Pride of the Yankees - Review

I owe this one to my friend, Bruce.  Pride of the Yankees, considered one of the best sports movies in history, tells the poignant story of Lou Gehrig. 
Gehrig was an all around athlete, but he was also a socially awkward Momma's boy.  His mom strongly pushed him to pursue a career in engineering.  Despite his outstanding success in sports, especially baseball, Gehrig reluctantly agrees to fulfill his mother's dreams instead of his own. 
However, when his mom becomes ill and the family can't pay the hospital bills, Gehrig signs on with the Yankees.  His mom resists Gehrig's initial success, saying she wishes she had died instead of Gehrig wasting his life in baseball.  However, after he becomes one of the best baseball players of all time, even his mom comes around and acknowledges the value of Gehrig pursuing his dreams and doing what he does best.
Gehrig led the Yankees to several World Series, won a host of batting crowns, and set many records that stood for decades.  His most famous achievement was playing in 2,130 consecutive games - despite illness or injury.  That record was only broken in 1995. 
Gehrig's sudden decline is a poignant picture of how disease can take down our strongest lions.  In the height of his career, Gehrig, suddenly and unexplainably slumped.  He lost his power, his speed, and his coordination.  Finally, when he realized he could no longer help his team, he sat down.  The doctors confirmed that he had a life-ending neural disease.  His nerves were basically shutting down - slowly decreasing his control over his exceptional body.
Through it all Gehrig operated with a quiet humility and confidence, which warms my heart and inspires me to follow.  He didn't make much of his success, and he didn't make much of his decline.  He just did his job, used his outstanding gifts, and sat down when it was over.  Also noteworthy is his beautiful relationship with Eleanor, his wifely anchor and friend.
This is a simple, but profound movie.  The Josh rating: JJJJ.

The Family of God

Part 1:

    Today we are celebrating several holidays: Children’s Day, Parents’ Day, Teachers’ Day, and Family Day - and while you’re at it, you can throw in Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day.  We had some debate about how we should deal with these secular holidays in our Christian worship service.  However, as we began to think about our series on the Church, we remembered the Christian teaching that God is our Father and that we are God’s family together. 
    Listen to how Paul explains this in Ephesians 2.

 19 So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners.  You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people.  You are members of God’s family.  20 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets.  And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.  21 We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.  22 Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

    We are one family, one house.  God has carefully joined us together in Christ, so that together we are a temple for God’s Spirit.  When we are together and committed to Jesus, something amazing and mysterious happens.  Somehow, our togetherness and our foundation in Jesus makes God’s Spirit real among us. 
    One of the beautiful things of God’s family is that we are all in God’s family - whether we are single, married, divorced, or widowed.  No one is excluded.  If you have put your faith in Christ, God has given you a new family.  We are all related to each other - like it or not! ...

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Korea Tip 107: Kakao Talk

If you have a smart phone, you can use one of the coolest new programs out there: Kakao Talk.  This is a Korean program, but it is available in English and Japanese.  Kakao now has some 10,000,000 users in 216 countries - so basically everywhere. 
I'm not a techie, but this is a cool app.  Here's what I like.
1. You can create a group chat, where everyone is chatting in the same window and can see everyone's comments.  I use this with the pastoral staff to set meetings and to solve issues that involve multiple people.
2. It recommends friends to you.  You don't have to go hunting and requesting friends.  As soon as someone in your phone contact list becomes a Kakao user, the system invites you to add them as your Kakao friend.  This is hugely convenient.
3. It's free - almost.  You have to pay for data transmission if you're not in a wifi zone.
4. There's no character limit.  Your messages can be as long as you want.
5. Virtually every smart phone user in Korea is on it.  That greatly reduces texting fees.

You can also share photos, videos, files, and links, but I don't really do all that stuff.  Like I said, I'm not a techie.  I use it for simple communication - kind of a hand-held modification of email, texting, and chatrooms.  You can download it for free at the istore or android market.

Living the Hospitality of God

    The big news this week is the wedding of England’s Prince William and Kate Middleton.  Some 2 billion people watched the wedding on live TV.  That’s nearly a third of the world!  One of the things that has caught my attention is the sheer number and variety of people involved in making this wedding happen.  People from every sort of career and genre are involved in this massive procedure.
    Just think about musicians as one example.  First, there’s the choir of Westminster Abby, which includes 20 boys, 12 adult singers, a choir director, and an organist.  Then, there’s the Chapel Royal Choir, 10 more boys and 6 more adults.  Next is the Fanfare Team from the Royal Air Force.  The reception will include traditional music from the Prince of Wales’s Official Harpist and a performance by Ellie Goulding, a British pop star.  Finally, after all the formal stuff was over, a celebrity DJ was expected to fill Buckingham Palace with the sounds of classic and modern rock, ranging from The Monkeys and Johnny B Goode to Bon Jovi and Queen, all the way up to Beyonce, Black Eyed Peas, and Lady GaGa.
   And that’s just the music.  Think about all the other people helping. ...

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Korea Tip 106: Subway Schedules

Public transportation is one of the best thing about living in Korea.  However, one of the most frustrating things about taking the subway is rushing to the station - only to wait 30 minutes for the next train.  I've learned a few tricks to deal with this problem.
1. Pick up the train schedule at the office of the stations you frequent.  (To ask for one, just say: 시간표 주세요 or shee-gan-pyo joo-seh-yo.)  The attendant will give you a little card with the train schedule.  Sometimes, it's just a computer generated table for the schedule of that particular station.  Sometimes, they'll give you a folding schedule of all the stations in your area.
In Cheonan, the schedule on the left is for north (or Seoul) bound trains.  The schedule on the right is for south (or Asan) bound trains.  The # on the far left is the hour of day.  Next are the minutes of each hour the trains come on weekdays.  The next number is the schedule for weekends and holidays.  Sometimes there are additional notes in parentheses after the number.  These usually indicate that particular train stops at an unusual station.

2. A lesson learned the hard way: The schedule changes slightly every month or two.  Make sure to pick up the new schedule every so often.

3. When you're traveling to a new place - say PyoungTaek - make sure you check the departure schedule when you arrive.  Then, you'll know what time you need to get back to the station without waiting around forever for the next train. 

4. When traveling south-bound from north of Cheonan, make sure to look for trains with (신) or (신창) marked after the time.  Or, sometimes these may be marked in red.  About half of the southbound trains stop in Cheonan - rather than going all the way out to the end of the line which is ShinChang.  If you want to get to the Ssang-Yong-KNU Station, you have to take the ShinChang train.  If your train stops at Cheonan station, and EVERYBODY gets off.  Your train is stopping in Cheonan.  Just get off and wait for the next train bound for ShinChang.

Happy riding.

Korea Tip 105: Anki - Free (Language) Flash Card Program

Anki is Japanese for memorize.  Originally developed in Japan, for learning the Japanese language, now Anki has evolved into a multiple use learning program.  It is basically an advanced flash card system. 
You input (or download) the flash cards.  Then, upon review, Anki shows you one side of the flash card.  You mentally or orally recall the answer.  Then, you grade yourself on how well you answered: (1) incorrect, (2) difficult, (3) good, (4) easy.  Anki records your answer and brings that card up again quickly or slowly based on your self-evaluation.  Cards which you have learned extremely well only return for review about once a year. 
I use Anki to study Korean 3-4 times a week.  I have a few thousand cards entered.  Because, I input both single words and complete sentences, Anki has helped me to build my vocabulary and grammar. 
One of the hardest parts of language learning is that the ocean is so vast.  However, if you practice your Anki cards regularly, you'll only get a bite-sized chunk of cards for review each day.  This really helps with the motivation factor.  I keep myself going by alternating between Anki and email. 
Anki is an internet based program, so it automatically syncs between computers and phones.  If you do 10 cards at the office, 20 cards, and home and 30 while on the bus, none of them will be repeats - unless you missed them.
I highly recommend Anki.  20-30 minutes a day will make a big difference in your language ability.  You can download Anki for free here.

