February

This winter apparently is the warmest in 80 years would you believe. I say warmest with the understanding that you know previous winters this winter is being compared to. It is still not warm as the summer is warm, in fact, to me, it is decidedly cold at times. For that reason I have sought out the fireplace room here at Moody. A small gas fire gentle flicks away to my right as I sit comfortably on the end of this sofa. My caramel late, now empty, keeps my phone company on the small round table in front of me. It has been a good morning of reading for my Interpersonal Communication class and emailing my Dad. In an hour or so I will go to class, which hopefully won't be too taxing seeing as it is Friday afternoon.

The last few days I have been distracted with thoughts of Suffolk and a future there. The plan remains, at least for the moment, to return to my stomping grounds for the first 22 years of my life. I find most of my distraction brings to the exceedingly blissful thoughts of that swing-seat outside of the conservatory at home. It's a place to sit in the morning and drink tea and stew over the impending day. It's a place to sleep after church on Sunday, at least when the weather is warm enough. It's a place were my family and I sit in the evenings around the little fire and laugh until we can barely keep out eyes open. I suppose I am just looking forward to some rest, that's really what I am craving.

I wonder how rest fits in to these days.

"Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden" He said. I wish that would work at the moment. Call me disobedient if you like, or perhaps you might say, 'I know that too well, I'm with you on that one'. I hope I can find some rest before I reach the swing-seat. I hope that I am given just small few waking moments of that weary free and unladen rest soon.

January is not so cold this year.

The time is 2 minutes until tomorrow (right now... not time of publishing this post. When it is published it will most certainly be tomorrow... or... today).

I drank a late cup of strong coffee. This would normally be a disaster for such an early bird like me but has proven to be a grand providence because of a project I have do for my class in Interpersonal Communication. Fortunately in the forgetting of myself in relation to bedtime and the consumption of strong coffee has allowed me to have the energy and alertness to see this project through.

Life has been steady here so far. The homework has started to pile up and again I face the mountain of things pulling at me from all directions building. Again, I find myself wondering how it is possible for a human being like me to fit everything into the average week and still make it through. Sometimes I ask the Lord for an extra 20 hours in every day to fit things. He knows what is best for me, so I suppose I must continue with what I have.

The times with the Lord have been good and I am thankful. It's not always this way... but it's nice when it is.

I enjoy good quality conversations these days.

Coffee is tasting better all the time.

I seem to miss English chocolate all the time.

Philippians Chp 2 has be a top passage for the year.

...

Context. Context. Context.

I'd just finished playing a savage round of futsal with an enthusiastic bunch of Brazilian kids of the town of Itantaem, South-Eastern Brazil. We had been playing for hours and decided that we needed to have a rest in the classroom and get something to eat and drink. As a walked through the doorway to the classroom I noticed a Bible verse on the wall that had been there all the time but I just had not noticed it. In fact, the verse was one that I had heard often and thought little of it. However, this time something about it hit me.

The verse was that famous one in christian circles, and obviously the world over (or at least in South America). Philippians 4:13.

"I can do all thing through Christ who gives me strength."

There it was. On the wall in Portuguese waiting for me to see. As I waited in line for the drinking fountain I started to think, "All things"? What is that supposed to mean? So many have used this verse and said that they can do all things through Christ who gives them strength and yet have always failed to specify what those "things" actually are. I wondered for a moment about Paul and his intention when he wrote that verse if he really did mean that we can do all thing through Christ. I thought that there had to be more to this. Could I really do all things? Could I walk out the door and fly? Plant 1,000 churches in a week? Play for Man Utd? Score millions of goals for England in the next world cup? Can I really do all these things? Did Paul really mean that?

This verse continued to bug me. In fact, I would go as far as calling in my textual nemesis. It never made sense to me and yet I heard it so often and saw it used in all kinds of places. Had I missed the point that everyone else seemed to have grasped? Or was I just looking too deep into it and should leave it alone until it would be revealed to me in heaven one day?

Well I left it at that for a long time until this last semester when I preached through Philippians and unfortunately for me had to tackle this part of scripture. I toyed with skipping right over it but decided against it and went at it to really get to grips with it. Soon I started to understand a little more of what the professors at Moody had been talking about when they stressed that everything must be read in context (i.e reading around the verse to really understand what meaning was being conveyed). One professor went so far to say that scripture only becomes active and living at the level of scripture. He explained this by showing that anything smaller than a paragraph can really not be any different to other texts but at the size of a paragraph, chapter or book then has a very specific meaning and becomes the living word of God.

