it might not be convenient

Talking about "Love is conviction, not convenience", here's one good piece from brother Ken some time ago:

Sent: Friday, October 21, 2005 4:59 AM

Subject: Are you choosing to serve or choosing to be a servant?

My brothers, I would like to share this with you as an encouragement and a reminder to serve the Lord always!!

Paul Siaki, a missionary to regions in and around South Africa, asked that question last week during his sermon at IPC.  He had heard God's call and answered the call to go and evangelize in that part of the world.  While he is back in the states for his furlough, he visits churches and to drum up support for his mission work.

So he asked that question.  "What's the difference," I was thinking to myself.  Had I not chosen to serve already?  Then, when he elaborated on his question, it is like a wake-up call (for those of you who remember, it's the same 2x4 that's again hit me over the head #8^).  Here's what Paul showed me:

When I choose to serve, I also choose when to serve, where to serve, what to serve, who to serve with, whom to serve, and how to serve.  You see, I am IN CONTROL.  However, when I choose to be a servant, I give up this control.  I will serve whenever, wherever, whatever, however, whoever, and whomever.  Jesus is now in control when I choose to be a servant.

Rom. 6:18 said "...you became slaves of righteousness."  A slave, unlike us who worked 8 to 5 jobs, does not have his/her own time.  His/her time belongs to the master.  Likewise, Christ has set us free from the power of sin that enslaves us.  Now we are free to choose Christ, to be His servant.

I thought I have made that choice.  Paul's challenge, however, brought to light on how I have fallen short.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer's words on "cheap grace" vs. "costly grace" all of a sudden ringed in my head.  As I thought back, I realized that my service to Christ really hadn't cost me much, if any.  Now I know the reason, it is because I've always chosen to serve.  So, I served when it's convenient for me, I served only what appeals to me, I served only those whom I like, ...etc.

It all comes down to being available for God.  Often times I've made myself not available to God because I've chosen to serve instead of being a servant.  Christ had convicted me through the words of Paul Siaki, one who had chosen to be a servant.  Praise the Lord and the Holy Spirit who continue to guide us and convict us when we have gone astray!!

In Christ,

Ken

if you are going to san juan capistrano

Go down south on Interstate 5, get off at Ortega Highway, turn inland for about 7 and a half miles, you will see Caspers Wilderness Park. Drive in, park your car, enjoy a great hiking with blue skies and chaparral scenery.

On your way back on Ortega Highway, go past the I-5, the first traffic light you'll see is at a street named Del Obispo. Make a hurried left turn there, drive a couple hundred yards down the street, turn right to a Sizzler Restaurant and enjoy a hearty salad bar lunch for only $6.99, if you call the manager by his name and told him you had called him earlier and he agreed to give you and your pals that special price just because you called. 

Two weeks later you receive a letter from some p.o. box in North Hollywood. It's an official looking paper with 4 color pictures in the middle: A driver with a hiking cap who looks like me; the back sight of car with a license plate that looks like mine; a blue Highlander (that looks like mine) right behind the limit line of an intersection, with a red left-turn light on; and the same blue Highlander turning left in the middle of the intersection, with that same red light on. On top of the letter says: NOTICE OF VIOLATION--Automated Red Light Enforcement System.

And that will cost you $366, $423 if you elect to go to the traffic school to avoid the point.

So, like my wife chastised me with glee: what's the hurry, man. Slow it down, brothers, especially when you are in San Juan Capistrano, near the intersection of Ortega Highway and Del Obispo Street (GPS Latitude  33°30'6.73"N, Longitude 117°39'36.68"W)...


San Francisco (the song)

If you're going to San Francisco 
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair 
If you're going to San Francisco 
You're gonna meet some gentle people there 
                         ...

San Juan Capistrano (can somebody sing this for me?)

If you're going to San Juan Capistrano
Be prepared to part some money there
If you're going to San Juan Capistrano
You're gonna meet some hidden camera there 

keep good thoughts

A "moment of truth" article to share with you:

If you look for something bad in another person, you will usually be able to find it. On the other hand, if you look for what is good, you are likely to find that too--and then more and more that is good.

As you regain a more balanced view of the other person, you will often find it easier to overlook minor offenses. I have experienced this process many times in my marriage. 

One day Corlette said something that really hurt me. I don't remember what she said, but I remember going out into the back yard a few minutes later to rake leaves. The more I dwelt on her words, the more deeply I slid into self-pity and resentment. I was steadily building up steam to go back into the house and let her know how wrong she was. But then God brought Philippians 4:8 to my mind.

Ha! I thought. There's nothing noble, right, or lovely about the way she's treating me! But the Holy Spirit wouldn't give up. The verse would not go away; it kept echoing in my mind. Finally, to get God off my back, I grudgingly conceded that Corlette is a good cook. This small concession opened the door to a stream of thoughts about my wife's good qualities. I recalled that she keeps a beautiful home and practices wonderful hospitality. She has always been kind toward my family, and she never missed an opportunity to share the gospel with my father (who eventually put his trust in Christ just two hours before he died). I realized that Corlette has always been pure and faithful, and I remembered how much she supports me through difficult times in my work. Every chance she gets, she attends the seminars I teach and sits smiling and supportive through hours of the same material (always saying she has learned something new). She is a marvelous counselor and has helped hundreds of children. And she even took up backpacking because she knew I loved it! I realized that the list of her virtues could go on and on.

Within minutes my attitude toward her was turned upside down. I saw her offensive comment for what it was--a momentary and insignificant flaw in an otherwise wonderful person. I dropped my rake and went inside, but not to unload a storm of resentment and criticism. To her surprise, I walked in, gave her a big hug, and told her how glad I was to be married to her. The conversation that followed led quickly to a warm reconciliation.

