The Pursuit of MANHOOD

Jesus: the Warrior King and OLP

2010-03-13T12:40:00.001-08:00

a. Jesus: The Warrior King

I preached at my Church recently, which went okay, but I felt constrained by time and did not finish my sermon. Here's a very edited part of it I didn't get to (the text was 2 Samuel 7:1-17, the Davidic Covenant):

Right now, when you think of royalty, you probably think of Prince Charles. Perhaps you have seen Prince Charles. He usually is wearing a suit, is rather pale-skinned, and will never be on the front of any fitness magazines. Israel is not asking for Prince Charles. Israel is asking for a god: a sovereign king who will lead them in battle against the surrounding nations. That’s what they meant by king. But the Bible tells us you don’t need a god-like king when you have a king-like God. It was God who freed them from slavery. It was God who got them into the land and gave the Israelites military success. It was God who reigned over Israel and was their king. And if their human king is to have any success in Israel, he must acknowledge the true king, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

God does a remarkable thing. He gives us a perfect human King: both a strong warrior and a humble and obedient man of God. And God restores Himself on the throne of His Kingdom. He does this all through Jesus Christ: the Son of David and the only begotten Son of God.

Jesus is the King of God's people. This is good news for us. The Kingship of Jesus means that we have a warrior King fighting for us and investing His resources to us. We don't fight the fight of faith alone, but have the full investment of the Royal Throne. And the resources of that throne are all authority in Heaven and on Earth.

Today, you might feel your spiritual life has been an endless cycle of trying harder by your own strength. Trying harder to fight the sin of lust. Trying harder to fight the feelings of loneliness. Trying harder to fight against the constant failure to act Holy. But that is not the Christian life. The Christian life is you come as a broken and defeated rebel and fall at the feet of the King of Light and Life. He then clothes you with His armour, walks with you back into the heat of battle, and brings along His most trusted counsellor, the Holy Spirit. You have everything you need to fight the fight.

We work with all our might, but not ours only, for we are in the service and in the company of the King of Heaven and Earth.

Note: This is so practical, especially for me.

b. Our Lady Peace

Went with the gf to an Our Lady Peace concert in Kitchener. They are doing this tour where they are playing their two shows in each city, and playing their whole 2nd (clumsy) and 4th (spiritual machines) albums in their entirety. It's a pretty good idea: its retro without being tacky (unlike say, a reunion tour or a Beach Boys concert). Most people looked older than 25 (not normal for concerts without Sting).

When I started getting into rock music, OLP was in their post-clumsy stage, and had ceased to be "cool" to music fans. I loved them though (until the fifth album). Their music was part of what formed the musical and emotional framework of my teenage years.

They've changed, as have I. They are still as earnest and quasi-spiritual as ever, but in more of a U2 stadium anthem kind of way than the post-grunge angst of their earlier albums. And me? I'm not so serious about rock music and I've given up on viewing life through the gloom-coloured glasses of my youth. But I'm still serious about life, and appreciate their desire for answers. Maybe they'll find the right ones someday.

The music fan in me feels so lame putting up such a mainstream song, but a theatre full of people singing this song really struck me as sad. A song that almost expresses the reality of sin, but concludes by admitting its own inability to formulate a solution:

evangelism + recent things

2010-02-27T13:20:00.000-08:00

a. evangelism
during university, a problem (and blessing) i had was that my life was consumed in Christian fellowship to the point where i had very few if any close non-Christian friends. i only knew two people at my graduation ceremony (though that was partly because i was in a combined major, so i didn't graduate with the same people as in my classes), and one of them was from c4c (kinda).

there were always the discussions about this in our c4c circles. they'd go like this:

A - We need to train our people to do workplace and relational evangelism! That's not gonna happen at the cafeteria with two copies of the four laws!
B - But if our people can't even do evangelism in controlled settings like the cafe, how are we going to get them to do it naturally in their own lives?
15 min later - discussion ends, nothing changes.

I've heard of different c4c campuses that are trying things to actually address this problem, which is commendable. But end result is that I do feel more equipped to do evangelism in controlled settings instead of naturally through relationships.

However, what has surprisingly happened is that I am now surrounded by non-Christians five days a week, 9 hours a day. And it has been a blessing/problem. The blessing is that I have actually made friends and enjoy their company and conversation. I have been put by God in a place where I can be light and salt. The downside is that I must confess it has been a dim light and a timid salt. I don't cuss or get drunk or joke about sex, but I have not really displayed patience and love and grace in ways that point to the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit.

Back at C-ton, our first-years would always say "I don't feel ready for evangelism, I don't feel like I'm a good enough Christian to preach the Gospel" and I feel that even now. I fear how easily they will see the hypocrisy in my sarcastic tone, my psuedo-gossipping, and my lack of punctuality as I proclaim the Lordship of a Loving God in my life.

Yet, as I pray that the Holy Spirit would change me, I am thankful that the message I preach is not a message of works, but of Grace.

Easter's coming up. Please pray that I'd use it to proclaim this message of Grace.

"Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." - Mark 2:17

b. recent things
1. Our young adults group had a speedfriending session last night (before the hockey game) (it was like speed dating, but minus the dating). May have been the best YA social that I've been to, though it was difficult to talk for that long. Props to the author of f-words for her initiative.
2. phonesaber app on iPhone almost makes me want an iPhone. it also has music in the background
3. Watched Kiss of the Dragon this week. Things to know about Jet Li regarding this movie:
i. Jet Li isn't as bland and uninteresting in his Hong Kong movies.
ii. His Hong Kong chereography team worked on this movie, so the fighting was good.
iii. This movie is very enjoyable if ii. is the reason you watch it.
4. You might not find this funny, and may have heard of it but....
note: try ordering it.

money and bum covers

2010-02-13T07:07:00.000-08:00

a. i am not poor

fact is, i make 20k/year. to most of you in mcc (middle-class country), that's a great injustice considering i'm a university graduate.

other fact is, i'm not poor. i make more than most people in the world. i eat more than i need to. i have more things than i need.

yes, my income limits me. it limits my future plans (marriage, car, home, student loans). it limits my generosity. but those plans and that generosity are in God's hands. What He hasn't given me, I don't worry about.

besides giving/osap/preparing for the future, i probably wouldn't live any differently if i was making 200k/year. i'd be just as cheap in the areas of spending i'm cheap in, and just as (actually, probably more) unwise in the areas of spending i'm unwise in.

in university, i believed you could put God first and let Him take care of your daily bread. i've struggled to seek His kingdom first in the midst of loans and limitations, but its encouraging to see that after the struggle, the Truth remains.

Strange fact: Same day I wrote this, I stepped on the screen of my laptop, messing it up (though it still works when hooked up to a normal monitor). Perhaps this was God's way of testing to see if I really believe what I say I believe.

b. album covers that suck

looking through my cd collection, there are some albums where i actually think if they had better album covers, they would have sold more. here are five from my personal collection:

(in a particular order, but based on reasons i chose not to disclose)

1. Kevin Max - Stereotype Be
So, in 2000, DC Talk takes a "break" (note: break has not yet ended), which results in all three members doing "side" solo projects. My money was on Kevin Max's to be the most successful. The actual money was on the exact opposite. Max's album was musically unfocused and inconsistant, being a typical "look at my artistic range" solo album. But the songs are still good, so maybe it's lack of success should be attributed to this nonsensical cover.

First, the font makes it look like the soundtrack to a Barbara Streisand movie. Next, what is he wearing? And what does it have to do with this album's middle-eastern influence or spoken word poetry? And why does is he posing like someone's caught him with no pants on? And why are there shadows covering almost everything except for his name in that romance-novel-font? I think this album would have at least been as successful as Michael Tait's album if it wasn't so stupid looking. Here's what this album sounds like.

2. Odds - Good Weird Feeling
Well, it also has a sucky album title. The Odds are a Canadian pop-rock band kinda like... Sloan with all sense of self-importance taken away. They have this goofy-self-deprecating sense of humour similar to Barenaked Ladies (which means, like BNL, they aren't as loved by music geeks as they should be). But why did I need to tell you that when this album cover clearly communicates all that? Btw, I was being sarcastic. This album cover sucks, though the material is very likeable. Here's a sample. Way better than, say, post-2002 Weezer. Which brings us to...

3. Weezer - Maladroit
Here's what some guy wrote about Maladroit:
Each [Weezer] record only managed to divide the band’s fans into separate camps: the early pop lovers, the emo kids, the casual listeners. Luckily, these disparate groups managed to put aside their differences and come together over a shared principle: that Maladroit sucked. But here’s the thing. Maladroit, the band’s fourth album, is actually really good: not exactly deep, but it has some really stellar pop songs. Pitched somewhere between the lightness of the Blue Album and the riffs on Pinkerton, Maladroit has charm and hooks to spare. With numbers like “Keep Fishin’,” “Space Rock” and “Possibilities,” Maladroit is catchier than the Green Album and less melodramatic than Pinkerton. Sure, Maladroit never became a cultural touchstone the way the band’s first two albums did, but it deserves more credit than it ever got.

I definitely agree. And perhaps the cover is to blame for that. Look at it! It makes me think I'm playing a boring Myst-type computer game from 1998. If I was, I'd click on the items on that table with the lamp. They probably contain helpful items for future encounters with other characters in a boring computer game.

However, I am not playing such a computer game, I am trying to convince you that this is a good album. And since you have probably already dismissed this album based on its cover, I have failed. Maybe this is my last hope.

4. Jeff Buckley - Grace
Fact: Grace peaked at #143 in the US Charts.
Fact: The Shrek soundtrack peaked at #28
Fact: A tonne of people wouldn't know who Jeff Buckley is if Rufus Wainwright didn't cover [Buckley's cover of] Hallelujah on the Shrek soundtrack.
Fact: The Shrek soundtrack also has TWO Smashmouth songs (shudder....)
Fact: Hallelujah is, at best, the sixth best song on Grace (okay, that's just an opinion).
Fact: This album cover looks like a Bryan Adams album cover:

End of Fact List. Listen to Jeff Buckley.

5. Jeff Buckley - Sketches of My Sweetheart the Drunk
Jeff Buckley died, and then they released a 2-disc collection of untampered demos for what would have been his second album. Problem? It looks like a collection of violin concertos. This was my introduction to Buckley's music. The demos are rough but I honestly think it promised a better album than Grace. Its too bad even music fans are totally unfamiliar with this collection. This is my favourite song from disk 1.

Anyways, till next week... hopefully...

update 2

2010-02-06T17:47:00.001-08:00

i got a job pretty quickly after getting back, and it's definitely a (mixed) blessing from God. here's the real truth - i make 20 grand/year doing faxes all day 9:30-6:30.

so, apparently, lots of people applied for the job prior to me, all also having university degrees, but they turned down the job when they saw what the work actually was. i was not that picky. job hunting is real crappy, so i jumped out at the first chance. my coworkers are not university-educated guys. they worked at hotels, video stores, and restaurants before landing this job, and they feel very happy to having a 9-5 fulltime with benefits.

meanwhile in my small slice of reality, everyone gives me the same reaction when i tell them about my employment situation:

University Graduate with Nice Job/University student who plans on having a nice job: Adam, so what are you doing now?
Adam: Working full-time, I work at a law firm.
UGwNJ/USwPoHaNJ: Hey, that's awesome!
Adam: Nahh, I just do copies and faxes all day.
UGwNJ/USwPoHaNJ: Ohhh...... that's cool..... you gotta start somewhere right? You interested in law?
Adam: Nah, not really.
UGwNJ/USwPoHaNJ: (pause) Let's talk about my middle-class suburban topics of interest.

So, its actually nice to meet people from different walks of life. I'm learning how to relate to people who aren't just UGwNJ/USwPoHaNJ's, which I thank God for.

好久不见

2010-01-30T17:38:00.000-08:00

a. update 1

In July, I returned to Ottawa. It has been a spiritual battle since. For all that C4C helped us, it never did prepare us to cross over from the land the prayer meetings, randoms, and theology discussions and join the world of job applications and osap payments. How could we have been prepared? Us student leaders had never seen what lay on the other side, and, with all due respect, so very few staff members knew either.*

Although things have changed, I have been blessed by my Church here in Ottawa. We have many areas to grow in: areas I think God has prepared me to give modest contributions in thanks to my time in C4C**, but Jesus is making good on His promise. He will build it, He will shepherd it, and He will present His bride flawless in the day of His return. And being part of His Bride has kept me in the hands of the Shepherd these past months.

b. stuff Christians like

So, if you don't know, there's this blog called Stuff White People like, written by... white people. They came to Algonquin College for a speaking event this week (an excellent addition to the usual schedule of Dustin Diamond and Tony the XXX hypnotist). The blog makes/points out stereotypes about white people. Well, this has inspired a billion other "stuff ____ like", including Stuff Christians like and Stuff Young Calvinists like.

The first entry in Stuff Christians like is (to paraphrase) adapting non-Christian ideas for Christians. Of course, the irony is noted (read the entry if your irony radar is a little weak), but it is definitely an appreciated point. Christians LOVE adapting non-Christian ideas for "kingdom purposes". In fact, we even try to justify it using the Bible ("all things to all men = your pastor should be a Christian Dane Cook and we should have So You Think You Can Dance Baptist-style").

However, I am really glad for the last few years that Christians have been using technology very creatively and constructively. Christians have used blogs, twitter, websites, and podcasts for uniquely Christian purposes, which though sometimes unhelpful, is a positive thing in general. I say this cause it gets a bad rap a lot, but I think it has been a means of sanctification for the Church of God.

Point is, Christians should really really stop trying to mimic the world and start using the common grace of creativity in their lives.

c. also...

In my opinion, good ideas for stuff ____ like would also be "Stuff C4C people like" and "Stuff Arminians like", but I'm no gonna write them cause... well, the "judge-not" people would judge me.

*If you took this to be a criticism of C4C, you should simply blame that on my inability to properly express my point. Criticism is not my intention.
** Do people even refer to it as C4C? Why am I doing that?

Submitting Our Worldview to God: Clothing

2009-06-23T20:27:00.000-07:00

I was gonna just write a short comment to Monica's post, but then I realized I would write too much, so here are some thoughts that are interesting to me.

So, Monica wrote some thoughts she had on modesty, kinda in response to the Harris twins' Modesty Survey. I thought there were lots of good thoughts, including these:

- “despite what a woman is wearing, she still needs to be treated with utmost respect”,
- “you really can't please everyone”,
- “most women do not dress with the sole intention of getting a male reaction”

However, I would like to challenge us (meaning whoever will read this) to consider what the purpose of clothing actually is. Monica mentioned that clothes are a means of self-expression. No doubt many (maybe most North Americans) agree. But who told us that: The Bible or culture? Maybe we should wonder whether this has just been a North American assumption that needs to be challenged.

We really need The Word to form our opinions about everything, including clothing. If, in fact, there are other Biblical mandates for the use of clothing, those values should take precedence over "self-expression". Right now, the purposes of clothing that come to my mind as being Biblical are to cover our bodies and to communicate, as Monica quoted from 1 Timothy 2:9, "decency and propriety". If those are the highest values, than modesty is actually the no. 1 most important purpose of our clothing.

Maybe I'm wrong. I don't want to say that this is the gospel truth, but whatever the truth is, it needs to be one that, instead of us being conformed to this world, results from us being transformed by the renewing of our minds through the Spirit and His Sword, the Word. Then we will be able to discern the Will of God in this area.

So, I'd challenge us to open up the Bible and consider this question: What is the purpose of clothing, and how should I dress accordingly? And if you have some (Biblical*) suggestions, I'd like to hear them (I'm very sure that my short contribution was not sufficient).

*If you do comment, please may it be Bible-focused

Thoughts on Prince Caspian: the book and the movie and a comic strip

2009-05-31T20:33:00.001-07:00

I recently read Prince Caspian, and of course thought quite a bit about how it compared to the movie. So, although these thoughts are real late (since the movie came out a year ago), here are my thoughts:

Prince Caspian is subtitled The Return to Narnia, but rather than simply revisiting the same themes as Wardrobe, the book explores a Narnia more than a millennium after the great deliverance of Aslan. This is a place where unbelief rules, history has been rewritten, and Aslan has been forgotten. Thus, the Pevensies return to restore Narnia to those who serve Aslan, and to bring back the chivalry and honour of earlier days. Essentially, it was a criticism of an unbelieving, corrupt world and a celebration of Christian faith and morality.

Caspian: The Movie shares the same general storyline, but attempts to discuss quite different questions. The Pevensies have had a hard year back on earth, and when they are transported back to Narnia, they are not greeted by Aslan. The small amount of guidance that Aslan gives them seems more like a test than help. When they finally begin to fight, they suffer a terrible loss as their attempted raid of the castle results in innumerable deaths. It is then that they are approached with the possibility of an alliance with a dangerous power. The question of how we can continue to have faith when it seems like Aslan is absent becomes the center of the movie.

In short, the movie has a much different spirit than the book, though it is hard to fault the movie for being able to add more action and craft its own identity in the process.

But it is interesting to wonder what the differences tell us about our culture. Perhaps the answer is that the question of how we can have faith in the midst of suffering is more relevant to our generation.

Yet, can that really be true when we compare our times to Lewis’s just-post-WW2/Red-scare 1949? Would a movie that was closer to the spirit of the book been embraced by this generation? Or have contemporary Christians ironically become like the world Caspian criticizes: a generation cynical towards clear answers and childlike faith?

No other original thoughts worth mentioning. Here is a webcomic, with some insightful thoughts.

Movies and Anti-Canadianism/Quebecism

2009-05-21T05:08:00.000-07:00

So, just recently saw Wolverine, which I thought was semi-crappy (and I’m an X-men fan and a wannabe-comic book nerd). Then I checked out what Roger Ebert (the dude who used to be real enormous, now is more average in bigness) said. He hated it.

What’s interesting about that to me is that five years ago, Stephen King grouped Ebert in with a whole lot of critics who were giving good reviews of everything. He said “Even Roger Ebert, that fierce partisan of the movies, all too often seems to have one thumb up and one thumb up his...aw, never mind.” Diss…

Now it’s five years later, has anything changed? Does Ebert actually give good reviews to big blockbuster movies? What say ye, Ebert?

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian:

“Its premise is lame, its plot relentlessly predictable, its characters with personalities that would distinguish picture books, its cost incalculable (well, $150,000,000).”

Terminator Salvation:

“It gives you all the pleasure of a video game without the bother of having to play it.”

Star Trek

“Like so many franchises, it’s more concerned with repeating a successful formula than going boldly where no “Star Trek” has gone before.”

Fast and Furious

“This is an expertly made action film, by which I mean the special effects are good and the acting is extremely basic. The screenplay rotates these nouns through various assortments of dialogue: Race. Driver(s). Nitro. Meth. Sister. FBI. Border. Dead. Mexico. Murder. Prison. Traffic violations. Tunnel. Muscle car. Import. Plymouth. Funeral. Helicopter(s). Toretto. Ten seconds. Corona. Cocaine.”

Monsters vs. Aliens

“I didn't find the movie rich with humor, unless frenetic action is funny. Maybe kids have learned to think so. Too bad for them. Think of the depth of "Pinocchio." Kids in those days were treated with respect for their intelligence.”

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

“But wait! -- you say. Doesn't "X-Men Origins" at least provide a learning experience for Logan about the origins of Wolverine? Hollow laugh. Because we know that the modern Wolverine has a form of amnesia, it cannot be a spoiler for me to reveal that at the end of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," he forgets everything that has happened in the film. Lucky man.”

There were more, but you get the picture. I don’t follow movies or watch a lot of them, but it makes you wonder: has Ebert gotten meaner, or have the movies gotten worse?

So, to continue my thoughts on foreigners, here is the most offensive comment I’ve heard about Canadians (in my opinion):

British Lady: Oh, you are from Canada? I lived in Montreal for a few years teaching there.

Me: Oh, cool. Did you learn a lot of French there?

BL: Heavens, no. I wouldn’t want that horrid accent. Their French is terrible. They don’t know how to speak French or English.

Me: [Smiles]

Well, I forgive her. She was kinda old.

Though this comes in a close second:

Me: So, professor, you've met DA Carson, right? By the way, he's Canadian..

My American Professor, who will remain unnamed: Yeah, he's one of those good Canadians, the kind that live in America.

...

Christian Spirituality (thoughts from Carson and Piper)

2009-05-13T20:18:00.000-07:00

I’ve been thinking this year quite a bit about “spirituality”. Lots of Christians trying different things to build in spirituality in their life (silence, fasting, Gregorian chant, yoga, hours of prayer*). What should we be doing?

I naturally think some of those things are weird, but that’s not too important. My great burden is that our spirituality should be Christian. That means having to do with accessing the triune God of Christianity through the (true) Gospel of Christianity and to the end of seeing Jesus Christ**.

An excellent article on the issue (in my opinion) is in The Gagging of God by DA Carson (the appendix). Unfortunately, I am an intellectual hobo and can’t give you a proper/careful summary of the article, but in general, Carson evaluates what people call spirituality, including its origins, and then calls Christians to have a Christian spirituality.

What Carson thinks (and of course, Adam agrees with):

Carson doesn’t give clear practices (don’t use candles, do use breathing exercises, etc.), but gives some very helpful considerations:

1. Spirituality must be thought of in connection with the gospel.

2. Christian reflection on spirituality must work outward from the center

3. (paraphrase) There is a healthy experiential/affectional side to Christian experience

4. (paraphrase) God’s primary means of grace for Christian sanctification (and everything) is the Word of God (more on that later***)

5. Our definition of Spirituality must be defined by the Word of God (as in the concept must be constructed by the Word, since the word “spirituality” isn’t actually in the Bible)

The End and Means of Christian Spirituality

I’m reading God is the Gospel, by Dr. John Piper. He discusses at length this verse:

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. - 2Co 3:18

To oversimplify and paraphrase Piper (again, a dubious enterprise considering my intellectual hobo-ness), one big point from this text is that Christian sanctification occurs through “beholding” Jesus Christ****. That’s what the Spirit’s job is to do (that last sentence): to help us see Jesus.

Isn’t that true? My most “spiritual” days are not ones where I simply have prayed a really long time or spent the most time in silence, etc., but when I have enjoyed clear meditation on Jesus Christ, especially in the Cross*****.

Surely this includes “Spirituality”. If “beholding the glory of the Lord” and “being transformed into the same image” is not what Spirituality is about, it’s not of much value.

Here is the test of Christian Spirituality. Does some author/pastor recommend a special kind of meditation or prayer? Where is the (true) Gospel in it? Is Christ the object of that meditation/prayer? If not, it’s by definition not Christian.

Here’s a smart guy, Carson (from that article mentioned in part a)),

If spirituality becomes an end in itself, detached from the core, and largely without biblical or theological norms to define it and anchor it in the objective gospel, then pursuit of spirituality, however nebulously defined, will degenerate into nothing more than the pursuit of certain kinds of experience. – Gagging of God 567

So, let’s have our whole lives, including our spirituality, be about preparing for the next life, where we will worship and sing “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain”. I think that would be a pleasing thing to God and to our souls.

*Some of those are good, some bad, some neutral. It’s just a list.

