Review of Gandhi by E. Stanley Jones

My dad highly recommended this book years back, and I finally got around to reading it.  I loved it.  I actually read it as part of my devotions.
E. Stanley Jones (one of the world's most famous missionaries, who spent 50+ years serving India) knew Gandhi as a personal friend.  Here's a quick summary of the book: Gandhi (a Hindu) intentionally modeled his life after Jesus and actually lived more like Jesus than any other human being since Jesus.  Gandhi's life, death, and enduring influence are a call for Christians to return to the Christ of the cross.
Gandhi showed the world that the way of nonviolence is not only possible but successful.  I personally felt challenged to follow Christ more closely throughout my reading.
One of the most powerful statements (one I might actually use in my sermon this week) was this.  After a night of soul searching, Gandhi broke through to the truth of simple living.  Then, Jones says, "Many of us would have talked and debated and consulted interminably.  Gandhi decided at dawn to reduce the principles to practice.  That is the essential difference in Gandhi; he acted on what he saw to be truth.  He didn't see all truth, but he acted on what he saw, and that made the difference" (79).
May God help us all (especially me) to be faithful to the truth that we see.
The Josh rating: a strong 5Js - JJJJJ.  Read this book!

Review of Ford County - by John Grisham

Sarah and I often read a book together before bedtime.  We take turns choosing.  This was my pick. 
I love reading John Grisham, but I usually try to stay away from him when I'm not on vacation.  I have a bad habit of staying up late into the night to finish one of his suspenseful books.
This book is a different format, though.  Instead of his standard novel, this is a collection of short stories.  Also, none of them are terribly suspenseful, so that made it a nice fit for reading before bed.  We could stop whenever we wanted.
 The stories all have a loose connection with law: death row inmates, wills, bankruptcy, lawsuits, divorce, etc.  However, law and lawyers play a much smaller role in most of the stories.  In fact, only 3 of the 7 have a lawyer as a main character.
This was a good read, but not one of my favorite Grisham books.  It reminded me a lot of Ernest Hemmingway's short stories.  There is this deep sense of disappointment with life - especially in small town Mississippi.  (All of the stories are placed in Grisham's home area: Ford County, Mississippi).  Every story has a deep note of sadness and even despair.  Yet, even so, reading them is enjoyable - in a cathartic, companion for misery, kind of way.
I would recommend this book for someone who is just looking for some casual reading or for someone who wants a look (albeit a bit depressing) into small town American life.  The Josh rating: JJJ.

Three Cups of Tea - Review

I've seen some of my friends reading this book for years.  Many of them have highly recommended it to me.  Somehow it has escaped my reading list until this month.  Michael and Elizabeth gave me a copy for my birthday, and I'm so glad they did.  This is one of the best books I've read in a very long time.
The first half of the story is simple.  Greg Mortenson was part of a team trying to climb K2 (the world's most dangerous mountain) in Northern Pakistan.  Through a series of injuries and mishaps, he became disoriented and separated from his group.  After getting lost once and spending a night alone on the ice, he missed a turn and lost his guide again.  He wandered into the small mountain village of Korphe, and this forever changed his life.
The people of Korphe, despite their poverty, showed him great hospitality and love as they nursed him back to health.  Without a plan, without prior community development experience, without funding, he promised to return to Korphe to build a school for the children who were stuck in a generational cycle of poverty.
The next third of the book is his amazing and frustrating journey to build that first school.  Through many ups and downs and confusions about Pakistani mountain culture(s), he persevered.  Several key people came to his aid through funding, cultural support, physical protection, and emotional support.  After several years of struggle, Mortenson founded the Central Asia Institute and completed a bridge to Korphe and Korphe's first school in its 600 year existence.
After that first school, CAI's activity mushroomed.  A retired Swiss-American scientist endowed them with a million dollars, and slowly publicity and funding began to flow in jerks and stops.    As of 2009, CAI had built 81 schools in northern Pakistan and Afganistan.
Two parts of this story deserve special mention.
1) One of the beautiful side-effects of Mortenson's mission to build schools is combating terrorism at its roots.  Mortenson argues repeatedly and beautifully that the root of terrorism is ignorance not Islam.  In fact, Muslims - including the highest leaders of Islam - have been some of Mortenson's biggest supporters.  Radical Islamicism, which breeds terrorism, grows through radical madrassas, which are built in the poorest areas of Pakistan and Afganistan - often as the only available option for education.  Many join the Taliban forces because these are the only available jobs for low-skilled workers.  Furthermore, while the militaries of the West may destroy many terrorists, the collateral damage from our bombs plants the seeds for countless more radical enemies.  Building schools (and wells and hospitals) is infinitely more effective than dropping bombs - in terms of building friends and reducing enemies. 
2) As Tom Brokaw says on the cover, this book is "thrilling ... proof that one ordinary person, with the right combination of character and determination, really can change the world."  I hope that all my friends will read this book and develop a similar passion, audacity, and hope that our little efforts really can be multiplied to cause momentous changes.  We have to think big and start small.
I highly recommend this book.  The Josh rating: JJJJJ!

Like a Butterfly

Truth lingers like a butterfly
on the edge of a flower
And we chase it
like children at play
At play but in serious pursuit
We long to catch this truth
this floating, fleeting, flying
display of obvious beauty
We long to grasp it
not only with our hands
not even especially with our hands
but with our eyes
in our minds
in our hearts
We long to hold this beauty
fluttering, ephemeral, eternal truth
For in this flapping of the wings
and moving of antennae
we see and sense
the Real
And the Real in us
calls to the Real before us
seen and touched and met by us
Like a butterfly on our fingertips
Real meets Real
And we chase and follow
drawn by the eternal magnetism
of Beauty and Truth

We Need Each Other

As I prepare for our upcoming series on Jesus and World Religions, I find this video to be encouraging. We need all our stories. We need Lutherans and Anglicans and Calvinists and Baptists and Pentecostals (and Nazarenes) because we all have stories to tell and practices to share that help us to understand our amazing God.



But this raises a few questions for me. Do we also need Buddhists and Muslims and Hindus and Secular Humanists and Ancestor Worshipers? They also have stories to tell. They also have practices to share. They also have meaningful questions to ask.
My tentative answer is: Yes. Yes, we do need people of other religions. But we need them in a different way. The difference between denominations within Christianity is very different from (but somehow also similar to) the difference between Christianity and other religions. Yet perhaps as we discuss, dialog with, and engage other religions, our practice of Christianity is enhanced. Perhaps, this discussion will open us to parts of our own tradition and faith which have been buried or ignored for too long. Perhaps, through discussion and dialog, we will all grow closer to God together.
Don't get me wrong. I am in favor of evangelism. I believe it is good for people of other religions to become Christians. However, I also believe that (ironically) people of other religions also have something to teach us about Christ and Christianity and engaging God.
I know that's a radical statement, but that's where we're going with our sermon series for the next 7 weeks. I would appreciate your feedback along the way.