Taken from  The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict
by Ken Sande, Updated Edition (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 2003) p. 112-113

* Philippians 4:8

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

halloween again

Time flies, can't believe it's Halloween time again! The following is an article I did around this time last year, for a re-run:

Friday is Halloween, the kids' fun day. Stories and controversies abound about this day's origin, meaning, and whether Christians should celebrate it or not. But one thing I think historical and worth celebrating by all (or at least Protestant) Christians is that this is the day, 491 years ago, the Protestant Reformation--the movement that split Christendom into Catholic and Protestant camps all the way till this day--all got started.

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther, a German priest/theologian, posted his famous 95 theses on the door of a church in Wittenberg, a little town in today's eastern Germany, to display his objection to the "indulgences" the Church was selling. An indulgence was a printed permit or coupon with monetary value of personal confession of sin. The idea was sinners could buy indulgences to release them from divine punishment, or "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs," went the commercial jingle of the day. The Church used such "fund raisers" to collect revenues to help rebuilding St. Peter's basilica in Rome, or as political payback by some local bishops to Rome for their clergical assignments. Though Luther's intention was to dispute and argue the subject within the Church, copies of these theses got spread quickly throughout Europe (making the controversy one of the first in history to be fanned by the printing press) and unleashed a reform movement that would eventually effect all political and social structures of the Western world.

Besides objection to the indulgences, Martin Luther had many other theological differences with the Roman Church of the day. His studies of the Bible, especially the epistles of St. Paul, had led him to the conclusion that Christ was the sole mediator between God and man and that forgiveness of sin and salvation are effected by God's Grace alone and are received by faith alone on the part of man. This point of view turned him against scholastic theology, which had emphasized man's role in his own salvation, and against many church practices that emphasized justification by good works.

Luther also condemned the vow of celibacy and, as a former monk, he married a former nun that he helped escape from a convent in 1525, when he was 42 and she was 26. By all accounts theirs was a happy marriage, with 6 children. One of their descendants was Paul von Hindenburg, president of Germany after World War I and before the Nazi takeover.

Another great accomplishment by Luther is his translation of Bible from Latin to German language. He is not the first one to do such work, but is by far the greatest according to historians and literary scholars. The Luther Bible contributed to the emergence of the modern German language and is regarded as a landmark in German literature.

According to American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, these are Luther's most important theological insights:

(1) Humankind is entrapped in the ancient temptation to play God (Genesis 3:5), violating the first of all divine commandments, "You shall have no other gods."

(2) Liberation from this original sin comes through faith of at least two people ... one who tells another of Christ as the source of freedom from sin, and one who, so addressed, affirms faith in Christ alone.

(3) The Christian life is one in which, though we are sinners by nature, we are at the same time saints by God's grace and love.

(4) The Christian life is lived in two realms that belong equally to God ... church and society. This calls for Christian commitment to education, fair economic practices, and a life of mission to the ungodly.

Happy Reformation Anniversary! 

trip to northern california

I went off to Northern California the other weekend with my wife for her Taipei 1st Girls High School reunion in the Bay Area. Not that I fancied seeing many other just-turned-50 young ladies ("Celebrating Our 50th Birthdays" is the theme of their reunion) like my wife, but I wanted to take the opportunity to visit some old high school and college friends of mine (another just-turned-50 bunch of the opposite sex) who live in the Bay Area.

The drive north went swiftly. I almost got a speeding ticket, though: I was driving over 85 mph when I saw a highway patrol car lying in wait on the flat central plain I-5 side. Luckily, a young Mustang driver that I precautiously let passing ahead just a moment ago got caught by that patrol car. Ain't I older and wiser or what :)

Paul is a very good friend of mine in college, and we stayed at his home for the night. He's got a lovely wife, a cool kid, and a fun dog named Oreo. I had my first dog walking exercise with it and Paul. Watching the dogs play in green field, chatting with friendly neighbors, under a balmy autumn sunset.. life is picturesquely beautiful here. Paul invited a couple other college friends to his home and we all had a wonderful dinner together, chatting and laughing all the way till late night.

Saturday is a dayful of events: visit to a neat farmer's market at the piers, cruise in the San Francisco Bay with lunch buffet, sight seeing at Golden Gate Bridge and Lombard Street, while listening to these young old gals passing microphone on the bus telling fun times of the old and their careers and families after graduating from the high school. Seems everyone has a good, satisfactory life so far and will continue to have for many years to come..

Saturday night featured a dinner party at the hotel where all reunion goers stayed. However, my wife didn't buy the party ticket for me as I was planning on meeting some high school friends of mine that evening. Something disrupted that plan, though: my left foot's Achilles tendon had been bothering me since the night before, all after I took a vigorous work-out on Paul's sleek exercise machine at his home--an unwise move by a not so wise young old man after all :). I ended up staying in the hotel room watching Dodgers sweep the Cubs, USC Trojans trounce their football opponents as they usually do. Sweet!

I did have a great reunion with some high school pals Sunday, at Joseph's home, where we stayed for our last night of the trip. Joseph was my best friend in high school, and the one who got me in touch with Christianity, and tolerated and tried to answer every weird question I had about God and faith and life when we were both just 15,16,17 years old. I always appreciate and admire his patience and the loving kindness he shows me and everyone, 35 years ago and today, the same, good, old Joe. We exchanged thoughts and stories of our recent lives all night long until 1:30 in the morning. 