Easter Stories of Resurrection

For Easter this year, we had five people tell their stories of how God has changed their lives.  Their stories were very personal and vulnerable, so I don't want to post them on the internet.  However, hearing all the stories was deeply moving for many of us.  After the last story, I gave this conclusion.

    Simon of Peraea was a slave of Herod the Great.  In the year 4 BC, he put on a crown and declared himself the Messiah king.  A large group of fighters joined him and burned down many of the royal buildings.  Herod’s soldiers killed most of the fighters, captured Simon, and cut off his head.  That was the end of his movement.
    Athronges was a shepherd.  In about 3 BC, he declared himself Messiah.  Together with his four brothers, he led a military revolt against Herod’s son Archelaus.  They had many military victories, but they slowly became more and more cruel.  First they killed for freedom.  Then, they killed for greed.  Finally, they killed for sport.  They were defeated, and that was the end of his movement.
    Judas of Galilee was called the Messiah.  Around 6 AD, he led a revolt because of the Roman census and higher taxes that would follow.  His revolt was brutally crushed by the Romans.  This guy is actually mentioned in the Bible, Gamaliel, one of the most famous Jewish teachers is quoted as saying, “He got people to follow him, but he was killed, too, and all his followers were scattered” (Acts 5:37).
    Theudas called himself a prophet and probably Messiah.  To prove his claims he told people to walk with him to the Jordan River, where he would split the waters just like Moses split the Red Sea.  He never made it to the Jordan River.  The Roman cavalry caught up to them, killed most of his followers, and brought Theudas’s head back to Jerusalem.  Gamaliel talked about him too, “About 400 others joined him, but he was killed, and all his followers went their various ways.  The whole movement came to nothing” (Acts 5:36). 
    Jerry Rabow wrote a book called 50 Jewish Messiahs: The Untold Life Stories of 50 Jewish Messiahs Since Jesus.  Many people have claimed to be the Jewish Messiah.  They made big promises.  They said amazing things.  They did or pretended to do miraculous things.  They gathered a group of loyal followers, people who will bleed and die for them.  They were in different places around the world and in different times throughout history. 
    But one thing unites them all.  When they died, their movement died.  When the Messiah figure died, everyone went home sad.  When the Messiah died, the movement died. 
    Except for Jesus.  When he died, his movement exploded, went viral, spread around the world.  Within 20 days after his death, there were 20,000 Jesus-followers in Jerusalem.  Within 20 years, there were Jesus-followers all around the Roman Empire - many who weren’t even Jewish.  2,000 years later, there are 2 billion Jesus-followers scattered among every nation on earth.
    What happened?  Why did the other messiahs disappear but Jesus didn’t?  Why did their movements fade and die but Jesus’ movement grew like crazy?  Why is Jesus - who died 2000 years ago - now the most followed, most loved, most well-known human being in history?  Two reasons.
    First, God raised Jesus from the dead.  Jesus came back to life.  Jesus really died.  Jesus was really raised.  When the other messiahs died, they were gone.  It was over.  Three days after Jesus died, he came back.  He appeared to some 500 different people.  He explained to them why he had to die, how the Bible prepared them for this moment, and how this all fits into God’s greater plan to redeem humanity.  Then, Jesus sent his followers on a mission to tell people everywhere how they can find forgiveness and new life through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.  (See for example Luke 24.) 
    That leads us to the second reason, Jesus is different from all the other would-be-messiahs because he still gives life.  Jesus still moves people from death to life, from darkness to light.  Jesus changes people.  After Jesus was raised from the dead, he sent the Holy Spirit to his disciples, and the Holy Spirit filled them with a spiritual fire and passion that changed the world.  They went around telling people everywhere how they too could make a fresh start and have a new life.  And it worked!  People were changed!
    And it’s still happening.  Gina and Arnold and Susan and HyunSu and Amy are living proof that Jesus still changes people.  Jesus is alive, and he gives us new life.  This is Easter.  This is why we sing.  This is why we celebrate.  This is why Jesus is The Messiah. 
    Your pain, your suffering, your sin, your brokenness, your darkness, your depression, your addictions, your wounds, your dead places are not the end of the story.  They do not define you.  They will not end you. 
    Jesus is alive, and Jesus offers new life.  Put your trust in Jesus, the true Messiah, who has stood the test of time.  He lived a perfect life.  He died for our sins.  God raised him from the dead.  Through Jesus, God can raise us from death to new life.
    In a minute we’re going to pray.  I want to challenge you to make this prayer your prayer.  Ask God to give you new life.  Ask God to make this a day of change for you.  You are not stuck.  You are not fixed in your past.  You can become new.  Jesus can make you new.  Confess your brokenness.  Confess all those dead and destructive places in your life.  And ask God to forgive you and to give you new life.  This is your day of change.  Let’s pray.

Follow Me to Freedom - Review

When my friend Shannon showed me a book on leadership co-authored by Shane Claiborne, I knew I had to read it.  I was entranced with Claiborne's Irresistible Revolution, and leadership is one of my favorite subjects.  Follow Me to Freedom did not disappoint.  
Beautifully, this book is a conversation about both leadership and following.  Shane Claiborn and John Perkins (a 70+ year old, civil rights activist, who marched with MLK) joyfully banter back and forth on all kinds of issues related to leadership within the Kingdom - especially in the areas of community development.  The book is actually written in conversation form, with Shane and John sharing "speaking" time and going back and forth, feeding off each other.  It was beautiful to read their affirming words of each other - a young white radical learning from an old black activist; and an old black leader joyfully lifting up an upcoming white leader.
This book reminded me again of the crucial importance of community and relationship in the leadership process.  It reminded me of the importance of mentoring and being mentored.  It reminded me of the humility and joy inherent in healthy living and leadership.  It reminded me that we give our lives to God, not to a cause, and that we work in the cause as working for God - leaving the results up to him.
This book was not as earthshaking as Irresistible Revolution, but it is a good quiet reminder of many of the things we know about life and leadership but are so likely to forget or to ignore.  I recommend it.  The Josh rating: JJJJ.

