Archive for November, 2007
Are we on the verge of the Great Emergence?
I’ve always enjoyed Phyllis Tickle’s insights .. and her accent!
“Emerging or emergent Christianity is the new form of Christianity that will serve the whole of the Great Emergence in the same way that Protestantism served the Great Reformation,” she said, in a speech that mixed doses of academic content with the wit of a proud Episcopalian from the deeply Southern culture of Western Tennessee.
However, anyone who studies history knows that the birth of something new doesn’t mean the death of older forms of faith. The Vatican didn’t disappear after the Protestant Reformation.
This kind of revolution, said Tickle, doesn’t mean “any one of those forms of earlier Christianity ever ceases to be. It simply means that every time we have one of these great upheavals … whatever was the dominant form of Christianity loses its pride of place and gives way to something new. What’s giving way, right now, is Protestantism as you and I have always known it.”
Emergent Church Forum Mp3 (via Andy Rowell)
I was surprised while listening to the forum and driving home one day that Tony Jones dropped my name there. Thanks Tony for my five seconds of fame 
Read this post for a more personal write up on the above forum. Or for those who want quick read rather than sitting through the long audio.
Nice short one …
“Fred) Would it be a fair characterization to say Emergent Village is about revisionism, missional Christianity, and social justice? Can you unpack that for us? And as you do could you distinguish, for the readers, the difference between Emergent Village and the emerging church.
Tony Jones ) Well, Fred, “revisionism” is a loaded term. I’d prefer to say that we’re trying to recover the gospel from Constantinian and consumerist tendencies in modern, American Christianity. Emergent Village is little more than an open-source network based on friendship — we call it a “growing, generative friendship” because we expect this friendship to generate many beautiful things for God’s kingdom.
Personally, I’m a little fuzzy on the supposed differences between “emerging” and “emergent.” Some want to make a big deal of the differences, but they’re used interchangeably by all but the most inside insiders.
Fred) How do you envision a missional church? How would it be different from the conventional idea of mission?
Tony Jones ) Quite simply, I think of “missional” as outward-focused. The gospel is mission — it’s on the move, it’s going somewhere. The gospel is a movement, and the church had better be on board. I don’t think it’s optional: the church has to be missional. “
Love the title ..
“Like mainstream evangelicals, emergents believe in spreading the Gospel and in the necessity of believers having a personal relationship with Jesus. The difference lies in how faith is applied — the way it’s acted out “in the culture,” as emergents typically put it. In the eyes of the emerging church, Christianity lived out in the respectable confines of megachurches and suburbia is fading into irrelevance as a new generation comes of age with a passion for healing society and a reluctance to shout moralistic dogma. “If the church doesn’t love its neighbors,” McKinley says, “I don’t understand how it can say anything that’s going to have meaning in the culture.”
Emergents tend to be more tolerant than establishment evangelicals on issues such as abortion and homosexuality. Do emergents believe in heaven and hell? Yes, McKinley explains, but according to emergent theology, the point of being Christian is not solely to achieve heaven in the next life, but to bring some heaven to this life by doing the work of Jesus.”
On Conversations That Never Land: Clarifying a Few Things on Emergent Theology and Deconstruction
Liberating to fly … how does one land?
“To say truth never arrives might be construed as asserting that deconstruction does not believe in truth (truth with a little “t” or a big “T”). I don’t think this is accurate. For there is truth, truth “always on the move,” truth that is recognized but not controllable. The deconstructive thinkers (which Tony Jones and Brian McLaren find helpful) DO SAY that the truth never FINALLY arrives. Yet I think there is something constructive in this part of deconstructionist philosophy. There is, in a manner of speaking, a way that truth is always provisional. There is, in a manner of speaking, a way that truth (with a small “t”) is bound by context and language and is always in process of being embodied. There is, in a manner of speaking, a way in which there are always voices excluded which must be heard which change the nature of the way we communicate truth and highlight parts of it we weren’t seeing before. Deconstructionist approaches to truth push for all of this. For deconstructive ways of thinking keep the truth open (in the clearing of Hiedegger’s ontico-ontological difference). And so despite the detractors, there is truth here being “manifested” into and beyond the linguistic cultural structures we have been given.”
