Archive for June, 2005
It was great to catch up with an old friend today (He’s pretty young actually still in his twenties)… I’m amazed and encouraged how far he has come as a young man and matured in his Christian faith … there are times when I feel “disappointed”, “discouraged” or “disillusioned” with the development of Christianity that’s in our Malaysian context … but it’s meetings like today that give me hope and perspective. Many leave for further studies and “lose their faith” or “can’t connect their faith with reality” … it’s good to just listen to a young man in his twenties speaking with a sense of purpose and focus in matters regarding how he wants to live as a human being and as a Christ-follower.
What can I say? whether it’s the van I’m driving stopping in the middle of the road, or almost missing a flight (once I actually did), or needing a replacement for a a speaking engagement … etc. God has been very gracious to me .. 
I’m glad I slowed down “to smell the flowers” of a good book this morning … the book opened up space for me to meet Jesus afresh! Thanks Scott.
I’m growing increasingly tired of some things I’m reading on the net. I’m amazed by the amount of “energies” people invest in such endeavors. I don’t think such individuals are necessarily lacking in intelligence or don’t sincerely believe they are right or love God. Some how I find more “energies” need to be invested in other areas … so I think I’m going to try a Homer Simpson “Just because I don’t care, doesn’t mean I don’t understand.” approach on some issues. Don’t care for me is not evading the issues (thus the willingness still to understand) … but more of relocating my “cares” on what is more important for me now.
I’m still in the how can we dance better mode … what I tentatively call “Ortho-dance” – the liberating dance of theology, spirituality and ministry (living/serving/sharing)! I think of a friend who’s been offered a teaching position in a seminary … I sincerely pray that he can model this dance for his future students … I’m pretty confident he will
Should I wear a white band tomorrow? Hmm … didn’t buy the one online doesn’t mean I can’t right?
Notes for the Panel
What will the future church look like? Here’s an attempted answer.
Jesus on/in the Mainline
It’s encouraging to see the hope in what is often pronounced as a hopeless church scene.
Congregation and Aggregation
I’ve been using the language of church scattered and church gathered for a while now in my context and find it very helpful. Thanks to Andrew now my mind expands with new “vocab” to think about community life local and beyond.
I managed to update some new blogs I’m reading and in some cases connected with the people in person (which is even more meaningful!)
Sharps Abroad & Ben and Chara
It was great to have Holly & Ryan come together with Ben & Chara over from Phuket to KL for 4 days. We had loads of fun … lots of conversations … maybe a bit too much Durian for them … I found myself appreciating and understanding the role Emergent has played in their lives. I also learnt more about the current scene of American Evangelicalism. A special bonus as I interact with them as well as read their recent blog entries of their experience in Malaysia, I learn more about myself too…
Pastorpher’s thoughts
Chris Rao was my junior in seminary but he’s more senior then me in age but what’s important is he genuinely seeks to learn and desires to fulfill his call to serve God and specifically the Youth ministry.
Jesus Creed
I just got Scott’s book … and hope to walk through it meditatively. I think scholars who blog are cool … and approachable. I found his posts very insightful.
I’m very thankful that the Emergent Malaysia “Open” Meeting went well with its load of surprises here and there with lots of food for thought as well as areas that causes me to think deeper (more on this later) I’m amazed that this is actually our fourth time we’ve organized this kind of meeting.
I decided to start off with a more vegetarian approach and leave the meat for later. If you can’t wait then you could check out Al’s post You Ain’t What You Eat and some thoughts here from from Ryan (a visiting friend who’s actually been to emergent conventions)
We had a diverse group … apart from Malaysians, we had friends from Ireland, USA, Korea & Japan giving this meeting quite an unexpected enriched international flavor. Of course, we were also very different as far as church background and where we are at along our journey at this point.
One thing was constant – based on how we introduced ourselves – we came because of a relationship with another person present. Our connecting point first and foremost is RELATIONAL first before some curiosity about what this “Emergent conversation” is all about as well as mutual concerns about being & doing church in Malaysia & beyond.
We had some good food to start off … some new connections formed, old connections rejuvenated, small talk and more in depth intros took place.
After food we jumped straight into 5 small groups to have some “conversations” revolving around the whole issue of “2nd Generation Christians”. Later, summaries & highlights of the discussions were shared with all. I was a free agent to move in and out of the five groups to get a general feel of where the “conversations” were going. MISSIONAL & CHURCH-related concerns came up all over the place.
I cheekily used some questions and assumptions of a paragraph from an upcoming Youth consultation I’ll be going to … and was not suprised as well as surprised on how different people perceive the images and issues revolving around the topic of “2nd(or 3rd or 4th) Generation Christians”
as usual, there was always interesting post-meeting conversations … and some managed to finish off the Durians!
I’m looking forward to “swim” in the scriptures afterwards …
I hope to fine tune some “guidelines” to encourage an “open & learning” atmosphere for tonight’s emergent malaysia “open” meeting with the topic on “2nd (or more) Generation Christians”
It’s so good to have Kia Ming taking Ryan & Holly and also Ben & Chara for a simple KL intro tour! Kia Ming & I had a good time chatting with the husbands last night over dinner … good to hear about their experiences in Phuket and with the local Christians there.