Bresee's Sermons from Matthew - Review

As part of an effort to reconnect with the founders of our tradition (in the Church of the Nazarene), I’ve started reading through some of the works of Phineas Bresee and John Wesley.  Phineas Bresee started the first church to bear the name “Church of the Nazarene” in the late 1800‘s, and he was a key mover in the mergers of 1906 and 1908 which pulled together the various “holiness” groups around North America into one unified body, which also took the name Church of the Nazarene.  (Actually the first name was “The Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene.”)
In the winter, we were preaching through the Sermon on the Mount, so I read Bresee’s Sermons from Matthew's Gospel, most of which is based in the Sermon on the Mount.  I mixed reading it as my devotions and reading it as sermon study, when the texts overlapped.  Here are a few things I learned by reading this book. 
About half of Bresee’s sermons were not expository, and might not pass the muster with some modern fundamentalists.  About half the time, he picked a small text (1-2 verses) and then went off on a topical tangent.  It was all good stuff - don’t get me wrong - but it wasn’t an exegesis of the text.
Bresee reminded me again that it is possible to blend social justice and the traditional evangelical emphasis of personal transformation through Christ.  I think I always knew this, but reading his sermons encouraged me to  keep making personal transformation an important part of my preaching.
Bresee might not be so popular in many churches today.  For someone who preached at the turn of the century, he was a surprising mixture of liberalism and conservatism.  On one hand, he was a prohibitionist.  On the other hand, he affirmed female preachers.  On one hand, he was firmly committed to the primacy of personal transformation, which empowers even the most unlearned with Spiritual Power.  On the other hand, he affirmed the need for the highest level of scholarship.  On one hand, he was firmly committed to the Church as an institution.  On the other hand, he was deeply critical of the common shape of the Church in his era and was deeply open to structural and stylistic changes.
Reading Bresee encouraged me to view sermon crafting as an art.  He employs beautiful images and well-shaped phrases.  He clearly invested great time and care into his sermons.

Although some of his words or points seem a bit out dated, I see much in Bresee that I want to emulate.  I hope to find more of his works to read.  The Josh rating, partly because of its own merit and partly because of its value to anyone in the Nazarene tradition: JJJJ.

The Hunt for Red October - Review

This was my first Tom Clancy book, and I can see why he is so popular.  Usually action-suspense novels like this one build slowly until about half-way through the book, you can't bear to put it down.  I felt like that from the first page of this book.
In the first chapter, Clancy reveals that the captain of the USSR's latest, greatest nuclear submarine plans to defect to the USA.  Instantly, I was drawn into the social, political, military, scientific, personal drama of the story.  The Hunt for Red October is a compelling story as well as an inside look to international subsurface politics and a social commentary on communism (albeit from the outside). 
The bulk of the book is based on Captain Ramius' attempts to avoid the Russian Navy and make contact with the American Navy so that he and his officers can defect.  The Russians have orders to sink Ramius' sub.  The Americans are more than a little freaked out by all of the Russian naval activity off their east coast.  In between it all, there is a spy game going on as well.
I loved this book.  I'll definitely be reading more of Clancy.  Clancy is like John Grisham mixed with the military.  Also, I want to watch the movie.  Itunes here I come.  As for the Josh rating, Red October barely misses the 5 Js.  It doesn't have overwhelming moral punch, but it was an extremely entertaining read.  (If you're following along with my reviews, you might notice, I'm getting stingier with the 5Js rating.  I'm trying to reserve it for truly exceptional works.)  Overall: JJJJ.

The Great Exchange - 1 Peter 4:1-14

    This week I’m going to do something I don’t usually do.  We’re going to walk through this passage slowly verse by verse.  It really builds on itself, so we’re just going to talk about it bit by bit.  Here’s verse 1:
So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin.
    Back to suffering again.  I’ve never preached so much on suffering in all my life, but this was an important topic for Peter and his people.  Peter uses a really interesting word here.  “Arm yourselves.”  This is a battle.  Life is a battle.  The Christian life is a participating in a great, global warfare.  “Arm yourselves.”  Prepare yourselves for the battle.  Don’t go into battle without a weapon. 
    But what is this weapon that is so important?  “Arm yourselves with the same attitude that [Jesus] had.”  Our weapon in this battle of life is the attitude of Christ.  Remember this is the same Christ who “suffered for our sins once for all time.  He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring [us] safely home to God” (1 Peter 3:18).  This is a battle, and get ready to fight, but here is your weapon: innocent, suffering, love. 
    And once you suffer with Christ, that changes things.  It seem that the more we suffer for Christ, the stronger we grow at resisting sin. 

Then: 2 You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires ...

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Kings Speech - Review

Sarah and I finally made it out to watch a movie in a movie theater.  (It's hard to do organize such a long date with baby sitters.)  And we were not disappointed with King's Speech.  It deserved every Oscar it won. 
The lead character is the soon to be King George.  He struggles with terrible stuttering, especially when speaking in public.  Naturally, this is a huge problem for a would-be king of the United Kingdom.  If you've watched any of the trailers, you already know this, and you know that he overcomes his stuttering enough to rule effectively.
Here are a few things I loved about this movie, which you might not already know.
1. The king's speech difficulties stemmed from childhood wounds.  Learning to speak well required going back into his own past to find healing for long forgotten scars.  The king learns that he has to put down his mask - at least with Lionel - if he is every going to find healing.
2. Lionel, the speech therapist, is a classic example of someone living honestly, avoiding all pretensions, following his passions, maintaining his courage in the face of difficulty, and making a difference in the world by helping others.  I absolutely loved his character!  I also loved that he demanded authenticity from others - and got it.
3. Queen Elizabeth (surprisingly the same lady from Knight's Tale, a few years older!) shows unwavering support for the king.  She supports him when he rejects ridiculous methods of healing and relentlessly pursues an effective speech therapist.
4. And of course, I love that someone overcame his difficulties to become the person he is supposed to be.  (And more than one character does that - or doesn't do that - in this story!)

This movie gets a joyful JJJJJ.

KNB Interview

Korea Nazarene Broadcasting recently interviewed me and Park MoonShik, the director of Cheonan Migrant Shelter, which our church sponsors.  You can watch the interview here (which has a Korean voice-over), but you'll probably have to have Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player to view the link. 

Heidi - Review

Emma and I just finished reading Johanna Spyri's classic Heidi.  Heidi is a little joyous girl who finds herself in daunting circumstances and yet still gives life and hope to all around her.  The story is set on the Swiss Alps (and a little in Frankfurt).
Heidi's parents both died in quick succession.  Her maternal aunt unceremoniously dumps Heidi at the doorstep of her gruff paternal grandfather.  Heidi seems to be the picture of perfect childhood innocence and wonder.  She engages life with amazing joy and resiliency.  One of the most beautiful parts of this story is how Heidi's joy is a healing force in the lives of those around her. 
First, Heidi softens the hard shell and bitter heart of her grandfather.  After losing his wife and daughter and experiencing some untold rejections, he turned inward retreating to his hut on the mountain and shunning the company of others.  But with Heidi's advent, he begins to have hope again - partially because he experiences the joys of loving and being loved again.
Second, Heidi is "hired out" as a playmate for Klara, a rich handicapped girl in Frankfurt.  Heidi is altogether too unsophisticated for the liking of the housekeeper and nanny, but her joyful innocence wins the day and adds life to the dreary household.  Eventually, when Klara returns with Heidi to the Alps for a visit, the mountain environment and hopeful air actually works a healing miracle in Klara as well.
Third, mixed into this story is a healing that Heidi's friendship works on her doctor.  He has recently lost his wife and daughter and has a great weight of sadness always about him.  However, his time with Heidi, her unfiltered affection for him, friendship with Heidi's grandfather, and time in the beauty of the Alps work healing in the good doctor's soul.  He eventually retires from Frankfurt to live near Heidi and her grandfather and the Alps. 
At times the story is overly simplistic, and at other times the language is archaic or stiff.  However, the overall story is heart-touching.  Heidi is a beautiful story of the power of simple love and appreciation of the wonder of life.  Emma loved it (once she got into it), and I really enjoyed reading it to her. 
The Josh rating: JJJJ.

