Last week, I was stunned to see a steady stream of comments about something called the “Compton Cookout” in my Facebook feed. Students from a fraternity at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) organized an off-campus party mocking Black History Month. Some lowlights from the invite:
Archives for category: reconciliation
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.
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.
I’ve heard Charles Lee say that, while Erwin McManus is the face of Mosaic, Eric Bryant is the behind-the-scenes guy who makes it happen there.
In the audiobook version of his book, Peppermint-Filled Pinatas, Eric shares from his life, family and ministry experience with humor and grace. A quick aside: Eric narrates his own audiobook, which is a nice touch given the number of personal anecdotes and stories he shares.
headsparks* 