The Emerging Church’s Response to Evangelicalism
Christmas is a good season to check on our “good news”.
“If you ask me whether I believe there is a hell I will tell you yes. To me the reality of hell is real and it is evident in the evil and destruction of souls I see here on earth all the time. If you ask me whether I believe that the salvation God has worked through the person and work of Jesus Christ has direct consequences on our eternal destiny as persons, again I will tell you yes. But if you ask me whether this singularly defines what it means to be saved, here is where I would say no. For our eternal life is the end of a life lived in His salvation (Rom 6:22), not the goal in and of itself. And so let’s not put the cart before the horse. The good news is that God has come in Christ inaugurating his salvation in the world. In Christ (and His Kingdom) there is now forgiveness of sins that is sets loose grace and forgiveness among us and to the world. In Christ (and His Kingdom) there is reconciliation with God that breeds a new reconciliation among us and to the world.(2 Cor 5:18-20) In Christ (and His Kingdom) there is a healing that has begun through the cross among us and to the world. In Christ’s Rule there is indeed a new politic, a way of being, living in the life of God made possible in Christ’s life, death and resurrection that takes shape among us and into the world. Behold all things are made new. (Rev 21.1.; 2 Cor 5:17). Our calling is nothing more nor less than to invite the world into this incredible new life.”
Some Theological Links For Emerging Theologians
Let me pick two for tea …
4. Why There Can Be No Division Between Confessing Jesus and Doing Justice. Dan Bell offers this concise piece of theological explanation for the kind of preaching/teaching that should drive this issue in the emerging church
2. Pastors Burning Out from Michael Kruse. The forms of church leadership that we have been propagating are simply impossible to fulfil. They doom the pastor and the church to disaster. I believe emerging and missional churches are leading the way in thinking differently about church leadership,
“We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans by sending us people with claims and petitions. We may pass them by, preoccupied with our more important tasks, as the priest passed by the man who had fallen among thieves, perhaps – reading the Bible. When we do that we pass by the visible sign of the Cross raised athwart our path to show us that, not our way, but God’s way must be done.
It is a strange fact that Christians and even ministers frequently consider their work so important and urgent that they will allow nothing to disturb them. They think they are doing God a service in this, but actually they are disdaining God’s ‘crooked yet straight path’ (Gottfried Arnold).
They do not want a life that is crossed and balked. But it is part of the discipline of humility that we must not spare our hand where it can perform a service and that we do not assume that our schedule is our own to manage, but allow it to be arranged by God.”
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together (via inward/outward)
I used to get more uptight when my schedule is disturbed. I mean I’m supposed to finish what I’m supposed to do right? Or perhaps it’s more like I want to drown myself in doing “stuff”. But it’s hard when there are three needy kids in the house. Each wanting attention, or when a fight erupts. When do we ever stop adjusting to the unexpected? When do we ever have a chance to sit down and just chill like now? Well, we do and there will be special times like now when everyone is asleep and I can blog my heart’s content But equally, there will be times of “interruptions” and I believe it’s an art to begin to learn how to embrace these “interruptions”.
I think of the unplanned conversations I had over the phone and across the table. I recall my whole week’s focus shift after knowing there is a need to walk with a friend through hell (possibly still walking through that). I’m not saint and I’m sure no superman. One’s energy is limited. At times, I pat myself on the back for handling the “interruptions” pretty well. Other times I crash and am zonked out. Sometimes, I avoid the “interruptions”. It’s hard to know when is God in it. But, God is always in the process of hindsight. He’s surely there when one pauses to discern upon reflection. It’s the actual “stuff” which serves as the raw material for the Spirit’s transforming work. And while some situations can never be changed, the effect of what had happened can be.
I’ve had some missed calls and missed appointments lately. It’s mostly because the timing of possible meet ups evaded us. But I’m looking forward to have a special Christmas season by meeting this persistent friend who has not given up saying “hello!”
