In the beginning: Adam and Eve were in Eden walking with God. (Then we sinned.)

In the Old Testament: God’s people (Israel) were in the Promised Land under God’s Law. (We still sinned.)

With Jesus: God’s church is in God’s Kingdom under Christ, the Head.

What’s to come:  God’s bride is in the New Jerusalem with God, forever.

Z. Weihrauch, at a church vision meeting for a church plant in Cleveland Heights that I’m checking out!

At meals, we had many opportunities to serve one another (doing the dishes) and to engage one another in thoughtful conversation (“double rainbow… what does it mean?”)

I like this picture because of the waterfront. Somebody’s going to get really close to the front of the water soon though. (Ha ha…sigh.)

Reppin’ AAA at CFW! We’re praying 3x a week this summer for the Lord to move in Asian American organizations at Case.

I’m amused by how introverted this picture looks. Many people standing alone on rocks looking in different directions.

This year, nobody went for the 50 Chicken Nuggets deal at McDonald’s. Whew.

We had a great time together. Thanks for praying!

I’ve grown more weary and hesitant to jump into the Christian discourse on the blogosphere, maybe because I’m afraid or too angry/frustrated. I’ve decided to process a few reflections online after reading blog responses from my friend Calvin (entitled “Somebody Call the Heresy Police! (Not!). He ascribes to Reformed theology, by the way) and Christianity Today. I think it will also help me process some of my own longstanding feelings as well.

Some reflections:

• I think it’s admirable that there are Christian leaders (servants?) who desire to stand for Biblical truth. I would consider my belief system to be orthodox doctrine (in Scripture & in the tradition of the historical Christian creeds, Nicene etc), I believe there are many philosophical problems with Universalism in general (I think its rooted in Western arrogance, read Chapter 1 of Tim Keller’s Reason for God for a good explanation for why that is.) I agree that Gospel/Christian message is has empty meaning if my Savior, brother, leader and captain Jesus were not the center of the story of Him being sent into the world to rescue it.

• However, I am weary of how this “in-house” discussion on the internet never seems to bring about Christian peace and unity. I’m more and more discouraged by the disrespect and slander that I see in many of the comments by Christian readers that dehumanize Rob Bell to a mere ideological offense, and not as a human. I forgot when we were found to be so above another person that we would resort to mudslinging on the internet. Perhaps this relentless pursuit of truth makes sense in a Western setting, but our non-Western communities would be in shock over the lack of harmony and peace. For what reason would they want to be a part of this ‘religion’ if they are embarrassed to show their friends that this is the culture they would enter into? (Note: Justin Taylor has revised his comments.)

• I call it “in-house” and “for those who care” (admittedly tongue-in-cheek with slight cynicism) because this discussion draws out how irrelevant the Christian community could potentially become to the greater world. This shows exactly how we have become a Christian “tribe”—the blogs are written for affinity groups around Christianity (nothing wrong with that) but we aren’t bringing this dialogue into the greater world around us, relegating us to our Christian debates in our Christian corner of the internet. Very few of my friends who are not Christian could care less. In fact, I feel embarrassed talking about how irreverent and disrespectful the Christian community is when it comes to “protecting truth.” I can talk all I want about how Christian community is still broken and an imperfect people, but flippant comments/slander/malice/mudslinging still seem to be one of our besetting sins, and I have very little explanation for it.

• This could potentially become a missed opportunity to have a greater dialogue about faith. I resonate with my friend Calvin’s provocative thought: “If people like Justin Taylor and Kevin DeYoung devoted even a fraction of the energy to sharing the Gospel that they currently devote to speculatively policing it, perhaps the Church would truly rise up in ways unimaginable.” We could have easily capitalized on this opportunity, turning Bell’s controversial book into a thought-provoking discussion with friends and asking them what they think about the existence of heaven/hell and why. Could this become a redeemed moment? In fact, our calling as Christians is beyond critique and condemnation. This is good to do when necessary and appropriate (perhaps when the book comes out and we confirm that Bell is indeed a universalist.) Our calling is to become creators of culture, leaving the policing behind and promoting the beauty of Biblical narrative and orthodox faith by actively living it out. Jesus did address those in the wrong very overtly (i.e. Pharisees) but He went ahead did his thang, establishing the Kingdom of God.

• For those of us who just returned from MAC (Ministering Across Cultures), this could be anecdotal for the “Approaching Differences Diagram” where the intention and attitude before actually encountering the difference (i.e. before Bell’s book has actually been released) is suspicion and fear. I think that is what is causing friction in my own heart/mind. Is there a way we can move toward a positive result i.e. opportunities for ministry (“green line”) instead of un-Christian responses and no opportunities for ministry (“red line”)?

