Stuff and Things!!

2011-06-23T13:43:00.000-07:00

A Perspective on War

I have a lot to say on this topic but will keep this posting brief since I want to pictures to speak for themselves. A while back I came across a slideshow of picture of the devastation of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The pictures are outrageous and incredibly disturbing. It is hard for me to view these images and read the stories of the countless lives destroyed by this one action and feel it was worth it. Of course I was not alive at that time and others who were have very different thoughts on the decision to drop the bomb, but you can't look at these images and not be moved and ask why...

We live in a time where war is constant. My own country is fighting three significant wars at this time and don't look like stopping any time soon. I can't help but ask if there is any other way to solve problems. The crazy thing is that people say that peace will come when the war is over and those who we are fighting are out of power...

It doesn't make sense to fight and kill in order to create peace. Being peaceful creates peace. Direct action in non-violent ways creates peace. These images are why I pray for peace and hope no government chooses to destroy like this ever again.

For more info on the pictures visit the following websites:

International Center of Photography & The New York Times

2011-06-07T17:42:00.000-07:00

Whew! ... Lots new to report...

So, it has been, literally, forever since I last posted (ignore the irony)... A few things have changed:

I lost my job at the shelter and have been a landscaper/excavator in order to pay rent
I had a brand new laptop stolen from my house just after being shipped to me
My girlfriend and I have decided to move back to Portland to be closer to my family and for me to find a new job asap
So, hence, we are leaving LA, which is definitely my second home and a city I love dearly (great weather all the time, incredible diversity, fun eateries and neighborhoods I've found and grown to love)

All of this has been happening in the last couple of weeks and I'm still in recovery mode from it all, but plodding ahead and making key decisions for the future. If you are a praying-type, please pray for us as we figure all this out and for my job situation in Portland.

*More to come soon (I promise)...I have lots to say lately!

2011-03-29T12:14:00.000-07:00

Gotta Watch this Video!

2011-01-10T12:39:00.000-08:00

Why I love riding my bike

So, I am a bike junkie. I love riding my bike. I especially love the simplicity of riding a single speed road bike with only a front brake. I am very aware that one of the significant factors to why I love riding my bike is the fact that I live in sunny Southern California where the weather is significantly more pleasant than most other locations in the U.S. (including my native Oregon). One drawback of living here is the very "un-friendly toward bikers" culture here in LA. I couldn't even count the number of times I have been brushed by passing cars, honked at for riding on the road (many drivers don't understand that it is illegal for bikers to ride on the sidewalks), slammed through enormous potholes that slowly break down my wheels and joints, and directly hit by a non-observant driver (actually I can count that this only happened once - thank God!). So, not all is perfect in the happy biking world I live in.

I am in a position that I don't have to own a car because I choose to ride my bike and take public transportation. This is true even though I could cut my commute in half by driving and not have to endure the above-mentioned discomforts. I am a huge proponent for the investing in and using public transportation. There are many factors to this. I believe in better access and transportation for those who can't afford to own a car, I believe in lessening our negative impact on the environment by using forms of mass transportation and biking, I believe in the positive impact of commuting with the diverse group of people that ride public transportation, and, finally, I believe in the physical well-being that biking regularly brings to the individual.

Believe me, I'm not an anti-car person. I would really love to have a car for those longer trips, but I'm able to make due with what I have currently. I write this not to push my interest and passion on others, but to promote thought or conversation by those who dismiss other forms of transportation other than driving as ridiculous and impractical. I encourage others to use these forms of transportation if they are available instead of driving. It might be scary or uncomfortable at first, but believe me it gets better and you become very thankful for the availability. Keep this in mind the next time you travel in the city and encourage your kids and friends to try it out.

2010-10-17T22:20:00.000-07:00

Looking Back One Year...

Lately, I have been reminiscing about the past few years. Maybe it has to do with my finishing up my Master's at Fuller, maybe it has to do with friends moving away, or maybe it has to do with me entering a new stage of life where school will never be a part of it again. Definitely, some of the reminiscing has been due to the anniversary of my jailing and deportation from the UK. If you're not familiar with that story, click here. The one year anniversary of that crazy and unbelievable experience was just a few weeks ago. It feel almost like a lifetime ago and at the same time, it almost feel like it was just a dream. I've had over a year now to process through this and try to understand what happened that day. Much of it I will probably never fully understand, but there are some things that have come out of it that I feel are invaluable times, experiences and relationships.

One very important thing I think about in relation to this experience is that I have been called by my God to live my life as a bridge between two cultures - Westerners and Muslims. How this connects is that many non-white, non-American, non-Western people experience a great deal of undeserved hardships when travelling abroad. In no way do I compare my experience in London with that of many people, but it is a rather unique experience for a white, U.S. passport holder to be jailed and deported (especially from a country like the UK). I hope that having experienced this will aid my work in bringing about transformation, learning and growth both for Muslims and for Westerners.

Secondly, in returning to LA after my day and a half in London, I decided to return to Fuller and take a full load of classes. One of the classes I took was called Spiritual Formation in College and Young Adult Settings. One of the reasons I took this class at this time was I knew it would open up a lot of time for discernment and seeking after the Lord for understanding. I thought that it would provide clarity for going through the experience in London, but instead it opened up my heart for some significant and needed healing over the loss of my mom years before. If you want, you can read the following three articles for more information on her passing (One, Two, and Three). I look back now and see how important and valuable this time was for me personally. Would I have had this if I had been in London? Also, I was able to write my final paper on something that did provide some aid in my processing through the experience in London. I did my research and wrote on the use of spiritual practices in times of trauma, which was very helpful in the end.

Finally, one relationship started out of this time that never would have started if I had of been in London for the expected two months. For those that know me will know that I am speaking of the relationship with my girlfriend, Amal. When I returned from my short stay in London, I moved back into the house I was living in in LA. Amal was living there at the time. Shortly after returning, Amal and I started hanging out more and more and getting to know each other. A few months later, we decided to start dating. Now, we are coming up quickly on being together a year. This (as anyone in love knows) has been the most amazing thing ever! - Excuse my mushy, ultra-sentimental talk here please ;) - I am truly blessed to be together with Amal and look forward to continuing travelling through life with her.

Through all of this, I still have no idea why the immigration officer in London lied and actively worked to get me deported, but I echo Joseph in saying:

"Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good" (Genesis 50:20, NRSV).

p.s. here are a couple of pics of Amal and I from our June trip to Portland and my graduation from Fuller.

2010-09-23T16:11:00.000-07:00

Book Reflection – Missions and Money

This book, written by Jonathan Bonk, offers a great perspective on the challenges related to money that come with missionaries from the West going to non-western contexts. I really appreciate Bonk’s perspective coming from a Mennonite background where there is a strong value on simplicity of life. When reading this book, I was reminded of a book I previously read called Cry of the Urban Poor by Viv Grigg. He is writing on the values of the organizations he started when he describes the value of inner simplicity. He writes:

Renouncing possessions is an outworking of an inner simplifying of our lives which leads to the openness, gentleness, spontaneity, and serenity that marked the Master. In renouncing possessions we seek to simplify our external lives in order to simplify more clearly our inner lives and focus on knowing our Lord.
Along with outward poverty, we desire an inner humility; along with servant works, we seek the spirit of a true servant. In caring little for this world where we are strangers and pilgrims, we set our hearts on that spiritual home where our treasure is being saved up, and on that glory which we shall share with our Lord, provided we suffer with him.
We encourage middle-class Christians to such simplicity of lifestyle. For some it means earning less, and using their time for the kingdom. For others it means to earn much, consume little, hoard nothing, give generously, and celebrate living. Such lifestyles are indefinitely varied. We refuse to judge others in such areas (Grigg 117).

To read my reflection on this book, look here and here.

Early on in the book, Bonk writes about the word “need.” In our society, this word has really lost its definition. What we “need” ends up usually being what we “want.” Bonk describes that even western missionaries in non-western contexts do this. He speaks about the “need” for the latest technology in the mission field to better the work or research (27-29). I think this is very connected to our instant gratification society where we see something we want and just get it. Often if it is not obtained right away, we are unhappy. I am convicted even as I write this, because I’m writing this on my laptop, I have an ipod, a digital camera, plenty of clothes, etc. At the same time, I usually try to only purchase what is necessary and I wait to try to prevent impulse purchasing.

Another word that Bonk mentions is “progress.” He writes of historical missionary movements among the non-west were considered an exercise to take the “uncivilized” and make them “civilized.” This process of civilization was very connected to the notion of social and economic progress (20-22). The end goal was affluence for these uncivilized people; i.e. if these people were able to progress and becoming affluent, their problems would be solved. The problem is that this surfaces in different ways even today. It is not some distant problem from eras ago. What is seen now is western missionaries coming into a poor area and assuming that they really know what these people need and since they aren’t receiving it now, we must provide it for them or teach them that they need it and must get it themselves. For centuries and millennia many societies worked very well without our influence, so why do we assume that these people really need our suggestions and help.

An important section of the book includes the theological and ethical backing to this claim of western affluence being detrimental to non-western missions. Bonk asks, “How can the economically secure and lavishly materially accoutered missionary teach the poor – with any degree of credibility – about simplicity, generosity, contentment, or the costly sacrifice entailed in all genuine discipleship?” (79). Later, Bonk asks if the sin of greed is less deadly for missionaries than it is for the people they are ministering to? Of course not. Bonk describes greed as “the desire for more than enough in a social context in which some have less than enough” (80). With this being said, can any of us in North American say we are not greedy? Our consumerist and materialistic culture pushes us to buy and buy more, but we need to fight this urge and live a simpler life where we are more giving and compassionate to our neighbors in need.

I will end this reflection with the following quote that gives great insight to this problem. Bonk shares of how the Incarnation of our Lord speaks to this issue, He writes,

At the very least, the Incarnation means giving up the power, privilege, and social position which are our natural due. Christ’s mission in Christ’s way must always begin, proceed, and end with the great renunciation. And this sacrifice is made not merely with reference to “what could have been” back home, but by the standards of the people among whom the missionary is called to incarnate the gospel. This does not leave much room for the power-generating, status-inflating, career-building, self-protecting affluence to which emissaries of the Western churches have become accustomed (117).

…ahhhh… last reflection for Fuller… J

2010-09-17T13:07:00.000-07:00

Pretty Much Sums it up...

I really appreciate this graph from The Atlantic. I saw this today and thought it connects well with a previous posting I wrote a few weeks back.

2010-09-12T22:29:00.001-07:00

Link

I was forwarded this article on the mass murders in Mexico of immigrants. Please read this. What a terrible position these people are in - losing their lives just to attempt to provide the funds to help their families.

2010-09-11T12:06:00.000-07:00

Book Reflection – God of the Oppressed

James Cone, professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary, is the author of this deeply important book on the need for a stronger voice from the oppressed in theological discussion. I really appreciate this book and the intent behind it. Dr. Cone is a prolific speaker and author on the topic of black theology. Black theology is a subgroup of theological discussion that is led by voices in the African-American community. The majority of theological discussion and decisions have been made primarily by white males. Cone calls for a stronger voice to add their own perspectives as a minority (and often oppressed by the majority) to the discussion. If you have heard of other types of theology (liberation theology, feminist theology and womanist theology to name a few), often these are spoken about in negative terms in most majority-white churches. I think this is unfair and awfully typical that the majority wants to maintain control of the discussion. It is ignorant to assume that one subgroup will have the “complete” understanding and other perspectives are unnecessary to understand. Why would we assume that only white males hear from God and can really understand how God works?

The premise behind this book is that Cone argues that perspectives and experiences from his African-American heritage is just as great an influence on his theology as the Bible is. He states, “I am black first – and everything else comes after that. This means I read the Bible through the lens of a black tradition of struggle” (xi). Some might read this and alarms will go off in their head. Evangelicals love to put the Bible up on this giant pedestal (often higher than God – especially the Spirit of God). But, if we were honest (or aware) we look at everything through the lens of our culture and experiences. This includes the Bible. For many white Americans, our story is not full of deep struggle and fight against oppressors. This is not the case for Latin-American liberation theologists, feminists, womanists (Black feminists), Black liberation theologists, etc. Their lives have been all about struggle, which aids their reading of the Bible and connecting to the real aspects Jesus spoke of that most white Americans cannot relate to.

Cone writes the following to describe this lens the Bible is written through in the following:

The scandal is that the gospel means liberation, that this liberation comes to the poor, and that it gives them the strength and courage to break the conditions of servitude. This is what the Incarnation means. God in Christ comes to the weak and the helpless, and becomes one with them, taking their condition of oppression as his own and thus transforming their slave-existence into a liberated existence (71).

Later, Cone notes that his critics point to their focus on the stories of Moses and the Israelites being freed from bondage and slavery at the hands of the Egyptians, and have less of a focus on the patriarchs of David and Solomon. His answer to this for Black Liberation theology is:

The hermeneutical principle for an exegesis of the Scriptures is the revelation of God in Christ as the Liberator of the oppressed from social oppression and to political struggle, wherein the poor recognize that their fight against poverty and injustice is not only consistent with the gospel but is the gospel of Jesus Christ (75).

Finally, Cone addresses the issue of racial reconciliation. This is a huge topic and one that is drastically needed in our country. As I have mentioned in an earlier post, there are incredible divisions between people of other backgrounds and races in this country. Seeking reconciliation by all parties is necessary for true and lasting healing to happen. Cone notes that often people assume that showing love to other races is enough to be considered reconciliation. He continues:

While divine reconciliation, for oppressed blacks, is connected with the joy of liberation from the controlling power of white people…Everything that white oppressors hold dear is now placed under the judgment of Jesus’ cross. This is a difficult pill for the white theologians and church people to swallow, because they have so much invested in the status quo (217).

Instead, Cone notes that reconciliation is not waiting for white people to act, but is:

That vision of God’s presence in our lives that lets us know that the world will be changes only through our blood, sweat, and tears. It is that feeling of togetherness with our brothers and sisters in struggle, knowing that “we shall overcome” “in that great gettin’ up mornin’” (224).

Cone concludes, stating that “Our task is to interpret their struggle in the light of God’s presence with them liberating and thus reconciling the oppressed to themselves and to God” (225). There is great room for us (white people) to promote this liberating force. Racist structures, laws and attitudes must be recognized and broken down. It will not be enough to gather together as different racial groups and just sing “We shall overcome.” It will not be enough until significant actions are taken against both the blatantly racist and hidden racist issues/attitudes are addressed and removed. Additionally, this is not just a black-white issue, but is one between all races (i.e. often white people are involved). Whatever our context, there is a need for reconciliation. Let us be the ones to push for it and model actions of reconciliation.

2010-09-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

Two Images

The above picture is from my apartment building. Let's just say what when I enter this hallway, I have this sense of uncomfortableness that's a combination of claustrophobia, suffocation and uneasiness. As you can imagine from these descriptors, it's not super comfortable. For the first few weeks, I walked down this hallway and expected there to be a mirror in the middle, because it seemed unusually long and too narrow and short. I'm getting used to it finally...

Now this picture, on the other hand, gives me a completely different feeling...when I see this I am left with a feeling of deep joy and warmness in my heart. This is the chocolate ganache torte from Franklin Street Bakery. And yes, it is absolutely wonderful!

2010-09-01T12:48:00.000-07:00

Book Reflection – Organic Church: Growing Faith where Life Happens

This book, written by Neil Cole, is one focused on a model of church planting using the areas where people congregate as areas where churches can be started. First off, I am not especially interested in church planting in general. I see my future interests involving partnership with local churches in the area I am living/working, but I’m not interested in a vocation as a church planter. I feel called to be in an area that also might not really even have a local church. I do see some benefit to what Cole argues. I am reading this book at the suggestion of my practicum supervisor, who is involved in a church planting movement in the Twin Cities. He has noted that this book has been extremely helpful in starting their movement of churches.

I agree with the presupposition that the author poses. He argues that the way church is done in the U.S. is only losing the battle for the lives of people around us. He calls for a re-entry to a more organic movement where “church” is not limited to a building, time or service, but is done in a way where the body of believers enters the areas where the people are and seek them out. The model is to go into these areas instead of calling them to come to where we are at. I agree strongly with this model. This directly connects with incarnational ministry where we go into the areas where people are at and are living in need and we live with them, struggle through similar things and offer hope and a different life to those around us. This is the model Jesus presented as is one that is so much more natural to live with and love those in need.