Rocky (Greatest American Movie #57)

Last night, Sarah and I watched the classic Rocky. Surprisingly, this may have been the first time either of us have watched it in its entirety. I have seen parts of it, and I may have watched it all the way through as a kid, but I don't remember.
In many ways, it is simply a classic Cinderella story. Poor guy gets his break and makes it big. In some ways, it was Forest Gump before Gump.
However, in addition to the raw triumph over adversity, this story holds powerful moral for us. We become better people through love. As Rocky and Adrian begin to love each other, they both blossom into better people. Adrian comes out of her pet-store shell. Rocky becomes better and stronger. He has someone to lean on in the most difficult and discouraging times. Even Adrian's deeply flawed brother seems to be bettered by their love - almost against his will.
Love makes us better. When we love each other, our wounds are healed, and we open the way for our truest and best selves to emerge.
This was a genuine - but not overpowering - classic. The Josh rating: JJJJ.

Revenge and Redemption (Luke 15:11-32 and Luke 20:9-19)

Josh Broward
September 19, 2010

Luke 15:11-32 and Luke 20:9-19

With 5 seconds left on the clock, the quarterback dodged a tackle, rolled out to his right and threw a desperate pass toward Jaime Alejandro. Jaime launched over two defenders to make a one-handed catch in the end zone.
The stadium erupted! People rushed to the field celebrating the amazing catch which earned the Fighting Falcons their first State Football Championship in history. Everyone was caught up in a wave of euphoria - jumping, shouting, crying, hugging.
Everyone - except Jorge. Jorge Hernandez was the other wide receiver. Jorge was sitting in the other corner of the end zone, seething in jealousy. “That pass should have been to me. I was wide open!” As Jaime was carried of the field by cheering teammates and fans, Jorge brewed alone about his long-standing rivalry with Jaime Alejandro. Somehow, although he was just as talented, just as smart, and - in his opinion - better looking, Jorge was constantly coming up short of Jaime.
As the two fastest high school athletes in their city, both Jorge and Jaime qualified for the Regional Tournament in the 400 meter dash. Before the race, Jorge cut Jaime’s shoelace on one shoe. Jaime never noticed until the shoe started coming off around the the second turn. Amazingly, Jaime just kicked it off and finished the race with one shoe. Jaime still finished first and earned a photo in the front page of the city newspaper for the escapade.

After high school, Jorge studied law, and Jaime studied for the ministry. Both were smart and successful, but they took very different paths. ...

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Governance and Ministry Book Review

I just finished reading Governance and Ministry: Rethinking Board Leadership by Dan Hotchkiss. This is a very good book about how to have good church boards. I believe the church board has the potential to be a center of strength, change, and spiritual discernment for our churches. However, much of the time our boards are mired in reports and rubber stamping the decisions of our staff members.
Over the past 6 years, I have been on a steady mission to improve the functioning of our church board. This has included a wide variety of approaches. I've concentrated mostly on improving our meetings in terms of quality of discussion, flow of information, use of time, and pursuing larger topics (delegating the smaller topics to our various teams).
Along the way, I have been greatly helped along this path with articles from the Alban Institute. This book collects together much of that sage advice in a framework guiding a church leadership team on how to restructure a church board for greater effectiveness.
At first I thought, we might go through the whole restructuring process they recommend (including a 1 year research and planning phase). Because of some other issues, I don't think that level of change would be best for us at this stage. Also, because we have been changing incrementally, we may not need a total overhaul. However, I still found many useful tips, thoughts, and techniques.
Reading a board book can be a bit boring at times, but I would still recommend this book to anyone who wants to have a better church board. The Josh rating: JJJJ.

The Church on Mute

I just read: "Our message has been muted as we try to communicate from generation to generation." The author (Carol Howard) was talking about how the changes in culture affect the church, systemically and technologically. The article is an excerpt from her book: Reframing Hope: Vital Ministry in a New Generation. However, this one phrase jumped out at me: "Our message has been muted."
This seems to be very true of today's church. We see the preacher talking, but it's like there's no sound coming out of his mouth. Maybe because we don't understand the words. Maybe because he's talking about stuff we just don't care about. Maybe - and this is what seems to be the deepest problem - because we don't see any actions that match the words.
Imagine people in a room doing various activities with a large TV on mute. People may occasionally glance at the screen to see the sports scores or the music video gyrations. But nobody really cares very much about the sound that they're missing. Every now and then, something changes. Every once in a while, someone will see something particularly moving, compelling, or interesting on the screen. Then, that guy shouts, "Hey, turn the volume up! What's going on? What is this?"
The Church is on mute. People are tuning us out. We definitely need to update our language and methods. We definitely need to talk in relevant ways about relevant things. However, the single most important thing we can do is to give people compelling pictures of the gospel through our actions. If we live in dramatically beautiful ways, then people will be spontaneously interested in what we are saying. "What's going on? What is this? Turn the volume up!"

Here Comes Everybody

Here is a great lecture (by Clay Shirky) about the power of social media. This reminds of The World Is Flat. I am not sure where all of this is headed, but it's pretty cool. (Thanks to Steve Larson for the link.)

September 5, 2010
Josh Broward


I’m cheap! I don’t like to spend money. In fact, I hate to spend money. I hate to pay full price and love to get a bargain. Sarah and I love to get furniture for free or cheap. In our apartment right now, we most of our furniture belongs to us, and we’ve only paid for one couch and one chair - and we bought those used.
I hate to pay full price for anything. Once I bought a shirt at a thrift store with someone else’s initials on the sleeve. Like I said, I’m cheap.
It’s one thing to cheap about money, but it’s another thing to try to go the cheap route with God. I try to do that sometimes, too. Can’t I just give up this much? I’ve already paid so much; can’t that just be enough? I’ll give you this God, but not this; that’s too high a price.
In our passage today, Jesus wants to make clear that he doesn’t make deals. There is no such thing as discount discipleship. There are no cheap tickets into the Kingdom.

Read Luke 14:25-33.

Let’s work through the passage little by little.
The first thing to notice is that large crowds were following Jesus. He had been healing people left and right. He had been “sticking it to the man.” The Pharisees and teachers of the Law were the ruling powers. They controlled everything, but Jesus was showing the to be incompetent teachers and frauds at every turn. The people loved it. They could smell a revolution. Besides, even if the revolution didn’t come, Jesus was where the action was.
Jesus turns to the crowd and says, “Hey, just hanging around with me doesn’t make you my disciple. It takes a lot more than that. Standing in a garage doesn’t make you a car. Going to the airport doesn’t mean you’re traveling anywhere. Don’t be fooled in to thinking that you’re a disciple just because you’re traveling with me.”
You can almost hear his disciples saying, “Oh man, there Jesus goes again, running everybody off as soon as he starts to get a crowd.”
But Jesus doesn’t want anything half-hearted ...