Michael is both my high school and college pal and I met him twice on this trip, at Paul's home and at Joseph's. He has an autistic son Jefferson that we knew since he was a kid, and now he's 17 years old. He's autistic but plays great piano, and Michael and his wife take him to a nursing home every Sunday afternoon to play piano entertaining those old people. We went there that Sunday afternoon just to hear him play. Michael's other kid, Carol, a 14 year old teen age girl who excels on ice skating herself, was there too. She sits next to Jefferson when he plays, announcing the song titles, turning pages for him, while Jefferson peers at her from time to time to get hint from her so he won't play like a run-away train (according to Michael). It was such a beautiful, moving little-sister-helping-big-brother sight that my eyes begin to moisten when the piano plays..

book of love

Here's one fine piece from our own brother Ken Hsu some time ago:

We often heard or used the phrases "authority of the scripture" or "based on the scripture." So, what exactly is this "authority" we talked about? Most of us have preconceived ideas on what authority is. As such, we start with authority and then we try to fit Scripture into that mold.

Take driving, for example. We have a rule book that "authoritatively" tells us what we can do and what we cannot do in any given situation. At any moment, we can thumb through this rule book and find answers to our questions regarding driving on the road. Take the charter for any organization, and we find, again, rules on what to do and what not to do for membership in the organization.

Is this our Bible? Do we read Scriptures to get out of it a list of rules to follow? Do we read Scriptures looking for answers the way we look for traffic law questions? How does the Scriptures "authoritatively" guide and lead us?

Think of this analogy (from N.T. Wright). Let's say we have, in our hand, a play from Shakespeare. The play consists of 5 acts. However, we only have the first 4 acts. The fifth act has been lost. Then, after watching the first 4 acts, the audience clamor for the fifth and final act. What to do? We gather up scholars who are familiar with Shakespeare's work and who are familiar with that period of time in our history. Together with the actors, we come up with a story for act 5 that is consistent with the stories from the first 4 acts and bring the play to its closure.

In a similar way the Scriptures tell us a story, a story of a loving God reaching out to His wayward children, to redeem them, and to bring them back to His glory. Does the Scriptures tell us the entire story? Not yet! We have a glimpse from the book of Revelation how it's all going to end. However, we are "continuing" the story right now. We are bridging the gap between now and the end day when God renews His creation.

How are we to bridge the gap and continue the story? In a consistent manner with what the Scriptures have "authoritatively" told us how God had dealt with His people in Scripture's stories. Going back to the analogy of a play. The first few acts in the Scriptures consist of God, prophets/judges, Christ, and apostles. Now it's church's turn to be on the stage. How are we, the body of Christ -- church, to continue the storyline of the play?

First we recognize our mandate from God. He is sending us out into the world to proclaim the Good News. The word "apostle" comes from the Greek word "apostellein" and means one sent with a message. This is where the authority lies. The authority of the Scriptures comes from God. Our authority comes from God. God is ultimately the authority on everything we do as He sends us out and we are His messengers.

What did God send us out with? A rule book to follow? Pharisees tried that approach and failed. A question and answer book? A quick glance of our Bible tells us that's not it either. What then? Sotries. God sends us out with stories and parables.

Rules and doctrines are used to control people. They put people in a box from which they cannot grow. In the end, the box becomes their coffin. Stories, on the other hand, speak to people's worldview. In hearing the stories, the hearers get to situate themselves in the framework and settings of the stories, from which they can come to a new paradigm to set their worldview with God's view.

That's what Scriptures should do for us, to turn our worldview into "God-view." Let us live out the stories, let us continue the stories that God had started long ago, that many saints throughout the centuries had faithfuly continued, and let us read our Scriptures with that in mind. They are not just ancient stories written in ancient languages that are remote to us. They are stories, God's stories, from which we come to understand how God wants us to face this fallen world, from which we are to continue to act in a consistent manner to complete the story, God's story!! A-men.

Peace,

Ken

pride gets in the way

Back in my "salad days" when I was going in and out of campus crusade groups in college "looking for God," one day a girl Christian a couple years senior asked me: "Tell me, what's the real reason that's stopping you from believing?" I was a bit surprised by such direct question, but I gave her my honest answer: "I am looking for the Truth, and I will accept it when I find it." (Now that I am recalling it, it brings to mind the part of the New Testament where the Roman Governor Pilate murmured "what is Truth" when he questioned Jesus if he is a Jewish king and Jesus answered "I came into the world to testify to the truth"... )

Anyway, back to that episode, two key words there are "surprised" and "honest": I was surprised by such question because I honestly didn't think there could be any other way than to accept it if you find the Truth--Kudos to the idealistic and pure heart of my youth!

Now if you ask me the same question: "What is really hindering you from completely accepting God as your savior, supreme commander, Lord of all facets of your life?" I would say "Most likely, pride."

Pride can be in many forms. Thinking I know better is certainly one form of pride. Knowing I am no better yet still wanting to hold on to my own way, is another form of pride--foolish pride, in that case. 

Truth can be of many forms too. But one truth I think we can all recognize by now is that all things in life are not under our control; there must be something or someone greater out there in charge. Recognizing that, if I still refuse to believe in that superior being, what else could it be but my stubborn sense of self that wants to hold on to be the "master of my own destiny," sad and lonely as it might be? Or as Ernest Hemingway once said in his defiant statement: "A man can be destroyed, but he cannot be defeated." Pride is so tragic.

I have read a couple of interviews/debates Rick Warren had with journalists and atheists. At some points, I would see Warren went out of the thought track of the arguments and asked questions such as "if I said so and so, would you not like me any more?" half jokingly, or "so you just don't want a boss over your life so you don't have to change the way you live, right?" Critics gave negative points to such statements and decided they are indications that Warren is losing the debate intellectually. But I sympathize with Warren because I know he's really trying to hit the heart of the debater's problem there ("the heart of the problem is the heart"), rather than trying to win the arguments intellectually (no one gets won over through intellectual arguments, anyways). "People don't believe because they don't want to believe", we all heard this before, but now it rings so true to me.

