eugene cho

Friday, December 14, 2007 • 3:03 am 28

rob bell in time magazine

Honestly, I haven’t read any much of Rob Bell’s stuff – just the soundbytes.  I don’t know what’s wrong with me but I have this weird thing where I don’t like to read too much stuff that’s written by people that are still alive.  Is that bizarre or what?  So, I can devour C.S. Lewis, Augustine, Nouwen, St. Teresa of Avila, Martin Luther King Jr., Lesslie Newbigin, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, David Bosch, etc. but I have a hard time enjoying contemporary authors that are loved by others: Piper, Bell, Marva Dawn, McLaren, Lauren Winner, McManus, D. Miller, and others.  N.T. Wright, Eugene Peterson, and Scot McKnight may be the few exceptions.  Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: emerging church, religion, ,

Wednesday, October 24, 2007 • 1:24 am 5

Q is alive and kicking

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In a city where there seems to be a cafe [mostly with those dang mermaids on the logo] on every other street corner, the path to viability and visibility has not been the easiest thing for our non-profit Q Cafe.  We are still alive and kicking but barely.  It’s been very tough and the church and cafe leadership have taken some time to really examine the mission of the cafe.  Through these conversations, we’re collectively reminded how significant the cafe is to the ecclesiology of our church.  Q, a non-profit and non-religious community cafe, is essential to our commitment to be an incarnational presence to our neighborhood and larger city.

Personally, I’m excited to grow back in love Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: emerging church, ministry, religion, seattle, , , ,

Monday, October 22, 2007 • 12:07 am 12

“pissed off adolescents”

Maybe it’s because there’s not too many non-White folks they can ask, but I’ve been getting more and more requests from folks to speak to the topic of…[gasp]…emerging church.  There are so many weird misperceptions out there.

Within Quest, we rarely speak of Quest as an emerging church.  Many on the outside call it an emerging church and that’s ok, but I tend to be cautious with labels.  You can read some of my thoughts about that in an earlier post entitled, ‘those stupid emerging church fools.’  It’s amazing how that word ‘emerging’ and ‘emergent’ is one of the more regular questions I get from new visitors to our church.  The majority, if not all, that ask the question do so with much skepticism. 

But, I digress.  I recently read a post entitled, 7 Loving Challenges for Emergent, that really hit a chord…[via Kingdom Praxis and originally on MSW].  I’m not involved with the organization called Emergent but have friends that are involved in the group.  But, here’s the post…there’s really much to think about.  Do these resonate with you?  They are all such sharp thoughts but one of my favorites is this: 

We are no longer pissed-off adolescents.  Pissed off adolescents do things simply to be contrary.  Like becoming democrats because we hate the religious right.  Like getting drunk because we grew up Baptist.  You know what I’m talking about.  Let’s start thinking a bit about why we do what we do.  A religious left is as bad as a religious right.  Being a libertine is as bad as being a Pharisee.  Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: emerging church, ministry, religion

Tuesday, October 9, 2007 • 1:09 am 6

final makeover pics

As promised, here are some final pics from our recent renovation of our newly gifted church property. In June 07, Interbay Church gifted their property to our church, Quest, and joined our community. For 27 days through several weeks in August and September, we went through a remodel of the church to update the space to better serve our larger community as well as continue our commitment to the larger city of Seattle and beyond.

Because of limited finances, we did about 80% of the work in-house.  If possible, I’ll never do this again.  It was enjoyable – on many levels – but dealing with stuff afterwards is no fun.  It would be much more convenient to hire a construction company and project manager and let them do what they do best.  Thanks again to the volunteers that sacrificed much of their time and talents…

Here’s a pic of what the sanctuary looked like before the changes:

_dsc3828.jpg Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: emerging church, religion, , ,

Monday, October 8, 2007 • 12:03 am 12

thoughts on salvation

Well, I’m hacking another stimulating post for you to read, enjoy, parse, critique, and engage.  This is written by Randall A.  He and some of his friends trekked out from Hawaii to Seattle a year ago or so – partly to enter the foray of the Seattle music scene.  Randall and another band member, Miles, attend Quest.  They belong to a indie/pop/rock group called Harrison Band and got an upcoming show at the El Corazon on Sunday, October 21.  You can also see one of their videos on YouTube.  But, enough of me plugging their band. 

