Dangerous Safety - Luke 21:5-36

Josh Broward
November 14, 2010

    You have all heard the story of “The Tortoise and the Hare,” but have you heard the sequel - “The Tortoise and the Bees”?  After winning the dramatic, ever-so-slow victory over the Hare, the Tortoise decided that it was time to lay her eggs.  Yes, the Tortoise was a girl.  But don’t blame old Aesop for that mistake; it’s very hard to tell with turtles! 
    So the Tortoise made the slow journey back to her ancestral breeding ground.  She found the same sandy field where she was born and the same tree where she had been laying her eggs for many years.  It was perfect.  There was plenty of water.  There was plenty of soft green plants nearby.  It was not too sunny but not too cold.  It was perfect -except for one thing.  This year, there was a beehive in the tree. 
    The bees were not happy about the arrival of the Tortoise.  They buzzed about her head and told her to scram.  She quietly said, “You can sting me, but you can’t kill me.  This is my home, and I must produce life.”  She quietly went about her work, moving the sand and preparing her nest.  The bees began to sting her.  They stung her head, her legs, her tail.  They lost their stingers in her shell.  She continued preparing her nest.  “You can sting me, but you can’t kill me.  This is my home, and I must produce life.” 
    Slowly, slowly, slowly, the Tortoise prepared her nest.  Slowly, slowly, slowly, she laid her eggs.  Slowly, slowly, slowly, the tiny tortoise babies developed inside their eggs.  Slowly, slowly, slowly, the attacks from the bees began to wane as more and more bees lost their stingers in her shell.  No matter what the bees buzzed as they stung her, no matter how much it hurt when they stung, she always quietly replied: “You can sting me, but you can’t kill me.  This is my home, and I must produce life.”
    Finally, after many long months of waiting and patience and endurance, her eggs began to move.  The baby tortoises began to poke through their shells and emerge into the fresh clean air.  When all of the babies were out and free, the momma Tortoise prepared her babies for the annual journey to the watering place.  As they were about to leave the nest, she said, “Never mind the bees.  They can sting you, but they can’t kill you.  This is our home, and we must produce life.”

    This world is full of bees.  Bees of all kinds buzz about us and try to distract us from our calling.  Sometimes they attack and sting.  Other times they just do one flyby after another, trying to get us off course, trying to cause us to lose focus and to lose faith.  In our passage today, Jesus calls us to be like the Tortoise: quietly faithful and unafraid.



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Korea Tip # 100: Coffee Tree on a Hill

Nestled in the foothills of Taejo Mountain, lies a hidden treasure.  Coffee Tree on a Hill (언덕 위 커피 나무) is a quaint but spacious coffee roasterie and cafe.  Their menu includes coffees from a dozen different nations, scrumptious sandwiches, and lush desserts. 
The coffee beans are delivered green and roasted on the premises.  The red and chrome roaster churns all afternoon.  A single cup is a bit pricey at 5,000 won.  However, if you stay for a while, they will refill it about once an hour with whatever happens to have just been brewed.
The bacon and chicken sandwiches include savory grilled onions and peppers, fresh tomatoes, pickles, and a tangy sauce (making the napkin mandatory).  Be sure to order the bacon crispy (basakbasakhan 바삭바삭한), or else it will come out half-done in the Korean style. 
The New York Cheesecake is thick and creamy.  The Big Brulee Cheese Bar, with chocolate chips sunk into the crust, has just the right combo of tangy and sweet to match a steaming cup of black coffee. 