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Luke 14:7-14 Humility and Hospitality

August 29, 2010
Josh Broward

Luke 14:7-14

I have found this passage really difficult this week. Sometimes, understanding a text is really easy. Sometimes, I have to dig and dig in the commentaries and on the internet and in prayer before I really get a feeling what the text says for us and to our world. Other times, like this week, after all of my research and prayer, I’m still scratching my head, standing outside the text asking questions.
Instead of forcing a message based sermon here, today I want to invite you into the questions I’ve been asking. I am honestly not sure about all of the answers, but maybe just asking the questions will give God space to work among us. Sometimes questions are better than answers - especially when I don’t have the answers to give!
What I’d like to do here is talk about a few of the things I’ve learned as I’ve studied this text. Then, as we work through the text, I’ll share some of the questions I’ve been asking.

The first thing we need to understand is what is going on with the guests. In ancient Hebrew culture, where people sit at a dinner is “a public advertisement of one’s status.”1 So, when each person enters the room, they start mentally calculating their public value compared with the other guests: “Well, I’m more important than him. Her farm is twice as big as mine. His father is a Rabbi, but I’m the host’s cousin.” There is the sub-verbal or even open measurement of each person’s status and “value” to the community. Then, people are seated like a ladder of importance, with the most important, most connected people sitting closest to the host.
That phrase “a public advertisement of status” really struck me, and it got me asking some questions. What are the “public advertisements” of our status? How do we try to show other people how important we are? ...


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Too Close for Comfort

This was originally posted on an anti-emergent site. Perhaps we can see this in two ways:
1) A humorous reminder to pursue true humility.
2) A call to think more deeply about the nature of humility amid conflicting ideas.

How Poor Poor Is

On my recent trip to South Asia, I was reminded once again just how poor really poor is. Per local custom, I usually sat in the front of the van (as the leader of the team), so I had lots of opportunities to talk with our driver, Dipon. He earns just over $2 a day, as a full-time driver for the Church of the Nazarene.
Before anyone cries out about injustice and exploitation, you should understand something about the reality of this country. If Dipon were single, this income would place him squarely in the upper class of his country (top 20% of incomes). As it is, this income is enough to provide for his family - even allowing his wife to stay home as a house wife. Granted, Dipon shares a three bedroom apartment with his parents and his brother's family. However, a reliable job paying $2 a day is enough to provide stable housing and food supply - something half of the country lacks.
50% of the country earns less than $1 a day. Before visiting, that just seemed like a bad number. However, after putting feet on the ground in $1 a day communities, I understand with new eyes just how poor $1 a day is. And less than that, as many of our widows and orphans earn, is ... well ... even less!
$1 a day probably means no shoes, or one pair of flip flops at best.
$1 a day means no warm clothes for the winter.
$1 a day means no umbrella when it rains.
$1 a day means not enough food almost every day of your life.
$1 a day means that if you don't work that day, you don't eat that day because you have zero savings from yesterday.
$1 a day means no medicine - none.
$1 a day means you can't afford the most basic fees to send your kids to school.
$1 a day means your kids will probably fail out of school because they are so far behind to start with.
$1 a day means you will be sorely tempted to make your kids work instead of going to school.
$1 a day means no concept of birth control.
$1 a day usually means abuse for women.
$1 a day usually means early marriages for teenage girls.
$1 a day means no land and almost no legal rights.
$1 a day means dodging unsafe vehicles traveling on unsafe roads at unsafe speeds.
$1 a day means taking care of other people's goats or cows instead of owning one for yourself.
$1 a day means hopelessness.

Unless someone helps.
I am so glad to be part of a church that is helping. I am so glad to be part of a denomination that is helping. I am so glad to be able to help a little myself. $1 a day is taking on a different meaning for about 100 widows and 300 orphans. Instead of a period, it is becoming a comma. Instead of the dead end after a hard-luck life, it is becoming a bend in the road with brighter skies around the corner. Instead of a death sentence, it is becoming a starting point for a whole new story.

Mandatory Waiting Periods

One method of gun control is mandatory waiting periods - particularly for handguns. 10 states in the USA require waiting periods before a handgun can be legally purchased. The idea is that, if someone gets angry and decides to kill someone, they can't just run out and buy a gun. They have to wait a certain number of days (usually around a week) to make sure they really want the gun (and all of the implications of owning a gun). Hopefully, by then, the fires of passion and revenge will have faded for most people.
The merits and efficacy of waiting periods for handguns is debated. I, for one, see absolutely no rationale for eliminating waiting periods. However, I would like to propose another kind of waiting period.
We need mandatory waiting periods for our purchases. The larger the purchase, the longer waiting period we need. We often make our purchases with a similar run of passion as angry people buying guns. Many of the big-ticket items that wind up in our baskets or driveways would still be at the store if we had waited.
Give the passion and the consumeristic urge time to die down. Walk away from the store. Get out of the advertising zone. Ask yourself a few questions.
1) Do I really need this?
2) Why do I actually want this?
3) Can I really afford this?
4) What will this cost me? (Think in terms of maintenance, physical space, emotional space, time, etc.)
5) Will I really use this? (Really, for years to come?)
6) Is this the best price, model, and value available?
If you can't answer these questions with clarity and without that nagging conscience, then you are not ready to buy.

Let me suggest a few benchmark waiting periods:
More than $50,000 (as in a home): 6 months.
More than $5,000 (as in a car): 2 months.
More than $500 (as in a computer): 1 month.
More than $50 (as in shoes): 1 week.
Around $5 (as in that cup of coffee because you just happen to be going past a Starbucks): 5-10 minutes.

Obviously the larger purchases deserve more time and consideration. We should use the waiting period to talk to friends, comparison shop, research on the net, and (maybe even!) pray. For the smaller stuff - the price of a cup of coffee - it can still be worthwhile to take a few minutes to consider whether we really want to spend our limited resources on this.
Food for thought.

Nazarene GS's Statement on Emergent Church

The Board of General Superintendents, the highest leaders in the Church of the Nazarene have issued a beautiful and grace-filled statement on the Emergent Church. If you have received some of those scathing emails about the "ruin" of our church, or if you have heard some of the conversations about "emergent liberals" taking over, I encourage you to read this statement.

Limited Reflections on My Trip

Because of the nature of the internet and the dominant religion of the country, I am somewhat limited in what I can say here. I just spent 10 days in a South Asian Country visiting various ministry sites and churches. We also helped to build some houses in a new village for widows and orphans.
I have visited more than 20 countries, almost all in association with the Church of the Nazarene, and I have never been more impressed with the Church of the Nazarene. What we are doing there is what we should be doing everywhere.
Almost every church building is also a ministry center. Usually, they are Child Development Centers (the gathering place for children in sponsorship programs), and maybe several other things as well. The idea of using a church building only for worship services and "Christian education" is obsolete, and we in the developed world can learn a huge lesson from our utilitarian brothers and sisters in the developing world.
Furthermore, in this nation, the Church of the Nazarene is consistently serving the poorest of the poor. And there, the poorest make less than $1 a day. If you make more than $2 a day, you are squarely in the upper class! The Church of the Nazarene operates with integrity, compassion, and intelligence, and therefore enjoys support from a wide range of funding partners.
Through child sponsorship, community development programs, digging wells, building latrines, microfinance, small business support groups, environmental planning, schools, and a wide range of other creative and effective methods, the Church of the Nazarene is making a significant difference among people who are struggling simply to survive.
Our church has established a long term partnership with a Nazarene project to build a village for widows and orphans in a rural community. During our trip, we were able to dig some foundations, lay some bricks, play with kids, and interview some of the widows.
The widows' stories were heart breaking and eye opening. Many of the widows did not know their own age or how long they had been married, but they all knew the exact date and year that their husbands had died. Their lives were forever changed in that moment. Some died of "normal" diseases like heart attacks, strokes, or TB. Others died of unbelievably simple illnesses like diarrhea. When a person is already malnourished, and no medicine is available, the simplest stomach illness can be deadly. Our team was flabergasted that people still die today because of lack of Pepto Bismal.
We dreamed and prayed and talked constantly about the possibilities for the future of our partnership. I hope to write more about all of this, but for now, I want to post this brief update while the ideas and memories are still fresh.