I wonder how come I always get into a situation where the church van I drive “dies on me” … like today. The alternator gave up on me … thank God I was near Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (who loaned me the van for last night) was nearby and Rev. Chan and the Mechanic came to the rescue. Gareth enjoyed the adventure though … and I lost some precious time, but had fun explaning to my son what happened.
There’s quite a lot on my mind … and I know that I’ll need to carve some time to work these things out in a prayerful atmosphere. Did some Take time Questions the last few days … and I could feel the nudge to take more time.
Need to rework my sleeping patterns as well and of course … jump start some kind of exercise programme … as I approach 33 years old in October (*hint hint*) I know I need to get myself in better shape for the long run. It’s hard to give up potato chips … perhaps taking on some more regular exercise would be easier!
Special Thanks to Rev. Poh and those at the Board of Youth Ministry Chinese Annual Conference (The Methodist Church in Singapore) for making this event possible.
Date: 7-8 July (Thurs- Fri), 2005
(please contact Rev Poh –> heowlee.poh@methodist.org.sg for more info)
Tony Jones (author of Postmodern Youth Ministry) and Dan Kimball (author of the Emerging Church) will be the main speakers.
It’s side by side the CORE Part 3 Certification Training by Youth Specialities with Mark Oestreicher.. which is on 9 July, Saturday.
I think I should be able to make it for the Pomo Youth Ministry Conference (now working on funds) and have some “conversations” with the guys!
Here’s the conference topics I saw in the brochure:
- Youth Ministry in a Globlized World
- How Postmodern Culture Shapes Youth and Youth Ministry
- Designing Multi-sensory Worship gatherings
- Moving Worship from performance and celebrity to participation and community
- Developing a theology of pop culture
- The recovery of ancient practices in youth ministry
- Starting an emerging worship gathering in an existing church
- Dialog session with the team
Of course, my main reason for going down is to connect face to face with the guys who are part of emergentUSA and engage in more indepth conversation – this is a good chance for some one like me from Asia to have some fun with my American friends as far as all things “emergent” or “emerging church” is concerned (plus all the youth ministry related issues from the conference).
These pictures were taken last Friday … one is when Elysia is wide awake ready for her next jab (I mean injection!), the other one is when she arrived to Genting and enjoying the cool weather and sleeping away.
It’s been pretty hot the last few weeks. So, going up to Genting Highlands last weekend was fabulous … now that we’ve returned back to home … I’m glad that hasn’t been too hot these few days.
Anyway … this is a slightly random post just before I go nto sleep mode and hopefully will be wide awake for a full days worth of work
The Mega Church That’s Reinventing Itself
I’ve found this article interesting because Walt Kallestad is our “renown” Lutheran version of a Mega Church pastor … I wonder how will those who advocate the mega church model feel after reading this article.
Darfur in Darkness
again there’s hardly any news on Darfur in our local Malaysian newspaper … here’s how one church puts their concern into action … guess who’s the pastor of the church? doesn’t look very “relativist” to me …
Why Phenomenology Matters to Theology: Part I
This is fascinating stuff … will be waiting for the next parts in the series.
10 million Luthers (via Steve K)
Nice to see Luther’s name connected with blogging …
These thoughts will carry me this week … Thanks Conrad!
“You know the difference between motivation and discipline, right? Motivation is a feeling; it’s about arranging your brain so that you feel like doing something you know you want to do, or arranging things around you so that they arrange your brain to feel like doing something. Novelty and variety and pleasure are ways of making yourself feel motivated to do something.
Discipline isn’t a feeling, it’s a way of life. It’s about arranging your brain so that you will do something you know you want to do even when you don’t feel like doing it. Consistency makes you disciplined. Discipline is like a muscle, the Get It Done gurus tell us. You’ve got to use it and use it for it to get stronger.” ~ Conrad Gempf
It was nice to be at Yew Khuen & Jo-Ann’s garden wedding last weekend (the most different wedding I conducted was on a beach! So this is the most unique venue I attended thus far!) I liked the Beatle Wedding car … cool and counter-cultural?!
I found the two readings very moving … the first was an excerpt from “The Velveteen Rabbit” by Margery Williams and the second was read so meaningfully by Jo-Ann’s sister from The Gospel according to John 15:12-17. I found myself giggling when I was listening to the first reading and felt the words opening me up to appreciate the “truths” conveyed there and when the second reading was done … I found the words of Jesus settling deeply in me … drawing me deeper to what’s REAL in Christ!
Just read the following words aloud … starting with the excerpt …
“What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”
“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”
“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.
“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”
“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”
“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
pause …
“12″This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15No longer do I call you servants,[a] for the servant[b] does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17These things I command you, so that you will love one another.” ~ John 15:12-17 (English Standard Version)
the Kit Family wishes both of you — the new Mr. & Mrs. Yoon — a wonderful adventure together with God’s blessing, grace and wisdom …