Perhaps the best part of Coffee Tree on a Hill, though, is the hill itself.  Taejo mountain is within sight and walking distance.  The large bronze Buddha, one of Cheonan’s minor claims to fame, is a peaceful 20 minute walk up the street.  From within the temple complex, one can enter the trail head that runs along the Taejo Mountain ridge.  A morning walk on the mountain is a beautiful set up for a peaceful afternoon with a good book and freshly roasted coffee. 
A few warnings.  Coffee Tree is open late, but its doors are shut until 11:30am.  Conversely, the temple complex is open early but closes at sundown.  I’ve been on the wrong side of these time limitations more than once.
To get here, take the #24 bus from the Cheonan Bus Terminal (on the Dunkin Donuts side of the street).  Wait until the very last stop (about 20 minutes).  The bus will probably pull into a parking lot.  Walk down the hill to the first gravel driveway and turn right.  Coffee Tree on a Hill is on the second floor of the orange brick building, with a nice walk out patio.  The only English on the building is a pink sign for the “Face to Face” skin clinic.
(This review will be published in Korea's 10 MAGAZINE, February 2011.)

Wild at Heart - Review

I just finished reading Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul by John Eldredge.  This an old best seller from 2001, but I can totally understand why it has sold some 2,000,000 copies.  John Eldredge also wrote another of my favorite books (with Brent Curtis): The Sacred Romance (also a minor modern classic).
Wild at Heart is about the loss of the man's heart and how to regain it.  The first premise of the book is that men (at least in modern Western culture) have forgotten how to be men.  We have exchanged the essentials of manhood (battle, adventure, and rescuing beauty) for reliability, safety, and good manners.  In the process, we have buried our hearts deep within us, and we have come to doubt our own manhood.
I deeply resonated with Eldredge and his analysis of manhood.  In fact, I've been ready a minor flurry of articles about the loss and struggles of manhood.  It seems that he has really hit on a key struggle of our culture. 
The middle portion of the book is about identifying and healing the deep wound in every man's heart.  We all have received deep wounds that strike us at our core, where our identity and self-worth originate.  Somewhere along the way (early or late or both), we have all received crippling arrows that tell us that we are not good enough and don't have what it takes to be a real man.  This may sound like pop psychology, but it is actually very deep and real.  The path to healing is opening our hearts to hear the voice of God counteracting those false messages deep within our hearts.  Eldredge has explained this with beautiful poignancy. 
In a difficult time in my life, God has used this book to encourage me to bring my full strength to bear in all my relationships and tasks.  The best thing I can do in this world is to be fully myself through the fueling power of the Spirit.
I highly recommend this book.  The Josh rating: JJJJJ.

Bigger than our Boxes - Luke 20:27-40

Josh Broward
November 7, 2010


Let’s start today with a little riddle.  I need some audience participation here.  (I raided McDonald’s trash in my sermon preparation this week.)  I’ve asked ______ to help us out.  Here’s the deal.  You have to get this balloon into this box.  Today, we are in a very practical sense the Body of Christ.   ______ will work as the hands, but you are all the collective brain.  You give him some ideas.  Tell him what to do. 
...

OK, let’s review the suggestions.
We could push and push to try to make it fit, but it will probably pop if we push too hard.
We could pop the balloon and put the little pieces inside, but then we no longer have a real balloon.
We could let some of the air out to make it smaller, but then, we’ve lost something of the balloon’s full potential.
There’s one more option.
We could reshape and expand the box.  If we take off some of the tape and tear it apart at one seem, the triangle unfolds.  Then, we can see that this box has much more potential than we thought.  There was hidden capacity here.  If we keep unfolding and reshaping, then it becomes a rectangle that is plenty big enough for the balloon.1
Thanks ______.

God is always bigger than our boxes.  Jesus is always bigger than we think he is.  The Truth is always bigger than our mental constructs.
I hate to break this to you, but you’re wrong. You’re all wrong. Don’t feel too bad about that. I’m wrong, too. We’re all wrong about something. ...


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Scholars of Life Blog

My friend, Mike Bobo (a former KNUer), started a community blog called Scholars of Life.  It's a bunch of people who want to be students of life itself, learning together how to live life more fully and more faithfully.  Mike invited me to join the blog.  Check it out.

Good News for Poor Hearts - Luke 19:1-10

Josh Broward
October 31, 2010

Read Luke 19:1-10.

    At this point anyone who grew up in English speaking Sunday Schools is thinking about the song, so let’s go ahead and get that out of the way.  Feel free to sing along.




