Take up and Read

We’ve been enjoying our vacation in Toledo, OH.  I know, I ought to be careful in announcing our plans lest any of you covet.  Honestly it’s been great.  Just to be with family is loads of fun plus grandma’s cooking can’t be beat.  Grandpa’s home has a huge yard with a deck for BBQing and a swing set so the kids are having a blast whether it’s wading in their $7.99 vinyl pool or bottling up as many fireflies as possible at night.  Ping pong table in the basement, NOGGIN on Cable TV, life just doesn’t get better than this.  My father is celebrating his 70th birthday so the whole clan is here.

Besides trips to Niagara/Toronto and Chicago the other day at my father’s suggestion we took a trip out out to Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland.  (O.k., there’s a really good Outlet nearby - even has a North Face store - plus Chicken Dinner at Zehnder’s).  We got to Bronner’s with just 30 min before closing.  Bronner’s prides itself in its Silent Night Chapel, a replica of the original in Austria.  The kids got a kick out of the place of course with its megastore of Christmas paraphernalia and Christmas light displays. Read the rest of this entry »

I find that much of what I do is a form of penance for my sins of the past (and unfortunately of the present as well!). On the last day of our Prophets class this quarter students presented their Prophetic Manifestos and I got to highlight a couple of points from one of our texts, New Conspirators. Students shared about various causes or needs the church ought to embrace from ending human trafficking to environmentalism. All very inspiring. For many it wasn’t just talk, they were already involved in some way or were planning on it. One graduating senior planned to travel through South America and learn about sustainable living, another graduating senior dedicated the next year to serve in a urban mission in Chicago. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been teaching a course on the Prophetic Books this quarter and we’ve spent a lot of time (probably too much!) talking about what it means to be prophetic in our culture today. Undoubtedly we’ve discussed the Rev Wright controversy. Most of my students did not agree with statements from the sound bites, particularly his calling judgment upon America for her racial sins of the past. I made clear that I had no problem with his statement, “God damn America (not, Goddamn America!)” - the statement that has probably been most controversial in the media. That sounds awfully close to judgments pronounced by prophets against the nations as well as Israel and Judah (e.g., Amos 1-2). I.e., Israelite prophets had to at times speak out against a nationalism that had superseded Yahweh with the result that they were viewed as traitors to their country (e.g., Jeremiah). There is a long standing tradition of this type of prophetic preaching in the Black church as well as in the white church. Debra Mumford has written an excellent piece on the history of Black prophetic preaching and Frank Schaeffer observes that many a white pulpit continues to publicly condemn America (although as Schaeffer points they are not singled out by the media). Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a while since I last posted because this quarter has been extremely busy. I’ve hardly had a chance to read other people’s posts much less write my own. As of April 25 I’ve been blogging for a year and it’s been an interesting experience. One, I’m surprised that I continue to do it. I thought I might be a one hit wonder. What has been most unexpected is the creation of new relationships. I refer to some of you who read this blog as my “friends” to my wife even though we’ve never met. You could be some creepy guy/gal who never leaves your apt, orders take-out for all your meals, walks around the house in your underwear, and has created a whole e-identity through plagiarizing the blog pages or facebooks of others for all I know. Read the rest of this entry »

I just received 2 contracts. One is from SPU indicating that I will be moved to a tenure-track position and another from T&T Clark/Continuum to publish my dissertation, The ‘Way of the LORD’ in the Book of Isaiah, in their LHBOTS series (formerly JSOT Supp). Both contracts are the fulfillment of many hopes and prayers. Of course we are not “there” yet (whatever that means), I still have a lot of work to do. But this does mean that we are here to stay in Seattle for the next 5+ years. That is quite a transition for us since until our move to Sacramento in 2003, we moved 8 times in the first 7 years of marriage. Sac was good for us, but we knew that it was a time of transition so that creates a certain unhealthy dynamic in your personal & social life. Even when we moved up to Seattle in ‘06 we didn’t know if this would be long-term since at the time I was offered only a 1yr contract with no promise of an extension. Read the rest of this entry »

I just found out today that one of the youth students I pastored while I was in LA, Ben Chung aka B-Tek, is a member of America’s Best Dance Crew the Jabbawockeez. I caught end of the live show last Thursday and was glad to see that they were voted America’s #1 crew. I’ve been watching the show for the past couple of weeks and I know it’s been the rage with all my students. Up ’til now my closet connection to any of the participants was the fact that Sarah’s roommate from college is a cousin of Yuri from Kaba Modern. Many have commented how this show provided a great opportunity for minorities, particularly Asians, to break sterotypes. The judges on the show said over and over that these crews were the future of dance and that they were trend setters. I wish I could say that I taught B-Tek his moves, but those who know me - NOT! Read the rest of this entry »

In two weeks we’re scheduled to have our son Aaron baptized. Last week Karis Kemp, the childrens pastor at Quest, met with all the parents at Quest who plan to have children either baptized or dedicated. There must’ve been six couples or so and we all went around sharing whether we would have our children baptized or dedicated. Quest is a an
Evangelical Covenant Church, which allows for both believer baptism (BB) and infant baptism (IB). I suspected that most parents would lean toward BB and want their children dedicated, but I was surprised to discover that Sarah and I would be the only family there to choose IB. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m going to teach an on-line course for Biblical Seminary this Spring (Apr 14-Jun 27): Reading the OT Missionally.  I’m looking forward to it because it allows me to finally put to test some things I’ve been thinking about for some time.  Plus since I teach undergraduates in a liberal arts setting, I’m looking forward to interacting with ministers in training in a seminary.  I’ve been developing and teaching distance education for years now for TEDS so I’m no stranger to DE and I’ve got no problems with it.  Sure you lack face-to-face interaction, but learning happens, and personal relationships can develop sometimes in a more intimate manner. Read the rest of this entry »

This week was the first occasion in my life that I met someone who is called, “His Eminence” or “Most Reverend.” I’ve addressed people as “Reverend” or “Your Honor” but “His Eminence/Most Reverend” is a first. Two years in the making, we at SPU finally had the Titular Metropolitan Kallistos Ware of Diokleia on campus to deliver the Palmer Lectures. Pretty much all our students are SPU are familiar with Bishop Kallistos (what he prefers to be called) because of his work, The Orthodox Way, is required reading in our University Foundations Christian Doctrine course. Of all the guest lecturers that we have had on campus in recent years and we’ve had some good ones - Jurgen Moltmann, N.T. Wright, Ellen Charry, Richard Hays among others - I must say that I found his talks to be the most profound and personally meaningful. So far you can access the first of his talks, “What is Prayer?” (and I think the best of the 3) at our iTunesU under Palmer Lectures.

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Change is in the air. Change is what the polls say people are most hungry for. Obama is winning primary after primary because he is considered the candidate considered best suited to bring about change. A friend of mine brought up an interesting observation to me. He is convinced that one of the means by which the church will be revitalized in American is through the influence of ethnic churches. He has already witnessed how African American worship, Korean prayer, Hispanic zeal have already made an impact on white congregations. I’ve witnessed this first hand as I’ve heard from white folks, “Let’s pray Korean style” (which means everyone pray out loud at the same time). Anyway, he interprets the popularity of Obama in part to a spiritual hunger in America and if this is the case, people are ready for a change in spiritual leadership. Read the rest of this entry »