** In an interesting interview with Mark Dever, Professor Donald Whitney said (worst paraphrase in this whole thing) that a big problem with “spirituality” books is that they advocate access to God that is unmediated by the finished work of Christ, and that he is really working to teach how to build spiritual practices that flow out of the Cross. I’d like to think/read more about that in the future

***later means like five months from now, if I remember

**** But the whole book is about how beholding Christ is the ultimate end of sanctification. Consider Matthew 5:8. So, Beholding Christ leads to Sanctification, and Sanctification leads to Beholding more of Christ

***** Though certain practices might aid in meditation on the Gospel.

A Funny Story from Rock History, A Rebuke/Rank about Anti-Americanism

2009-04-26T07:24:00.000-07:00

a)

Been listening to Neil Young lately, in an attempt to get to know Canadian music more.

Here’s an interesting story (put together as well as I can understand it):

So, ’82, Geffen Records signs Young, who is known for his introspective rock/acoustic albums. This was three years after the critically acclaimed Rust Never Sleeps. However, Young is half involved in music, half taking care of his son with cerebral palsy.

His relationship with his son inspires his first Geffen album, ‘83’s Trans, which experimented with dance beats and synthesizing his voice. Young had found when his voice was altered, his son was better able to communicate with him. It wasn’t received too well, cause it was a little strange, and people didn’t understand the personal significance.

Anyways, Young decides that the next album will be a straight country album. But Geffen is not cool with that, and demand that he put out a Rock and Roll album. So, Young gives them exactly what they ask for, and records a 25-minute rockabilly album, with him doing Little Richard/Elvis-style tracks.

At this point, critics and fans are real confused, and it becomes the worst-selling Young album since his debut. So, Geffen sues Neil Young for putting out uncharacteristic albums. Well, in the end, REM left Geffen, and Young finally put out his country album, Old Ways. Another win for Rock, and one more loss for the man.

b)

Just a small snapshot of life here overseas: I’ve had the opportunity to meet many people from many countries. Of course, I meet many Americans.

Americans are often accused of being the loudest, most overly-patriotic/ethnocentric people.

However, my experience is that it is the Canadians who are the loudest and most obnoxious. I would attribute it to an attempt to overcompensate. I have been there many times as Canadians loudly explain our superiority to Americans as they politely smile and listen.

Who knows… that’s just my experience. But point is – if you go overseas, don’t be the obnoxious Canadian.

Oh, and I’ve noticed many Canadians assume the worse when they hear a southern accent. Don’t do that either.

Movie Face-off: Slumdog Millionaire vs. Fireproof

2009-04-16T00:14:00.001-07:00

Movie Face-off

I recently watched Fireproof, everyone’s favourite Christian movie of the year, and Slumdog Millionaire, which is, by far, everyone’s favourite British Indian movie of the year. But the question is: Which movie is better? Let us consider some criteria:

Location:

Slumdog – From some sources, a very realistic look of a very exotic location – Mumbai, India.

However…

Fireproof – Albany, Georgia, where people speak with southern accents and have Tabasco sauce drinking contests.

Conclusion – Tabasco puts Fireproof over the top. One point for Fireproof

Cast:

Slumdog – Apparently has a number of famous Hindi actors, and some pretty good child actors.

But…

Fireproof – Kirk Cameron, from Way of the Master and Growing Pains.

Way of the Master!!

Conclusion: Two points for Fireproof

Story:

Slumdog – Love story + Hindi Movie + Who Wants to Be A Millionaire

Fireproof – Love story + Jesus

Conclusion – No additional comments are even necessary. Three points for Fireproof

Cinematography:

Uh… I don’t know what that is. But either way…

Winner of Movie Face-off – Fireproof!

What I've been doing lately, It's a sin to not be baptized

2009-03-31T07:04:00.000-07:00

a)

Things I have enjoyed lately:

- This thing they sell outside my house that is like a giant round youtiao with sweet stuff on it.
- Reading about Vietnam
- Niel Young and Bruce Cockburn
- Free Shepherd’s Conference audio
- Frozen Char Siew Bao

b)

(Not what you might think it's about)

So, I’ve wanted to encourage people over here to get baptized. I’ve lately been reminded that it’s a command, not an option.

But I can’t find many resources online to help. Maybe it’s just what I’ve been reading and seeing lately (in other words, Reformed stuff), but it seems that although many argue, rightly so, over how it should be done, few people are teaching why it should be done. I do not see many championing the truth that Baptism is an important part of the Christian life.

Out of forty years of preaching, John Macarthur has one single resource that explains why someone should be baptized (to be fair, in it he confesses that he has not given it as much weight as it should have). Capitol Hill Baptist Church’s extensive audio/resource page had no relevant resources at all. Finally, I found only John Piper (also a Baptist) to have a few resources available (very few, considering the impressive volume of resources on his desiringgod.org).

When you think about it, the pressure isn’t even on the Baptists. Almost every denomination agrees that if you are a convert who’s never been baptized or sprinkled as a child, you are commanded by the Word of God to be baptized. There’s no controversy! Therefore, even the interdenominational parachurch campus ministry I am a part of (or the other ones) should have some resources on baptism, especially given that they all claim to be committed to the Great Commission (“baptizing them…”).

Well, I am going to do my best over here to get people baptized (in a Church). I strongly encourage you to also do likewise. If you know someone who isn’t baptized, tell them it’s a sin. And tell your pastor that, whether he’s a topical or expositional preacher, his application point should at some point be “repent and be baptized”.

Note: A very famous pastor is trying to get 2000 people to get baptized and join his Church membership this Easter. His strategy involves giving an incentive package, including a free subscription to his magazine and a free photo of the event (where they will be baptized by the top dog himself!). The above comments do not endorse such marketing of Baptism.

Thinking about women, The Other Galatian Controversy

2009-03-18T18:54:00.000-07:00

I actually wrote this quite a while ago

After a long vacation, I’m back, and hope to be updating more often. Here is the first.

So, many probably are aware of my appreciation of John Macarthur’s ministry, so when I started reading Twelve Extraordinary Women, I knew it would be Biblical, and maybe a nice, heart-warming devotional book.

However, I have found it to be much more than that. I found in it a very consistent and Biblical Theology of women (womanology?). Woman after woman was chosen by God to occupy a very specific role in redemptive history. I think it made me appreciate that, for God, women are not just secondary characters; as the plot unfolds, the women narrative is rich in its themes of God’s faithfulness and the beauty of hope.

This book was also a great walkthrough of the Old Testament, showing the “scarlet thread” of the promised Messiah being on every page of the Jewish Scriptures. I love when preachers expose the Gospel on every page of the Word of God, and Macarthur is one of those men.

That all said, I highly recommend Twelve Extraordinary Women, even to the average, ordinary man.

Found this blog post. It’s clever, but don’t let its cleverness ruin its message. It is a hard balance to find, but we must have the Apostle Paul’s (or better yet, Jesus’s) remarkable balance of Grace and Truth.

Here’s an excerpt:

If Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians was Published in Christianity Today

Dear Editor:

How arrogant of Mr. Apostle to think he has the right to judge these people and label them accursed. Isn’t that God’s job? Regardless of this circumcision issue, these Galatians believe in Jesus just as much as he does, and it is very Pharisaical to condemn them just because they differ on such a secondary issue. Personally, I don’t want a sharp instrument anywhere near my zipper, but that doesn’t give me the right to judge how someone else follows Christ. Can’t we just focus on our common commitment to Christ and furthering His kingdom, instead of tearing down fellow believers over petty doctrinal matters?

Ed Bilgeway; Tonganoxie, KS

Kind Editors:

I happen to be a member of First Christian Church of Galatia, and I take issue with Mr. Apostle’s article. How can he criticize a ministry that has been so blessed by God? Our church has baptized many new members and has made huge in-roads in the Jewish community with our pragmatic view on circumcision. Such a “seeker-sensitive” approach has given the Jews the respect they deserve for being God’s chosen people for thousands of years. In addition, every Gentile in our midst has felt honored to engage in the many edifying rituals of the Hebrew heritage, including circumcision, without losing their passion for Jesus. My advice to Mr. Apostle is to stick to spreading the gospel message of Christ’s unconditional love, and quit criticizing what God is clearly blessing in other churches.

Miriam “Betty” Ben-Hur; Galatia, Turkey

Books: My Wishlist and My Recommendations from 2008

2008-12-11T05:15:00.000-08:00

a)

Well, I've shared with you my gamer wishlist, my rassling wishlist, and now I've updated my wishlist with my young-theology-nerd wishlist. I'm expecting that this will be the best Christmas yet.

b)

This was an even better year for reading for me, and I think I read books that really shaped my thinking. Here are some that I recommend.

John Macarthur - Here's the thing: this brother is faithful to the Bible, he believes in the Bible, and he loves the Bible. I have learned so much from him because of his steadfast commitment to the Word. So much more could be said about the Evangelistic impact of his Church, his love for his flock, and his work in training up men to train up men all around the world, but what I am most thankful for learning this: what I need more of is the transforming power of God's Word.

Please believe me, his sermons are all available online now. Pick a passage and see if he does not expand your understanding and, as a result, enable you to see its application to your life. Get his books too.

Here's other stuff I read this year that I highly recommend:

The Holiness of God - RC Sproul

This book will make you treasure and thirst for His Holiness in your life.

Eric Liddell: Pure Gold - David McCasland

This book was a surprisingly enjoyable and inspiring biography of a real hero: a man of integrity and a man who practiced good stewardship of God's gifts.

The Roman Catholic Controversy - James R. White

So very few people are aware of the real divide between Evangelicals and Catholics. I have personally seen that this produces an environment where the unprepared are won by the intellectual vigor and devoutness of Catholic apologists, and in the process rejecting the precious truths of Scripture Alone and Faith Alone. We must be more prepared. For the most part, this is a very accessible and charitable survey of the major issues, written by a scholar who has had sharpened his arguments through public scholarly debate.

Anyways, I read more books, but I think anyone could benefit from these books, not just people like me who like books.

c)

Merry Christmas :)!

Is Your Preacher Preaching the Gospel?, The Showstopper, and The Universal Presence

2008-12-11T04:41:00.000-08:00

a)

Are you aware that if you move to my city and want to find a Church, you can read or listen to dozens of sermons by different pastors in the area thanks to the information Megazord that is the internet? As I reflected on this, I thought it would be a really cool idea to contrast and compare the preachers in my area as to how they preached the Gospel.

However, I have given up on that for a few reasons, not least of which is that I think its belittling to the Church to have a consumer’s guide to Churches. However, I think parts of my plan are still helpful. Go to your Church’s website, find the most obviously “Gospel”-sermon, and as you read or listen to it, ask the following questions:

1. Do they communicate that the sufficient and supreme source of Christ’s Truth is the Bible?
2. Do they make God bigger than man?
3. Do they explain Sin?
4. Do they explain Christ's death?
5. His righteousness?
6. His Resurrection?
7. His offer of eternal life?
8. Forgiveness of sins?
9. The need for repentence?
10. Faith?
11. New birth?
12. Lordship?
13. Heaven?

Now, I want to make some things clear:
i) I am not saying that you can base your opinion of a Church on one sermon
ii) I am not saying that you can base your opinion of a Church on the sermon in general
iii) I am not saying that you can base your opinion of a Church on the Pastor
iv) I am not saying that all those elements must be present for a full Gospel presentation
v) I am not saying that you cannot be saved unless all of those elements are present

Now, let me be clear as to why I think this has value.
i) If someone has a lot of these elements missing in an explicit Gospel presentation, they're preaching a false Gospel
ii) If someone preaches a false Gospel, it’s worthy of God’s curse (Galatians 1:9)
iii) If the Pastor doesn’t preach the Gospel, there’s a good chance the congregation doesn’t know it.
iv) If the congregation doesn’t know it, there’s a good chance that there’s a lot of goats thinking they are sheep. Which makes you wonder if you can even call it a Church at all (a Church is a body of Saints, not goats)

Well, there are many more reasons to be worried, but point is the Bible is clear as to the primary importance of the Gospel (1 Cor 15:3), and we should make sure we are going to Churches that uphold its purity.

b)

I updated my wishlist, brother!

c)

I am still reading AW Tozer’s The Pursuit of God. I don’t think everything in it is commendable, as Tozer occassional borrows from ninteenth-century Catholic mystics instead of the Word of God, resulting in some unbiblical ideas being presented. However, he was a expositor of the Word, and often has some very powerful insights.

Something that has struck me recently is his discussion of God’s omnipresence and his immanance, His being right here, right now. I know I don’t live or pray or talk about others as if it were true. I hope I will grow in this area. Here is Tozer’s prayer:

O God and Father, I repent of my sinful preoccupation with visible things. The world has been too much with me. Thou hast been here and I knew it not. I have been blind to Thy presence. Open my eyes that I may behold Thee in and around me. For Christ’s sake, Amen.

May that be our prayer as well.

Wishlist, 3 New Things, 5 Things I don't know

2008-12-04T03:23:00.001-08:00

a.

Well, I was very sad to not be included in my Church's secret santa this year. But I saw their wishlists online, and thought I could at least create my own list. So, here is list #1, this will give you guys lots of time to order and wrap it so I can receive it next year.

b.

Three things I have started getting into recently:
- Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches - good times
- Professional Wrestling - well, I liked wrestling before, but it is more of a rediscovery. Good times.
- Most embarassing... I have started reading the Harry Potter books. That is all I will say about that.

c.

Five things I'm not sure about but would like to know more about:

1. Definite/Limited Atonement - This is the "L" in the infamous Calvinist "TULIP". Its also probably the most misunderstood of the five. I'm not sure where I stand.

2. The role of psychology in Church counselling - Well, I have had my beef with psychology, especially after it nearly bored me to death in my first year of university. Can we be reconciled and maybe even have a profitable relationship? I don't think I would be the kind to say that we can't learn anything from psychology, or that its all a fraud, but hasn't the Church had all it needs to battle against sin and hurt before psychology? Can psychology add something that the Bible and the Holy Spirit can't supply? I'm still not sure.

3. The role of the believer in the battle against poverty

4. The process of becoming born again - is it in stages? Can someone almost have saving faith? How can someone be almost regenerate? Can someone be further down the "process" of being a "seeker"?

5. Do I really know what it means to be filled with the Spirit?

If I knew what to think about these five issues, I'd be helped a lot. However, so much research and meditation and Holy Living from past and present saints is available to us. I have strong confidence that though I don't know right now, I can find answers.

A Thought from Romans, Thoughts from AW Tozer, and Old School...

2008-11-25T04:09:00.000-08:00

16For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."

When was the last time you told people about God's righteousness when you shared the Gospel? Last week, I used the concept of righteousness when sharing with a friend. I realized how rarely the concept (not just the word) is communicated in my attempts to proclaim the Good News.

Yet Paul says the Gospel has power because it reveals the righteousness of God (v. 16-17). It reveals God's righteousness in His judgment of Sin (Rom 2:5, 3:21-23). It reveals God's righteousness in His justification of Sinners through Christ's substitution (Rom 3:25-26). It reveals His righteousness through Christ's obedience (Rom 5:19). It reveals His righteousness in His Law (Rom 5:18, 7:12).

So, a suggestion - next time you share the Gospel, explain to people what a brilliant picture of God's righteousness is. It is not just His Love, but also His Righteousness, His moral greatness and beauty, that acts to draw the sinner to faith in Jesus Christ.

Reading Tozer's Pursuit of God:

"The doctrine of justification by faith.... has in our time fallen into evil comapny and been interpreted by many in such a manner as actually to bar men from the knowledge of God. The whole transaction of religious conversion has been made mechanical and spiritless... The man is "saved", but he is not hungry nor thirsty after God. In fact, he is specifically taught to be satisfied and is encouraged to be content with little..." (p 14)

Tozer reminds us that the true Christian is the true seeker. A real believer has a new life in which the Pursuit of God is its highest aim and greatest joy.

"Moses used the fact that he knew God as an argument for knowing him better. "Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight" (Exodus 33:13)" (p 15)

I hope it will be a reminder to me to never stop seeking and always desire more.

Wow...

Youtube fun

2008-11-10T05:48:00.000-08:00

a)

This is amazing. Which is better, the LL or the Jay-Z? I don't know...

b)

Not really into rap? This guy has the greatest Bill Cosby impression I've ever seen/heard. And he's white!

c)
Not into impressions at all? Here's something fun from President Obama.

Something serious, John Macarthur, and something to test at a campus weekly meeting

2008-11-05T06:58:00.000-08:00

a)
One last serious thought about the election.

b)
John Macarthur has put up all of his sermon audio online for free! I guess he’s decided he has enough money*.

Go to www.gty.org

Some of you might think he’s mean. He might sound like that when he’s talking to Doug Pagitt**. But when he preaches on Sunday, he’s in the Bible and talking to the flock. He loves his sheep, and he loves the Bible. That means he's only mean when the Bible is mean***. Good times.

c)

Started reading “Struck by Lightning” by Jeffrey S. Rosenthal, a book about probabilities. Did you know that if you’re with 50 people, you’ve got a 97% chance there’s two people with the same birthday in the room? Crazy****.

*Jokes.
**He wasn't mean to Doug Pagitt.
***The Bible is not mean.
***That was maybe the most interesting thing in the book. I’ve stopped reading it. Not because it was confusing, but because it was boring.

Something to pray about

2008-11-04T03:45:00.000-08:00

This is in response to something Piper wrote, but it was, for me, a very helpful summary of the abortion issue in the American Election.

I don't want to get into arguments, but I do hope you will pray with me that whatever happens, that the mass killing of human beings in North America, both in our neighbours to the south and in our country, would not increase as a result of the outcome of this election. Maybe even pray that people would see it as the evil that it is. I think that should be something we can all (well, almost everyone) do.

Alice in Wonderland, Gmail + macs, and some thoughts on clarity

2008-10-23T09:17:00.000-07:00

a)

I am currently reading Alice in Wonderland, available on gutenberg.org, an excellent place to find free e-books (well, pdf files or html pages with books).

Ponder these treasured words of English literature:

"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'
'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.
'I don't much care where--' said Alice.
'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.
'--so long as I get SOMEWHERE,' Alice added as an explanation.
'Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, 'if you only walk long enough.'

b)

Why doesn't gmail have folders? Yahoo and Hotmail and probably everyone else have folders. Do I just not see them? Is there some logical reason for their absence?

My hypothesis - a stubborn desire to be different. The same frustrating drive that produces results like Apple's still-only-one-button mouse (just admit the two buttons is a good idea!!).

c)

You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently - Psalm 119:4

Note that it does not say "You have commanded your precepts to be half-understood, because we are finite beings dealing with language that was embedded in a culture that had different assumptions and values than we currently do", nor does it say "You have commanded your precepts to be applied with limited attention to detail, especially given that the proper application of them has been debated amongst the greatest of scholars for centuries past".

We can walk in the law of the Lord (v. 1), keep His testimonies (v. 2), be steadfast in keeping His statutes (v. 5), and keep our way pure (v. 9). We aren't there now, but we can press onwards towards more certain knowledge of God's Word!

Also, regarding the difference between being unclear and being difficult to understand: The Bible is always clear, but its sometimes difficult to understand. It varies in difficulty, but not in clarity (eg. Peter's comments about Paul's writing in 2 Pet 3:16). Here is Wayne Grudem:

" The main idea here is not that it is easy to understand, but that it is free of unnecessary complications. There is nothing to obscure what is being taught, nothing to cloud the issue or hinder the understanding.

With these definitions in mind, we can properly talk about someone giving a clear presentation of quantum electrodynamics, even though most people would not be able to understand a word of what was being said. Why wouldn’t most people understand a wonderfully clear and precise presentation on quantum electrodynamics? Because they don’t have the necessary prerequisites." (please read the rest if you are interested)

Don't give up, or give in to the temptation to settle for confusion where God offers clarity. That's something that I need to be reminded of every day as I open up the Book.

Eric Liddell and Interesting Things (Lazy, I've-got-a-cold blogpost)

2008-10-05T08:04:00.000-07:00

a)
I just finished reading Eric Liddell: Pure Gold. Great book. Here’s why:

1. The history is really interesting, as Liddell is born in Northern China and dies there. For those who know the area, you really get a picture of life in the country during those very significant years.

2. The athletics side is interesting. Hearing Liddell’s progress from winning runs in boarding school to becoming the most impressive runner in the UK and finally being re-trained to compete in different Olympic running events so that he can observe the Lord’s Day is really inspiring and makes me appreciate God’s gift of sports, a gift I don’t usually concern myself with.

3. His story is the kind that isn’t usually told. After college, he returns to Asia and does children’s ministry. He teaches children science, coaches them in sports, but makes their spiritual life his no. 1 priority. He prays for the Asian children, encourages them, sets a good example, and teaches Bible studies to those who chose to go. How many books about children’s missionaries do you know? This is a nice reminder of the need for men to invest in winning young souls.

4. His story is about God. The great theme is surrender to God, not the greatness of Eric Liddell. It doesn’t overly flatter the man, but instead shows how God can use a man if he puts his all on the altar.

I definitely recommend the book, especially if you want to know the history of the country he ministered in.

I'm sick :(

I wanted to continue the discussion on knowledge and clarity in regards to Biblical truth in the future, but for the meantime, I will simply give you some things I thought were interesting online.

d)
Here’s an interesting thought on discerning God’s Will.

e)
Since this is a blog with the issue of gender in its title, here’s an interesting thought by Pastor Mark Driscoll, who is, as usual, interesting.

Btw, I’m sure many won’t be satisfied with the way he answered this question. I definitely agree with what he says, I’m not sure if it’s a real answer though.

f)
Speaking of Driscoll, have you checked out his talk at the latest Desiring God conference? It is, not surprising, interesting, though I have yet to have finished it. I think he makes a good case, until he talks about mocking. I’m not sure it’s such a strong argument.

However, he hits on an incredibly important point – the Bible is really hard on false teachers, and yet we in the 21st Century want to have nice “conversations”. Jesus and Paul love the sheep too much to waste the time.

Cyndi Wang and You can be 100% Right about Something

2008-09-24T08:46:00.000-07:00

a)
Cyndi Wang celebrated her 26th birthday this month. 生日快乐! She also put out a new song this month, its nice and upbeat.

She also has this awesome ad on tv. Before you watch it, I must ask that those who regularly drink from their endless supply of haterade spare me their usual anthem of hateration. Maybe you shouldn’t watch it, you probably won’t enjoy it.

Sad thing about it: I don’t understand what she’s saying :(.

b)
I have a friend, let’s call him Rabbit, who I think would call himself an agnostic, meaning that he just does not know which religious system makes true statements about spiritual realities (a=without, gnosis=knowledge). I like Rabbit a lot, and make sure to hang out with him whenever he’s/I’m in town. I pray for him regularly, and it breaks my heart that such a terrible barrier exists between himself and Saving Faith in Christ Jesus.

He simply doesn’t know who to trust. Everyone’s got their own point of view. I tell him that there are intelligent reasons to trust the Canon of Scripture, and I testify to the Spiritual transformation that has happened in my own life as I daily follow Jesus Christ. Great – the devoted Muslim can do the same for the Qur’an and how his life as a Muslim has brought him closer to Allah. The Buddhist and the Scientologist all do the same thing.

The problem is not that truth does not exist, but how can we ever know what the truth is? I once asked him if he ever wanted to come out to a Bible study with me. He said “no”, because we would only analyze its contents from an Evangelical-bias. He would not receive untainted “knowledge”. Is this true?

This is such a sad understanding of knowledge. It claims that we cannot have access to the truth, because we never have all the information. Is that how God views His Word?

