While Rick Warren has no problem making headlines, I think Obama’s recent selection of Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration is going to propel Warren even more into the spotlight and a really important position, more than ever before. Love him or hate him – he’s going to be an important figure. Here’s why. Read more…
As it is pouring snow outside and I anticipate a few days of complete silence and confinement I turn my thoughts towards devotion:
Whatever your faith practice is, how do u begin your mornings? Read more…
Which is a fancy-schmancy way of saying “What is church?”
So contribute your thoughts, perhaps it will land in (or influence) the paper I am writing now titled, “The Kingdom As Church”. What is church? Is it a congregation? An established institution? Is it static and theoretical or dynamic, mission-birthed, people-oriented? Do you jive with the polemics of the progressive anti-institutional intelligentsia or do you prefer the familiarity of the old forms, traditions, liturgy, patterns? My answer to that question would be “yes, and…” but at any rate…
Further ponderings on the “success” question.
Some may disagree but I think there is a legit need to define quantifiable progress in church / missionary endeavor. Sure numbers are not everything but I think it’s necessary to know what is the telos of our work. A paradigm of mission is needed. Do we do good for goodness’ sake or is there a deeper reason? Before you fire off and say “Why? Do we always need a reason to do good?” I would say place yourself in my shoes of shutting down a dream and re-ask that question. Why do good if in the end it doesn’t happen? Why do good if in the end your efforts leave you discouraged, burned out, sucker-punched? Of course we could say with Mother Teresa, “do good anyway” – but that is not enough. There must be a telos to all of our frenetic religious activity. There must be quantifiable results. What are we driving at / towards? We must be able to answer that question. And the answer must be bigger than us. So what do I think is the telos of all missional / missionary activity? Read more…
Man it feels good to be back in Canada.
The above title was the convo @ the church planters gathering in Bellingham (Hothouse). Some of the attention was turned on me as those gathered knew about my recent heartache of closing down a church. And so I was queried about how I felt and if it was a loss or waste. It was therapeutic to be a bit narcissistic and talk about my angst but at the end the question was on the table and still stands: Read more…
The recent trampling of a Long Island, NY Wal Mart worker on the morning of Black Friday has elicited a lot of commentary about our economic mess, consumerism, and why we ought to Buy Nothing (Day). While I’m deeply saddened, probably the only fresh perspective I can offer would be as a former Long Islander looking in and my misgivings about the whole “Buy Nothing Day” idea. Read more…
It’s with a heavy heart that I announce this Sunday will be the last service for missioDei. Just shutting down the website now almost made me tear up, and convos w/folks have made me somewhat more heavier this week. There were some tears at the past few services and folks have been sad but supportive. I’m making the rounds now to make sure those committed few will continue to grow and get plugged in somewhere. What really bites is knowing that some great people invested deeply in us and if you know me you know that one of the things I hate the most is disappointing people. I wish I coulda done y’all proud but things just didn’t go our way. So here I am eulogizing the past 2 years with missio: Read more…
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…
“stumbling block= lady putting belt & boots back on after security check”
That was a recent twitter from someone in the ministry who travels alot. It really jumped out at me for some reason; maybe its honesty and vividness. Those must’ve been some boots. So it got me to thinking about the occupational hazards of ministry, whether it’s travelling alone frequently, or the “car porn” which Eugene Cho alludes to, or the addiction to success and power which I’ve witnessed deteriorate ministries and personalities. So how do we protect ourselves from on-the-job stumbling blocks that are simply unavoidable? And on the flip-side, how do we keep ourselves fresh, whole, healed, strong, and dare I sound like a prude – holy?
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