Archive for April, 2007
God, you have created me
to do you some definite service:
You have committed some work to me
which you have not committed to another.
I have my mission –
I may never know it in this life,
but I shall be told in the next.
Somehow I am necessary for your purposes.
I have a part in the great work;
I am a link in a chain,
a bond of connection between persons.
He has not created me for nothing.
I shall do good, I shall do his work;
I shall be an angel of peace,
A preacher of truth in my own place.
Fulfill your high purposes in me,
I am here to serve you, to be yours.
Amen .
- Meditation by Cardinal John Henry Newman
(via Called Today)
In the song by Casting Crowns “Who am I” it ends with a simple phrase at the end, “I am yours”. I think it’s a good song to talk about identity which is not based on our doing but on what God has done for us. I noticed how many of the college students at a recent camp connected with the song.
The phrase “to be yours” caught my attention in this prayer. Perhaps because as it talks about calling and service the prayer highlights another important dimension for us as human beings as well as people who consider ourselves followers of Christ – i.e. the significance of “becoming”. This becoming becomes a reality gradually as we find and fulfill our calling to serve him in our lifetime. 
I got an email this weekend …
“It is with great sadness that we announce that Robert Webber passed away Friday April 26. We will be posting details on www.seminary.edu and on the AEF Call web site www.aefcall.org about the upcoming public memorial service in the Chicago area as soon as details are finalized. Please keep the Webber family in your prayers.”
I have never met Bob Webber in person before. I’ve read many of his books and loved especially The Younger Evangelicals and the Ancient Future series. I just got his latest the Divine Embrace. I felt the AEF Call was helpful and worth supporting. He has been one of the significant authors and thinkers who have shaped how I view worship, faith and church today. When Brian McLaren was here in March, we talked a little bit more on how Bob was doing. I also got a more personal glimpse of Bob from Brian which encouraged me. I know a person can never be defined only by their public persona or books. And from reading the links below, I give thanks further for one who’s given his life for the good of the Gospel, the church as well as those whom he was able to mentor in a personal way.
“My colleague and friend, Robert E. Webber died yesterday evening after a long, courageous and faithful struggle with pancreatic cancer.
Bob was past seventy, maybe seventy two, but he had the vigor of someone twenty-thirty years younger. Back in the nineties when I started writing in obscure journals and talking about issues post modern, post liberal, post Christendom, he was already on to it all. He encouraged me, supported me, pushed me on. Bob Webber blew my mind in the way he would humbly help and shepherd scholars, pastors coming up. I owe Bob Webber. He looked at my earliest writings and told me they were great. He gave me helpful suggestions on the Great Giveaway that really worked. And although we came from different generations, I was always amazed at how quickly he moved to understand the latest theologians.
These past months as Bob’s struggle worsened, he always struggled with hope, grace, perseverance eeking out the very most out of his every breath, reading, writing, meeting with people telling them how much he loved them, and was blessed by them (I know of these encounters thru stories told to me). He died so well in the knowledge and hope of the resurrected Lord.”
Food for thought …
“… The Christians I met spoke of sin in this life, but that was meaningless to me. Karma was what mattered. So I decided, When they talk about sin, I think of karma, and I believe Jesus died for my karma, so I am going to accept him on those terms.
… As my mother and others in my family challenged my faith, I found that biblical concepts were only helpful if they were properly translated. My mother would say, “Jesus is a swear word. They use it in the shop every day. Why do you follow this man?”
… She had a hard time believing that Jesus would never refuse anybody. But that’s the case, I said, because he’s the sanatan sat guru.
Sanatan is a Sanskrit word meaning “eternal”; sat guru means “true living way.” You can put John 14:6 in brackets after that! He is “the way, the truth, and the life.” Guru is a living way. There are lots of sat gurus, but try to find a sanatan sat guru. No guru claims to be sanatan. Then she said, “Tell me more about this guru, who will love everybody.” So I said, “Not only is he a sanatan sat guru, he paid for karma. He paid our karmic debt.”
… We’ve produced a series of books and cds that connect with the South Asian experience. Fortunately, I was able to pay for publication, because in the early days, not many Christian publishers were willing to take on a book that talked about Jesus as the bodhisattva who fulfilled his dharma to pay for my karma to negate samsara and achieve nirvana!”
Good to read this post by Dan Kimball. I have fond memories of hanging out with him, Marko and Tony Jones in Singapore some years ago.
I saw the “delayed” show we get in Malaysia last night where they showed it back to back … the performance as well as the results show. There were some REALLY moving moments. The segment Simon Cowell which Will mentions was one I found memorable too.
Decoding the Apocalypse: What the Left Behind Series never told you
With thanks to Dr. Winn Griffin, looks like a study worth signing up on- and it’s FREE!
I got a shorter SMS … good insight:
“The problem with technology (in this instance, mobile phone messaging) is not just that it has an unintended way of consuming cultures and transforming societies; the ease with which it assimilates into our habits makes us careless, even reckless.”
I’m with John in this one. My mind is thinking how many of the female pastors in our denomination are such wonderful co-workers in ministry. John’s insight is worth some time:
“I am convinced that with the coming of Jesus, with his ministry to and with women, that a defining change took place in how women were viewed in a patriarchal culture. I believe that with the pouring out of the Spirit on the earth all kinds of differences that barred people from full equality with one another in the kingdom were abolished. Paul unpacks this equality in several of his New Testament letters. That equality is not just about equal standing before God, but equal status and function in the believing community. The equality in salvation is demonstrated in actual social change. Salvation opens doors for women, not closes them.”