Pride is actually a bondage too. Since I made my surrender to God, gradually I see it's really a great relief I get in return, as I don't have to carry the yoke of life all by myself, as I can look things with greater ease and perspective, knowing that I am no longer the center of the universe any more. How funny!

tony blair

Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister for 10 years until last June, is a well known person around the world. But probably less well known is that he is a deeply religious person who just converted to Catholicism last December, and had recently launched a "Tony Blair Faith Foundation" of which Rick Warren is an advisory board member aiming to "show how faith is a powerful force for good in the modern world". The following is an excerpt from a recent Time Magazine report I read: (http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1810020,00.html)

Blair's parents were not churchgoers. But Blair's faith had been noted by those around him since he was a small child. Blair "rediscovered" his Christianity while a student at Oxford in the 1970s. He was part of an informal late-night wine-and-cigarettes discussion group led by Peter Thompson, a charismatic Australian student and Anglican priest then in his 30s. Thompson, according to Blair, was "an amazing guy—the first person really to give me a sense that the faith I intuitively felt was something that could be reconciled with being a fun-loving, interesting, open person." In 1974 Blair was received into the Church of England at his college chapel. 

Blair's faith took on an extra dimension when he met and married Cherie Booth—like him, a young lawyer—after graduating. Blair's wife is a devout Catholic; not a posh Catholic, but a Liverpool-Irish, working-class, convent-educated girl with cousins who became priests. In her recent memoir, Cherie makes plain the centrality of religion to their relationship. Of the young Blair, she says, "Religion was more important to him than anyone I had ever met outside the priesthood." She and Blair would spend hours "talking about God and what we were here for. I don't think it would be too strong to say it was this that brought us together."

Their four children have been brought up as Catholics, and Blair has worshiped at Catholic churches for more than 20 years. But Britain, for all its secularism, is still nominally a Protestant nation with an established Protestant church; when Princess Anne's son Peter Phillips—11th in succession to the throne—married on May 17, his Canadian wife had to renounce her Catholicism. It was not until Blair left office that his long spiritual journey reached a destination that many had long anticipated, and he was received into the Catholic Church. 

Blair says he converted to catholicism to fully share his family's faith. But he plainly enjoys being part of a worldwide community with shared values, traditions and rituals. Blair now wants to tap into the global links that have been built between development activists and people of faith. His foundation will seek to partner with organizations to advance the U.N.'s eight Millennium Development Goals adopted in 2000. Blair's first target is malaria, which kills around 850,000 children each year; many of these deaths could be easily avoided by prophylactic bedding. "If you got churches and mosques and those of the Jewish faith working together to provide the bed nets that are necessary to eliminate malaria," says Blair, "what a fantastic thing that would be. That would show faith in action, it would show the importance of cooperation between faiths, and it would show what faith can do for progress." 

In its work in support of the Millennium Development Goals, the foundation will use its funds—it aims to build up a war chest of several hundred million dollars—to work with others active in the developing world. Rick Warren's Saddleback Church, for example, uses church-based clinics to provide basic health care in Africa. (Warren will serve on the foundation's advisory board.)

Blair says his foundation will try to ensure that faiths encounter one another "through action as much as dialogue." But the dialogue is important. In our conversations, Blair kept harking back to the idea that people of different faiths need to learn more about one another and understand where they can work in common. The alternative, he thinks, is that religious people will be tempted to define themselves in exclusion to others rather than in cooperation with them—with potentially disastrous results. 

One senses, however, that it is not just relations among faiths that Blair wants to influence. It is also the relationship between those who rejoice in their faith and those who think religion is something quaint, the stuff of history books. And here Blair's religious agenda intersects another of his concerns: the growing distance between U.S. and European attitudes toward the world.

Blair has enough old-fashioned British reserve to have his doubts about the way religion is used in the American public square. Whenever Blair was on a foreign trip, says a close aide, his staff had to find him a church in which to worship each Sunday—and then try to make sure that the press didn't learn of it. By contrast, says this aide, "Bush and Clinton are always photographed coming out of church holding a Bible." But at the same time, Blair insists that Europeans need to understand the importance faith has in American life—and recognize that in its all-pervasive secularism, it is Western Europe, not the U.S., that is out of step with much of the rest of the world. "Europe," says Blair, "is more exceptional than sometimes it likes to think of itself."

Blair is always careful to downplay the role his faith played in complex matters of life and death, such as the invasion of Iraq. "You don't put a hotline up to God and get the answers," he says. At the same time, he plainly thinks his faith has helped him make tough decisions. "The worst thing in politics," he says, "is when you're so scared of losing support that you don't do what you think is the right thing. What faith can do is not tell you what is right but give you the strength to do it." But in a nation like Britain, where cynicism is a way of life, that distinction—between faith as a guide to action and faith as an aid to decision—is almost bound to be lost.

In sum, Blair is convinced that religion matters—that it shapes what people believe and how they behave, that it is vital to understanding our world, that it can be used to improve the lot of humankind. But if not engaged seriously, Blair thinks, faith can be used to induce ignorance, fear and a withdrawal of communities into mutually antagonistic spheres at just the time that globalization is breaking down barriers between peoples and nations. "Faith is part of our future," Blair says, "and faith and the values it brings with it are an essential part of making globalization work." 

"You can't hope to understand what's happening in the world if you don't know that religion is a very important force in people's lives," says Ruth Turner, 37, formerly a top aide to Blair in 10 Downing Street, who will head the foundation. "You can't make the world work properly unless you understand that, while not everyone will believe in God or have a spiritual life, a lot of people will." Blair, she says, has been thinking about these issues "for decades and decades and decades." Over time, says Blair of the foundation's work, "this is how I want to spend the rest of my life."