More Reasons I Love Korea

We're leaving for South Asia tomorrow, so I've been running around getting last minute things done.
I stopped in to see the doctor to get a refill for my allergy prescriptions - without an appointment, mind you. It took 5 minutes, and my copay was 2,500 won ($2)! In the USA, it would have taken 10 times as long and cost 10 times as much.
Then, I went to the pharmacy to get my meds. When I walked in the door, all three ladies' faces lit up like I had brought them flowers.
The copay was unusually large because Allegra is not fully covered by insurance, so I had to pay a whopping 19,000 won ($15). They almost feel bad taking that much money from me, but I'm excited because it would have been 3 times that in the USA - even with insurance.
Next, I asked for some instant hand sanitizer to put in my bag for the trip. They only had large ones the size of a coke can, but I wanted something tiny. They talked among themselves for a bit. Then, one of them came out with a small clear bottle, and they pumped it full squirt by squirt for their own large bottle. No charge!
I love Korea.

Why Are There Ads Here?

I have debated the pros and cons of adding advertisement to my blog for more than a year. However, I hope to be a professional writer - earning a significant part of my income through writing. Adding ads to my blog (and supporting blogs) is a simple way to take a small step in that direction.
I hope to prevent all offensive ads through the program filters. However, that may not be possible. If you see an offensive ad, please comment here. I will do my best to prevent its appearance again.
If you take offense to having advertising here at all, I'd also like to hear your feedback in the comments section.
Thanks for your understanding.

Inspiration as an Octopus

Today, I read an article about Korean author Park Beom-Sin. His description of the forces of inspiration within him are captivating:
There lives a beast in my chest that never grows old. I call the beast 'nakji' (small octopus) because it is mysterious, reckless and provocative. Whenever I stop writing, nakji tears open my sides during the night to come out ... I keep writing novels so that I will not die from my flesh being torn by nakji, who is my literary ego with many legs, who never grows old and never dies. I write because I want to live, this world should be vivid, and most of all I still have a lot of love within me."
(Lee Se-mi, "Longing for the Unattainable: Park Beom-Sin," Korea, August 2010, 19)

This reminds me of a TED talk by Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love.



Could it be that Park's "nakji" and Gilbert's "genius" are actually the Holy Spirit moving us toward creativity and active expression in our world?

Jesus, a Prostitute, and a Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I'm not sure when we'll use this clip, but it's great!

Missional Church - Simple Explanation

Money Trouble (Luke 12:13-21)

We have money trouble. We Christians have this love/hate relationship with money. Our attitudes are mixed like this Pink Floyd song.
Money, get away ... but give me a good job with more pay.
Money, get back ... but keep your hands off my stack.
Share it fairly ... but don’t take a slice of my pie.
Money, so they say, is the root of all evil today ... but they’re giving none away.
Some preachers talk like God wants everyone to be rich, and if you’re not rich, then there’s something wrong with you ... but others talk like God wants everyone to be poor, and if you’re not giving all your money away, then there’s something wrong with you.
We know that life isn’t about money ... but we spend most of our lives trying to get money and spend money.
We know that too much money can be a problem ... but we all want just a little more.

We have money trouble. We will be talking about money for the next 2 weeks. That’s never fun - for you or for me. This might be a good time to explain how we get our sermon topics each week. Sometimes, we go through sermon series on a particular topic, like family or community. You can blame me for those topics. Other times, we work through a weekly plan called the lectionary. The lectionary is a plan to help churches talk about all the important parts of the Bible within the scope of 3 years. You see, preachers - and church members too - have a tendency to read only the parts of the Bible that we like. We read our favorite stories or verses again and again, and we often ignore the difficult or challenging parts. The lectionary is designed to solve that problem. During the summer, when we’re preaching through Luke, we’re following the lectionary.
So when things get uncomfortable today (and they will), keep two things in mind. First, I didn’t choose this text. People wiser and smarter than me decided that it’s really important for Christians around the world to hear this story. Second, Jesus is the one who told this story in the first place. Sometimes we think Jesus talked all about love and being kind to people - “turn the other cheek” and stuff like that. But Jesus talked a lot about money, a whole lot. Money was one of Jesus’ most frequent topics. Jesus cares deeply about what we do with our money.

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Sally Morgenthaller on Church

Watch this incredible video by Sally Morgenthaller, via The Work of the People.

24-7 Prayer

This spring, we did one week of 24-7 Prayer in our church. This is a movement started by young, alternative, punk Christians in England. It has spread around the world, and after participating, I can see why.

We set up a prayer room on the KNU campus, and we invited people sign up for an hour to pray IN the prayer room - stringing together a continuous week of prayer night and day (hence 24-7). Our prayer room had several different "stations": repentance, The Lord's Prayer, a wailing wall (for deep unanswered prayers), general requests, maps, thanksgivings, a cross, music, and a "Holy of Holies" quiet, curtained off space in the middle of the room. We covered most of the walls with white paper, and we invited people to write or to draw their prayers all over the place. Some people even brought their own art supplies and added in some paintings. We gave people prayer request cards and asked them to take requests from their students, friends, and coworkers.

This week of prayer was the best thing our church has done in a very long time. This infused us with spiritual life and creativity like nothing we've ever done. I had some fears that it might feel contrived or strained, but the opposite was true. Having a prayer room that evoked creativity moved our community into spontaneous and free-spirited prayer. This gave us a hunger and a longing for prayer. We completed our week of prayer with a prayer service on Pentecost Sunday, and this was by far the most powerful service that I have ever seen in our church. Now, 5-6 weeks later, our services are still having more of a "sense" of God's Spirit.

I love that the 24-7 Prayer movement is not just "spiritual." Their catchwords are: prayer, mission, and justice, and they actively promote mission in a variety of different ways. Also, hosting a community prayer room really strengthened our church's sense of community - even though most of us prayed our hour alone. This thing is ancient, modern, and post-modern all at the same time. Joining together in prayer unites the various cultures and perspectives in our diverse church. This is a place where we can all agree and participate.

