Category: religion

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rules of christian civility in politics?

Politics can get heated and messy.  You don’t just have to watch the various media and news outlets to know this.  You can also sense the tension within the Christian community which I think is perfectly normal and okay – as long as we get off our righteous soapboxes and consider what it means for us to live out our faith and convictions beyond the election season.

Personally, I don’t believe that followers of Jesus should be in bed with either of the two major parties.  We ought to remain “Independent” with a commitment to collaborate, listen, engage, and support the political system all while understanding that the political system is not our ultimate Hope or Answer.  In addition, we must never lose the courage or conviction to speak prophetically to a group of people because we are lured by the power associated with politics or a political party.  It concerns me how  some Christians were so critical of the “Religious Right” and yet, it appears that the “Evangelical Left” seem to be falling into a similar mindset.

While politics will be the rage for the next few months, including this blog occasionally, I want to share these “5 Rules of Christian Civility” that was posted by Jim Wallis on the God’s Politics blog and ask you one simple question:  “What do you think?”

  1. We Christians should be in the pocket of no political party; but should evaluate both candidates and parties by our biblically based moral compass. Continue reading “rules of christian civility in politics?”
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my slanted eyes are beautiful

Update:  Miley Cyrus [Hannah Montana] is still very young.  No need to slam her for her slanted eyes photos but we should slam the slanted eyes gestures.  Why?  Because we don’t want 50 million teens around the world to think that slanting your eyes is affectionate.  Nothing is more scary that a Hannah Montana with 16,000 fans slitting their eyes.  Right?

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I’ve received several emails this past week asking why I was making such a big deal in an earlier post of the photos of the Spanish Men’s AND Women’s Olympic Basketball Teams.  I suppose we have to agree to disagree.

I’m in no position to judge any of the individuals or players involved as racists.  I like to give people the benefit of the doubt and I certainly do in this situation; Truthfully, I also really like Pau Gasol and Jose Calderon as NBA players…I intend to draft both of them for my fantasy basketball teams in the upcoming season.  But having said that, I have no problems with calling the ACT racist.  While the intent may have been to demonstrate an “affectionate gesture,” let’s make this very clear: slitting or slanting your eyes is NOT an affectionate gesture.  You don’t mock physical appearance because you think it’s affectionate.

For example, when was the last time you saw someone do this as an “affectionate gesture?” Continue reading “my slanted eyes are beautiful”

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why many americans prefer their sundays segregated

Read this recent article [below] from CNN entitled “Why Many Americans Prefer Their Sundays Segregated.”

There are many things that are important in one’s search for a church, right? How important is a diverse church community to you – particularly race?  Bluntly, do you care about racial diversity in the church?  Why or why not? 

Discuss. Continue reading “why many americans prefer their sundays segregated”

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church, money, and sustainability

Who doesn’t like a good conversation about church and money?  Steve Lewis [spiritfarmer] and Jason Evans [a51t15] and a bunch of other folks have been conversing via their blogs about the broad and complex issues of church, money, and sustainability.  Why is this an issue?  Well, I can think of three main reasons [amongst several] why this is an issue:

  • one.  Stewardship is always an issue.  To be a disciple is to be steward of all things – including finances.
  • two.  Jesus thought enough of the danger and gravity of money [mammon] that he sees it as a legitmate challenger to the worship of God when He declares, “You cannot worship both God and mammon.”  Continue reading “church, money, and sustainability”
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inviting all prayers and dreamers

Please excuse us for being selfish but we need your help.  We are inviting all PRAYERS and DREAMERS.  Thus, we are coming to our larger community – friends, family, blogosphere network, Questers, and random connections – to genuinely share our  prayer requests and dreams.  Honestly, I’m not really good at asking for things.  That is something I need to be working on but here are two prayer requests and a repetitious dream I want to place before you. Continue reading “inviting all prayers and dreamers”

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someday, i will return to north korea

My great grandfather was one of the first christians in a village nearby Pyongyang.  God’s grace was poured over his entire family but they experienced intense persecution because of their faith.  As a result of the persecution, his family “escaped” with his entire family from what it now known to the world as North Korea.  My father was five during this time and the stories he shares don’t seem real.  Not everyone in his family survived that journey southward that one chaotic night.

NK as some may know is one of the most isolated nations and subsequently, some of the gravest human rights violations and suffering go unnoticed – including approximately 200,000 Christians that are in prison labor camps simply because of their faith in Christ. This past weekend, Minhee and I had the privilege of spending some time with friends that left Seattle three years ago to go to Yanbian, China [via Singapore].  They left – with their three children – the comforts of home, family, and friends to act upon their convictions. The father recently relinquished his well paying job with full benefits to serve the people of North Korea – initially at the border of NK and China and in a few months, he’ll be [hoping to] receive his “resident card” that would allow him to enter to and from North Korea to do development work.  There are no salary or benefits to his work as a “tentmaker.” 

Who in their right mind wants to become a “resident” of North Korea? Continue reading “someday, i will return to north korea”