I get the sense that Gareth is having a maturity growth sprout since the arrival of Baby Ewan. And yet, it’s also been a tough time for this sensitive soft hearted boy. Especially, when the adjustments for No. 2 Elysia has been trying and she’s pretty hard in her ways. Hang in there, son!
Life can be full of “Shoulds” or “Shouldn’ts” .. and though it may be interesting for conversation, after a while, we’re looking for what actually do we feel, and think and want …
Many have a self that has been decentered or at least distracted. One may feel he or she is in a desert of indecision or uncertainties. But deep down the yearning is to find a home – or be at home.
How can help others when it seems like they have it all figured out?
And yet, there are those who are aware of what’s wrong but feel disempowered to do anything. At least for now.
It’s amazing how I’ve managed to do 30minutes of more solid exercise the last two days. Of course, listening to some lectures and forums helped. I meant listening while I was doing the exercise.
Feeling some aches now. A little tired.
Missed Gareth today. We had less time together today. Only the morning for a little while.
This week is one of the most packed weeks for me since Ewan’s birth.
It’s good to feel a little more organized, and in the process of decluttering, and becoming a little bit more efficient. Yes, it’s easy to pride oneself and focusing on being effective. But it’s a false dichotomy. The steps be falsely distracting for the big picture. But we can’t get to where we want to be without some small steps. In fact lots of steps.
Looks like I’m falling a sleep even as I type.
Better go …
Thanks Evelyn Samuel for her permission to repost her reflections up after she joined us for the recent RoH Malaysia Merdeka 2007 Event.
25th November 2007
The mass media had been abuzz with the gathering of supporters who wanted to present a petition to Her Majesty’s Government at the British High Commission, which was just ten minutes away from home. Thousands were expected to show up but the Malaysian Police had warned the public to stay away. A clash of wills appeared to be imminent so the smart thing to do seemed to be to leave home before the crowds gathered, and take a different route to church. But the elevated highway was already thronging with pedestrians of Indian origin who seemed to have been walking for some time already; some tried unsuccessfully to hail taxis. Could the train stations have been shut? What about the buses? There’d already been postings that hotels were refusing to register guests who might be planning to defy the ban on the assembly as a permit had been denied. I felt moved by their determination, because their places of worship had been rudely demolished and spouses among them had outrageously been denied the right to live together; even a small baby’s breastfeeding had been stopped!
Along my route streams of purposeful ethnic Indians flowed towards the KLCC, and as I pulled up at a traffic light the driver next to me sounded his horn and gestured that I should take a safe route to a rallying point ahead. Though nodding in acknowledgement I felt a pang of guilt – should I be standing with them in solidarity instead of heading to the comforts of ‘church’? Isn’t this people group the reason my grandfather left his kith and kin and came to Malaya to serve, recognizing them as a group of God’s objects of love? How would grandfather – a church planter – have wanted me to continue at least part of his legacy?
Later on a fellow worshipper recounted that he had to walk to church from his expatriate neighborhood, and be subjected to blasts from the water canon (laced with chemicals) and dodge the canisters of tear gas that were being thrown into the passive crowd. Hmmm I wonder what his next letter or phone call home said.
That afternoon the Revolution of Hope aka ROH held a meeting to share its objectives, and part of what was said only reinforced my already stirred and shaken emotions about where and how God works. What is church? How does God want us to worship Him? Is it merely all about us, preaching, teaching, and how we address issues that face us, or could we have missed realizing that with or without us, God is always lovingly at work among all people groups anyway, because He loves everyone and is not dependant upon us of shower His Grace and Love? What might these questions mean to how we worship Him and ‘do church’?
