Interests:You. =). Expertise:I am a master in the art of teasers, twofers, combos, dspms, yonkes, wedgies, wrestling on old comforters, DOGPILES, and pleasers.
I hurt my foot/ankle today ghost riding the whip with Greg, Kevin, Austin, Ryan, and Don. I jumped off of the hood of my 4Runner while it was going at about 5-10 mph. My left achilles tendon feels off on both sides and the top of my foot feels pretty weird. It doesn't hurt until i use that foot to stop (and even then it barely hurts), and it's not a sprain. It's not really an "injury," but i know i need to take it easy because it just doesn't feel right. Walking on it at del mar fair probably didn't help. (I hope you're reading this Camille Fairbanks...the funny thing is i'm dead serious). We got it on video, i'll put it up later.
Haha i haven't updated in a while, but i will soon. Take it easy guys. =).
Ken Fong is a pastor at a church in LA called Evergreen. I visited there once with Becca Fung and I liked it a lot. His xanga is http://www.xanga.com/sedaqah He talks about a lot of good stuff. Recently he put up this post and it struck a chord with me, especially after spending time with people in the Linda Vista area last Saturday offering service to meet people's felt needs, and also evangelizing to meet people's spiritual needs. Linda Vista isn't a bad area per se, but it isn't one of the greatest either. It was very interesting talking to people, feeling out their different hurts from the past, the ways they have been tricked by the devil or burned by the church and christians. Sadly I believe I'm part of the problem, and so I'm trusting God to help me change my attitudes and create in me a heart of love (1 John 3:18 style).
It was really awesome just being out there last Saturday. I was able to point people to CEC, my home church, since it was very close by. However, I did it with some reservations. What would people at my church say if Doug, a talkative man with a slight mental disability, walked through the door, or if Kar, a Filipino who believes strongly in spirits and angels and demons and all that jazz, dropped by for service, or if Jane, a single, proud, drug-addicted woman with three children in the military, stopped by to hear the truth about Jesus? However, I know God has placed some amazing people at CEC, and that while my church may not be used to interacting with those type of people, God is currently developing their heart for the community and for the lost.
Enjoy Ken Fong's post.
Anticipating an Ironic Easter
Last night I led my monthly Bible study at the Asian American Drug Abuse Program, located in the heart of LA's 'hood.' It was pretty much a full house, with about 30+ AsiAm, AfricAm, Caucasian, and Hispanic recovering young adult and adult addicts and alcoholics packed into the rectangular meeting room. I've been doing this since 1991, accompanied by different members of our church, seminary interns, and curious friends from other churches. God has used these humbled folks to teach me more about the meaning of the gospel and the coming of God's kingdom than anything I ever got from going through seminary (2x) or pastoring for more than a quarter century.
I led off by asking, "When Easter Sunday rolls around in 2 weeks, what kind of people are LEAST likely to be found in a Christian church that day?" Here's a sampling of what they shouted out:
Got the picture? What they had just done was generate a list that described themselves, even though I'm guessing that the majority of them were Christians and had spent significant time in local churches. I think that this fact really started to sink in to them as I stepped away from my scrawled list on the white board.
"Do you know what irony is? No? Well, it's when something weird takes place when it shouldn't happen. Got it? OK, well, I think it's terribly ironic (if not TRAGIC) that this coming Easter Sunday, the kind of people you've described WON'T be in church because Jesus specifically said that he LOVES these kind of people and wants to give them the gift of forgiveness and redemption. It's terribly ironic that the death that we commemorate and the resurrection that we celebrate is all about God's Son making it possible for even the most notorious sinners to be reconciled with God, yet on Easter Sunday in Christian churches around the world, obvious sinners will be nowhere near a place of worship."