Randall wrote an incredibly though provoking post on the subject of Salvation.  We can easily or too simplisticly deduce salvation as one dimensional – “Do you accept Jesus or not?”  If we see the totality of Jesus’ life, salvation includes that but so much more.   Make sure you read the entire post [it's worth the time] and share your thoughts – here or there on his blog entitled, LONE TOMATO.  It’s a beautiful thing to engage and seek to Love God with your heart, soul, body, and MIND. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: emerging church, quest church, religion

Tuesday, October 2, 2007 • 12:16 am 8

church sucks but so do you

I preached a sermon couple weeks ago entitled, “Church sucks…but so do you.”  The brief explanation:  I really do believe that most of us grow up needing and wanting to be angry at something or someone.  God and the Church is not excluded.  The institution of the Church has done much to warrant some of this anger.  So, yes…church sucks.

Church is community or family.  And there’s one certainty about community: it has the ability to expose us – all of us.  It exposes both our beauty and depravity which is the reason why community is so hard.  It is the reason why we are so drawn to it and simultaneously, we are so fearful of it.  Why it is so fragrant and yet, so repulsive. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: christianity, church, emerging church, religion

Monday, October 1, 2007 • 2:22 am 11

people come and people go

People come and people go.  Quest has grown fairly significantly the past couple years and and many people have also moved on the past couple years – for various reasons.  But for whatever reason, it’s much easier to focus on the folks that move on rather than to enjoy the folks that choose to stay.  Why is that?

Over the years, I’ve learned to not take people’s departures too personally but it still sucks and at times, hurts…because ultimately, they’re people I care for.  Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: church, emerging church, religion

Friday, September 28, 2007 • 12:32 am 18

god and his penis

This is the most thought provoking blog post I read this past week.  Just the title, “Dear God, do you have a penis?” makes you feel uncomfortable in so many ways. 

Like others who peruse through my blog to get a deeper glimpse into my scattered mind and heart, I enjoy checking out vomitaceous thoughts of many of the other Quest bloggers.  Some good, some bad, some fluff, some deep, some always ranty, some too happy, etc.  One blog [amongst many] I’d call your attention to belongs to ”Brian.”  In his words, Brian is “a materialist wishing to be a minimalist – an ambivalent mess desiring to be a lover of others – a fearful man hoping for great courage – a husband-in-process – a father-in-training – a student of friendship.”  He and his family have been at Quest for the past year+ and I appreciate his willingness to wrestle with hard questions – even if it leaves alot of mud on his face.  Here’s a short excerpt from one of his posts this past week:

Dear God, Do you have a penis?

I know, you’re immediately interested (or pissed). Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: christianity, emerging church, religion

Tuesday, September 25, 2007 • 12:16 am 3

it is finished

Well, after 26 very intense days, the church renovation is done.  OK, there’s a few more loose things that need to be taken care of but we worked until Saturday night to be make sure that we were ready for our worship services this past Sunday.

Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: emerging church, quest church, religion

Friday, September 21, 2007 • 12:29 am 4

a new season

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Seasons change and Quest is embarking on a new season beginning this Sunday.   In my guesstimation, I feel like we’re entering our fourth season…  We’ll discover if we’re just merely posers with lots of fluff, nice wall colors, blogs, or if we’re transforming into a community of people impacting the larger community and world with truth, justice, mercy, and compassion.  For what it’s worth, we’ll be in our “new” worship sanctuary this Sunday.  We meet at 9.15am, 11am, and 5pm.  If you’re living or visiting the Seattle area, come by for a visit.  Click here to view the invitation to our church community.

Here’s a summary of our brief church history: Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: church, churchplanting, emerging church, quest church, religion, seattle

Friday, September 14, 2007 • 11:37 am 6

not your typical church sleepover

I’m stumbling my way as a quasi “project manager” for our church remodel. Ahh, add more lessons learned via planting Quest six years ago.   Ready or not, we’ll cross the parking lot and return back to our new “traditional” church building on Sunday, September 23. 

