Articles for Church Newsletter

There is a story I heard a long time ago that comes back to me often when I think about the blessings we can share from generation to generation beyond time. There was a man who ran a family winery handed down through many generations. One day he was asked by a reporter when he would sell the wine he was putting in storage at that moment. He said, “ about 30 years from now.” The astonished reporter asked, “When did you store the wine you will sell this year then?” The winery owner sai...

The annual Spring Concert this year in May at First Presbyterian Church will be the fifth one since 2012. In my own history of music ministry in the USA, it has been 16 years. I started this annual concert at St. John’s Episcopal Church of Westland, Michigan in 2000, and I have not skipped a single year. I believe it benefits church music ministry in various ways. First of all, it gives us an opportunity to maintain and develop our musical skills, and also shows us musical goals to achieve....

Recently I have witnessed so many musical events that have been taking place in our community. Among them, the Cedar Valley chapter of the American Guild of Organists hosted “January Jubilee” last month.  The event was mainly to encourage and support part-time church musicians, including our local musicians.  Over 40 people, including some people from nearby cities and other states, participated.  The organization will have another big event, “Pipe Organ Encounter”, in June.  This tim...

If you have ever spent time on the phone, answering numerous recorded questions, and finally get the chance to hear a real human voice to talk with, you know how important it is for us to spend time with real people instead of machines.

One day, I made a mistake and responded to a suspicious email message regarding one of my bank accounts.  I recognized that it was a scam email right away and I called the number on the back of my bank card.  After spending a long time with the recorded voice, ...

When the time of letting the old year go and opening a new year came around, I spent some time thinking about what really matters in our lives.  What can really make our lives fruitful, enjoyable, and meaningful to ourselves and to others as well?

Right after the Christmas eve service, which was the last service I prepared this year,  I enjoyed several days of vacation.  During these days, I could have my favorite kind of time, which was to explore potential music for next year.  While doing...

"I am not lost. I am exploring." 
 
This is from a bump sticker message I saw this morning on someone's car. This car was in the parking lot of Creighton University in Omaha, so the car was probably a student's.  Grace is applying to a couple of pharmacy schools, so they are pretty good words she needs to keep in mind too. 
 
In the journey of life, we sometimes have no clear idea where we are or what step we should take next. During that kind of situation, people's advice or our trust on God...

In 8th century Korea, there was a monk who wrote "Song in Memory of a Deceased Sister."  The poem starts with this sentence, "Here are the ways of life and death, and you happened to leave even without being able to say 'I am leaving.'  Like leaves, falling down here and there from the wind in early Autumn , we don't know where we go even though we were born on the same branch...."   He was a Buddhist monk, so he might see life after death a little differently to our beliefs  as Christians.  ...

In Korea, there are two big holidays when families get together to celebrate:  the beginning of Fall (super moon day)and lunar new year.  As an immigrant family from Korea, my family and I happen to enjoy these holidays along with Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.  It depends on how  Miah and I take these holidays.  It can be double the excitement or double the loneliness for us because we don't have our parents and siblings here in the USA. 

This evening Miah talked with her parents over the p...