When Joshua is taking over Moses’s role as leader of Israel, God tells him “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Unless I’m missing something, and the meaning of this text is too difficult for me to understand or has been lost in the sands of time, God seems to think Joshua has the capability to understand His Revealed Will (I’m being facetious, the text is quite clear).

I really believe that Rabbit could come to a Bible study, hear the Gospel compellingly and accurately presented, and that the Holy Spirit could use the content of the Gospel to open the eyes of his heart, such that he’d know the meaning of the Gospel. He would know that its Truth is logically compelling and philosophically consistent. And he would repent and be saved. What do you think?

c)
Well, unfortunately, many Christians have been influenced by the same understanding of knowledge that Rabbit has adopted. They often think that knowing God’s Word accurately is too difficult or is beyond our capabilities as human beings. Worst than that, often some don’t think it is of great importance (despite texts like Joshua 1 which show God’s Will that we know his Word with great attention to detail).

Does God want us to “baptize” our children as a continuation of circumcision as a sign of the new covenant? Well, you say “no” and point to the Bible, and she says “yes” and points to the Bible, I guess we’ll just have to say we can’t see the whole picture clearly. It’s been debated by Godly men and women for so many years, maybe we should be “humble” and admit we’re just human and might never know these things until glory. Maybe it’s not the most important issue anyways. Not as important as Christ’s deity, Substitutionary atonement, etc.

Well, first, it might be important to say that such people should consider that thousands of people have died so that today, we can believe and practice “secondary” matters like credobaptism. But right now, I want to encourage everyone that they can know what the Bible says. And they can know that their opinion can be 100% correct. Even if it is about a “secondary” issue that continues to be debated to this day.

I am tempted to find some verse and throw it in as a proof text. But it is clear throughout the Scriptures. This book was written so that we can understand it clearly. If we didn’t, and simply believed in some vague God with vague commands and a vague will and a vague character, we would not be able to enjoy Him as much, nor would we be able to show as much obedience to Him, and subsequently we would not be able to bring Him as much Glory.

Please seek clarity in your doctrine. It’ll sanctify you. It’ll refresh your soul. It’ll make you understand the Cross more. It’ll bring Him Glory. You’ve got the very Words of God, each one perfect and true. You’ve got the Holy Spirit (if you’re saved), who will give you wisdom and take away the human traditions that might hinder your understanding. And you’ve got the fruit of thousands of years of scholarship, humble people who have carefully (and prayerfully) taking into account geography, language, culture, and context to fulfil their God-given roles as teachers of His Word.

Learn Philosophy Online, Challenge to Gratitude, The middle-class-white-teenager -who-thinks-he’s-black in Piper

2008-08-27T13:05:00.000-07:00

a)

This is an awesome website for some good resources. Something I really appreciate is the 24-minute sessions on the history of western philosophy taken from a very informed, evangelical viewpoint (taught by RC Sproul). They haven’t offered the whole dvd collection for free, but there’s quite a few videos there. In the media player, click on video and go down to Augustine for the first one. Sproul speaks intelligently, accurately, and in an accessible manner.

b)

I’ve started reading Future Grace by Dr. John Piper online (unfortunately, only the first three chapters are available for free :(). Piper makes a huge claim. Anyone able to prove him wrong? Please let me know if you or someone else can. Here’s the claim:

‘How many places in the Bible can you think of where gratitude or thankfulness is explicitly made the motive of moral behavior?... If you ask Christians today, “What is the biblical motive for Christian obedience?” great numbers would say, “Gratitude to God.” And yet this way of thinking seems almost totally lacking in the Bible. The Bible rarely, if ever, explicitly makes gratitude the impulse of moral behavior, or ingratitude the explanation of immorality.’ – p33-34

‘You will read the Old Testament in vain for texts that make gratitude the explicit motive or power for obedience.’ – p34-35

Piper says, to paraphrase and simplify it a lot, that we should obey God because we trust His promises for our future. NOT because we are grateful for what He did in the past. Piper seems to say that gratitude is never given as a motivation for obedience. Is this true?

If you’re interested in what Piper says, you can read along with me.

c)

While I’m on the topic of Piper, here’s something I saw quite a while ago, and forgot to post.

Stretchy Pants, Gagging of God, Why the University Library is Great

2008-08-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

Well, two years ago I learned that a movie was coming out that I thought I needed to see. Why? Because, it appeared to be created specifically for me. Consider the following facts:

- Nacho Libre stars Jack Black
- Nacho Libre is directed by the dude from Napolean Dynamite
- Nacho Libre is about Lucha Libre, ie. Mexican wrestling.

Yet is has taken two years for me to watch it. It was worth it however, as Nacho Libre is the greatest Jack Black movie about wrestling ever.

Yes, and it is the only one. But I can only hope it will be the first of many. One of the greatest things about the movie is its wardrobe. Consider the following three articles of clothing and how they lend themselves to brilliant Jack Black bits:

Friar Robe – Ignatio (Black) is a Friar and wears a robe. The looseness of this robe allows Nacho to catch on fire when he is lighting candles during a prayer session. This also reveals his stretchy pants (revealing his secret identity, the Luchador Nacho).

Stretchy pants – Ignatio, a very poor Friar, must wear stretchy pants to enter the wrestling match. Where will he acquire the stretchy pants? He steals them from a fat Mexican orphan. Comedic genius…

Expensive pants – Ignatio, having begun a successful wrestling career, now sports some expensive and tight pants. He wears them to hit on Sister Encarnación, who asks him “Ignatio, where is your robe?” This sets up Jack Black to stretch and flex his awesome buttocks. Probably the best butt scene in movie history.

Thus ends my discussion about Nacho Libre.

Been reading The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism by DA Carson. Real good, and very intellectually stimulating. Here's an excerpt:

“Miss Christian goes off to the local state university, full of zeal and the knowledge of a few fundamental truths. (If she has that she is ahead of many of our church raised young people.) There she will not find lecturers who will devote much time to overturning her truths. Rather, she will find many lecturers convincing her that the meaning in her religion, as in all religion, is merely communal bias, and therefore relative, subjective. No religion can make valid claims of a transcendent nature. Truth, whatever it is, does not reside in an object or idea or statement or affirmation about reality, historical or otherwise, that can be known by finite human beings; rather it consists of fallible, faulty opinions held by finite knowers who themselves look at things that certain way only because they belong to a certain section of society.

Miss Christian is told, a trifle condescendingly, that if her religion helps her, she should be grateful, but that no intelligent person this side of Derrida, Foucalt, and Fish, could possibly believer that her beliefs have a transcendent claim on everybody everywhere. Thus without denying her faith, Miss Christian discovers that its vitality has been sapped. It has been relativized, trivialized, and marginalized. Without ever having had a single one of its major tenets overturned by historical or other argument, the whole edifice of Christian truth has been detached from the objective status it once held. Miss Christian drifts off, and it may take years before she thinks seriously about Jesus again—if she ever does.” (slightly reformatted by Adam)

Really interesting, especially as you think about campus ministry.

I still like to go to the University library to chill even though I've graduated. Why?:

i. I get a discount on coffee. $1.30 for a tall, bold, Starbucks coffee. So good...

ii. Free internet access on their computers.

iii. There are nice chairs by the newspaper section.

iv. It is more relaxing and conducive to doing work/meditation than home.

Movies and "Lordship Salvation"

2008-08-03T22:11:00.000-07:00

a)
Some of you are pretty tired of the Sex and the City discussion, so maybe you were a little worried by the title of this blogpost. Don’t worry, that’s not what today’s post is about.

First, although I’m not sure if its wise to post too many personal details on the internet, my sister’s working part-time at a video store. It’s a real small place on Viewmount called Squirrel Video. However, the place comes up as Dead Squirrel Video on call display and google. I assume the owner has an interesting sense of humour. Other evidence of this is that the place has 20 copies of 27 Dresses and a prominent Kevin Smith (Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) section. Smootchie-bootchie.

Anyways, point is, it’s real small and unless it sells crack, it probably needs more customers. So feel free to go rent Men in Black 2, get a milkshake, and buy some popcorn. You are contributing to my sister’s continual employment. It’s at the corner of Chesterton and Viewmount next to the Quickie (just West of Bethel Pentecostal).

While on the topic of movies, you can now see almost all of Siskel and Ebert and Roeper’s film reviews streaming online at their website. I don’t actually watch a lot of movies, but I love hearing people talk about them. So interesting. Did you know that Ebert gave thumbs up to Garfield? And he gave a bigger thumbs up to Garfield 2: Tale of Two Kities. Good times…

BTW, you can rent both movies at Squirrel Video

b)
A big issue I think God’s given me insight into this year has been Sanctification. Before this year, I realized a few things:

- God demands that someone die to self when they become a Christian (Mark 8:34-35 and tonnes of other verses)
- When God comes into someone, they will necessarily change so that their lives will be proof of their salvation. (James 2:18 and tonnes of other verses)
- Saving faith is accompanied by true repentance (Luke 3:3 and tonnes of other verses)

But it has only been this year that I’ve understood how those things work together.

When God brings conviction and changes someone’s heart, they will have supernatural repentance that necessarily results in “Lordship”. Therefore, real repentance leads to real Lordship which leads to real change in action. So, the question of “Lordship Salvation” is really a question about whether people show genuine repentance.

I am now seeing that in evangelism, we need to see that people show genuine repentance. That means asking “Is this person actually sounding like they hate their sin, and want to turn from it to a Loving Saviour?” I’m afraid I’ve done a lot of evangelism without asking myself that question.

To hear people who have spent years talking about this stuff, listen to Paul Washer and, as Peddy affectionately calls him, Mac (after the first question).

my sermon, and a fundamentalist's sermon

2008-07-26T15:12:00.000-07:00

a)

Tomorrow I'm preaching at my Church. Here's an excerpt if you're interested:

Sinner, you are never your own

Genesis 4:5-7
5So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6The LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."

God’s warning is for all of us: sin desires us. Not in the sense of a suitor, wishing to take us to the movies, offer us its class ring, and ask us to go steady with him. Sin desires to gain dominion over us. Sin wants us as his slaves.

A common question in evangelistic presentations is to ask the hearer whether they desire that God rule over them, or that they continue to occupy the throne of their life. Although this language of self-dominion is Biblical, Scripture also sheds light onto the real situation. No one is king of their own castle. The Bible says that all are slaves.

“I don’t want someone else in control of my life” is the number one objection to the Gospel I hear from students overseas. The very popular reference to sin’s consequences in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death” shows the foolishness of this thinking if and only if you explain this semi-verse in its context.

When Paul says “wages” he means wages. He is discussing the difference between two masters: sin and God. There are no other options, you will either be ruled by one or loyal to another. Let us consider the text in question:

22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The sinner desires that no one rules over them but is tragically blind to reality. There are two choices: God or sin. Who do you want to be your master?

God is a demanding master. He asks that you give him everything. You’ve got to come on His terms. But He gives all His unworthy slaves the same free gift – sanctification in this life and eternal life in the next. This means gradual freedom from sin in this life, and total freedom in the next.

Sin is the opposite. He is merciless and cruel but initially easy-going. He let’s you have weekends off, gives you tonnes of seemingly good benefits, and is never demanding. You can slack off and joke around all you want. But the payment is death. No retirement fund or bonuses, just death.

Is this not what God is warning Cain about? Cain chose sin. Sin offered quick release from anger and an immediate sense of relief. It felt good. But sin has one desire, to own and destroy.

There are two lives – slavery to Sin and slavery to God. Who is the better master? Who offers the better future?

Sin is not only desirable, but sin has a desire, and that is to enslave you. Hear the warning of God; follow Abel’s example and have faith in the sacrifice of a substitute’s blood given for your sins. Repent and run to the good master who laid down His life for His slaves. Submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

b)
Few people I run into know what a "Fundamentalist" Christian is theologically. It pretty much means this (or just google it):

Paul - "Hey Steve, wanna go to the evening service at Bayside Baptist?"
Steve - "No way, Bayside believes (insert theology Steve doesn't agree with). I can't fellowship with them."

Steve is a fundamentalist. He believes in the doctrine of separation (fundamentalist-style). Now, some of them believe in double separation, which goes like this:

Paul - "What about going to Angel Grove?"
Steve - "No way, they do evangelistic meetings with Bayside."

Of course, it is not surprising if you've associated these things with fundamentalists:
- only hymns
- hate Christian rock
- cessationists
- KJV-only
- suits and ties
- don't drink or chew or go with girls who do

But we should get our terms straight. Click here to see a rather interesting excerpt from a sermon by a fundamentalist, but here's what you should know about this guy:
- Hardcore KJV-Only
- Hardcore Baptist
- Hates Calvinism
- Hates "Lordship Salvation"
- Has very clear and extreme opinions on clothing and gender roles
- There are far more..... normal fundamentalists out there

Enjoy.

Beauty and Catholics

2008-07-10T19:18:00.000-07:00

a)

Earlier, I said I would respond to Jon (about Sex and the City), and now it has been a long time. Here is a quick response:

Jon points out:

"it certainly makes me laugh seeing as how every other week an apparently "innocuous" comedy is being released and reviewed by Christianity Today (which I follow) without any reader uproar".

Good point. It is unfair to make Sex and the City more evil than other movies because it has the word "Sex" in it. However, even the positive review in CT listed enough negative content that I don't think the movie should be viewed by Christians (except maybe by Christian movie reviewers so they can tell us to avoid the movie). Is this just crazy fundamentalism? No. Explanation to come.

Here's what Jon says about film (on behalf of many others):

"we don't try to "justify" these films to our Christian friends by saying we're only observing them at an arm's length to "gain knowledge" on culture, we experience these films intensely and viscerally and in doing so are often presented with some of the most profound and empathetic truths we've ever encountered buried beneath all the dirt and muck"

Here is my problem. This is not about moralism vs. beauty. This is about lesser beauty vs. greatest beauty. Do I need to watch the movie so that I can experience the inner desire for love that thrusts these women into (supposedly) hilarious situations? Do I need to watch the movie to taste the sweetness of their enduring friendship despite the changes that occur in their lives?

Well,
i) I don't need a movie to know about people. John Macarthur (or another faithful pastor) knows much more about people than could be drawn out of this hbo-tv series-turned-movie . Why? Because he lives with them and ministers to them and cares for them. That's how we should ultimately experience people, not through movies.

and ii) Beyond all the obvious reasons for not watching this movie (it promotes disgusting sexual sin and could cause many to lust*), the greatest Truth in the world is God. The greatest beauty in the world is the beauty of God. I am no stranger to movies, tv shows, and music that attempts to find beautiful insights about man in the midst of a sinful world. Is it worth it?

My experience is that the more you spend with your mind enveloped in the things of this world, the less you will be able to experience the greatest Beauty - the Beauty found in the Word of God. The Beauty of the Cross. I have no doubt that a full day with the season one dvd set of Sex and the City will make your soul shrink in its experience of God. There's a word for this - Sin. We weren't made to find joy pondering insights about man, we were made to be satisfied in beholding God.

*Here is a review that goes into non-graphic detail of the negative content of the film. It speaks for itself.

b)

Onto another discussion - over the last year, I've realized that I need to be better about confronting the question of Roman Catholicism. Should I be happy when I meet a devout Catholic? Should I just try to challenge some of their ideas? Should I try to share the Gospel?

There's a really good video on Youtube that I'd recommend. Here's one of the most interesting parts.

One thing that is clear - Evangelicals (those who believe in the Gospel of the Reformation) must firm up their understanding of the issues. Too many say "they believe in Jesus, I believe in Jesus, let's just agree to disagree", but they have no idea what they're disagreeing about. We must be prepared to give an answer, so that we will be able to stand firm and defend the precious Truths that bring Eternal Life.

Wanna borrow a book?

2008-06-18T22:11:00.000-07:00

Jon's comment was very thought-provoking, and I would like to interact with it in another post. However, right now, I want to ask a question:

There are a bunch of books that I have here that I'll just leave here unless someone wants to borrow them. So, if you let me know in the next two days, I can bring it back for you if you want:

Our Sufficiency in Christ - John Macarthur
The Cross-Centered Life - CJ Mahaney
Hand Me Another Brick - Chuck Swindoll (about leadership)
Honest to God - Bill Hybels
Six Hours One Friday - Max Lucado
Why Men Hate Going to Church
The Passion of Jesus Christ - John Piper
Let the Nations be Glad - John Piper
A Defense of the Gospel in the New Testament - FF Bruce

Some of those books are better than others haha. Anyways, reading is important. That is all.

Stuff you should know, random thoughts

2008-06-14T04:55:00.000-07:00

a)
My contract's been renewed for the upcoming school year. Negotiations went well.

b)
I'll be back before Canada Day.

c)
I, an English Literature graduate, have been reading popular literature. I read something of the airport type, spies, guns, and the FBI. The worst thing.... I enjoyed it.

d)
Heard about Sex and the City + Christianity Today? Check it out. After considering the arguments on both sides, let me share my thoughts with everyone (ie. the three people who read this):

i. All the negative letters they published were by men. In my opinion, that's deceptive. There had to have been women who thought the reviews were unwise. Here's one. Point - this is not about men vs. women, as I am guessing CT wants to make it out to be.

ii. More specifically, this is not about men trying to censor a discussion about how women are sexual beings. For sure, that's an awkward discussion, one I'm uncomfortable with. But bringin in a movie with threesome scenes in it is not productive for God's people.

iii. I've been wondering if John Macarthur is right. Lots of people say we need to know the culture so that we can explain it contextually. What Macarthur has been saying is "listen, God's Word knows more about the human heart than your culture can tell you. God's Word is sufficient. (my paraphrase)" Is Sex and the City necessary research for a women's ministry leader? What should I be watching for insight into the sexual nature of the single man? What insight will this movie give that God's Word cannot?

A bunch of stuff from the last two weeks (misfortune, lies, Oprah, Willow Creek, and American Idol)

2008-04-14T04:23:00.000-07:00

Within the same week, I lost my phone and my computer conked out. This is very sad. I realized how much I use my computer. It is semi-refreshing to not have one. It is, however, not so refreshing for my roommates, who have been kind enough to lend me their’s from time to time.

Just a note, if you comment on this page and spread slanderous lies, you will be censored. Do not be misinformed as to the nature of the internet and blogging. Blogs are edited. All information is selective. I have the right to chose what gets on this page. That’s right.

Look at this. The thing I’m struck by is how crazy she is. A couple things I thought about:

What is her authority? She admits – herself. That’s crazy!
She talks about how she doesn’t like God’s jealousy and so she makes up her own god, and then she says how we’ve created God! AHH!
She’s so blasphemous! Please pray for her.

Read this. What’s encouraging about this is how Bill Hybels (who is 56, and has led the Church for over 35 years) is still willing to change and to learn, anything to win souls and to bring Christians to full maturity.

Lots of people have opinions on this online. What they should know is that i) Bill Hybels really believes in Salvation:

"Sometimes people ask me why the elders of our church place so much emphasis on reaching the nonchurched. Why do we pour so much time, energy, and money into programs, ideas, and additional staff directed toward outreach? The answer is that when you truly believe in hell you develop a "whatever it takes" mentality. You realize that the stakes are sky-high. You're not just playing church; eternal life and death hang in the balance" - Honest to God 123

Hybels also really desires his members to become fully-matured Christians (actually, the book i just quoted is about the topic). However, I would say that I'm happy that Hybels has learned that involvement in programs does not produce mature Christians, but that the Power of the Word does.

e) Did you hear about how they sang Shout to the Lord on American Idol? Here's my thoughts:

Their rendition of the song sounds really close to the original, if not better. Is there a problem that the most popular Praise and Worship band in the world sounds like (or worse than) a network karaoke show?

It makes sense to me that the world would want our music - they write music for themselves, we write it to the Glory of God, I shouldn't be surprising that ours would be pretty good (unfortunately, it is usually surprising). However, you'd hope that music written to The Living and Almighty God wouldn't fit right in on the tv show that produced such crap as "A Moment like This".

note:they did actually sing the song again with the right lyrics.

note2: i realize this may be old and very well-known information back home :P

Fred Penner vs. Mr. Dress-up

2008-04-06T07:34:00.000-07:00

(Warning: Ernie Coombs passed away in on September 18, 2001 at the age of 73. If you feel I am being insensitive by joking around about his show, don’t read this. However, I would suggest you are overly sensitive, since 73 is a full life, it was over six years ago, and the reality is that EVERYONE dies. Furthermore, I mean no actual insult to Mr. Coombs or his family)

I feel very blessed that when I was a child, we had such great children’s television. My favourites were The Elephant Show, Fred Penner, Under the Umbrella Tree, Today’s Special, etc. However, there were a couple boring shows: Thomas the Tank Engine, Polka Dot Door, and Mr. Dressup. Some people swear by these shows, they are sadly deluded. They sucked.

I will now compare Fred Penner to Mr. Dressup

Fred Penner is a Canadian children’s entertainer. Having taught himself how to play the guitar as a child, Penner used his giftings to help his sister, who suffered from Down’s Syndrome. After graduating from university, Penner worked with mentally disabled children using music as a therapeutic device. In his beloved television show, Penner sings songs, teaches basic life skills, and helps children to see the beauty in God’s Creation.

Mr. Dressup was an American who came to Canada to make some cash in children’s entertainment. Ernie Coombs (Dressup) did not have the same touching journey towards working with children. In fact, it has been a rumour (or “rumor” as Coombs would say) that Coombs never liked kids, explaining why his show is only him and puppets. Dressup can’t sing, but he tries. The rest of the show is him telling stories, drawing pictures (Dressup is a very impressive artist, if it was a grade 8 art class. I’d be very jealous.), and changing his clothes for the children in front of his “tickle trunk”. Dressup also has a disturbingly large stuffed animal collection.

The Intro’s.

Penner – Watch here. You’ll see that Penner appears with youthful vigour to the setting of very earthy music. Penner exults in the beauty and diversity of God’s Creation (while wearing a pretty sweet sweater, btw) and then goes further into his Canadian forest hideaway.

Dressup – Watch here. Dressup, instead of showcasing the wonders of creation, tries to wow the children with satanic gay magic (the magic rainbows). Once all that crap is over, the real show begins. Instead of being brought into a forest hideaway, we find ourselves in someone’s living room with grandpa ernie, who, not surprisingly, has failed to stay awake until our arrival. He then attempts to make small talk about his dreamlife. Considering his failing memory, you suspect you will be having this conversation again pretty soon.

The Actual Show:

Penner – Watch here. Penner teaches social skills (don’t leave people out), sings and plays guitar competently (unlike other children’s entertainers), teaches math (365-1=364), and western customs (the exchanging of gifts). Although Penner fails to give Saving Truth in his show, he points people towards it through common grace. Penner sings that “Life is for living, and Love is forgiving” (3:64), and shows the value of the heart and of love and that it is more blessed to give than to receive. I think I’ve seen that Penner has been at Christian events, and no wonder, since his content sounds a lot like most Christian bands (Relient K, Lifehouse, POD, Switchfoot, etc.). Anyways, not perfect, but good for state-run children’s television.

Dressup – Watch here. It is hard to determine whether Grandpa Ernie’s lack of coordination is just a sign of his age or whether its cause there’s something else besides clothes in the tickle trunk. Well, either way, after Grandpa Ernie’s done playing with toys, he then invites the children to participate in pagan wisdom rituals. The demon owl informs Grandpa Ernie that when mistakes happen, we should look to our own record of deeds for our self-justification. This is not a new tactic of the enemy. “Don’t worry, you’ve done so many good things in the past”. Do not believe this lie lest you be recalling your good deeds in Hell. It is the finished work of Christ that Justifies!

