Sivin Kit's Garden

Random Thoughts after a Ramli Burger

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?

Random Links 43

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.

Blog adds

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.

EM04 Vegetarian Appetizer

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!

Random Thoughts at 1.55pm

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! :-)

Postmodern Youth Ministry Conference

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).

Awake & Asleep

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 :-)

Random Links 42

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 ...

Motivation & Discipline

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

What is REAL?

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?"

"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 ...

Life with Christ

We just came back from Genting Highlands for a "short" retreat 2 nights and 2 days - and it was good :-)

Our Theme was Life with Christ - Finding out who we are, what we are living for and where we are heading to .... The letter to the Ephesians was the Biblical text guiding us plus loads of questions. Almost the whole BLC community is here (We had a total of 48 adults here with 13 kids! Our largest retreat so far) ... some had to pull out last minute but we had them in our hearts and minds throughout the camp.

I'll share more details later. some initial feedback is already posted here and thanks Chin Hor for the photo .. (more on the way at our community blog and my own photos here).

I'm really happy we could have "all group" church retreat this year .. my prayer is we'll advance forward with a greater bond with God, one another and his mission for us here on earth!

Emergent Malaysia Meets Again ...

To any one interested, we're organizing a simple dinner and conversation at the Father's House (BLC).

Here's what's up:
apart from food and the infomal stuff, we hope to intentionally hear the stories of a couple of "2nd Generation" Christians (especially those who grew up in a so called Malaysian style Christian subculture - if you can call it that) and then move on to issues relating to this reality. It's going to be nice because we'll have some friends from USA visiting us that weekend. I've felt convicted lately that there needs to be more intentionality and coordination to open up "space" for conversations, reflections and possible directions to emerge in our context.

I'll be away from blogging a couple of days .. so I thought I'll leave some transition thoughts here:

I love this tree in the picture above which stood out for me in Tioman Island. And it makes me think of the Tree analogy useful to think about one's journey of faith as well as embracing the best of our Christian heritage. I heard of how Richard Foster uses the metaphor of "streams of living water" to capture the renewing streams of the church down the ages, Robert Brow uses the Garden image. And here Brian McLaren uses a Tree Analogy which is elaborated here in A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I Am An Emergent Christian.

"The meaning of “emergent” is an essential part of the ecosystem of generous orthodoxy. A simple diagram can illustrate what we mean by emergent thinking. Think of a cross section of a tree. Each ring represents, not a replacement of the previous rings, not a rejection of them, but an embracing of them, a comprising of them, and inclusion of them in something bigger. The tree’s previous growth is integrated into, and in fact is essential to, the tree’s continuing growth and strength.

... Emergent Christians look at the world as “our Father’s world.” We stand wide-eyed, trying to take in what’s going on here, understanding it as an unfolding story, an emergent family drama, with birth, growth, struggle, maturity, death, and resurrection. We see God not as a potentate trying to keep serfs under control in the stasis of perpetual childhood, but rather as a parent inviting us to grow and mature, to become as good and beautiful and true as we can become…to emerge.

To return to our tree analogy, God is the air that surrounds the tree, the soil in which it is rooted, the sunlight and rainfall that beckon it to grow and become, season by season, ring by ring. In God we live and grow and have our being. In God’s wind we sway and our leaves dance."

Posted by sivinkit at 08:39 AM | Comments (1)

Random Thoughts before my next phone call

I found a latest couple of email exchanges very helpful to clarify what I mean by "emergent" in my own thinking and our efforts here in our Malaysian context and possibly beyond in connection with others who find this word helpful.
Apparently many people are having fun with this quiz "What's your theological worldview?". Actually, I first saw it at the blog of Bald Man Blogging (I think I forgot to hat tip him - sorry mate!) so Stephen Shield might have mistakened that I created it ... which I didn't. Someone called "Sven" did ... many thanks to Sven! It's amazing how fast we can make amendments and check the sources on the internet ...

I'm going to fetch Elysia from my mom's place today .. I'm looking forward to that. May Chin has been doing all this while ... I'm happy to take my turn!

Working on the questions for the retreat this week has been very rewarding. It's trying to put myself in the position of the people coming for the retreat who may or may not have read the letter of Ephesians (I hope they do because it's a FANTASTIC letter for where we are now as a church!).