God bless the man and his work!

no beers served here

This is a reminder of another sort:

Beer contains female hormones

Last month, National University of Lesotho scientists released the results of a recent analysis that revealed the presence of female hormones in beer.

Men should take a concerned look at their beer consumption.

The theory is that beer contains female hormones (hops contain phytoestrogens) and that by drinking enough beer, men turn into women  .

  
To test the theory, 100 men drank 8 pints of beer each within a 1 hour period.

It was then observed that 100% of the test subjects :

1) Argued over nothing.
2) Refused to apologize when obviously wrong.
 3) Gained weight.
4) Talked excessively without making sense.
5) Became overly emotional.
6) Couldn't drive.
7) Failed to think rationally.
8) Had to sit down while urinating.

 

  No further testing was considered necessary.

  
Send this to the men you know to warn them about drinking too much beer!

That's why we don't serve beers during our men's group meetings!!

See you Saturday,

pray without ceasing II

How does one "pray without ceasing"? Here's another perspective:

A number of ministers were met together for the discussion of some difficult questions; one, how the command, "Pray without ceasing," could be complied with. One of the men was asked to write an essay to be read at the next meeting.

Their conversation was overheard by a maid servant. "What," she exclaimed to her master when the guests had departed, "wait a whole month for the meaning! Why, that is one of the easiest and best in the Bible."

"Well," said the minister, "and what can you say about it, Mary? When you have so many things to do, can you pray all the time?"

"Why, yes sir," said Mary, "the more things I have to do the more I can pray."

"Let me hear how you do this," said the minister.

"Well," replied the girl, "when I open my eyes in the morning I pray, 'Lord, open the yes of my understanding;' while I am dressing, I pray that I may be clothed with righteousness. When I am washing myself, I ask for the washing of regeneration. When I begin to work, I pray that I may have strength equal to the day. When I kindle the fire, I pray that God will revive my soul. When I begin to sweep out the house, I pray that my heart be cleansed of all impurities. When I am preparing the breakfast, I desire to be fed with the manna of heaven and the sincere milk of the Word. As I am busy with the children, I look to God as my Father and pray for the spirit of adoption that I may be His child, -- and so on through the day. All I do furnishes me with a thought for prayer."

"Enough," said the minister, "These things are revealed to babes and often hid from the wise and prudent. Go on, Mary, pray without ceasing."

pray without ceasing

How does one "pray without ceasing" (Thessalonians 5:17)? Here's one "hard way" by a "modern mystic" (Excerpts from letters written at Dansalan, Lake Lano, Philippine Islands to his father by Frank C. Laubach, Ph.D.):

Although I have been a minister and a missionary for fifteen years, I have not lived the entire day of every day in minute by minute effort to follow the will of God.

Two years ago a profound dissatisfaction led me to begin trying to line up my actions with the will of God about every fifteen minutes or every half hour. Other people to whom I confessed this intention said it was impossible. I judge from what I have heard that few people are really trying even that. But this year I have started out trying to live all my waking moments in conscious listening to the inner voice, asking without ceasing, "What, Father, do you desire said? What, Father, do you desire done this minute?"

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It is a will act. I compel my mind to open straight out toward God. I wait and listen with determined sensitiveness. I fix my attention there, and sometimes it requires a long time early in the morning to attain that mental state. I determine not to get out of bed until that mind set, that concentration upon God, is settled. It also requires determination to keep it there, for I feel as though the words and thoughts of others near me were constantly exerting a drag backward or sidewise. But for the most part recently I have not lost sight of this purpose for long and have soon come back to it. After awhile, perhaps, it will become a habit, and the sense of effort will grow less.

Mind is a flowing something. It oscillates. Concentration is merely the continuous return to the same problem from a million angles. We do not think of one thing. We always think of the relationship of at least two things, and more often of three or more things simultaneously. So my problem is this: Can I bring God back in my mind-flow every few seconds so that God shall always be in my mind as an after image, shall always be one of the elements in every concept and precept?

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Oh, this thing of keeping in constant touch with God, of making him the object of my thought and the companion of my conversations, is the most amazing thing I ever ran across. It is working...Now I like God's presence so much that when for a half hour or so he slips out of mind - as he does many times a day - I feel as though I had deserted him, and as though I had lost something very precious in my life.

This concentration upon God is strenuous, but everything else has ceased to be so. I think more clearly, I forget less frequently. Things which I did with a strain before, I now do easily and with no effort whatever. I worry about nothing, and lose no sleep. I walk on air a good part of the time. Even the mirror reveals a new light in my eyes and face. I no longer feel in a hurry about anything. Everything goes right. Each minute I meet calmly as though it were not important. Nothing can go wrong excepting one thing. That is that God may slip from my mind if I do not keep on my guard. If He is there, the universe is with me. My task is simple and clear.

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The week with its failures and successes has taught me one new lesson. It is this: "I must talk about God, or I cannot keep him in my mind. I must give Him away in order to have Him." That is the law of the spirit world. What one gives one has, what one keeps to oneself one loses.

This experiment which I am trying is the most strenuous discipline which any man ever attempted. I am not succeeding in keeping God in my mind very many hours of the day, and from the point of view of experiment number one I should have to record a pretty high percentage of failure. But the other experiment - what happens when I do succeed - is so successful that it makes up for the failure of number one. God does work a change. The moment I turn to Him it is like turning on an electric current which I feel through my whole being. I find also that the effort to keep God in my mind does something to my mind which every mind needs to have done to it. I am given something difficult enough to keep my mind with a keen edge. The constant temptation of every man is to allow his mind to grow old and lose its edge. I feel that I am perhaps more lazy mentally than the average person, and I require the very mental discipline which this constant effort affords.

So my answer to my two questions to date would be
1. "Can it be done all the time?" Hardly.
2: "Does the effort help?" Tremendously. Nothing I have ever found proves such a tonic to mind and body.