So, after the alcohol-induced hallucination and the drunken song and dance, Grandpa Ernie has another slip, ruining craft-time as per usual. At the end, you can tell that Casey really wants to leave, hopefully not because Grandpa Ernie is known to be an angry drunk too, but just cause its super awkward.

The Decision: Penner all the way.

Take good care of each other!

Snow, Book Recommendation, “Agape Love”

2008-03-31T07:14:00.000-07:00

I met a guy here named Snow. It reminded me of the rapper. Then I found this. Check it out.

edit: upon further inspection, there is substantial amounts of booty in the Snow video. The value is just in the listening, so if you are sensitive to such shaking of booty, perhaps you would do well to just listen to it and avoid viewing the actual video. In regards to the Jim Carrey video, there is minimal booty, though you might want to be prepared to skip over one or two parts. Nevertheless, Snow song = good.

One of the most interesting books I’ve read this year is Exegetical Fallacies by DA Carson.

A friend of mine quipped that “if you don’t know what either of those words mean, maybe it’s not the book for you”. But I still recommend it, cause although it might take more attention than a Don Miller book, it’ll definitely help you as you try to daily read and interpret the Bible.

Basically, it’s about typical mistakes (fallacies) people make when interpreting the Bible (doing exegesis). The only part that I felt unable to read was the grammar part (my Greek grammar is… non-existent). You’d probably have no problems either.

One example of how what I read is actually practical to your life:

“One of the most enduring of errors… (is that) every word actually has a meaning bound up with its shape or its components. In this view, meaning is determined by etymology… All this is linguistic nonsense” (28)

“although it is doubtless true that the entire range of agapao and the entire range of phileo are not exactly the same, nevertheless they do enjoy substantial overlap; and where they overlap, appeal to a “root meaning” in order to discern a difference is fallacious…there is nothing intrinsic to the verb agapao or the noun agape to prove its real meaning or hidden meaning refers to some special kind of love” (31-32)

And there’s tonnes more.

c) Why this matters?

A common dangerous teaching I hear is that God has a special “Agape love” (for a more complete argument for why that is fallacious, see Exegetical Fallacies by DA Carson). This love is NOT a feeling, it’s an action (Luv is a Verb haha). Just to get a taste of what people usually say, I googled “agape is not an emotion”. Here’s one of the first things I found:

“agape is a choice. It is based not on emotion but on deliberate decision…. Phileo, storge, and eros can all be legitimate expressions of agape, but not one of them by itself is a sufficient base upon which to build a meaningful and lasting long-term relationship”

That was in a marriage book. Now, usually a careful teacher (like this one) will not go this far, but what I’ve witnessed is that people think they can be loving even if their hearts are totally uncaring towards others. They think they can love God by sheer duty. They think they can obey the standard of Jesus Christ through self-wrought willpower.

This thinking also comes from the erroneous understanding of the Christian life that says, “you can’t control your emotions. Therefore, God can’t command them”.

That is emphatically wrong. Here’s what John Piper writes:

“emotions are not under our immediate control like acts of willpower seem to be. But… Emotions are commanded throughout the Bible. The Scriptures command joy, hope, fear, peace, grief, desire, tenderheartedness, brokenness and contrition, gratitude, lowliness, etc.”

By committing this word-study fallacy (the root fallacy) and not using the context to determine the meaning of the word, both immature Christians and the unregenerate alike are able to justify the lack of supernatural Christlikeness in their hearts.

I can very easily go to Church with a lukewarm heart and sing songs through my own willpower. My willpower cannot give me a spirit of Thanksgiving and Gratitude. I can figure out what 10% of my income is and drop it on a plate without the Holy Spirit. I can’t do so joyfully without the Living God transforming me from the inside-out.

This should drive us to our knees each day asking for the Holy Spirit to fill us instead of trying to eek out man-made obedience.

Christian living is not will-power religion. It’s the overflow of a new mind and new heart created by the Holy Spirit. It is supernatural. You can’t produce it on your own. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17) – John Piper

My New Small Group, Prayer, and "Bible Sharing"

2008-03-22T06:04:00.000-07:00

I’ve started going to a small group at my Church (well, its in a guy’s dorm, but its with my Church… you know what I mean). It’s pretty interesting. It’s almost all African guys, but the meeting is super short – one hour. That covers – singing, sharing from the Word, Prayer, and soft drinks.:

I) That’s amazing for any group of Christians
II) I’ve never been to Africa, but from what I’ve heard, that’s amazing for Africans.

Anyways, haven’t really been able to connect with people yet, but I hope to.

One thing that impressed me (besides it’s time length) was their prayer. The prayer is both quick and efficient (take requests, and pray for them one by one korean style), and exciting sounding (loud and invigorating). I really feel like I’m really making progress in prayer. It makes me believe what John Piper says about prayer that it is a “wartime walkie-talkie for the accomplishment of missions commands”

I’m definitely not a great man of prayer. This year I have really felt a desire to see growth in that department, and though I’ve seen progress, I definitely don’t think I’m anywhere near where I wanna be.

Something I think I have grown in understanding is that there are different kinds of prayer, which, when done in faith, are all pleasing to God. I’ve seen the joy in having radical battle prayers as well as the sweet fellowship of just resting in God. The latter is something I’m definitely not good at, since my tendency (especially in the organization I work for) is to be very do, do, do. To realize that God desires us to just rest in Christ’s love and reflect slowly and meditatively on His promises in a Godward way is very difficult to me.

However, something I don’t like about the group is their “Bible sharing”. First, someone is picked to share something from the Word (it’s apparent that the assumption is that everyone is capable of doing this without guidance) and then the floor is opened to anyone desiring to share something. The result is very well-intentioned people reading various verses and then giving either questionable or no interpretation. This means often orthodox beliefs and encouragements are shared, but with no ground in truth.

The result for me isn’t just that it doesn’t get my intellect going. The problem is that my heart isn’t very moved either. I really believe God is experienced as we see Him, His character, His actions, and His promises in His inspired Word. Without the Word permeating our testimonies and encouragements, I fear people will come and not experience the Living God but instead have interesting thoughts and feelings about a vague combination of nice attributes that cannot Save nor give life to the soul.

Speaking of this topic, here is something I think can be really helpful if you understand it.

New Guitar, Insights into life during Malaysia, Questioning Evangelism

2008-03-17T04:35:00.000-07:00

a)
I wrote this in a draft a long time ago (like, November), but didn’t post it:

I got a new guitar (! Built-in pick-up, and its got a tiger-print going on haha. Pretty sweet, and it was less than 70 bucks Canadian. I named it Cyndi (not actually).

b)
Thoughts about Malaysia:

I) Yep, Lydia is right, Malaysian food is great. However…. I still think Chinese food is the best. Unlike what I said about the other foods, Malaysian food is Chinese-influenced, but manages to use it well. Good times.
II) Giraffes are sweet.
III) Monkeys are sweet.
IV) Rambo is awesome (he wasn’t in Malaysia, but I saw Rambo IV there)
V) Danny Sh***** is scared of snakes. (hahaha…. I just realized I can refer to him as Danny Sh**man, but I wasn’t sure if people would find that funny. Voice your disapproval, or that’s what I’m calling him in subsequent posts)

c)
Also wrote this a long time ago but didn’t post it:

This year my job is to do Evangelism. But what’s a real issue is that my heart is not as sensitive to God’s leading, or as full of compassion for the lost as it should be. So I definitely wanna learn more about evangelism and read encouraging and inspiring books about the topic.

So, I picked up Questioning Evangelism by Randy Newman. The guy’s a cru staff down in the States. It’s not my favourite book of all time, but it’s pretty easy to read and helpful. The big idea is that often what’s more effective in Evangelism is not what you say, but the questions you ask that get them thinking. I definitely wanna apply it to my personal witnessing.

Here’s a taste:

“You Christians drive me crazy.. you Christians just believe everything you read in the Bible with blind faith… I read this book by this guy who’s done a whole bunch of research on this. It wasn’t the Red Sea. It was the Reed Sea. The Reed Sea is only a few inches deep, and they could have waded through it without any miracle-of-God stuff.”

…

“So how would you translate Yam Suph?”

“Huh?”

“How do you translate that Hebrew phrase that most Hebrew scholars translate the ‘Red Sea’? I assume you’ve looked into this”

“Well, I just read the book.”

“Do you remember who wrote the book?”

“No”

“Do you remember what his credentials are?”

“No.”

“Well, something must have convinced you that this guy knew Hebrew better than the Christian and Jewish scholars who translate the phrase ‘Red Sea’. Something must have convinced you that he knew Hebrew well enough to think that Yam Suph referred to the Reed Sea instead of the Red Sea. What was it?”

…

“I don’t know?”

“You mean that you just believed what this guy wrote with blind faith?”

(116-118)

Haha.. So, I’d recommend the book. There’s a really good chapter on marriage (how to answer the question “What’s so great about Marriage?” with more questions) and lots of good food for thought. And although I gave you a pretty sarcastic excerpt, its quite sensitive and compassionate.

Thai Food and Piper on the issue of MEN

2008-03-09T08:45:00.000-07:00

Thai Food, and Piper on Men

There was one brother that I got to spend a lot of time with during my travelling, God bless him, who had a big problem with eating. While we were in Thailand, he refused to eat western food, cause he thinks “I’m in Thailand, so I should devote my time here to getting to know Thai food”.

Although that seems like a good principle, as you examine the situation further, you encounter some problems:

I) Thailand has more western food than my current location, so I should have tried to take advantage of that.

II) In the area we were in, variety in Thai food was limited

III) Thai food is not that great

Although I have yet to experience all the cultures of the world, I think I can say with some certainty that Chinese food is the best Asian food. Often, other Asian foods just taste like someone tried to make Chinese food, but screwed up. There are good other Asian foods (Korean BBQ, Sushi), but Chinese food still rules.

Sometimes, I’ll see stuff or read something and make a note to blog about it. Then months go by, and I have yet to blog about it. Here is an example:

A few months ago, I (as I usually do) went onto Piper’s website and saw a new audio resource:

Men!

Piper!!

Free!!!

You could imagine that I almost cried with excitement. With great delight, I downloaded this gem and with further delight, discovered that it was actually pretty good. Here’s an excerpt:

(speaking of a Church with a Biblical understanding of gender) The theology and the church and the mission are marked by over-arching male leadership and an ethos of tender-hearted strength and contrite courage and risk-taking decisiveness and readiness to sacrifice to protect and provide for the community—the feel of a great, majestic God making the men lovingly strong and the women intelligently secure.

In this ethos…

1. Men are freed to have feminine traits without being effeminate and women are freed to have masculine traits without being tomboys. (The most admirable women have masculine traits and the most admirable men have feminine traits: Lopsided masculinity and femininity are not as admirable.)

Back when I was at school, I remember talking to a good friend of mine and he was saying that someone in his small group got pretty discouraged reading these Christian man books (since a bunch of them came out recently) like Wild at Heart because he felt like his masculinity was threatened. He felt like the books made it seem like if you’re a real, Biblical man, you should be some kind of Rambo/Braveheart/Danny Sh*****-type guy, enjoying NFL, mountain-climbing, pick-up trucks, and beer. Our friend didn’t think he fit that kinda mold, and wondered if that meant he wasn’t a “man”.

Well, what if you’re not that kinda guy? I know it might surprise you, but I’m not that kinda guy either, despite what you may have guessed based on my physique (refer to profile pic). What determines if I’m a man or… less than a man?

I thought what Piper wrote was pretty Biblical and insightful. The Bible doesn’t list have a list that says “Things that you gotta do if you’re a man and you don’t wanna look gay”. It instead says “stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (1 Cor. 16:13). Being a man is about strength in the faith and in the home. It’s about moral and Spiritual courage and conviction that translates into Spiritual and household leadership. But what that looks like is gonna be different depending on personality and culture.

There are some character traits that are more masculine and some that are more feminine, but to be a man does not mean having all of A and lacking all of B. That is not what a man should worry about.

It is not spending a lot of time on your hair, or enjoying figure skating, or listening to Coldplay that makes a man effeminate (though I still strongly suggest you avoid the latter). It is the cowardly abdication of responsibility in the home and in the Church that marks him who fails to undertake the Biblical role of manhood. That is what a man should worry about.

If this is true, guys have a lot of freedom in this area. Mark Driscoll says (paraphrasing) “most guys in our culture end up being gay or end up being bullies, cause they don’t wanna be gay”. We can be free from both, because we know manhood is different than womanhood, and we know that it’s about strong, loving, leadership in the family and in the Church, not about conforming to a list of character traits.

She-males, Bored at Church?, Controversial Words about Women

2008-03-02T06:23:00.000-08:00

Went to Bangkok, and saw lots of she-males. I was very unhappy about this.

But of course, being the idiot that I am, my only reaction was “ughh-ahhh-uhhhh….. wwwwhyyyyyyy????”. I was more upset that I had to witness such grossness, that I hardly thought of the painfulness of their lives (though, it was real gross. Ughhhh-ahhh-uhhhhhhh!!!!!).

But I didn’t really care. Did they have parents who loved them and sought their best interest? Did they have role-models that gave good examples of what it means to be men and women (though it’s sad that most of North America lacks this)? Did they realize they don’t need to do this to have a sense of identity and meaning? Did they ever hear the Gospel? Is there anyone to come and bring them hope? Or do most people just walk by them (like me) and think “that’s real gross, get me outta here”?

If only I had a softer heart.

“A faithful congregation will draw faithful preaching out of their pastor. Conversely, it is very hard to persevere as a faithful teacher of the Word of God to a congregation that does not want to have it taught to them. To some extent, congregations get the preachers they deserve, because preaching is a two-way process. The attitudes of the preacher and the congregation must unite in a humble hunger for God’s Word.” – Mark Ashton

Amen.

This is at least very thought-provoking:

http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=917

Wanna taste? Read this:

“It is not fashionable these days to suggest that women don't belong in or near combat -- or that children need their mothers… Why the West has seen it necessary to diminish motherhood so that women can pretend to be men remains a mystery to sane adults. It should be unnecessary to say that the military is not a proper vehicle for social experimentation but is a machine dedicated to fighting and, if necessary, killing.” – Kathleen Parker, Washington Post

I’m not commenting right now, but I would like people’s opinions. Is this controversial? Or is this what most of my friends think? I do not know.

(I apologize that I comment on such old news. I actually planned on posting this months ago, haha)

Calling and Fruitfulness, CS Lewis, and Power Rangers

2008-01-10T08:22:00.000-08:00

Piper and John Macarthur (a guy I’m growing increasingly fond of) give some really interesting insight in this video

Just finished reading The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (again?). I know – I’m a Christian, and should have already gone through a Narnia stage. I guess I’m getting here a little late. Some thoughts:

i. the illustrations are awesome
ii. its too bad mr. beaver doesn’t smoke a pipe or drink beer in the movie
iii. the BBC series (which was my major access to the series as a child and which I recently looked up on youtube) is still awesome. Midgets in animal costumes and late 80’s computer effects. So good.

What captured me (besides the Christian themes) about Narnia was its combination of childlikeness and vivid imagination. Narnia operates with a level of innocence: clear distinctions between good and evil, love and hate. There is also a beautiful simplicity of life. But Narnia is also a living place for Lewis, with real characters that have their own lifestyle and personalities. Their dialogues do more than just drive the plot along, but invite us further into the fantasy of Narnia. Here’s a passage I enjoyed:

(The kids and Mr. Beaver are approaching his house on the dam)

They also noticed that he [Mr. Beaver] now had some sort of modest expression on his face – the sort of look people have when you’re visiting a garden they have made or reading a story they’ve written. So it was only common politeness when Susan said “What a lovely dam!” And Mr. Beaver didn’t say “Hush” this time but “Merely a trifle! Merely a trifle. And it isn’t really finished.”

Marmelade loafs, Giants who come from good families. I’m becoming a big fan.

One thing I recently noticed was the parallels between The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and the first couple of seasons of Power Rangers. Let’s compare:

Major Theme:
Narnia – four children are drawn away from wartime England into a land of adventure and fantasy, where they are good and they fight evil.
Power Rangers – five teenagers are drawn away from middle-class teenage life into a whole new world of adventure and fantasy, where they are good and they fight evil

The Guide:
Narnia – Aslan is their saviour, but is more concerned about establishing them as protectors of Narnia
Power Rangers – Zordon equips the Rangers for battle and gives them guidance

Peripheral Characters:
Narnia – Mr. Beaver provides some levity
Power Rangers – Alpha (the annoying robot of ambiguous gender) provides some levity (and annoyance)

Their weapons:
Narnia – Father Christmas hooks them up with weapons that match their personalities and are all different from each other’s
Power Rangers – They’ve all got weapons that are different and also match their personality. Same deal with the Zords (Narnia would benefit from Zords)

Their Enemy:
Narnia – The Witch
Power Rangers – Rita. The Witch!

The Traitor:
Narnia – Edmund is entranced by the Witch and betrays them but is redeemed and becomes a King of Narnia
Power Rangers – Tommy is entranced by Rita and becomes the evil Green Ranger, but is redeemed. He later becomes the White Ranger.

Conclusion: The evidence is overwhelming that Power Rangers was a modern adaptation of Lewis’s The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.

a few words, Church, indian metal, and Book Recommendations of 2007

2007-12-30T20:42:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Some of you know I care a lot about the Church. I think the only kind of Christians who aren’t serving, attending, and sharing their lives with others in a Church are disobedient.

That’s been a bit of a problem this year for me. We definitely go to Church, but the last week was difficult. Its kinda lame. Because it was “advent”, we didn’t have sermons, we had presentations on the Christmas traditions of different countries.

As inspiring as it is to know that in India, New Zealand, and Korea they all eat lots of food (shocking…), I’d prefer to hear the Word of God heralded. Anyways, that combined with the fact that sometimes singing Christmas carols sometimes seems more like a nice Christmas tradition than a time of Praise has made my enthusiasm for my Church here much lower.

Whattaya do? As I thought about it, I remembered reading Stop Dating Your Church and hearing other people talk about commitment to a Church. I remembered that a Church is a family and a community.

In New Testament times, if you were in Philippi and didn’t like the food they were serving at the Lord’s Table or weren’t too hot on the Spiritual Song selection going on, you couldn’t just jump ship and go to Philippi Presbyterian. There was only one deal in town. Commitment to a Church means sticking together, not about going to be entertained and served, no matter what kind of Spiritual language we try to use to make it sound less selfish (get fed, meet my Worship needs).

Today was Sunday, and we often do this really long prayer thing... in my pride, I thought of how easily I would be able to reform this practice to make it more orderly and edifying, and less awkward and long were I in charge. I knew I needed to pray for humility and a God-honouring attitude on Sunday mornings.

HOWEVER, last week at Church there was a Christian-Tamil-Metal band that played a few songs at Church. SOOOOO good.

Another year has come and gone, and I have read a bunch of books. I’m gonna recommend some – these are not ones that were just great for me, but ones that I think are accessible to most Christians.

First:

John Piper

I planned on reading two Piper books this year. I read four. Piper sometimes jokes (or the Piper-equivalent of joking) that all his books are about the same thing. That’s not true – I’ve heard and read a tonne by him and been taught by people who have heard and read a tonne by him but I’m still impressed by almost every book I read at how much insight he has. What I guess I’ll note this time - “What’s The Difference” which is about gender roles. An extremely careful work, this helped me better understand the difference between the roles of men and women.

- Knowing God by JI Packer

If 400 pages of meditation on the character of God does not sound like fun to you, its not that you are a bad Christian, its that you are missing out on some of the most transcendent experiences of beauty this side of eternity. Read this book, pray that God will open the eyes of your heart, and you may just encounter the Living God

- Christ my Mediator by CJ Mahaney

Maybe a little easier to swallow, this is a real short, readable reflection on the Cross and its implications for our lives. The Christian life never moves away from a need for a deeper understanding of the Cross, and CJ Mahaney is a great guy to learn that from.

- Sex isn't the Problem Lust Is by Josh Harris

Its been said of another book on this topic, “it’s like dragging your mind through the mud”. This book isn’t –its pg, easy to read, honest, and incredibly God-centered. Harris is underrated and unfortunately stuck as the “Kissed Dating Goodbye” guy. This isn’t just an attempt to cash in on his previous success, this is a good book.

- Here I Stand: The Story of Martin Luther

I’ve written about this in an earlier post. Not as difficult as you’d expect, and very fair approach to examining the man’s life. And Luther’s an incredibly interesting guy.

Anyways, if you’ve still got boxing day sales to check out, get ‘em

Herpes Zoster, Who Moved My Cheese?, CD-buying Habits, and Justin Taylor

2007-12-09T07:24:00.000-08:00

Well, I’ve got shingles, which is gross skin thing that is a result of the inconvenient revenge of chicken pox. He has been waiting patiently to attack, and has decided to ruin my holiday season by returning with a renewed strength (kinda like SuperShredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II). But, its not as bad as some people get it, so I should be thankful for that.

I student I’m working with here lent me a copy of “Who Moved My Cheese”. Have you read this book? Apparently its sold like a billion copies. It was on the bestseller’s list for five years straight. I think I really need to be more aware of… the world.

Anyways, I read it (it’s a real short read). Its about these mice and these mice-sized people who have to get cheese. Anyways, summary is that the people find cheese, but then get so used to the cheese being there all the time, they take it for granted, don’t realize that there is more cheese out there, and lose their ability to find cheese. It’s a metaphor for change in life. The book then tells you to bring the good news of Who Moved My Cheese to your coworkers, family, and friends. It can completely change their lives, save their marriages, and take your business to the next level.

What was most disturbing was that I enjoyed it. I think there’s something wrong with me now. A lame self-help, corporate-leadership book that is the type of stuff that used to make me gag is now an endearing reminder of common-sense life principles.

I also have a copy of seven habits of highly effective people. So sad…

Been thinking about purchasing the latest FIR album, Love Diva (a Taiwanese band who are dressing up as Star Wars characters during their current Asia tour). I am torn as of lately. I now have my own money – do I spend it on cds? This was my thought process in the store:

- “hmm, this is pretty expensive” (5 bucks)
- “its kinda an ordeal to bring it to the desk and pay for it….”
- “but I shouldn’t be cheap”
- “if I do plan on enjoying this music, I think it would be along with my convictions to purchase the cd”
- “but its not a cd I particularly feel a need for”
- “but then again… I don’t really need any cds”
- “maybe I should determine some kind of budget for cds”
- “I already did. I said I’d buy one a month. This is the one I want this month”
- “is that too many???”
- “should I get any?”

Anyways, if you have any thoughts on how to approach purchasing entertainment items such as cds with an attitude of good stewardship, I welcome your thoughts.

A while back I listened to a talk from an even more while back by Justin Taylor (he’s with Crossway, a Christian publisher, and he used to be John Piper’s editor. He also writes and blogs) about the Emergent Church. Surprisingly, he was a pretty engaging speaker. I always thought he’d be a big nerd and unlistenable. Here are some things he said that I thought were insightful:

“I went to a secular college in Iowa. One of our feminist religion professors had a bumper sticker on her door that said ‘Question Authority’. I always wanted to just write ‘Says who?’ on top of it”

(speaking of how the emerging Church prides itself on how the quest for truth is about questioning and dialogue) “the first thing out of Satan’s mouth is not a lie but a question (Genesis 3:1)”

He also quotes this insightful thought:

“a half-truth masquerading as the whole truth becomes a complete untruth.” – JI Packer

Anyways, I’m not that interested in the whole Emergent Church thing, especially since I’m not in North America, but it’s an interesting talk on many levels.