I found myself playing a missionary role a lot the past week .... trying to "translate" or "contextualize" concepts for people who are either inquisitive, or come from quite a different theological persuasion ... it takes quite a lot of energy, generosity, and discernment ... and most of all a "concern for the other". I don't feel in anyway a fear towards compromise or insecure ... on the contrary I found some joy in the process.

My recent Emergent Reading Updates

Emergent Church: Filled with creative, energetic potential
I hope the title won't confuse things even more because I'm finding it now more useful to not use "emerging church" and "emergent" interchangably though there's an intimate connection I do feel a distinction will be helpful. Having said that, I found many insights, cautions, encouragements, and guidance here.

Report From Emergent Summit - Part 1 of 4
Can't wait for the other parts :-) Tony Jones responds here to the new appointment.

Why I Support the Recent News From Emergent (or why Tony Jones is not the antichrist)
Jay Voorhees is pretty amazing to articulate the stuff he's saying here that would be relevant to any discussion on organic as well as organizational aspects that comes when people begin to work together in a "network"-kind-of framework.

'Emergent' Christians seek spirituality without nasty theological squabbling
It's nice to read something positive and paints an encouraging + "fun" picture of what's happening with my friends on the other side of the earth.

Understanding the Emerging Church: D. A. Carson
Moody Broadcasting Network "opens" a line for Dr. Carson to express his views (I think I'm putting it mildly here) - I think it's up to the listener to determine whether there's true "understanding" on the issues at hand and the people involved. I wonder how the interview would have been if the line was open for callers to call in?

Post Modernism & Emerging Church with special guest Craig Hawkins
I was not suprised that this was not "friendly" to all things "Post-modernism" and trying to be "fair" to whatever that's under the tag "emerging church". But, it was the way this whole discussion was conducted that really made me wonder even more about "American Evangelicalism" and the other factors involved apart from mere theological and philosophical disagreement.

On Emergent
Ryan Bolger says some really encouraging words here ... and with some insights thrown in - I resonate strongly with this paragraph --> "Emergent provides a place for these travelers to tell their stories, to deconstruct, and yes, eventually to reconstruct their faith. For those who listen carefully and long enough, it is not about Christians losing their faith, but finding it once again as well."

Affirmation (A Response to Aaron)
I like Andrew Jones ... he actually is willing to take the time to "respond" - and here he does a pretty thorough job answering in-your- face-line-drawing kind of questions - such as - Do you publicly affirm penal substitionary atonement? Did Jesus take the punishment we deserve? - Do you publicly affirm eternal punishment / torment / hell?

Traditionalists now have permission to talk to Emergent types
Two things stuck out for me ... one is Jollyblogger's thoughts here, "So what happens when a controversy arises which you don't have the time to investigate thoroughly enough to form your own solid, well grounded opinion? You listen to people you trust. You depend on their opinions to form your own opinions. So, if you are in a group that thinks that N.T. Wright is a wolf in sheep's clothing, the TNIV is the devil's bible, and the emerging church is the apostate church, then by golly, it's time to form up lines and resist all of these wolves, devils and apostates. My point is that it is the opinions and actions of our trusted leaders that usually guide us in our responses to these controversies, rather than our own investigations." The other is Andre Jones comment here, "we really need good criticism and and invite the sharpening of iron when we can get it. The only time i get really defensive is when people make blanket criticisms about the emerging church worldwide when they are only talking about one or two networks or churches (usually in USA) but dont realize that they are endangering new church plants in Portugal and India and Malawi that are sprouting up in the emerging culture in their country - these EMC leaders may be teenagers, brand new Christians and have no idea who Derrida is - and are about to have their funding pulled (or worse - their trust) all because of what someone said in America."

Horton on Emerging Church & Michael Horton Replies
I personally think the White Horse Inn engagement with "the emerging church" issues were one of the better ones. But, the fact that Horton replied and Andrew Jones had a chance to respond makes me have a higher respect for both of them. And the exchange definately is helpful.

What IS Emergent?
I'm thinking of a very helpful email exchange that I had yesterday and today ...I'm sure some of the words here would have been helpful .. check it out:
"I think what is appealing about Emergent and people like Brian McLaren or Don Miller is that I and many of my friends reject the false dichotomy of absolutism v. relativism. On one hand, I think most evangelicals do reject moral relativism. Yet, many of us are often repulsed by the arrogance and anti-intellectualism of many absolutists.