    How’s that for a cheesy intro?  Zacchaeus is the classic children’s story.  The story is told and sang and colored and dramatized in Sunday Schools around the world.  In fact, this story has been told so many times that it has become trite.  But maybe the short little man still has something to say. 
    If we read through the whole book of Luke with a careful eye, we see something surprising in the Zacchaeus story - everything!  This is a narrative summary of the whole gospel of Luke up to this point.  In one simple story, Luke has woven together all of the key themes of his entire story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. ...


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Sullivan's Travels (#61 Greatest Movie of All Time) - Review

Sunday night Sarah and I watched another of AFI's 100 Greatest Movies: #61 Sullivan's Travels.   Sullivan is a famous director.  His specialty is making comedies, but he longs to make serious movies about the struggles of people in the working classes.  In an attempt to return him to making commercially (if a bit shallow) successful comedies, his producers tell him that he doesn't know anything about being poor and suffering.  This tactic backfires as Sullivan sets off to experience the world as a hobo.  
On the last night of his ventures into poverty (which have been superficial to this point), Sullivan is hit on the head and mugged.  He wakes up dizzy and disoriented on a train car in an unknown place.  When a railroad worker harasses him about trespassing and hits him with a stick, Sullivan beats the man with a rock.  Sullivan is tried while still disoriented and delusional, unable to remember his name.  He is convicted to six years of hard labor.  
This turn of events gives Sullivan a real taste of poverty and injustice.  The prison boss is stereotypically cruel.  Even though Sullivan remembers his real identity, he is unable to seek help.  
Next is one of the best church scenes I've ever seen in a movie.  The prisoners are invited to attend a movie showing in an all black church.  Before the prisoners arrive, the pastor asks the people to give the prisoners the front three rows.  Then he poignantly encourages the congregation "neither by word, nor by action, nor by look to make our guests feel unwelcome, nor to draw away from or act high-toned. For we's all equal in the sight of God."  This scene is doubly touching.  First, because it is an all black church, and showing African-Americans in a good light was extremely rare in 1941.  Second, simply depicting the church in a positive light is also pretty rare.  This small group of struggling Christians (Their church is fairly poor.) is living with the grace and hospitality toward which the gospel propels us all.
While at the church, Sullivan is amazed at the simple joy and exuberance the people take (and he himself takes) at the silly slap-stick of the cartoon movie.  This returns him to his true joy and calling - making comedies.  After he earns his freedom, he explains his change of heart.  "There's a lot to be said for making people laugh! Did you know that's all some people have? It isn't much, but it's better than nothing in this cockeyed caravan!"  
In my opinion, that last line (also the last line of the movie) is one of the best movie lines of all time.  Life really is a cockeyed caravan.  It's a beautiful caravan, but it's cockeyed nonetheless.  
I see two basic points to this story.  
(1) It really is hard for rich folks to understand what it's like to be poor.  We have to go way, way, way out of our normal way of life to even start to understand.  
(2) There is fundamental value in joy and hilarity.  Of course, there is also value in making our world better in very serious ways like reducing poverty, increasing education, and bettering health care.  However, joy (however ephemeral) is a value of its own.

I give this movie: JJJ.  Although it is a good movie overall, it loses one J because of the ridiculous slapstick and attempts at humor.  (Though they were very common in the 40s, they sat poorly with both Sarah and me.)  It also loses a J because of a few plot weaknesses.  However, it's a good movie that deals with a few serious topics in a fun way.  It's worth the rental fee.

Why Art Should Matter to Christians

I rarely repost articles.  However, this one touches on a theme that has been hitting me repeatedly in the past year or two.  I highly recommend: "Why Art Should Matter to Christians" by Melissa Kircher.  Something about art opens us to the creativity of God in a way that we desperately need.  We need more art personally (no matter how creative we feel) and secondarily (from those who are especially skilled in the arts).  We need more creativity because we need more creation!