Cole calls this an “organic church movement,” while at the same time avoiding calling it a “house church movement.” I feel that this is just a semantic battle that he is having with no one in particular. He notes that the reason he doesn’t call it a house church movement is because it is in more than just houses (but seems to be primarily in houses) and that there are many things he feels is connected to house churches that he doesn’t think epitomizes his movement (23). Instead, he calls them “organic churches.” He fails to address that while this is a term used in a new way here to reference churches, there are also lots of attached connotations that change its meaning depending on who is listening. Growing up in the Northwest, organic has a strongly positive connotation to most of us, but in other places there is quite the opposite thought connected to it. Either way, there is a lot attached to this work also. It is naive to assume that just changing a word will take away all negative (or positive) understandings.

I appreciate one section where Cole notes the description he heard in seminary of what “the church” is supposed to look like. Five items are mentions, including:

A group of believers gathered together regularly…
That considers itself a church…
That had qualified elders present…
That regularly practices the ordinances of baptism and communion as well as church discipline…
That has an agreed-on set of doctrinal beliefs (49-50).

So, what is missing?...

Jesus, of course! Cole mentions that this is one of the largest factors in the problem of the American church. The presence of God, through his Spirit, and a focus on the person and life of Christ is often missing. Instead, the American church is focused on a great show where good music, slick production and an easy three-point sermon on how to live better is presented to people sitting and never interacting. This is a problem! This is not how it should be! Shockingly, Cole notes a Korean pastor coming to the U.S. to connect with a few churches and he remarks, “It’s amazing what you people can do without the Holy Spirit” (50). This is terrible, but I agree that this is a correct observation in much of traditional American Christianity.

Finally, there was a very important point that Cole makes in regards to relationships. Often the church focuses on outreaches to people “over there” or in a distant land. Youth groups will spend a week in Mexico helping build houses or put on a Vacation Bible School program. Thousands of dollars are raised to send a group over somewhere else. Instead, what really is needed is to reach out to the people directly around us. Instead of sending our youth to a far away place, we have significant need in our own communities and cities locally. This should be the priority instead of a far away place and people. As Cole states, “God has uniquely placed us all in relationships for the purpose of bring Christ closer to people” (160). I think that reaching out to people around us is so much harder than going to another place to be bold with strangers. I guess this is probably because we won’t see those people again, but we will definitely see those we interact with on a regular basis, whether they are our neighbors, co-workers, friends or family. It is important to recognize the relational nature God has given us and the situations we have been placed in. This should be our focus as we seek to follow the Spirit of God and share of what Christ has done to transform our lives.

2010-08-28T15:51:00.000-07:00

Thoughts on Immigrant/Refugee Communities

Lately, I have been volunteering at a local library with the Adult Learning Center here in my neighborhood in Minneapolis. I have greatly enjoyed being able to help people seeking to improve their lives through language learning, GED preparation and citizenship exam preparation. Since this neighborhood is comprised of a large number of Somali, Hmong and other non-English speaking people, much of my time is spent in working on their abilities to read, speak, grammar and vocabulary all in English. As I have been working with these people, I am always curious of their personal stories of coming to this place. Many of these people have left their countries alone and with almost nothing. Often, the reason they have left their countries is because of unsafe conditions through civil wars, political conditions and inhumane economic conditions.

I met one young man who left Somalia four years ago because of the civil war. He first arrived in Fargo, North Dakota in late October. He had never touched snow, but had only seen it in movies. He had no idea it was even cold or wet. If you know what winters in North Dakota are like, you understand that this young man was going to be about as surprised as possible once winter came. He told me of one other young Somali man he lived with in Fargo who broke his arm falling on ice as he was chasing after a bus to take him home. This is just one story of the countless accounts of immigrants and refugees who have come to the U.S. to better their lives (or even survive past 30 - the median age in Somalia is 17.6 years old as compared to the 36.8 median in the U.S.)

Instead of offering compassion and help, many of the people in this country will, at best, turn away from these people, and at worst claim they are all criminals and demonize them. I have seen the people of this country debate such things like having closed borders to "prevent" terrorism, rounding up all undocumented immigrants in this country to send them back to their country of origin, police that feel it is their responsibility to end immigration and even guarding the border with Mexico and killing anything they see. I just don't understand this attack and real hatred. Unfortunately, the human condition is flawed and we are taught to hate "the other" out of fear and mistrust.

When are we going to move beyond this as a country? We can we actually come to see the beauty and love in these people who are different than us, but certainly are deserving of our hatred?

In every community we might find ourselves in in this country, there are people in need around us - people who are different and cause anxiety within us. Reach out to them in love as we are all those who share this world.

2010-08-27T20:05:00.001-07:00

Bike Ride of the Day

(and Minneapolis Exploration)

Earlier today, I went for a three hour bike ride around South Minneapolis. There are all these really beautiful lakes and a wonderful bike path that connects them all. I was amazed at how much people love bikes here and how the city has really invested in the bike-friendly infrastructure. I have added a screen shot of the bike path around the lakes and the path that goes horizontally through the middle of the picture is this old railroad track that has been paved over and is only for bikers and people walking/running. So cool!

So, I went down south along the Mississippi (still know how to spell that word right...yes!) river and the path heads west toward a couple of lakes. It continues around west and north around a couple more lakes and finally, I headed back east toward the river and closer to where I am staying. If you are wondering where that is, it is in this neighborhood.

There was this beautiful stream going from the lakes to the river and the path followed it for a long time. I enjoyed stopping alongside it and taking pictures and enjoying the shade of the trees.

This is from the bank of one of the lakes and the picture below is of Downtown Minneapolis. It's a nice city and I've enjoyed the significantly more laid back posture of the people here as compared to LA.

2010-08-24T12:30:00.000-07:00

Book Reflection – Costly Mission: Following Christ in the Slums

This book, written by Michael Duncan, is a story of the author and his family’s story of struggle and relationships while living in the slums of Manila, Philippines. Duncan additionally offers his reflection of ministry among the poor from his perspective. The book is full of successes and failures as they struggle with the complexities of ministry among the poor of Manila’s slums. I was caught by Duncan’s openness to share of real and deep struggles. Often when I read these books on working among the poor, I am left with an idealized picture that clearly is not realistic. I have spent enough time in this type of environment to know most of the time is less than glamorous.

I really appreciated the candidness of Duncan in one section on the failures he had experienced throughout his time living in the slums. He speaks of the need for a theology of failure (or a theological framework for working through failure). I found this interesting. Failure is something that every person experiences and everyone tries to minimize. When we experience failure, we often try to do everything we can to avoid that experience again. Duncan offers two different pictures of failure from the Bible. He notes that the Bible is full of stories of failures and by individuals and their faithfulness to continue following God. Duncan offers Paul as a man of many failures. Paul never united the Jews and Gentiles (Gal. 2:11-13), his friend and partner Barnabas split from him over an argument (Acts 15:36-41) and the church of Corinth, where Paul spent a significant portion of his time, had repeated moral failures and significant hardships.

Secondly, Duncan notes the failures of Joseph. As Joseph was in charge of the stockpiles of Pharaoh, he took the money, land, cattle and flocks from the people and gave them to Pharaoh (Gen. 47:14-21). This paved the path for his own people to be brought into slavery. These are both men who are regarded highly; and rightly so, because they continued to be faithful to the Lord and his calling. Duncan quotes Michael Riddell in how loss and failure affect the individual. He notes:

The dark days are just beginning. Before you emerge into the light again you will be stripped to the core. You will rage and scream at God. You will retreat into a cocoon of sorrow and breathe in slow motion. The colour will drain from the sky, the meaning from life. As a plough tears through hard earth, your heart will be broken up. You will make friends with pain, nursing it as the child of grief. Utter emptiness fills the earth, and the valley appears to contain nothing but the echo of your own cry. Surely God has left you. The road which seemed to be heading somewhere has become a dead end. A mocking maze with no exit.

Then, one morning in the distant future, you wake and hear a bird singing…

One other important section was in a chapter on the connection between community development, mercy and evangelism. As a person who would love to be involved in community development in the future and as one who follow Christ, I have struggled with balancing these things. Often development fringes on humanitarian activity, which can be very disconnected from spiritual elements. Often those who are involved in this type of work pour all their energy into it and have little left for sharing of how Christ has called them and met them throughout their lives. One the other hand, a large focus on evangelism leaves a gap between the Christian and the people who are struggling with deep issues and needs. Many of these things cannot be solved with mere words. The focus can be on making sure people have a better life after death, but not a better life before death.

Duncan suggests that our “mercy ministries must be developmental and our development must be merciful” (103). Duncan speaks of the difficulties of the creation of disempowered individuals through the actions of mercy ministries. Restraint, the lack of knee-jerk reactions and a focus of empowerment must guide the actions of these types of ministries. He states that we must learn “to give in a considered way so that people [can] move on from relief to a degree of self-sufficiency” (105). Duncan, in looking at their response to the need for evangelism, notes that social concern aids this process to get to evangelization. He states, “We believed that social concern takes us into the world of the non-Christian – into their issues, debates, networks, gathering places, felt needs and heart cries, and into their sin and dark corners” (110). In this place, they were able to see the things that were keeping the people from coming to Christ and worked to rectify those things. There is definite benefit for a balance to be found between these areas. My hope is that we are all able to work at seeking this balance in our lives.

2010-08-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

Book Reflection - Welcoming Justice: God’s Movement toward Beloved Community

As you can possibly imagine from the title, this book is a reflection of the vision toward the beloved community as envisioned by Martin Luther King Jr. One way King describes it is, “The end is reconciliation, the end is redemption, the end is the creation of the beloved community” (17). The process toward the beloved community is through actions of reconciliation and redemption. As stated before, this book is a reflection on the beloved community through the eyes and experience of Charles Marsh, a professor and historian, and John Perkins, an activist, community developer and inspiration to millions of people like me. This book is a wonderful inspiration and motivation for people who are seeking greater and lasting transformation in their community and are willing to step out and take it upon themselves to make the change happen.

In a chapter titled “The Next Great Awakening,” John Perkins notes that he sees this awakening coming from a generation of youth that seek for a transformed church where instead of there being a weekly gathering to recharge the individuals personal faith, there will be a seeking of “authentic relationships in a reconciled community” (82). I agree with this assessment of the future of the church. As I was reading this, though, I thought of the news of Ann Rice rejecting the forms of church that she is aware of due to its anti-gay, anti-democrat stance. Obviously, there is a church that this is a large part of, but I see a much larger body of Christians that are seeking these authentic relationships. What is missing is the reconciled community. As Perkins notes earlier, “The world needs a church that does something to interrupt business as usual where we are” (48). There is so much division and mistrust of each other in this world. It is so much easier to remain in the safe and secure homogenous communities we form, but is this what is best for the world around us? Instead, I agree with MLK, Perkins and Marsh that what is needed (and hardest to do) is to step into the void toward people in true and desperate need and seek this reconciled community through the creation of authentic relationships.

I appreciated one of the latter sections of the book where John Perkins refers to Zechariah as a prophet that God spoke through in a very applicable way to urban situations today. Zechariah is one of the post-exilic prophets, so he is prophesying to a people that are back in the land God gave them and they are dealing with all the issues that come with a broken city and society. In chapter 8, Zechariah is prophesying over the desire of God toward the city. He states:

Thus says the LORD: I have returned to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts, the holy mountain. Thus says the LORD of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets (8:3-5).

Both the old and the young (the most prone to neglect and abandonment in times of distress) will be cared for. Laughter, wonder, the passing of wisdom and love will permeate the society from the most powerful to the lowest.

For there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give their dew. And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things (8:12).

God will provide all that is needed as the people respond in faithfulness and peace.

And as you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing (8:13).

“If we are faithful, God will be faithful, and we will become a blessing to the nations” (112). As we strive to become a blessing to others, we follow the path set forth by Martin Luther King’s vision of The Beloved Community.

2010-08-17T16:24:00.000-07:00

Perception

Per-cep-tion: "The process by which an organism detects and interprets information from the external world by means of the sensory receptors."

For many of us, how we are perceived by others is very important. For some of us, it might be of extreme importance. We work hard to develop ourselves into something that we want others to see and develop their perceptions of us based on. Unfortunately, no matter what some people do, perceptions are made of them regardless. Often these are quite negative and drastically change how they are treated. As you all know, I am in Minneapolis for the next six weeks spending time finishing up my practicum for my master’s degree from Fuller. I am spending time with the InnerCHANGE team here as well as with a number of people working with Somali immigrants living in Minneapolis. There has been a lot in the news lately about Somali immigrants in Minneapolis. Regardless of whether there is any truth to any of it, the perception of Muslims living in the United States and much of Western Europe is described in the following picture.

I was walking through the neighborhood I am living in while I am here my first night and saw this written on the side of the mailbox. For a little context, the neighborhood is comprised in large by Somalis, but does have some diversity in African Americans, Native Americans and Latinos. The mailbox is on the corner of one street with a Lutheran church across the street. I imagine that this was written by someone with a perception that all Muslims are terrorists. I think this sentiment is rather strong in the United States. I have been following the news regarding the Islamic cultural center being proposed to be built two blocks from where the World Trade Center stood in New York. I have had a number of conversations with people regarding this and often the reaction is rather strong against the Islamic center. I am not surprised, though, because as much as this country loves to pride ourselves on freedom and an openness to other people, generally we are very closed to things that we have already developed negative perceptions toward.

Freedom of practicing religion and cultural expression are only allowed when it is something we agree with and it doesn’t infringe on us. Let me give a big shocker here: NOT ALL MUSLIMS ARE TERRORISTS. Most are very loving and caring people who don’t hate and judge nearly as much as we do.

Learn how to see this man…

…and this woman…

…for who they are – people just like us…

How would you like to have no control over how you are perceived? Where everything good that you do does nothing to improve your perception, but instead people call you a terrorist?

Develop a heart for the oppressed…

‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’

2010-07-12T23:21:00.000-07:00

Words of Advice from Jim Wallis

Wallis was speaking this at an interfaith prayer service shortly after the 9/11 attacks

Lighting a candle at an interfaith service is something may of us have done more times than we can remember. Speaking the language of darkness and light on religious occasions and in liturgical seasons has also become a matter of habit. But our darkness feels very real and powerful in this moment - almost impenetrable, and threatening to close in on us. And the light we need is feeling almost urgent.

Old familiar spiritual words must take on a new reality for us now - and a new sense of mission. Words like "Let there be light!" and "The light has come into the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it."

So tonight, we don't just light candles, we make a commitment. More than we knew before September 11, there are many dark places in the world where unspeakable violence against large numbers of innocent people is being planned. Let those places be exposed to the light of day and the violence be thwarted.

There are many other dark places in the world, where grinding, miserable, and life-destroying poverty carries out daily violence to other innocents - out of the view of a fast-moving, affluent world. Let those hidden places and people be exposed to the light of justice.

There are dark places within us and in our nation that might lash out from our deep woundedness, grief, and anger, carelessly inflicting more pain on innocent people. Let the light of compassion and reason prevent us from spreading our pain.

There are dark places within and among us that might retaliate from fear and revenge against even our fellow citizens who happen to be Muslim or Arab American - many of whom tonight feel the darkness of their own fear. Let the light of tolerance and solidarity bind us together and not let us be torn apart.

And tonight, most of us feel the darkness of our own confusion about how this happened, why this happened, and how to protect ourselves, our families, and the world. Let us be illumined by the light of understanding.

So that we not just cling to old ways of thinking, but go deeper than we ever have before to seek new answers. So that we learn to carefully comprehend the connections between the violence of the world, while never allowing ourselves to tolerate any of it - ever again.

And let the light of courage equip us to face the darkness that lies so thick and heavy before us. Courage to heal the darkness in ourselves. Courage to reveal the darkness in the very structure of our world. Courage to confront the darkness in the face of evil we saw on September 11. And let us remember that courage is not the absence of fear, but resistance to it.

So now, let us light our candles as an act of commitment. That the darkness will not overcome the light.

Thoughts from Palestinian leaders, authors and intellectuals on Sept. 17, 2001

No cause, not even a just cause, can make legitimate the killing of innocent civilians, no matter how long the list of accusations and the register of grievances. Terror never paves the way to justice, but leads down a short path to hell.

I will add...neither does drone attacks killing innocent people or a war in Afghanistan that more and more soldiers continue to be sent to "win a war against terrorism." When you fight and ideal, it will never end...

Please pray for the government and the people of the United States to be a promoter of peace, both in our foreign policy and our general attitudes toward others different from us. Pray for this to be a Beloved Community!

2010-07-07T14:54:00.001-07:00

2010-06-19T21:12:00.000-07:00

Music video you must watch!

I saw this on a friend of mine's blog and thought it was necessary to pass along to others to watch. Do watch it!