"I think you hit the nail on the head. What's appealing to me about
the emergents, particularly Don Miller (only loosely tied to the
emergents, as far as I can tell), is in the wake of my 15-year
encounter with evangelicalism was the arrogance of certitude on
every minor point of theology, even when different denominations
held differing views. I mean what percentage of evangelics belong to
the denomination of their parents and are convinced that it
coincidentally is right about everything. Emergent doesn't assert
that there is no absolute truth, just that we're unlikely to get
everything exactly right on this earth.""

Dear Dignan: an Answer on the Emerging Church
Thanks Brother Maynard for this effort to respond to the above question. His four points are useful (I'll probably easily exchange the phrase "postmodern culture" in point 2 to "Asian-Malaysian-non-christian-post/neo-colonial-secular-globalized-add-to-the-list-21st century culture" (in short the context we live in here and now. So, here's a non-exhaustive list of characteristics he offers:
1. Something’s wrong with the way we’ve been “doing church” — it’s become, or becoming, ineffective and irrelevant.

and based on these,
4. It’s time for a re-examination of what is really central to the faith and a re-consideration of what the best structure for church ought to be.

Spiritual Formation Test

I suppose I'm just in the flow of quizes and tests the past week. This one seems worth some time ... life is definately not just about theological worldviews or leadership assesments - spiritual formation is high on my agenda.

The Spiritual Formation Test was originally designed to work with Scott McKnight's book Jesus Creed but it's nice of him to post it up for people like me who doesn't have the book to try it out - the process of thinking through the 25 points is useful..

Here goes ...

_____________________________________________________________________________

Spiritual Formation Assessment

by

Scot McKnight, Ph.D.
Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies
North Park University

The secret to this test is utter honesty with oneself over time. There is no “right” or “wrong” answer, though the answer at times will seem obvious. For each question, honesty is the key.

1. I sense myself being most spiritual when: (1) I am reading the Bible, (2) I am doing something religious for others, (3) I am attending church, (4) I am communing with God, (5) I am exercising love toward others and God.

2. When I pray, I sense that my prayers both to God and for others are natural expressions of my love for God and my love for others. (1) Never, (2) almost never, (3) sometimes, (4) often, (5) always.

3. I know that God loves me: (1) but I’m not sure he does love me, (2) but I rarely experience God’s love as real, (3) and I sometimes experience God’s love as real, (4) and I often experience his love as real, (5) and I always experience God’s love as real.

4. To love others means to “embrace” (not necessarily physically) others outside of our normal circle. (1) But I almost never embrace anyone outside my normal circle, (2) I sometimes embrace someone outside my normal circle, (3) I often embrace someone outside my normal circle, (4) I am always embracing someone outside my circle, (5) I am working to get others to embrace others outside their normal circles.

5. Love for me involves (1) always accepting others and their behavior regardless of who they are and what they do, (2) always discriminating who someone is and what they do before I accept them, (3) sometimes accepting others regardless of who they are and what they do, (4) sometimes discriminating who someone is and what they do before I accept them, (5) usually accepting others and their behavior regardless of who they are and what they do.

6. Spiritual formation for me is centrally focused on (1) knowing the Bible and obeying everything God has taught us in the Bible, (2) serving others, (3) developing our relationship with God through spiritual disciplines like prayer and Bible reading and solitude, (4) loving other people in concrete ways, (5) both and at the same time loving God and loving others.

7. I believe that a person can “begin all over again” before God when a person (1) cleans up her or his own act, (2) makes intentional and deep resolutions in the heart to clean up her or his own act, (3) actually begins to clean up her or his own act, (4) acknowledges to herself or himself that she or he needs to clean up her or his own act, (5) simply tells the truth about herself or himself before God.

8. It really matters most to God (1) what my reputation is in my own world, (2) what my reputation is most of the time, (3) what others think of me and who I know I really am, (4) who I think I am, (5) who I am before God.

9. I embrace Christians of all sorts and with all kinds of stories, (1) but I find some Christians unacceptable, (2) I find few Christians unacceptable, (3) I find lots of kinds of Christians acceptable, (4) I find most Christians acceptable, or (5) I find all Christians acceptable.

10. I think Christians ought to grow in their faith regularly and clearly and (1) I think conversion is a powerful event that should spiritually change people rapidly, (2) I think those who don’t grow are probably not even Christians, (3) I think those who are growing slowly to be either lazy or spiritually deficient, (4) I sense that most Christians are growing even if slowly, (5) I think growth happens over one’s whole life.

