Archives for category: Kingdom of God

Shopping Malls and Altar Calls

July 20, 2009 //

In The Next Evangelicalism, Soong-Chan Rah identifies consumerism as one of the Western cultural captors of the church. If you’ve been around church for awhile, you’re probably familiar with the idea of “church shopping.” Church shoppers ask many of the same questions when taking a trip to the mall or choosing a church:

What style am I looking for? What’s the lowest price I can pay? Do I want the convenience, and predictability, of a nationwide big-box retailer? Maybe I’ll check out that hipster boutique?

And, even for those who are not shopping around, the primary question is not What can I give? but, rather, What can I gain? As my friend Jason Coker points out in a recent post, The Mega-Freeloader Church:

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Categories church, communication, community, Kingdom of God, missional

Review: The Next Evangelicalism

July 1, 2009 //

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.

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Categories asian american, books, church, faith, justice, Kingdom of God, race, reconciliation, reviews

Give It Away

June 15, 2009 //

One of my favorite questions these days comes from Charles Lee:

How can we become a better expression of God’s love to the world?

When I came across this story about Sub Pop Records giving away college scholarships, I was both encouraged and challenged.

Encouraged, because I love the indie/punk DIY spirit — with this scholarship, Sub Pop is helping to foster music, creativity and the arts in the lives of three young people from the Pacific Northwest. Punk, to me, is not about three-chords and an attitude; it’s thinking differently about and making a difference where you live.

I am also challenged to deeply consider what kind of church I hope to be a part of and to help pastor — one whose community is better off because we are here. I’m not only talking about funding scholarships or other humanitarian efforts (although, if we’re honest, the church in general could probably do a whole lot more of that) but fostering a spirit of generosity and creativity that reflects the head-spinning generosity and creativity of our God.

We want to become a church who serves, loves, prays for and is a good neighbor to those around us. We want to give more than we take, to bless more than we are blessed, and to become a better expression of what the love of God in Christ actually looks like.

Categories church, college, community, indie, Kingdom of God, music

Lots of Laundry Love

June 8, 2009 //

This insight has stuck with me since The Idea Camp in Irvine:

Open source is about making it happen for the kingdom, not about getting credit for it.

Charles Lee embodies this principle in so many ways. One of the many movements he helps lead, JustOne, created an initiative called the Laundry Love Project as “regular opportunities to help people who are struggling financially by assisting them with doing their laundry. Relationships are built, and LLPs become small communities of common concern in which participants often find that they receive assistance and benefit with other areas of their lives.”

Our church community initiated and participated in our first LLP on Saturday, June 6th. I was so encouraged to hear about other communities around the country also hosting LLPs — check out this great photo of a standing-room only crowd in Arkansas and this site setup by a group in Red Oak, Texas.

San Diego, because of its temperate climate, has a large homeless population. Many within our church have struggled with the idea of how to make a difference for members of the homeless community beyond giving a couple of dollars here & there when we see them panhandling at major intersections near church.

Laundry Love gave us a venue for listening to individual stories and establishing relationships while, at the same time, offering practical help. Our church might not be very big in numbers, but we have a huge heart! Most of our church members are not likely to strike up a Jesus-conversation with a stranger seated next to them on an airplane, but they are more than willing to get their hands dirty and serve like Jesus. Laundry Love is a great fit for us, and we’re hoping this will be the first of many. I’ve cross-posted the following from our church’s site:

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Categories church, community, family, Kingdom of God, outreach

Living Our Hope

May 6, 2009 //

I designed this graphic for our church’s web site last week:

welcome-god-has-not-given-up-3

As Brian McLaren writes in Everything Must Change, “Eschatology always wins.” That is, what we believe about the future distinctly shapes how we live today. Believing that we’re just hanging on until we can escape this sin-soaked mess will lead to a profoundly different way of life than believing God continues to be very much in love with the world and the people He created. One leads to despair; the other, hope. The church I want to be a part of is not a monument; it is a movement of hope & redemption.

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On a side note, I am currently in the midst of a web design project with my friend Richard. If you, or someone you know, needs some graphic and/or web design work, drop me a line. We offer great work at reasonable prices!

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And, speaking of movements, I encourage you to support Eugene Cho’s organization dedicated to fighting global poverty. Let’s get the Facebook group to one million people (it’s already at over 690,000 people) — join the cause today.

Categories church, communication, design, hope, Kingdom of God