2010-04-20T17:14:00.000-07:00

Quarterly Post on School - 4th Edition

So, once again (and last time actually) I have started another quarter of classes full-time. This is my last quarter of classes at Fuller. I will have one class left to take over the summer and my practicum to finish. I will be writing about my practicum in a later post. So, here is a little about the three classes I am taking this quarter...

1. Job and Human Suffering

Just to ease any concerns, this is not a class teaching us how much suffering we will have to endure in trying to find a job with a seminary degree, but one about the theology of suffering as a part of the book of Job in the Hebrew Scriptures. I am very excited about this course as it is incredibly practical for my future ministry as well as for me personally. It is taught by Dr. James Butler, who I took Hebrew Prophets from last spring quarter. I really appreciate Dr. Butler and his very "grandfatherly" approach that is very caring and compassionate. I have started looking into what I will research and write about for my final paper and I definitely want to look at suffering traditions in different immigrant contexts, both from a religious perspective as well as a cultural perspective. We'll see once I get into it if this is really possible or if I need to narrow it more substantially.

2. Global Evangelical Movement

This class, taught by Dr. Jehu Hanciles, focuses on the historical movement of the Evangelical church and Evangelical missions. We look back into the 18th century to the start of the movement through Wesley, Edwards, and others and bring it to modern times. There is a large focus given to the global spread through missions and the incredible growth of Pentecostalism in Africa, Latin America and Asia. If you weren't aware, the majority of Christians in the world do not live in the U.S. or Europe, but in the three places previously mentioned. I have had particular interest in the global movement of African Initiated Churches, particularly in Europe. I will be doing some further research on this topic for my research papers.

3. Thinking Missiologically

This is our capstone course for the MA program. It really is all about integration of all our other courses we have taken at Fuller. All of our papers based on case studies or other forms of research must draw from theoretical, theological or historical concepts we have learned from our other classes. I am really appreciative of the class. I recognize the heavy amount of work we have for it, but at the same time, it will really help me to walk away from Fuller with some concrete things I learned and can apply directly into ministry. The class is taught by Dr. Doug McConnell, the Dean of the School of Intercultural Studies at Fuller.

By June 12, I will be officially graduated from Fuller! I'm excited about finishing and starting on with the rest of my life and applying what I have learned into practical means in an urban community overseas!

2010-04-13T18:45:00.000-07:00

Latest Fad to hit Portland...

Well, hopefully not...

My buddy Ryan and I love food, especially anything involving bacon. Years ago we tried (and soon fell in love with) the Bacon Maple Bar from Voodoo Donuts. This wonderful treat is really just what it says - a maple bar with Bacon on top. More recently, I was introduced to the Reggie from Pine State Biscuits, which is a biscuit sandwich involving fried chicken, gravy, and, of course, Bacon. And yesterday, if you've seen the adds, KFC released the Double Down, which is two pieces of fried chicken surrounding cheese, special sauce, and, of course, Bacon.

What's so special about these three wonderful pieces of succulent food is that if they are so great separately, wouldn't they be even more great together? Hence, our new challenge is called "The Widow Maker." This challenge involves the consuming of all three of these in the same sitting. Hmmm?!! Sounds wonderful, huh? Well, since I don't live in Portland anymore, this challenge will have to wait for a little while...maybe the summer or maybe not til Christmas time.

2010-04-07T09:54:00.001-07:00

Incredible video! Enjoy!

2010-04-03T21:15:00.000-07:00

Joshua Tree National Park

One day during Spring Break last week, I went with some Fuller friends (unfortunately Amal couldn't come because her school was on a different spring break...lame!) to Joshua Tree National Park. I have been wanting to go there for a very long time. It was a totally amazing place with such cool rocks to climb all up and down. A few days earlier, I went to the doctor and found out my elbow was fractured (long story, but more than a month earlier, I was hit by a car on my bike. I never went to the doctor because it started getting better on its own and I am a wait-and-see kind of person regarding injuries). I really couldn't help myself and was climbing all over the rocks. Needless to say but my elbow was hurting more by the end of the day...not too much though!

Here are a few pics from the trip...enjoy!

The famous Joshua Tree and cool rocks!

Another Joshua Tree and some more rock formations in the background

My glasses are so cool, huh?!

Some cool desert reservoir with lots of fun rocks to climb all over and up

2010-02-05T12:56:00.000-08:00

Pics of Amal and I from San Diego

Amal and I went to San Diego a few weekends ago to spend some time out of LA. My family friends, Herb and Marcia, had a house they were staying at down there where we could stay. It was a wonderful time and such a nice break from the routine here in LA/Pasadena.

Need I remind you Northwester's that these were taken in January (yes, January!) and we were hanging out on the beach. Another reason why Southern California is amazing!

Balboa Park is quite amazing! We could have spent many more days exploring the museums and grounds. It's so beautiful!

Sunny beaches again...you wanna move yet?

2010-01-07T15:37:00.000-08:00

Quarterly Post on School - 3rd Edition

Well, another quarter at Fuller brings a whole new group of classes, so here's the layout this quarter...

1. Jesus and the Kingdom of God

This class is the historical and theological reflection into the concept of the Kingdom of God particularly by looking at the Old Testament and the Synoptic Gospels. The message provides an important focal point for engaging in the synthetic, critical, and constructive work of biblical theology that is pivotal to day-to-day ministries of all kinds. The class is taught by Joel B. Green, who has my favorite commentary on the Gospel of Luke and is one of the leading New Testament scholars alive. I have heard this class is very challenging academically, but I have really appreciated Green and his work on the New Testament, so I am open to the challenge.

2. Theology in Global Perspective

This course looks at the theological reflections by both Western and non-Western Christian traditions. It looks at how these traditions have developed throughout history and in the modern era. We are to look at how ministry must take place in a changing and globalizing world where majority Christianity is not Western any longer, but more in the southern hemisphere. The global church is changing and those of us in missions need to understand this changing landscape. This course is a core class for my degree.

3. Teamwork and Leadership

This course explores the role of small groups and leadership in churches, parachurches, and missions. Due to the increasing pressure on Christian workers to function within the context of teams, peer leadership and followership will be studied in relation to teamwork. It will also provide a basic introduction to teamwork and leadership frameworks, with an emphasis on biblical leadership and the role of the community and team. Finally, this course will explore the issues and skills required to be an effective team member and team leader. This course is a core class for my degree.

2009-12-02T21:09:00.000-08:00

Time to play catch-up and some fun news!

Well, so much has happened since I last really wrote anything here. I have almost made it completely through another quarter here at Fuller. It has been an odd term due mainly to the way it started (look here if unsure what that means). I have a little more than a week left to finish my papers and projects. I have continued to live in downtown LA and help out with the after school program at our church. I am moving up to Pasadena to be closer to Fuller in just a few weeks, so that is exciting! I found a cool spot where the community meets together for meals each night of the week.

Also, on the exciting news... as per the picture just below this, I am dating this beautiful lady, Amal (pronounced *A-mel*). She is an intern at the church this year, so things will be strange once I move away. I guess I will be spending a lot more time in LA than I was planning previously (not a bad thing at all!). I'm gonna work on building a bike for Amal and then be on the lookout for some great places to hangout in the middle. Once the quarter is finished, I will be updating you all on some cool things I have been learning and writing about this quarter.

Until then...

2009-11-10T14:28:00.000-08:00

Words of advice from Lesslie Newbigin

"Don't imagine," the missionary will be told, "that you are going to take God into the [country, city, people-group]. He is there already. He has been at work there long before you came on the scene and he will be there after you have gone. Your job is to learn what he is doing in the world which is already his, not to introduce him to a world from which he is absent" (Open Secret, 1995:67).

2009-10-20T17:56:00.000-07:00

My Crank Arms Hate Me!

I know this sounds overly dramatic, but if you want more details of why I say this, look here.

I was riding to the library today and started through an intersection on Figueroa St. in Downtown LA and felt my crank bend (crack really). I bought this crankset four months ago, so they should be warrantied, but it is really annoying to have this happen again. It takes my bike out of commission for at least a week until the new crankset comes in.

That crack is not supposed to be there!

More detailed pic

2009-09-26T16:43:00.000-07:00

Yours Truly Detained, Jailed, and Deported...

...all from our ally the UK

As crazy as that sounds, it is all true. I left Wednesday from LA to go to London to participate in my practicum with Fuller Theological Seminary for the next two months. As I entered immigration in London, it went downhill quickly from there. I will try to fully capture what took place over the next 40 hours until I returned to LA.

I was told the UK was getting extremely difficult to enter, even for people who are coming for vacation, so I stated that I was coming as a student taking a semester off and was vacationing. I had proof of money in my bank account as well as additional money from my financial aid from Fuller. I provided these documents to the immigration officer. He asked if I had a place to stay and a contact number. I provided the address and name of the man I was staying with who went to the church one of the families attended. I also provided the number and name of the team leader with the organization I was going to join. In the documents I had this information on, there was also information on how difficult the border was becoming to cross for those not from the European Union. It was not to mislead the immigration people or to provide false information, but in reality to clarity the situation to prevent problems. Well... in actuality having these instructions with me really caused the immigration people to freak out.

After glancing over these instructions, the officer told me to take a seat and wait for him as he talks with his supervisor. After waiting about 15 minutes, another immigration person came to me and told me he was going to take me to get my checked luggage. We went to get it and he searched through all of my bag as well as my carry-on luggage. He then took me back to the previous waiting area. I was there until another officer came and told me he needed to take me to another area to wait until this was all sorted out. He then took me to a locked area where anyone suspected of illegally immigrating was held. In this room, there were some chairs, coffee, a tv, and some food we could eat. My belongings were taken from me and I was allowed to have a coat and my Bible. I was taken to another room to be photographed and fingerprinted. After this I was told that another immigration officer was looking over my papers and would come interview me later.

After about three hours, the aforementioned officer came to "interview" me, which was much more like an interrogation. She started off the interview with stating that she was going to ask me a series of questions and if I lied, she would know it and I would be deported. Se then asked me all sorts of questions about what I was coming for, who I was meeting in London, how I know them, how I was paying for it, how was this part of my school, etc, etc, etc... for over two hours. I gave her the information of the people living in London I was going to meet, including the team leader, Darren. I told her to call Darren, because he would back up my information I gave her. She finally left after stating that she was going to call Darren and talk with her supervisor about my case.

I waited another hour or more until she returned. I had previously told her that I had a few documents on my computer verifying that my school knew what I was doing as well as a contract between Darren any myself on my responsibilities while in London. She returned to ask me to show her this. I was taken to get my computer from the area they were holding my luggage. I showed her the documents I had described. She stated that she had spoken to Darren who had stated that he did not really know me (we haven't met, but have spoken and e-mailed each other multiple times), he had not signed a contract, I had not applied to work with the organization, I was only a tourist, and he had no knowledge of my coming to work with the organization. I was floored by this assuming that what she had said was the truth. Only later after I returned to LA did I hear the truth. Darren had spoken with her for about a half hour where he repeatedly backed up what I had said, but she kept asking Darren question after question trying to get him to state something to implicate me. He had not stated the things she told me, but for some reason chose to lie to me. I'm baffled by this and have no answer why this woman was so coercive and, dare I say, evil toward me.

I stated that I was not sure why Darren would say these things, thinking that there must be some reason that Darren was "throwing me under the bus." I begged her to please speak with her supervisor and state that I was here with completely pure intentions and really just wanted to help the people. She left and I waited another two hours or so. In my time waiting, I was able to talk with the other guys being detained there. Most of them were trying to sneak into the UK to work. There was one guy that was from Iran and had flown in from Turkey with a stolen passport that he had ditched on the plane. I perceived that he was trying to seek asylum from something he was fleeing in Iran. It was really kind of interesting to hear their stories, but really really ridiculous that I was treated in the same way as they were.

Finally at about 7 pm, the immigration officer came once again to speak with me. She stated that they were denying me entrance into the UK for not having proper documentation from Fuller, having the e-mail from Darren that was suspicious, and for Darren and my stories not coinciding. She stated that I had a return flight on the same airline the following afternoon and would be moved to another facility for the night. At that point I kind of flipped my lid a little and started yelling at her. I know that was not really cool, but felt necessary at the time.

At about 11 pm I was taken with my belongings outside the airport in an armored, gated-off vehicle for transporting "prisoners." I was not handcuffed, but was treated in a manner similarly to a criminal. We drove about 15 minutes away and arrived at the "jail." I was taken into a small room and was searched (in all I was searched over 10 times in the next 12 hours...weird). My belongings were categorized and put in a holding area. I begged them to allow me to have my Bible in the cell with me and after a careful search for a shiv or something like that, they allowed me to have it. I was then taken to another area where I could get something to drink and spoke with a medical person. He interviewed me on my physical and mental condition and then told me it was ridiculous how I was being treated for doing nothing wrong.

I was finally taken to an actual locked jail cell where there was a bunk-bed with, thankfully, no one waiting for me, a toilet and shower. I was led to this room where they left me and locked the door. I was able to fitfully sleep through the night. Each hour the guards would noisily open the door and check to see if I was still alive or something. In the morning one guard brought in some food including an apple, orange juice, milk and cereal. In the late morning, they let us out of our cells to make a phone call and get some fresh air in the "jail yard," which was in the middle of the building and consisted of a paved area about 25 feet by 25 feet. There were another 15-20 men in the yard. We mostly just stood there and talked or some smoke. We were out there for about a half hour and then were told to return to our room.

Around noon, I was told I was to be taken back to Heathrow. After a really long process and multiple more searchings, I was finally loaded up into the prisoner van with two other men. We were taken out of the jail with multiple security checks (seriously, it was so surreal that this happened. We would go though one gate to come to another where a security person would check if it was really us and then out that gate. This happened three times!). We made it to another detention area in the airport where we waited until it came time for our flights.

About an hour and half before my flight was to leave, I was transported with two security people to the correct terminal. I was then walked by these security people to the metal detectors to the front of the line. Everyone waiting was looking at me and no doubt thinking that I was some sort of a criminal. After getting cleared through airport security, they walked me to the correct gate and took me up to the desk. There I received my boarding pass and my checked bag was left for them. I was then walked up the ramp and onto the plane where the security left me, but handed my passport to the flight attendants. I had a fairly uneventful flight back to LA where I told my story to multiple people. We landed and I was handed my passport as I left the plane.

Looking back, I don't think the intention of the immigration officer who interviewed me was to ever let me into the country. With her actions toward both myself and Darren, it shows that she is extremely coercive and lies through her teeth. She challenged both my beliefs and Darren's beliefs by stating that we had both lied repeatedly and "someone who was truly a Christian wouldn't do that" in her words. It is obvious that the Enemy works through people to fight against the Lord's advance on those places the Enemy has as a stronghold. Now I am left to wonder what it next for me. I was planning on being in London for two months. If you are a praying person, please pray that I would feel direction on what to do. Also pray for my attitude. I feel very taken advantage of, coerced, deceived, and overall treated like a criminal. I have never been called a liar so many times and was most definitely verbally assaulted by the immigration officer in her interrogation.

I guess this will be funny someday and will be a good story to tell, but it's not there yet. The UK was one of the places on the top of my list to visit, but who knows if I'm "backlisted" and won't plan on going there anytime soon. So so so so so so so ridiculous!

2009-09-19T14:30:00.000-07:00

Old pics from the recent wildfire in the Los Angeles forest

These are from North Hollywood and makes the wildfire look like an atomic bomb went off. It was incredibly smoky in downtown LA where I live for about a week until the wind started shifting north.

2009-09-08T17:49:00.000-07:00

Book Reflection - Prayer Evangelism

This book might seem like a vastly different theme from the rest of the books I have read and reflected upon this summer for my independent study. I recognize this, but also want to note the importance of integration in our lives as followers of Jesus. I believe that our lives should always be about integration - between spiritual and social actions. I have read and written vastly about ethnography, social justice and incarnational living, which are social actions, but there are deep spiritual implications in doing these also. This book is about integration between these lives also.

The author, Ed Silvoso, uses Luke 10:5,8,9 as a description of this concept of prayer evangelism. He notices to four points that Jesus used in his sending off of the disciples to the town to proclaim His message. Silvoso's four points are: (1) Speak peace upon them, (2) Fellowship with them, (3) Take care of their needs, and (4) Proclaim the good news (37). He expands on these on pages 47-48, stating,

1. Blessing opens the door to unbiased fellowship.
2. Fellowship establishes a level of trust, allowing our neighbors to share with us their felt needs.
3. Prayer addresses their felt needs.
4. When we intercede for our neighbors, the kingdom of God comes near them in a tangible way: "Say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you'" (Luke 10:9)

Silvoso is quick to point out that the method Christians often use is a reversal of the order of this method. Most often, the proclamation is the first thing done. He shared a story of going door-to-door as part of a church ministry. He stated that in the (maybe) five minutes they would have at the door, the first four minutes were used to describe how Christians are different from Jehovah's Witnesses. He states that there is a different way that Jesus provided. As I was reading this today, I was struck with praying peace over people in the coffee shop I was in. I prayed over the lesbian couple, the girl swearing at her computer, the barista's, and a few other people coming and going from the shop. God could have used my simple prayers to show Himself to them. Sometimes it just takes a simple prayer like this or a statement of peace to remind people of the loving God they really want to know and belong to.