Imagine this...

James takes the ball and runs down the wing. He goes past one, then another (in my dreams) and heads for the by line. James crossed the ball over to Quincie in the middle who rises high in an effort to head the ball home. She makes contact and... the capital of France in Paris.

Doesn't make sense does it?

I think we do this with the Bible sometimes. We can be guilty of simply taking a small verse out of its context and using it wherever we think it fits. The chapter of book tells one story with all the chapters and verses included, working together to produce a thought or picture and yet we can remove what think fit and make it mean what we want it to say.

Let's apply this then to Philippians 4:13... I can do all things.

Well when we apply this principle of reading in context we understand a completely different picture of that verse. When we read back only a few verses we understand a context of Paul speaking about living contentedly and enduring through all situations and then, only then, does he say I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. All of a sudden Paul's words take on a new and probably more accurate meaning than what we understood before.

AND then before this Paul speaks about thinking about some really good things. With this extra context in mind we understand that Paul isn't writing about us being able to do absolutely anything, he is speaking about dwelling on such good things that when we walk through tough and good times we will be able to endure. Paul isn't speaking so much about a doing but rather a being. It's about who we are through the things that life throws at us.

There are many people who would be able to give a better explanation of this and perhaps you may completely disagree with me on everything. However, I have seen the value to looking at the Bible in context and allowing scripture to make sense at the level of scripture. It is alive, living and paradigm changing.

I think I'll end the little hermenuetics lesson here and go put some scripture into the context of the paragraph, chapter, book and entire Bible and let the meaning shine through.

Christmas 2011

Since finishing Moody for the semester we have been in Washington for the Christmas break. It has been 3 very lovely weeks and now tomorrow we leave to return to the city for another 4 months or so of work.

Over the break we have had the privilege of seeing all kinds of family and friends. Only this last week Quinc and I went on a day trip to Portland in Oregon and then went for a 2nd January float down the river (which I believe is a Miller-record). We had Christmas eve in West Seattle looking out towards the Pacific Ocean and the Olympic Mountain range. We had Christmas day at Paul and Loni's with about 35-40 people here. We went skiing for the first time ever, which was a huge success. For New Years Eve we had a little gathering here at Paul and Loni's round the fire outside.

I think my highlight of the whole trip was during our float down the river. There were 4 of us in the boat (Quinc, Paul, Elana and Me) and we stopped just before it rained, got out and made a fire. It was an area of the river that Paul calls 'The Canyon' with some great overhanging trees and rocks that add to the natural untouched beauty of the place. Over the fire we cooked Marshmallows and sausages and warmed up, ready for the stretch home in the rain. I don't know what it is about being outside in those 'stopping' moments that just gets me. I loved it and look forward to maybe doing in again some day.

The photo below is from Christmas eve in West Seattle looking west out towards the pacific.

Memories...

This first photo was a trek into the caves of the foothills of Mt Elgon with some friends. It turned out to be the most grueling walk of my life and made the 3 peak challenge feel like a walk in the park.

In the middle of the photo is my dear friend Pastor JOb Matimbai. He is one of the Kenyan Dream Team keeping the school going. He is a gentleman of integrity.

These two men with me are just as wonderful. Jacob on the left is a deaf pastor and helped build the school. Julius Juma on the right in a teacher who has served the school without pay for 2 years. He is now being paid and God has blessed his faithfulness. I miss them today.

Kutete (Wycliffe) and Evelyne. These two complete the dream team. Kutete, a legal genius with a heart of commitment and justice is still fighting away. Evelyne is full of faith and joy and loves the children as if they were her own. I think they make a wonderful couple. And just in case you are wondering... that elephant-brain looking thing is a Jack fruit.

Grandma Obama's Mangos

This is dearest Seth and I eating mangos given to us by Obama's Grandmother. What a kind lady!

Generational Blind-Spots.

The year is 2211. My name is Yun Chung and I have been a Pastor of the Chinese Deliverance Church for the last 12 years or so. I have just put the children to bed and now sit to write in this journal.

It's been a good year for the church. We have seen a lot of growth and many more people coming to the Lord. We hope that this will continue for us well into this century and beyond, contrary to how so many other nations have turned to the Lord and then fallen.

