Sivin Kit's Garden

Emergent latest ...

An Interview with Scot McKnight
Hey thanks Scot … I saw a familiar name in the interview :-)

How Emergent Are You? McLaren's Seven Layers of the Emergent Conversation
Layers makes it sound like some onion … I like onions! I’m getting hungry …

James Macdonald and Emergent
Caricatures tend to distract us from the real people we are engaging ... hmm ... I know it works both ways.

Blog-debating
I've been a little out of touch with the debate ... but eavesdropping here helps clarify what's going on ... the following is pretty good, "Because emerging is neither neo-orthodox nor neo-liberal, and not even simply old-fashioned evangelicalism, it will have features from each of the movements behind it — including (God be thanked) classical creedal Christianity. The frustration of many in trying to define it is, in my judgment, the fault in part of emerging itself for it is both in process and unwilling to let itself be defined by a theological system.
Instead, it seeks to be faithful to the summons of Jesus to live as followers of Jesus, to live out the Kingdom in everything we do and say, and to let the chips fall where they may."

Emerging Solutions—and Problems
Prof. Gibbs words here are worth a pause, “… in a post-Christian and increasingly neo-pagan society, people need to see the gospel in action and to be included. Thus they will experience the impact of the message as part of coming to believe. The distinction between Carson and emergent leaders may lie in the difference between the faith as a "bounded" set, one that defines who is inside and who is outside, and a "centered" set, which is more concerned with the direction in which people are traveling, toward or away from Christ.”

A Brief Snapshot of the Emerging Church
Interesting ..

Will rounds it up nicely with the following ... “Speaking of "the church that is emerging," Brian McLaren mentioned that this might be a better title than "the emerging church." I like that because it connects deeply into the Church at her root rather than speaking of the work we are participating in as some new expression.” Ok, fellow Africans and Asians and Latin American brothers and sisters ... we're joining the party too .. or perhaps they are joining our party ... nevermind ... we're all in this party?!

Ah-Girl & I

Chin Hor had some really nice things to say here in adoration that warmed my heart ... and some great pictures too.

I've been enjoying her excitement when it comes to eating porridge lately ... she growls for each spoon :-)

Random Thoughts while waiting ...

Hopes are up that I can do some "decent" overdue blogging during this holiday season - i.e. one week! (yes .. I know I've been saying this for quite a while)

Goal number 1 today is to fix a cupboard ASAP for my queen ... :-) my wife!

I REALLY want to get back to some "disciplined" reading this week.

There have been some interesting email exchanges from my seminary alumni (mostly seniors) about the standards and directions of current seminary education in Malaysia. I'm planning to give some input.

It's raining ... and it's nice to be at home when it's raining ... so cool and refreshing.

Oh it's REFORMATION DAY today ... we printed Luther's 95 thesis and gave it out yesterday during our worship gathering. I don't recall anyone doing that for me when I was growing up in a Lutheran church in Malaysia :-P I'm not "into" mindless traditionalistic separatist denominationalism but I do appreciate our heritage I hope those in the BLC family too.

It's still a roller coaster ride as far as ministry is concerned. Rewarding and challenging ... with new responsibilities I decided to give up being a member of Toastmasters which I've enjoyed the last couple of years. But I do want to keep the relationships in tact. I'm open to new ways God may be opening up chances to engage those unlike me .. "others"

I'm REALLY excited about this week's holiday ... and tomorrow's outing will be a good start! In fact having some "solitude" today is already a better start than usual.

Random Thoughts after a while

I've still haven't blogged all the stuff I want to ... I realized yesterday that I haven't been blogging as frequently as before.

I think this marks the "transition" into the new role I'm in and the 101 things I'm trying to tidy up when it comes to juggling my role as the pastor of a local congregation, father to 2 kids and husband of one wife, a part-time student who needs to get things moving ... and of course, the new role of education chairman for a denomination committee is opening not just a can of possibilities but also some worms too ... Lord have mercy.

Elysia's smiles has been REALLY good to me ... it gives me strength and little moments of grace and acceptance. She's not bothered by my activities, she's just responsive when I smile to her ...

I miss swimming .... I want to swim ...

a little worried about mom

yesterday was tiring and I can''t stand the KL traffic .... it's crazy. I think I was bordering falling sick when May Chin came to the rescue with a "fuzzy vitamin C" drink and a panadol thrown in ...

I'm excited about Gareth's school concert tomorrow.

