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wisely fighting poverty

It’s so easy to fall in love with the vision of something than to do the hard work to move towards bringing life and fruition to that vision. This has been the case for Minhee and I with the humanitarian organization for several years. While we know we’ll face some scrutiny, questions, and criticism, we are ready to move forward – even if we know we’ll make some mistakes along the way.

However, I’d love [and need] to hear some feedback from you about some elements that we hope will shape the humanitarian organization.  If you’re new to the blog, you may want to read Loudly Fighting Poverty and A Vision of Compassion & Redistribution.

OVERVIEW:  Our vision is to start a global organization to fight global poverty  Continue reading “wisely fighting poverty”

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10 Reasons Why Men Should Not be Ordained for Ministry.

In light of some recent intense posts – Ultimate Fighting Jesus and The Oldest Injustice in Human History is the Way We Treat Women, this list is too funny not to sure.

But then again, the whole conversation about gender is also utterly not funny. Double negative, anyone?

The brutal fact is that the matter of gender violence is all too much of a reality for many around the world. Statistics about gender inequality via UN and UNICEF are even more discouraging.

Regardless where you sit, stand, or wrestle with the issue of women in church leadership, I thought this satirical list was worth sharing for both laughter and even reflection because that’s what good satire forces us to do.  And for what it’s worth, I’d encourage you to read some of my thoughts about why I believe  women should be included in all levels of church leadership.

Here are…

10 reasons Why Men Should Not Be Ordained For Ministry.

I’m personally very convicted about #5 – I am sorry for being such a stumbling block.  🙂

10. A man’s place is in the army. Continue reading “10 Reasons Why Men Should Not be Ordained for Ministry.”

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ultimate fighting jesus

I get it.

Men and women are different. In fact, I embrace it.

And I also get it that there’s an issue with men in the church.  Statistically, only 40% of folks in the church are men and there is also the issue of fewer men actively serving and leading within the church.  Some even see the “emasculation” of Christian men as one of the largest threats to the evangelical church.  Really?

Emasculation as one of the greatest threats?  We’re focusing on genitalia here and not the heart? Continue reading “ultimate fighting jesus”

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loudly fighting poverty

Minhee and I are bracing ourselves for the long, hard, exciting and hopefully, fruitful work ahead as we attempt to lay some groundwork for the humanitarian organization we’re envisioning and its work with global poverty.  We are awaiting word and documents [any day] from the State of Washington and will then move forward with revealing the name, raising some initial funds, and other steps.  We may be stupid idealists but there is something within us that believe we can be catalysts to a global grassroots movement to help raise funds to fight global poverty.

But before we begin sharing and working in the weeks and months ahead, I wanted to take a post to answer the questions I have received from friends, acquaintances, church community folks, blog readers, and strangers that read an earlier post regarding the public announcement of our family’s decison to give up this year’s salary and additional funds to invest in starting this organization.

In some form or another, the question I want to address has been similar in content to this from a thoughtful blog reader:

…Why are you announcing to the world that you’re giving away your salary for the next year?  Why not quietly do it Continue reading “loudly fighting poverty”

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my pastor is a janitor

During the first year of Quest, I was without salary and had tried so hard to obtain a job – any job – but I realized the painful truth that pastors [outside their jobs in churches] are useless in society.  I discovered that my Masters of Divinity degree…well…wasn’t really all that divine.   It was actually pretty useless.  After several months of looking for work, I finally landed a job as a janitor at a Barnes & Noble store in Lynnwood, Washington.

Not my idea of a “dream job.” It was one of the most difficult jobs and periods in my life – especially because this took place at a time when I thought I would be kicking ass in my “career” as a pastor.  Damn my hubris…

But I digress.  I want to introduce you to Jason Douros.  He’s sort of on staff at Quest Church as our custodian.  Why am I introducing you to our church’s custodian?  Continue reading “my pastor is a janitor”