Thoughts galvanized by David Park re: Rev. Jeremiah Wright
Granted, the need for liberation amongst Asian-Americans is not really a pressing concern – after all, what do we need liberating from? But I think David is spot-on with his assessment of the future of Asian-American religion. Do we remain the strong, silent, passive types or do we have it in us to be aggressively assertive when it comes to relevance in American society today? I quote: Read more…
My trip to the east coast has elicited much reflection & conversation about pastoring and starting new churches. I met with no less than 3 church planters while there and heard the glories and the “crap times” as one put it. I’m no church planting hotshot but i’ve got invaluable experience on several things that make it or break it for “church entrepreneurs”. Read the following at your own discretion; it will either discourage you or embolden you greatly. Read more…
Grenz is waxing eloquent on the ecclesiological practice of baptism.
I’m understanding more not only the theological and sacramental significance of the act, but more so the sociological significance of it. Being a Protestant of the “Reformed” strain, I don’t place heavy emphasis on the sacramental side as if the act itself were the mediator of the intrinsic grace; rather I see it as a symbol of heavenly realities. But still more I am discovering the deep sociological implications of the act of baptism. It is an act of belonging and identification, precisely that which a fragmented, over-individualized society yearns for today. In this sense baptism is an exciting, celebratory symbol of being part of something. Isn’t that what culture at large is looking for today? So, how do u do it? Are you into dunking, sprinkling, or pouring?
Back in NY for a few weeks.
Been feeling the nostalgia of the day I left home back in 2000. The above song was all I listened to at the time. Looking back, leaving was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. Like I related in sermon last Sunday, when faith came back to me after the confusing years, it came in force attached w/ an “irrational pull westward”. I looked as far as China, ended up landing in Seattle. And then Bellingham. But back home in NY reminds me of the things that I miss most as well as the reasons why I left in the first place. To this day it remains in the top 2 or 3 hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. How about you? Have you “left” home? How difficult was it? Were you the prodigal, or the sojourner, or the exile?
Here’s another one filed under “pastoral health”
It’s been almost 1.5 yrs since I’ve taken Sunday off from pastoring, albeit church planting. This Sunday will be the first and boy do I need it. The slow burn has taken its toll and a cool drink to the lips would be refreshing. On the itinerary, a week in NY, hooking up with Sam Park of The Sycamore Church in NY, Peter Sung, the head honcho of church planting with the East Coast Cov, as well as Peter Ahn of New Jersey Emetro. I’m gonna milk these guys dry of advice, experience, encouragement and support. Sunday is a cousin’s wedding and then we’re in Virginia for a week. The following Saturday is Austin’s 1st birthday celebration – a big deal in Korean culture called “ddol”. Give us a shout, we’d love to hook up.
Got a lot of flack about a recent twitter: ” A pastor in jeans is kinda immature” so I’m gonna do the smart thing and open up the convo some more.
Before I offend an entire legion of jeans-clad ministerium, I was raised in a culture which wore your Sunday best to church. For the last decade I’ve lived in a culture where jeans were almost a uniform. Let me just say it was liberating. But there was something about the suit and tie affair; not so much dignity, but it conveyed the passage from childhood to adulthood. So I guess that’s my question – and certainly not coming from a legalistic stiff – anyone who knows me knows that I don’t give a shit about “dignity” – but is there a way to be a pastor and convey edginess and verve without wearing an ugly pair of tattered jeans? Unless of course that is the dress code. Here is an inconsequential post about something inconsequential. Maybe what we really need is: Queer Eye for the Pastor-Guy. Now there’s a twitter to get everyone all riled up about.
Who suffers more: the entrepreneur or the spouse (in this case, wife) of the entrepreneur?
Great great article from a wife’s perspective of a guy who ran a business into the ground, revived it, suffered, and finally made it big after a decade. And she was nucking futs enough to stay with the dude. As a chronic addict of the future possibilities, it was a great read to see what goes on in the mind of a wife of said chronic. She likens it to being a passenger in a truck on a windy road. It’s rare the driver gets sick, but the passenger who feels nausea most acutely. So I’m recommending this article to anyone who rides shotgun with a crazy person who constantly has their head in the future, risks everything on faith, and has to always do things “outside the box”.
Inc magazine: Hitched To Someone Else’s Dream
Well I’ve up and done it this time.
I took it upon myself to rehost, redesign, restructure our church website and I am quite pleased with the results if I shant say so myself, so go check it out here: www.nwmissio.org. It may look the same but underneath the hood it’s ten times better. And the website is just the “surface change”… deeper changes are rumbling underneath the surface with the mission and outworkings of the church… Read more…
How does your church do “small groups”?
My experiences have ranged from great to terrible. And in the process I’ve discovered some core principles that make the “ecclesiola in ecclesia” better. Props to MissioLux Covenant Church for the “missio groups” parlance. I hope Tamara doesn’t mind if we borrow it cuz it makes a whole lotta sense. And from a historical perspective the idea of small groups is nothing novel. It goes back to the Wesleyan Methodists, back to the German pietists, and even further back to the Catholic Reformation groups like the Brethren of the Common Life. So as I gather my thoughts together on how to improve our “missio groups”, I ask you; how were your “small group” experiences positive or found lacking? How would you have “done” it better?
Our next major life transition takes place within the next three months.
After leaving NYC, I moved to Seattle to work with YWAM. And now, 7 good years later, I (along w/wife and …?) have finished our commitment with YWAM and are moving on (still in Washington) to church planting in a great little town called Bellingham, quietly tucked away between Seattle and Vancouver. But it won’t be quiet for long. Bellingham is growing in commerce, diversity, population, real estate…
Read more…
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