A Good, Hard Year - 2009-10 Annual Report (Luke 18:1-8)

Josh Broward
October 17, 2010

   This has been a good, hard year.  Even the good times have been difficult, and even the difficult times have been good. 
    Many of us have had personal struggles.  We have had struggles with our jobs, struggles with finding a job, struggles with figuring out what to do next, struggles with our faith, struggles with our health, struggles with our identity and self-worth.
    Many of us have also had family struggles.  We have lost fathers and grandfathers.  We have had family in the hospital.  We have had new babies, with all of those joys and stresses.  We have had family conflicts and unspoken pains and griefs.
    We have also experienced some hard times as a church.  The cycle of coming and going has been unbalanced on the going side lately.  We bless them as they follow God’s leading, but we grieve for the hole they leave behind.  Others in our church are struggling to stay connected even though they’re staying in Korea.
    In the midst of all of these changes and struggles, we can feel overwhelmed, depressed, powerless or hopeless.  We might feel a lot like a widow in the first century.  In that era, a widow was the iconic symbol of a helpless sufferer - especially if she was poor, especially if she had no close male relatives, especially if someone wronged her.
    That is the case for the woman in our Gospel lesson.  She is a widow.  She is poor.  She can’t even afford the court fees or bribes to get the judge to hear her case.  She is alone.  Courtrooms were places for men, but she can’t find a male relative to go into the courtroom to plead her case.  And she has been wronged.  Probably someone has taken advantage of her vulnerability and taken some of the little bit that she has left.  She is desperate for justice.

Read Luke 18:1-8. 

    The word “justice” is repeated four times.  “Give me justice.”  “I’m going to see that she gets justice.”  Even the unjust judge “gave her justice in the end.”  “God will surely give justice to his chosen people.”   What is this “justice” about?  The word means to vindicate, to confirm, to justify, to uphold, to find innocent. 
    In this world, as we follow the way of Christ, we can often wonder if we’re doing the right thing.  Is it really the right thing to give rather than to keep?

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Healed or Saved? (Luke 17:11-19)

Josh Broward
October 10, 2010


Read Luke 17:11-19.

    This text is more complicated than it sounds.  On the surface, it seems like a simple story about remembering to say thank you.  However, four different themes weave through this text.  To really get the full picture, we need to see and understand each color of thread.
   
   The most obvious theme is thankfulness.  Jesus’ action in our lives calls for our joyful gratitude.  Ten people are healed.  One comes back.  Nine go on their way, maybe not noticing their healing yet, maybe in a hurry to experience the benefits of healing (seeing their family, reintegrating into society, entering the town).  Only one shows thanks.  Martin Luther said the essence of worship is the one leper who returned to give thanks.
    We live in an era where most people in developed nations have an attitude of entitlement.  We believe that everything is supposed to go our way.  We believe we are supposed to get everything we want.  And if we don’t, if life isn’t going our way, then something’s wrong with the world.  “Why is it raining on my birthday?  It’s not fair.”  A good income is a right not a blessing.  Health and happiness are standard expectations, and if we don’t have them, we pout.  In general, we have a glaring lack of gratitude for the many, many blessings we experience. 
    On the other hand, this leper who was healed is extreme in his expression of thanks.  Did you notice that?  He shouts for joy at the top of his voice.  He falls on his face at Jesus’ feet.  He praises God openly. 
    When was the last time you shouted for joy?



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Life UneXpected (Season 1) Review