The ROH was formed to write local theologies for the Malaysian context and the ROH team comprises Christians who are ecumenical in their faith. Tricia Yeoh (Public Policy and Planning specialist) made a crystal clear presentation of the powers at play in Malaysia and emphasized the need for the practice of a civil society. Sherman Kuek (Doctoral candidate, Contextual Theology) went back to the basics of how God revealed and reveals Himself not only in the structures of what we call ‘church’, but through every form of human expression, including ethnicity and culture – so that every human being can access and enjoy humanity at its fullest, in the ways that God intends and still accepts. Rev Sivin Kit (coordinator of Emergent Malaysia) continued with this theme, and shared The Hermeneutical Cycle of Experience, Reflection, Input and the resulting Adaptation of hearts, minds, hands, knowledge, values, and resulting skills. Veron Retnam (Resource Economist) plunged the dagger of reality into the meeting by giving examples from her work among marginalized children. The stark reality is there are young ones hungry for physical food and education – some as young as 4 years who help forage for scrap so that the older 7 year old can sell the scrap for food. (Are there children in this age group in your family?) There is a father who is in jail for stealing, and the grandmother who despairs that she cannot care for her small grandchildren and might have to given them up to only God-knows-what. With such backgrounds of deprivation, what is the projected fate of the marginalized living among us? How do they affect our societies and what will their contribution be to our politico-socio-economic development? Social Scientist and Jesuit priest Father Jojo underscored the message of Hope through examples of cheerful trust expressed by the marginalized folk he works with and validated the call to engaging in positive actions, with verses from the Bible.
He offered that God has a social contract with all people, through His promise that all nations would be blessed through Abraham, and that we must defend the social contract in our country’s Constitution to serve all Malaysians, by being a blessing to all, regardless of race or creed. Drawing on the account of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8, Jojo issued a wake-up call to persevere in acting constructively to appropriate justice for the oppressed, and to engage in teaching and equipping the marginalized how to regain their humanity and dignity. They have God-ordained rights and privileges which should not be denied them. Is this ‘doing church’?
Back home the evening news clips showed the law enforcers doing their part to prevent the marchers from reaching the British High Commission. They had indeed succeeded in winning the battle but what about the ensuing highly publicized war of opinions? The Bar Council monitored the rally from within it, as did the local and foreign mass media who, like my fellow church-goer were inconveniently subjected to the tear gas and water cannon. And the church at large? What shall we do in response to our national version of an inconvenient truth which threatens to come upon us well before the perils of global warming do?
How to Improve Your Concentration
I have repented from glorifying multi-tasking 
“Concentration means that we can focus on one thing, to the exclusion of all else. Our concentration may involve writing or working on a particular problem. Whatever our activity the most important criteria is to give all our focus, concentration and attention solely to the activity at hand. Concentration becomes hopeless when we get distracted by several different things at the same time; to improve our concentration we must stop trying to do several things at once. If you are writing an article, don’t be thinking about what to say to your boss later in the day. If we can develop one-pointedness we will develop a tremendous intensity that enables us to achieve our tasks much quicker.”
A Common Word Between Us and You
.. a letter from “138 Muslim scholars, clerics, and intellectuals” addressed to “all Christians everywhere”. I’m a little late in catching up with this. But not too late I think.
“Loving God and Neighbor Together” : A Christian response: to A Common Word between us and you
wow!
“… Muslims and Christians have not always shaken hands in friendship; their relations have sometimes been tense, even characterized by outright hostility. Since Jesus Christ says, “First take the log out your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye” (Matthew 7:5), we want to begin by acknowledging that in the past (e.g. in the Crusades) and in the present (e.g. in excesses of the “war on terror”) many Christians have been guilty of sinning against our Muslim neighbors. Before we “shake your hand” in responding to your letter, we ask forgiveness of the All-Merciful One and of the Muslim community around the world.”
Free and Uneasy: The First year Out (via Presentation Zen)
the presentation was good but the content was better!
The forgotten power of conversation
How about some conversation anyone?
“Conversation is personal contact, the meeting of minds in a mutual search for what life and work are about and how we should deal with both. It’s approaching others with an open mind and ready sympathy for their concerns, not just our own. It’s being willing to engage rather than dominate.
When people converse, a change of opinion is always possible. What would happen if politicians and leaders began to converse, instead of shouting pre-prepared political slogans? Might there be a chance to put the needs of the nation as a whole before narrow, sectional interests? Might there be real decisions on priorities, instead of shady political compromises?”
2 + 1 multi-functioning furniture
Brilliant!