My Blog, The Expansion of Adam, and Kite Runner

2007-12-01T02:03:00.001-08:00

First, you’ll note that recently I added many links on the side. This is actually because. For security reasons, I cannot have Christian favourites on my web browser. So, this is actually my favourites page.

If your blog is there, you can know you have the honour of having your blog checked weekly by Adam. However, some of you have stopped posting, or have changed your blog address, meaning I have to do approximately 67 seconds of work. I am very upset, and will not do it until a later time.

Second, I am very happy to announce that I have found stuff to do besides read and listen to stuff about theology. Therefore, I hope my blog will have more topics haha.

Therefore, I want to share my thoughts on the following:

I have just finished The Kite Runner, a book that I have often seen on the Top 10 rack at Chapters next to Lonely Bones, Life of Pi, and Harry Potter. A movie’s coming out about it, and I have definitely read it too late to be culturally relevant, but I thought I’d share some thoughts on it.

The author, Khaled Hosseini, writes (or the narrator, Amir, says) “I always thought clichés got a bum rap. Because, often they’re dead-on. But the aptness of the clichéd saying is overshadowed by the nature of the saying as a cliché” (182). This is a good description of Hosseini’s storytelling. He is not afraid to use every convention in the novelist’s toolbox. Most of the characters are one-dimensional. They are usually obviously good or bad. The themes are clearly drawn out, without much need for interpretation. The use of violence, both physical and emotional, is heavy-handed. Almost everything is resolved in the narrative in a neat and tidy way. And almost every character explains her/his motives and thought processes in the dialogue so that the reader doesn’t have to guess (or think about it).

HOWEVER, Umberto Eco (no, I don’t actually know who that is, but I’ve heard this quote before and thought it insightful) said, in a discussion on the movie Casablanca, that “Two cliches make us laugh but a hundred cliches moves us because we sense dimly that the cliches are talking among themselves, celebrating a reunion”. Not that I totally understand what that means, but I get the feeling that this is also true of The Kite Runner. Hosseini somehow manages to use all the aforementioned elements in a very compelling way. His narration is manipulative, but the story is so gripping that you submit to its leading. It reminds me of the movie Crash, which, though terribly didactic, still had a force that struck me in a powerful way.

That being said, I probably won’t read The Kite Runner again, just as I felt that Crash did not deserve multiple viewings. This is especially due to the book’s main theme, Hosseini’s unfortunate celebration of self-wrought redemption (“A way to be good again”). Amir lives in a perpetual state of guilt, and the narrative turns into his quest to atone for his sins. Not surprisingly, Amir is lead to Islam in the process. This naturally appeals to a North American’s sensibilities, since the redemption of the self exalts the individual and its quest for self-realization (a favourite theme of ours).

This all only points to the difference between Christianity and the world (whether it is America or Afghanistan). The God of the Bible does not ask men to atone for their own sins. God is too righteous to allow such a thing to be possible. Instead, He imputes His perfect righteousness and satisfies His own just wrath. We are then enabled to enjoy the fullness of God, not merely the trivial quest for self. Redemption is a gift, not a reward. And it is a much greater gift than the atonement of The Kite Runner.

God and Women – Both Helpers

2007-11-22T07:42:00.000-08:00

Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." – Genesis 2:18

Our soul waits for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield. – Psalm 33:20

A lot of people have pointed out that the word used for helper in Genesis 2:18 (ezer) is often used to refer to God. I’ve been really thinking about this today, and was really enjoying what I think this means for our relationships with the opposite sex, but also what it means in our relationship with God.

I’ve got two things to point out:

1. This means we have different roles

This word pops up twenty-one times in the Old Testament. Sixteen times it refers to God. Most importantly, it NEVER calls US God’s helpers.

Such an idea is disgusting. Acts 17:24-25 says,

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything

God DOES NOT NEED help. He can totally do without us. To imagine a God who needs help is to imagine a non-God. Self-sufficiency is essential to the concept of the Biblical God.

God is a helper, we are not. We are different in roles. We dare not be God’s helper, and we dare not deny the Scriptures by saying that we don’t need God’s help. He MUST be helper, we MUST be helped. John Piper likes to say “the giver gets the Glory”. If we try to assert some sort of egalitarianism in our relationship with God, we deny Him Glory.

Men need help. That’s why God made a woman, and then commissioned her to make up for man’s insufficiency. The Reformation Study Bible notes that “The word ‘helper’ entails his inadequacy, not her inferiority”. Imagine a world with only male human beings. That’d be a disaster (uhh, at least more of a disaster).

The word ezer always refers to relationships where there is a difference in roles. The helper does not do the same thing as the helped. If a man tries to impose some sort of egalitarianism in his relationship to his wife, he denies the woman the glory of enjoying God’s assigned role to her. There is a difference between their roles. And this difference is always that the helper acts for the helped. We don’t even need to look at all the examples, since Paul does this interpretation (through the Holy Spirit) for us:

For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man – 1 Cor. 11:8-9

Therefore, women are for men in a way that is different from the way that a man is for a woman. God serves us in a way that is different from the way we serve Him. They are not the same roles. They are very different.

2. This means that being an ezer does not mean a compromise in worth

God is our helper. He is FOR us. As Christ He came to serve, not to be served (Matthew 20:28). And He did this and does this without ever compromising His infinitely superior worth.

In fact, it is part of His Glory that the Almighty King of the Universe would be for His Creation. I will never be for my clothes, my clothes are for me (not that I made my clothes, but you get the idea). It is unthinkable that I would become for my clothes. Yet the potter, in an act of incomparable humility and grace, became for the clay. The giver gets the Glory!

Women get to display a similar beauty when they, despite being co-bearers of God’s Image, submit themselves to the headship of men. And they are able to do this, like God, without ever compromising their worth. And the Glory goes to God!

Oliver, Marriage, and “Me and Fee pt. 4”

2007-11-11T00:56:00.000-08:00

a)

Oh man, we went to this international school’s version of Oliver the Musical. It was… really interesting. So, I don’t know if you can picture this, but there were a bunch of Korean students in another country with a different language, who are learning English, but are also attempting to do British accents. I understood approximately 57% of the dialogue, and almost none of the lyrics. Luckily, I had watched the Wishbone episode.

Anyways, maybe that’s mean about the Koreans. Hehe.

b)

Here’s an article I read recently arguing for the idea that relationships should only be initiated with the intention of getting married within a year, saying that this is best to guard the hearts of both parties and the boundaries necessary to be above reproach.

Hmm, the article was actually pretty convincing. I think I need to pray and think this over.

c)
Again, this is mostly a good book (How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth), but I wanna give a fair critique of it. If you think I fail to do so, post a comment:

My third issue is that Fee doesn’t interact with the ESV despite it being available at the time of the third edition. Fee goes out of his way to promote the TNIV but avoids comparison to the ESV. All comparisons are with the more grammatically awkward New American Standard Bible (NASB) and the rarely used Revised Standard Version (RSV). I just can’t rule out the possibility that he does it to falsely strengthen his case.

The fourth thing is with his argument dealing with weights and measurements:

Take, for example, the first occurrences of talanton and denarius in the New Testament (Matt. 18:23-34, the parable of the unmerciful servant)… So what do we do with these words? In the parable they are intentionally not precise amounts but are purposefully hyperbolic contrasts (see ch. 8). The TNIV, therefore rightly translates “ten thousand talents” as “ten thousand bags of gold” and “a hundred denarii” as “a hundred silver coins” and then explains the words in a footnote. (44-45)

If this is a case of intentional hyperbole (I agree with his interpretation, not that I know that much), then it should be the job of the reader to think through this, read it in context, and figure it out (I don’t think it’s hard to figure out: ten thousand talents means what you’d make if you worked for ten thousand years). And if that fails, it is the responsibility of preachers and teachers to provide interpretation for the Church. The purpose of a translation is to translate, not to provide interpretation when unnecessary. Also, he fails to mention that the ESV also explains the words in a footnote, thereby helping the reader who of course would have no idea what a denarii or a talent is. In many cases, footnotes solve the “problem areas” that Fee presents.

There are many other things that I could say, but I’m realizing a complete commentary on this chapter would take too long. I think I have addressed the main issues EXCEPT: A much bigger thing is at state: did the Holy Spirit inspire the words, or just the ideas? If you’re interested in how some people answer that question, check out these talks on Inerrancy:

But one last small thing:

I thought it was a little weird that Fee doesn’t let the reader know that he was on the translation committee for the TNIV and yet gives a glowing review of it:

We would venture to suggest that the TNIV is as good a translation as you will get. (52)

Why does he not let people know his involvement? It’s not even mentioned in the About the Author part at the back of the book. At least he should be worried that people will think he’s hiding it from them. I’ve noticed that Justin Taylor, a guy who works for Crossway Bibles, always discloses his involvement whenever he mentions anything about the ESV on his blog (which is actually quite a popular one in… those circles) Anyways, I don’t want to accuse him of intentionally deceiving people, but the number of misleading comments and ungenerous characterizations of the essentially literal philosophy in this otherwise intelligent and helpful book make me really disappointed with Fee.

Oh, and by the way, I was joking about the marriage thing. I actually think this person puts forth a pretty weak argument. Although he points out good principles, he does not give me any reason to believe his “One Year” rule is anything more than one man’s legalistic opinion.

Objectively Wrong?, AW Tozer, and “Me And Fee pt. 3”

2007-11-04T08:33:00.000-08:00

a)

So, in my class there are a total of five regular students. One of them is an Indonesian guy named Jimmy. Jimmy is a large guy – not like John Hagee or Fat Albert fat, but just a little large. Anyways, we were reading sentences in our book and the following was written:

wo tai pang le, zhe jian yifu you dienr shou, bu tai heshi
(trans: I’m too fat, this shirt’s a bit small – its not very comfortable)

Anyways, the mongolian girl read it, and then our teacher said, in good spirit, something to the effect of (in Chinese) “you are not fat, but maybe Jimmy should read this”. At this point, the Israeli girl and I looked at each other in disbelief (and shared laughter haha).

So… is that wrong? We’ve been told to say “it’s not wrong. It’s different”. Does that apply here? I dunno…

b)

Been picking up AW Tozer’s Knowledge of the Holy. Good times. He says this:

The Church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God and has substituted it for it one so low, so ignoble, as to be utterly unworthy of thinking, worshipping men… The low view of God entertained almost universally among Christians is the cause of a hundred lesser evils everywhere among us… Modern Christianity is simply not producing the kind of Christian who can appreciate or experience the life in the Spirit. (vii)

Powerful stuff! Also been listening to a bit of Tozer. He’s a funny guy. Here’s a good talk on the ecumenical movement:

http://sermons.christiansunite.com/A.W._Tozer_2.shtml

One interesting thing he says is the difference between Christendom and the Church. Paul and Jesus say that in the end times there will be many who’s love will be cold and they will gather teachers to tell them what they want to hear (they will be part of Christendom), but the Church are the ones who endure till the end. The Church should be one. But the Church has no obligation to have unity with Christendom.

Tozer also says that Jesus’s prayer that we be one has already been emphatically answered in the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentacost. By the Spirit we are baptized into One Body (Eph. 4:4-6).

That’s pretty thought provoking given that nowadays “unity” is such a high virtue. But, I think if Biblical unity was really valued, there would be more of an effort to seek to understand and discuss doctrinal issues, instead of a desire to minimize them. There would be more of an effort to lift up and proclaim the Gospel, not just have conversations or bbq’s. Friendships are nice, but sweeter when they are based on the enjoyment of the same truths of God and a shared pursuit of His Glory in our lives.

c)

In case you didn’t read my first post, I actually do like this book (How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth). But yeah, if you think I’m unfair, post a comment:

So, the Today’s New International Version (TNIV) made a bunch of changes to the NIV. I’ve heard some of them are good (real important Evangelicals like DA Carson and John Stott really like it). But they also decided to make male-specific words gender-neutral whenever they thought it referred to guys and gals alike. The TNIV (and NIV) also has a philosophy of translation called “dynamic equivalence”, meaning (to maybe oversimplify it) that they do not think preserving the exact wording is as important as preserving the original meaning. I’ll mostly be talking about the latter, cause that’s what the book mostly talks about.

My first issue is that if you are going to fairly argue your point, you should be as generous to your opponent as possible. Fee describes two theories of interpretation: formal equivalence and functional equivalence. He also informs the reader that these both have more common names, which Fee says are “literal” and “dynamic equivalence”. Fee writes, ‘The closer one moves toward the Hebrew or Greek idom, the closer one moves toward a theory of translation often described as “literal”’ (41). But the translators for the English Standard Version (ESV) have always called their theory “essentially literal” (and I’d imagine they weren’t the first to coin this more accurate term). Although this seems like a small point, giving his side a much more intelligent-sounding name and the other side a much less careful name enables Fee to make his later argument appear much more credible.

Of course a completely literal translation of every Greek and Hebrew word would be unhelpful to the average modern reader. That is not the philosophy of the essentially literal translators. They seek to preserve the Holy Spirit inspired wording of the text as best as possible while giving only additional changes when necessary. Calling this theory “literal” is misleading.

On the other hand, functional equivalence is called “dynamic equivalence”. From my experience, your usual conversation with some semi-knowledgeable friends will refer to these theories as “word-for-word” (essentially literal) and “thought-for-thought” (dynamic equivalence). These terms do not capture the complex nature of these two theories. “Dynamic equivalence” does while “literal” does not. I doubt this was an instance of unintentional neglect on the part of the authors, but a choice to serve their own argumentative purposes.

My second thought is that it might have been better in the interest of fairness to provide a summary of the arguments for an essentially literal translation. However, this is nowhere to be found in this chapter. To be fair, I probably wouldn’t have thought this a problem if it were the other way around (though… I think the argument for dynamic equivalence is much more obvious). I think John Piper’s argument for the use of the ESV is pretty convincing.

Anyways, I’ve got more thoughts, but will save them for another time.

A Letter to Jenna, but written here because I thought I should respond to it on my blog, and it would be difficult to read if it was a comment

2007-11-01T10:32:00.000-07:00

Hey Jenna,

I’m actually doing real good, thanks for asking. Hope you’re doing well too.

I did read the article – didn’t really peak my interest until I noticed that they responded to Piper. I love controversy.

So, I then did the following things (in this order)

I read the thing on Piper’s blog saying that CT responded to him
I read the original CT article
I read the Piper response
I read the CT response
I wrote my blog post (not right away heh)
I got your message
I read Justin Taylor’s quick summary - http://theologica.blogspot.com/2007/10/divorce-and-remarriage.html
I read what Dr. Kostenberger wrote:
http://www.biblicalfoundations.org/?p=154
http://www.biblicalfoundations.org/?p=155
And then I did some research on the “betrothal view” (Piper’s view), which I think I disagree with, but lost interest when I realized it wasn’t a requirement for answering your question.

And here I am. Here are some thoughts:

Here’s what Kostenberger writes:

“Instone-Brewer’s position as argued in his recent CT essay is only a popularization of the view he has argued for years in his scholarly work and that his position has already been addressed in scholarly treatments such as in God, Marriage & Family.”

I realize I had underestimated how well-thought out the CT article’s position was. Instone-Brewer was writing to a broader audience and so simplified his arguments. So, after reading it, I wasn’t impressed, thinking he thought he was more informed than he was. Which is too bad, because when I write about Biblical stuff on my blog (which I guess is pretty often, since I am in serious lack of other interests haha), I try pretty hard to make things as understandable as possible. To judge someone else for doing the same thing is unfair.

Back to Kostenberger:

“Piper contends that Jesus disagreed with Deut 24:1 rather than merely clarifying the meaning of the passage (as Instone-Brewer contends), citing Mark 10:4–9. Instead, Jesus went all the way back to the beginning and reiterated God’s perfect plan for marriage as a lifelong union between one man and one woman. I agree with Piper that this is what Jesus does in Matthew 19, except for the one exception Jesus explicitly states in Matt 19:9 (a crucial point), which Piper leaves aside initially.”

And

“Incidentally, I also agree with your comment [slightly edited] that “in Instone-Brewer’s paper … he argues that Jesus only meant to slap down ‘any cause’ divorce, but then Instone-Brewer argues that divorce for a nebulous concept of neglect is legitimate—which is really close to ‘any cause’ divorce”

I think my main problem, as I wrote earlier, is that when I read the original CT article, I was initially worried that I had read those passages completely wrong since I didn’t know all this background info. But in my mind, I thought “wait, this isn’t right. Jesus isn’t just addressing an erroneous interpretation of Mosaic Law, He’s establishing a HIGHER standard in Matthew 19, cause that’s what the text appears to clearly mean”. So, when I went to Piper and found that he said the exact same thing, I felt more at peace, cause I was like “phew, so I can read the Bible and understand the basic meanings without being familiar with 1st Century Jewish Law”.

But then I read Kostenberger and thought “wait, this guy’s disagreeing with Piper too, what’s the deal?” The issue in my mind is that Kostenberger does not answer Piper’s argument. The text sounds really clearly like Piper is NOT merely affirming Mosaic Law, he is raising the bar. If Kostenberger and Instone-Brewer are right, then what appeared to me after reflection and careful reading and hoping for guidance from the Holy Spirit was wrong.

Does Kostenberger have an answer? Am I just completely misreading the text?

Anyways, its actually really late right now, and I had almost zero intention of reading this much about divorce haha. But I guess it’s something I should know about. Thanks, cause what you pointed me to made me about five times more informed than I previously was.

Your brother in Him,
-adam

Umberella, Reading the Bible, and “Fee and Me pt. 2”

2007-10-29T02:44:00.000-07:00

a)
Was pretty excited when I found out that Mandy Moore (Danny S.’s big crush) had performed her rendition of Rihanna’s Umbrella for Yahoo Music (available online at: music.yahoo.com/promo-42778155-53-20070813). But then I was pretty sad - no one is laughing, its not smile inducing; it is pretty humourless. She takes all the fun out of the song :(.

However, after the three minutes were over, I kinda felt like she had captured the original intent of the song better than Rihanna. It was actually the first time I’d heard the song’s lyrics:

When the sun shines
We’ll shine together
Told you I'll be here forever
Said I'll always be your friend
Took an oath
I'm a stick it out 'till the end
Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we still have each other
You can stand under my Umbrella

Anyways, not that these big feelings are big insights into human nature, but just thought it was interesting that as I watched Mandy Moore sing these lyrics while the Rihanna video played in the background, it was more the irony of Rihanna’s over-sexed top 40’s attitude juxtaposed to its lyrical content that demanded ridicule than the perhaps over-earnestness of Mandy Moore’s remake.

b)
An old belief of the Reformation (when the Protestants split from Rome) is the perspicuity of Scripture. What that means is simple: the Bible is not like latin or c++, it was written to ordinary people. It takes work to understand, including reading a passage in context, knowing the historical period in which it was written, and getting guidance from teachers you can trust who know the original languages. But when it says something really plain (like John 3:16) you don’t need four years of Theological education to understand it at its basic level.

But there are a bunch of people who want you to believe you can’t trust the clear meaning of the Bible. They want you to know that the Bible is a big code that people have misunderstood for years, but now we know that what appeared to be its clear meaning was incorrect. But what you need to know is that those people are not the Conservative Evangelicals. Those people are the liberals – those who read the Bible and then back up feminism, weird “charismatic” practices, the idea that the Bible doesn’t have anything to do with getting saved, the idea that Jesus came primarily so that we would bring cultural and economic healing to our world, and, as I read the other day, the idea that Jesus didn’t mean what he said about divorce.

You can check it out on Piper’s blog: http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/880_instonebrewer_responds_to_piper/. I won’t repeat everything, and I want to be real clear about what I believe to be true:

The Bible (specifically Jesus) puts up a very high standard for keeping the covenant of marriage. And I think it’s true that it affects women way more than men. Being with a husband who neglects his duties as a father or a provider, or with an emotionally or physically abusive husband is far worse than what I’d imagine a man would have to endure to stay in a bad marriage. However, Jesus’s teaching is clear (Matthew 19) and we have to trust God’s Word - that it is for our best, even in the worst of evils.

Anyways, Piper explains what’s wrong with the argument in Christianity Today on his site, I don’t need to get into that, but it does lead me into:

c)
I actually didn’t want to talk about this too much, but since its relevant to what I just wrote, and cause Shelly commented on it, I wanna say something about Fee’s treatment on gender roles (in the Bible book).

(Again: I’m enjoying this book, just think some things are bad)

He gives typical evangelical feminist arguments. However, he fits them all into one paragraph and doesn’t explain them at all. Most of the arguments he lists are based on really specific (and in my opinion, wrong) interpretations of short “proof texts” (more like verses) (you can see this on page 82). That he would state so many claims, ones that he knows major theologians disagree on, as facts is just bad writing. He does not even reference any books that give an explanation for his claims.

He gives a very typical argument for why Paul’s writings on women don’t apply to today:

“to determine the role of women in the twenty-first-century church, one should take into account that there were few educational opportunities for women in the first century, whereas such education is the expected norm in our society. This may affect our understanding of such texts as 1 Timothy 2:9-15…” – 84

“that 1 Timothy 2:11-12might be culturally relative can be supported first of all by exegesis of all three of the Pastoral Epistles. Certain women were troublesome in the church at Ephesus...” - 85

Sounds good – he takes the text in its original historical context and in its context in the Bible. But that’s not what Paul says! Whatever 1 Timothy 2 precisely means, its grounded not on events at the Church of Ephesus but on the Old Testament (2:13-14). That text is maybe difficult to understand, and I don’t claim to know it that well. But I am sure that it doesn’t mean what Fee makes it mean. Fee essentially makes it mean nothing.

When the Bible says something, you can’t make it say the opposite.

Cyndi CD! and "Me and Fee pt. 1"

2007-10-20T09:38:00.000-07:00

a)

Just bought Cyndi Wang’s 2007 album, Magic Cyndi, at the local grocery store. SOO good. Will be in my cd player for quite a while. And it was one of the cheapest cd’s in the store. What are the odds??

b)

Been reading Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart’s “How to Read the Bible for All its Worth”. Lots of people say its good, I can see why – its challenging but written for the average reader, and its really practical. I’m about half-way through it, and am benefiting from it for sure.

I don’t know much about Douglas Stuart, but I do know a bit about Gordon Fee. Lemme give you my personal story of Fee:

Last year, summer of ’06, I got the opportunity to get some training in Vancouver before heading off to Asia. While there, we headed to a Church that an important professor, Gordon Fee, attended. I had no idea who this guy was, but was told he wrote a really good book on how to read the Bible. The only thing was… I didn’t really like the Church.

I’m a complementarian, which means I think guys and gals are totally equal in value, but they have different roles. One of the roles that God’s entrusted to men and not women is the eldership (Pastors) of the Church. So, when the female “pastor” came up to preach, I prayed to God that I wouldn’t be judgmental, and come with a humble heart to hear God’s Word. I can’t remember her name, but she did show that she could do just as good a job as the average male preacher. Unfortunately, this means that she used minimal Bible (the only thing I remember from the talk was an illustration about a chicken, the talk was about money. There were some verses, but drawing the meaning out of the text was definitely not her main priority). This is not to say that other women couldn’t do better, but that’s just how it was. (note: there were other good things about the Church)

So, I didn’t know what to think of this Fee guy. If he’s a good theologian, why’s he hitting up a Church with such weak preaching? Why does he go to a Church that clearly denies Biblical gender roles? Since then, I’ve heard Fee’s name in other places which have helped answer these questions:

Fee was pretty involved in the whole gender roles debate (especially in the late 80’s era), writing a lot of stuff about why gender doesn’t play a role in deciding what positions people have in the Church. Fee also was on the translation committee on the NIV and TNIV. Now he’s teaching at Regent College (in Vancouver).