Our friend Shannon loaned us the DVDs for a new show called Life UneXpected.  We enjoyed watching it at first, but it seemed to get more and more strained and more and more melodramatic. 
The basic story kept me interested.  Lux is a 16 year-old foster kid.  She is trying to be emancipated so she can leave foster care (where she has had a host of negative experiences) and be independent.  Toward this end she locates her birth parents: Baze and Kate.  Kate got pregnant after a high school dance.  She led Baze to believe that she had had an abortion, while actually she gave the baby up for adoption.  Lux's re-entry into their lives turns their world upside down.  They discover a second chance at parenting and become more of the people they always wanted to be.
However, in my opinion, the show is sunk because of the reaching, stretching attempts at stirring up drama and then milking it for all it's worth.   There is a weird love triangle going throughout the show between Kate, Baze, and Ryan (Kate's fiance).  Then, Lux has a parallel triangle with Bug (her boyfriend, who rides a motorcycle and has a large tattoo on his neck) and Jones (the high school quarterback and classic preppy). 
On one hand, I love the redemption story of a second chance at life and the beautiful family moments.  On the other hand, I hate the casual sex and over-done drama. 
So the Josh rating for this one is mixed: JJJ.
Life UneXpected: The Complete First Season

Modern Family (Season 1) Review

A few weeks ago, Sarah and I finished watching the first season of Modern Family.  It is hilarious and touching.  I don't remember when we have laughed so much at a TV show.  We recommended it to Michael and Elizabeth, and they were instantly addicted.
Here's the basic story line.  Jay (formerly played Al Bundy) is a traditional, white, slightly bigoted 50-something man.  He is remarried to a hot, much younger Columbian woman with a 10 year old son.  Jay has two adult kids who have families of their own: Claire and Mitchel.  Claire is married to a cheesy but funny guy, and they have 3 kids.  Mitchel and his partner Cameron have adopted a baby girl from Vietnam.   The story is simply their mixed-up life together as one big extended family.
The show is in a mock-umentary format.  In other words, there is a mixture of standard sitcom-type footage and some private interview time.  It's similar to The Office in format.  Often the interview bits are the most hilarious.  Sarah and I were often rolling around laughing during these.  We found ourselves quoting and remembering and laughing again in the days after we watched an especially good episode.  This is always a sign of excellence in a TV show.
However, the humor - as great as it is - may not be the best part of the show.  Modern Family does two other things very well.
1) They show people learning to love each other for who they are - with all of their ups and downs, strengths and weaknesses, lovability and annoyingness.  The show in poignant in its understanding and expression of the difficulties and joys of family life.  Part of the humor comes from our identification with the very sticky and awkward situations that families often encounter.  But through it all, they stick it out and genuinely show love and concern for each other - even if that requires change and sacrifice.
2) The show constantly sets up stereotypes and then explodes them.  The gay, uber emotional partner also played as an offensive lineman in college football.  The hot Columbian younger wife is also very smart and emotively aware.  The ADD kid who is always breaking things completes an outstanding school project on Van Gogh - without the help of his ADD father, who was supposed to be supervising him.  The stereotypical old white guy somehow comes around again and again to appreciate the beautiful diversity in his family.

We loved this show, and so the Josh rating is without a doubt 5 J's: JJJJJ!

Luke 17:1-10 - Do We Need More Faith?

[Note: Our series on Jesus and World Religions has been canceled.  Upon much prayer and refection, I don't think this is what our church most needs to hear at this time.]

  Today, we continue our journey through Luke with Luke chapter 17.  Has anyone else felt like this has been a tough trip as we’ve been preaching through Luke?  Luke is rough.  Especially in August and September, we’ve been dealing with some of Jesus’ most challenging teachings.  And, let me just tell you up front, today it doesn’t get any easier.  Next week will be better, but not today.

    Our Gospel lesson today is Luke 17:1-10, and it’s pretty challenging.  Instead of reading it as a whole, I want to walk through it and talk about it piece by piece.  I think this will help us really get what Jesus is trying to say.    Jesus starts out with a warning.
 1 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting! 2 It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin. 3 So watch yourselves!”
    Apparently, Jesus takes integrity and mentoring and parenting pretty seriously.  A millstone is a huge rock slab used to mill or to grind grain into flour.  Jesus sounds a bit like the mafia here: “You mess with my kids, and you’re going to be sleeping with the fishes.  Capisce?!”

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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. ...

To continue reading this post, click here.


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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 ...


To continue reading, click here.


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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? ...


To continue reading this post, click here.


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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.

To continue reading this post, click here.


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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.