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Worries have faded away like ugly clouds and my soul rests in the sunshine of perpetual peace. I can lie down anywhere in this universe bathed around by my own Father's Spirit. The very universe has come to seem so homey! I know only a little more about it than before, but that little is all! It is vibrant with the electric ecstasy of God! I know what it means to be "God-intoxicated."

When one has struck some wonderful blessing that all mankind has a right to know about, no custom or false modesty should prevent him from telling it, even though it may mean the unbarring of his soul to the public gaze. I have found such a way of life. I ask nobody else to live it, or even to try it. I only witness that it is wonderful, it is indeed heaven on earth. And it is very simple, so simple that any child could practice it: Just to pray inwardly for everybody one meets, and to keep on all day without stopping, even when doing other work of every kind. This simple practice requires only a gentle pressure of the will, not more than a person can exert easily. It grows easier as the habit becomes fixed. Yet it transforms life into heaven. Everybody takes on a new richness, and all the world seems tinted with glory. I do not of course know what others think of me, but the joy which I have within cannot be described. If there never were any other reward than that, it would more than justify the practice to me.

pete carroll

As a USC alumnus, I certainly enjoy the fun and excitement the great Trojans Football brought us for the past, who knows, seems like decades, on the field. But I didn't know there's an even greater story off the field regarding their coach, Pete Carroll, until I read it on the LA Times sports section last week:

Five years ago, moved by news of murders near USC's campus, Carroll formed a foundation called "A Better LA", dedicated to ending inner-city violence. He hoped to use the self-improvement thinking he's long leaned on in coaching to help people in poor and dangerous neighborhoods. 

He struggled to gain traction. He didn't have much in the way of relationships with the gang members he hoped to influence. Then Carroll met Bo Taylor, a former gang member who long ago had dedicated his life to turning street toughs to the straight and narrow. Carroll and Taylor grew close. To be truly effective, Taylor told the coach, Carroll would need to learn more about the dreams and fears of people living in forgotten neighborhoods. The only way to do that would be to become a regular at the hot spots. 

So twice a month Carroll leaves his comfy digs at USC, hops in the back of a beaten Camry driven by a former gang member and heads to South L.A. neighborhoods where the snap of gunfire and the anguish of death occur with the steady regularity of a metronome.

Most often, he arrives near midnight and walks shadowy streets with that familiar, electric strut, surrounded by little boys, grandparents, crack heads and gang toughs. He empathizes, listens, encourages, laughs. He talks about jobs and kids and marriage, about perspective and courage, about how difficult it must be to be caught in the madness of the streets.

Carroll's foundation now helps fund Taylor's violence prevention nonprofit, Unity One, and several like it. They have a strategy: In the hot spots, identify the charismatic gang and neighborhood leaders, the ones everyone follows. Befriend them, gain their trust, help them change if needed, try to get them to take classes that teach everything from mediation to positive thinking. Even pay the ones who are most dedicated, turning them loose to help educate and prod.

"I don't go to judge . . . just to show that someone cares," he said. "Just go to give people here a little hope. . . . Get folks to step back and think. Hopefully, get them to change."

I don't know if Pete Carroll is Christian or not, but his deed sure earns my respect and moves me greatly.

* For the full story, go to: http://www.latimes.com/sports/college/usc/la-sp-streeter20apr20,1,913239.column?page=1
* For "A Better LA" web site, go to: http://www.abetterla.com

brad pitt

Brad Pitt is one Hollywood star I like, not because he looks greatly handsome or acts well, though both are true, but all because one day years ago I happened to see him on a TV interview, and he was asked a question by the host: "Are you happy now (with all the fame and gain you have already)?", and he paused, then with a little smile said "Happiness is over-rated.."  Wow, this guy's deep. So I started paying attention to news about him, and his wife, Angelina Jolie, and surely they two have done quite some admirable work for mankind during the past few years..

We live in a country that lists "the pursuit of happiness" as one "inalienable" right on their founding document, it's no wonder then there are so many self-help books and theories on what happiness is, how to get happy, be happy, get even happier after you got it, etc. And indeed, according to surveys, Americans are happier people than most others in the industrialized world. Maybe America is indeed blessed--after all, we do have the highest percentage of Christians in this country among the industrialized world as well, don't we?

Is Bible a guidebook to happiness, or Christianity a gospel of happy living then? It does exhort us to "eat, drink, and be merry," "because tomorrow we die", that we like to use fondly when comes party time. Or taking it less carnally, up a spiritual notch, one reformed Christian doctrine says: "The chief end of man," is to "glorify God by enjoying Him forever." ("Christian Hedonism" by John Piper.) And personally sometimes I think Jesus is a humorist who "teases" the Pharisees when he told them that they had committed adultery already when they had wrong ideas seeing beautiful women!

But surely the Bible is not a light-hearted book like that at all. On the contrary, it says bundles about souls of sorrow and hearts in agony. From the cries of King David's--"the lamentations of death compassed me about; the pains of hell surrounded me; I cried in my tribulation," to the "spiritual darkness" that haunts Mother Teresa for decades even while she's dedicated her life serving God among the poorest of the poor in the slums of 20th century Calcutta, are testimonies that Christianity is by no means a "feel good" religion some make it out to be.

So what does God want me to pursue in my earthly life? One morning I woke up and the word "wisdom" came to me. Happiness is a psychological state that is not a pursuable object by itself. But wisdom is. How do I do that? By going out and experiencing life with a Godly mind, soul, and heart, I think. Or here I'd like to paraphrase what I heard our dear brother Ed said some time ago, permission assumed given: "Regarding my SHAPE, I realize I can do nothing about my S(piritual gifts), nor my A(bility) or P(ersonality), as they seem pretty much set already. The only thing I can still do then, is my E(xperience). By trying out different experiences, I hope I can then find out what my passion, or H(eart), is, and know how best to serve God." To me, a real wise person is not one smart or outwardly successful guy, but one who always knows when to give people a word of comfort, a kind smile, or a pat on the back. We all know people like these around us. They are true blessings from God, and they bring love, joy, and yes happiness, to people all around them. I sure hope I can be one of them someday. 