I'm happy to decline a speaking engagement for next year. I think after last week ... I'm in need of "reconsidering" what to take and what not to.

Then again, I'm always saying that ... it's a life long struggle.

I'm overwhelmed with dinner appointments these past few weeks .. I can feel my body and face "expanding".

I crave for silence ... and some solitude ... and special times with the Almighty .... I can feel the hunger ... and he's waiting.

Random Links 63

TOWARD A PARADIGM SHIFT IN MISSION AMONGST THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
IN ASIA
The main reason I'm reading this paper is because I met the author at the recent conference I attended and he kept refering me as "Kevin" and as everyone was trying to figure out my name"Sivin" I got a couple of minutes of fame :-)

THIRTY YEARS OF FABC: HISTORY, FOUNDATION, CONTEXT AND THEOLOGY
I just got the PhD dissertation of this author at the catholic bookstore in P.J. for reference (it was at a very good price!) But it seems to me that there's obvious a lot of thought done beyond my "protestant" boundaries I can "converse" with.

METHODOLOGY: ASIAN CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY DOING THEOLOGY IN ASIA TODAY
ok I just couldn't help it and had to print this out ... perhaps "accidently" sitting next to a Archbishop who really enjoyed his ice cream for desert on Saturday just made me more curious.

View of Malaysia
This helps me anchor myself back to homeland!

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

You Should Get a PhD in Liberal Arts (like political science, literature, or philosophy)

You're a great thinker and a true philosopher. You'd make a talented professor or writer.

but when I tweaked just one of the answers ... then it became the following:

You Should Get a MFA (Masters of Fine Arts)

You're a blooming artistic talent, even if you aren't quite convinced. You'd make an incredible artist, photographer, or film maker.

so perhaps being a pastor and doing my Masters in Theology allows for a bit of both?

ah .. it's been a pretty good Monday morning thus far. Good to be back to more leisurely blogging.

Random Thoughts before Going Home

Phew .. I'm glad I could catch up some work quickly after a whole day at Seremban and then at Corus Hotel Ampang a while ago for the Christian Federation Malaysia opening and dinner.

I found the opening address by the CFM Chairman Bishop Dr. Paul Tan highlighting "Justice" and "Love" to be very insightful and refreshing!

Finally I met someone a Mr. CB whom was the one who wrote a pretty good article I wanted to quote on the blog ... and got permission. Soon it shall come!
It was ngood to talk about a number of things like emergent ... and emergent Malaysia specifically (which I know is moving slowly)

It was great to catch up with some new friends and a number of old ones.

Oh yes! The train ride to Seremban was Fantastic ... and the interaction at the seminary very fruitful. I do hope some of my input would benefit the curriculum review :-) I'm encouraged that they are actually doing a review in the first place. That's a good sign.

I hope to print this Candidacy Manual just in case I can't follow the sessions tomorrow and got some reading material ... heheh .. of course, the manual is just a springboard to sharpen my own ideas for our context. Copying wont' work here ...

Ok .. I managed to blog a little ... but still miss the leisurely way I used to blog ... perhaps it's a different season. That's ok. There's a lot more reflections catching up with my faST MOVING body ... whoosh!

Random Thoughts before a Nice evening with Family

I appreciated the reminder last night from the church council of BLC that I must be cautious not to neglect family in the midst of a pretty busy schedult lately (at times necessary and other times perhaps self-inflicted).

The above picture really captured Gareth's excitement over having the chance of carrying Elysia. I've always found Elysia very responsive to her elder brother. Of course, there are times when both of them cry or yell at the same time ... they "drive" me up the wall ...

I'm way behind ... in terms of reading the blogs at especially Planet Emergent and Generous Orthodoxy Think Tank ... lots of good stuff ...

I was invited (I think a second time) to share at the Scripture Union and Fellowship of Evangelical Students staff devotions this morning. I found it to be a good time for me to PAUSE as well ...

Troubled after a denominational meeting ... made me wonder how did we land up like this, what makes people react a certain way .. I also questioned why do I have questions like this. Am I weird? am I not normal? am I ok? or is there something seriously wrong with some versions of Christianity we've allowed to grow unchecked ... hmmm ...

sometimes I wonder what have I got myself into ... Lord have mercy 1000 times!

"honeymoon" period for new responsibilities (esp. at the denominational level) REALLY has been short ... :-P there's too much at one glance ... thus, I need to step back a little to re-look and re-focus.