Does that ever bother you like it's bothering me? The core message of God's gospel, the part that's really super good news to those without hope, is the offer of Jesus' amazing, all-inclusive, uninhibited love towards all who would open themselves to God through him. Jesus had said that we were to "love each other as I have loved you" (John 15:12) and yet we who populate so many of the churches are highly discriminatory when it comes to whom we love. And this is completely in violation of Jesus' guidelines for loving others. "If you love only those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the [dope dealers and gangsters] doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even [Buddhists or Moonies] do that? I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:46-47, 44-45
Jesus pronounced that the kingdom that had begun with his coming to earth would bless the following kinds of people:
Blind > sight Lame > walk Lepers > healed Deaf > hear Dead > resurrected POOR > receive Good News! (Matt 11:5; Luke 6:20)
The religious stuffed shirts in his day probably didn't have any problems with the first 5 on the list, but they thought that the 6th feature of the arriving kingdom of God was scandalous! Does that initially strike you as odd? Why would the Pharisees and teachers of the law get bent out of shape over God's intention to bless the poor with good news? Because they understood that Jesus wasn't just talking about people with very little money. They knew by observing Jesus that was really referring to obvious sinners in their neighborhoods. (Matt 11:19; Mark 2:16; Luke 15:1; Matt 21:32; Mark 2:17; Luke 7:37, 39; 15:2; 19:7) The "poor" were those who had notoriously failed to observe the commandments of God, and at whom, therefore everyone pointed a finger.
They were fond of taunting Jesus by saying, "A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and 'sinners.'" Matt 11:19; Luke 7:34).
Has any hyper-religious church-goer ever accused you of not only hanging out with notorious sinners but of being guilty (by association?) of the same sins? If you belong to a church now, has it ever been criticized for having too many obvious sinners going there?
For the first 3/4s of my life following Christ, I'm sure that no one ever leveled that kind of accusation at me nor any church I had joined. Most of the Easters that I celebrated were devoid of notorious-but-forgiven sinners. Well, at least not OBVIOUS ones. But ever since I started plumbing the depths of the gospel message and the encroaching kingdom, it's really changed the company I keep and the kind of people that come to our church. So I'm sure that I've thus attracted my share of detractors and accusers. But you know what? I really couldn't care less.
I told my AADAP friends last night, "Because of you all, I'm sure that there are Christians out there hanging negative labels on me. 'He hangs out with dopers, drunkards, whores and thieves! What kind of pastor could he be if he's doing that?' But it doesn't bother me one bit. Know why? Because hanging out with humiliated people has humbled me, has introduced to me the vast scope of God's mercy and love. I now consider it an honor to be accused in a manner similar to how Jesus was accused in his day."
You know what else is going to be ironic (and TRAGIC!) about this coming Easter? All the nicely heeled folks who will certainly be in church that morning are just as unworthy, just as sinful, just as sullied and broken as the ones who won't be there. But instead of being grateful for God's gracious love for us recovering sinners, we'll be priding ourselves on how spiritually accomplished we are and quietly thanking God that no 'riff raff' are present.
You should have seen how the AADAP folks faces lit up to hear that God loved them dearly and welcomed them to take their rightful places in the Body. You see, when you don't need any convincing to know how short you've fallen beneath God's holy standards, you therefore are overflowing with natural gratitude and appropriate humility.
Well, before that, first I want to share with you guys a song that I really enjoy. It is called "Even When," written by a band named Seven Places. This song has some awesome lyrics and is musically solid. I feel like I relate to the words a lot. Listen and enjoy =D.
Even When - Seven Places
"This week, I prayed, one time My phone, it rang, I put You on the other line And now my thoughts they drift around My knees remain unacquainted with the ground Unless my faith is put to the test and I am forced to bow Although I'm in this flesh it doesn't mean You shouldn't have the best From me, from me
Even when my eyes are dry Even when my soul is tired Even when my hands are heavy, I will lift them up to You It's not about how I feel, oh Lord I am here for You I exist for you
I close my eyes but all I see Is a background of black, bouncy squiggly lines And this week's mistakes coming back to mind but I will lift my voice and make a joyful sound Forget about me, I only get me down Although I cannot see it doesn't mean I shouldn't sing to You, to You
You've given me Your life and have held mine together yet I find Excuses to slouch in my pew But when glory divine Is sitting in my very presence, the least that I can do Is give my all to You, give my all to You"
Seven Places actually is no longer a band, but I would still totally recommend checking out their album "Hear Us Say Jesus." I recently started listening to it again and I have enjoyed it a lot.
Alright, so for this entry, I won't write so much, but instead post some pictures. It has been tough being away from home and not seeing most of you guys weekly, and so seriously shoot me a call anytime and we can chat. I definitely want to hear about what's been going on with you =).
