John Louk

How are we doing, making disciples of Jesus Christ who transform the world? 2014 was a great year! Each year, in assessing the state of Salem, we take a look at some benchmark statistics. Our membership now includes 227 people. We also have 34 baptized infants and children— so 261 total. This past year 6 members died, 3 transferred to other congregations, and 8 were received as new members. We have received 66 new members since arriving at our current location a little over four years ago! We actually put the brakes on receiving new members this past year as we worked on our new discipleship pathway. We have several wonderful people who have been waiting to become members and we will receive them this year. Our worship attendance increased again. We averaged 185 this past year, up from 177 the year before. That equals 71% of our members and baptized infants/children! While that is fantastic, our goal is to have an average attendance that is higher than the number of our m...

Philip told Nathanael about Jesus and said to him, “Come and see.” John 1:43-46 A woman called and made an appointment to see me. She told me she had moved to Cedar Rapids and had visited five churches. Out of those five visits, only once did people at the church speak to her. That one church was Salem. I was saddened to hear of her experience at the other congregations. I was pleased and a little relieved to hear that she experienced at Salem what so many do: a warm and hospitable welcome. This simple habit of intentionally speaking to others at church cannot be overestimated. I told her what I’ve shared many times. When I first arrived at Salem, the leaders told me that Salem is a very friendly, warm and caring congregation. I thought to myself, “Okay, well, we’ll see.” After all, there are a lot of congregations that consider themselves to be warm and friendly when in fact, not so much. But it turned out that Salem is exactly that. Over and over again, guests come and tell me ...

Jeff, a long-time member of Salem, makes lots of phone calls. He leads the Tuesday prayer room. If you fill out a yellow prayer card and put it in the offering, Jeff and others will pray for your request. He will likely call you to see if there has been an answer to the prayer. He calls people in the church regularly. A year ago, we asked Jeff made calls to church members as part of the Salem Rising capital campaign to encourage them to come to worship for the Salem Rising kick-off. That Sunday, a woman in our congregation (who said I could share this) came out after the 11 am service and said, “Now, who is this Jeff that called me?” I looked around and saw Jeff getting into his car and pointed him out. I said, “There he is.” She said, “He called me.” I said, “Yes, he made calls this week to members to encourage them to come to worship today.” She said, “Oh, he called everyone?” I said, “Yes.” She looked around sheepishly and said, “When I got the call I was in Las Vegas,...

"I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry." — Jesus Haven you ever enjoyed a really wonderful meal? Imagine, the chef brings you an amuse-bouche, a little bite of food to entertain the mouth, awaken the senses, and create a desire for more. For instance, bacon wrapped dates with almonds are a wonderful amuse-bouche. The salty crisp bacon with sweet chewy dates with a rich almond center definitely amuse the mouth. Next, a warm, butternut squash soup or a crisp, fresh salad is set before you, offering more enjoyment and something more filling, too. Sometimes that’s all you need for enjoyment and sustenance. Still, to have complete nourishment for our bodies, we need the entrée, the main course. The steak and baked potato, shrimp fettuccine Alfredo, chicken cordon bleu, leg of lamb, or roasted pork loin is set before you, served with a side of bacon, uh, I mean, with a side of asparagus or brussels sprouts. After all of that, even if you’re qui...

Two teachers were once applying for the same position at a local school. One had been teaching for eight years and the other for twenty. Everyone expected the teacher with the greater experience to get the job, but when a decision was made, the person with eight years of experience was chosen. The other teacher complained. “I’ve been teaching for twenty years compared to her eight, ″ he said. “I’m vastly more qualified.” The School Board said, “It’s true, you do have twenty years of teaching compared to her eight. But where she has eight years of experience you have one year of experience repeated twenty times.” It’s a hard truth: the progress of time doesn’t automatically mean growth or learning from our experience. What about you? Have you examined your life? Have you taken an honest look at your growth over time, or are you the same person doing the same thing each year? Or as Jesus says, are you bearing fruit? The Apostle Paul encourages this examined life. He tells ...

"I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Genesis 12:2-3 A couple weeks ago I was the last one leaving the church after a meeting. I met an older couple walking through the parking lot, looking at our construction. I asked if they lived in the neighborhood and they said they did. In fact, they had been to Salem’s building. They had their condo association meeting in our facility, and they’d also come to one of the men’s dinners and voted at Salem. I asked if they were part of a church already and they said they were. I said they were always welcome to walk on our property and look at the construction and eat at our dinners and vote and anything else. They said they appreciated knowing that. It seemed they felt like they were trespassing a bit until I told them Salem is a place that’s meant for the community and they are welcome whether or not they are part of the church. I to...

She said, “It’s time.” My body tensed. I closed my eyes and thought, “ No .” In my head I knew it was coming at some point, but now that the time had arrived, I didn’t want to go through it. As I write this, today is the seven month anniversary of my open heart surgery to replace my aortic valve. They wheeled me in to the operating room at 7:00 am. They took me to the intensive care unit about 2:00 pm. Seven hours. I first remember my wife, Joy, patting me on the shoulder and saying, “It’s OK, you’re waking up, you’re in the ICU.” The rest of the details of that day are sketchy at best. I do remember trying to tell my family that they should leave so they could get some sleep. It had been a long day for everyone. When I was alone, I thought it was late at night. It was dark in my room and it felt like I’d been in the ICU for long time. I asked what time it was and the nurse said, “Oh, it’s just 8:30 pm.” I was disappointed. I knew getting through that night in the ICU was a...