Ghosts, Zombies, Hell, and Jesus - 1 Peter 3:13-22

    Today is survey day.  I have three questions, and I want you to vote your opinion on each of these three questions.  You can vote: yes, no, or I don’t know.
    First question: Do you believe in ghosts?  Do you believe there can be contact between the dead and the living?  I want you to actually raise your hands.  It’s OK.  Nobody’s going to judge you one way or the other. 
    Everybody who believes that there are ghosts and/or contact between the dead and the living, raise your hand. 
    If you don’t believe in ghosts or any contact between the dead and the living, raise your hand.
    If you don’t know, raise your hand.
    OK, let’s go to our Old Testament Lesson: 1 Samuel 28:3-18.
 3 Meanwhile, Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him. He was buried in Ramah, his hometown. And Saul had banned from the land of Israel all mediums and those who consult the spirits of the dead.
 4 The Philistines set up their camp at Shunem, and Saul gathered all the army of Israel and camped at Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the vast Philistine army, he became frantic with fear. 6 He asked the Lord what he should do, but the Lord refused to answer him, either by dreams or by sacred lots or by the prophets. 7 Saul then said to his advisers, “Find a woman who is a medium, so I can go and ask her what to do.”
   His advisers replied, “There is a medium at Endor.”
 8 So Saul disguised himself by wearing ordinary clothing instead of his royal robes. Then he went to the woman’s home at night, accompanied by two of his men.
   “I have to talk to a man who has died,” he said. “Will you call up his spirit for me?” 



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Pray

We're using this video this week to encourage people to participate in our 24/7 Prayer week.

Korea Tip 104: Articles about Korean Christianity

Red crosses dot the night sky in Korean cities.  In less than a century, Christianity moved from less than 1% of the Korean population to over 30%.  My friend Ron K. hooked me up with a series of articles describing the Korean church's growth and stagnation - and the respective causes of both.  If you're interested in understanding more about Korean Christianity, this is a good place to begin your research.

"Christianity in Modern Korea" - Donald N. Clark (5 pages).  This is Korean Christian History 101.  If you want a quick overview of how Christianity got started in Korea, how it grew, and where it is now, start here.


"The Puzzle of Korean Christianity" - Danielle Kane and Jung Mee Park (34 pages).  These authors analyze geopolitical and national issues to understand the growth of Christianity in Korea and the frustration of Christianity in China and Japan.  They try to set the micronetworks that typically lead to conversion into the macrocontext of international relations.

"Holy Spirit Movements in Korea" - Kirsteen Kim (22 pages).  This is a rather weighty historical review of major movements within Korean theology.  I found this article helpful in understanding Korean Christianity's connections to Confucianism and Shamanism. 

"'Serving Two Masters': Protestant Churches in Korea and Money" - Gil-Soo Han, Joy J. Han, Andrew Eungi Kim (22 pages).  This is a difficult criticism of some of the problems in contemporary protestantism in Korea - especially related to the ABC's of outward success (attendance, buildings, and cash).  On the up side, the authors highlight some Korean churches who are bucking the materialistic trends - including "The Tin Church" in JeonJu - earning its nickname through planting new churches with inexpensive building materials.

Korea Tip 103: A Statistical Day in the Life of Cheonan, South Korea

Hopefully, you can figure out the statistics with the pictures.  Obviously, we're a growing city, with lots of babies, marriages, new cars, and new apartments.

Weaving with Peter - 1 Peter 2:11-25

    Sarah is learning how to knit.  When she found out she was pregnant, she got some yarn and knitting needles and started watching Youtube videos about how to knit.  So far, she’s finished enough to cover the baby’s left leg pretty securely.  Not bad for her first attempt!   But her goal is a beautiful striped blanket that looks something like this.  She still has about five months.

    During Lent, we’re preaching through 1 Peter, and I’ve learned something over the past few weeks.  1 Peter is a difficult book for preaching.  Peter takes these really, really dense theological topics and packs them all together into a few close verses - or even in the same sentence. 
    For example, listen to just one verse from Michael’s text last week: “But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people.  You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession.  As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).  That’s about five sermons, right there!
    Peter packs in heavy words and complex theological topics.  Last week, Michael talked about picking out different grains of rice.  This week a better metaphor might be to see the different colors of yarn.  First, Peter puts all his yarn on the table.  He describes each color.  Then, at the end, he weaves it all together.  To help us see the individual colors of this text, we’ll just work our way through the text bit by bit.

    The first color in Peter’s cloth here is green - alien green.  And, I like alien because I myself am an alien.  In fact, Sarah is giving birth to an alien.  So aliens are near and dear to my heart.  ...

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Losing My Soul Patch; Gaining Some Soul

I'm not sure what to call it.  I'm not sure that matters.

Two Sundays ago, I shaved my soul patch, which I've had for years.  I shaved it on Sunday morning before the first worship service in Lent.  It was sort of a Lenten fast, getting rid of something I keep to make myself look good.  I like the soul patch even though I get some flack for it ... especially from older folks.  (My Mom used to call it a devil's beard.)
I thought that some people (like my wife) would comment with relief.  I thought that some might say I look younger - not necessarily a good thing for a young pastor.  Maybe a few might say I should grow it back.
But ...
Nothing.
No one said anything.
In fact, no one even noticed for days.
And then, only my daughter noticed when we were cuddling before bedtime, and she was touching my face.  (For the record, she wants me to grow it back so that I can use it to tickle her.)
By Wednesday night, I gave up and told my wife that I had shaved it.  She still hadn't noticed, and she doesn't even like the soul patch.  (For the record, I feel like I've earned a freebie the next time I don't notice when she cuts her hair ... which will be the next time she cuts her hair.)
Now, some 10 days later, not a single person over four feet tall has commented about it.
On one hand, I'm a bit disappointed.  I guess people just don't care all that much what I look like - or at least what my face looks like. 
On the other hand, I'm also hearing a spiritual lesson here.  I guess people just don't care all that much what I look like.  All of my concerns about style and coolness and being up to date (which - come on - we all have) are pretty much ... irrelevant.  Maybe I can relax a little about being cool and just be.
Maybe that's part of what Lent is all about anyway.

Perishing

Today, as I read the Ashes to Fire text, John 3, I came to a new understanding of John 3:16, "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." 
At first I was frustrated that the NLT used the word "perish."  I thought it was a concession to the familiarity of the verse in the older more traditional versions.  It feels a little archaic.
Then, I started to wonder if we ever use the word "perish" in our daily life.  Soon I thought of food drives requesting "imperishables" and other foods being "perishable."  I thought of fruit "perishing."  For food, "perishing" basically means going bad, rotting, becoming useless, spoiling.
Then, I realized that is not a bad description of hell or life without God.  Without God's healing grace, our bruises turn into bad spots, and our whole person slowly rots away.  With God's life we are imperishable.  We don't rot and whither.  We are renewed from within.
We are immortal in Christ, also, (as in we will live forever with him), but today I am most impressed with imperishability.  Thank you God for your constant flow of redeeming and healing grace, which restores our bad spots and keeps us living and fresh.