The Top 20 Ways to come up with Amazing Ideas
I’ve done a lot during driving this past week. But my wife thinks I’m hogging the road some times
“Driving. There’s something about the mindlessness of driving that allows me to come up with some of my better ideas in the car. To make this work, you have to drive slower than some of the maniacs out there (try it, it’s calming), and ignore the rude antics of your fellow drivers. Concentrate on avoiding an accident, but don’t worry if someone cuts you off or is driving slower than your average toddler can walk. Just stay in your Zen zone, and watch the ideas come to you effortlessly.”
Clean Break: Clear Out Your File Clutter as the Year Closes\
Here’s what I’m up to this week!
My friend Alwyn Lau is always faster than I can when it comes to blogging about events we’re part of. Perhaps it’s while I’m recovering and recuperating from the event, he has new energy to reflect and write about it. Below is how he recaptures the Merdeka 2007 event by RoH Malaysia last Sunday afternoon.
* * *
Constructing a People’s Theology
It was a tiring Sunday afternoon. But Jojo, Sherman, Tricia, Veronica and Sivin gave the twenty or so of us folks more than a few things to ponder on at the first R.O.H. gathering, Merdeka 2007.
One theme which resounded strongly throughout was the reign of God as a world/other-redeeming project cum phenomenon which the church has unwittingly turned ‘on its head’ into a post-world/self-focused endeavor. A’la Sivin, the church is the sign and instrument of the kingdom of God i.e. the societal/communal expression and implementation of the fact that God so loved the world that He so gave Himself for it.
When the world is the mission, as a methodological start-point, therefore, the world’s unchallenged diversity of contexts and disciplines must find its way into our theologising. Hence, ROH’s emphasis on drawing upon the social sciences as dialogue partners with theology (the spiritual science?). The people’s disciplines is a key ingredient in constructing a theology for the people, with the people, by the people.
Sherman also made it clear that he did not believe there was any right or wrong way to do (this kind of?) theology. What he probably meant was that it wouldn’t help to limit theologising to only one absolute right way, as he did point out a wrong way: a theology without imagination (a fascinating area to look further into, surely).
God made and loved the world. We are called to impart true humanity to this world, fallen and craving to be all that it could’ve been. This impartation is one done via listening, discerning, understanding, imagining(?!), recognising and embracing all that God has already done in every culture and people-group.
For example, Sherman shared about his Muslim friend many years back who stopped his daily prayer to answer his mother’s call. When Sherman asked why he did that, the reply was that his faith taught that syurga di telapak kaki ibu (heaven is at mother’s feet), an eye-opening albeit not uncontroversial Hadith. The point is that God has not left Himself without witness (Acts 14:17), not least in traditional folk wisdom and religion, and the act of discernment must learn to reap such glorious – if quiet – nuggets of His truth.
To use an awkward but obvious analogy, God has lazed the targets – are we locking on? A people’s theology is a contextual theology done from the ground up, beginning with experience, using all available resources by and/or with those who’s sweat and tears have fallen on it.
Perhaps this is the intellectual component of a willingness to suffer for a particular community. And presumably only a suffering theology can be prophetic one?
Where there are people there are politics. Sunday’s session had a huge plus-point over against the recent one in October, where one (and unfortunately only one) message was clear i.e. that Christians should get involved. Tricia supplied the how. Her helpful clarification of the issues in Malaysian socio-politics served to more clearly conceptualise the players, the problems and the possible steps we could take (including the nurture of an active civil society – surely we’ll be hearing more in days to come). (I’ll hotlink the slides once I get it).
It’s worth repeating Tricia’s remarks that, in response to the political situation:
-
only a tenth of Malaysians would opt to march and protest (peacefully, I hope)
-
another third would leave the country;
-
the remaining 60% would do nothing, content in the bosom of government
These rough statistics belie the goal of keeping government in fear of the people instead of vice-versa (borrowing some detail from V For Vendetta)
I wonder, though, about people who are far from feeling content at their life’s lot, but can neither raise their fist against the country nor flee it . They can only hope.
Which brings us to what must be a ROH distinctive (over again other theologically reflective movements in Malaysia): a heart for the marginalised and voiceless communities, the poorest of the poor. I reckon no ROH session would be complete (or should be) without some light shed on the status of these people.
