John Louk

“How do you become a member?” That’s a question I'm asked fairly often at my church. It’s a good question that deserves a helpful answer. First, while we love to receive new members (and we will during this Easter season!), I want to let you know that our mission isn’t to make new members but to make new disciples of Jesus. Our initial focus, therefore, is to connect with people and help them to first become and then grow more mature as followers of Jesus, who go on to live in a such a way that they participate in God’s mission to transform, to renew the world. So you don’t need to become a member of Salem. That’s not our goal. And all are welcome to be a part of Salem regardless of membership. That means your baptism, wedding, or funeral can happen at Salem even if you’re not a member. We’re more concerned about your connection to and participation in the congregation. You can worship and serve and be a part of the church in every way except for two. You have to be a memb...

In 24 Hours That Changed the World , Adam Hamilton points out that we believe Jesus died at the age of 33 after a life of approximately 12,000  days. The Gospel writers devoted most of their work to just 1,100 or so of those days, the last three years of his life. Their primary interest, however, was one particular day—the day Jesus was crucified. The gospel writers believed this 24-hour period changed the world. It may be helpful to explain how time was counted in Jesus’ story. It’s a little different than how we keep time. For most of us, a day begins and ends at midnight. This doesn’t hold true on a Jewish calendar, not in the time of Jesus and not today either. In the beginning, when God created time, the night was created first and then the day. “God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, a first day” Genesis 1:5 . Therefore, a Jewish day begins at nightfall and ends the following nightfall. Of course, exac...

How are we doing at making disciples of Jesus Christ who transform the world? 2015 was a momentous year for us! Each year, in assessing the state of Salem, we take a look at some benchmark statistics. Our membership now includes 235 professing adults. We also have 38 baptized infants and children— so 273 total. This past year 7 members died while we received 15 new members. That means we have received 81 new members since arriving at our current location a little over five years ago! We will be receiving more new members come Easter. Our worship attendance increased again. We averaged 209 this past year, up from 185 in 2014 and 177 in 2013. That’s close to 20% growth in the last two years! Salem’s attendance, at its lowest point after the flood in 2008, was 126. We’ve grown more than 65% since then. One of our goals for this year is to continue holding “bridge events” outside our building to reach our community. We’ll keep doing things like the Easter Egg Hunt and Trunk-or-Treat...

I really enjoy The Incredibles , a movie about a family of superheroes. At one point, the dad becomes complacent. He's led an  exciting, adventurous life, but now his wife needs him to engage in the real life of their family and world. In 2011, the Study Committee, a requirement for our construction, presented a report to the Leadership Board and Staff. Near the end of the conversation, we named Salem’s three greatest strengths as welcoming others, our mission focus, and our teaching. Salem’s three most significant weaknesses were lack of space, lack of youth and youth ministries, and lack of hands-on mission work. The three changes we most wanted to see were a building project, the development of hands-on mission work, and engaging more people fully in the life of the church. Over the last five years, I’m pleased that Salem hasn’t simply focused on building a new church facility. That’s been a huge accomplishment, of course, but we know the church is the people, not the bui...

2016 In 1999 Time magazine named Albert Einstein the Person of the Century. They considered him the preeminent scientist in a century dominated by science. His name is synonymous with the word “genius.” Einstein was once traveling from Princeton on a train when the conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets of every passenger. When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached in his vest pocket. He couldn't find his ticket. He reached in his trouser pockets. It wasn't there. He looked in his briefcase but couldn't find it. Then he looked in the seat beside him. He still couldn't find it. The conductor said, “Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are. I'm sure you bought a ticket. Don't worry about it.” Einstein nodded appreciatively. The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next car, he turned around and saw the great physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his tic...

It was there  that we made the decision. When I was a new pastor serving my first, full-time appointment, my wife, Joy, and I had only been married a few years. Like many young couples, we were struggling financially. I remember well our money meeting at the kitchen table. Things weren’t going very well for us financially. It was there that we made the decision to commit our money to God. We literally got on our knees at the kitchen table and asked God to help us handle the money entrusted to us in a faithful way, and we committed to tithing, giving 10% of our income to the church. Our financial situation didn’t completely change overnight, but it did begin to change for the better.  That was twenty years ago. Today we live with no debt except the mortgage on our home. The first thing we do with our income each month is give to the church. We have two daughters in college, braces on the third girl (finally!), and a car that’s older than all of them, but we give more tha...

On June 3, 1994 I graduated from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, located on the north side of Chicago on the campus of Northwestern University. Commencement was still a few hours away. Senior Chapel was just beginning, and I had been asked to preach. In my three years I had never seen so many people in that large hall of worship. As the grand procession moved down the center aisle, I looked into the many faces and felt the fervor rising in me. The sermon started with a prayer that God might breathe life into my words. And then when I put my hands to the plow, I never looked back. At times when I was preaching I felt like I had taken a step back from the pulpit, as if I was watching myself preach. In that hour I felt the power of God’s Spirit surging through that place of worship as it surged through me. In a speech to a group of teachers, Martin Buber once said that if he ever met the great Christian theologian Karl Barth, there was only one thing this bearded Jewish s...