Robinson Crusoe Review

Sarah and I just finished reading Daniel Defoe's classic adventure novel, Robinson Crusoe.  This is considered the first full-length novel to be written in the English language, and its story has captured the imagination of the world for almost 300 years. 
The basic story line is well known.  However, a few details significantly enrich the plot.  Crusoe's father encouraged him to settle down for a quiet but satisfying middle-class life.  However, Crusoe's hunger for adventure sent him sailing the seas.  He was captured by Moroccan pirates and made into a slave.  He managed to escape by boat, lost his bearings, and became adrift at sea.  A Portuguese vessel rescued him and took him to Brazil, where he settled and began developing a prosperous plantation.  However, greed pushed him to make an illegal slave trading mission to Africa.  On the way, his boat was shipwrecked and he was the lone survivor on an uninhabited island near Trinidad.
At this point the more familiar story begins.  Crusoe must learn to survive alone and without most of the technology he knows.  Slowly and falteringly, which much labor and struggle and trial and error, he becomes master of his island.  Also, with only the Bible to read, he has a deep spiritual awakening.  His one great complaint is loneliness.
Eventually, he discovers that South American cannibals occasionally visit his island for feasts of the meat of prisoners of war.  From this point forward, he lives in constant fear of his life.  However, he eventually manages to rescue one prisoner of war, whom he names Friday.  Friday immediately commits himself body and soul to Crusoe. 
Later, Friday and Crusoe are able to rescue others from certain death, and these rescues combine to provide a way off the island and back to Europe for Crusoe.  After almost 30 years of being "lost," Crusoe discovers that his Brazilian plantation, which he left in trust with his partners has prospered and he is now a man of some wealth. 
Through it all, he gives persistent credit to God for his provision and miraculous protection and mercy.  We were both surprised at the spiritual elements of this story.  However, we were also put off by Crusoe's open prejudice against the South American natives and willing acceptance of slavery.  It was strange to read of spiritual awakenings on one page and desires to slaughter savages (because of their cannibalism) on the next page.  However, I guess that's often how our life goes.  Even as we get light in one area of our lives, we remain blind in another.
This is a thrilling and intriguing story.  However, the details of his struggles for technological innovation and his long stay on the island grew monotonous in the middle section of the book.  The introduction warned us of this, though, so we pushed through and the pace picked up quite a bit once Crusoe saw the first footprint of another human on his island.
This is a great read, and it only looses one J because of its slow pace in the middle: JJJJ.

All About Eve - #28 Greatest Movie of All Time

We are loving that Itunes is carrying more of the old classics.  Last week, we watched All About Eve, #28 on AFI's greatest movies of all time list.  I was surprised to learn that this movie shares (with Titanic) the record for most Oscar nominees, and it is the only movie in history to have four women nominated for Oscars (two each for lead actress and supporting actress).  Marylin Monroe also has a small part, which was cool to watch.
This movie is fun, enjoyable, well-scripted, and painful.  The characters are believable, vulnerable, and easy to connect with.  The story line, even while including a few key twists and turns, also makes sense. 
In the end, this is a story about people who make their careers their lives and then find the emptiness of that choice.  A few characters seem to make a turn at the end toward relationship and valuing others.  One in particular (with a beautiful twist) enters into her own traps. 
It has been a while since Sarah and I have genuinely liked a movie on the top 100 list.  We usually appreciate their artistic quality, but often don't find them matching our personal taste.  However, this one hit the mark.  I give it a strong: JJJJ.  (Not 5, only because it lacked some of the moral punch I'd like to see.)

Stories of the Kingdom

I believe in stories.  We are narrative people in an intensely narrative time.  Stories shape and guide us.  As we retell the story of the Kingdom of God, we are drawn into that story and propelled forward into its ending. 
Every once in a while, one of my sermons is completely narrative - modern parables.   I have made a new blog collecting these stories together in one place: www.storiesofthekingdom.blogspot.com.
Check it out. 

Not Nada

For some reason, I went to sleep last night thinking about Ernest Hemmingway's refrain in The Sun Also Rises, which I read in high school.  Then, I wrote this when I woke up.

Nada, nada, y mas nada.
I won't tolerate any of that sentimental B.S.
These are the words of one who has exhausted pleasure.
These are the words of one who has become lost in his own recesses and can't see past the fog of his own being.
These are the words of one who has turned away from our hurting, singing, bleeding, laughing, loving world.
These are the worlds of one who has become lost in the rot of war, lost in the endless train of adventure, lost in the rejection of morals for personal pleasure, lost and without hope of ever finding one's way again.
These are the words of one who does not know God or experience his True North or feel his arms of love or see his flow of grace through us and to another and back again.
These are the words of one who has no hope of final justice and goodness.

No, not: nada, nada, y mas nada.

But beauty and joy and pain and healing.
   Justice and redemption and restoration.
   Peace and grace and mercy.
   Amor, amor, y mas amor.

Chopsticks, Factories, and Hospitality

(This story is also featured at Engage Magazine.)

They come for the 3-D jobs – Dangerous, Dirty, and Difficult.  People from all over South-East and Central Asia are flocking to South Korea’s factories and manual labor jobs. 

However, when they arrive, they have more adjustments than using chopsticks and eating kimchi (Korea’s spicy fermented cabbage).  Korea is one of the most homogeneous nations on earth.  With 98% of the population being ethnically Korean and a strong emphasis on homogeneity, being an outsider can be difficult.

Korea Nazarene University is reaching out to the growing multicultural community of Cheonan, South Korea.  Last year, the Social Welfare department of KNU hosted a seminar on multiculturalism and ministry to people of different cultures living in Korea.

KNU International English Church, with people from 10 different countries, is a gathering place for international students, English teachers, international professors, migrant workers, and globally minded Koreans.  They offer annual workshops on culture shock and support international students and teachers. 

Cheonan Migrant Shelter, sponsored by KNU International English Church, serves the migrant workers and families of the Cheonan area.  Because Moon-Shik Park, director of CMS, lived in Indonesia for several years, he knows firsthand the difficulties of living in a foreign culture, and because of his fluency in Bahasa Indonesian, CMS has developed a strong reputation for helpfulness among Korea’s Indonesian community.  Moon-Shik’s wife, Jenny, works for the Indonesian Embassy in Korea and helps at CMS on the weekends. 

CMS aims to help immigrants adjust to life in Korea and to share God’s love through simple acts of kindness and hospitality.  CMS provides translation, cultural assistance, banking and postal services, Korean and English lessons, employment mediation, and Bible studies.  Immigrants can even find a taste of home at CMS’s Asian food market, which stocks hard to find items like mutton, coconut milk, and peanut sauce.

In our globalizing world, the nature of missions is also changing.  We still need people to cross oceans and national lines, but we can also reach formerly hard-to-reach people simply by crossing the street.

To find out more about how to study or to teach at KNU, go to: http://eng.kornu.ac.kr/.  To find out about KNU International English Church, check out: www.knuchurch.com. 

Doing It - Matthew 7:15-28

Read Matthew 7:15-28.