A sample of their stories was brought out by Veronica, whose jouney, from rags-to-riches to enriching-the-ragged, was the sober highlight of the afternoon: Women in their 50s’ protecting grandchildren from their abusive parents; 14-year-olds’ heading their parentless families; boys seeking out abandoned (and not entirely abandoned) objects for sale; women etching out a living in the midst of mother- and widow-hood. Veronica herself lived through a time and place of bread lines and poverty which included low-rent accomodation in a haunted house.
According to Jojo, these are telltale signs that Malaysians and the Church have largely abandoned the social contract. By this he meant more or less two things, in the context of Malaysia:
-
We must ensure that all people-groups in the country are afforded equal access to the basic necessities of life and the means of improving life i.e. education, technology, etc. Therefore…
-
We must uphold the sacredness of the Federal Constitution (or else, says Jojo, we really should be Singaporean instead)
And why must we? Because, to put a covenantal spin on the whole thing, this is God’s arrangement for our country.
A people’s theology is a covenantal theology, one which calls us to be faithful to the deal we’ve been graciously given or the story we’re part of. This (Gospel) story, when told and lived and shared, is the vehicle of God’s restoration of our personhood.
Embodying change and sharing God’s tender and aggressively compassionate life is a crucial step in changing mindsets – this is trumpet call of ROH, which seeks to help people realise their true humanity. For isn’t the virtue which never dies also the same one which always guards the needs of others? (1 Cor 13:7-8)
A people’s theology, alas, is also a protective theology of the watchful love of God.
* * *
This is my friend Jojo Fung (I shall now take a bit of credit for helping him set up his blog! ). He’s fun, he’s articulate. I admire his work amongst, concern and advocacy especially for and with the Orang Asli communities. His prolific in his theological writings, full of energy in all his pursuits. And of course, he looks cool! Oh yes, did I forget to mention he’s a Roman Catholic Jesuit Priest! (Check here for a more extended bio and bonus article.)
So, in many ways, it was a historical Sunday for us at Bangsar Lutheran Church yesterday. And I’m grateful that today, we no longer need to push each other way, but are actually going beyond building bridges to joining hands to serve and speak out together. It’s amazing!
I love Canon! Looks like I will only buy Canon digital cameras Especially, after multiple good experiences thus far. Not just in using the equipment but their after sales service. They repaired my old Canon Powershot A70 for free (I suppose someone else out there paid for it). I’m still considering getting an upgraded new Canon and reward myself at the end of the year maybe? We’ll see …I might actually take up photography as a more serious hobby. I’ll throw in 2 videos as a bonus for this post. I’m a pretty happy man tonight.
in sepia …
and black and white …
and yes, a picture of Ewan would be good before I sleep.
”Once people feel nourished and refreshed, they cannot help but be kind; just so, the world aches for the generosity of a well-rested people.” – Wayne Muller (via Nourished and Refreshed)
I’m surprised how I enjoyed waking up early today Strange because I was reading about rising earlier only yesterday. Perhaps the subconscious was working? Or maybe it’s the “confinement” food I’m eating with May Chin giving me a new surge of energy? Or could it be the mind recognizing the need to conserve energy because I’m now programmed after Ewan’s birth and running around for multiple “new errands” that has forced my physical body to adapt (or evolve?). Whatever it is, I do feel more nourished and refreshed at this particular point. Hopefully, I’d progress to the kindness bit.
I notice “kindness” is rare these days. While working on a project-in-progress for Christmas with the theme of love, I felt drawn to the kindness aspect as I was compiling loads of quotes, and looking for stories. Kindness makes love visible. We can then truly feel it, touch it, taste it!
And the irony is, it’s not about trying harder as the first step. To start, we must rest. Get nourished. Not so much of pampering ourselves or slip into indulgence. But rather, a good refreshing and nourishing rest. When our hearts are restful, then we can spread the “rest” to the rest.
I first heard and sang this song last week when one of our worship leaders tried it … It’s nice to hear a stripped down version here.