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!