    Every preacher has stories of sermons gone wrong or heard wrong.  I have my share.  “Ooh, didn’t mean it to come out that way” or “I’m pretty sure I didn’t say that” or the occasional sermon that just bombs.  But as far as I know, I’ve only had someone walk out on me once, and that was when I was preaching from today’s text. 
    It’s a hard passage.  Jesus says three really hard things.  1) Some people will be thrown into the fire.  2) Some people who think they deserve heaven will get locked out, and 3) Some people will find their whole lives come crashing down around them.
    Three years ago, on Easter Sunday, I was going to preach from this text, and I introduced myself to a new person during the greeting time.  I reached out my hand to her and she held up the sermon copy and said, “Haven’t you ever read the verse: ‘Judge not lest ye be judged’?!” 
    I said, “Umm ... yes ... actually I preached on that text last week.”
    She had angry tears in her eyes, and she said, “Well that is certainly not reflected in this sermon!” 
    I don’t remember the rest of the conversation, but I do remember that I got out my pen and made some quick edits to the sermon during the song time.  I also remember that this lady was gone before it was time for me to speak.
    Obviously, I’ve thought a lot about this experience this week.  Why didn’t I ask Matt to preach this one?  So in honor of Ms. Walker-outer, I want to make sure we all see the connections between the beginning of chapter 7 “Do not judge others and you will not be judged” and the end of chapter 7 with burning branches, closing doors, and collapsing houses.

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Judging Judging - Matthew 7:1-5

(I preached this sermon February 27, 2011.)

Matthew 7:1-5    
Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. ² For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.
 ³ “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? ⁴ How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? ⁵ Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.

One of my favorite podcasts tells of a fictional small town in the northern USA called “Lake Wobegon.”  At the end of every podcast, Garrison Keillor, the story teller, says, “And that’s the news from Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.”
    Think about that.  How can ALL the children be above average?  We have an almost unstoppable tendency to overrate ourselves and our children.  This is called the Lake Wobegon Effect or Illusory Superiority.   Most of us think we are better than most other people.  For example ...

• 68% of the professors at the University of Nebraska (in the USA) said that they are in the top 25% of professors at University of Nebraska.
• 87% of the MBA students at Stanford University said they were in the top half of MBA students at Stanford.

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Like the Sea

How can it be
That problems and trouble
Roll like the sea?
Now they surge and double;
Now they wane and flee.
With or without my failure,
They rise with fearsome froth.
With or without my succor,
They sink with silky sloth.
Why do I fear the waves
When I know I'll see them go?
Why fear the critics and knaves
When they too will ebb and flow?
Maker, Master, Captain of the Sea,
If waves must roar, at least calm me.

Trading Up

The gold of all the hills,

The flower on every stem,

The view from countless sills,

The splendor of every gem,

I would trade for thee

And still the richer be.

2-28-2011

(By the way, this is my own picture from Siquijor, Philippines.)

Initial Reflections on South Asia Trip #2.

I just returned from our second mission trip to the same South Asian country, where our church has a long term partnership building a village for widows and orphans.  (We aren't allowed to state the name of the country on the web.)  I don't have long to write, but I want to share a few brief reflections.
1. The long-term aspect here is crucial.  The relationships with among the leaders were exponentially deeper on this second trip than the first trip.  One evidence of this is that the staff gave us a huge discount on our lodging expenses.
2. Face to face meetings are extremely important in some cultures.  I received both good and bad news that our partners were uncomfortable sharing by email.
3. Mission trips are transformational - maybe more so for the participants who go.  I realized that I keep doing this trips - just as much for the people who go with me as for the people we help or for myself.
4. Service is SOOOO much more meaningful than tourism.  It's hard to imagine being a regular tourist, but I think I'll be a regular mission tripper for the rest of my life.
5. The first step out of poverty is much smaller than we think.  It is a step of millimeters rather than even inches.
6. My personal income is 20 times that of one of my friends in this country, and he is basically middle class.  Our family income is something like 40 times his.  I'm still trying to wrap my head around that and what it means for me and our family.
7. I want to go back.
8. We need many more of our church leaders to go.  If this is going to be an authentic partnership owned by our church, then we need many of our leaders to go, not just me and random groups of people from our church.  Also, I am hoping that someone else will plan the next trip, and I will function as a coach.
9. I want to bring Emma.  Sarah can't go, since she's pregnant, but I hope I can bring Emma the next time I head south.
10. We are kind of coaching the leaders of this nation in how to be effective partners.  We're all learning together really, but one of the big benefits of our partnership could be helping them develop the skills and the systems to be more effective partners with others. 
11. Our partners are working on organizing a child sponsorship program for the orphans.  It will cost at least $100 a month to sponsor one kid.  That's significantly more than normal sponsorship programs because they are complete orphans, not just needy kids living with families.  However, as the village becomes more self-sustaining, the costs will go down, hopefully enough to maintain the $100 sponsorship cost despite the nation's high inflation.
12. I don't want a permanent tattoo on my forearm.  We did henna tattoos, and while I like them, I felt really conspicuous walking around with short sleeves - especially with a red cross on my arm in a nation with 0.5% Christians.
13. We got positive feedback on developing an online site that could allow us to do fund raising on the web, where people can donate via credit card.   If we get final approval on that, I'll do a post on how you can help out.

OK, so those are some semi-random thoughts while they are fresh.  Maybe I can post more later.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

My brother-in-law, Michael, recommended this book to me.  I was a little skeptical at first.  The narrator is a teenage autistic boy.  The chapters are numbered via prime numbers rather than the normal 1, 2, 3, 4.
However, it's quirkiness offers an exquisite look into the mind of an autistic person.  At the same time it offers a compelling picture of families dealing with special-needs children and all of the stress that entails. 
The narrative is sharp and (at times) biting.  It is also witty, heart-warming, and heart-wrenching.  The story reads quickly.  I finished the whole book in less than a week, and that's really fast for me.
I highly recommend this book.  Everyone ought to read it, but for people who live or work near special needs individuals, this is a must-read.
The Josh rating: JJJJ.

Brothers Karamazov - Review

I love Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy, but this was one of the most difficult books I've read in a long, long time. 
First of all, it's really long - 940 pages!  That alone is pretty intimidating.
Second, in Russian style, each character has about 4-5 versions of their names.  I had a hard time keeping track of who was who until about 1/3 of the way into the book.
Third, it covers so many characters and so many themes that it's hard to follow (or even to identify) the main theme.

However, with those difficulties noted, I'm glad I read The Brothers Karamazov.  There are some absolutely beautiful scenes - notably Ivan's parable about the Inquisition. 
Also, after about half-way through the book, the action and pace increased quite a bit.  It took me about 6 months (and several stops and starts) to read the first half, but it only took a few weeks to read the second half.
In the end, I guess the theme of the book is that selfishness really screws up your life one way or another.  The only character who comes out happy is the one who is always trying to help others.

I'm reluctant to rate a classic this low.  However, because of the difficulty I experienced in the reading process and the lack of clarity for the over all theme, I'll give this only: JJJ.  But, I still recommend it.  It's hard, but it's worth the effort.

Korea Tip #102 - 3 Great New Places in SsangYong Dong

SsangYong Dong (the neighborhood around Korea Nazarene University) is really developing.  Recently, three great little places have popped up.
First, Pasta Noodle Office (파스타 면 사무소) is a chic little Italian place, next to Tom N Toms above McDonald's.  It offers great specialty pizzas and tasty pasta dishes.  The prices range from 7,000 won to 15,000 won.  My first impression is that this is the best Italian place in the neighborhood.
Second, Mama's Table is a quiet little cafe above Cara Cara Sauna.  It has excellent sandwiches on real whole wheat bread, with good side salads, and coffee.  They also have real cheese cake and soft homemade cookies (even oatmeal raisin - my favorite!).  Go out the KNU main gate up the hill toward the mountain.  Take the first left and follow that street as it makes an L to the right.  Mama's Table is almost at the end of the street on the left.