Thanks to Alwyn for keeping us updated on the DVDs coming soon. I’ve reposted his picture and the comments he threw in. Enjoy,
Loved the suave jazzy piece accompanying the flashing scenes of the opening menu. Brian McLaren, Ng Kam Weng, Sherman and Kong Beng, Sivin, Yew Khuen, etc. - all actively and enthusiastically captured in hi-rez time. (Alex, you’re there too, *smile*).
Had a great time with Mike Foong today viewing the ‘first cuts’ of the Friends in Conversation DVD. All kudos to Mike for some excellent shooting and post-production work, which should leave smiles, bring back memories and revisit ideas/impressions for many of the conference participants.
Next steps include ’slicing’ up the segments into finer categories, pasting captions, rewording chapter names and so on.
The conversation shall play again – real soon.
The first video on the left is Brian McLaren hanging out with both young looking Jesuit Father Jojo Fung and the Bishop of the Lutheran Church in Malaysia and Singapore Philip Lok at a “Kopi Tiam” at Amcorp Mall, PJ. The title for the video is “Ecumenical Tea”. How often do you get the guy who is one of the top 25 evangelicals according to Time Magazine having a relaxed moment with a Roman Catholic priest and Lutheran Bishop in Malaysia?
The second video is Brian having dinner with the original core (who are younger) of what has evolved, stumbled and fumbled into what is currently known as emergentMalaysia.Yes, It was from the 4 of us - Alwyn, Yew Khuen and later Kia Meng joined in after returning from UK and me who are now stuck in this for now . May Chin (my beloved wife!) and Jo-ann (Yew Khuen’s lovely wife!) joined us too for the dinner that evening with Brian.
Brian came and was a wonderful catalyst and conversation partner for the Friends in Conversation event 2007. So it was nice to get an Emergent/C email from Emergent Village today where Brian shares from his travels and points to some thoughts from my good friend young theologian Sherman Kuek. Read on and enjoy (The videos above were a very “human” bonus!). Thanks Brian for listening and encouraging us along the way.
Thanks Kitty for nominating me for this award. I’m blushing already and don’t really have a thank you speech Now it’s my turn to participate. Here’s the rules (from the original site):
1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn’t fit your blog).
There are many blogs that make me think … more than 5 surely (that’s why it’s a little tough to make my choice. Here are those who first come to mind:
9/11 Didn’t Change the World (HT:Odyssey)
A conversation with Stanley Hauerwas. Interesting portraits.
a double take on early christianity: an interview with rodney stark
Will look into this …
22 Questions and Answers about Mind Maps
Survived with more than 5 Mind Maps for the camp I was involved in from Monday till today!
How Large-scale Change really happens: Working with Emergence
The opening line is very insightful:
“In spite of current ads and slogans, the world doesn’t change one person at a time. It changes as networks of relationships form among people who share a common cause and vision of what’s possible”
NT Wright gives a response to Robert Jenson, Jeffrey John, and a new volume entitled Pierced for Our Transgressions. This little quote stuck out
“Not, of course, that I claim myself to be infallible in my own interpretation of scripture. But it will not do (to anticipate an obvious reaction) to suggest that some recent works from the same school have effectively holed my exegesis, e.g. of Paul, below the water-line. Just because I have not had the time to respond, for instance, to Mark Seifrid, Don Carson and others in some of their recent polemic, does not mean that I am conceding the points they have made – not least because I see no evidence that they are really trying to hear what I and others are saying, but are instead simply waving us away as hopeless ‘new perspective’ people.”
It’s good to be back home. The welcome was warm.
I miss the sunset above. It was a beautiful moment.
The KFC dinner was filling and finger lickin’ good.
I’m glad that I don’t feel drained or tired. Three sessions was just nice for the Inti College Subang Jaya Christian Fellowship camp (which to my delightful surprise included those from Inti Nilai!). They were kind enough to be flexible to make some adjustments so I could come back before the final day tomorrow. I think they must be letting their hair down even more by now after a afternoon of being under the sun and getting wet!
I noticed how I’ll be scaling back on camp invitations on the second half of the year (read: not taking any?). It’s becoming harder to take up more than 2-3 days events especially for a young family like ours with a 5 year old Gareth, and 2 year old Elysia plus a working mom May Chin. Our parents have been very understanding and we appreciate them, but it’s becoming harder and harder these days.
Gareth told me last week that he didn’t want me to go to the Port Dickson camp. I tried explaining to him as much as I could how I’m the speaker for the camp and what I’d be doing there. He looked understanding. But on the phone last night I knew he missed me. I wonder how did we last the 28 days in Germany last year?
Gone were those days when I was more free roaming leaping from one speaking engagement to another with a single bound. It’s not that I don’t find value in these invitations, I suppose it’s the need to accept the fact that we are at a different season of our lives. The priorities are different and we have more limitations than before.
It was a good camp. Good committee members. Excellent organization. Passionate and open hearts. Lives ready to be shaped by a message which is life giving and life transforming. More reflections on this in another post. All in all, I’m grateful for the conversations, times of prayer, sharing and listening we had with one another.
The bonus for me is a nice room for myself where I got some good sleep. I thoroughly enjoyed the wind blowing in my face while allowing the sound of the waves to energize me. Food was acceptable. Special mini-breaks where I could enjoy God’s creation.
The campsite we stayed brought back quite a lot of memories for me – as a youth participant in various camps and as a speaker for others. A special memory was when May Chin and I walked on the beach under the moonlight when we were teenagers (with a bunch of church friends of course!) 