A Powerful Video

…from a great musician, Brett Dennen

Modern Day Scrooge

CT recently published an interesting article comparing the 1840’s era of Dicken’s Christmas Carol with our modern era.  Among other similarities I was struck with, what I’d see as, a middle class argument against giving to the needy.  Due to the Poor Law Amendment of 1834, care for the poor was adjusted as the poor were supposedly taken care of and “provided for” by the government. Middle and upper class then, would have washed their hands of any responsibility to care to the poor.  CT points out in the Christmas Carol:

When two men visit Scrooge asking for money near the beginning of the story, their good humor is met with interrogation: “Are there no prisons? And the Union workhouses? Are they still open? … The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigor, then?

I’ve had my share of conversations with those who disagree with me and my heart and work for the poor.  Often it comes down to this sort of dialogue: Isn’t the government taking care of them? Don’t they live off of welfare and food stamps? Aren’t those food stamps and welfare checks paid for out of the taxes that I pay? I think I’ve done my fair share, thank you very much.  They’re not getting another penny of my hard earned money.

What White People Don’t Think About

Recent controversy surrounding the book, Deadly Viper, in which two white authors used Asian themes and culture as a design and marketing tool for their book (which has enraged some within the Asian community), began a conversation with my friend, Dan Hyun, who is Asian American. We spoke on racism as Dan shared with me issues which, in my words, white people don’t think about – because we don’t have to. After our conversation I asked Dan to be a guest on this blog and write a post on the subject of racism.  He graciously agreed. 

Pour yourself a cup of coffee and listen to Dan’s words…and if you’re white, think about a few things you typically don’t have to think about:

———————–

I have to preface first by saying that my thoughts are in no way representative of even a majority of Asians.  And when Joel asked me to share, I should have probably thought a little more before saying “yes” – more because it’s difficult to encapsulate the “Asian experience” within a single blog post.  So I’m not even going to attempt that but instead will share one particular thought.  Depending on the interest, perhaps this can lead to a series of posts from various perspectives or maybe it will even lead me to finally start my own blog!

Something I’ve noticed recently – particularly in light of some heated conversations about Asian issues on the blogosphere – is that some Anglos (I think that’s the polite term for “white people”) take offense to these types of conversation.  Perhaps it’s a sense of implied racism which for many is the worst charge that can be made against another person and is often met with a “I don’t have a racist bone in my body” or “I have so many friends who are  ___ (fill in your minority of choice) so it’s not even an issue for me.”  Or some Christians take offense that any discussion among fellow believers would tread into these areas of liberal, PC thought and distract from the “True Gospel”.  One thing I’d want to say then is for those in the majority culture to not take these conversations as a personal attack but rather an opportunity to listen.

Growing up as an Asian American (in my case, Korean), the world of influence I observed didn’t reflect my world.  There is something deeply impacting about a kid in his developmental years never seeing a character on T.V. or in advertisements looking like his own image – well, other than the Martial artist, bookish nerd or other similar stereotype.  Without realizing it consciously, one develops issues of self worth and value and I’ve had to wrestle with those aspects of identity in my journey as a follower of Jesus.

The cool thing, though, is that we live in a world now where you see all sorts of diversity represented around us.  Of course, there is still progress to be made but for as much as Postmodernism and Political Correctness come under attack, we’ve witnessed some positive growth in these areas of culture.   This might sound strange to some of you but it’s kind of exhilarating to watch a movie or TV show where there’s a character being romantic or tough and is played by an Asian male but who could legitimately be played by someone of any ethnicity.  And I celebrate that my baby girl is growing up in a world where her cartoons are filled with people who don’t all look different than what she sees in the mirror.

One thing though: As much progress has been made in the “secular world”, you often don’t see as much of this cultural impact reflected in the Christian world.  Honestly, there came a point a while back when I just didn’t want to attend another ministry conference with the “best” Christian leaders because the majority of the folks on stage all looked kind of the same . . . and not like me.  And though I valued my seminary education, same thing.  Interestingly, some of the same issues of value and worth surfaced because when you see that most of the folks being touted as the best don’t look like you, you just get a little tired of it. (And I’m clearly aware of our Gospel identity as Christians and that all this shouldn’t matter but just being honest.)

I’ve had some Anglos ask me why folks of a common ethnicity or race seem to congregate together - whether friends on a college campus or members of a church fellowship group – especially when they are “American” in every way from language to sense of humor.  This is not the only or even the main reason but sometimes you don’t always want to have to be the outsider looking in or the one who is having to adapt to your surroundings.  And it’s not even that you’re not made to feel welcome – most groups or conferences would like to boast a diverse participation and will make some efforts toward this.  But will these groups extend this diversity into their positions of leadership, authority, and influence?  Maybe that’s the reason that some ethnic groups have their own church leadership conferences . . .

So many more thoughts to share but this is already too long for a blog.  And I hope this all doesn’t sound like the rants of that angry Asian guy but really hope these can be areas of application for the Gospel I love.

(Dan is the pastor of The Village Church in Baltimore)

Uganda’s Bill…

…the death penalty for the gay community.

Read an overview of the bill here.

An article about the faith community taking action against it here  and here, and Andrew Marin’s call to for us all to act and pray here.