11. One characteristic that ought to be visible in all Christians is love. (1) I find that I am loving rarely during the day, (2) that I am loving sometimes during the day, (3) I find that loving is hard but I work at it, (4) I find that I am becoming more loving, (5) I sense that I am almost always loving toward others.

12. Compassion is often mentioned in the life of Jesus, and it something about Jesus we should try to emulate. When I see someone in need, (1) I rarely stop to help the person, (2) I sometimes help the person, (3) I often help such persons, (4) I help them unless I am pressed for time, or (5) I always help such persons, even if it means interrupting my schedule.

13. As I follower of Jesus I sense that (1) I changed mostly just after my “conversion” and admit that I haven’t changed much since then, (2) I changed some at my conversion and some not long after that, (3) I’ve changed rather unpredictably since my conversion, (4) I have changed fairly consistently since my conversion, (5) I am conscious of my need to grow every day.

14. When I think of how I can have a kingdom influence in my world, (1) I dream big and think of influencing “city hall,” (2) I dream big and try to contact people of influence, (3) I dream realistically and contact people who I think may help, (4) I dream realistically and contact my closest friends, (5) I dream big and love everyone I meet.

15. I practice justice most often when (1) I support those who punish those who have abused others or broken laws, (2) I rectify wrongs done by people in power, (3) I do good to all that I can, (4) I love my neighbor as myself and practice the Golden Rule, and (5) I help others learn to love God and to love others.

16. The society Jesus wants is a society in which humans are restored to God and to one another, (1) but I rarely am involved in restoring persons to God or to others, (2) I am sometimes involved in restoring others to God and to others, (3) I often help people get restored to one another, (4) I sometimes help people get restored to God, (5) I am devoted to helping people get restored to both God and others.

17. Jesus was joyful, and I believe joy is characteristic of a spiritually-formed person. (1) I am rarely joyous, (2) I am often annoyed by joyous people, (3) I am sometimes annoyed by joyful people, (4) I am often joyful, (5) I am joyful and joyous when others are joyful.

18. Jesus clearly believed in Eternity, and thought we should live in light of it. (1) I admit that I suppress thoughts about Eternity, (2) I am a bit frightened by Eternity and so rarely think of it, (3) I sometimes think of Eternity and I wonder about it, (4) I think of Eternity quite often and it influences how I live, (5) I think of Eternity often and it shapes my life considerably.

19. Believing, or having faith, in Jesus Christ and God is central to the gospel, and (1) I see faith as believing the right things about God, (2) I see faith as accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior, (3) I see faith as a choice to follow Jesus daily, (4) I see faith as an ongoing trust in God, (5) I see faith as an aspect of my love for God in heart, soul, mind and strength.

20. Abiding constantly in the Lord’s power and love is central to spiritual formation, (1) but I find abiding constantly to be nearly impossible in my current condition, (2) I find abiding constantly to be difficult, (3) I find abiding constantly to be difficult but I am learning and growing, (4) I find abiding constantly to be a challenge that I am frequently successful in accomplishing, (5) I am constantly abiding in the presence of the God.

21. If God is truly God, and if Jesus is the Incarnation of God, then living for him and “under” his will is an aspect of spiritual formation. (1) I find the term “under” or the term “submissive to God” to be unacceptable, (2) I know living “under” God is important but I still find it very difficult, (3) I find living “under” God’s will to be mostly good, (4) I find submitting to God’s will to be good and I am growing, (5) I find being “under” God’s will to be the most liberating thing I can do.

22. I sin. (1) I almost never confess my sin, (2) I sometimes confess my sins, (3) I often confess my sins but I don’t sense I am improving, (4) I confess my sins and find that I am growing, (5) I find that I confess less sins now than I did five years ago.

23. When someone does me wrong, (1) I usually hope they suffer for it and I will never forgive them for it, (2) I sometimes hope they suffer for it and I doubt I will ever forgive them for it, (3) I struggle with thinking what it will be like to forgive them, (4) I struggle but I am committed to forgiving them for it and I usually do forgive them for it (5) I struggle, I am committed to forgiving them, and I do forgive them when I get the chance.

24. I am committed to the kingdom of God in Jesus Christ. (1) But I have never tried to get someone to convert to Jesus Christ, (2) I used to witness to my friends and others, (3) I still sometimes share my testimony and hope it will have an impact on others, (4) I sometimes share the gospel with others, (5) I regularly work with people to convert them to Jesus’ gospel message about the kingdom.