"If I turn on an electric light at night out of doors I don't judge the power by looking at the bulb, but by seeing how many objects it lights up."
"The brightness of a source of light is appreciated by the illumination it projects upon non-luminous objects."
"The value of a spiritual way of life is appreciated by the amount of illumination thrown upon the things of this world."

--Simone Weil

good routines

The other evening, on our way home from a dinner party in a ride share with some friends, the topic of "empty nest" was casually lipped upon. Light-heartedly we congratulated one lady who's kids are all going to colleges this year that she's going to have time to take care of her dear old husband again. "Actually, I am not much worried about that job," she said, "than about taking care of his mother"--who has been living with them for the past 10 years or so. We were a bit surprised to hear that, because as far as we can recall, her mother-in-law had been in pretty good physical shape and mentally agile. But, that was years ago when we last saw her. For the past few years, she said, her mother-in-law has been living a self-confining life within their home. She seldom comes out of her room, lying on bed most of the time. She has no social life, no hobbies, does not even watch TV. She's still physically sound, but there seems no joy or purpose in her living. She's just biting time, till the end, it seems.

The pictures of my father-in-law came to my mind (and I am sure to my wife's too). He had been an active man during his career as a utility company manager and even after he retired. Yet in the past two years, especially during our recent trip home last December, we found him physically and mentally retreating fast. He's staying in his room more and more, insisting on his ways more and more, in addition to the physical difficulties that hamper his movement.

I feel sad for both cases and desire to do something for them next time I can (spending more time with my father-in-law, as my wife had scolded me already for not doing enough in our last trip there, is certainly one thing I'll do). What alerts me, though, is how quickly and easily we all can fall into such seemingly hopeless trap. My father-in-law had talked about doing some volunteer work after retirement, and we had been urging him to do some simple daily work or physical exercise since many years ago. Yet for some reason he couldn't consistently make those, and the inertia set in, till he became physically and mentally incapable.

Our body deteriorates every day--life is like morning mist that disappears, said the Bible, and that by itself is nothing to be dreaded about. What would be dreadful and sad to me is to let the physical-mental degradation drag my spiritual keenness down, or more subtly, fill my life with "garbage routines"--even at a relatively young age of 50, I feel I am more apt to stay put with my daily routines, however it was set up to begin with, than, say, when I was 45.

One way to combat this, I guess, is to set up "good routines" that take away the space of "bad routines", so I win the contest by design and by default.

Meeting you guys every other Saturday morning counts as one "good routine", I think.


"When you have thoughts and ideas that are worthy of credit to God, learn to compare and associate them with all that happens in nature-the rising and the setting of the sun, the shining of the moon and the stars, and the changing of the seasons. You will begin to see that your thoughts are from God as well, and your mind will no longer be at the mercy of your impulsive thinking, but will always be used in service to God."  -- Oswald Chambers

why do we work so hard

It so happened during our recent small group study the subject of "work as a God given virtue" (Adam was assigned the work of naming animals and working in the Garden of Eden before the fall) was brought up and discussed. It then brought to my mind there seems to be some theory claiming Christian Protestantism has something to do with the rise of Capitalism and economical prosperity of modern world. So I dug into the Internet and found something interesting that I thought I share it with you:

Two prominent figures of the Protestant Reformation movement, Martin Luther and John Calvin, had the following views on work that were somewhat different from traditional Catholic church's: 

Martin Luther believed that people could serve God through their work, that the professions were useful, that work was the universal base of society and the cause of differing social classes, and that a person should work diligently in their own occupation and should not try to change from the profession to which he was born. To do so would be to go against God's laws since God assigned each person to his own place in the social hierarchy. The major point at which Luther differed from the medieval concept of work was regarding the superiority of one form of work over another. Luther, being a former priest himself, regarded the monastic and contemplative life, held up as the ideal during the middle ages, as an egotistic and unaffectionate exercise on the part of the monks, and he accused them of evading their duty to their neighbors. For Luther, a person's vocation was equated as his calling, but all calling's were of equal spiritual dignity.

Luther still did not pave the way for a profit-oriented economic system because he disapproved of commerce as an occupation. From his perspective, commerce did not involve any real work. Luther also believed that each person should earn an income which would meet his basic needs, but to accumulate or horde wealth was sinful.

According to Max Weber, an early 20th century German political economist/sociologist who coined the term "Protestant work ethic", it was John Calvin who introduced the theological doctrines which combined with those of Martin Luther to form a significant new attitude toward work. Calvin was a French theologian whose concept of predestination was revolutionary. Central to Calvinist belief was the Elect, those persons chosen by God to inherit eternal life. All other people were damned and nothing could change that since God was unchanging. While it was impossible to know for certain whether a person was one of the Elect, one could have a sense of it based on his own personal encounters with God. Outwardly the only evidence was in the person's daily life and deeds, and success in one's worldly endeavors was a sign of possible inclusion as one of the Elect. A person who was indifferent and displayed idleness was most certainly one of the damned, but a person who was active, austere, and hard-working gave evidence to himself and to others that he was one of God's chosen ones.