Silvoso offers 17 paradigm shifts that he recognizes the body of Christ followers need to recognize and promote in our lives and in our churches. The first one stood out to me in this period of my life. The first paradigm shift was "One Church in the City." Simply, this refers to the need for unity and healing in the broken system of Christian churches in the city. Too many churches are in competition with each other and are choosing to focus on the differences with each other instead of the common purpose of serving a loving God in reaching the lost of our cities. This personally stuck with me because of my position as being in seminary at Fuller Theological Seminary and working at a church in LA that has connections to The Masters College/Seminary. In some places in the Christian spectrum, these academic institutions are polar opposites. The have differing views on women in leadership, spiritual gifts, works of the Holy Spirit, and many other things. I would not say these things are insignificant, but they are not on the same level as Jesus and His Father's purpose. I call for us to be willing and purposeful in bridging the gaps between differing views in the church. We must be willing to recognize our differences and set them aside for the greater good of God's kingdom being spread.

Silvoso offers concluding paragraphs to two of his chapters regarding paradigm shifts. I have added them in the following section as important dreams that we, as followers of Jesus, must have. Silvoso describes how these things have been realities is some cities across the world. His prayer, mine as well, is that this would happen in cities I am in and involved in ministry in. I also hope and pray that this would happen in cities you all live in.

Picture one Church in the city, united and fully persuaded that the city can and must be reached for Christ now, mobilizing its members to conduct prayer evangelism without divisions because of identificational repentance. Imagine church services taking place all over town and public prayer being offered everywhere for everybody because pastors no longer restrict themselves to caring for the fold but are leading their parishioners to focus on the flock at large, the city. As a result, the spiritual climate over the city is being transformed into one of godliness (171).

--And--

Everybody in the Church intercedes for the lost, battling against the devil who had blinded them. They do so without fear of death because they have despised their lives unto death. Led by evangelists who equip them to witness wherever they are, by pastors who shepherd the entire city and make no distinction between saints and sinners as far as commitment and care, and by teachers who expound on the Word of the Lord for the purpose of building up the Body of Christ, the Church constitutes a living parable of a community that loves God and its neighbors with utmost intensity, and the Lord adds daily to those who are being saved! (196).

I hope this finds you well. God bless.

2009-09-02T15:24:00.000-07:00

Book Reflection - Ethnography: Step by Step

This book as per the title is a study on the specifics of doing ethnographic research written by David Fetterman. In my reflection yesterday, I detailed ethnography as being an anthropological study of specific people groups. In this book, specific steps are detailed by the author on what ethnography is used for, particular methods for gathering research, tools and ethical obligations while doing ethnographic research. This book was somewhat technical, so my reflection will be rather short and detail just some of the new ideas that the author presented.

One particularly popular method of gathering research is participant observation. As is clear in the name, this approach combines involvement in individuals' lives while having some distance to gather research and collect data as an observer. Fetterman writes,

Participant observation is immersion in a culture. Ideally, the ethnographer lives and works in the community for 6 months to 1 year or more learning the language and seeing patterns of behavior over time. Long-term residence helps the researcher internalize the basic beliefs, fears, hopes, and expectations of the people under study. The simple, ritualistic behaviors of going to the market or to the well for water teach how people use their time and space and how they determine what is precious, sacred, and profane (35).

One of the important things that participant observation adds to ethnographic research is the early research that comes with insider observation. This approach lays the ground work for more formal research including interviews, questionnaires, etc. It also helps the ethnographer begin to piece together an understanding of the culture and the worldviews of the people, which is incredibly important in being able to build relationships with those of the other community.

Additionally, the use of participant observation is very useful as a first step in entering a new culture. It is very useful in finding "key informants" or "people of peace" as some people call them. These are individuals who "can provide detailed historical data, knowledge about contemporary interpersonal relationships (including conflicts), and a wealth of information about the nuances of everyday life" (48). This was a very important concept in my Community Organizing class from the Spring Quarter. We were looking for these key informants/actors as we were getting to know the needs of the community and the dreams of the residents. As a follower of Jesus, looking for people of peace is very similar. As we see in the Bible, especially in the Gospels and Acts, the disciples/apostles went out looking for people of peace who were open to the Gospel of Jesus and desired for building community.

Finally, the last concept I want to write about is one of the described types of ethnographers called advocate ethnographers. These ethnographers "allow participants to define their reality, consider their view about the ideal solution to their problems, and then take an active role in making social change happen" (135). Where ethnography can be criticized for being non-committal, this bridges the gap between research and participation. After the ethnographer gathers their research legitimately and ethically, the findings can be presented to influence a decision by the people. Wonderful! I like it!

As always, feel free to add any comments, concerns, questions. Thanks.

2009-09-01T11:35:00.000-07:00

Book Reflection - Urban Life: Readings in the Anthropology of the City

This anthropological research book is a collection of case studies collected and edited by George Gmelch and Walter P. Zenner. There are six major sections that the case studies are sub-divided into including The City in History, Urbanism, Urban Fieldwork: Anthropologists in Cities, Migration and the Adaptation of Migrants to City Life, Urban Class and Family, and Globalization and Transnationalism.

This study also brings up the use of ethnographic research in cultural anthropology. Ethnography is referring to the anthropological study of specific people groups - namely along ethnic lines. One author describes ethnography practically by stating, "Ethnography involves long-term, close-up, personal observation and listening to people in the context of their everyday lives" (280). It is important to note that ethnography is often done with a very specific context in mind, as was the case with the studies included in the book. "Ethnography cannot achieve a balanced representation of all perspectives.... [it] creates a specific point of view" (153-4). Another author notes how ethnography helps in his research. He writes,

Since much of people's own experience of daily life, social activities, local institutions and so forth is shared by many if not most of their family members, coworkers, or neighbors, there really aren't a lot of people with whom they talk who don't already understand the ins and outs of their lives. So, I often find that interviewees are almost eager to tell me about their lives, since everyone else they know either already knows the stories or doesn't care about them. Part of this, of course, is the time-tested advantage of being an ethnographer in a culture other than one's own. In Japan at least, as a foreigner, I can ask about the simplest things, things that even a six-year-old child ought to know. Very rarely does anyone think it odd that I ask (157).

The section on migrants was one of particular focus for me, due to my current work in an immigrant neighborhood as well as my continuing interest to work in immigrant communities after I have completed my last year in seminary. In one study, the author mentions the contrast in worldviews between rural and urban peoples (202). Often rural individuals and communities have a very homogeneous worldview that has remained the same or with very little change for a long time. When these individuals enter an urban setting to look for work or other needs, they are confronted with a variety of worldviews. This can be a very difficult time for many of them, but is also an important experience for people to have. Some people might disagree with this statement, but I think that it is a very positive thing that many westerners, particularly those in urban centers, find it very comfortable to encounter differing worldviews and/or beliefs. For those who follow Jesus, this is necessary for being able to contextualize the Gospel in order to reach them.

One very important theme in the discussion of immigration is return migration, and interconnected to this is transnationalism. Many of the immigrants from one country to another have a dream to make enough money to return to their home country and retire with a home and land of their own. In this book, there were many case studies of this being true. There were stories of West Indians from Barbados migrating to Britain in the wake of WWII to rebuild destroyed cities and counter the enormous loss of life Britain, rural Spaniards migrating to Germany and France between 1955-75 as part of the twenty-year "economic miracle," and the millions of Russian Jews and Italians who migrated to New York around the turn of the century until WWI. Often these immigrants had their feet in two societies - the new country and their home country.

One story is of Moises V., who was a Spaniard who took his family to Germany for employment. Two of his three children were born in Germany during the 12 years he lived there and all spoke German better than Spanish. After the 12 years, he and his family returned to rural Spain and were able to purchase a house and land. Immediately, the family was very important in that community. He mentioned, "I owe everything to Germany" (257). The story does not include how his children adapted to life in Spain. For many 2nd generation immigrants, they have many more connections to the new country and do not dream of returning to their parent's home country. There becomes a dilemma often for these families over this exact situation as the parents are deciding to return to their home country later in life.

Finally, I will end with a quote of the nature of our world today and the view of immigrants. Nancy Foner writes that, "Today," journalist Roger Rosenblatt notes, "When every major business enterprise is international, when money is international, when instant international experiences are pictured on TV, more people think of themselves as world citizens. Why should not immigrants do likewise?" (352).

Chew on that and feel free to post any comments here. Thanks for reading!

2009-08-21T14:08:00.000-07:00

Lost Bike Ride of the Week

Alright, so I went to a Dodger game last night and rode up there from my house on my bike. It was no problem getting there, but on the way back I took the wrong exit out of the stadium and ended up in the above side-trip through Cypress Park and all the industrial area north of downtown LA at 10:30 PM. What took my 15 minutes to ride to the game ended with an hour ride home and an additional 10 miles to my bike ride.

At least I now know that area of town so much better!

2009-08-19T17:13:00.000-07:00

Book Reflection - The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb

Alright, on to another reflection here! The title of this book is a bit ambiguous, so I will include the sub-title, which is "A Spirituality for Leadership in a Multicultural Community." It's all clear then, right? OK, for those of you in need of more clarity, here is my general paraphrase of the book.

The title comes from the passage in Isaiah 11:6-9, which states,

⁶And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,
And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little boy will lead them.
⁷Also the cow and the bear will graze,
Their young will lie down together,
And the lion will eat straw like the ox.
⁸The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra,
And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den.
⁹They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
As the waters cover the sea.

The premise is that this model of these opposing animals living in harmony and peace should be the same in the church. This includes specifically in regards to multicultural churches and Christian communities. In these settings often the western Christians will be the dominant ones leading the discussions and controlling the direction of the meetings. The author, Eric Law, likens them to the wolves because of this tendency and those non-Westerners, who operate in vastly different ways are the sheep. The author challenges us Westerners to consciously give our power and desire for control away and encourage those without power to take the lead. This is obviously more difficult to do than it is to say, but Law offers a few suggestions.

First, though, I must include a clarifier which Law points out. Often those with power in a certain situation believe that to be inclusive of all people means that all people must be present at the table. For instance, when doing social justice work, there is often a push to make sure that the poor and oppressed are present at the table and that their voice is heard. Often their mere presence is enough for those in power to feel comfortable. Law says that this is not enough, he states,

The assumption is that everyone is equal to each other as individuals and everyone is expected to participate "fully" - meaning being able to speak for himself or herself. The truth is that not all believe they are equal to each other.... Another reality is that not everyone is an individual who can speak for himself or herself. Many people of color come from cultures that emphasize the collective over the individual. It is very hard for them to speak as individuals. They feel powerless without their community behind them (34).

We like to assume that all people are equal because we want to view them that way. This is not the case though. White westerners are very different than non-white westerners and the same for non-white non-westerners. Cultural and worldview differences create an imbalance of power. White westerners like myself must be conscious of this and chose to not take the position of power in some situations where these cultural and worldview differences are needing to be recognized.

Now on to the suggestions by Law on how we need to view these differences and address them in our actions. As Christians, we are called by Christ to take up our cross and follow Him. This offer is given to all people, but Law suggest that it is given specifically to the powerful. Those with power are in need to lay down their power to follow Christ, not the powerless who have no power to lay down. "Because the powerless are already on the cross, salvation comes from endurance and faithfulness in the hope of God's deliverance through the resurrection" (42). Additionally, Law points to the cycle of gospel living that they powerful and powerless must recognize. The powerless need to enter the cycle through the empowerment of the resurrection while the powerful must chose to give up power by choosing the cross.

Contextually, Law gives a case study from one multicultural setting he was observing. There was a group of around 50 people together addressing difficulties between ethnic groups. About 2/3 of the group was white. The white people were trying to include those of color in the conversation, but often the people of color felt forced to state their feelings and were not comfortable with the situation. Eventually the organizers separated the white people and the people of color to discuss how they felt the conference was going. The white people felt guilty and were not sure what to do to fix the situation. The people of color felt singled out and preferred to think collectively, not individually. When they returned together, the leader of the colored people spoke for the whole group and proposed a new situation. In order to counteract the more dominant white people, each side was given a change to speak alternately. The people of color were given as much time to collect their thoughts and say what they needed to say and the white people could respond to this and add any other thoughts. This back-and-forth dialogue continued and created a very positive environment of healing that brought everyone in the room to tears. What was done was the powerful (white people) set aside their power (took up their crosses) and the powerless (people of color) were empowered through the power of the resurrection.

Alright, some more food for thought! Feel free to add any thoughts or questions. And now more reading for me...

2009-08-12T13:54:00.000-07:00

Book Reflection - With Justice for All

After a month of class each day, numerous papers, a midterm and two final exams, I have completed two of my classes this summer and now have taken some time for vacation in Portland with family and friends. I am back in the swing of things with another reflection here on a wonderful book. After this reflection, I will have another handful of books to read and reflections to write to complete the final class I am working on. I hope you enjoy them!

The latest book I have read is written by John Perkins, an amazing man with an incredible story of growing up in Mississippi in poverty until he left to California for school. After college he found a great job in the LA area, but God called him back to Mississippi to work among the poor black people in the area where he grew up. He has been a champion of community development and definitely someone I look up to greatly. He started the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) that works with Christian community organizers and local churches to improve their communities through his models of the "Three R's."

The "Three R's" are Relocation, Reconciliation, and Redistribution. I will speak about each of these and give some of my personal convictions/ beliefs about each of them. I have spoken at great length about relocation, where Christians are challenged to move into impoverished communities in order to live amongst the poor as they minister to them in sharing the Good News. The goal is to promote the breaking of the cycle of poverty in the community's life. Perkins describes this as choosing to "become a 'have not' in order to take my people the gospel" (60). Perkins sees that this is the model of Jesus which Paul describes in 2 Cor. 8:9, saying, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for our sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich" (NASB). For more information on this model, please read John Hayes' book, Sub-Merge.

The second "R" is reconciliation. I feel that this is a very trendy action right now to speak about, but not necessarily taken into action. The same feeling comes to me when I speak about social justice, specifically systemic social justice. But back to the point I am making here, Perkins is right on with his analysis of the necessity of reconciliation and forgiveness. Personally, Perkins has experienced one of the toughest paths to come out preaching reconciliation and forgiveness. In early 1970, Perkins was almost beaten to death by white police officers in Mississippi yet he came out of that saying that he wants to "preach a gospel that will heal these people, too" (108). He recognized that all people, whether black, white or any other are hurt and in need of reconciliation with each other. He sees that black people come with their blame and feelings of inferiority, while white people come with their guilt and sense of superiority (147).

John senses the antidote is reconciliation through shared community with those of all different colors. He states,

Reconciliation is God's way of bringing people to Himself and to each other. Reconciliation is loving your neighbor as you love yourself. Sharing in life together is us trusting each other. When we trust each other, we see the value in each other. When we see value in each other, we will partnership together. If we as a nation don't value reconciliation, then we as a viable, profitable economic entity are damaged, because we are hobbling along with an inferior system that produces less value than it could if we were all united (155).

Finally, Perkins addresses the third "R," which is redistribution. I think this is most likely the most controversial of the three, because is starts to challenge the basic tenants of the economic system this country is founded upon. Though, in our current global financial state, more and more people might be open to change. The biggest problem Perkins finds with a free-market system (and I completely agree) is personal greed corrupts the system. Originally the hope was for greed to be tempered by honesty. Perkins calls for a system of justice and love to be promoted by those who claim to follow Jesus. Perkins agrees with the vast majority of Christians who say that the free-market system is the most just, but he also qualifies this statement with saying that "[those of us living in this system] lack the moral will to distribute the fruits of our production in a more equitable way" (160).

I will conclude with a rather long quote where Perkins describes this concept in greater length. He states,

Achieving justice in America will require something more than "playing fair from now on." Economic opportunity in capitalism depends on ownership of capital. The free-enterprise system assumes that anyone can have access to capital through [their] labor and that banks and lending institutions will make investment capital available to anyone who has the will and the know-how to produce goods and services for the marketplace. There is only one problem with that assumption - it's not true.