Third, A Twosome Place is a gourmet cafe chain based out of Seoul.  I was delighted to see this at the end of the Lotte Mart street.  It has great sandwiches and a wide variety of specialty coffees and deserts.  Think Starbucks crossed with Panera (almost).  From the KNU area, walk past Lotte Mart, go under the walkway under the main road, and keep going straight.  A Twosome Place will be on your right almost at the end of the street.
And by the way, don't miss Lower Garden (a quaint little coffee shop with simple but tasty sandwiches and Signore's Pizza (pizzas are baked in a real clay oven with a wood fire) - both are behind the post office. 
Enjoy!

Friday Night Lights - Season 2 - Review

We're behind on this one, but we just finished Friday Night Lights Season 2.  We have mixed feelings about this series.
On one hand, it's kind of a soap opera - with the unusual element that it's centered around a high school football team.  With this downside, we see all the high school, soap-opera type elements - drinking parties, sleeping around, etc.
On the other hand, this series is refreshingly realistic.  It is honestly and courageously dealing with real issues, and that's why I keep watching.  The depiction of the coach and his wife is raw, painful, and heartwarming.  Most characters are genuinely trying to overcome their difficult lot in life (four of whom have almost zero fatherly influence and very difficult living situations).  Christianity is fairly often depicted, and usually in a neutral or positive light.
Friday Night Lights poignantly tells the story of the struggle for meaning, love, and significance, and that's why we keep watching (that and the Texas football). This season was OK, but I've heard the next seasons get better.  For season 2, the Josh rating is: JJJ (with hopes of better luck next season).

Jujitsu Love - Matthew 5:38-48

 Jujitsu is a Japanese martial art.  “Ju” means the “gentle art” or the “yielding technique.”  During a surprise attack, one unarmed warrior might do battle with a fully armed attacking warrior.  They quickly learned that indirect combat is the best way to defeat a more powerful opponent.  Use his own force against him.  When the other guy swings his sword, you duck.  When he lunges, move to the side and give a little push so that he smashes into the wall.  The aggressor will destroy himself with his own violence.  This strategy is jujitsu.
    In our passage today, Jesus advocates jujitsu love.  It is not a surrender to violence.  It is a subversion of violence.  Listen carefully to how Jesus advocates a subtle defeat of violent actions or attitudes through jujitsu love.

Read Matthew 5:38-48. 

Our epistle lesson today gives us a fair summary of this passage: “Do not let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good” (Romans 12:21).  Conquer evil with love.  Love’s creative power erodes the power of evil.  ...


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Friendly Korea Tip #101 - Hangul Word Processor Online Viewer

So if you live in Korea, someone has probably emailed you a .hwp document.  This is a document created in Hangul Word Processor, Korea's most popular word processor (popular because it was specifically made for the Korean market - instead of just translated into Korean).  However, most westerners don't have HWP.  To further complicate the problem it has zero conversion capacity.  It can't be opened in Word, Open Office, or Mac's Pages.   Most people either go to a Korean computer to open the document or ask the person to send it again in Word. 
However, I recently discovered a new option.  HWP has created a free online site that will allow you to view any HWP doc and/or convert it into a pdf doc which you can download to your own computer.  I have used it twice now, and it works splendidly.  Go to www.thinkfree.com to try it out. 

Dangerously Biblical (Matthew 5:17-45)

    In Greek mythology, Pandora was given a beautiful golden box as a wedding gift from the gods.  The gods told her never to open it.  However, on her wedding day, she was also given the beautiful/horrible gift of curiosity.  This was all Zues’s cruel plan for personal revenge.
    Eventually, Pandora could no longer keep herself from the box.  She opened the lid, just a little bit, and all the evils of the world spilled out:  greed, theft, lies, jealousy, sickness, death - every evil thing imaginable poured out into the air and into the world before Pandora could close her box.

    In our Gospel lesson today, Jesus tells us that the real God has also given us a kind of box - the Bible. 

Read Matthew 5:17-45.

    So here is the Bible, this box that God has given us.  It is beautiful and valuable, but how does it work?  And how do we work with it?  And how does the Old Testament fit with the New Testament?  And how does the Bible fit with our lives today?
    But here’s the real difficulty in understanding this box that we have as the Bible.  Jesus seems to contradict himself.  ...


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Lassie Come-Home - Book Review

Emma and I read together almost every night.  She gets more or less books based on how quickly she gets ready for bed.  (We've found that this kind of reward system takes most of the stress out of the nighttime rituals, by putting the responsibility on her and by having a reward that really matters to her.)
I've started insisting on one chapter out of a chapter book as one of the "books" for each night.  So far we've finished lots of Magic Tree House books, The Wizard of Oz, and now Lassie Come-Home by Eric Knight. 
This book was far too difficult for Emma to read alone - lots of big vocabulary and English or Scottish accents.  Sometimes, I had to rephrase some of the difficult parts or check for comprehension, but mostly she was able to follow along quite well.  When we got down to the last 50 pages or so, she was super excited to read every night. 
Eric Knight shows an incredible knowledge of both dogs and humans.  As Lassie makes her long journey home, we are treated to a tour of humanity and British culture between the World Wars.  We see gripping scenes of families struggling with poverty and yet maintaining a great generosity of spirit, but we also see other individuals or groups who have hard hearts and quick hatred. 
For all with elementary children, or for anyone who wants a good heart-warming story, I gladly recommend Lassie Come-Home.  It's not earth shaking, but it is very good.  The Josh rating: JJJJ.

Already Gone - Book Review

This book was definitely outside my normal reading box.  On one hand, I found the statistics to be unnerving and yet very believable.  On the other hand, I found the diagnosis and recommended cure to be frustratingly off-base.
First some of the most pertinent statistics.

• 2/3 of people who were active in church as children or teenagers will not be active in church during their 20s.
• Of those 20-somethings who used to attend church but now don't, 95% attended regularly during elementary and middle school, 55% attended regularly during high school, and only 11% attended regularly during their early college years.  This means that we're losing our young people in high school and college.
• When these 20-somethings were asked why they dropped out of church, the reasons listed were: 

1. Boring worship services
2. Legalism
3. Hypocricy
4. Churches are too political
5. Self-righteous people
6. Distance from home
7. Not relevant to personal growth
8. God wouldn't condemn me to hell for not going to church.
9. The Bible is not relevant or practical.
10. I couldn't find my preferred denomination in my area.

Notice that only #8 and #9 are belief based issues.  The top 5, which make up 54% of the respondents are all complaining about human behavior issues in the church.

However, the most surprising statistics related to Sunday School.  According to the surveys in this book, Sunday School seems to be counterproductive (at least as currently operated).  20-something church drop-outs who had regularly attended Sunday School as kids or teenagers were MORE likely to ...

• Not believe that all the stories in the Bible are true.
• Defend premarital sex.
• View the church as hypocritical.
• Become specifically anti-church (hostile instead of just not attending).
• Feel that the Church is irrelevant to their needs today.

It's unclear why Sunday School seems to be having this effect.  At this point, all we can do is theorize.
However, There were a few statistical hints of hope.

• 51% of the church dropouts still attend worship services at Christmas or Easter.
• 38% expect to attend regularly again after having kids, and 30% aren't sure if they will or not.