Calvin taught that all men must work, even the rich, because to work was the will of God. It was the duty of men to serve as God's instruments here on earth, to reshape the world in the fashion of the Kingdom of God, and to become a part of the continuing process of His creation. Men were not to lust after wealth, possessions, or easy living, but were to reinvest the profits of their labor into financing further ventures. Earnings were thus to be reinvested over and over again, ad infinitum, or to the end of time. Using profits to help others rise from a lesser level of subsistence violated God's will since persons could only demonstrate that they were among the Elect through their own labor.

Selection of an occupation and pursuing it to achieve the greatest profit possible was considered by Calvinists to be a religious duty. Not only condoning, but encouraging the pursuit of unlimited profit was a radical departure from the Christian beliefs of the middle ages. In addition, unlike Luther, Calvin considered it appropriate to seek an occupation which would provide the greatest earnings possible. If that meant abandoning the family trade or profession, the change was not only allowed, but it was considered to be one's religious duty.

In sum, the combined theological teachings of Luther and Calvin encouraged work in a chosen occupation with an attitude of service to God, viewed work as a calling and avoided placing greater spiritual dignity on one job than another, approved of working diligently to achieve maximum profits, required reinvestment of profits back into one's business, allowed a person to change from the craft or profession of his father, and associated success in one's work with the likelihood of being one of God's Elect.

So goes the theory.

hypocrites

"Are we hypocrites?" my wife asked me the other day, on our way home from a small group meeting.

BIG question.

I remember when I first started attending small group meetings back 15-20 years ago, the word "hypocrite" often came to my mouth for no reason (sometimes during the middle of the night). Rather than interpreting this as a serious criticism or negative reaction to those nice people I was "fellowshipping" with (I was not officially a Christ follower then), I think it was more a reflection of my young, uncompromising heart that associated so closely with Jesus' harsh sentiment toward the Scribes and Pharisees, the hypocrites of his day, that is recorded in the New Testament. What a "joy"--for lack of better word, to hear Jesus call these fake people the living dead, walking coffins, snakes and vipers!

Then I grow older, see more things and experience more people, I get mellower, and I no longer burst out these words in my mind that often, nor as vividly as before when they do occur.

Instead, sometimes I wonder, if I am the hypocrite.

Do I say things that I don't do myself?

Do I pretend to be someone that I am not?

Take, for example, this occasion when my wife asked that firy question. It came after we had a vehement argument about how we treated our teen age kid, her 19-year old nephew, whom we took in 3 years ago and had just left for college last September. Long story short, he's not the great, nice behaving kid we expected him to be, we had both concluded long ago, and there were instances that made us both decide we had to be strict on him, to teach him some life lessons, so to speak. But now, after he had left home, my wife feels maybe we have been too harsh on him after all. "He's just a kid, really, no better and no worse than any other kids his age," she said. "Did we really give our care to him unconditionally, or did we do that only based on what suited us?"; "We talk about love all the time in front of other people, but have we really loved our kid enough?"

Though I tried to argue with her, in my heart I know what she said were true, as I have long pondered these questions myself and concluded the answers. We didn't really love him enough as parents should.

Am I a hypocrite then?

I guess I am.

The only solace I can take in this is that I know I am a hypocrite that knows himself to be one, and there is a higher standard that I can strive for, or, more accurately, a supreme power that I can rely on, to become a non-hypocrite one day.

Thank God for that.

cheap valentine

Other than my wife's birthday, Valentine's Day is probably the most intimidating day of the year for me.

First of all, I tend to forget it. It's just another day, isn't it? It usually falls on a weekday and people don't even take work off of it (Lucky are kids who get the day off as "Presidents' Birthday".. Hmm, why can't we have it as "Homeboss' Day" and all men get to go home and clean the house for the wives, supposedly, then I'll remember). Ah, wouldn't it be lovely if everyone, especially ladies, let it slip by just like any other normal, peaceful day of the year..

But nope, the commercial world won't let you go easy. Eventually I am reminded of the day's coming by all the Valentine's Day sales specials on TV and in stores. I have to act, that is, to buy something for my wife, while helping the economy a bit.

Now comes the other intimidating part: what to buy? Knowing my wife, and with the husbandly wisdom I gain through years of living with her, I know if I buy something really fancy, meaning high priced, she will first be flattered, perhaps, but then almost in an instant become upset that I "wasted" that much money on it (and in my honest mind I agree these overpriced vanity items have no practical use in life therefore "waste" is a right word for them). I may even have to return them afterwards.

The following is my true Valentine's Day gift story of last year:

I was buying some miscellaneous stuff at one Big Lots discount store, and noticed some tiny earings on sale near the checkout counter. Looked nice and pretty, I thought my wife would like it. So I bought it. I left the price tag on the earings.

I gave it to my wife on Valentine's Day. She did like it, and she noticed the price on the tag: $25.

"Hmm, not too expensive, huh," she said, smiling, knowing I didn't "waste" a fortune getting this thing she likes.

"Yup," I said, "Better still, it's on sale when I bought it."

"Really," She smiles even more. A woman always likes a good bargain, and she's been lecturing me never buy anything unless it is on sale. It looks like I finally am taking heed to her advice.

"How much was it on sale?" she asked.

"They marked it down to $15, 40% off," I said.

"Wow, that's a great deal." Her face shines. She's happy I saved that much money for her, or, in her name.

Well, I could have stopped here, she's completely happy now, I don't need to worry that she not likes the earings, or she thinks I bought a cheap gift for her. But I cannot resist the temptation.

"Do you know how much I actally paid for it," I said.

"What do you mean?" She's puzzled and real curious now.

"Well, they marked it down even further at the chcekout stand. I actually only paid $5 for it."

Now she's totally taken aback, but then she realizes I am telling her the truth (an honest husband have I always been), she bursts into laughters... She must be thinking that she married the smartest man in the world... or at least that's what I think she thinks.

One cheap Valentine's Day story for laughs. Don't try it at home. May not work for you or your wife :)