We are planning to do another week or two of prayer in the Fall semester. We are considering a variety of options for how to do it in the fall: teaming up with another church (or group of churches), making a larger prayer room open to the wider KNU community, linking the prayer room with our Wednesday night service, etc. We're still praying about what to do and how to do it, but I fully expect that 24-7 Prayer will become part of the regular rhythm of our church.

I highly recommend checking out the 24-7 prayer website and reading Red Moon Rising, the book describing this prayer movement.

Dealing with Darkness (Luke 8:26-39)

June 20, 2010
Josh Broward

Luke 8:26-39

This is one of the weirdest stories in the Bible, and it’s in the Bible three times. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell the story of when Jesus cast the demons into the herd of pigs. Maybe it was just too weird to pass up. Maybe people back then were interested in the weird and freakish just like people today. Maybe a little bit of tabloid-type newscasting made the Jesus story more interesting. ... Maybe ... and maybe ... just maybe ... there is an important message here - even for us modern people who find this story so uncomfortably weird.
To get at this meaning, we’ll have to unpack some of the weird stuff.
For starters, the flow of the story is out of sync. Luke tells the story with all of these flashbacks and asides. Instead of telling the chronological sequence of events, Luke has rearranged the material so that it centers around Jesus showing up. Everything changes when Jesus shows up.
Then, there are several cultural issues. Jesus and the disciples have now traveled to the east side of the Sea of Galilee. The Jewish Messiah is now landing in Gentile territory. Gentiles are “unclean.” They don’t believe in Israel’s God. They eat pork and worship the Roman gods. This is a bad, bad place for a good Jew to be. It was something like a priest taking his seminary students (complete with black shirts and white collars) into a full-on bikers bar. They were out of place - in hostile territory.
In the passage just before this one, while their boat is crossing the Sea of Galilee, a storm comes up and almost sinks the boat. In ancient Jewish culture, the sea is this symbol of chaos and evil, so for the disciples, it’s as if the forces of evil were trying to suck them down to Hell. Jesus finally stands up in the boat and calms the storm. Even the wind and the waves (these symbols of evil) obey Jesus.
Then, just as the boat reaches solid ground, they are confronted with more forces of evil. There’s a deeply crazy guy who says he is filled with thousands of demons, and before the disciples get the boat docked, he’s already screaming at Jesus and thrashing on the ground. (If I were a disciple, I would probably just get right back in the boat. “OK. This was a nice trip. Let’s go home.”) ...

To continue reading, click here.

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The Simon In Us (Luke 7:36-50)

June 13, 2010
Josh Broward

Luke 7:36-50

All my life I’ve tried to do the right thing. I listened to my parents (for the most part). I paid attention when my teachers were talking. I didn’t nick fruit from the farmers’ market. I didn’t squelch on my chores. It always bothered me when the other guys talked about women like they were there for the taking. Like I said, I always tried to do the right thing.
Most of all, I’ve always had a hunger for God’s teachings. From the very beginning, when my grandfather told the stories of Adam and Abraham, Moses and David, something stirred within my heart. I learned countless psalms by heart so that I could sing them as I walked along the road or worked in the field.
As I grew into a man, I began to spend more and more of my time in serious study of the Bible. I became more and more serious about doing exactly what God teaches us to do. I longed to prove myself to God as faithful follower.
God’s ways are so beautiful and so good. They have captured my heart. Sure, God’s way is demanding, but isn’t that the point? If it was easy, everyone would do it.


To continue reading, click here.


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Book Idea: Our Korea

I have an idea for a book. Our church community (and friends connected to our church) could team up to write a book about our experiences in Korea. Foreigners living in Korea (or who have lived in Korea) could write about what they have experienced or thought while living here. Koreans could write about their experiences with foreigners here in Korea or reflections based on those experiences.
The book would be called: OUR KOREA: ONE MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITY'S TAKE ON LIVING IN KOREA. It would have 1-2 page articles on these subjects:

• Our Joys - What we love about living in Korea
• Our Pains - What frustrates us about living in Korea
• Our Laughs - Some of the funniest things that have happened to us while living in Korea
• Our Mistakes - Mistakes we have made while living in Korea
• Our Hopes - What we hope for Korea's future
• Our Fears - What we fear for Korea's future
• Our Advice - Advice we have for Korean and foreigners living in Korea

We could include articles, photos, art, poems - pretty much anything - as long as it gives some insight on living in Korea. I know that lots of people are already writing on their blogs or on facebook notes, so I think we'll get plenty of material.
We could also try to get writers from as many different perspectives as possible: different countries, different jobs, different nationalities, different reasons for being in Korea, etc.
Over the past few years, quite a few foreign authors have published books about Korea (while living in Korea). I think we could probably find a secular publisher for this book. All of the proceeds could go for our Long Term Partnership with Bangladesh.
I'm thinking this could be an energizing way for us to work together on a common project and to get our creative juices flowing. This could help us to practice being a loving community that changes our world.
We will need a project manager, writers, translators, language editors, and subject editors. If you are interested in any of these roles, please let me know.

Luke 7:11-17 - Deep Inside and Out

June 6, 2010
Josh Broward


Her only son. Her only son. He was her only son. She had already lost her husband. Now her son. Her only son.
We don’t even know what happened. Maybe he got sick. Maybe there was an accident. Maybe a Roman soldier killed him. We don’t know.
But we know he was her only son, and she was a widow. Her life was over. Many from the village joined her parade of sorrow now, but they would avoid her within the month. She was doubly cursed. God must be punishing her for some secret sins. She could beg for bread. Maybe she could survive by going through fields after the harvesters picking up the left-overs. Maybe - if she still had anything to offer - some men might pay for a night with her.
Her life was over. Her only son! His death was her death - separated only by a matter of time and circumstances. Her only son ... her only son ... “OH MY GOD! MY ONLY SON! HOW COULD YOU LET HIM DIE? MY ONLY SON! My only son. My only son.”

What is your widow’s pain? What is the widowed place in your own heart? What part of you cries out? Where do you have that deep heart-shaking loss? ...


To continue reading, click here.


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What Is the Gospel?

This winter I preached a series re-examining the Gospel. Today, I realized that I neglected to post the third sermon, so I'll post links to all four of them here. I feel like this is a pretty good summary of my theology and perspective on the role of the Church in our our world.

Week 1: The Gospel and the Bible
Week 2: The Gospel and Salvation
Week 3: The Gospel and Evangelism
Week 4: The Gospel and the Church

Reviews: Primal Leadership and Testament of Devotion

I recently finished two excellent books.
I picked up Primal Leadership last summer, and I just got around to it this spring. I absolutely LOVED it. It is written by Daniel Goleman (author of Emotional Intelligence), Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee. The premise is that leadership is essentially emotional.
Excellent leaders are in touch with their own emotions and with those of people around them. Excellent leaders know how to speak from their own hearts to others' hearts. Excellent leaders are able to manage their own emotions and even to guide the emotions of others (somewhat).
I was especially impressed with their summary of the dimensions of emotional intelligence (especially as it relates to leaders):
1. Self-Awareness (knowing your own emotions; accurate assessment of your own strengths and weaknesses; and self-confidence).
2. Self-Management (emotional self-control; transparency; adaptability; the drive to improve; initiative; optimism).
3. Social Awareness (sensing others' emotions and perspectives; organizational awareness; recognizing and meeting others' needs).
4. Relationship Management (visionary leadership; influence and persuasion; developing others; causing change; conflict management; teamwork).
Notably, awareness is the core element to personal and social success. We have to understand what's going on in us and in others. That is the first step in leadership. These four dimensions of leadership seem intuitively true, yet I have never seen it this clearly explained.