There are still unpacked boxes ... and details to settle after we've moved in our new place. I miss the pool ...

At least tonight, we have an evening to ourselves .. as a family. I'd like to treasure that .. before I go off again to Seremban tomorrow and hurry back for the Christian Federation Malaysia 7th National conference :-)

I'll live one day at a time ... off to IMU CF in 5 minutes. Looking forward to follow up on an email conversation.

Random Thoughts before I go to Seremban

Elysia is REALLY cute these days!

It's been a while since I've gone for seminary functions, so I'm looking forward for tonight's dinner and tomorrow's graduation. Maybe I'll take some pictures.

The next week looks scary in terms of schedule ... here's what is going to be in our church weekly liveupdate. These are responsibilities beyond BLC (which also has some important stuff I'm initiating these two months).

*this will be a packed week for me - extra prayer support appreciated ~ Sivin*
Lord we pray for ...
- Sivin as he participates in the LCMS KL District Leaders Meeting on 17 October 2005, Monday
- Sivin as he facilitates & designs the LCMS education Lay leaders 2 year training programme with the "Chinese" team - Rev. Wong, Rev. Tang, Ps. Chan on 18 October 2005,Tuesday.
- Sivin as he facilitates the morning devotion for Scripture Union staff on 19 October 2005, Wednesday.
- Sivin as he participates in the Seminari Theoloji Malaysia (STM) Curriculum review meeting on 20 October 2005, Thursday
- Sivin as he participates in the Christian Federation Malaysia (CFM) 7th National Christian Conference with Bishop Lok on 20-22 November, 2005, Thursday - Saturday..

I'm enjoying my drive with Gareth to school these days ... he never ceases to surprise me.

Ah... I'm still behind a lot of blog reading .... hope to get a phone line at home ASAP and transfer my broadband line over :-P

I've been having a number of good swims lately .. I feel so much better and healthier ...

I'm still unpacking or need to start unpacking my notes and papers etc for my new study room.

had a good time of "solitude" this morning ... I think I'll have some more before the graduation service tomorrow. Oh yes ... need to catch up on my reading for my masters program too ... phew. Lots of catching up ...

haven't done more "serious" blogging on some topics that concern me lately ... well, soon ...

Moving ... (delayed post)

This was supposed to be posted on the day we moved from our place in Petaling Jaya to our new place in K.L. which was the 29 September 2005. I'm still hoping to get our phone line fixed ASAP for blogging at home.

"Moving" is such a hassle and discovery. It's hard because of all the packing, the moving and also the unpacking. It's a discovery in a sense that we're often surprised with how much we've accumulated through the years. Especially dust and dirt as well as papers, items etc.

One the key decisions is what to throw and what to keep. What we could leave behind and what to take with us ... and being nice tenants we tried to leave the house pretty clean for furture usage by the headquarters (which at this time the house will be used as a guest house)

We are very fortunate to have some "movers" to help us. I recall the last time we moved it was just us and a couple of church members. This time, there were more "stronger" people .. and we packed the stuff well in advance so it was easier in my view.

it's a lot of stuff ... even after leaving some behind and throwing some away. I felt deciding on what are the "precious" non-negotiable items like May Chin's piano .. brought together with the items memories and stories.

Of course, the bookshelfs and books for me came along ... I was quite intrigued by how much we could sqeeze in the lorry ... of course we made at least 2 trips full load.

and now we're still unpacking ... which is very much part of moving as well ... the settling down and rearranging stuff for our new home is quite an art. A week ago I thought I had some profound analogical thoughts from my experience of moving to "moving on in life". I guess it's nothing that profound.

We just need to leave some stuff behind, figure out what to even throw away. Decide what to bring with us. Gear up for a "move" or a number of "moves" (usually to and fro a few rounds). Unload and begin to unpack ... get new stuff, adjust, rearrange, ... I think all this applies to "moves" in thinking, working through "feelings", our spiritual walk, ministry transitions, etc. something like that :-)

I am Three!

It's been a pretty good 3 years thus far, and I've been enjoying fatherhood and I think Gareth has been enjoying boyhood too! It was funny when he said "I'm a man!" ... We celebrated a mini-party on October the 8th on Saturday (the day he was born!) with some from our LiFE Group and yesterday with family and close friends (for a special follow up party!). So, as I promised earlier ... especially after the break in ... good news is rolling in. What;s more important is we want to focus on the "Gospel" working in our lives!