I grew up in the average Chinese Christian home. My mother and father were both Christians, their parents were also Christians, so it gave me a great background and foundation to my life with Jesus. In my teens I was called to be pastor of the Chinese church so I begun my studies in Theology and Bible. After a few years of study I was appointed as pastor and I now I find myself in this every growing empire of China with my own responsibilities and sheep to tend to.

It was only last week that I was reviewing my notes from University about the history of the Church and came across some really interesting things that I have not thought about in a long time. I can remember how interested I was to read about the early Christian church in the Greco-Roman empire and then throughout the dark ages. Then from the dark ages into Modernity which meant everybody gained that scientific view of the world around them. Then from Modernity to Post-Modernity which held for sometime until what we now see today, Post-Secularism.

It was interesting to read all over again how long it took the church to realise that the scientific method they had held onto for so long had fallen away. The church seemed to be at least 50 to 100 years behind the watching world. Then it got me thinking. I wonder if the church today in 2211 is behind the times. Are we laging behind? Do we have those huge generational blind-spots that seems to have haunted the church of Christ for this long of a time?

We look back to the 18th and19th century and see the church playing a massive role in the slave trade. It seemed as though many of the Christians in that day were blind to the fact that those Africans were indeed humans too. As historians we must look back with empathy, but still, it boggles the mind how they didn't see it. I suppose you could call it a generational blind-spot. A part of their world that they just did not analyse. A part of their world that they just didn't see to change and align with the Bible.

Then as we look further back into Church history we see Christians riding out on crusades. Their motives were to take back the Holy Land which doesn't seem such a bad thing until we read about the lives that the crusades cost. On their way, the Christians killed many innocent people who had nothing to do with the Holy Land. Here, perhaps, we see another generational blind-spot. It was a time when the church just didn't see the loss of innocent lives as being a big deal.

As church history progressed we saw a massive growth of Pentecostalism and thankfully a massive growth in the church in China. By the 20th century Christians were becoming more widely spread to all corners of the earth. Post-Modernism came and very little was done about it until the mid-21st century. Better late than never I suppose. But one the biggest characteristics of the 21st century Christianity that we may consider a generational blind-spot was 'missions'.

We all know, as Christians, that Jesus gave us the great commission in order for us to go to all nations and give them the gospel. During the 20th century the church took a hold of that commission more than ever before a went out. The idea developed and more people became interested. All of a sudden people were going from their small churches in urban and rural areas and travelling all over the world to far flung places to share Jesus' love.

The American church, aligning itself with this surrounding consumer culture included missions. Their mission ideologies were spread to churches all over the world, particularly small churches in Europe. It became a great opportunity for believers to get out around world, to see things that had never been seen before or to do things had never been done before. However, in the middle of this missions movement during the late 20th century and early 21st century there was a huge generational blind-spot.

Initially the churches would have thought they were doing a great job. Individuals and groups would gone out and traveled all over the world with the gospel. Some would have gone for years and others only for a couple of weeks. However, there was something very sad and forgotten about the early 21st century mission minded Christians.

Churches would send people all over the world. To deserts, jungles and tribes but completely forget their own community. Christians were traveling 6,000 miles and more with the message of Jesus Christ and yet the houses next door didn't know the gospel. Churches were sending people out and yet there people living on the same streets who knew nothing of Jesus. It seems stupid to us as we look back but they just didn't see it. It was a generational blind-spot that thankfully we don't have anymore.

I have read of stories written by Christian historians telling of Christians traveling to the middle of deserts and jungles, spending thousands and yet the family living right next to the church died out without knowing Jesus. They seem to want to be able to tell a good story or to feel good about themselves above the real reason for the truth. Granted, I am pleased to read that there were many specifically called to certain nations but still, streets died, with churches on them, without knowing Jesus. Going aboard to give the message of Jesus was mostly certainly a noble sacrifice for the gospel but it never made a difference until the community surrounding the church and the Christian changed.

There are stories of hope. Historians tell of some Christians traveling aboard and at the same time not forgetting to tell their home communities about Jesus. Sadly, these stories seem few and far between. Could this have been one of the most fatal generational blind-spots ever seen? The worldwide church's mission ideology effectively getting people away from commitment for more than 2 or 3 weeks and hiding the surrounding communities from the gospel. I wonder what the world would look like today in the 23rd century if the church had understood that surrounding communities were important too. 6,000 miles to give the gospel and their home streets laid to waste.

I hope that today, where we are as a church in 23rd century China we make every effort to get away from these generational blind-spots.