Our friends from LiNK (Libery in North Korea) have launched a new campaign called TheHundred. LiNK has been doing great work on behalf of the oppressed in North Korea, and they’re inviting you to join in the rescue of one hundred refugees.
Watch this great video below:
Here is an encouraging update regarding the whole Deadly Viper storm that’s been brewing for the past couple of days from Eugene Cho:
I had some good dialogue with Mike Foster yesterday and then a conference call later in the afternoon with Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite (Authors), Chris Heurtz (Director, Word Made Flesh), Soong-Chan Rah (Prof., North Park), Kathy Khang (InterVarsity Multi-Ethnic Ministries Director), and Eugene Cho (Pastor, Quest Church). The conversation was facilitated by Nikki Toyama-Szeto (Urbana 09 Program Director).While I had to click out about 40 minutes into the hour conversation, I was encouraged by the honest conversations from everyone involved and the shared conviction that we did not want this to be a one hit (one chat & out) wonder a la Men at Work (remember them?).
You can also see a bit more on the Deadly Viper blog and from Professor Soong-Chan Rah’s blog.
[Note: I’m picking up on a thread, Third Way Thinking, that I started awhile back – talking about third culture leaders and finding the groove]
James Choung shared a great quote from Roger Martin in The Opposable Mind this morning at our San Diego Asian American Minister’s meeting:
Francis Chan is joining the Flannel crew!
[h/t: Johnny Laird]
Flannel, the production team behind the Nooma series (featuring Rob Bell), is partnering with Francis Chan to produce a new DVD series called We Are Church.
Francis is a dynamic communicator. Last year, we took a group of college students up to the Passion Los Angeles event, and Francis’ words spoke deeply into our lives. His passion is contagious, and his communication style manages to inspire without bashing a person over the head (Lord knows, I’ve seen enough of that in my day).
The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity by Soong-Chan Rah, opens the door to hard conversations that we, as followers of Jesus, must no longer avoid. Talking about race, reconciliation and idolatrous captivity of the church is uncomfortable but, if we are serious about redemption (both within and through the church) we must engage these sensitive issues.
I am increasingly exasperated by those who write off Soong-Chan as an “angry Asian man,” and nothing more. In the introduction, Soong-Chan explains:
There are portions of the book that are intended to provoke. There may be times when the reader may react with anger, derision, defensiveness and so forth. But as you read through the major arguments of this book, I hope you will find my deepest concern for the church, the body of Christ… The true intention of the book is to bring reconciliation and renewal to the church in America.
headsparks* 