But I wanted to read a book on how to read the Bible and Fee’s was recommended by people I respect and trust. So, I picked it up, kinda unsure what to expect, especially at the chapter on translations. I was pretty disappointed to find that it was just as I expected – Fee uses the book to promote his interpretation of gender roles, and he uses the translation chapter to promote the TNIV. But I did find it interesting cause I don’t often read an entire book with ideas that I disagree with. I’d like to use a couple posts to talk about that chapter, hopefully in a way that puts these things in pretty simple terms.

Hey, just wanted to say that if you think i’m wrong on something, lemme know, even on the comments, I’d like to know.

Some thoughts on "Knowing God's Will"

2007-10-14T04:48:00.000-07:00

On my twentieth birthday, I asked myself: “If this was the last year of my life (I just turned 20), would I change anything?”

I said “no”. I had a really cool opportunity to do God’s work on Carleton as a student. If I died that year, I would have died knowing I lived 2006 for God’s Glory.

But now I’m older and need to answer another question – am I willing to close doors for God?

The other day I heard Pastor Mark Dever say that
“I think the young folks in our culture who are doing okay by the world’s standards are enslaved almost always to worshipping at the altar of the god of options” (it was an interview, if it was written I think it would sound smarter haha)

What he means is they can’t commit. They’re scared to death of limiting their options!

My Christian friends talk a lot about how to discern God’s will. Unfortunately, I think that usually means that they’re convinced God’s got a plan and we can find it…. If we figure out the code.

You hear different ideas: Do you flip your book to somewhere in the Bible (unless you are willing to intentionally flip to the front or the back, you’ll probably hit psalms*) Do you look for signs? Do you write down long “benefits and barriers” lists? Do you distill your life goals into a purpose statement – one or two sentences by which we can successfully filter through life’s choices? I think a lot of Christians (the ones I hang out with at least) get pretty obsessed with thinking about it.

I’ve realized that a big root of this problem is what Dever calls the “god of options”. Most people in the world don’t have the privileges we have in North America: we have the money to fly to the other side of the world and return in little over a day, we have access to education that usually enables us to be in high demand in most countries (even for arts degree holders like me), we don’t have to worry about money, we don’t have to worry about family as much, and our society in general puts a high value on opportunity and actively provides us with them.

But what was intended to be a blessing has been used by Satan as a curse. We’re so afraid to make decisions because we’re worried that doors might be closed. We’re terrified of settling down. We’re not so much afraid of making the wrong decision as making any kind of long-term decision at all.

A lot of questions (what school?, what Church?, what girl/boy?, what job?, what country?) need long-term answers. An education, a ministry, a relationship: these are all processes; they require time.

Jesus says “go, give up all your options, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me”. Yet we leave sorrowful, for we are people with many options.

*A friend of mine made this observation

Happy Thanksgiving!, a book i just finished, fasting, and chinese music

2007-10-08T01:59:00.000-07:00

a)
Happy Thanksgiving!

b)
Just finished “Seeing and Savoring (sic, haha) Jesus Christ” by Dr. John Piper. This is officially my recommendation for anyone who wants to find out what Piper’s theology is about in a readable volume. This is a great devotional book: it’s all about looking at the REAL Jesus from the Bible, pure Jesus, untamed and uncensored. Really short and divided into chapters that can be easily read quickly before diving into the Word, I’d definitely recommend it.

c)
Today is the last Monday where we will be fasting as a group here. I’ve been really slow at including it as a discipline in my own life, and so it’s been a good chance to study it and think about it. I think it’s a discipline I want to more consistently do. I find it particularly hard, but God has given me grace to be able to endure (the mere 24 hour periods) haha.

d)
Think I’ve finally been able to find Chinese music besides Cyndi Wang that I enjoy. I now have a few Jay Chow songs that I enjoy, although my opinion of his work as a whole does not compare to my appreciation of Cyndi’s repertoire. I have also been enjoying this song (which you might think too poppy and happy) with Cheer Chen. Have you ever heard of her? Here’s the music video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neTMR5KtRog

That is all.

Why it’s not surprising that people hate conservatives, a thought about heroes, and john piper

2007-09-30T04:32:00.000-07:00

a) I think the title is pretty well explained if you watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q84eSxIiKqc

What is most offensive is not O’Reilly’s sheer ignorance, his bigotry, or even how oblivious he is of his own racism (the fact that he sees it as EXCEPTIONAL that black people can think and conform to white American customs). What is most offensive is that people actually listen to him. His last four books have been New York Times bestsellers, and his show has been #1 in the ratings for more than 280 weeks.

b)

Just finished “Here I Stand”, one of the more authoritative and popular biographies of Martin Luther. Just a couple of thoughts:

A lot of this book is easy to read. Luther is quite the character – passionate, clever, and brash. You’ll laugh… you’ll wanna read the Bible more… you’ll know more Church history… why not read it?

Luther is incredibly.. human. The book doesn’t just say how great he is, which is really appreciated by moi. Luther is imperfect. In fact, you see him change and grow. The book isn’t afraid to tell you when he’s wrong about stuff, and when his positions change over time. Some positions never changed and stayed pretty bad, though now I am sure he’s as orthodox as possible in heaven haha.

One thing I thought about was whether we should have “heroes” or not. Well, a good reason is cause the Bible tells us to (Hebrews 13:7), but another reason I’ve been thinking about is what I will now try to explain:

If you were there when Jesus fed all those people with the fishes and the bread, you wouldn’t have been thinking “wow… that must have been some freaking amazing bread!”. You probably would have thought “that guy who got a hold of that bread, I want to know Him!”.

In the same way, as we check out the lives and teaching of people who have done big things in Christ’s name, what we look for isn’t what kind of bread they were, but we wanna know how Jesus got His hands on them. With Luther, God thought it was a good idea to get a Bible in his hands and open the eyes of his heart as he studied and studied and studied. Now, that small piece of bread (Luther) was a big part of helping us to understand that it is ONLY through trusting in what Jesus did that we can be saved.

c)
On that note, I have been accused of liking American pastor John Piper too much. He’s been really helpful to me, but more than that, I think he’s a pretty interesting guy. If you know some stuff about his life, you’ll find out that he was not the best student, never that great at public speaking, and even during his days teaching Greek and New Testament he was a nobody in the academic and theological world.

However, today pastors all around the world are getting excited about the Bible, about Missions, and about being God-centered through Piper’s teaching. He’s also surprisingly popular with young people, and has got them to be excited about living a radical life for Jesus.

What happened to Piper that gave his preaching that kind of power? Why don’t other teachers inspire the same kinda thing? That’s what I wanna know, and that’s why I follow his teaching so closely. What did GOD do?

I’ve got some ideas.. but that wasn’t why I brought it up, so I just wanna say that its good to have heroes in your Christian life and to not just learn what they taught, but learn how they got there.

music, coffee, and the charismatics

2007-09-23T05:22:00.000-07:00

I have not updated in a long time. I wonder if anyone will read this.

a) Been listening to a lot of Dave’s hardcore music. I think I enjoy it, but more for novelty’s sake. For me, it doesn’t grip me, but maybe I am just not sensitive to its range of emotions and its subtleties. However, I have started enjoying the music of Cara Dillon. I don’t know if many people listen to her, maybe I have missed the chance to announce my loyalty and enjoy being new and hip, but alas I was introduced to her music only a few days ago at an azn coffee shop. She’s a Irish folk/traditional/pop singer, and has a very nice voice. Here is a good video of her - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97hp3adHaEk .

b) Speaking of coffee, been to a bunch of coffee places, but usually they are way overpriced (for CANADA). Got the worst coffee in Asia so far today, it was the equivalent of 43 cents CDN and had a hint of disgusting in it.

c) Just finished Charismatic Chaos, a critique of the charismatic movement by John Macarthur. Really good book, because like all good Christian books, the issues it raises lead straight back to the need for us to submit our beliefs and actions to the Word of God, our need to value Christ above all else, and the need for the Gospel to be preached throughout the world. Of course, many will disagree with his conclusions, but I recommend even the most hardcore charismatic read this book and be willing to submit to the truth of scripture (but of course be discerning as you read).

I will give one thought. A problem in charismatic Churches (and others, but I believe it is a problem more pronounced in the charismatic movement) is that often millions of people think that if they go to this Sunday service, or attend this revival meeting, or give this kind of “faith pledge”, or get touched by this “man of god”, they will skyrocket in sanctification. However, being transformed into the image of Christ is a slow process which requires time, study, submission, hard work, and suffering. There is no quick fix that will take you to the next level of Holiness. At cru, it was sometimes easy to think that spiritual maturity can happen really quickly. We want to win, build, and send in 4 years or less. However, I’ve seen that it is really dangerous to give the impression to young believers that spiritual maturity can happen really quickly. You can be a “spiritual multiplier”, but you still need years before you’ll be mature.

I have been given big responsibilities in the past. I’ve been a leader at Church and school. I’ve Preached the Word, and I’m a missionary right now. But even being here – seeing my impatience, my lack of love, my lack of focus, my prayerlessness, my inability to have God’s heart for the lost, my love affair with comfort and my stomach, all these things have conspired against me to remind me that sanctification takes time, and I’m nowhere near the kind of man that God desires to make me in the decades to come. Being in the min has given me a lot of skills and maybe some competency, but it has not given me the kind of heart that will take years for God to transform. And that is not because He is unable to, but it is the way He has chosen to work.

Whether you are a charismatic or a hardcore cessationist, we should all give up seeking superspiritual highs, and instead seek daily intimate fellowship with and submission to God.

That is all.

Want to borrow a book?

2007-08-06T15:09:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm leaving a bunch of books behind, so I was wondering if anyone wanted to borrow the following books. Let me know, though I must warn you that I might be leaving some of these cause I don't like them:

Christ the Controversialist - John Stott
Tolkien's Ordinary Virtues - Exploring the Spiritual Themes of The Lord of the Rings - Mark Eddy Smith
Mere Christianity - CS Lewis
Worship Team Handbook - by IV Staff
Christ the Mediator - CJ Mahaney
Humility - CJ Mahaney
Fireseeds of Spiritual Awakening - Dan Hayes
The Supremacy of Christ in Preaching - John Piper
The Pleasures of God - John Piper
Visioneering - Andy Stanley
The Case for Christ - Lee Stroebel
The Case for Faith - Lee Stroebel
Heavenly Man - Brother Yun
Conversing with the Emerging Church - DA Carson
Blue Like Jazz - Don Miller
Hudson Taylor's Autobiography
Amazing Faith: The Biography of Bill Bright
Why I am a Christian - John Stott
More than a Carpenter - Josh McDowell
Christian witness among Muslims
Revolution in World Missions - YP Yohannan
In the Company of Jesus - Paul Donahue
Humility - Andrew Murray
Wild at Heart - John Eldridge
Shadow of the Almighty - Jim Elliot
Rumours of another World - Philip Yancey
The Masterplan of Discipleship - Coleman

Summer Struggles, A Special Way to Partner with Adam, and More Girly Music

2007-06-28T22:03:00.000-07:00

a)

IT HAS BEEN SO DONCING HOT THIS WEEK. It was really hot.

I’ve had a rough week kinda – fewest appointments so far, pitiful times in the Word, was way behind in support stuff, sweated like Michael Moore, headaches, felt out of shape, felt guilty for far exceeding my weekly budget, and my back hurts.

BUT today was a good day – caught up with work, took better care of my back, had less headaches, was a little more active, the air conditioning was on (and now its not even hot outside!), AND I had a good time in Lamentations (3, the one with the least lamenting)

Cool thing recently – I got some of my non-Christian friends to play board games with peeps from Church. THEY HAD A LOT OF FUN. My non-Christian friends are SO hard to please (without alcohol or.. worse)… and to imagine it would be games that won them over. So, hopefully I can arrange more games in the future.

b)
Want to partner with me for my trip to Asia but can’t do so financially? You can do so through LENDING ME BOOKS FOR THE YEAR. So, check your library, and if you have the following Christian books, gimme a shout:

Bill Hybels - Too Busy not to Pray
John Macarthur - Charismatic Chaos
John Piper - Let the Nations be Glad
Randy Newman - Questioning Evangelism
Horton Davies - Worship of the American Puritans
Michael Horton - In the Face of God
Leonard Payton - Reforming Our Worship Music
Gordon Fee - How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth
Adoniram Judson (biography)

You could potentially help change the way I do ministry or live or think or love God by lending me these books!

Sorry, but if you have other books you want to lend me, the reality is that I probably will not read them, and you probably don’t want to see me reject your favourite books. So, I’m really glad Come Thirsty by Max Lucado helped you out a lot…. But you’re only going to be offended if you try to lend it to me :P.

c)

Still all about the Lillix – but ACTUALLY check out their latest CD – Inside the Hollow. They are legitimately good.

Summer Ministry, Fathers, and Girly Music

2007-06-14T15:08:00.000-07:00

a)
Please pray for me – I’m finally hitting the "presentation fatigue" phase in my Support Raising – in other words, I’m getting less and less interested in having to repeat the same 30 minutes presentation 3 times a day. On top of that, Church ministry isn’t always interesting – I think I’m more just letting our young adults group coast right now. Numbers have been pretty consistent and no new people, specifically no non-Christians. Even right now, I’m battling my own laziness: I don’t want to prepare the study for tomorrow and I’m posting on my blog instead.

b)
Father’s Day is coming up. Some short thoughts on this. God’s ordained role for fathers is that of being an authority figure and an enforcer of justice (not a complete definition). Dads are to make good decisions for their kids and spank them hardcore if they misbehave. We have so watered-down the concept of a father that when God doesn’t treat us like Mr. Dressup would, we get upset. "How dare God tell us what to do!" or "How dare God let this happen to me?"
I am very far from viewing Confucian, Asian cultural thought as being reconcilable with a Christian worldview. However, it’s a lot easier to explain God as father to them than to a North American with an effeminate, soft, "Butterfly Kisses" view of fatherhood. Fathers don’t just tuck their kids into bed – they yell at them if they misbehave during Church service. They refuse to buy stupid things for them, no matter how much they cry and whine. They force them to do things that they’ll later thank their fathers for.

A friend of mine used to teach gymnastics to young kids. In order for these kids to get good, they have to be flexible. That means pushing hard. So, my friend would take a kid doing the splits, and physically push the kid a little further. The kids would cry, the parents would complain. The result is that the kids miss out. This is the North American mentality – we are raising up a generation of incompetent and comfortable human beings who, despite spitting in His face everyday, feel entitled to the Love and Grace of God. This is not only logically ridiculous, but also a result of pure arrogance due in part to poor parenting.

So, this Father’s Day, Thank God that He’s a good father. He has good rules that He demands you obey and pushes you down to the ground till you cry to help you be able to follow them.

c)
I got a new Cyndi Wang CD! Real too. Plus, I am now on this pursuit of more girly music. The latest addition to my playlist is Lillix. They are Canadian. They play their own instruments. There are two sisters in the band named Lacey-Lee and Sasha-Ray. And they play bright pop-rock with fun harmonies. What more could you ask for?

The Cross and a Book Recommendation

2007-06-06T20:03:00.000-07:00

a)
So, I’ve taken some religions courses at University. They’re EASY! And they’ve never given me a reason to not trust Jesus or the Bible.

One thing that "academic types", and anti-Christian atheists, love to say is how the Christian "myth" developed from other mythologies, like the Persians. They love to mention Mithraism, cause there’s a bunch of commonalities in our practices and our imagery. Let’s check it out:

Mithra - An old-Iranian god of light, contracts and friendship. He also maintains the cosmic order. Sometimes mentioned as the son of Ahura Mazda, he assists him in his struggle against the forces of evil, represented by Angra Mainyu. Mithra was born from a rock (or a cave). He fought with the sun and managed to capture the divine bull and slayed it before he ascended to heaven. From the blood of the bull came forth all the plants and animals beneficial to humanity. (http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/mithra.html)

There’s a lot that could be said, but I brought it up for one reason: to point out the manmade mithras of the world don’t stand a chance against our Jesus. The more you know about the Cross, the more you realize that it is emphatically unlike the simple tales of human civilizations. I’m graduating from English. No writer has the kind of attention to detail that God has in the story of Christ. No group of writers could have pulled of the brilliance of the redemption narrative, especially having written the way the New Testament writers did. Saying that Christianity developed from other religions is like saying that Shakespeare stole from Dr. Suess or that Beethoven’s works are just mother goose knock-offs.

YOU could write mithra, but you could not have developed a story in which the requirements of the Old Testament, the prophecies of the Old Testament, the imagery of the Old Testament, the penalty of the Old Testament, the covenants of the Old Testament, and God’s desires in the Old Testament ALL come to fulfillment in ONE single act by a historical figure whose name would continue to be praised and spit on 2000 years later. And that is just a taste of the Cross’s brilliance.

Don’t be fooled! Superman died and came back to life. But no man-made story will ever compare to the sheer brilliance of the Cross!

b)
Hmm, don’t quite see it the way I’ve described it? I didn’t either, until I read books where the Cross was considered CAREFULLY.

If you have read my blog for a while, you will have noticed that I have never recommended a book by John Piper (a pastor I look up to and who has been a great help in my life). That is because I know not everyone will be able to enjoy his books. But The Passion of Jesus Christ (now called Fifty Reasons why Jesus had to Die) can act as an introduction, and as a necessary weapon against the simplistic understanding of the Cross that a lot of evangelicals have today.

This is maybe my favourite Piper book so far (I’ve read five). The Cross is the focal point of the Bible and the Christian faith. The Cross displays the beauty of God most vividly. Therefore, this book explores the highest heights of beauty. Therefore, this book perhaps has more beauty than any other book I’ve read. This is a short read, but it goes deep. If you say Jesus died to forgive us, or say that Jesus died to show us love, or EVEN that Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins, you have JUST BARELY scratched the surface of the Cross. This book can act as a starting point to a deeper understanding of the Cross.

However, here are some criticisms of the book:
Piper tried to make this a seeker book that would capitalize on the Passion movie. It is not a seeker book. It goes miles beyond what most believers have contemplated. I can’t imagine too many seekers finding this an easy, compelling, or interesting read. Also, although people accuse Piper of being repetitive, this book is not. This means that the text it dense. I think more illustrations would have been helpful.

But in conclusion, read this book or READ SOMETHING ABOUT THE CROSS! Paul decided to know nothing but Christ and Him Crucified (1 Cor. 2:2), and yet in Thessalonica, he reasoned with the people for three days! What would you say if someone wanted to take a three days and discuss the Cross? Would you have more to say than four points? We must be committed to knowing the Cross!

God, Cyndi, and More Gender Roles

2007-06-04T19:59:00.000-07:00

a)
A while back I heard this Does God Exist debate on ABC between evangelist Ray Comfort and the "Rational Response Squad". Wasn’t the greatest debate, but at one point something heartbreaking was said. The girl on the RRS was asked what would happen if she was wrong, and God really did exist. She said "I would rather spend eternity in Hell than in Heaven with a megalomaniac and a tyrant (referring to God)". It took my breathe away….

Later that day I was reading a book (The Pleasures of God). In it, it just described God – a God of sacrificial love, a God who Glorifies Himself, and a God who takes great joy in displaying both aspects. I felt something in my heart say "That girl is so blind. This God is Awesome." A couple years ago, a friend of mine was just shocked to hear that I actually believed God is better than sex or drinking (input your non-Christian friends’ idols here: security, success, career, a stable relationship). Nothing compares to Jesus! There is no one like our God.

b)
I do not watch television. However… A very nice person has started uploading episodes of Cyndi Wang’s 2004 tv series "Le Robe De Mariage Des Cieux" or "Heaven’s Wedding Gown" with english subtitles! SO GOOD!!!! As usual, Cyndi gets her yelling-at-boys thing on, and one of the main guys is incredibly creepy. His straightforward and unabashed creepiness is refreshing.

How many tv shows would tolerate such high amounts of creepiness? For example, when Cyndi catches him staring at her, the conversation goes as follows:

Cyndi – What are you staring at?
Dude – I’m looking at your eyes. If you want to win, you must be determined.

What an amazing line!!!!! Taiwanese tv is great.

c)
A friend of mine responded to my thoughts on gender roles. Her feelings are probably shared by most, so here’s my response:

I don’t hate women. I don’t think giving priority to men’s ministry privileges men. My belief is that a focus on men is a valuing of all people equally. But since men are to be the heads of their families and the leaders of the Church, their role is of a special importance. Are you less important? No - in the sense of value or potential kingdom impact or in that God has lovingly put you here on earth and has prepared great things for you to do that He deems necessary

Your first argument is essentially that women were less strategic to reach because they a) had less education, b) had less influence, and c) this would have broken many taboos in Middle Eastern culture.

If anything, this just proves my point more. Jesus LOVED to pick the less likely people to display HIS greatness. Your examples (the Samaritan woman, the Syrophoenician woman, the women of Luke 8, Mary, Mary Magdelene, the woman who washed His feet with her tears) all show that Christ loves to show His greatness through those who society viewed as foolish.

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. – 1 Cor 1:27

God loves to pick the things that the world hates in order to shame the world. This is demonstrated in His selection of the twelve:

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. – Acts 4:13

No one could have cared less about picking people with education and influence or breaking social conventions than Jesus. If anything, it should have delighted Him to display His power through women leadership. And yet He still purposefully assembled a team of male disciples to be the leaders of His Church. This can only point to what is clear in every book of the Bible – men are to be the leaders and the primary focus of ministry.

Your second argument was that Jesus actively ministered to women and children. Again, that just adds strength to my point. That fact eliminates the possibility that Jesus avoided ministry to women and children out of calling or for issues regarding boundaries. Christ was very comfortable ministering to women. And yet He still chose men to build into. Christ drew children to Himself (Luke 18). But He did not make them His focus.

The last argument is the practical side of things. To paraphrase you: a Church that makes men its primary target but is unsuccessful in producing men of great quality would be committing suicide. Perhaps this is true. But I would rather obey God’s Word and, in His Sovereignty, fail, then disobey God and have an impotent, male-less Church like the ones that dominate and plague the Evangelical World today.