This past quarter can once again be characterized by God's goodness and grace. Almost daily, I am given a new glimpse into the depth my depravity. Through this, God has been teaching me to reckon with and realize the true depth of His grace, reminding me that it is not by anything I can earn, and showing me again and again that as sin increases, His grace increases even more! It has been so nice to walk with the Lord. There's so much to say about Him =). Ptl for His faithfulness. All sin, guilt, and shame is washed away. *woot*
I was blessed this quarter to attend two retreats, one with my ICA fellowship brothers and sisters from LA, USC, Cal Poly, and Berkeley, and another one with CEC. Both retreats were immense blessings (and both at Pine Valley =P). God humbled me, especially during the second retreat. It was totally awesome to get to know the freshman in Life fellowship. You guys are an answered prayer from last summer, and I'm really excited to see how God is going to use you guys in the following years. One of the highlights from that retreat was seeing a visible outpouring of the Holy Spirit during worship, which was even cooler because it was a powerful and direct answer to the worship team's prayers. Being able to lift my hands with brothers and sisters ranging from 6th graders to adults was quite the humbling and truly exciting experience.
In my studies, God once again carried me through a couple of tests that I shouldn't have done well in. Haha it sounds ridiculous, trust me I know, but during this past quarter God has been teaching me to trust Him in my studies. Of course, this is no excuse for laziness, and it is by God's grace alone that those two tests I mentioned earlier did not end in complete failure. But what I really mean is that God has been teaching me that the intellectual capabilities He has given me are meant to be used to their full potential, in order that I can give all the fruits that come from them back to God. With the parable of the talents in mind, everything I have really is a blessing from God, and I'm just merely in charge of it for a while. Therefore, I will do my best with what I have been given in order to bring glory to Him. I'm actually pretty excited for next quarter, and I hope that I can glorify Him in my studies. (For any LA'ers reading this, please help keep me accountable =P).
Man, this is longer than I expected...
So yea, I could say much more, but I don't need to. The bottom line is that God is good. All the time! God is good. =D
Onto the pictures!!!
First Stop: Newbie Night, 2007. Early on in the quarter, all the newbies of CEC Life fellowship gathered at my place with the older leaders for an awesome night of fellowship and games. (It was at my house because my parents are the advisors for this college group). First contact with those ucsd first years...definitely a one of a kind bunch.
ICA Winter Conference. That was a tite weekend. Here's the freshmen. I have a feeling I'll be seeing a lot of them over the next three years. =). And that makes me so happy.
Two people in this picture are busts...can you guess which ones? Actually, on second thought, don't answer that.
Jump.
My birthday this quarter was extra special. Despite a midterm, it turned out to be awesome. Thanks again to my family, fellowship friends, floormates, and roomies.
Speaking of my roomies...I could not have asked for better ones. What a blessing.
CEC Retreat 07; first joint youth and college retreat in 3 years.
Worship was awesome.
Freshmen are amazing.
Old friends =).
The guys make me proud.
The girls make me EVEN PROUDER.
My boy Peter and I having a conversation.
Intramural Basketball was a blast (and a punishment =P). It's ok guys. Next year haha.
Alright well, that's second quarter. I can't wait to see what God has in store for next quarter.
To the CEC seniors. Trust God during this time of choosing a college. Remember, wherever you end up, whether it be UPenn or Miramar Community College, do your best for the glory of God. It's during these times of trial that we tend to grow the most with Him...and the cool thing is He wants to show Himself to you. I love you foolios, and if you ever want to chat about college stuff or just life in general, give me a call.
And for all the CECers, I want to encourage you guys to really start praying hard for Y-Rally and asking God to cultivate in you a heart for those who will be coming to the event. Last year's Y-Rally was not a success because of the worship team, or the amazing speaker, or the awesome Passion play, but simply because we took the time to pray. God wants to use you guys in POWERFUL ways through Y-rally, but you have to try your best to first be willing and ready. He can really do a lot through you guys. I will be praying for ya'll =).
Aight whew that was long =). Have a great week guys. Lates!
Hebrews 10:24-25 - "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another: and all the more as you see the Day approaching."
