in need of revival and it will come from the next generation. We have a hungry generation who are waiting to rise up for the Lord. They are not just little kids who are up to no good. These are young men and women. They are capable of doing so many things. In fact, I don’t like it when people call the Timothy students kids. They are not kids. If we call them kids and think of them as kids, then that’s what they’ll amount to be.
Let’s think of them as young men and women, and challenge them. We have no idea what they’re capable of when we encourage them and look at them as young men and women. Did you know the youngest person to sail around the world solo was a 16 year old girl named Lauren Dekker in 2012? A sophomore in high school invented a pancreatic cancer detection tool. An 18 year old girl invented a gadget that can fully charge your phone in 20 to 30 seconds. (How many of us would really like one of those?)
The point I’m trying to make is that these teenagers are capable of doing great things and we need to help them discover their potential. If we were to turn to the Bible, David was believed to only be 12 to 14 years old when he killed Goliath. Daniel was 16 when he was taken captive and thrown into the lion’s den. Joseph was also a young man who God used to save His people. We see that God uses young people to do His work.
As we end 2015 and enter 2016, my hope and prayer is that our Timothy students will become giants for their generation. That they will be willing to stand up and fight for their faith. That they would give their lives to the advancement of the gospel. That they would allow God to use them in whatever way He pleases. Our Timothy group is hungry for God. I was so blessed and encouraged by the response on the last day to become giants. I believe almost everyone came forward to give their lives to God.
So the next time you see a Timothy student doing something stupid (we know this happens fairly often), instead of dismissing it as them being kids, please take the time to teach them. Take the time and invest into the lives of these young people. Take the time to challenge them and show them what it means to follow Christ. It’s great that we have so many college and young adults who invest into these teenagers, but older adults (40+) they need you too. You’re not “too old” for these students. You have a ton of wisdom and experience to offer to these young people. Let’s be a church that’s dedicated to turning our young people into giants. Giants who will love the Lord and live for Him. Keep watch. Here come the giants! Amen!

From Pastor Eugene’s Heart
January 3, 2016

Timothy is leaving for the retreat today. We have not had our own youth group retreat since last winter retreat. So many kids and counselors are looking forward to spending the next three days at the Skycroft Retreat Center. We have a total of 116 kids, 29 counselors, 3 parent volunteers and 3 pastors signed up. These numbers are so special because we have been praying for God to move the hearts of many students to attend the retreat.  Thank God for answering our prayers! Praise the Lord!
One of the first questions I like to ask students and counselors at the first small group is about their expectation of the retreat. Many come with an expectation to be challenged and renewed but we always have a few who reluctantly gave in their parents’ request. To me, I really don’t mind whether the students came willingly or reluctantly because I know that God has a special plan for each student and He will do amazing work that I can’t even imagine of with my limited human mind. There is just something about the retreat atmosphere that makes it very hard for people to resist God. So I trust in God that He will accomplish His good plan that He has in stored for this retreat.   
Our theme this year is “Giants are birthed out of Intimate Places”. There is no short-cut or an easy  way when it comes to becoming a Giant for the Kingdom of God. It’s not the talent or the “gift” that a person has that make him/her a giant. Giants are made through a process of life through personal and intimate places, and many times through difficult trials. Joseph went through so many trials as a young man however, he remained faithful to God and God used him to save many people’s lives. David was trained at a young age to tend his sheep not knowing that he was gonna be a king one day. When he was faithful to carry out his daily duties of life as a young shepherd boy, God anointed and used him to shepherd His people.
I believe God is going to raise up many young men and women of NCFC to become heroes of faith who will impact the world with the power and the love of Jesus Christ. Someone once said it takes a village to raise up a leader. I wholeheartedly agree with that statement. As parents, friends, mentors, brothers and sisters we need to respond to God’s calling to intercede and jump in this together!  So I ask you, the church, to join me in praying for the Timothy and the counselors. Please pray that both youth and the young adults will encounter God in a very personal and special way. Pray also that their hearts will be stirred up to rediscover their love for Jesus!
Lastly, I want to give an important tip to the visitors. We always welcome visitors to come and pray for us, but we LOVE visitors who bring things to make our tummies feel good. Just saying…=)