A pretty good view ...

ok finally I can have a more "leisurely" blog entry ... after quite an eventful 2 weeks since my birthday :-)

Here are two pictures evening and morning outside our new home (i.e. apartment). It's been a good change thus far and has served as a "sanctuary" for us. I had a pretty good "swim" last week. So far, the sleep has been good (even though Elysia had a "learning curve" as far as her patterns are concerned.) I'm looking forward for some times of solitude (which was harder in my previous home). Gareth has been having loads of fun running around and thoroughly like his new room (though he crawls back into our bed every night - that's his learning curve.) As for my wife May Chin ...She's happy ... and that's good. In fact, it's been more than a pretty good view so far. And we're thankful.

Random Thoughts after break in

They came through the roof (and possibly even tried climbing from the back first before trying the roof?!).

What I first saw after disarming the alarm was the ceiling broken through ... I suspect this is how they came through ... I'm not sure whether they escaped the same way or just climbed out from the back.

Later I discovered when the police arrived that they actually wrecked the kitchen door. Perhaps looking for money or they assumed that there were valuables because the door was locked.

I had quite a number of theories at work on how perhaps at least two individuals (or maybe more) tried to get in to the church premises and hoped to steal some cash (at least) or other items.

each time I told my "story" to the police and inspector and engage in conversation we would come up with a clearer "theory" or possible scenario.

after all is said and done ... we don't REALLY know how they did it or what made them leave (especially without taking anything with them) ... perhaps they didn't have enought time to ransack the place! ... Perhaps they heard me coming from the front door? or even saw me (now the dangerous thought was what if they hid and then attacked me when I stepped in the door? Hmm ...)... or perhaps they had a shock when they saw the "Cross" when they jumped down from the ceiling? More questions than answers here ...

sure we'll spice up security and hope this won't happen again ... but we'll never know. I recall how I was totally "shocked" the during the first break in 5 years ago ... of course it was more dramatic with the old grill torn down and the sound system wrapped in cloth but then left behind. This round, I was calmer and less "shocked" but still frustrated and tired by this whole ordeal.

I'm glad our Aussie council member David managed to come over in the afternoon after all the police reports and later Choong Hai (our previous contractor) and his worker came to fix the little damage on the roof and ceiling. I can't imagine handling all this by myself.

Had to skip a seminary "curriculum review" meeting which I was looking forward to ... but that's life. The week didn't start very well even though tha last weekend was promising ... but the messiness of life is real as well. I've been thinking a lot lately on how we Christians often think in "preventive" terms because we want to avoid mistakes, harm or failure. Or more positively we want to make sure things go right. But, Reality sets in and often what we're left is to live in "redemptive" terms ... and I think that's even more crucial as so often we can't "prevent" things that are beyond our control ... and so often, we still land up making mistakes or others making mistakes that will affect us ...

And as I immerse myself more and more in the story of Christ's life, death, and resurrection ... I find his "redemptive" qualities seeping into the every days ups and downs, Hi's and Low's of my existence. So while being "preventive" is still important, being "redemptive" gives hope and strength to live forward and not get stuck ... so perhaps, the more important "curriculum review" needs to take place in what we learn in the midst of often "uncomfortable" or even "crisis" situations. So, there may be a 101 theories I'm trying to make sense of this thing called "life" but at the end of it ... Christ came to give us "life" not just some "theories". That's terribly redemptive!

Break In (update!)

Thanks to all who showed concern and support in one way or another ...

I've made the necessary police reports, assessed the damage, thankfully as far as I checked nothing stolen. It's a little humorous yesterday that the guys who came to fix the roof and ceiling came just in time before the heavy downpour.

a sense of humor is needed during these times :-) hope to be back blogging soon.

Break In (again!)

I don't mind the inbreaking of the kingdom of God ... but it's a pain when our premises get's broken in for the 4th time at least in the last 5 years. so here I am waiting for the inspector to come to kae pictures and finalize the police report. Then I'll wait for a contractor to help us fix the tiles where the burglars climbed in from the roof then the ceiling ....

I was actually planning to blog about my thoughts on our latest move and some reflections on being 33 years old and other juicy second thoughts after my birthday which was on the 1st October (thanks to all for the well wishes). How did I spend my time on that day? I attendant two weddings and one dinner. I was hoping to have a some time to celebrate a bit today ... but then this is life - I'm still waiting for the inspector.

*sigh*