25. Everything I read in the NT teaches me that God has provided everything for me in Jesus Christ. (1) But I find myself most often dependent upon my own resources, (2) I find myself too often dependent upon my own resources, (3) I find that I often depend on God but also on myself, (4) I am becoming more and more dependent upon what God has done for me in Christ, (5) I am conscious that I am deeply dependent upon Christ all the time, and often I am not even aware of it.
_________________________________________________________________

Preaching on the Run: Toward Simpler Way to Prepare

What Chris Erdmans writes here is so liberating and real .... allow me to lift up some paragraphs ...

I'd learned somewhere along the way that a good pastor spent his (and it was always "his") mornings in exegesis and study, and his afternoons in calling and other administrative tasks. And a good pastor could not possibly preach on Sundays without spending at least 20 hours in this work--solid exegesis and the writing of a quality sermon. Hey, that wasn't my life, no matter how much I tried to live up to it and no matter how I loathed myself for my failures. Maybe this just makes public my neuroses, but I've a sense that there are a whole lot of others who live under this kind of tyranny. And that's true not just for mainline preachers, but those who are bullied by the requirements of Fundamentalist certitude as well as those wowed by the communication excellence of the nation's mega-church superstars.

"If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing poorly. Just do it." Colin Brown's words spoke to me of something real, a preacher's discipleship for those weeks when a family-in-crisis, a staff conflict, and a weekend wedding all mean I can't do what I once thought I had to do during the week to be a good preacher. "A little exegetical method for preachers on the run." Walter Brueggemann's words describe my life and I think are much more consistent with the way I read the Bible's way of describing the preaching task. With prophets and apostles and Jesus too, it's always done on the run.

Preaching is something lived. It comes out of who we are. Our task is simply to stay close to the text, stay close to who we are as a witnesses to Jesus Christ (in all of our unique and God-breathed mystery and strength and necessity), and stay close to my people among whom I am send to host this text week in and week out. I can do that on the run. And if I do, it's always good--even if the message won't ever appear in "Preaching Today." I've come to believe that maybe it's good precisely because my sermon won't be printed in a book or recorded on a CD.

Now when my students ask, "How long does your sermon preparation take?" I answer, "A lifetime. No less, no more."

New Blogs!

Here are some blogs I'm planning to take note more...

Musings of an Emergent Postmodern Negro
thoughts and words from an organic negroblogian

TheBolgBlog
Ryan Bolger's musings about following Jesus within post-Western cultures

Imitatio Christi
All that followers of Christ are to be and do rightly flows from God's intentions for human life together, and the fullest revelation of that comes via the life of Christ. The call to imitate Christ is an expression of this reality. Our blog explores the implications of imitating Christ for all aspects of human existence.

It Takes A Church...
Musings about Christian Community, the mission of Christ and the life God intended for all of us. By Tod Bolsinger, pastor, author, and neophyte blogger.

Innovator!

Thanks Ben Ong (or blame it on him) that I took this test: ...

Your answers suggest you are an Innovator

The four aspects that make up this personality type are:

Summary of Innovators

* Energetic and creative taking inspiration from everyone they meet
* Enjoy flexible work environments with few rules and many opportunities for fun
* Think of themselves as imaginative, sociable and sympathetic
* May not think logically about their ideas

More about Innovators

Innovators are fun-loving, creative, sensitive people who enjoy developing their ideas by discussing them with others. This group supports the people around them and expects the same in return. Others are drawn to Innovators because of their love of life, caring nature and openness.

Innovators are good at spotting opportunities and recognizing potential in people. Innovators put all their energy into new projects and their enthusiasm motivates others to support their plans.

In situations where they can’t use their talents or are unappreciated, Innovators may become rebellious and unfocused. Under extreme stress, Innovators may become preoccupied with meaningless details.

Innovators may over-extend themselves or put a night out with friends ahead of more pressing commitments.
Innovator Careers

Innovators are drawn to careers that require teaching or counselling, where they can work with and help encourage the development of others.

It's important to remember that no survey can predict personality type with 100 percent accuracy. Experts say that we should use personality type to better understand ourselves and others, but shouldn't feel restricted by our results.

Random Thoughts Returns

(May Chin is a pretty good camera woman after all with this shot of me carrying Gareth from the sea to the beach during a Tioman Island sunset ... with an Island on the left and a boat on the right ... cool!)