The oppressed among us know all too well that the oppressive forces that created their poverty in the first place keep them trapped in it. The young black electrician, having never had an opportunity to establish a credit rating, finds it almost impossible to raise the capital to buy the tools and equipment to go into business for himself. The general rule is, "To get capital, you must have capital," and so the system perpetuates and widens the gap between rich and poor (181).

Finally, Perkins gives ideas for specifically addressing this need for redistribution. He suggests starting cooperatives, simplifying our personal and church's economic lifestyles, and organizing our communities to address the felt needs of the community. All of these are done in order to present the whole gospel to whole people.

2009-07-15T14:48:00.000-07:00

Book Reflection - Cry of the Urban Poor

Part 2

In this second section of the book reflection, I will address some other themes and perspectives that Viv Grigg writes about in the second half of his book. First off, one section speaks about how compassion needs to be interconnected with intercession and incarnation. He summarizes, saying:

Compassion means much love, a little response, and great pain. Compassion is the heart of ministry. It is the source of identification. It is the wellspring of proclamation. Its multiplication is the heart of church growth. It is the motivation for seeking justice.
Compassion leads us into intercession. But there is a price to pay for the power that moves the hand of God and establishes the kingdom in the heavenlies. The price is incarnation among the poor (134).

Grigg argues for more than just compassion (which I say very lightly, because having true compassion is very difficult and rarely achieved), but intercession and incarnation also. Intercession is clearly about stepping into prayer on behalf of others and calling on God to intervene in thier lives. Incarnation is the process of humans becoming, for the lack of a better, more human, with those around us. It is building community, offering ourselves as servants to each other, and living as Christ did in his time on earth. The call Grigg and many others give is for Christians to step into a place of greater incarnation in their places of influence. This might mean that we should build greater community with our co-workers, neighbors or friends and take advantage of the opportunities to share the Gospel. Or it might be that God is calling others to move into impoverished communities to share life together in simplicity and community with the poor around us. Grigg's prayer, which is my prayer also, is that more people would follow God's calling in their lives to make radical changes to further the Kingdom of God in the slums.

Grigg gives us a holistic church growth model for churches in poor and needy contexts. In these he states four levels that build off one another with the desire to point others toward the Kingdom of God. The first level of need is survival, where the need for clothes, food, housing takes absolute priority over everything else. The second level is security. When people feel insecurity, they are much less likely to take chances and step out of a pattern they are familiar with unless they have trust in it being secure. This is the case with those we are trying to point to God. In speaking of God, Grigg asks, "How do you trust him if you are not sure he is faithful?" (181).

The third level is achievement, where the individuals have achieved survival and security and are now ready for greater development and those in leadership need to send them out to minister themselves. Once again, the focus must be on holistic movements. Finally, the fourth level is maturity. The people should not be dependent upon achievement for their identity or self-esteem, but they should be doing it for the joy of achieving and for the glory of God. Those in leadership must be willing to send these from this level into new settings to teach transformational development to others. This allows multiplication to happen in great extents.

Grigg mentions that incarnational living by Christian workers in the slums of many cities can "deal a death blow to the prevailing distrust of the church" (215). People that are willing to live incarnationally are on the front lines, where they are helping the oppressed learn to trust the church and lead the lost back into the arms of God. This helps the church to remember the commands of God to help the poor, the oppressed, the orphans, the widows (Deuteronomy 10:18, Isaiah 1:17, Jeremiah 7:6-7).

2009-07-13T16:05:00.000-07:00

Book Reflection - Cry of the Urban Poor

Part 1

This book is written by Viv Grigg, who started Servants to Asia's Urban Poor and Servant Partner's (two organizations I have great respect for and hope to interact with at some point in the near future), and is focused on church planting in urban slums. The first half of the book discusses the reasons for poverty, the growing population of urban slums, and gives examples of slum churches in Latin America and Asia. The second half of the book gives church planting models and strategies for these models. Between the two sections is a number of chapters discussing the model Jesus gave for incarnational living, commitments and values of those working for the above two organizations that Viv started. These commitments and values, which are all based on the life of Jesus, are the things I want to discuss in this first half of the book reflection.

I will quote at length two sections that Viv mentions as core commitments and values of his work and the organizations he has developed. I include these specifically because they are all commitments and values that are personal to me and things I feel very strongly about. They are as follows:

We desire individually and corporately to develop intimacy with Christ and to walk in his footsteps. This means imitating his character and attitudes as we seek to live out his principles of self-denial, sacrifice, and service in the context of the twentieth [twenty-first] century slums of the world's great cities.
The desire to follow Christ results in a certain lifestyle, both among the poor and when relating to the middle class.

1. Identification
Following Jesus' pattern, who "though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9), we commit ourselves to live and work among the urban poor, to live as nearly as possible to their standard of living, while maintaining reasonable health and recognizing emotional, physical, cultural, and family limitations. We intend always to master the language and culture of the people among whom we minister.

2. Non-destitute poverty
The Master not only chose poverty in birth, life, and death, he also calls his servants to such a lifestyle. We recognize our basic needs for food and clothing (1 Timothy 6:6-8, Matthew 6:25-33), which may include tools of our trade or children's toys. We recognize the just need, inferred from the Scriptures for each family to own its own home, although some, like the Master, may choose a mobile, apostolic life with nowhere to lay one's head (Luke 9:58). In putting our treasure in heaven, we covet the unsearchable riches of Christ.
We desire to possess nothing that cannot be shared with those around us. Regarding what we have, we hold it not as our own but rather as lent to us for a season. We will seek to exclude from both our personal and communal lives the cares of the world, the delight in riches, and the desire for other things (Mark 4:19). We will avoid the abundance of communal properties or wealth. Buildings, administrations, and ministry shall be developed in the simplest manner consistent with good health and with efficient, well-pleasing work.

3. Inner simplicity
Renouncing possessions is an outworking of an inner simplifying of our lives which leads to the openness, gentleness, spontaneity, and serenity that marked the Master. In renouncing possessions we seek to simplify our external lives in order to simplify more clearly our inner lives and focus on knowing our Lord.
Along with outward poverty, we desire an inner humility; along with servant works, we seek the spirit of a true servant. In caring little for this world where we are strangers and pilgrims, we set our hearts on that spiritual home where our treasure is being saved up, and on that glory which we shall share with our Lord, provided we suffer with him.
We encourage middle-class Christians to such simplicity of lifestyle. For some it means earning less, and using their time for the kingdom. For others it means to earn much, consume little, hoard nothing, give generously, and celebrate living. Such lifestyles are indefinitely varied. We refuse to judge others in such areas (115-117).

I read this and took time to reflect upon the statements made here. Many of them are deeply entrenched in my personal beliefs and convictions. Others were tough to place myself in. Some of you might think that it is easy for me to make these statements at this time in my life as a mid-twenties, single dude that lives rather comfortably. I don't make any disagreements with this other than my own track record and the deep convictions the Lord has laid on me the last few years. I try to live simply now with not wanting to gather possessions, but giving away the things that I don't need.

In all of this statement, the goal is not only to share my beliefs with those of you reading, but also to ask you to questions your motives, your feelings about wealth, your attitude toward living simply. I will end this section with a quote regarding simplicity and happiness from the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. He states:

"...make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservation, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. If you want to get more out of life, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy. But once you become accustomed to such a life you will see its full meaning and its incredible beauty."

2009-07-13T15:54:00.000-07:00

Old Croat Friends in Town to Visit

Joe (the Christmas Pirate), Banandy, and John (ultimate fan) dressed up to meet
Dario and Dubi at the Metro stop on the 4th of July

Dario and I chillin' in my house one night

Dubi and I at Venice Beach

2009-06-24T15:59:00.000-07:00

Book Reflection - Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life
Part Two

Alright, I have three more things to add to finish the reflection on this book by Robert Lupton. The first is a quote speaking of our responsibility as followers of Jesus to advocate for the poor. This is very much connected to one of the themes from my reflection on the first half of the book. He states,
"How then do we care for those in need without doing them harm? Social policies over the past four decades have taught us that programs intended to help can rather quickly become entitlements, and entitlements engender unhealthy dependency. Our challenge, then, is to couple unconditional kindness with appropriate opportunities that foster one's growth toward full potential. The gestation time will vary widely. Some will surprise us with their strength and quickness. Others will disappoint us with their lack of motivation and slowness. But all must assume full responsibility for their own rate of progress or regress" (73).

Another point that hits home for me personally and is something I have experienced in previous full-time ministry opportunities is in a section Lupton writes about a series of questions and expectations that ministers/recipients of support have for their donors/supporters. The seventh question is, "Are you more concerned with measurable results than being faithful? Quick fixes generally don't last. Poverty develops over generations and it will take time - decades perhaps to undo its effects. Immediate results are wonderful, but long-term commitment will win the day. Can you live with sporadic and incremental changes?" (88). I have struggled with this exact thing and have had many conversations with other missionaries about their experience with this on the mission field. This is a major difficulty for many missionaries. Even in writing my monthly newsletters I have struggled with what to write to share what good things are happening, but remain truthful in how ministry can often (more often than not) be painfully slow and not appear to be gaining momentum at times.

Finally, I have one critique of Lupton, specifically in his reaction to gentrification (if this is a new word, click here for a description). I have seen with my own eyes the destructiveness of gentrification both in LA and in Portland. Lupton calls for gentrification with justice where neighborhoods house both low- and middle-income feel welcome to live. He states that, "economic viability is the only thing that will build and sustain a healthy community" (90-91). He continues in saying that there also needs to be re-development of these areas to build housing to draw in young professionals. Lupton has a very idealistic vision of the whole spectrum of low- to high-incomes living together. I would love it if this was possible, but Lupton fails to give any examples of this taking place though. I have seen first-hand how these young professionals will force the hand of an all-to-willing city government to evict and force out low-income individuals and families because the young professionals want to live in a "safe" and "clean" environment where povery does not exist. Of course I generalize, but this is extremely common. I desire for this to take place, just as Jesus promoted the Kingdom of God here on earth where the two greatest commandments of loving God and our neighbors are lived out in the lives of all humans, but the reality is this is far from the present case.

* With that being said, I will be continuing these reflections in the coming weeks. Thanks for reading.

2009-06-23T12:27:00.000-07:00

Book Reflection - Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life
Part One

This is a book by Robert Lupton, who is a Christian community developer in Atlanta. He has started a variety of organizations, businesses, and churches in the inner-city of Atlanta. The premise of the book is in rethinking ministry to the poor by the non-poor. There were a few thoughts that stood out to me in the first half of the book. The following is a collection of quotes as well as my reactions and thoughts.

Lupton states early on that he will always stand on the side of community building, even if it is standing against the church. He describes a story of a large church in Atlanta that was requesting a building permit to expand their already immense buildings when the community around the church spoke out against the church and stood in protest against them. Lupton states that he stood on the side of the community in the protest. He stated that his reasoning for actions like this is that "there remains a tension between self-interest and community interest" (12). The motives of the church might have been positive for their members, but there was no regard for the community surrounding them. This is a focus on self-interest, not on community interest. I would think that this is hard for many Christians to understand, because the church is viewed very highly (it is by me also), but the church can be very destructive also; and there plenty of examples of this being the case.

Another controversial topic in the American church (and western church for that matter) is the sin of individualism. "Sin of individualism" might seem overly harsh, but I feel very strongly that individualism is a deep sin of our culture and is not something that God intends. Individualism promotes competition and goes against community, grace and love for others. Our society, and unfortunately, our churches often promote this societal sin. Lupton states, "when our culture traded front-porch neighborhood life for private backyard patios, when we succumbed to the seduction of individualism and lost touch with our next-door neighbors, a viod was created in the spirit of our people that chat rooms cannot fill" (30). One of my favorite authors, Jean Vanier, writes much about community and the need for us to fight against individualism. For more of this, read From Brokenness to Community by Vanier (it is a very short book from two lectures at Harvard years ago).

Another section that stood out to me and which offers a challenge to traditional charity work is one describing a needed movement from betterment programs to development programs. Many of you have heard the fish analogy of giving a fish to feed a person to teaching them to fish for themselves, and on and on. The difference between betterment and development is the difference between giving a person something (i.e. the fish) or teaching them to get it themselves (i.e. teaching them to fish). The problem that Lupton states is that betterment views the poor as having nothing to give back, which promotes one-way giving. He states, "there is something about one-way giving that erodes human dignity.... One-way mercy, as kindhearted as the giver may be and as well intentioned, is an unmistakable form of put-down" (42). This is tough! I struggle with this concept even as I agree with what Lupton is stating. This really hit home as I was thinking about my experiences. I remember when I was working in the homeless shelter in Portland, we were asked regularly on cold nights if we had any blankets we could give out. When we had them available, we would give them. I would usually request the people to not throw them away the next day, but give them to another shelter that would wash them. I did this knowing that there was a high likelyhood that they would do just the opposite of my request.

Lupton challenges us with being imaginative in our charity work. It is true that someone places higher value in something that they purchase or work for than with something they are given. We need to be imaginative in how we can create better systems of giving where we stop this system of one-way giving and allow for an exchange system is created to place higher value both in the goods as well as in the poor themselves. I will end this reflection in a lengthy quote from Lupton on the need for a better way of mercy ministry to happen.

"Betterment is easier and it feels better. How heartwarming it feels to volunteer as a server for the Thanksgiving feast for the homeless! How right it feels collecting warm blankets to deliver to the shelters as a winter blast approaches! There is something in our spirits - something God-like - that causes our hearts to respond with compassion in the face of suffering and misfortune.
But as anyone will attest who has spent an extended time in such 'mercy' activities, there is an ugly side that inevitably reveals itself. Greed, manipulation, as sense of entitlement, resentment - somehow these darker instincts are never far below the surface among the recipients of one-way charity. And even in the best of scenarios, when relationships between givers and receivers appear to be genuinely thankful and gracious, the tendency toward unhealthy dependency is ever-present" (50).

*Please do not feel that I have this all figured out. I am just as deeply challenged with these thoughts as you all might be also. Thanks for reading.

2009-06-13T16:27:00.000-07:00

New plans for my blog

I just finished another quarter at Fuller Seminary and will mention more about the previous quarter, because there were some amazing things that happened in the last three months. I'm looking now toward the summer and the three classes I will be taking starting in a few weeks. One of the classes that I will be taking is a directed study on urban missions with the main urban missions professor, Dr. Jude Tiersma Watson. I will be reading a number of books for the class and adding my reflections here on my blog for Jude to read and for all of you (if there are any of "you" actually out there!) to read my reflections and add any comments of your experiences and disagreements. So, I will be starting this in a few weeks. In the meantime, I will be adding a number of postings of the last quarter for, hopefully, some insightful and thought-provoking readings. Thanks for checking it out!

- Andy

2009-06-01T14:22:00.000-07:00

2009-05-29T22:57:00.000-07:00

My luck with Crank arms...

I was reminded of my former daily commuter - which was my mountain bike. I have had terrible luck with breaking parts on that bike, which was what led me to purchase a new bike about a month ago. This crank arm is one that I purchased in January and cracked a few weeks later. Fortunately, I was able to get it warranted.

Here it is in closer detail. Yeah... that is bad!

My luck with crank arms goes back to college. Here's one that I really broke from an older mountain bike. This one really hurt!

2009-05-29T22:49:00.000-07:00

My new bike

It's an old school "Panasonic" single speed conversion

See! Only one gear! I love it though!

Just a front brake also

2009-05-16T17:50:00.000-07:00

From Brokenness to Community

"To have a mission means to give life, to heal, and to liberate. It is to permit people to grow to freedom. When Jesus sends people off, he sends them to liberate and to heal others. That is the good news. And we can become people of liberation and of healing because we ourselves are walking along that road to inner healing and inner liberation. Jesus calls his disciples to bear much fruit. 'If you bear much fruit, you shall be my disciples, and bring glory to the Father.' To bear fruit is to bring life to people. Not to judge, not to condemn, but to forgive. It is to remove our neighbor's burden. Remember those last words of Christ: 'Father, forgive.' Essentially, a community is based on forgiveness and signs of forgiveness. It is not a group of people condemning or judging outsiders; it is not a people of violence. It is a people who trust that if their hearts are given to God, he will defend them." - Jean Vanier

2009-05-09T11:06:00.000-07:00

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” - Marianne Williamson

2009-03-29T19:20:00.000-07:00

Absolute Favorite Videos

Above: Two favorite parts - the camera following her fall and the reaction of the anchors in the studio

Below: If you haven't been introduced to Aicha before, now you have. Prepare to be amazed!

