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:
I’m always humbled and amazed at my daughter’s love & generosity. She recently won a gift certificate for a free In-N-Out burger from our local library for completing a reading program. The first thing she wanted to do with her certificate was give it to a homeless person who was hungry.
Unfortunately, the fine print on the certificate specifies that she must be the one to use it (and be accompanied by us, her parents). So, I asked her what she thought of using the money we would have spent on a burger and put it toward something special our church community will be doing this Advent.
This year, our church will be participating in the Advent Conspiracy (AC). My daughter and I talked about what Advent is (the four week season of repentance, reflection and preparation leading up to Christmas) and why our church is participating in the AC this year.
We talked about how close to 1 billion people around the world don’t have access to clean water (more global water facts here from charity: water) and how our little community’s AC offering would be able to help people finally get the clean water we all need. My daughter thought about this for a minute and then said:
We’re lucky. We have a place to live and we have clean water.
We’re really lucky.
She agreed that we would put her offering together with ours to make a difference for people without clean water. I feel like the lucky one, privileged to watch my daughter grow in the love, grace & compassion of Jesus everyday.
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.
Looks like we’re back on the same treadmill here when it comes to dealing with ethnicity (specifically Asian Americans) and the church…
The Crime & The Cover-Up
Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite wrote a book called Deadly Viper Character Assassins: A Kung Fu Survival Guide for Life and Leadership, published by Zondervan, and have launched a corresponding website. While they seem well-intentioned (raising up leaders with integrity), their use of Asian stereotypes and, worse, their defensiveness and refusal to acknowledge any mistakes after this was pointed out, are — to put it mildly — extremely disappointing.
I often hear complaints about the state of praise & worship music these days (including Jesus is my boyfriend–type lyricism, blatant commercialism, bland musicianship, etc.). While much of this criticism is warranted, the question before us is How do we move forward? I continue to believe that connecting and worshiping God through music is important for individuals, families and churches — so, how do move from a posture of frowning critique into constructive adaptation?
headsparks* 