I was so encouraged by a phonecall while I was on the Light rail heading towards Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) to meet Ben the brand new form six student. The lady who called was a person I met at the recent Grace Methodist Church family camp whom also got baptised at the Hot Springs near the resort together with her two children. It's great to share her joy of seeing her husband (who saw himself as a non-Christian at the camp) take a step of faith to begin his journey with Christ.

I remember a number of "meaningful" conversations I had with her husband at the camp (she remembered too). Part of the conversation revolved around what is hindering him from taking that step of faith to be a Christ-follower. He shared honestly that he wondered whether he could REALLY be a Christian considerng the temptations he'll be facing at work. I encouraged him that we don't have to get everything sorted out before we can be a Christ-follower. Christ accepts us as we are, and he'll lead us to where he wants us to be. He smiled and we continued having a good talk. Nothing dramatic happened that night. But apparently, after two weeks he found himself ready to take a "leap of faith" and his wife was more than delighted to help him along the way. I'm glad to share in their new found joy!

I found myself trying to explain my involvement with the Emergent Conversation today ... I wonder whether I did a good job doing it ... :-) I think I'm getting better at doing it ... and then was reminded I was supposed to blog about it ... ah! I've procrastinated too long on this one :-P

I actually wanted to post up a few books to recommend ... there's quite a number I find I've delayed mentioning them on the blog ... I'll try maybe during this week. Turned out I was stuck by a book recommended by Joel Vestal which I saw at MPH bookstores.

Gareth is having a great time with his cousins visiting from UK. I think he'll really miss them when they return. But for now, It's great to see them play together.

It's good to pop by DB's place today ... on one hand, it's the first time I'm visiting their new home, but more importantly, just to catch up a little and pray together ... the upcoming operation is significant and we trust in God's faithfulness and healing grace!

I'm still 29 at heart?

I'm in a quiz mood ... thanks to Ben Ong. Ok I admit ... passing 30 was very significant for me ... and I'll be turning 33 soon (eh-hem in October 1st *hint hint*)

What's Your Theological Worldview?

You scored as Emergent/Postmodern. You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this. Emergent/Postmodern 82% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 71% Neo orthodox 68% Modern Liberal 50% Roman Catholic 50% Classical Liberal 39% Reformed Evangelical 39% Charismatic/Pentecostal 32% Fundamentalist 11% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

I took it twice ... the questions are limited ... so, it's between Emergent/Postmodern & Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan based on the "limitations of the quiz" (somehow there was no emergent/evangelical/Lutheran/post-colonial category *grin*). As usual, it's an interesting exercise but I hold the conclusions loosely. :-)

I wonder whether I'll be struck off any speakers list ... after this test. At least drop me an email to ask for my "actual" & "work in progress" positions would be nice :-)

I would like to see myself as one who seeks to live an integrated dance of <-- Trinitarian, Christ-centred, Spirit-shaped, Scripture-saturated, Church-connected, Historically-appreciative, "in the World not of the World & bless the World", life-long learning ... --> Orthodoxy, Orthopathy and Orthopraxis!

My First Sand Castle!

I think before I land up doing some "random links" & "random thoughts" posts or more "serious" stuff :-). I'll stick with some of the special moments we had during the recent holiday at Tioman Island. I'm doing this consciously because for me life has grown to be more "integrated" these days - i.e. truth is "embodied" in the ordinary stuff everyday as well as special moments - which is often during times like this at a beautiful beach. It's more of "there's a time for everything" kind of approach ...

Anyway, this is not the first time Gareth has been on a beach ... the last time I think it was Port Dickson where he wasn't too comfortable with sand. But this time, it's different. he discovers the "joy" of building sand castles - of course, as a beginner he fumbled getting the sand into the cup, but with some encouragement from Auntie May Lin (May Chin's eldest sister) he managed.

It's just so "cool" to see him enjoying his "construction"-"building" project ... with his own "design" with occassional "renovations" (i.e. squash one part, refill cup, and rebuild another ...) This whole activity with a beautiful sun setting - and cousin Daniel as company made the whole activity extra special ... playing alone is fun ... but playing with someone is even better ... playing with someone with a beautiful sunset is fantastic ... all this captured in some way on camera by papa (me!) is so rewarding!

My First Plane Ride!

We prepared Gareth the night before the trip - we told him he'll be going on a plane and he was excited the moment he opened his eyes that eventful Monday morning!