Another beautiful part of this book was their plan for personal change. They call these the 5 Discoveries.
1. My ideal self: Who do I want to be?
2. My real self: Who am I actually (strengths and gaps)?
3. My learning agenda: What is my plan to build on my strengths while reducing my gaps? (Interestingly, they suggest focusing growth plans on middle level capacities. The idea is that a small improvement in these will move them into the good or very good range. Whereas, focusing on our weakest points will lead us to working on very frustrating issues with smaller initial results.)
4. Experimenting and Practicing: How can I pursue these strengths in multiple areas of my life?
5. Developing trusting relationships: How can I build a network of mentors and peers for help, support, and encouragement in this growth process?

This book was deeply challenging on a personal level, and I am thinking about working out a similar growth plan with our pastoral staff. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in leadership.


Ron Benefiel highly recommended Testament of Devotion. After several recommendations, I finally bought the book, and after some procrastination, I finally read it. And, of course, I loved it. It's written by Thomas Kelly, a Quaker seminary professor who lived in the first half of the 20th century. It's basic premise is that we are called to a deep life with God who lives in us.
I was repeatedly challenged and strengthened by this book. Actually, it dovetailed with a movement of God in my heart and life to call me deeper to Him within me. I'm now making my second journey through the book - something I almost never do. I am expecting and hoping to learn more and to grow more in my deep pursuit of God.
I quoted this book extensively in my sermon last week, so you might look there to see some further thoughts and applications.
Again, I highly recommend this book.

Attending to the Trinity

May 30, 2010
Josh Broward

Proverbs 8:1-11, 17, 22-23, 29-31
Romans 5:1-5
John 16:5-7, 12-15

Today is Trinity Sunday. Our belief in the Trinity was born out of the experiences and teachings of Jesus the Messiah. When he was raised from the dead, his disciples faced the unlikely truth that God had come to them as a human being. On Pentecost, the disciples experience the Spirit of God like never before, and our understanding of God as Trinity was unstoppably begun.
Followers of Jesus began to see hints of the Trinity in the Old Testament. For example, we read the description of “Wisdom” in Proverbs 8 today. Theologians debate whether this is a reference to Jesus or to the Holy Spirit, but there is clearly some “part” of God that “was born before the oceans were formed” and that participated in creation.
The combination of Christian experience, the life and teachings of Jesus, and the hints in the Old Testament led Christians to the doctrine of the Trinity. The word “Trinity” was first used by Theophilus of Antioch in about 170 A.D. About 150 years later in 325, the Council of Nicea declared the doctrine of the Trinity to be fundamental to Christianity. Now, we say with Christians around the world, “We believe in one God the Father Almighty ... We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ ... We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life.” We believe in the Trinity.

But what does it mean? What is the point? What difference does the Trinity make for us? Well, it makes lots and lots of difference for us, and it means lots and lots of things. However, today, I want to narrow our focus to one point. GOD IS IN US. ...


To continue reading this post, click here.

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Prayer (Community Basics - Week 5)

Once upon a time, there were a group of cooks who never ate. They met together to cook. They made the most incredible dishes - adding just the right spices and holding the pan over the heat just so. But each week after they finished cooking their masterpieces, they tossed them into the trash bins and returned home.

Once upon a time, there was a Manchester United fan club. They all had the Man-U shirts and hats. They new all of the players’ names and statistics. They had autographed balls and photos. Their fan club met every week, but they never talked about soccer. They never watched any Man-U games. They weren’t even interested in the celebrity gossip about the Man-U players. Externally, they were the biggest fans in the world, but internally, their club had very little to do with Manchester United.

Once upon a time, there was an artists’ guild that didn’t do art. Artists from around the city met together to talk about the art of art. They discussed brush strokes and the tools for chiseling marble. They had heated debates about the best kind of paper to use when painting with water colors. However, the curious thing was that none of these art experts ever did any art.
...


To continue reading, click here.


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Bath House with the Pastors

Yesterday, I went to a meeting of Cheonan pastors. After lunch, we played soccer at a field across town. I asked if I'd be able to make it back for my 5pm appointment. "No problem. We finish at 4pm."
We had a nice game on a short field with side walls and a back net thing that kept the ball in play. No big fouls and two goals (one off the goalie's butt!). Nice day for a defender.

After the game, everyone decides to go to the public bath house for a "quick 15 minute shower." I enjoy the shower, hot tub, sauna, and postlude shower. Then one of the other pastors asks me to scrub his back - not kidding - and remember, we're completely naked. This is actually a sign of friendship and care. It's common to see father and son pairs giving each other a good scrub down. After a few minutes, he offered to scrub my back. It actually felt pretty good.

After about an hour, we finally left, and I was 30 minutes late for my appointment. But ... good times.

Recent Reviews

I have recently finished a few books and movies that deserve reviews.

1. FOLK TALES FROM KOREA. This is a fun collection of folk tales - mostly from oral sources. I had a few surprises as I read. Many of the tales have people turning into animals or animals turning into humans - mostly foxes and tigers - always evil figures. After many of the stories, I found myself scratching my head saying, "And the point was ...?" There is a great emphasis on respect for elders, finding out hidden truths, and success of underdogs. Some of the stories would make great movies (as I'm sure they already have). Some were just plain silly and fun, like the story of General Pumpkin who decimated whole armies with his flatulence (powered by massive consumption of pumpkins)!

2. NORTH KOREA. This book, written by Korean scholar Bruce Cummings, left me very sad at how badly the USA has messed up our relationship with North Korea. After reading this book, I feel like I have a much deeper understanding of our neighbors to the North. In many ways, their actions and attitudes are very understandable given our mostly hostile stance toward them. I was deeply surprised that atomic weapons were a regular part of our war strategy in Korea clear through the 90's (and maybe still - though there are no nuclear weapons on US bases in South Korea now). I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to understand Korea (North or South).

3. CHINATOWN (#21 on AFI's top 100 movies of all time). This is a very good tragedy, staring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway. It's kind of a story about how messed up life can be sometimes. Sometimes, despite our best intentions and noble actions, everything goes wrong and the bad people get just what they want. That sucks, but it's true. This story is beautifully crafted and poignantly depicted. However, it still lacks the moral power that I really want in a movie, so it loses a star on that count. I'll give it 4Js.

(Only 4 movies left out of the top 25. Making progress.)