Two more things exciting at OCBC, an Update on Support Raising, and Gender Roles

2007-05-20T23:36:00.001-07:00

a)
Bob Montgomery gave a good sermon at OCBC this week. He’s started a series on John 17. I’ll paraphrase (heavily) part of Bob’s message. It is something that I have put a good deal of thought into lately:

Christ’s goal and prayer was to Glorify the Father. The Father answered this in His death and resurrection. One way this Glorifies God is that it shows the Justice and Holiness of God. An ambassador once said to me during a Bible study: "I think God is far more wrathful in the Old Testament". I replied "It is exactly the opposite. God is far more wrathful in the New Testament". The ambassador was shocked! I explained that the Cross is where God’s wrath and God’s hatred of Sin is most fully displayed. God shows His commitment to Justice in the fact that He will not overlook sin even to spare His own Son. Most of the Old Testament takes place over a 2000 year period (Abraham to the prophets). It is not surprising that we find the occasional display of God’s wrath. However, in the 40 year period that most of the New Testament events occur in, God displays the most powerful judgment on sin. The wrath of the Old Testament is like the sun’s rays on a hot July day while God’s wrath on the Cross is like a ten million gigawatt laser. – Bob Montgomery (paraphrased)

If you remove God’s wrath from the Cross, the Cross is drained of almost all of its value. God would not be nearly as loving, because God’s Love is most powerfully displayed in the transfer of our penalty onto Christ. But God would also not be nearly as love-able (Glorious), because He would be a King who simply let murderers and adulterers go free without a great penalty being paid.

b)
The vote is in – the membership has approved of the pastoral candidate (one person voted against him :P). And….. he’s accepted (from what I’ve heard). He begins in June. So, OCBC has an English Pastor.

c)
Ministry Partner Development (support raising) has been interesting. I think I’m okay at it. Here are some good moments:

One individual told me VERY sincerely – "Thank you for giving ME the opportunity to invest in your ministry!"
Another person told me – "You are the only missionary that has ever approached me" and "I’m not rich, but I am comfortable. I need to not be."– It is encouraging to remember that there are many who WANT to give, but haven’t been given the opportunity.
Another person has sent my support letter to a bunch of different people, and yet another person mentioned my trip in an announcement at their Church!

Well, those are the good things, there are less good things, lots of waiting involved and my schedule is screwed up, but God has been good in this process.

d) (Potentially controversial)
I don’t know if anyone watched that Driscoll video I posted. In it, he says of the Church –
"Highest Priority: Men… The men are the issue. If you get the men, you win the War, if you lose the men, you lose the war. Most of your ministry is spent trying to make up for the lack, the deficiency, and the ineffectiveness of men. You say – "We need a big women’s ministry". We need husbands! You say – "We need a big children’s ministry". We need fathers!"

Jesus Christ undeniably and un-apologetically targeted MEN. He did not set up a women’s discipleship program or a Sunday School. He apparently felt it more important to take the 3 years of ministry he had to raise up a team of male leaders. From my experience, even those who hold to Biblical (complementarian) gender roles have largely failed to articulate this aspect of Christ’s model. I have lately realized that if a Church desires to follow a Biblical model of ministry, it must make preaching to, discipling, and developing men a high priority (yes, as in more important than women’s ministry or children’s ministry).

A Humbling Experience, Fresh Thoughts on Gender Roles, and Cyndi Wang

2007-05-10T22:16:00.000-07:00

a) I passed…
So, the other day I went and submitted myself to humiliation - I took (for the second time) my G1 test. I passed, but was very anxious lest I fail it at the age of 21. What was remarkable was that there were many other guys my age taking it over again. Anyways… God uses things like that to humble us, heh.

b) Masculinity and Femininity
I think that when I keep hearing the same kind of teaching or start getting into the same conversation topics unintentionally, its sometimes cause God wants me to think intentionally about that topic. So, I think God’s leading me to think and read a lot more about the difference between men and women.

I don’t like recommending him, cause he’s "hip" in a lot of the cru circles I’m in, but here’s a good talk by Mark Driscoll when he was in Canada, that I think may have shifted my perspective on gender a lot:

http://www.willingdon.org/refocus/default.asp?id=760

btw, check out all the talks. They are good.

And here’s another thing that I’ve recently heard that’s gotten some fresh thoughts coming:

"I've been in a Church where a woman was wearing an outfit.. I couldn't even look in her direction because she was dressed so immodestly. And the pastor is talking about modesty and she yells, 'Amen!'.

"And I realized: she's not being an intentional hypocrite; she thinks immodesty is whoever is wearing less clothing than she was wearing right then. I think the same thing comes down to male headship.

"Every man, who is a Christian in a Church that affirms male headship thinks he's head over his home. Most of them are not! And they don't understand what that means and what it looks like - that kind of self-sacrificial headship."

- Russell Moore (in a conversation, explaining the mediocre grammar and vocabulary)

OUCH!!

Expect more thoughts in the near future.

c) Cyndi Wang
Well, it has been almost a year since Cyndi Wang released new material (the Wei Xiao Pasta OST came out in July), so you can imagine her fans have been patiently waiting for more pop gold. So, last week she released her new full-length album, Magic Cyndi! (exclamation mark not a part of the title)

The first single is Ai De Tian Ling Ling (or, as someone very helpfully translated it online, Love’s Tian Ling Ling :P). Its great bright and bubbly pop, but unfortunately I think the video has a less than modest wardrobe and lacks the juxtaposition of Pop Star Cyndi (dancing in costume) with Fun, Down-to-earth Cyndi (singing into the vacuum cleaner or hanging out with her bf) that gave thematic unity and just pure fun to her previous videos.

But the real controversy on Youtube is her hair. It is shorter. Here’s a taste of people’s opinions on youtube:

kristy888 - ok ive always liked her especially in smiling pastabut NO NO NOthis is a horrid hairstyle n the mv is ...erm..weird..im sure u cant get a weirder dance!

beautifulsoulkeeper - wot is up wiv her hair?

momocrush - NOOOOOOOOO cyndi what have you done to your beautiful hair??!!

sheeohpaow - I miss her old haristyle, but the song's wonderful. ^^

lOrniej - i'm a fan of cyndi, n i think ds song is just cute enuff for her. BUT THE F*** DID LAN BO EVEN CREATED TT DANCE?! IT'S HORRID!!! n her hair! my god. she's totally ruined.

Well, I usually have a length limit on my blog, but I’ve broken it just to report on the latest Cyndi news. Hope you’ve enjoyed.

Exciting Things at OCBC + The Greatest Sin

2007-05-06T21:23:00.000-07:00

a) Exciting Things at OCBC
Today’s worship service was a train wreck. Despite this, there were good things happening:
1. We might be getting a new building near Chinatown and its huge (exactly what I think is an ideal size for a Church)!
Note: this contributed to the train-wreck nature of today. Someone presented a fifteen minute talk on the new building, which included (I AM NOT JOKING) pictures of the washrooms and the boiler room, an explanation of every requirement we were looking for (including 9 classrooms and it being "closed to the bus routes"*), and a viewing of the floor plan of the building and a road map of the area (I guess to assure us that it was by the highway).

2. We may be getting a new English pastor, who will be focusing mostly on the youth and young adults!
Note: I gave him a tour of campus with Jeremy and Peter, followed by a theology quiz by Peddy. He passed. And he’s a good preacher (I saw the tape when I got back from Toronto). Just got two issues: a) He lets his kid run around everywhere during Bible study (it made me ponder the question – "at what age can you start spanking kids?") and, b) he regularly reads the nlt (the Ottawa Sun of Bible "translations"). But those aren’t big things. Anyways, please pray for these things.**

*I probably shouldn’t pick on Chinese people who make spelling mistakes.
**Hmm, after reading this over, I realized that I’m going to have to trust that if he does become our pastor, he’ll have a sense of humour and won’t take these things too seriously.

Shifting gears…

b) The Greatest Sin
12Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, 13for my people have committed two evils:they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. – Jeremiah 2:12-13

Last year, I was sharing the Gospel with a Baha’i friend of mine. I explained that we all deserve God’s punishment, because we are all sinful, but that Christ’s blood has paid for our sins such that if ANYONE repent and have faith, they will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. He asked me the following question:

"So, if a murderer becomes a Christian, he gets into heaven. But if I don’t accept Jesus, I go to Hell?"

I said "Yes"

He was shocked and saw this as total foolishness*.

How is this God just? Today it has been confirmed (a lot) in my mind and (a little less) in my heart that God is just in this because everyone has committed a way worse sin then murder.

They have rejected God. This is the greatest of sins – God loves us and has given us everything. There is literally nothing worse in the universe than rejecting God. And we do it everyday.

This is a VERY radical thing to say. It means the following statements are true:

The Holocaust was an atrocity BUT the rejection of God in a three-year old child is WORSE than the Holocaust.
I have done something worse than the Holocaust.
Mother Teresa committed a worse sin than initiating a genocide, committing rape, and engaging in incest combined.

I think it’s a very difficult thing to believe, but if God is the God He says He is –whose love reaches to the heavens and whose faithfulness stretches to the sky, then to deny Him the Honour He deserves is the greatest crime in the Universe.

*don’t worry, it was still very civilized and I tried my best to say all these things in as non-confrontational a way as possible.

a thought on relationships (you will most probably have an opinion on this) and an encouraging thought about support

2007-05-03T20:52:00.000-07:00

a)
A friend of mine (Friend A) has major girlfriend issues on a regular basis. This is publicly known, because he announces it through his facebook profile (ie. in a span of 48 hours, the following can occur: In a relationship -> It’s complicated -> Single -> It’s complicated -> In a relationship).

I was talking to another friend of ours (Friend B) and asked why Friend A doesn’t just take his relationship status off his profile. Friend B attributed this lack of discretion to Friend A’s desire that everyone know that he is in a relationship. With a girl. And she’s hot.

Friend B was quick to note that this isn’t an unusual phenomenon. Many people think it necessary to announce their relationship or, in extreme instances, to bring it up repeatedly in everyday conversation – "Oh, you’re drinking coffee. You know who loves coffee? My girlfriend. I wish she was here – we’d laugh and go do couple stuff. Oops, sorry, forgot, you wouldn’t understand, because you’re single and lonely".

To be fair, I don’t really believe that this is actually a major part of my friend’s intentions. And, to defend some of those people, I could imagine if you were in a good relationship, you’d want to announce it to the world; or shout it from on top of a mountain like Ron Burgandy. But I would agree that there are some individuals who rub it in a little too much.

What say you? Are these "Oh, it’s four o’clock. That’s six hours before I usually call my girlfriend!"-type people really that common? Or are they like the fat, hairy, shirtless guy in your neighbourhood – everyone knows one, and one’s enough, and you really really wish that they’d stop? Or are they the figment of unhappy, single people’s imaginations?

b)
Day three of support went well! Two people officially committed to supporting me and I’ve got two more appointments and two phone appointments for next week. And I’ve just been really enjoying the opportunities its given me to catch up with friends. Its my job to find out how people are doing! Isn’t that sweet? But I realize I’m in the honeymoon phase, where the process is really fun, so I’m trying to have an attitude that will work in the long run.

Support, My Current Problems, and Toronto

2007-05-02T21:35:00.000-07:00

a) Well, just for Monica’s sake, why don’t I begin with a book recommendation:
I’m support-raising, and it's hard. But Funding Your Ministry by Scott Morton is very encouraging and helps me to at least feel like I’m not alone and that what I’m doing is important. Plus, it has pictures – very helpful given my reading level. Its very readable, perhaps if you’re thinking about staff or just wanna know what its like for missionaries or cru staff, check it out.

b) Like I said, support has been hard. Its cause I’m really low on motivation. And, to be honest, with a lot of people away, its left a big social gap. I should probably start spending time with other friends, but I’m not so good at that. Keep in mind that its been two days. I will probably have less issues in a week from now (or way more).

c) Well, that’s my "sharing my deepest feelings" part of this entry. Now I will share my top three moments from my trip to Tdot: (in chronological order) (actually, they are more like 3 inappropriate moments, and they aren’t even really my favourite ones, but whatever)

1. Peddy, using all the smoothness he could muster, asks Pri: "Do you touch me?"
Note: He actually said "meat". But it was hilarious that the first topic of conversation brought up in front of Pri was her vegetarianism. I think Peddy has made it his goal in life to ridicule vegetarianism as much as possible.

2. As we approached Tim Hortons, we saw these cadet kids holding the door open and asking for donations. A friend of mine remarked, "I HATE those kids. They always make me feel bad."
Note: It is true. I don’t even know what they were collecting money for. But it couldn’t have been that important if they must stoop to similar business tactics as squeegee kids rather than, in a professional manner, presenting their cause to potential donors.

3. There were many racist (as in Travis was offended. !!!!) comments made at Tim Hortons.
Note: the majority of us were minorities, if that makes a difference.

---
Expect more frequent updates from now on.

Grace and Grace

2007-04-10T08:49:00.000-07:00

First, let me recommend for your viewing pleasure Amazing Grace, the movie about William Wilberforce. He fought for the abolition of the slave trade in Britain. Its not a perfect movie, but it will get you desiring to take action in life. I think that's good.

Secondly, whoever switched my phone ring to doncha.midi (that Pussycat Dolls song) - i'm not impressed. And it only went off just now in my room, so... yeah.

On a different topic, lately I've been thinking more about Grace. So, here's a story I thought of:

King Daniel has two sons: Benjamin and Phillip. He loves both of them. A lot. Phillip is a very rebellious son (let's say he's a teenager and listen's to Good Charlotte a lot while skipping chemistry class). Benjamin, however, is caring and self-less and honours his father often.

Phillip is really angry. One day, Phil downs most of a 26er of gin and stabs his brother in the throat. Ben dies. King Daniel authorizes Phil's execution.

Now, there are some problems with this analogy (like, if Ben represents Jesus, then King Dan should actually love him more than Phil), but for the sake of this point, I think it works.

A friend of mine was having problems with the idea of Hell. She asked me - "If God loves us, why does He send us to Hell?" Here's the problem:

P1 - God is loving
P2 - God is all-powerful
C - God should let everybody off the hook

This seems to be the belief of the average non-Christian and, unfortunately, in my opinion, the belief of the average Christian. But this is not the case. King Dan does not NEED to cancel Phil's execution. Phil hates King Dan. Phil killed King Dan's son. And Phil is under the law of the Kingdom. King Dan is a Just King. Phil does not have any right to demand a pardon.

Grace means unmerited (we don't deserve it) favour (its good). God's love is not contradicted by His wrath. So, next time someone says "A loving God would never allow Hell!", just say "Yes He would" (and give a good explanation).

What I've also been thinking about is how that is a good thing. I just heard John Piper say "You should preach God's Wrath as Good News". God's wrath is good news because of (at least) two things:

1. When a doctor gives you a bad diagnosis early enough to treat it correctly, its good news
ex. "You have appendicitis. If the inflammation and infection spread through the wall of the appendix, your appendix could rupture. After rupture, infection could spread throughout your abdomen. Luckily, we have detected it!"

2. When a doctor gives you a bad diagnosis and the treatment is available, its good news
ex. "You have appendicitis. If the inflammation and infection spread through the wall of the appendix, your appendix could rupture. After rupture, infection could spread throughout your abdomen. Instead, now you just need to come for a fifteen minute surgery"

Back to the story. We are all Phils. God loves us, but He has no obligation to save us. But He DID take on His own wrath so that whoever believes in Him will be saved. This is all Good News. And this is Grace.

For further reading: (at least so far) The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

"To Obey is Better than to Sacrifice" - A Response to "Evangelical Feminism" + other stuff

2007-03-24T21:34:00.000-07:00

alright, so a couple of things:

a) i just checked Time's top 100 books of all time: http://www.time.com/time/2005/100books/the_complete_list.html

I am graduating with an Honours degree in English Literature. I have read seven of the books on the list :S:

CS Lewis - The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Anthony Burgess - A Clockwork Orange
Zora Neale Hurston - Their Eyes were Watching God
JD Salinger - The Catcher and the Rye
George Orwell - Animal Farm
JRR Tolkien - Lord of the Rings (and only the first one, and i thought it was boring)

Yeap - with this thorough knowledge of the English canon I would need only two years of teacher's college to be qualified to teach your future children grade 12 English. Excellent....

b) Evangelical Feminism
"All people are equal before God and in Christ. All have equal responsibility to use their gifts and obey their calling to the glory of God. God freely calls believers to roles and ministries without regard to class, gender, or race. We believe this because the Bible and Jesus Christ teach it to us. That is biblical equality." - Christians for Biblical Equality

"I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet."- 1 Timothy 2:12

So, I read 1 Samuel 15 today, and it talked about how Saul was told to destroy all the Amalekites and all their stuff, but he didn't. He saves some good cattle and oxen and he saves their king, which is in direct disobedience to God's command to him.

When Samuel questions him about it, Saul says something to the effect of "I was saving this cattle to sacrifice to the LORD". Samuel then explains to him the folly of this argument saying "To obey is better than sacrifice" (1 Samuel 15:22). In other words - God does things God's way. He doesn't need your logic and your gifts to help Him out, He's really serious about what His Word says.

Now, I have friends who are evangelical feminists (though they may dislike the term), meaning that they think, and i've heard this personally, that there is no difference in the roles of men and women, but each person is designed by God with different gifts which they are to steward in whatever Godly role they can. I can't guess everyone's motives, but I sense there IS a genuine desire to see God Glorified in their lives. However, there is a mistake that I think this passage helps out on. Notice the similarities in these arguments:

a1) There are lots of nice cattle, very fattened and ideal for worship purposes.
a2) There are lots of gifted women who explain doctrine well and have God-given leadership qualities.

b1) Cattle are made by God, and are part of His good creation.
b2) The spiritual gifts and the natural gifts are from God.

c1) Therefore, we should save the cattle for Worship purposes
c2) Therefore, women should not be limited in their capacities to utilise these God-given gifts.

Saul was wrong (if in fact this was his motive). And I hope you'll understand that the argument of evangelical feminists, or evangelical egalitarians, is wrong. God doesn't need our logic. God does things God's way. And His way is clearly found in His Word.

I believe that, read in the context of the book and the whole Bible, 1 Timothy 2 means that there are certain offices which are reserved for men. For an explanation, go to http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TopicIndex/49/684_Manhood_Womanhood_and_the_Freedom_to_Minister/

The danger is that God's Word is clear. God tore the kingdom away from Saul. May He have mercy on us who are slow to trust in God's way as we do God's work.

This should be a call to men and not an attack on women. There are way too many poor male leaders. There are way too many boring male Pastors. I hope more and more faithful and gifted women will arise, but they should not feel a need to occupy the roles set aside for men. If only there would be a generation of strong Godly women AND men.

Anyways, not sure if anyone will misinterpret/be offended by what I just wrote, but feel free to give your thoughts.

What's the deal with Mormons?/What's the deal with Blogger?

2007-03-13T20:49:00.000-07:00

sup,

i'm so confused with this new blogger system, apparently my yahoo address is my new google account... if someone understands, please let me know.

this isn't extremely interesting, but just wanted to talk a bit about mormons. they are often really nice. this has struck me as odd, cause.... they are heretics. i don't think that's harsh, or pharisee-esque, since the apostle paul (thus, the word of God) says, "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8). So - Mormons = nice, and be nice to them, but have nothing to do with their "church" and know that they are accursed (so Preach the Gospel).

anyways, just watched this john piper video on youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czVmYKAavGQ&mode=related&search= (note: thus youtube has so many redeemable qualities). if you don't actually watch it, it essentially says that false teachers/heretics aren't gonna look evil and have devil-horns comin out of their heads, but they're gonna be real nice, just like satan doesn't appear in evil forms all the time, but usually satan works by seducing us.

so, i realized "man, thats why mormons seem so nice, satan loves to send us evil in attractive packages". on top of that, they have to earn their salvation, explaining their good behaviour. so, in conclusion, don't be surprised the next time you meet a mormon with a big pretty smile.

ps. if you feel i'm being harsh to mormons, check out http://www.aomin.org/LDSGrace.html or http://www.mormonwiki.org/Main_Page
pps. these thoughts, in my mind, apply to any group/individual that claim to proclaim the "gospel" but denies the basic teachings of the Gospel: saved by grace alone through faith alone, Christ's resurrection, our sinful nature, Christ's deity, etc.

Youtube Singer Showdown

2007-01-21T19:55:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been searching for music on Youtube and been wondering who listens to those people who record themselves singing famous tracks? Well... one of those losers is me.

So, I have decided to present my own Youtube Singer Showdown:

The First Competitor: Esmee Denters

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW2jplF-gTc

Competitor no. 1 is 18 year old Esmee Denters from the Netherlands. Although her video quality is lower than Competitor no. 2, her ability to pull of a pretty competent r&b voice is worth notice (since she neither has the accent nor the environment to yield such a voice). Also, without a backup track for rhythm or harmony, Denters' performance showcases skill beyond her years. Plus, I admittedly like this song.

The Second Competitor: Mia Rose

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60lqUDWdP5Y

Competitor no. 2 seems (or has friends who are) very media-savvy, with a semi-professional looking website and this youtube addition's high video quality. Unfortunately, though her voice has that smoothness and 18-year-old-singing-in-her-room-feel that Kelly Clarkson's rendition lacks, the comparison reveals that this UK resident does not have the voice to compete in the big leagues.

So, who do you vote for? Why? Or do you just think I'm wasting my God-given time on earth by listening to 18 year old amateurs?

Stop judging!

(the views expressed in the above descriptions may or may not have been actually held by Adam)

Quick Update + Books everyone can Read (YAAAH!!!)

2006-12-21T14:04:00.000-08:00

So, I'm down to a quick essay to write, and a quick exam to study for (both for tomorrow). Praise the Lord I made it!

Now, I'm going to take a break and write about books.

This is relevant to my overarching blog-theme (manhood) because in my (hopefully Biblically-based) conception of gender roles, men are almost always leaders. If you're a guy, and you plan on getting married or having a family, you will be the head of the family (Ephesians 5:22). And if you plan on living a life of celebacy, you have probably been given that gift in order to pursue some sort of Spiritual leadership position. Either way, you're a leader. And it is a fact that "Leaders are Readers" (2 David 2:2).

Alas, I know that some of you don't like reading. A lot of people ask me .... actually.. very few people ask me :( (wah!): "what books would you recommend?" - so from the books I've read this year, I've picked four that I think are really accesible. Everyone can read them. So, maybe you're asking - "Adam really likes that Piper guy. Is he going to recommend the 500 page book 'Desiring God' that he read this year?" - No, these are books for everyone. Including you - non-reader!

note: this is also for girls, despite my previous comment on leaders.
note2: for clarification, my comment about girls doesn't mean girls aren't ever leaders.

a) Cross-Centered Life by CJ Mahaney
Every Christian needs to center their life on the Cross. Mahaney is soooo practical and gives great illustrations. A very short read, so if you're intimadated by big books (like Desiring God), this is the book for you. Mahaney's pretty funny but incredibly focused on the Glory of God. He's also very very serious about making your life Cross-Centered, this is not just a stab at some intellectual discourse.

Warnings for people: i) Although his arguments are exegetical (ie. they pull meaning out of Biblical texts), his book does not dive deep into any given Biblical text, so if you're turned off by that, you should keep that in mind. ii) Mahaney is a Calvinist. Although it only comes up once, I know some of you are violently opposed to Calvinism. You should still read it though.

b) The Purity Principle by Randy Alcorn
Every Christian needs to seek sexual purity. So, Randy Alcorn tries to show in a very short book that impurity is STUPID. Great book, easy to read, and contains some of the most useful illustrations I've ever heard (some you've already heard because of how transferable they are). He really captures that purity is a fight. And it doesn't have the nasty stories that Every Man's Battle has - it's PG13 (though has stories of how sexual impurity has destroyed lives) and for both genders.

c) Humility by CJ Mahaney
Every Christian needs to seek humility. Again, very very practical and very God-centered. Not very long (although, i'm still not done it) around 200 pages, but lots of insights into humility.