When I saw his joy the moment he saw the helicopters and planes, I couldn't help but share in his happy "discovery" (especially since for quite a number of mornings helicopters flew over our house!) And when our "big plane" arrived ... he was READY ...

"Zip .. Click!" ...we got buckled in our respective seats - Gareth had his own seat, wow! This definately was a special moment and as we were lifting off ... there was no fear ... only confidence and faith that we're flying into the sky towards our destination. Gareth couldn't stop talking about it before he settled down for a moment of "contemplation".

Gareth's joy and happiness was simply contagious ... the whole "discovery" experience swept me along and I became a child again. Elysia didn't get her own seat but May Chin and her shared this beautiful moment together with the boys (Gareth & me!). So often, in our routines we've lost the sensitivity towards wonder, adventure, exploration and simply getting excited about "stuff" right before our eyes. This "First plane ride" with Gareth was good for my soul! It started off the holiday with freshness ...

Thank God for Sunsets and ...

some "perceptive" readers of this blog might have wondered - why I haven't posted anything the last few days. It's out of the ordinary ... right?

Well, our family were enjoying sunsets like this one at Tioman Island for 3 evenings. It was good to get away from the busy routine that we're usually in. And since May Chin's sister, brother in law and children came all the way from England to visit ... I'm glad we could take the chance and have a group holiday together with May Chin's parents, another sister with her husband and daughter.

We came home yesterday ... when I was at the worship rehearsal during the time of prayer, I immediate response to the question, "What do you want to thank God for?" was ... Thank God for sunsets ... and people to share them with!

And that's just an opener ... there's also many little details that fills me with joy and gratitude.

Happy Family ...

Perhaps it would have been better if we just had an evening to ourselves huh? Well ... we decided to celebrate our anniversary with the kids. With one girl and one boy ... when the two Chinese characters come together it becomes a new word - it becomes "Good". And tonight we really had a "good time" - "good food" - "good fun"

May Chin as always is the AMAZING wife and SUPER MOM! Elysia just woke up here and sparkling with curiosity.

Gareth and I are showing off our teeth with gladness ... apart from "growing conversations" we're getting into these days with a few songs thrown in ... We laugh a lot together.

The last five years indeed has been full of various flavours! Our personalities too are very different even though we find ourselves growing (hopefully) more mature in some way :-)

For some fun ... who do you think is more of the "Chilli Sauce" and who is more "Tomato Ketchup"? I mean ... for May Chin and me ...

Happy Anniversary!

We kind of knew each other in Sunday School when I was nine years old and she was eight. I always flopped at scripture memory and she got all the stars. I left church she stayed on ...

We met again at the same church youth group called student fellowship years later when I returned from my little exile (or escape)... I was 15 she was 14, my opening line as we shook hands was, "Do you still remember me?" (I spoke in Mandarin then)

We "dated" or "had a serious relationship" - whatever you want to call it ... for 10 years before getting married in 1999 June 5 on a Saturday afternoon with about 500 guests attending our wedding at the same church we met as kids, and as teenagers ...

For all these years we've walked together and still have a long way to go (especially with Gareth and Elysia joining the journey) ... we offer God thanks and praise - for leading us, protecting us, guiding us, shaping us, molding us ... and doing so much more than we could ask or imagine making us into whom God wants us to be ....

Emergent Response to Critics

I appreciate that this response is not done individually but rather collectively (i.e. Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt, Spencer Burke, Brian McLaren, Dan Kimball, Andrew Jones, Chris Seay) ... I like this sense of community and accountability and humility reflected in this piece. More comments later ... for now read for yourself and allow your own response to emerge :-)

Our Response to Critics of Emergent (PDF here for download.)

Responding to Public Criticism

"A number of people have asked if I plan to respond to some of the more public criticism of my and my friends' work. Defending oneself is never very effective, it seems to me, although sometimes it must be done (I think of Paul in 2 Corinthians, for example). People who publicly disagree with your original statements are generally even less likely to give a follow-up a fair hearing. And people who did not read you fairly or carefully the first time around are likely to do the same the second time.

Fortunately, a number of scholars and leaders - some I've met, others I haven't - are writing some helpful replies to some of the criticism we've received. Also, a few of us are working on a short joint statement that might help quell some of the misstatements and unfair judgments that have been made. I'll post the statement here when it's completed.

But even where we've been treated less than fairly, there's much we can learn from our critics - and it's good when there is vigorous dialogue on important matters." ~ Brian McLaren