We’re about 70% done with what we need to do.  This would have been a far easier thing if we had the money to simply HIRE OUT for the entire thing but so goes the law of economics.  With 70K, we’ve needed to basically remodel the entire church building that was built almost 40 years ago: Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: church, churchplanting, emerging church, quest church, religion

Monday, September 10, 2007 • 12:44 am 6

qcafe renovation

As we’re in the midst of a basic remodel of the church building we were recently given, I was just thinking that it was about 5 years ago in 2002 when not many of us at Quest [probably about 40-60] worked on renovating this Warehouse below into our place of Worship, non-profit Cafe, and space for some community engagement. 

We renovated it and rented the building for the past five years.  We now own the building and are busy renovating the church building right next door.  Lots of work.  I wish I learned something about construction when I was younger.  Below are pictures that demonstrate the transformation of the building…

copy-of-oldwarehouse.jpg Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: emerging church, quest church, religion, seattle

Friday, September 7, 2007 • 12:53 am 3

mother teresa and the experience of doubt

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I haven’t been able to read as many books as I’ve wanted recently but still feel stimulated and challenged by the steady flow of blogs I subscribe to.  One blog I’d like to call your attention to is entitled, Headsparks*, and authored by Daniel So.  Daniel is a youth pastor in San Diego and an occasional commenter on this blog.  I’ve yet to meet him but very much enjoy his blog and some of the articles he’s written for different publications.

He recently wrote a great article for relevantmagazine.com entitled Mother Teresa and the Experience of Doubt.  Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: christianity, emerging church, faith, religion

Wednesday, September 5, 2007 • 9:49 am 6

you’ve been tagged…

We’ve been tagged – literally.  I’m not talking the game ‘tag,’ bloggers that say, “You’ve been tagged,” photo tags, or other technological mumbo jumbo.  I’m talking graffiti tag.

tag.jpg Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: church, emerging church, religion

Friday, July 13, 2007 • 11:57 am 9

“gracious as all f*#k”

I’m amazed how many people are tracking with the “gay conversation.”  Many folks have emailed asking if Dan Savage has responded to my email.  He said that he would a day or two after he received mine but no response yet.  Let’s not forget…he’s a big shot.  He’s an editor of the popular Stranger and has his own syndicated column that’s published in who knows how many places.  He’s got people to see, places to go, and blah blah blah so I’m not surprised or disappointed.  No biggie.

On the Slog [the Stranger's blog], he did mention that some of the Slog posters did such a great job responding to my doozies that he didn’t really feel the need to respond.  Truth be told, there really were some incredible comments and dialogue.  Several people have shared with me that they actually printed out ALL the comments, went off somewhere, and just read through them and in some cases, discussed them with friends.  [That's a lot of wasted paper...]

I feel somewhat obliged to Dan.  He has written, in my opinion, the best press about Quest through his “church review” and indirectly, given me one of the best compliments [I think] I have received.  In responding to my concerns about posting what I intended to be a personal email on the Slog, he apologized for the misunderstanding and wrote [there]:

We’re not in conflict about the misunderstanding. Cho’s not upset with me; the man is gracious as all fuck. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: emerging church, justice, religion, seattle

Thursday, June 28, 2007 • 5:03 pm 338

…the gay conversation

It’s been a busy and crazy day today. We’re rearranging our staff offices; I’m dealing with chicken pox at the home, dealing with a rock being thrown into our church office window [luckily, no one was in there because the pastor sitting there was home because of an ailment], getting ready to head out tomorrow to Sabbath for couple days, and blah blah blah. And it’s probably about to get a little crazier…

Last night, I finally had a chance to respond to an email I received from Dan Savage, the editor of The Stranger - wittingly described by a friend as “the alternative paper to Seattle’s alternative newspaper [Seattle Weekly].  As readers of this blog know, he authored what I thought to be a witty review of Quest Church in the paper’s last edition.  I was surprised that he posted my personal email and his response on The Stranger blog for the rest of the world to see.  Oh well.  My hope is not to engage in battle.  That is the farthest thing from my heart.  Most that know me will attest to this…  While many have assumptions that Christians are hate filled, bigoted and ignorant, it’s my hope that more will realize that issues of justice, compassion, and mercy are dear to the heart of Christians – because they are near to the heart of God.