Thunder Farting Leadership (And Other Ways to Change the World): Community Basics

KNU International English Church
May 2, 2010
Josh Broward


Today, we are continuing our series on Community Basics. We come to a basic issue: Leadership. (You’ll have to wait till the end to understand this title. That should keep you interested!)
Leadership is a must in any organization, but we often get confused about what leadership really is. Leadership is influence. Leadership is affecting change. Leaders are not always at the front or at the “top.” Influence and change can come from anywhere in the organization, family, or system. Leadership is not constant. It shifts and moves. Sometimes one person exercises more leadership. Sometimes another person steps forward with a special gift or moment of leadership. Leadership happens in different measures all at the same time. Everyone shares some influence in every environment.
In some ways, we’re all leaders. In fact, there are some basic forms of leadership to which we are all called.

1. EXAMPLE: This is the most fundamental truth of leadership. We are all leaders through our example. ...


To read the rest of this story, click here.


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Reconciliation: Community Basics - Week 2

KNU International English Church
April 18, 2010
Josh Broward

Today we continue our series on the basics of Christian community, and I need to start with a disclaimer. In any church of our size, there are usually some conflicts brewing or hiding below the happy smiles and handshakes. Over the past few months, I have talked with some of you about various kinds of conflicts. Today, you might feel like I’m preaching at you in particular. You might feel like I’m aiming my pastoral guns right at your heart. You need to know that I chose this sermon topic in November of last year, and I already had in mind in November most of what I’m going to say today. This topic isn’t because of you. We’re talking about reconciliation because this is a fundamental issue for Christian community. We always need reconciliation.
Jesus died for reconciliation.
The most important Jewish prayer is about the unity of God: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4). There is one God, one Creator. There is one creation made by one God to live in one whole, loving relationship.
The great tragedy of our world is the breaking of this oneness. We have become fragmented. We are disconnected from God. We are disconnected from others. We are disconnected from our environment. We are disconnected from our very selves.
Jesus died for reconciliation. God died to bring us back to God’s essential oneness - whole and loving relationship.
Reconciliation is the heart of the Gospel. What is broken can be healed. What is separated can be rejoined. Enemies can become friends. Rebels can become sons and daughters again.
Jesus died for reconciliation.


To continue reading this post, click here.

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Easter 2010 - Stories of Resurrection

Josh Broward
April 4, 2010

1 Corinthians 15:12-20

SoYoung’s Story
Gu SoYoung was my friend and neighbor. She was Emma’s piano teacher. She was a member of our church’s Advisory Council. She went with us to Tanzania in 2008. She was beautiful, and she loved beauty. She was an outstanding piano player, and she taught herself how to play the violin at the age of 30. She loved new foods and new experiences. She was full of joy and life. Her smile was always contagious.
In the last months of 2008, SoYoung began having stomach aches and digestive problems. In January of 2009, she was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. There was nothing the doctors could do. Her health declined quickly over the next few months.
SoYoung spent the last month or so in a hospice out in the countryside on the east side of Cheonan. As we drove out to visit her, we could see the trees and fields and flowers slowly emerging with the new life of spring, and yet, each day, we also watched the life fade out of our dear friend.
SoYoung died on the morning of April 4 at about 6 a.m. Sarah and I quickly went out to the hospice to join the family. We passed the word to the church, and we held a quiet memorial service at the funeral home on Sunday night.
That was a difficult and extremely painful season for her family and for many in our church. Many of us still miss SoYoung deeply.
This winter has been one of the longest winters I can remember. Many people have said that it feels like winter will never end. The gray skies, cold weather, and snow have seemed to last forever. Just when we think they are gone, they come back again.
Our world is in a long winter of death. Death was never part of God’s plan, but it is here, and we can’t stop it for now. Sometimes, the gray skies and pains of death seem like they will last forever. Just when we think they are gone, they come back again. Someone else dies. We lose another loved one. There is another senseless killing or disease. This long winter of death seems like it will go on forever. It seems like we will never escape all of this dying and waiting for more dying.
Last week, it was still cold. I was wearing my winter coat, and I had my hands shoved into my pockets because they felt like ice. I was walking past the Owens Building, and I saw something that encouraged my heart.
I saw the first buds of spring. ...


To continue reading this post, click here.


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Love (Christian Basics: Week 6)

March 28, 2010
Josh Broward


Throughout the Season of Lent, we have been thinking and talking about the Christian basics. What does it really mean to be a Christian? Well, here in our last week, we come to the most basic part of being a Christian: love. Love is the goal of Christianity. Our mission is to be a loving community that changes our world, and the first part of our vision is to be renewed by God’s love so that we love God, ourselves, and others. Love is fundamental to who we are as Christians and as members of this church.
I love how John Wesley explains this: “If you look for anything more than love, you are looking wide of the mark, you are getting out of the royal way, and when you are asking others, ‘Have you received this or that blessing?’ if you mean anything but more love, you mean wrong; you are leading them out of the way, and putting them upon a false scent. Settle it then in your heart, that ... you are to aim at nothing more than that love described in [1 Corinthians 13]. You can go no higher than this, till you are called to” heaven.1
Well, then, let’s read 1 Corinthians 13:

1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when full understanding comes, these partial things will become useless.
11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
Of all the Christian basics, love is the greatest. Love is more important than faith or the Bible or hope or anything else. Love is supreme. Without a life filled with love, everything else is beside the point. Everything God wants for us is summarized in one word: love.
Then, why do we find it so difficult to love? Why is it so hard to be patient and kind? Why is it that, no matter how much we pray, we still find ourselves being jealous or boastful or proud? Why do we demand our own way? Why are we so irritable with each other? Why do we keep mental records of the wrongs others have done to us - especially our bosses? Why do we give up on relationships so easily? Why do we find ourselves turning again and again toward selfishness and away from love?

Because we are buried alive. ...


To continue reading this post, click here.


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Pleasure and Pang

Thank you God
for this body
of joy and pain,
pleasure and pang
nameless and named.

March 13, 2010
(actually written in the bathtub!)

Beloved God

O beloved God, let me every moment live
And all your treasures love and share and give.
O beloved God, let love soak me through and through
And flow to others, and so return to you.


March 13, 2010
(actually written in the bathtub!)

Little Treasures

Walking in the rain
Near TaeJo San
Cold mist on my face
Little treasures
I discover
A few steps on,
On and up the path.
A strip of night time shops:
Chairs tipped over
Doors locked
Shutters drawn
Tables barren
Late in the morning.
Follow the sound
Of a waterfall:
Little jade lake
Held by a concrete damn
Still beautiful
In the rain
Wooded hills rising up
On three sides
Fading away
On one.
A Buhddist shop:
Charms and bracelets
Art and candles
Lanterns and incense
Beautiful in color or shape
Some jade like the lake
Some brown like the trees.
Stone steps:
Leading up
Up and away
Up and away from my world
Of computers and books
Phones and people
102 steps
Through a sanctuary
Of pine.
A temple complex:
Dawning realization
Of my location,
Approaching
The Third Largest
Sitting Buhdda
In Asia
(Who counts these things?)
Bronze - I remember
But the color is pale jade
Like the lake.
Chanters chant
Pray-ers kneel
Bells and gongs sound
Candles flicker,
The monks have AC now,
I see the boxes
Behind the house.
Big Buddha watches.
A drink from the
Cold mountain spring
Cold on my hands and face.
A prayer room:
Hot pink lotus lanterns
Dangle requests
Written with prayer pens.
Will they care
If I use one
To write these words?
It seems appropriate
Somehow.



