A Healthy Lifestyle by Dr. John Chou

Dr. John Chou is a licensed physician and attorney. Not only did he become a Logos partner many years ago, he served twice as the Chairman of the Logos Foundation Board and once as the Chairman of the Seminary Board.

I became involved with Logos Seminary many years ago. As the seminary grew, we learned from other seminaries that, to be a solid seminary, you need to have a solid financial foundation. So at that time, we began to plan for a foundation which would provide a solid foundation and base for the seminary.

I’m a strong believer in education because I’ve gone through 25 years of education myself. I believe that if we are going to attempt great things for God and rescue millions of souls, then we need to have a solid foundation in biblical teaching and training. Also, Pastor Liu, one of whom mentors that I love very much – it’s always a blessing to serve under him or with him because I always experience miracles and God’s hand on his work.

Several years ago, I read an article in Christianity Today discussing the fact that the majority of Asian American Christians leave their immigrant church. They not only leave the church, but they also stop attending church completely. This was a great concern for me and my kids. In response, I decided that we need to establish Christian education and training so that we can foster a good environment for Asian American believers, including myself and my children and the future generation. I thought it was important to set out a foundation in support of the training and education of those in Asian American ministry.

A few years ago, I heard the news that two-thirds of Americans are overweight, and 20-30% of our children are overweight. That is alarming. One of the ways to get rid of excess weight is exercise. I do lots of exercise; though I have run a marathon before, I typically play tennis. That’s something I enjoy doing, and my children too; they go to tournaments. But if you accumulate those weights and don’t exercise, then you become obese. Similarly, as God has provided us food, God has provided us money for us to use for daily needs. However, if we accumulate too much wealth, then it can cause what I called “financial obesity.” Similar to bodily weight loss, financial weight loss is achieved through exercise—that is, by donations, tithe, and offerings. Both me and my wife, we’re just very glad that we did that because we feel that we have less burdens at home. And we feel we can do more for God.

I always remember Pastor Liu talking about five loaves of bread and two fish. He would ask us, “Are you willing to bring forth your five loaves of bread and two fish to offer to God so God can multiply it?” Personally, that’s what I did with my life by serving at Logos. And by losing weight through service, we find blessings financially as well as spiritually. This is why I think that it’s important for us to exercise and lose weight.