I am first posting my latest email to Dan, and then posting my first email and then his response…I share this here [with some trepidation] knowing that anything can be said.  I guess that’s the beauty and beastly nature of blogs.  It’s my hope that my email to Dan will answer some of the numerous responses from his readers and because I know my email will be posted anyways on his blog.  Last week, I very much enjoyed reading the thread of comments from Scot McKnight’s [jesus creed] post about the church’s lack of compassion with the gay community.  I had no idea that I’d be smack in the middle of this conversation as the culprit of that bigotry…

Related Links: Listening; Gracious as All F#*k; and The Gay Dialogue

Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: bible, christianity, church, emerging church, justice, religion

Wednesday, June 27, 2007 • 1:36 am 20

pastoral health redux

I’ve been meaning to post [some repost] much of this statistical information about the ministerial calling and career.  I “work” 2-3 hours/month as a representative of the Sustaining Pastoral Excellence program of my denominational tribe.  This program was funded by about 1.7 million dollars through the Lilly Foundation in response to growing and alarming statistics and stories about the decline of the health of pastors –  emotionally, relationally, spiritually, and physically.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, let my picture below speak for itself: I am pooped.  As pastors and church leaders, it helps to understand some of the challenges ahead; to not always be reactive but proactive.  Since many have asked for a summary of my presentation, here it is… Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: church, emerging church, leadership, ministry, pastors

Tuesday, June 26, 2007 • 12:32 am 5

global worldview

Is it ok for a pastor to feel proud over his or her church?  Is that bad?  I hope not because there are so many ordinary people at our church community seeking to do meaningful things with their lives.  I am so proud of our church and the women, men, and children that seek – despite our imperfections – to live out their faith.  Both locally and globally. Here’s a glimpse of some of the things that are going on globally…

Tomorrow, Andy L., entrepreneur and co-founder of BuddyTV, is taking couple folks from Quest along with others to El Salvador to continue their vision to redistribute technology and computers as a source of empowerment to the poor in Central America.  Several years ago, he started a non-profit called Future Hope.  Our worship director, George Song, and Derek K. will be joining this team. 

Tusubira was founded by Questers Kate H. and Sam K., UW students who traveled to the country last summer with two friends. While there, they connected with an orphanage outside of the Ugandan town of Jinja and felt compelled to do something more. Since their return, Tusubira, meaning ‘we have hope’ in Uganda, was founded and incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit benefiting the village of Mufubira and the orphanage there. This summer, Kate and Sam, along with two other Quest regulars, are taking a team to serve at the orphanage for a month and assess how they can better meet the needs in the region. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: christianity, emerging church

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my tweets

  • We don't have to. We get to. #AttitudeMatters 4 hours ago
  • After 10 years, final day at Quest for Pastor DeAnza. Thank you for leaving a great legacy and...a power tool. http://t.co/GrPgUFj1 18 hours ago
  • Cheap Grace is the proclamation of forgiveness without the requirement of repentence. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer 23 hours ago
  • Boom. Check out what Eastlake and @ryanmeeks are up to with drinks4drinks.com | Beautiful example of faith + action. 1 day ago
  • Dear Seattle: Please put your guns down. Praying for the family members of deceased, wounded, & all impacted by recent shootings & violence. 1 day ago
  • Quest is hiring a full-time Director or Pastor of 'Glocal Ministries': bit.ly/K8TbXv | Challenging but sweet opp for right person. 1 day ago
  • My ODW staff (all 2 of them) are temporarily office-less. We're 90% there but need to get the final green light. Praying it goes through! 2 days ago
  • It's the end of an era. Saying goodbye to our 250sq. ft. ODW headquarters. Never forget your humble beginnings. http://t.co/MQRyjdvA 2 days ago

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