From Pastor Brian’s Heart
December 27, 2015

I was watching a documentary program on TV which covered a business district in Pusan, Korea where many street stalls were located that sell a variety of popular street food and drinks. A street stall, also called “Po-jang-macha” in Korean, is a popular place to have a snack or drink late into the night. The documentary captured various aspects of what was happening on the street.
As I was watching the program, an interview with a man who was eating and drinking by himself in a street stall vendor caught my attention. When he was asked why he was there alone, he said he’s been coming to this particular street stall for over 20 years since he was in his early thirties, and he began to reminisce about his life. Then he said, “Isn’t life a rental? No matter how much or how little you acquire or accumulate in this world when you leave this world, you must leave everything here because you can’t take anything with you. We own nothing here, and we’re all going back to the same place where we came from…”
King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 5:15, “Naked a man comes from his mother’s womb, and as he comes so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand.” Solomon was a man who lived his life with no restraints. But, did you know that at the end of the journey of his life, he was a very unhappy man? He starts out by saying in Ecclesiastes 1:2, “’Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly Meaningless! Everything is meaningless!” He had done and achieved much but his life was empty. He found life to be miserable and hopeless. He left God out of his life and ended up with nothing but emptiness for his life.
Are you living a meaningful and hope-filled life? You can only find a true meaningful and hope-filled life when you are tightly connected with God. Your life will remain empty and meaningless if you continue to seek a meaningful life from this world. People all around us are trying to find the same thing in many different ways, and you can go with the flow. Yes, you can argue that Solomon had and did all he wanted to do in his life, and that’s why he was able to say that. But when Solomon came to the conclusion of his life, he says in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, “Now all had been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”
You know what? You will never have enough in this world. Isn’t that the mark of our society? The insatiable desire for more... When you get a little bit, you will always want a little bit more. We are never satisfied with the money we make. Instead, we desire more money, a better job, and more and more of … We must remember that contentment is not found in more of this world. Contentment can only be found in a relationship with Jesus Christ.
The man at the street stall vendor (Po-jang-macha) in Korea at least recognized the reality of his life. He came to realize that his life was a rental, and knew when he leaves this world; he must leave everything behind here. Now the question is how about you? Do you keep looking to more of this world to find fulfillment in your life or are you trying to find the true meaning of your life through your relationship with Jesus Christ? Our life can only be a rental in this world, but in God’s Kingdom, your life is yours because God gives you a life that is permanent and everlasting through his Son Jesus Christ! That is what Christmas is all about. Jesus came to give you everlasting life which is not a rental but your own. Have a merry Christmas!!

From Pastor Neil’s Heart
December 20, 2015

Earlier this month, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the birth of his daughter and his plans to give away 99 percent of his Facebook shares, valued at $45 billion, throughout his life time. The donation will fund a charitable initiative to try to make the world a better place for children in the next generation.  As soon as I heard the news, I was busy calculating how much money the Zuckerbergs will be left with. Even after giving away 99 percent, they would still have $450 million in stock!  ‘No wonder,’ I thought to myself, ‘If I were them, I would give away 99.9 percent!’ 
With all kidding aside, it is admirable that the Zuckerbergs decided to make such a generous donation.  What impresses me even more, however, is the fact that they made this decision so early in life. They didn’t wait till their 60’s or 70’s, till after having indulged themselves to the fullest first. I find it quite refreshing and inspirational.  I hope more young people follow their suit.
Ironically, about the same time, I came across an article addressing the negative effects of social media such as Facebook or Instagram upon young people.  The article states the suicide rate among 15 to 24-year-olds in the U.S. has increased steadily over the years.  College counseling centers report that a majority of their clients suffer from severe psychological problems such as anxiety and depression.  So what is going on?  Is life really that bad for our young people?
There is no simple answer as to why our young people struggle so much, but the article points to social media as one of the contributing factors. It points out how kids (and adults) post pictures of their unrealistic life on social media, and viewers believe it and get jealous or even depressed by it.  We Photoshop. We touch up. We edit.  We exaggerate.  Social media fails to tell the whole truth, and many young people feel like they are the only ones struggling while everyone else is doing great – taking amazing family vacations, enjoying delicious meals, being invited to special events, etc.  
After having read the article, I visited Facebook, and sure enough I too felt conflicted:
She never ages (But I have tons of age spots and wrinkles)
They are going on another vacation (I have too much work to enjoy my life)
They are engaged! (What’s wrong with my children?)
And I am guilty as well.  We took tons of family pictures at Thanksgiving, and before my daughter could post them on Facebook, I inspected each picture to pick out the best one.   It didn’t matter how everyone else looked as long as I looked good! 
With or without social media, the fact of the matter is that our fallen human nature yearns for the praise from men more than praise from God. It seeks the approval of men rather than the approval of God.  Unless we find true satisfaction and fulfillment in who we are in Jesus Christ, not in what we do or what we have, we will never be fully content no matter how successful we become. The words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinth. 4:18 is a good reminder that there is more to life than meets the eye.  “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”  Let us rejoice over the promise and the amazing ‘picture’ of heaven described in the Bible.  And that’s not an exaggeration. It’s the whole truth.  I ‘Like’ it a lot!
 
From Pastor Sara’s Heart
December 13, 2015