2009-03-27T13:16:00.000-07:00

Another excerpt from The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen:

He, who is born not from human stock, or human desire or human will, but from God himself, one day took to himself everything that was under his footstool and he left with his inheritance, his title of Son, and the whole ransom price. He left for a far country... the faraway land... where he became as human beings are and emptied himself. His own people did not accept him and his first bed was a bed of straw! Like a root in arid ground, he grew up before us, he was despised, the lowest of men, before whom one covers his face. Very soon, he come to know exile, hostility, loneliness... After having given away everything in a life of bounty, his worth, his peace, his light, his truth, his life... all the treasures of knowledge and wisdom and the hidden mystery kept secret for endless ages: after having lost himself among the lost children of the house of Israel, spending his time with the sock (and not with the well-to-do), with the sinners (and not with the just), and even with prostitutes to whom he promised entrance into the Kingdom of his Father, after having been treated as a glutton and a drunkard, as a friend of tax collectors and sinners, as a Samaritan, a possessed, a blasphemer; after having offered everything, even his body and his blood; after having felt deeply in himself sadness, anguish, and a a troubled soul; after having gone to the bottom of despair, with which he voluntarily dressed himself as being abandoned by his Father far away from the source of living water, he cried out from the cross on which he was nailed: "I am thirsty." He was laid to rest in the dust and the shadow of death. And there, on the third day, he rose up from the depths of hell to where he had descended, burdened with the crimes of all, he bore our sins, our sorrows he carried. Standing straight, he cried out: "Yes, I am ascending to my Father, and your Father, to my God, and your God." And he reascended to heaven. Then in the silence, looking at his Son and all his children, since his Son had become all in all, the Father said to his servants, "Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet; let us eat and celebrate! Because my children, who, as you know, were dead have returned to life; they were lost and have been found again! My prodigal Son has brought them all back." They all began to have a feast dressed in their long robes, washed white in the blood of the Lamb.

The previous quote was written by Frere Pierre Marie who founded the Fraternity of Jerusalem, a community of monks living in the city. He writes of the story of the Prodigal Son being a picture of the life of Jesus. It is an incredibly beautiful portrayal of the life of Jesus.

2009-03-26T00:04:00.000-07:00

Some friends from Fuller took off for a few days during spring break and went to Anza-Borrego State Park out in the desert between San Diego and Palm Springs. It was a great trip and wonderful time to see another aspect of God's magnificent creation. Here are a few pics from the trip.

Taking a hike through a slot canyon in the desert of California

Taking a break from the hike and enjoying a cool stream on the feet

It was a beautiful stream cutting through the canyon

Crazy cactus-like plant with beautiful red flowers overlooking the canyon

Portrait with the mountains in the backdrop near our camp

2009-03-21T11:31:00.000-07:00

Excerpt from The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen:

"But now a time has come when it is possible to look back on those years of turmoil and to describe, with more objectivity than was possible before, the place to which all of that struggle has brought me. I am still not free enough to let myself be held completely in the safe embrace of the Father. In many ways, I am still moving toward the center. I am still like the prodigal: traveling, preparing speeches, anticipating how it will be when I finally reach my Father's house. But I am, indeed, on my way home."

* This is taken from the Prologue of the book where Henri Nouwen is describing his spiritual journey and the impact that the story and especially the painting of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt had on his journey to be fully embraced in the arms of the Father. I deeply understand Nouwen's combination of desire and fear of this intimate connection. This is a wonderful book that places ourselves in the shoes of the younger son, the older son, and the father.

2009-02-10T16:14:00.000-08:00

I am going to start putting up quotes by Oscar Romero, who was the former archbishop of El Salvador until he was assassinated March 24, 1980 while performing mass in San Salvador. He was a wonderful advocate for human rights, especially for the poor. He wrote a book that has been translated and is called The Violence of Love. The following are a few sections that I especially was drawn to.

How I would like to engrave this great idea
on each one's heart:
Christianity is not a collection of truths to be believed,
of laws to be obeyed,
of prohibitions.
That makes it very distasteful.

Christianity is a person,
one who loved us so much,
one who calls for our love.
Christianity is Christ.
November 6, 1977

We have never preached violence,
except the violence of love,
which left Christ nailed to a cross,
the violence that we must each do to ourselves
to overcome our selfishness
and such cruel inequalities among us.
The violence we preach is not of the violence of the sword,
the violence of hatred.
It is the violence of love,
of brotherhood,
the violence that wills to beat weapons
into sickles for work.
November 27, 1977

2009-01-21T10:11:00.000-08:00

Quarterly Post on School - 2nd Edition

I have started three new classes in the last few weeks and I want to share them with you. The are:

Spirituality and Mission - this is a great class that is a very practical and experiential class on our personal spiritual lives. So many of the classes in seminary are full of theory and can actually be pretty draining on the spiritual life. It is really sad, but seminary can really mess people up with their walk with the Lord. Seminary is so much about increasing our knowledge on particular subjects, but it rarely focuses on our personal spiritual lives. This class looks at different spiritual disciplines and practices them in our daily lives. We also take a few retreats to get extended time away with the Lord in solitude and silence. Think about for yourself: how often do you get away from everything and just be silent before the Lord; not even praying, but just letting the Lord wash over you and finding rest in Him?
World Religions in a Christian Perspective - part of the class is devoted to looking at Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism through the eyes of finding commonalities for inter-faith dialogue. This class is all about learning how Christianity relates to other religions and religious pluralisms, technically known as the "theology of religions." We discuss the prominent views by Catholicism, Mainline Christianity and Evangelicals in regards to the theology of religions.
Worldview and Worldview Change - this class is taught by Charles Kraft if that means anything to you. He is the longest tenured professor at Fuller and is teaching his last class currently. He is a controversial figure for the Evangelical world, because of some spiritual warfare and inner healing courses he started in the late 80s here at Fuller. He is an amazing mind in cultural anthropology and the working of the Holy Spirit. This class specifically looks at the study of worldview formation and the dynamics of worldview change. The class looks specifically at aspects of Christian influence to worldview change.

So, there they are. All very exciting and vastly different classes from each other. Another note is that last quarter finished very well. I'm challenging one grade from one class that will hopefully bump up to and A-, which would give me an A- in all three of my classes.

2009-01-19T17:07:00.000-08:00

In memory of Martin Luther King

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

2008-12-15T21:57:00.000-08:00

Things I really love right now:

My very comfy computer chair that I rescued from the trash a month ago
A warm drink on a cold day
Stocking caps and scarfs
Not feeling the pressure to read for a deadline - being able to read leisurely
The Decemberists and Snow Patrol
Seminary friends that I can relax and laugh
Streams of Living Water by Richard Foster

2008-11-16T22:20:00.000-08:00

A really nice family picture from a few weeks ago

This is a picture from dinner with my sisters and their families. I do really miss them now that I am living in a LA and don't get to Portland very often.

2008-11-14T19:37:00.000-08:00

An absolutely amazing video!

I found what might be the best video ever online today and am so thankful to that person. Thank you sir!

2008-11-14T17:39:00.001-08:00

Memories, memories!

Today I had a distant memory return to my mind and wanted to share it with you all.

And here they are (with a picture attached below)

One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight

2008-11-02T21:56:00.000-08:00

BANANDY STRIKES AGAIN!!

Halloween is an exciting time, because there is always the possibility of a Banandy sighting anywhere in the world. This year it was in LA around the downtown and USC campus areas. This year Banandy was on a bike riding all around. One exciting moment was Banandy was at one point being chased down the street by about 20 kids all yelling at him and wanting him to give them candy. Little did they know, but Banandy has no candy to give at any point. Banandy loves candy too much to give it to others.

Banandy would like me to remind you of the most famous previous sighting of Banandy.

Croatia sighting as told by Alexis

Beware of future Banandy sightings in your city!

2008-10-16T20:55:00.000-07:00

Update on life this week

Alright, so my bike seems to be working again, but I'm not really sure because I broke a bone in my foot last Friday and I can't really walk very well, let alone ride my bike.

So, first, the story of the broken foot: Friday night some of us from the church took a bunch of kids to an ice rink in Van Nuys for some fun and mainly to play Broomball. This game requires all participants to play sans ice skates on the ice. So as you can imagine, we are all falling down constantly. It has elements like hockey where you play on two teams and hit an object toward, and hopefully into, a net. The differences are that you use broomsticks with a rubber tip to hit a rubber inflatable ball. It was a lot of fun until I fell down in a group of people and someone fell on my foot. I got up and realized that there was a problem. But, praise God, I have been walking the last few days on the foot and it is getting a little better each day.

My classes have been going for three weeks now and I'm really enjoying the material that I am learning. The Church in Mission class has been really interesting, but the direction the class is moving in is a bit confusing and ambiguous. So, that adds a bit of stress when you don't know what is coming next. My Intercultural Attachment class has been really cool. We are getting more into the concept of bonding and attachment and it is becoming clearer each lecture. I have another class starting the week after next that is called Poverty and Development. I have heard that this class is really great and the professor is so knowledgeable on the topic of international development. The class will be really intense though, because it is a two week intensive course that meets three hours a day, five days a week. That will be going on as the other two classes will be continuing. Whew!

Today was really great earlier, because one of my roommates, John, and I went to lunch at a Bosnian restaurant I found here. It was somewhat close by and definitely within driving distance from our house. The food was great and made me miss living in Croatia. I noticed a very reminiscent scene at one of the tables outside where two men were drinking cappuccino's, smoking, and had very nice cell phones. This might seem odd to you, especially the cell phone part, but it was very true of cafes in Rijeka. I always remember feeling out of place sometimes, because I had a really ghetto, old phone and I didn't smoke. I also found out that I could buy the ingredients to cook up cevapi for my housemates at some point for dinner.

I'll try to continue to have interesting things happen in my life and transpond them here (hopefully no more broken bones though!)

2008-10-01T23:18:00.000-07:00

You all could be praying for me now. I've been experiencing some pretty intense spiritual attacks in the last week. The enemy has been throwing some junk at me and it has been super frustrating to deal with right now. I've been having all these issues with my bike, which is my only form of transportation right now and my means to get to school. I've had to spend a bunch of money to get it fixed, which makes my life more stressful since I don't have a job and am living off savings. I know that the enemy is trying to get me to buy into some lies about the Lord and that is the reason all this stuff with my bike is going on. He want me to believe that I can't really trust the Lord to provide for me. I've also been feeling some doubt and feelings of worthlessness in regards to seminary. I do not want to believe Satan and see that I have worth through Christ, which will cast my eyes on Him in my doubt. I believe that shining light on the things that I am struggling with and asking those in my life to pray for me will break the enemy and God will heal me from the attacks that the enemy has already done. Thanks.

2008-09-29T23:26:00.000-07:00

Classes started today! Yeah!

I have finally experienced my first moments of graduate school today. And it felt pretty nice! I had two of my three classes today. The third will be happening in a month as a two week intensive course. It was really nice to finally get started after all the waiting I have been doing since moving a month and a half ago. I also realize how much work it will actually be. I'm expected to do about 150 pages of reading a week for each class, which might not sound like a lot until you realize that some of it is some pretty dense theoretical stuff. Even with all of that, I am super excited for it to be beginning.

I want to tell you about my two classes that have begun now. The first one is called Church in Mission. The title comes from the modern thought of how the Church fits in with the missional agenda of the Bible. Previous to the modernity movement, many churches viewed themselves as a "fortress church." Their focus was on themselves and missions was viewed to be performed by outside agencies. Now, more and more churches are seeing that God intended for the Church to be intimately involved in missions. A huge part of the class will be a group project that will be focused on researching a particular racial/ethnic group within the North American church. My group has decided to research the Latino Evangelical church in North America. Some of the things we might be researching will be undocumented immigrants in the Church and how the Churches should view the laws of the country in regards to the Bible. We will be creating a wiki that will be accessible to anyone; and especially as a resource to the Church. We will also be creating a youtube video about our research. I will be sharing those with you all when the become available.

The other class is called Intercultural Attachment. It is based on a theory called Attachment Theory that deals with building relationships across cultures. I am just now learning about what Attachment Theory says, so I can't really explain it yet. I have been reading for the class the last few weeks and read a book called Why You Do the Things You Do. It has been a really interesting look at how our past relationships, especially with our parents, shapes how we relate to people in our lives now. The authors recognize that there are basically four types of relationship styles that are present in people. Most of us have a combination of parts of a few. The four are Aviodant, Ambivalent, Disorganized, and Secure. Avoidant people are secure in themselves and often will rely too much on what they feel they can offer. When in distress, they will only internalize their feelings and now seek others or God in those times. Ambivalent people do not feel secure in their abilities and will run to people around them and find security in them. Often they will be extremely clingy and uncomfortable alone. Disorganized people will have a sporatic mixture of avoidant and ambivalent styles. Often disorganized people will have some form of major trauma in their past that has created this style. Secure people will relate to people and God in a healthy way. When distress happens in their lives they have hope that a solution will be found. Obviously, this is a very simplistic explaination, but hopefully you can get the point.

The two week intensive course is called Poverty and Development and is taught by Dr. Bryant Myers, who worked for World Vision for 30+ years in development work all over the world. I am super excited about that class. I will explain more about it as it gets closer to starting.

I hope this gives you an idea about what is going on now in my life.

2008-09-23T20:48:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of orientation at Fuller and I loved it! I absolutely love that people pray there! That might seem like a strange statement, but I have never been to a school in my life that people prayed at. Like all the people pray there; professors, presidents, student. I am so loving that right now!

And besides all that, I get to learn about how to better communicate the Gospel to people across the world will people from all over the world. Today, I met people from Norway, Australia, Malaysia, Korea, China, Japan, India, Nigeria, Kenya, Holland, and some others I can't remember right now. Pretty cool though!

More to come soon! School starts Monday!

2008-09-10T23:18:00.000-07:00

New Monasticism

So, I mentioned yesterday I am part of a monastic community here in LA. If you are not familiar with the concept of monastic community, I will try to shed light on it. In the last two weeks, we have read through and discussed a book describing the new monastic movement using a variety of authors with differing experiences with monastic communities. The book is entitled School(s) for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism

The gist of the book is that groups of Christians intentionally live together in an area and reach out to their community and address their needs. The people living in the house share what they have and live as a community resembling the community of believers in Acts 2. This passage is set just after Pentecost and thousands of people are becoming followers of Christ. It says in verses 42-47:

"They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their numbers day by day those who were being saved."

Monastic communities have been around in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions for a really long time. Some of the early communities were Franciscan and Benedictine. One quote in the book that stood out was "The Benedictines' submission to the church did not result in their being submerged in the much laxer practices of the wider church; it instead resulted in the wider church being transformed by the example and teaching of the monastic communities." (12 Marks 75)

The real heart is to reach out to our community in live and acceptance and share the love of Christ with them. And all the while, serve to larger body of Christ through the church and, just as the monks above, affect the greater church in a large way for the kingdom of God.

It has been really cool to see how this house has become a huge part of the community and people really feel welcome here and I'm excited to be a part of that in the next two years.

2008-09-09T23:27:00.000-07:00

Some pics of the drive down to LA with my dad

Northern California mountains in fog

North of the bay area on the coast

Golden Gate bridge with the classic fog rolling in

Pops and I in San Fran

2008-09-09T22:50:00.000-07:00

NEW STEPS IN LIFE Part one... (or some other dramatic title here)

Well, I've been in LA for a few weeks now. It is a strange feeling here for me. There are elements of comfortableness for me and then there are all the very strange things also. Due to my summers here, I know the city relatively well and am knowledgeable about the cultural elements. My living situation is one that will take some time to adjust to. I live in a house with four other young(er) people about my age and a family of four. The parents of the family run the house and have two small children. The house runs as a sort of New Monastic community that I will explain later. In sorts, the house is open most hours of the day to anyone from the community to stop by, we have dinner together as a community most nights and anyone from the community can join us, and we have community Bible study and prayer times. We try to make is a very open and welcoming place for anyone that enters. One of the difficulties that living this way brings is it is a challenge to find time and space for yourself away from others and distractions. Personal, alone space is practically unknown here.

As you know, LA is a pretty crazy place and there's always tons of traffic and people in a hurry everywhere you look. For some reason, I really love to craziness around me and the Lord has really put this place on my heart to want to serve and share His love around. I am excited and nervous all at the same time about these next few years of my life. Two years from now, I hopefully will have completed my Master's degree at Fuller Seminary and am preparing to serve to Lord in an urban setting here or across the world. In three weeks, I will be starting the next step in the process leading up to that by starting classes at Fuller. I have been looking into the classes that I have decided to take this fall and am getting a little nervous about them. Each course will require 1500-2000 pages of reading and this is in a ten week term, plus a 12-15 page research paper for each class. Whoa! Am I prepared? Not likely!