Photoshopping Diversity

My friend Dan, who is Asian American and will be soon writing a post for this blog on racism and the Asian community, sent me this link which pointed out a hilarious and very unsettling fopa; the American Petroleum Institute’s new pamphlet which has photoshopped heads to add diversity into an otherwise not-so-diverse group of people.

It’s sort of like a game from the old Highlights children’s magazine – How many differences can you find between these two pictures?

Here’s the API pamphlet:

 

And here’s the original (unaltered) stock photo:

One point for each head you find.

Weekend Update

• We have a “teacher’s breakfast” at Eutaw-Marshburn this morning (Monday). I have an egg casserole in the over that is baking. 
• The Garden’s Christmas party was Saturday night at Sean’s studio in Hampden. A lot of food, a little bit of dancing, and a lot of fun.  And, of course, as it’s a photography studio, a few photos were taken.  We had a great mix of people and, I can only speak for myself, but I had some great conversation.
• We are slowly working through our massive loan application and finally submitted a few rehab plans.  Fyi - A 203K loan (to clarify, not $230,00 but rather “203K” as opposed to “FHA”) is an extremely paper-intensive loan.
• I haven’t had much sleep lately (Christmas parties, my Sunday morning rituals, teacher breakfasts, etc).  You know you’re tired when it’s 6am you’re too sleepy to drink coffee.
• We had a great gathering at The Garden.  Great sharing, praying for one another, and a beautiful Advent reading. 
• I gave two relational gifts during my sermon as examples of relational giving and to (hopefully) inspire some creative thinking – to one person I gave a coupon for dinner with “two of your favorite people in the world, Joel and Jess;” and to another person a bag of coffee with two mugs – with the stipulation that at least one cup of coffee from the bag be shared with me so that we “may get to know one another better.”
• Had a nice hour of sharing and robust discussion with our covenant team after the gathering over lunch.  I’m encouraged at the level of willingness on their part to go deeper and be more committed to one another and to our calling.
• It’s been freezing this week.  Winter has arrived here in Baltimore.
• Today (Monday) is my day off. Family, rest, reading, recreation, …maybe a little sleep.  I thank God for teaching us to Sabbath.

Sunday Morning Reflection

If we give gifts to one another on Christmas with the idea of ”God’s gift to us” as our primary example, then why are our gifts so materialistic? 

God’s gift to us (unless you’re touting a health and wealth gospel) wasn’t material riches…it wasn’t stuff.

What if God hooked us up with all earthly riches but did nothing about our relationship with him?  His gift to us was entirely relational; it was himself.

If we have relational issues with those we love, why do we believe that we can hide all of this relational baggage with our loved ones, simply going out and spending a bunch of money on big gifts to give to them on Christmas morning and believing that everything will be okay. Everything’s not okay…the gifts don’t and have never solved our relational issues. 

Whether we buy material gifts this year or not, I think we can do a better job at giving gifts which really demonstrate our love.  Let’s give our time….give of ourselves.  It takes a little more thinking and a bit of creativity but our loved ones are worth truly feeling and knowing our love, aren’t they?

A Midnight Prayer

It’s been a year since Ronald Jackson’s life was taken from him about six blocks from our apartment.  It was December 7, 2008 and his mother, who’s friends call her Candy, asked Ronald to deliver grapefruit to the neighbor across the street.  Moments after Ronald closed the door behind him, to her horror, Candy heard gun shots and her little boy scream, “Mom, I got shot.”

As she held her son during the last moments of his life he asked her not to cry.

The killer didn’t even know who he was shooting at…a case of mistaken identity…just shooting.

Each Friday I hang out with about thirty kids at our rec. center. Good kids who deserve every bit of what we can give them, and I pray for them.  As I mentioned before, within the past 8 months or so there have been three shootings outside the rec. center.  We do all we can to partner with our friends at the rec., at the school, and other opportunities to serve and work to keep kids off the streets and doing something productive…or do we?  There are moments when the burden of love causes you to stop and ask, Can we do more?

I think we can.

I am so thankful for the faith community that God has put together to care for our city, the spiritual seekers, these kids, their parents, and even the hustlers who have got caught up in the wrong game.  But I think we can do more. I really do.  I don’t kow what it is yet but I think we can do more.

I need to visit Candy again and see how she is doing…I can’t begin to imagine how hard December 7th must have been for her. 

We need to be out more.  Outside of our comfort zones.

We must determine to love those who no one else will love.

We must determine to be patient and allow grace and forgiveness to abound.

We must incarnate ourselves into our community as God did for us.

God, we pray for our city.
May we lay down our arms
May we see the value in all human life
and work to protect it.

Transform us from the top to the bottom
from the rich to the poor
from the old to young.
Reconcile us with You
and with one another.

Pic of the Day

Here’s a pic I just took on my camera phone of the new place we are working on buying…(I should have taken a pic of the massive loan application. They must have used three trees worth of paper for this thing.)

He’s Still My Son

For all of us prodigals who have strayed off path; Martin Lloyd-Jones on the Prodigal Son.

This is a short video I put together highlighting a few powerful words of one of my favorite old-school preachers, the great Brittish preacher, Martin Lloyd-Jones; as well as one of my favorite mucisians, of course, Moby. 

I hope Martin’s words move you as they did me. 

Feel free to share.