Now, let me be clear here.  I'm not saying that attending a worship service makes someone a Christian.  I'm also not saying that not attending worship services regularly makes someone a non-Christian.  However, I do believe in the Church and in local churches.  I know the millions of faults to be found in our institutions and individuals.  However, I believe that churches are absolutely necessary and good for the world.  Therefore, I'm concerned that a growing number of young people find local churches to be irrelevant, unnecessary, boring, or even distasteful.  This is a major problem for the Church and for local churches.
Unfortunately, in my maybe not-so humble opinion, Ken Ham and Britt Beemer do a fairly poor job of addressing this problem and recommending a cure.  They seem to completely overlook the basic statistics that most young people who have quit church have quit because of the behavior and attitudes of the church.
Instead, Ham (the driving writer) pounds on fundamental beliefs as the cure, and his take on fundamental beliefs is an extremely literal interpretation of Genesis 1-11.  While I think such a literal interpretation is possible, I don't think it is necessary, and in some cases (like the comparison of sequence in Genesis 1 and 2), strict literalism is not even logical.   What shocks me the most is the blind insistence on right beliefs above all else.
For example, in the entire book, Ham never mentions (even once) the church's mandate to care for the poor.  In all of his calls to defend the Word and to live the Word, he never once calls our Western materialism into question.   In fact, when he does call for people to live the Word, he gives precious little guidance as to what that might look like.  Once he even says that living the Word is believing that the whole Bible is the literal Word of God (a belief statement).  For me this is evidence that many well meaning people in our church have an unnatural and unhealthy fixation on right belief, while turning a blind eye to right behavior.
However, for someone so conservative, I was surprised to read Ham's chapter attacking traditionalism.  He rightly argued that much that we consider "traditional" is not in fact Biblical.  I was shocked when Ham suggested that we should give 20-somethings who are still in the church the freedom to reinvent the church in more interesting and relevant ways.  Ham said that older, mature believers should stand by as advisers and allow the young folks to take us into a new way of being the church.  He even suggested that these new ways of being church may not feel much like "church" to older folks because they are not "traditional" but may still bear all of the essential elements of a Biblical church.  Mr. Ham (Mr. Uber-Conservative), I tip my hat to you on that one.
 So, that's a long review, of a so-so book.  At the least, the book raised some good points and sparked some good discussion among Sarah and I (and hopefully among the readers here).  Also, these authors see a genuine problem and are honestly trying to understand and to solve it.  For that I give them lots of credit.  For theology, perspective, methodology, and writing style, not so much.  The Josh rating: JJ.

A Covenant of Kindness

We have lost the skills of civil discourse. We have forgotten how to be kind to those with whom we disagree.
The Board of General Superintendents of the Church of the Nazarene is attempting to recall us to basic Christian kindness in our conversations and debate. They have released a "Covenant of Kindness."
As the debates on the net and in our home communities have been overheated at times, I rejoice that more people are speaking out on behalf of mutual respect and genuine humility in conversation. May this be part of our collective healing.

American Graffitti (#63 Greatest Movie) Review

This weekend Sarah and I watched American Graffitti, AFI's 63rd greatest movie of all time.  Produced by Francis Ford Coppola, co-written and directed by George Lucas, and staring big names like Ron Howard, Harrison Ford (one of his first), and Richard Dreyfus, we had high hopes.  However, we were sadly disappointed.
The whole movie takes place in about 15 hours of time, from evening to morning the next day.  It is set in the early 1960s with a group of kids in (or just out of) high school cruising the strip of their local town. 
I'm guessing this movie meant a lot more to people, for whom "cruising" was a major part of their childhood.  As I watched, I remembered vaguely some of my mom's stories for this sort of thing.  However, for Sarah and I the whole story seemed kind of slow and pointless. 
It's billed as a "coming of age story," but it didn't feel like much maturation actually happened.  The main characters exhibited a fair amount of angst and confusion, but the resolution was rather slim. 
Also there was this weird bit at the end, with text based follow-ups on the main characters in a "where are they now" format.  It gave the impression that this was a true story, but from what I can tell, Lucas just made this up from his own similar experiences.  It seemed out of sync and also pointless.
The final scene (before the weird text follow ups) was a fanciful but artful and slightly poignant wrap-up on the night.  As the white Thunderbird drove along the road, I wasn't sure if the message was that happiness is always just out of reach or that happiness is out there and worth pursuing.
Alas, sometimes even the "greatest" movies are duds for us.  I guess beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder.  The Josh rating: a dismal 2 Js - JJ.

Becoming Real (Matthew 5:1-16)

During “Common Time” over the next two months, we are studying Jesus’ most famous teaching, “The Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew 5, 6, and 7.  If you want to know what it means to follow Jesus in your common, ordinary, everyday life, this is the place to start.  Jesus is answering some basic questions.  What does it mean for the Kingdom of God to become real in our world?  What does it mean to be a real follower of Jesus?  What does it mean to be a real human?

    Before we start reading today’s text, I want to talk about someone else who explored what it means to become real.  In my opinion he was one of the greatest psychologists of the 20th century.  Abraham Maslow studied what he considered to be the top 1% of humanity.  He wanted to discover what helps people reach the highest limits of their potential.
    Maslow’s great contribution to human understanding was his Hierarchy of Needs.  The basic concept is that we need to have our most basic needs met before we can move upward to the next level of needs.

    We all start at the bottom with physical needs: food, water, air, sleep, shelter, etc.  We have to have this stuff to live.  That last one on the list is kind of funny: excretion.  That means pooping and peeing.  That may not seem like such a big deal, until you think of a time when you really, really, really had to pee but couldn’t find a bathroom.  You weren’t thinking high and lofty thoughts about how to become a better person or make our world a better place.  All you could think was, “I’ve got to PEEEEE!” 
    The next level is safety.  We all want security.  We need physical health, a safe home, safety for our possessions, income security, etc.  A year or two ago, one of our church members experienced a robbery, while she was at home, in her bed.  Safety became one of her dominant concerns. 
    When our basic needs are met, and we feel basically safe in the world, we start to focus our attention on love and belonging.  We want friendship and family.  We want to fall in love and get married.  We want to have sex, and not just any sex - good sex, intimate sex that connects us heart and soul with another person.  (And by the way, I don’t think sex actually belongs on that bottom level of most basic human needs.  Nobody ever dies from lack of sex.  We are designed to have sex.  It is good to have sex in the right kind of relationship, but we CAN live without it.)
    When we feel love and belong to a close community, we move on to the next set of aspirations, those focused on esteem or respect.  Notice here that love and belonging precede self-esteem and achievement.  We need to love and be loved before we can really feel good about ourselves or anything we accomplish.  This level of needs is all about significance. 
    Finally, we get to self-actualization.  According to Maslow, the highest aim of humanity is to become our true selves.  We have an accurate and honest understanding of ourselves and our world.  We have come to peace with ourselves and what we have to offer our world, and yet we work to solve key problems in our world.  Self-actualized people are people of integrity, joy, passion, honesty, and creative action.  They are fulfilling their potential.  They have become - or are becoming - their REAL (or actual) SELF, the person God made them to be.  This is the ultimate blessing.
    When we look at this, pyramid of needs, we intuitively connect with this.  The basic premise here is intuitively and obviously true.  We look at this and say, “Yeah, that’s about right.”  We might want to adjust this or that, but over all we say, “Yes, this is obviously true.”

    So with this hierarchy of needs in mind, let’s read the introduction to Jesus’ most important sermon.  Read Matthew 5:1-16. 

    Is anyone else confused?   ...

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Cool Church Videos

During my sermon research, I've found some pretty cool church videos I want to share.  Enjoy.