So, as all this is happening, I recognize that I need some prayer. Here's a few requests for anyone that is looking:

Peace for me as I prepare to start school. I want to learn better to take my anxiety to the Lord as soon as it comes to me.
Patience and love for the people I live with. I want to extend grace to those around me jsut as God did to me through Jesus.
Compassion for the people around me that are lost in the eyes of the Lord. Just as Jesus wept for Jerusalem, I want to weep for this city and long for revival here.

Lord, thank you that you have called me into your kingdom and you have included me in your plan in this life. Thank you that you have chosen to use me to share your love in this city. Allow me to have sufficient grace and love in this place. Lord, come in power in this place.

2008-07-13T13:37:00.000-07:00

I love bacon-maple bars!

A few months ago I mentioned bacon-maple bars from Voodoo Donuts in Portland and how much I loved them. If your first thought is "that's disgusting!", you are so wrong. Honestly, my first thought was like that, but after trying it, I was lovin' it! Think of having breakfast at a restaurant of pancakes and bacon and it all mixes together. This is just the donut version of that. And it's amazing! Donuts are great, but donuts that have meat on them are even better! So, if you are in Portland or come for a visit, Voodoo Donuts is the place to go.

2008-06-14T12:45:00.000-07:00

The Newest and Latest News!

I am moving to LA in the fall to start up at Fuller Seminary and do an internship through a church. I am super excited about doing something new in my life and starting down the path that I feel the Lord has been leading me toward for a few years now. The thought of starting up school again doesn't sound that fun right now, but it will be something that I care about, as opposed to my undergraduate work in business.

I am going to be studying Urban Missions as part of the Inter-Cultural Studies School. It will be really cool to be studying this as I am working in an inner-city church. I can get some nice practical knowledge as I am cranking out the schooling.

Also, I will get to quit my job, which is a really nice benefit. It's not that I hate my job; I'm just really tired of it right now and feel pretty emotionally exhausted and burned out. So, that's the latest and newest!

2008-05-07T12:21:00.000-07:00

Awkward story of the day!

I haven't added much to this blog in the last 9 months or so cause I've been working at a homeless shelter and much of what I do has to remain pretty confidential. But I heard a story from one client a few night ago that bears repeating to a broader audience. So, hence this posting...

The client approached the counter asking for the staffs opinion on a hypothetical question. We obliged and he started with the following story:

*Does it seem weird to you that someone would walk into the shower with only a t-shirt on, holding his socks and underwear, and step into the stream of water? This man started to wash his socks, underwear, and shirt with soap, but continued to keep the shirt on as he was lathering up his whole body and clothing. Would you be concerned for him?* (paraphrased for brevity)

My natural reaction with confusion, but after more explanation I started to get the idea of what took place. In some ways, I was surprised, but things similar to this happen often enough, that the shock wore off pretty quickly.

I'm sure I'll have more of these stories to add in the near future.

Oh, yes, and I did just make a trip back to Rijeka for about two weeks, so I'll have more to share about that at a later point. I'll leave you with a picture of my buddy Davor and I.

2008-03-10T23:29:00.000-07:00

A few of my current favorite things...

Wilco's "Sky Blue Sky" cd
The Bacon-Maple Bar from Voodoo Donuts (more later)
Vietnamese Beef Pho
Netflix
New green shoes
The possibility of a new job
Sweatshirts with hoods on a cold night

2008-01-07T11:34:00.000-08:00

A Continuation of the BEST OF

"John and Andy" from Gibraltar. This day excursion was definitely a highlight of the trip.
I do love monkeys!

Taken from the Croatian National Park, Plitvice. It was the bottom of one of the huge waterfalls.

Pic of my buddy Dario and I on the bridge to Krk.

Cool painted buildings in the city of Rovinj, Croatia.

2007-12-14T00:31:00.000-08:00

Well a full two months now has passed since I last blogged. I guess it was inevitable that I this would all start to fade away. I now lead a pretty boring life. I work 40 hours at a homeless shelter and while there are interesting and often disturbing things that happen there, I can't talk about it on an open forum, because if my boss were to happen upon this, I might be fired. And the other part of my time is split between enjoying my Netflix subscription, reading, and doing a little volunteering with the local Campus Crusade office.

So, in all, I don't have much to say anymore. Instead, I will give you another opportunity to look into my life when it was more exciting. So, I will be putting up some of my favorite pictures from my time in Croatia.

This is Primosten, in southern Croatia. It is probably my favorite city in Croatia.

My buddy Zoran and I (with Doda in the back) on our way hiking.
I definitely look forward to hanging out again soon (Just 4 months)!

This is quite possibly my favorite John and Andy! I just love to added creepiness of our looks.

This is just a really cool moment and I was fortunate to capture it in this picture. It is from the island of Krk on a trip with my buddy Dario. It's just a beautiful picture of the island and sea.

2007-10-12T18:51:00.000-07:00

Useful information for anyone flying this winter!

I heard on the radio today that Lufthansa airlines is having a huge deal on airline tickets for flights from Dec. 25 to Mar. 13 on flights to Europe. I wish I could use it myself, but no can do. Enjoy!

2007-10-06T23:32:00.000-07:00

Absolutely crazy!

So, I stumbled upon this crazy adventure website called "Goliath Expedition"

You must check it out. It's all about this guy that is trying to walk around the world solo. It's not really around the world, but from the southern tip of South America up through North America, across the Bering Straits, and across Asia and Europe to his homeland of England. He started in 1998 and is currently in Russia somewhere. It's all pretty nuts! Make sure you read the blog entry of him crossing the Bering Straits.

2007-09-18T23:52:00.000-07:00

My life has always been a series of distraction; one right after another. Usually the distractions have been good things, but they have moved my vision from the right and pure things in life. I have known this for a while now, but I recently realized that again in a whole new way. A few weeks ago, my dad and I made a trip to Central Oregon for a long weekend of camping and spending time together. It was great, but was almost too much to handle. The second night almost became too much for me. The silence left me completely to my thoughts and I broke. That is when I realized that all of my distractions have replaced my thoughts. I don't really think that much anymore. And the one big thought in my mind that I have been ignoring has been my mom's passing.

To say that I have not put much thought into my mom's recent death would be an understatement for sure. Usually when the thought comes into my head, I replace it quickly with one that is not so hard to deal with. I have gotten over the stage of denial; in thinking that this whole thing is just not real, like it might be just a sick dream. I have accepted that she is dead, but i now seem to be unable to move past that and enter any next cycle of the mourning process. It's almost like I'm incapable of continuing in the process. I know that part of it is that I don't really have experience in this mourning stuff. I'm really unsure of it all right now.

I have heard from some wise friends of mine to take it easy on myself at this time and allow myself to move slowly. I have a hard time with doing that though. I expect results; and those results must come quickly. I can't deal with being patient. I'm looking for ways to learn this and continue dealing with all of what's in me. Please pray for me.

I have added the following song lyrics, because they are starting to become true again in my life. This song is true about the sin in my life along with the place I find myself. I hope it helps you.

Something Beautiful
Jars of Clay

If you put your arms around me,
Could it change the way I feel?
I guess I let myself believe
That the outside might just bleed its way in
Maybe stir the sleeping past
Lying under glass
Waiting for the kiss
That breaks this awful spell
Pull me out... of this lonely cell

Close my eyes and hold my heart
Cover me and make me something
Change this something normal
Into something beautiful

What I get from my reflection
Isn't what I thought I'd see.
so, give me reason to believe
You'd never keep me incomplete
Will you untie this loss of mine?
It easily defines me,
Do you see it on my face?
And that all I can think about is how long
I've been waiting to feel you move me.

And I'm still fighting for the word
To break these chains
And I still pray when I look in your eyes
You'd stare right back down
Into something beautiful

2007-09-04T23:47:00.001-07:00

Bikes, Bikes! I like bikes!

So, one of my passions in life is mountain biking and flying down a hill jumping over stuff always on the verge of crashing. I have been really into biking for about 10 years now. I actually am a certified bicycle mechanic from the United Bicycle Institute in Ashland, OR (I know; kinda weird, but completely true). I planned for many years on starting a bike shop and started studying business because of that plan.

So, here is my homage to my bikes; new and old.

Above is my first "real" mountain bike. I had the Huffy's and crap bikes like that growing up, but this is my first good bike I bought when I was 16. It is a GT i-drive full-suspension if any of you know what that means. Until just recently, it has been in pieces in my dad's shop. I have put it together so I can sell it. I don't have much use for it anymore. I am selling it for $400 if you are interested.

The next bike has been my baby for many years now. I haven't had a girlfriend for many years now, so I spent the money I would have on her on this bike. It has a titanium frame, which is the best material for bike frames and is pretty expensive. I built the wheelset back when I went to the bike school. I recently blew out the suspension fork, so I have a brand new fork on it now. I am also trying to sell this bike. I have it listed on Craigs List for $1000. Hopefully I will sell it soon.

And finally, this is my brand new bike I bought a few weeks back. It is a Kona Scrap, which is best used to jump things on dirt or in a city. It is a blast and so much fun to rocket down a hill or over things. It's got hydraulic disk brakes, like on a car, which makes it stop real fast. I'm not trying to sell this bike.

2007-08-28T19:21:00.000-07:00

New things and next steps...

As the title suggests, this is all about the new things in my life and next steps I am taking as I'm dealing with life now. As time lengthens from when my mom died, I am learning to process through all that finally. It still has been hard to wrap my mind around her not being here. I have noticed that as more time passes, it becomes a little more real. It is all a new process for me, so I don't really know how to progress down this road. I've seen how it has affected me in such different ways than my dad or sisters. Honestly, I have some days that I don't really think about her being gone. Other days, I can't seem to remove the thought from my mind. It is really a product of my life the last few years.

I moved from home to transfer to the University of Oregon three years ago. That really became the start of a pretty independent life for me. I still talked to my family pretty regularly, but nothing like if I was living with them. And after I graduated, I started getting ready for leaving for Croatia and finally left about a year ago. My mom started getting sick after I left for Croatia and I was in limited communication with them during the five months I was there. So, I write all of that to say that this last month and a half since my mom has died has at times felt unreal. It has often felt like I have just been away from her for another long period of time. I have expressed to many people that I almost feel that it will continue to feel unreal for a long time. And each step along my life that I always expected her to be there for, and she isn't, the realness of her loss will hit another level.

Another new thing in my life is a new job. I was just hired today by a non-profit in Portland called Transition Projects (click on name for link to website). In a nutshell, they provide services to the homeless population in Portland. The services include transitional housing, food, clothing, and many other things. My position title is "Residential Advocate", which means that I will be working with the people in helping provide them with the services they need. I am really excited about this job. It is similar to what I would like to do in the future as an occupation. It will be great experience and hopefully a meaningful way to spend my year before going to seminary.

I also recently bought a new mountain bike that is pretty sweet. It is a fun little thing that allows me to ride down hills really fast and go off some jumps every once in a while. I will post some pictures of it soon after I get it nice and dirty.

And one other new thing is I am going to be an uncle again in about seven months. My sister, Amy, is expecting in April for her first child. I have four crazy nephews from my other sister Carolynn. Carolynn and I are silently hoping Amy has a little girl, so we can have a niece. It will be fun to have another baby around in a bit. Being an uncle is great! All the fun things like seeing them, but not having to keep them very long!

2007-08-06T23:16:00.000-07:00

Amazingness is afoot!

Check it out here

2007-08-02T19:12:00.000-07:00

The Mysteries of Signs - part 7

My time in Croatia was filled with random, nondescript signs that I never understood. When I drove, I just tried to follow the cars in front of me to stay out of trouble. Here are just a sampling of those I saw.

Yeah, you try to figure those out. The ones with the writing under them probably give a clue to what they mean, but try reading them with the Croatian language level of a two year old.

2007-07-23T19:27:00.000-07:00

"How are you doing?"

The above question is one that we use constantly in our everyday conversations with people around us. It is such a natural thing to say that we say it without really thinking about it and/or expecting an honest, real response. As I am grieving the loss of my mom and obviously not ok with life in general, I am asked this constantly. I usually respond with the "ok" or "alright" responses that are almost expected in any situation. Occasionally, I respond with a "not good" or "pretty crappy" and also sometimes I don't say anything at all and give them a shoulder shrug and a look that gives them a response that says "are you kidding me? You really asked me that? How do you think?"

All of us fall into this all of the time. I even do while I am dealing with all of this. I have asked my dad and sisters this question and immediately thought how stupid am I. I don't really fault anyone for saying this to me. No one really knows how to act toward someone that is going through tragedy. I know that I am tired of responding in a nice, kind way. Any of you that really know me would not be surprised by that.

I don't know if anyone really looks at my blog anymore, so this might be a mute point. But for those of you that do read this, please don't ask me how I am doing; please don't ask how my family is doing. I know that you care for me and want to express that, but find another way to express that. Thanks for reading

2007-07-12T00:20:00.001-07:00

My mom died tonight from liver failure. She would have had a better chance a living if she would have gotten a liver transplant while she was on the list. She died because there are so few donors. Why aren't you a donor?

2007-07-10T21:49:00.000-07:00

Listening to Gorillaz has finally put me in the mood to write this post...

As many of you know, my mom is waiting for a liver transplant to live longer. She will die if she doesn't get a new liver. The liver is a pretty important organ and does a lot for us to be ourselves and healthy. I want to tell a little about my mom and how she got to where she is now.

My mom is one of the most important people in my life and specifically in the last seven months, has become one of the strongest people I have ever known. She has been on the edge of dying multiple times now and has not given up and stopped fighting. She was diagnosed just over a year ago with non-alcohol related liver cirrhosis, which is only curable with a transplant. She started getting sick in September and was hospitalized for the first time then. The first real big scare was in December, just before Christmas. She slipped into a coma and didn't come out of it for almost three days. Obviously, that was a huge scare for us all. Since that time in December, she has been in and out of the hospital as the disease has progressed.

We had to go through a process for her to be listed on the liver transplant list and she was finally listed in the middle of March. From that point until now, she has been up and down and everywhere between. Exactly two weeks ago, at almost the exact time I'm writing this, we got a call from the hospital that does the transplants here in Portland telling us that there was a liver available. I should point out at this time that livers are usually taken from a donor that has died. Some organs can be given from live people, which is also true with the liver, but is extremely dangerous, particularly with the liver. All of my family rushed to the hospital and waited six hours as they prepped my mom for surgery and removed the organs from the donor. As they were removing the liver, they noticed that the liver was damaged and couldn't be transplanted into my mom. This was a major hit to us and I sat there thinking I was in a horrible dream.

She has been in another hospital since then battling infections and a whole body that is fighting back. We are all waiting again for that call that says that there is another liver waiting for us.

What really prompts this post is the lack of information and focused talk on the issue of transplant in our country. So I have added a few below:

Almost 100,000 men, women and children currently need life-saving organ transplants.

Every 12 minutes another name is added to the national organ transplant waiting list.

An average of 18 people die each day from the lack of available organs for transplant.

90% of Americans say they support donation, but only 30% know the essential steps to take to be a donor.

Stats taken from Donate Life America

I am personally invested in this story, because my mom is the one waiting for someone to give her life. It is kind of a strange thing - someone will die and because of that death, my mom can live. Why wouldn't you want to be a part of that in you life and death? What is keeping you from being a donor and giving that life to another person in such need of it?

There are so many people that are in need and you can help make a difference in making their lives better and longer. Learn the facts and join! It's probably not going to be my mom that you will save, but it will be someone's mom or dad or brother...

Please read this.

Thanks

2007-07-03T23:22:00.000-07:00

858 / 858
(100.0%)

It has been done to completion! I accept all of your congratulations! And thank you!

I just finished my quest to go through all the songs on my ipod in the shuffle mode. It was all pretty anticlimactic and really kind of disappointing in the end. I know - sorry and sad - but it really has been just that. Throughout the whole process, I was guessing what the last song might be; all along the way hoping for something to wrap it all up, but that just did not happen. I ended with a song from the soundtrack to Antwone Fisher, which is a nice song, but not really what I was looking for. I thought it would be some great song by Nickel Creek (one of my favorite bands ever) or if I was really fortunate, I would get Good Riddance by Green Day. It was not in the cards though. But don't be sad for me - I'm not. I'm actually really glad to have my ipod free of capture of the task at hand. Thanks for all the support peeps!

2007-06-25T16:02:00.000-07:00

This song has been rocking my world lately. It is called "More than Life" written by Hillsong United. I definitely had to learn this one.