March 15, 2010

Churches Halve # of Kids Waiting for Adoption in Colorado

Elena, recently sent me a link about how Christians in Colorado are living out their faith by adopting kids waiting for adoption. Most of these kids have experienced significant family trauma and are now in the Colorado state foster care system. However, Focus on the Family and churches around Colorado are calling on Christians to obey the biblical commands to care for orphans.
This is beautiful! How can we do more of this?!
Read the full article here.


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My Temptation

One more game,
One more hand,
One more move,
How the tempter draws me on.
A little less work,
A little less sleep,
A little less life.
The price to pay
For one more,
one more,
one more.


3/4/2010

Unhurried Time

Ahh, for unhurried time,
to read
to write
to pray
to think
to imagine
to sit
to wait
to move as the Spirit moves me.
Ahh, for unhurried time,
for the healing of my soul
for the calming of my mind
for the stretching of my sight
for the probing of my heart
for insight on my life
for the movement of my pen
for the touch of coffee on my lips
for the emergence of those ideas
flitting in the rear shadows of my mind
waiting for a clear space to land.
Ahhh, for this unhurried time.


1/18/2010

The Bible (Christian Basics: Week 3)

March 7, 2010

2 Timothy 3:14-17
Matthew 5:17-39

The Bible is the most famous, most diverse, most difficult, most profound, most challenging, most acclaimed, most criticized, and most powerful book ever written. More people in the world read the Bible than any other book in the history of the universe.
Yet even so, we read the Bible with a mixture of fear and hope, faith and doubt, understanding and confusion. Some of this great mixture of biblical experience comes from the complexity of the Bible itself, and some of it comes from our misunderstandings of what the Bible is and how it still works today. In the next 15 minutes or so, I want to talk about 5 basic characteristics of the Bible that may help us understand it and reclaim its power in our lives today in the 21st century world.

Sometimes, when we look at the Bible we can feel completely overwhelmed by its complexity and its cultural distance from our world. For many people, even for many Christians, it is hard to see any significant connection between those words written in far away worlds and our life in our world today.
However, the Bible is absolutely NECESSARY for us as Christians. In fact, it is non-negotiable for all who want to follow Jesus. The Bible is one of God’s key tools in accomplishing God’s mission in our world. God intends for the Bible to shape us and to guide us into his mission. N. T. Wright summarizes it like this: “To be a Christian while not letting the Bible do all the things it is capable of, through you and in you, is like trying to play the piano with your fingers tied together.”1

Second, the Bible is ALIVE. ...



To continue reading this sermon, click here.


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Here I Am (Isaiah 6:1-8)

Here is our first Wednesday night sermon.

Isaiah 6:1-8

Josh Broward
March 3, 2010

There are some short moments in time which forever change our lives. The day I became a Christian was one of those days. I had rejected God for several years. Then one day, I was overwhelmed by the presence of God. I had two powerful sensations: 1) God was right, and 2) I was wrong. I confessed my sin, and I asked God to change me and to lead me in his ways for the rest of my life. I have never been the same.
This is one of those moments for Isaiah.
Isaiah has a vision of God in his Temple, and he is overwhelmed by God’s glory and holiness. Isaiah knows that God is right and that he is wrong. God forgives him, and God burns away his sin.
Then, God asks Isaiah one of the most powerful questions in the Bible: “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” (Isaiah 6:8).
Most of us stop with confession and forgiveness. We know that God is right. We know that we are wrong. We know we need to confess. We know we need God to forgive us. We know we need God to change us. But then we stop.
But God doesn’t stop. God keeps moving forward. There is a progression for God. Confession --> forgiveness --> transformation --> sending.
“Whom should I send? Who will go for us?” God is a sending God. ...

To continue reading this post, click here.


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Following Jesus (Christian Basics: Week 2)

[Preface: Sometimes, we just need to let the Bible speak for itself. This is one of those times. "Following" is a huge deal in the Bible. Just think about these passages, which will be read by different readers from our church.]

Matthew 14:22-33 (SeongHwan) “Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people home. After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.
Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, ‘It’s a ghost!’
“But Jesus spoke to them at once. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ he said. ‘Take courage. I am here!’
“Then Peter called to him, ‘Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.’
“‘Yes, come,’ Jesus said.
“So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. ‘Save me, Lord!’ he shouted.
“Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. ‘You have so little faith,’ Jesus said. ‘Why did you doubt?’
“When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped. Then the disciples worshiped him. ‘You really are the Son of God!’ they exclaimed.”



Numbers 14:24 (Chaplin) “But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.”

Deuteronomy 13:1-4 (SooHee) “If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, "Let us follow other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let us worship them," you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.”

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The Gospel and the Church (Gospel Series: Week 4)

February 14, 2010
Isaiah 2:1-5; 1 Peter 2:9-12; Matthew 5:1-16

This week, we are finishing our series on the Gospel. Maybe this is a good time for a little review. First, we need to read the Bible forwards, not backwards. And when we do read the Bible forward, understanding each new step in the context of the building story, an amazing picture emerges. The Gospel is that God is on a mission to heal the whole world, and God is starting by healing us - even though we don’t deserve it. Amazingly, God wants us to help! We can become farmers of the Gospel. Through service to the poor, loving friendships, planting seeds of truth, waiting, and watering, we can help the Gospel grow and take root in our world.
This week we are exploring what it means for us as the Church to live the Gospel. To help us understand this, I need to describe two other communities first.

We usually spend time with Sarah’s family in Iowa every summer. A few years ago, we visited the Iowa Living History Farm. Through volunteers and paid staff, they re-enact what life was like on farms in Iowa throughout history. It’s pretty cool.
We were overwhelmed with sensory experiences. We could see with our eyes what a village street was like. We could hear the sound of our own feet on the village board walk. We could go in and out of different stores: the drug store, the doctor’s office, the post office, the general mercantile, the lawyer’s office, and town hall.
We smelled the cookies baking in the oven. (But they wouldn’t let us have any cookies because then their 18th century kitchen would have to meet 21st century health code standards. That was torture!)
We could smell hay in the barn and touch the hot sweaty side of a horse after he plowed a field. We could stand in the hay and feel it poking at our ankles.
We could taste old fashioned root beer and rock candy.
We could go into the black smith’s work shop and hear the pounding of his hammer on the metal. We could feel the heat of his fires on our skin. Just standing in his workshop made us sweat!
We were also able to get even more personal through explorative action. We discovered that back in the day, one of Iowa’s biggest crops was broom corn. We actually got to use some of their 200 year old machines to practice making brooms. (It was fun, but I think I’ll stick to preaching.)


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