Warnings - again, the same thing. And he likes golf, so if you don't like golf, that might be a deterrant.

d) God-Smuggler by Brother Andrew
Every Christian... needs... to smuggle... God.... Uhh... hmm... What I meant to say is that this is a biography about a guy who smuggled Bibles into Communist countries If you're a leftist middle-class indie rocker who thinks the Soviet Union was cool, this will really show you how stupid that is. Again, this is not a hard-core read - it's a Missionary Biography, but I really think it can appeal to anyone interested in a good story about God's goodness. It's a fast-paced narrative and has really cool stories. It will really give you an idea of the kind of opposition that STILL exists against Christianity and freedom of religion. And it's usually really cheap at Christian bookstores.

That is all. Back to work.

Some Quick Things

2006-12-03T20:01:00.000-08:00

Well, I've just gotten over my flu. Last night was crazy, I felt sooooo cold, and had this enormous headache. During the Christmas Banquet, I actually slept in the sanctuary in Sunnyside (the Church we have it in), it was nuts..

But now I'm good. Here's a quick update of mildly interesting things in my life.

a) Facebook
Well, if you have recently noticed I have facebook, and are irritated to no end that I did not add you (invite you? friend-ify you? I don't know the terminology), that is because individuals with questionable morals went into my email without permission, signed me up for facebook, and then other individuals with questionable morals spammed my "wall" with intellect-diminishing monologue from foreign movies with nudity. So, I apologize if you felt ignored, I have no plans on making any friends through this system of communication, but since it is being hyped as the next big ministry tool by Campus for Christ, maybe I will use it later in the future.

b) My New Favourite TV Show/More on Cyndi Wang
If you have me on MSN, you might have noticed my picture is a Taiwanese girl eating fruit. This is Cyndi Wang, Asia's next rising star (*crossing fingers*) and the star of Smiling Pasta (Wei Xiao Pasta). This show is great, I totally recommend you watch it on Youtube, and if you understand Mandarin, you can even watch past the point I am at. However, be warned, the first episode is a little cheesy. Episode 13 with subtitles has not yet been uploaded, and fans are going crazy! (proof:http://www.youtube.com/profile_comment_all?user=uluvshane).

In regards to my picture of her - I do not spend all my time perusing photographs of her, wishing that we could fall in love. And as I have gotten some "rebuking", I must give a rebuttal to the claim that my picture displays her in a "seductive" position:
i) She is eating fruit - That is just good for the kids to see, as nutrition, especially nowadays, should be a high concern. So, it is a positive thing.
ii) She is smiling, that seems like the most reasonable thing to do when a picture is being taken of you. It is not an act of seduction.
iii) You cannot see her girly parts in the picture.

c) (The more serious part) My Health of late
So, as was previously mentioned, I've been pretty sick lately. One brother reminded me yesterday that Satan loves to attack us through bad health, and so I was reminded that although Satan loves the throw his fiery arrows, what man (or Satan) meant for evil, God can turn for good. So, after that point, I was able to think about how I could use my flu and Satan's fiery darts to put my shield of faith in practice and continue to wield my sword of the Spirit (the Word) to cut down Satan's darts like little twigs. So, if you're reading, brother, thank you. The rest of the night and today were good as I read a little more and listened to Dr. John Piper (a pastor, for those of you who don't know who he is).

d) Stallone? A Saint in God's elect??????
http://www.citizenlink.org/clcommentary/A000003061.cfm - Read it.

Well, that's it. I hope I can update again soon.

A Goal Worth Living For

2006-11-22T11:49:00.000-08:00

So, I’m 21. If I was English (as in from England), I could now adopt a child, get a flight navigator’s license, a flight engineer’s license or an airline transport pilot’s license to fly an aeroplane, helicopter or gyroplane, or I could become a Member of Parliament, a local councilor or a local mayor (http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/kccrights/at_what_age/age_21.asp).

However, lately I’ve kinda felt like a mess. Quiet times, responsibilities, diet (as in nutrition, not weight-loss), fitness, my bedroom, schoolwork, everything’s been a little unorganized. Makes me wonder if I’m getting any older at all. I usually feel older than I really am. But lately I’ve been made aware of how much further I’ve got to go in terms of knowledge, experience, love, faith, and in personal maturity.

Last week, a guy from Cru brought a friend out to the weekly meeting. This brother was, well, a brother, a fellow believer, but at age 5 had been hit by a car, leaving his perception of space and his speech significantly limited. Though bilingual (anglais and french), this brother’s speech was hard to make out as well as much slower. At the end of the meeting, he thanked one of our leaders for taking the time to talk with him, saying that other than the two of us, he hadn’t talked to anyone else, because it was difficult to communicate. We started trying to introduce him to others, and got to hear a little more of his life as a result.

I left campus with mixed emotions. I was thankful to God for allowing me to see that there are others who have life so much more difficult than I do, and yet are still able to say “Blessed be the Name of the Lord”, and thankful that it is only by His Grace that my capacities for speech and sight are in relatively good order. And yet, I wondered too whether I was really mature enough to pursue a friendship with someone like him. Would I have the patience? Would I have the love? Or would I leave that night feeling a little better about myself that I had taken twelve minutes out of the night, and then never really know what its like to really know someone like him.

In general, I am a pretty selfish guy. My flesh craves being in situations that are immediately helpful to me, immediately comfortable to me, and immediately advancing my own self-promotion. Helping the homeless, befriending those with special needs, going to the nations, these are not yet second nature to me.

Thank God I’m twenty one. It is a cold hard fact that this may be my last year on earth, but if God chooses to keep me here longer, I know he can conform me more into His Son’s image, so that I can reflect that image and love into the lives of others.

This year, to be more like Jesus would be a goal worth living for, and dying for.

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it

2006-11-06T21:52:00.000-08:00

I’m so bad at updating this.. and now it will take so long for people to comment, which gives me even less desire to post again. Oh well, here goes.

Two years ago, I did a summer internship with my Church. Youth ministry. I have since concluded it’s not really what I’m gifted in. That summer, I thought a lot about perseverance, haha.

But actually, that summer I thought a lot about perseverance. I was getting pretty tired. Prayer, evangelism, teaching, reading, loving, not getting the results you want, not getting the kind of rewards you want. These things can wear you down.

"fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith" (1 Tim 1:18-19).

I’m almost 21 years old now. If I live the average life span of a Canadian male, I’ve got 51 years left. Will I still wanna fight in 51 years? I don’t know if I’ll still have the desire to fight in twenty.

"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling.." (Jude 1:24)

Can He really? I don’t know how many of you follow the things that go on in Evangelicalism, but recently Pastor Ted Haggard (a third-wave Charismatic, very influential according to Time Magazine) admitted to sexual immorality, specifically an affair with a homosexual.

Thankfully, he has been dismissed from his church and from the National Association of Evangelicals, which he was the president of, and is now being more honest about his situation. However, he has really really disqualified himself from future service as a pastor.

I have heard stories like this before, including recently hearing that a megachurch in Texas also had their senior pastor resign because of an extra-marital affair. How do these things happen? What happened to keeping people from stumbling?

I don’t really struggle with doing meth and/or gay sex. In fact, maybe this is a little presumptuous, but I feel almost guaranteed that that will never happen to me. But, I know there is one possible sin or two or twelve that could sideline me from ministry real quick.

That summer I committed to running the race well. Pacing myself, putting first things first. But every now and then, especially when things are hard, or when I'm made more aware of my sinful nature, I wonder if the fall is inevitable. Where do you go when you don’t know if you can make it?

"And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ". – Philippians 1:6

Pursuit of Manhood Special - Girly Songs

2006-10-16T21:08:00.000-07:00

Note: don't assume you know these songs - watch the videos!

My guilty pleasure is girly music. Think its lame? I will fight you. With my bare hands. In an octagon ring. On your birthday.

Here are some songs that of late I've enjoyed:

1) Christina Aguilera - Reflection - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIm4Ub17FB4
This is my favourite vocal performance of all time. Don't hate.

2) The Corrs - What can I do? - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRjSgYI5r-4
Why are these Irish girls (+ completely ignored brother on guitar) NOT huge in Canada? They play traditional irish instruments! And I know what you're wondering - and yes, I did look up the guitar tab. I agree with the Irish.

3) Michelle Branch - Goodbye to You - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00BkWO2JTSk
Pouty face + Big shades + basic chord progression = into Adam's heart.

4) Avril Lavigne - Things I'll Never Say - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yfH_jfuO9E
Her double-entendres aside, this ode to marriage allows sugary-sweet popness to seep through this Napanee native's unladylike posture. Btw, i am thoroughly annoyed by the blond kid.

5) Natalie Imbruglia - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATXKM-FL3WE
Had this stuck in my head the last while. I actually really enjoy this video. I for some reason especially enjoy her looks of angst flailing in her jacket during the chorus. Have tried to resist learning this song on guitar.. but in light of the fact i checked out that Corrs song, i might as well..

Well, feel free to give your comments. But again - I will fight you.

Myths of Manhood #3 - It doesn't matter what they think of you.

2006-09-29T12:18:00.000-07:00

It's funny - back in high school I bore an elephant-sized burden that plagued me everyday - I really wanted people to like me: Do they think I'm funny? Do they think I'm a jerk? Do they think I'm a loser? Clothes, music, friends - once things that were sooo important - High school is HARD TIMES.

Back then, I wondered if I'd look back and think high school was the best time of my life - Thank God it wasn't.

Anyways - I'm now in University - and Jesus has come and lifted this burden off of me. Not that I'm completely free from insecurities, but my life has been injected with a buttload of relief. What everyone used to say is a reality- Image isn't everything!

But reputation isn't nothing (or, it is something). The Bible says it matters what people think about you! Jesus says ""Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). In other words, people need to see me be a Christian. One of the qualifications for an elder is that they "have a good reputation with those outside the church" (1 Tim 3:7) So, it really matters what people think of you. Man! What a problem! I actually need to work at gaining the trust and respect of others.

Today, I'm involved with a Christian club on Campus. And I am a "leader" - i have a three-letter-acronym title and everything. I often wonder: do people think I'm a phoney?

Well, it would be easy to say - "Do as I say not as I do" or "Only God can judge me"- but then I'd be full of crap. The world is full to the brim with leaders like that - we need some that are willing to say "I am willing to be put to a higher standard! I might (and will) fail, but by faith in God's Grace - I wanna be a man worth following!"

Well - this year I expect people will think I'm full of crap - or I'm irresponsible - or I'm unintelligent, or I'm a phoney - but for their sake, and God's glory, I must try harder, love harder, and serve harder - I must lead. Hard decisions and failures are bound to come, but how I wish people would see Christ in me!

Myths of Manhood #2 – To be a man is to fulfil a girl’s every desire.

2006-09-19T21:48:00.000-07:00

"There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus." – Blaise Pascal

"Tell me what I gotta do to please you Baby anything you say I'll do Cause I only wanna make you happy From the bottom of my heart, it's true" – from the lady-killin’ track, "I Wanna Know" from the "hits machine" that is (was?) Joe. (I admit, I like the song)

Back in grade 11, I had a girlfriend. And I really liked her. We were best friends, and I really cared about all the things that were going on in her life – friendship problems (you know high school girls..), mom problems, dad problems, body-image problems, etc., etc. She wasn’t like, uber-screwed up or anything, its just the teenage condition: life is drama. Anyways, I really wanted to be there for her, and solve all those things.

When we broke up (it was far from a conflict-free relationship), I felt really really crappy. And looking back, the sense of loss was more a feeling of failure. I felt that I had failed as a man. My conception of love (as clearly stated by Joe in the above excerpt) was that I was gonna be her everything, and her mine. Emotionally, physically, spiritually(I guess?). However, that is a pile of crap.

Fortunately, since then I’ve discovered what went wrong. Jesus is to be that fulfillment. Jesus, talking to a girl with tonnes of guy problems, told her "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again (Adam’s note – the water refers to the well they were standing next to, but I think if you look at the context, He’s talking about all the guys she’s been with); 14but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst" (John 4:13-14). So, those longings we have, whether it be for bgr (boy-girl relationships), a good job, purpose, adventure, etc., they will never be REALLY fulfilled until we have the living water. This means the intimate relationship we have with Jesus when He comes in and lives in us (John 7:37-39)

The big lesson I’ve learned from that relationship is that the most loving thing to do for anyone is to draw them closer to Jesus. It is Jesus who satisfies, not a perfect body, or perfect parents, or a semi-mediocre boyfriend. Man, I wish I knew this. I wish I could pin my spiritual eyelids wide open each day to remind me that God is the thing I really need. Every thirst and longing and ache points to my need for Jesus.

This is good news. The question, "Can I ever be someone’s dream guy?" (answer: no) is replaced with "Can I love God with all my heart, all my soul, and all my strength?" Since I’ve got Jesus Christ living in me, I have faith that He’ll produce the love I need.

That is all.

Note to other men: "what about the girl who IS looking for that dream guy (tall, hairy, good at mario kart, nice pickup truck, sporting a mullet, whatever the women are into these days)?" My humble advice: Pray for her and move on. A Godly man (what we aspire to, not what we claim to be) desires a woman whose dreams are of following Jesus, not (insert male celebrity here. I clearly do not know popular culture. I should read the entertainment section more. Or the newspaper in general).

Myths of Manhood #1 - To be a man is to keep your mouth shut

2006-09-12T20:55:00.000-07:00

Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. - James 5:16

Well, thanks to M3 for... manlyifying this blog...

So, I've been reading through Daniel. In chapter 2, Daniel has the impossible task of interpreting the King's dream AND first knowing what exactly the dream was without the King telling him. The first thing Daniel does when he gets home from finding this out: he tells his friends and they Pray for him that God would reveal the mystery.

Something I've definitely been guilty of in the past is keeping my mouth shut during Prayer times. I've been learning that I should be sharing my struggles and asking others to pray for me. It really grinds my gears when Prayer requests are being shared, and someone says, "aww, you don’t need to pray for me, my problems aren’t that important" or "I don’t want to be selfish". God is shown to be really really great when we ask others to Pray for us, because 1) we are obeying Him (James 5:16) and 2) we are showing that we are completely dependent on Him.

TV and movies have tricked us into thinking that it is more masculine or better to be independent than to admit that we need other people. God has designed us to be interdependent – as His Children we need to share the hard times and share the good times with our brothers and sisters.

So reject our culture’s view of manhood! Share your struggles, your feelings, the things you think you can just work on by yourself!

Just so that I’m "practicing what I preach", I’d like to ask that you pray for me about these two difficult things:

1) Pray that I’d trust God for next year, as I’m going to be leaving school with a tonne of debt, and need to trust Him that He’s gonna provide all my needs according to His riches and Glory in Christ Jesus. Its really a big barrier in terms of thinking where I’m gonna go next year (whether it be ministry or seminary, both are not very conducive to paying off my student loans, haha)

2) Pray that I’d have wisdom and grace as I’m leading Campus for Christ at Carleton. I wanna be a man who is known for being compassionate and for being a good listener. Dealing with people (who have feelings and stuff) is a lot harder than reading Renaissance literature (which I do for school), so please ask God to be refining me into that kind of a man.

That is all. And please, let me know if you need prayer.
Ps. This is not part of a series of entries on myths of manhood.

A Note from Adam's Personal Blog Designer

2006-09-08T21:23:00.000-07:00

Dear Faithful readers of Adam's blog:

I am pleased to inform you that you no longer have to set your eyes on that spotted horror of a template any longer. As a concerned reader, I have taken it upon myself to improve the settings of this blog. Everything added (links, profile, colour, etc.) was selected to best suit Adam's personality.

Actually, I just thought the bear (From the big blue house... GREAT kid's show) really went well with the brown theme. It seemed more warm and inviting. Kind of like hot chocolate. And I chose the links to go with the theme of "manhood". heheheheeee I even found a verse off Bible Gateway.

Please take time to explore, and I hope that you all thoroughly enjoy the beautiful display of manhood and brown-ness.

Sincerely,

Monica

Not just step one in the baby-making process

2006-09-02T22:13:00.000-07:00

It's been a really really busy week surprisingly, despite no school and not much Church stuff. Was helping out with International Students frosh, that was fun.

Is it too late to give my thoughts on the wedding last weekend? I hope not. (sorry, I really desire to not be long, but this one is).

Umm, most of you who read this know who and what I'm talking about, but if not, here's my summary of what happened up till last weekend:

God made Sangi and Christina (and appointed them to be born in the reverse of that order).
God made marriage, which is when a guy and a girl get together and become so intimately connected, the Bible says they become "one".
Sangi and Christina wanted to do that, cause they believed God made them in such a way that if God made them one, they could do the best thing EVER - Love God and Love others together.
So, last weekend they threw a big party to let other people know that they were doing just that, and thanked God and asked Him to join them and keep them together in a way that it shows others how God wants us, His Bride, to be forever close with Him.
We had fun. Some people cried. I didn't (but did experience the emotion, part of me hoping I wouldn't have to go to a lot of these kinda things, and have to be all emotional everytime)
End of summary

By the end of the ceremony though, I was really moved by the sheer joy on both of their faces. It was a really, really, happy time. I felt I shared in their happiness.

Should I go to these kinda things all the time? Well, God's book says that He designed the idea of marriage so that His relationship with His bride (the Church - everyone everywhere who has faith in Christ) (Ephesians 5:31-32).

God says He delights in His people (Isaiah 62:4), so it just makes sense that a dude about to become "one" with his fiance should be ecstatic! And you could definitely see that, Sangi had the kind of smile that's probably pretty rare in the type of Baptist Church they were married in (diss... that was a joke about Baptists being real serious. Not that they are less joyful, just probably don't show it as much on their faces on Sunday morning haha. Hope no offense was taken by others).

What a great thought of our God. He's not some demanding husband, but everyday His heart is like a man's on his wedding day - full of delight in His bride, and a heart set to pursue that relationship with all His might!

When Jesus was talking about marriage, He said, "So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate." (Matthew 19:6). This isn't just great because of what it means for God's commitment to marriages sticking together, but it also means He will NEVER leave His bride.

God is 100% committed to pursuing us, loving us, and seeking our highest happiness in Himself in the good times and the bad. He promises us this every day in His Word, and He never breaks His word. This is why I think marriage is so important - because it is a relationship that awaits everybody who believes in Jesus. They can be in an intimate relationship with a person who will never leave them. A person who will love and cherish them, and in this case, not even death can tear us apart!

So, in conclusion, this was the second wedding I've ever been to, but it was a good one. It really showed what we need to see - a lover whose face and words say "I want to be ONE with you, and by the Grace of God, nothing but death will tear us apart!" This is only a whisper of the heart of God.

ps. I feel this indirectly answers Monica's question which you can read here: http://mashimaromonica.blogspot.com/2006/08/together-foreverfor-50-60-years-my.html. Although God is clear He wants kids to come from married couples, the Bible is just as clear about the purpose of marriage. BGR's (boy-girl relationships, haha) in marriage reflect the relationship between Jesus and His Bride. You don't need kids to do this. Its not just step 1 in the baby-making process.

Reflections from my week in Toronto part 2

2006-08-24T22:23:00.000-07:00

HAHA! You thought I had turned all Darren and given up on blogging. Alas, not the case.

c) Catching up with recent, old, and older friends

So, I’m having trouble writing this, because this is serious, but it’s a blog, so I don’t want it to sound like a sermon.

Really simple – I loved seeing what God is doing in the lives of my friends, because it reminded me of how beautiful the adventure is.

Meeting up with friends at different stages in that adventure was great: some have "grown up" with me the last couple of years, some are where I was a year ago, now dreaming bigger dreams and taking bigger steps for God, and some are now just at that starting point, starting to understand the Joy that a life in the Hands of God can be.

It reminds me of what God has done in me: that first time my heart understood that God really was big enough to have the best plans for me or the first time I really realized how terrifying, but thrilling it is to trust God with something only He can do. And now to talk away with a friend of mine, and to see God continuing to guide us (though separately) and change our hearts, little by little, it makes me stand in awe.

This is my last year of University, meaning, im really young, but I still just look back and ask "Who am I that I am still alive to taste and see and know the Maker of this Universe? The One who is the author and perfecter of our faith?".

Heh, it seems as though I forget so fast about my brothers and sisters. How little I pray for them. I confess it: its hard to keep up with people, no matter how much you love them. But when I think about how far we’ve come, and how much more of God’s Grace there is to experience, I feel as though I have not been worthy to see the Work of God in your lives.

So, thank you.
(special shout-outs to SJZ04,BD05,TJ06)

Reflections from my week in Toronto part 1

2006-08-20T21:58:00.000-07:00

Clarification - this blog will not only cover gender-specific issues. However, it will provide a male perspective on pursuing Christ, which I would define as the Christian's pursuit of manhood.

So, had a GREEAT time in Toronto. Had to narrow down the report to three things, so the following things, though thoroughly enjoyable, did not seem to fit in the context of this blog - seeing Sebonka hop around in pain, Travy's manlove poured out on a disturbed Dan R., numerous trips to Christian bookstores (four different stores!), buying a Piper book, eating at Big Fat Burrito.

So, here are three things i feel should be mentioned on my blog, possibly in order of significance (least to greatest):

a) Defeating Maria at Scrabble - Few things feed the ego of a young man as destroying someone at a GAME. Perhaps her loss can be accounted for by the fact that she had been awake for more than 24 hours, or perhaps it was a diplomatic act that flowed out of training from four years at the prestigious Arthur Kroeger College of Public Affairs and Policy Management. Who cares, I won. And since today (Sunday) Krystle and I received what I can only guess was a crushing loss (I left early) at Trivial Pursuit - Pop Culture 2, I can use all the affirmation of my intellectual competence as I can get.

b) Music on Road Trips - On the way there I realized young women nowadays fail to appreciate the subtleties in the music of Shania Twain. "Any Man of Mine" is a great song, period. I also practiced "Never Had a Dream Come True", apparently the favourite song of my soon to be bride, whom I have yet to meet. Oh, how she will swoon at my singing (umm, maybe I will explain this another time - regardless of whether you understand the reference, you must admit that song cuts deep.. real deep..).

On the way back, I got a ride with Rice who fortunately brought his Bryan Adams compilation. "The Best of Me" is the perfect song for two heterosexual men to listen to together in the car (sample lyrics - "I may not always know what's right, but I know I want you here tonight..").

Ahh, so one thing I have decided to commit to is to be brief in these posts. As a result, I think I will stop here, especially since the next part is long.

To be continued...

Welcome to The Pursuit of Manhood

2006-08-19T22:48:00.000-07:00

First, let me point out that this is the most masculine title of a blog I have yet seen. Hopefully that reflects accurately on the source of its content (just in case it was missed, the title is tongue-in-cheek).

Second, you might notice something about the layout of this blog. I attempted to choose the ugliest template available. Why?? I have no desire to design this myself. Call it laziness, or evidence of the fact that I am less evolved than a human being who desires to express themselves through colours, but I have chosen not to put any time into it.

As a result, I am putting out a call to anyone who wishes to change the background and layout. I KNOW there are at least three people who will feel compelled to volunteer, feel free to email me and I will think about it and maybe send you the password to this blog. I know you don't want to be subjected to this haha.

Lastly, an answer to "Why finally have your own blog?":

Charles Spurgeon, the 19th Century British preacher, said of his calling to the pastorate that there was "an intense, all-absorbing desire for the work". This does not describe my desire to blog - nevertheless I really wanted to do it.

I will still post on http://chronicgospel.blogspot.com/ now and then, but I wanted a place where it didn't seem as though I was addressing any specific group. I chose blogspot cause other people were on it and I knew how to use it best. Sorry those of you who are on lj or whatever.

Again, welcome to THE PURSUIT OF MANHOOD!