Stand by everything You said
Stand by the promises we made
Let go of everything I've done
I'll run into Your open arms
And all I know

Chorus:
I love You more than life
I love You more than life

Fall back on everything You've done
Fall back on everlasting arms
When all the world is swept away
You are all the things I need
You're the air I breathe

How can it be
You were the one on the cross
Lifted for all our shame?
How can it be
The scars in Your hands are for me?
You are the king of all

2007-06-24T15:30:00.000-07:00

So, I realized that I have written so little about my latest trip to Croatia and have not given it the just word pictures. My trip back from Rijeka was definitely one of the most interesting and insightful of all the former trips. So the following is a word layout of some of the highlights of that trip. I hope it is truly entertaining.

The bus ride from Rijeka to Zagreb - normally this is a really easy and relaxing 2.5 hours on a bus, but this time it was a little different. For one, I got on the bus at 1 am, so that makes it more difficult to be fun. But the major problem was the heat of the bus. It was crazy humid and the bus was packed. So, I get on the bus and am looking for a seat. All of the back seats are taken up by guys laying across them (I was seriously tempted to push one of them over to make room for me, but I fortunately realized my witness was worth more than that). So, I took a seat next to a large Croatian man. I immediately start sweating profusely. So, the whole ride was the two of us rubbing our sweaty, hairy arms together while trying to sweat. Yeah! Pretty gross. Probably the most interesting part was the multiple men wearing no shirts. I kind of enjoyed the fact that people across the world are all a little white trash.
This trip was where my ipod shuffle project started. A worthy project indeed!
As I was waiting for my plane in Frankfurt, I sat next to a guy that ended up being really cool to talk to. His name is Mike and he was just finishing his time in the US Army and was on his way home from being stationed in Germany. He told me all about being in the Army and his two terms in Iraq with the latest conflict there. He was in the infantry and was in a town near Baghdad. We got talking and he found out I was a Christian, and so we started talking all about that. He was telling me about some very strange coincidences that made it apparent to him that God existed and was present in our lives. It was just really cool and encouraging to talk with him and see someone that has come out of some really tough stuff and really want to serve God with his life.
On the flight from Frankfurt to Denver, there was this German guy on the flight that looked just like Dwight from The Office. It made me laugh quite a bit and probably creeped him out a lot to have me staring at him a lot.
The most amazing thing to bring on a long airplane ride is slippers. Taking off your shoes is mandatory on those long rides, and putting those feet in nice comfy slippers is the best next step.
We flew over Hudson Bay in Canada and it was amazing. Parts of it were frozen and it was sunny and beautiful out. It was really cool to see.
As we were about to touch down in Denver, about 100 feet off the runway, the plane started to ascend again. I thought that was unusual. Usually, the plane continues down and lands, but not this time. We get back up a bit in the air and start to turn. The pilot comes on the intercom and informs us that he didn't land because there was something in the way in the runway. I started wondering what that might be - another plane, a person, a paper bag, a cow. I never found out. We came back around and landed the second time and unfortunately there was no cow carcass on the runway after we plowed through it.

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, which was nice and allowed me to get a little sleep. And once again, the flight ended in Portland where I went to the hospital to see my mom. I don't think I ever want to fly anywhere again. Every time I have left, my mom has gone into the hospital. No leaving for me anytime soon!

I hope you enjoyed that with me. Have a nice day!

2007-06-18T21:52:00.001-07:00

The Mysteries of Signs - part 6

OK, take a minute and observe the sign above... I know, interesting! The writing might start to give us a clue to what the sign must mean. Skolska patrola - ok, I'm not a scholar in the Croatian language, but I think I've got this one. I'm going with School patrol... So, part of the mystery is uncovered.

But what is the school patrol doing? It appears that the patrol person is hitting the miniature people with his racket. John and I had a few discussions over this sign. We concluded that this must be actually a sign of future warning. You might wonder what they might be warning us of... clearly, I feel the answer must be a warning of the world without shuttlecocks (investigate here). This might surprise you, but it is clear that the patrol person is not doing his job, but is actually playing badminton with small children, which he should be protecting. Quite disturbing! It almost makes me sick to my stomach.

2007-06-17T15:07:00.000-07:00

517 / 858
(60.3%)

I'm over 60% now! It has been an extremely difficult challenge, but it has been very rewarding also. I feel that I am over the hump of the most difficult stage. I just hope that I don't hit the wrong button and start the whole process over. It can and will happen!

2007-06-12T21:05:00.000-07:00

CROATIA TRIP

So, I have been back from Croatia almost a week now and have had a little time to process the trip. It has been a little difficult to process with all that is going on here with my mom, but O have managed to fit time in to process between being at the hospital and watching tv (going overseas is horrible if you ever want to be productive ever again in the U.S. TV is really entertaining and there is always so much going on in tv peoples' lives that I never want to miss watching them).

There was a lot that went on and I know that I won't write about most of it. Some of the highlights were a trip to Sarajevo to visit John and a trip to southern Croatia with my buddy Dario. Both were great in different ways. The trip to Sarajevo was mainly focused around food and pictures. Bosnia is famous for its cevapcici (fabulous, tasty little meat fingers) and has great burek (meat pie) and kebap (amazing Turkish meat sandwich) - notice a theme around meat - John should be proud of me. The picture focus was all about the "John and Andy's" (blog here). And for those of you thinking that "John and Andy" was dead, think again!

The trip to southern Croatia was mainly focused around having fun and hanging out with my buddy Dario, who's a recent graduate from the University of Rijeka. We went to the cities of Zadar, Sibenik, Split, Primosten and Trogir. All of these places were amazing in their own ways, but my favorites were Zadar and Trogir. In the next few days, I'll put up pictures and explain more about these cities. Both nights we stayed with Dario's grandparents in a small town called Jezera. They were so nice and blessed us so much. We ate like kings! I was even made fun of because I couldn't finish my plate (if you've ever seen me, you would know that this was a feat).

Other highlights were hanging with friends (especially meals with Zoran and coffee dates with my ladies), talking with the summer project guys, seeing so many friends at my goodbye party, and just walking around the smelly, dirty city I learned to love. One of the funny, horribly ironic things was I think I used and learned more Croatian on this trip than I had in the previous six months I lived there before.

It was definitely a nice way to say goodbye to the friends I love and the city I grew and experienced so much in. I went back to Rijeka to gain closure and completion in my time there, and thank God, I got exactly what I needed. I can honestly say that this chapter in my life is complete (not that I will never go to Croatia again). Thank you, Lord!

2007-06-09T21:48:00.000-07:00

379 / 858
(44.2%)

I have done this in honor of my most famous boss, Matt Mikalatos (blog here) and his current word count for his book he is writing. I am also undergoing a very special project. Mine is slightly different, though, because I am listening to music, not writing a book. My project entails listening to all 858 songs on my ipod nano on random shuffle without giving up and actually listening to what I want at that time. This project requires extreme determination and perseverance. I'm so glad I don't have one of those 30 GB ipods that have thousands of songs on them.

I'll make sure I keep you all updated on my progress. And thanks Matt for the example of determination. Keep it up just as I will!

2007-06-07T17:53:00.001-07:00

The Mysteries of Signs - part 5

I was at the airport in Zagreb wasting some time in the Duty Free shop and noticed these warnings on the cigarettes and cigars. I was greatly amused by them. I had heard about these warnings, but always thought it was just a joke. I wonder if they work. I was so amused that I just had to buy a few for myself. Kind of contradictory, but whatever!

My warnings read: "SMOKING CAUSES FATAL LUNG CANCER"
"PROTECT CHILDREN: DON'T MAKE THEM BREATHE YOUR SMOKE"

Effective advertising - it's keeping me from becoming a chain-smoker.

2007-05-16T22:44:00.000-07:00

I don't really imagine many people reading this since I haven't put anything up in over a month now, but I have been known to talk out loud to myself, so I'll just talk out loud as I write this. All will be good then. Life has been pretty mellow lately, with not much action or adventure. I'm spending a lot of time at the regional office sitting at a computer working on many different projects for the Human Resources team. I know this sounds pretty glamorous, but it can be pretty monotonous, especially for someone that has never worked in an office before and has never really wanted to before. But, in all this, I am very blessed to have this job and work with the people I do.

Not much is new with my mom. We are all still waiting for that transplant to come. No idea of when it will come, so you just gotta take it a day at a time and pray that it happens soon.

I actually would really like it to happen somewhere around that second week of June. That might seem strange since we want it to happen quickly. Well, I am leaving in a week to go to Croatia for two weeks to visit my team and students there. I'm really looking forward to the trip and getting completion with my time there. It will be a great time to have fun with friends and leave nothing on the table with new friends I met there. So, I might not add much more until I get back on June 6, but there will definitely be more to add after that trip. Thanks for reading.

2007-04-08T22:43:00.000-07:00

Birthday madness!

My birthday was yesterday. It was a nice day full of numerous activities. I spent part of the afternoon driving around Portland giving Ana, a Croatia girl that is here support raising, the tour of this great city. We had met a few times in Zagreb (capital of Croatia) for some staff training and it was great to be available to help her out a little in getting started with this rather large process.

The evening was filled with myself and a few friends enjoying a cookout around a campfire, smashing a pinata, and some frisbee action. The great thing about this all was that this was inspired by some planning my team and I did in Croatia in the fall. We were thinking of some special things we wanted for our birthdays throughout the year. I mentioned something involving pinata's and frisbee. So, I decided to honor those ideas, and my team, and include those in my celebration. So here's some evidence of the night.

There was the fire behind us in the picture above. And we did have tons of fun with the pinata later on. Pics of me, Ryan, Liz and Toner all taking swings at it. Toner was the first to bust it open and a few of us furthered that damage until it was finished.

And we did also get out on a field and enjoy some frisbee action. We went to a local high school and threw it around on their football field. Some fun was had and some ruckus was created by yours truly. I slide tackled Toner and a garbage can before we left. The cops came rushing in just as we were leaving, but we were much to wise and cunning to get caught (a cop car really did come driving in as we were leaving to follow up on a complaint I suspected).

Thanks to all for the great gifts: my team for the book and misc. notes in it, Ana for the Croatian chocolate, Ryan and Liz for the sweet card saying "You're sweet and easy to love and you're the flavor I'm looking for. Happy Birthday", and all the other cards from other people. Thanks all! Definitely a great day followed up by another one today.

2007-04-05T17:03:00.000-07:00

I am happy now, because I sold that first trooper and now I have money to spend on more things. I now think that I will buy a bike carrier that goes in the hitch of my new trooper and a heavy bag (hanging punching bag). So, good news!

2007-03-27T16:18:00.000-07:00

The truck saga continues...

So, I am now the owner of two Isuzu Troopers! I bought me another one today in hope that I will sell the old one soon and make back the money I put into it. Today I bought an 89 Trooper that actually runs well and is pretty nice. I'm definitely happy with it!

So, here's a list of the positive attributes of this new one over the other one I own:

an engine with all working cylinders
no funky smells (mixture of old cigarettes and apple air fresheners in the old one)
no really annoying whistle from the cracks in the passenger wing-window
a working radio with speakers
non-bald tires
a glove compartment door
working seatbelts with no duct tape holding them together
no wires hanging all over
working gauges, including a speedometer
a normal paint job
more than one windshield wiper (though I did love the mono-wiper move on the old one)
not having the fear that it will break down every time I drive it.
and working 4-wheel drive

2007-03-26T22:43:00.000-07:00

I have a new-to-me car now! I bought an 87 Isuzu Trooper last week. Don't get too excited though, because I might be getting rid of it and buying another one; as soon as possibly tomorrow. I got it really cheap from an individual just trying to unload it. My brother-in-law and I did some work on it a few days ago and it looks like it will need a new engine to run well again and pass the emission control for Portland. So, that is the bad news. I just don't really want to spend anymore than is absolutely necessary and you never know when it is bad now.

So here's the story for buying this one:

I saw it on Craig's list for sale for $350. Yeah, I know $350 for a "running" car! Pretty ridiculous! I guess I got what I paid for. But back to it. In appearance, the truck looks great and there was no major concerns at the time. In our opinion it needed new tires and a major tune-up to get running pretty good. So, with these concerns in mind, I thought that $350 is just too much for this trooper (I was in Morocco for a week and just needed to use all that bartering practice here and it is hard to barter for groceries). So, I went up to her and offered to give her $300 cash right there. She said it needed to be a little more and dropped to $325. Sold! Done deal!

Since it is turning out to be more than I wanted to spend for what I am getting, I am probably going to sell it on Craig's list after I get another one and hopefully get a little more to cover the muffler and tune-up parts I bought for it. I'll be sure to keep you all updated on what happens next!

Check out the picture of the back. I decided to make this trooper really hard by just adding a sticker to it. It is the one on the very top on the paint. I like to support the ghetto kiddies!

2007-03-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

The Mysteries of Signs - part 4

I think that this sign is definitely one-of-a-kind. It is from the edge of Lake Bohinj in Slovenia. There are some interesting things about it that I feel I must point out to the casual observer. When I took this picture, multiple things jumped out at me that were just odd. Please observe with me.

- Top middle - why would it be a problem throwing acorns at flowers? And that hand looks like it might also be doing some sign language. Why is sign language not allowed at that lake?
- Top right - they are really after those sign languagers. And why are snail races not allowed? Snails like to have fun, so why punish them?
- Middle middle - ok, I see that this one does have validity. It is never safe to assemble a tepee on top of a camper. That is just common sense though. It was unnecessary to make a sign prohibiting it. People know that!
- Middle right - they have gone too far when they have banned the eating out of cans. Cans are necessary for camping. I can't have my chili and baked beans going stale in tupperware. The gas just isn't potent enough for farting into the fire when they're stale.
- Bottom left - that is just a weird dog. It kinda scares me.
- Bottom middle - this is clearly banning people from playing God at this lake. You don't follow? Well there are rain drops falling on that car from the person's hand. So, no black magic or sorcery at this lake.
- Bottom right - And finally the most disturbing ban. That is a picture of a motorcycle rider doing a wheelie, and not just any motorcycle rider, but one with a detached head. That is just disgusting! I have never seen this to be a problem, but it is Slovenia, they might have different problems over there.

I know, I am just a confused as all of you by this unnecessary use of signage.

2007-03-07T17:14:00.000-08:00

So, I got a new phone number now. It's 503-432-1363. Anyone is free to call me. Hope to hear from some of you soon! (and others never!!)

2007-03-02T15:23:00.000-08:00

I wanted to let everyone know that I am back home in Oregon City again. My mom went into the hospital earlier in the week with more complications from her liver disease. She got much worse and my dad and sisters decided that I should return from Croatia again. I am home for an undetermined amount of time.

I'll give a quick summary of what is happening with her. She has sclerosis of her liver that has progressed into Hepa-Renal Syndrome, which is leading to problems with the operation of her kidneys. This progression is typical of the disease she has. The scary part is that this new syndrome will continue to get worse unless she can get a liver transplant. A working transplant should correct things.

We are all praying that she will get on the liver transplant list soon and that God will sustain her until she can get a new liver. It is hard thinking that she might not make it to that point. I trust God and His will for her life. Please pray for her and my family.

2007-02-26T09:31:00.000-08:00

A few weekends ago, we enjoyed the third largest Karneval in the world here in Rijeka. I don't want to upset anyone, Croatia's Karneval was nice, but it didn't seem to be very large and probably not the third largest (just smaller than Rio and Venice). It was fun to watch all the groups and great creativity in costumes and vehicles.

Two of my teammates, Alexis and Taylor, and a few friends were in the parade. All in all, it was the best Karneval I have ever seen and almost worth the 2.5 hours I stood there to watch half of it!

Below is a few pics from the parade.

People as dinner above, some statement of frustration to the right (this is not offensive, because it's not me making the gesture), and caged children-monkeys below.

Our buddy, Dario, right in the yellow as Bluto, the arch-villain of Popeye.

Crazy spacemen above and vampires to the right

Alexis, Iva, and Taylor in the parade as "A je to" (some weird Czech cartoon)

2007-02-22T05:50:00.000-08:00

Crazy nights in Rijeka include men in skirts, verbal attacks against the US government, and shady bars!

Last night, John and I attended a viewing of a conspiracy film with a mutual friend. To view a composition of the evening, check out John's recent post

I agree that it was very interesting and somewhat disturbing if even partly true. I did enjoy parts of it. One of my favorite points in the film was some sound-bites from the Republication National Convention in 2004 prior to President Bush's re-election. They were talking a lot about terrorism and 9/11. The sound-bites were only of the words terrorist, terrorism, 9/11, tyranny, and other words as such. It was quite amusing how many times they were said by some of the individuals.

So, in all, it was quite interesting and lead to some great conversation where I had to bite my tongue multiple times to not scream that I am not a US government sheep and follow my leaders without question.