From late Jan, early Feb on Ministering Across Cultures. Read more here!

Let us love and sing and wonder
Let us praise the Savior’s name
He has hushed the law’s loud thunder
He has quenched Mt. Sinai’s flame

Let us love the Lord who bought us
Pitied us when enemies
Called us by His grace and taught us
Gave us ears and gave us eyes

He has washed us with His blood
He has washed us with His blood
He has washed us with His blood
He presents our souls to God

Let us wonder grace and justice
Join and point to mercy’s store
When through grace in Christ our trust is
Justice smiles and asks no more

He who washed us with his blood
He who washed us with his blood
He who washed us with his blood
Has secured our way to God

Let us praise and join the chorus
Of the saints enthroned on high
Here they trusted him before us
Now their praises fill the sky

Thou has washed us with Thy blood
Thou has washed us with Thy blood
Thou has washed us with Thy blood
Thou has washed us with Thy blood

He will bring us home to God

“Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder” by John Newton, covered by Jars of Clay

These words of worship and truth, sung at KIV’s weekly Power Group meeting, were like a healing balm on me. This morning, my prayer was to know how I am covered in the blood of the Lamb, head to foot, expunging all self-condemning thought, each malignant memory, and every tinge of guilt. The existence of my sinful nature is washed away, and I am restored to full life.

When we sang these words, the room was very quiet. We only had one guitar, and because the song was new, we started off with only a few beautiful voices. When we finished singing the full-bodied note of the last chorus, I knew in the depths of my soul the holiness of God and the holy moment that was upon us, made sacred by the sound of lips believing the truth of Christ’s work on the cross.

I’m thankful for you! Newest prayer update found here.

This is our story: Asian American Staff Conference

I’m back from the IV Asian American Staff Conference! As I’m copying down notes from the conference, my brain (aided by my 2 cups of coffee) has switched onto hyper-active mode as I think excitedly about all that I have learned over this past week. Oh, the possibilities!

I could spit out a lot of new knowledge from the conference, but the first thing I wanted to note about the conference was the tone of the weekend. One thing that I really connected with was how the leaders of the Asian American movement wanted to honor our past (part 1 of the weekend.) There was a sense that they really wanted to honor our elders – to honor those who have taken on great sacrifices to be trailblazers early in the movement. For someone who is Asian American, I find that to be so beautiful.

At this, I’m surprised at myself. I’ve always been one to be somewhat anti-authoritarian. Very rah-rah, fight the system, fight the older generation’s rigid structures, etc etc. But as I find confidence in who I am — being centered on my identity as an Asian American woman, created and redeemed by Christ — I find myself to be more willing to embrace those fallen-yet-renewed things about my culture that God has blessed us with. And I realize that ha, I do have that respectful posture towards those who are older than me — more than I ever thought I did. (I was very uncomfortable with joking around with my supervisors when I came on staff. So much culture shock…)

So as I take down notes about Gwen Wong, Ada Lum, Jeannette Yep, Donna Dong, Paul Tokunaga, Brenda Wong… I am blown away by their tenacity, their love for God, and their fearlessness as they planted movements all over the U.S., and even the world. Did you know that the first Asian American staff worker came on in 1948? That was even before she could drink out of the same public drinking fountain as white Americans. That was even before the first rumblings of the Civil Rights movement. That was when the state in which she had served (Hawai’i) didn’t even have official US status yet. That was in the early stages of InterVarsity when no one even knew what this ministry even was!

And yet, she did it. We honored her and we gave her an award; we prayed over her. Thank you Lord, thank you Lord, for sending a woman as beautiful as Gwen to pave the path for fruitful ministry to your beloved Asian Americans. You desire to see them enter the Kingdom, and they have because of people like your servant.

Here are other ways that we honored those who have gone before us:

1) We heard from Jeannette Yep and Donna Dong in an interview during our first session together. Greg Jao asked all those who had been personally impacted by them to stand up — the “1st generation” — and then he had those who had been impacted by the first generation to stand up, and so on. Seeing so many staff pop up out of their seats was such a moving moment. Maybe this is how the Jews felt when they recount their genealogy of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc.

2) We honored Paul Tokunaga for his work. And the best part is… we did it on a boat. I appreciated how he has personally met with and cared for so many prospective staff – including me, when I was in college!

3) During our closing session, we prayed for our senior leaders. We didn’t have them stand with their arms outreached. Instead, they knelt with a posture of humility. They are first our servants, and they lead out of that servanthood. To see senior leaders humbly kneeling… oh man, I could barely contain myself.

They did have us stand though. Us go-get-em campus staff members who heard the word to be “strong and courageous…”

More on AA Staff Conf to come!

All photos are by Daniel Hoffman – flickr and site