Before you throw stones or want to endorse me as a candidate for the next President, just hear me out. And even if some of you strongly disagree or hate me more than you already do, just ponder the thought and question I pose on this post about the importance of having the voices of both women and men in our lives and in the larger Church.

My intent isn’t to hurt or bash the Church but as someone that loves and serves the Church, I want to see it grow deeper, more just, and more reflective of the Kingdom of God – one that fully embraces the gifts of both women and men.

So, let me set the table.

I care about politics not because I obsess over politics. Hardly.

Rather, politics is important to me because it involves policies and policies, ultimately, impact people. And the last time I checked, people (aka human beings created in the Imago Dei) are important. In my opinion, we have no choice as Christians: we must be engaged in our civic responsibilities and affairs. In other words, if our faith in Christ and the work of the Kingdom are important, we ought to be engaged in the issues of our world – locally, nationally, and globally.

At the same time, I am an “independent” when it comes to political parties and urge Christians to not be played, swayed, and seduced by the powers to be. For this reason, I’ve tried to urge others to be cautious of the politicization and manipulation of Jesus, Christians, and religion.

For this and other reasons, I’ve attempted to catch some of the Republican National Convention last week and this week’s Democratic National Convention. Some of it has been educational, others infuriating, others confusing, and still, others very inspiring.  I am listening and watching as I want to be more deeply educated and informed so I can steward the privilege of voting with care, prayer, and discernment. But thus far (and I know that the DNC has just gotten underway), one clear observation for me from both the RNC and DNC has been the amazing voices, words, leadership, and speeches from…the women. Continue reading “The amazing speeches of women in the conventions makes the silence of women in the Church that much more deafening.”

Grateful. Deeply grateful.

This past week, at our church’s “Day Retreat”, marked another of  those memorable “one of the greatest days of my life.”

Life has been busy and hectic and there are days when Minhee and I feel exhausted but it feels good to be investing in the things we deeply care about. It’s not an empty tiredness but a gratifying tiredness. Does that make sense?

An example of this is the joy, privilege, and burden of parenting, nurturing, raising, and empowering our three children.

We obviously love all of our children but our second child, Trinity, has a special place in our hearts because she was born at one of the lowest points of my life. We had left our previous church months ago (before her birth in 2000) with the conviction and call to plant a church but we had no idea how difficult the new year would be: Continue reading “Pointing our children to Jesus – with words, affection, and actions. One of those greatest days of my life.”

I had intended to write my reflections from my Horn of Africa assessment trip immediately after I returned.

But I couldn’t.

I wanted to but I couldn’t. There was too much to process.

First, let me encourage you to please read a post I wrote earlier entitled, “Africa is beautiful: The danger of how we frame the story of other people and nations.” I want to make sure that I don’t perpetuate this monolithic perspective where people only think of poverty as synonymous with Africa.

Now, I’m not a newbie to travels to difficult areas of the world. As part of my work as the founder and visionary of One Day’s Wages, I’ve seen my share of suffering and pain.

But the image that stood out the most for me from this trip were these feet Continue reading “These feet walked over 300 kilometers for safety, food, and water. Will you walk with her?”