June 9, 2009 • 11:02 pm 0
Here’s a quote from Victor LeBeau, a retail anaylst following the economic boom after WWII:
“Our enormously productive economy… demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption… We need things consumed, burned up, replaced and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate”.
Filed under: Technology
May 29, 2009 • 5:29 am 0
Lately City Light has been focusing on the arts. We just formed a new Arts and Media ministry. They’ve already redesgined our logo and we’re working on a new website and videos. Next month we’ll be having an Arts Month at our church. We’re going to be featuring the work of some resident City Light artists during our worship services.
Historically Christians have flourished in the arts. Some of the greatest works of art and architecture reflected the beauty of the Creator. We believe that as the preached word demonstrates the beauty of Christ, the arts illustrate that same beauty.
Finally I wanted to promote one of resident artist, Tony Hong. He just started a new company called the Cosmonaut that designs Christian T-shirts. I’m thrilled with his designs, creativity and passion. Visit his website at http://cosmonautlife.com. The Arts Resurgence is just beginning…
Filed under: Art
April 24, 2009 • 11:36 pm 1
The latest YouTube sensation is none other than a 47 year old single woman named Susan Boyle. The phenomenon has to be greater than her singing talents. She’s unquestionably talented but you can’t say her vocals alone warranted a record number of YouTube hits. If that were the case than someone like Andre Bochelli should also be at the top. So what’s the deal?
A lot of her success was about the triumph of the unattractive. She was mocked in the beginning for her ambitious desire to sound like a top musical star. But nobody would sneer if she were an attractive twenty-something woman. She wouldn’t be a story if she had covergirl looks. But something so beautiful came out of someone who was frankly not. A lot of people find Boyle inspirational because more people can relate with her than with Beyonce. We all inwardly rejoice in the weak triumphing over the strong.
This build-in paradigm and longing is a reflection for our deepest longings found in the gospel. In 1 Corinthians Paul writes, “26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are.”God’s triumphs by using the weak to shame the strong. God triumphs by using the ugly and marginalized to triumph over the outwardly beautiful and shallow.
The cross challenges our assumptions and values. It shows us the beauty of God’s upside-down wisdom. Out of death comes life. From the mouths of babes, God has ordained praise.
Filed under: Music
March 12, 2009 • 10:18 pm 1
These are some very dark economic times. We’re hearing a lot of news even in our congregation of layoffs and the lack of job security. These seasons teach us that we can’t find security in anything under the sun. Jesus talks about not storing our treasures where moth and rust destroy and thieves steal. We need to place our treasures in places immune to the ups and downs of market forces, the corruption of Wall Street and the greed of institutions.
However gloomy these times are I think it’s a tremendous opportunity to minister to people. It seems that only when things are tough are people willing to take a hard look inside and take a serious look above them. One of my favorite quotes come from G.K. Chesterton who writes, ”One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak.” Only in the deepest of valleys can we see the greatness of God. Only when everything around us totters can we understand that God is a rock and fortress.
So as markets decline can we suggest that our spirits can strengthen? These dark days are opportunities for people (myself included!) to experience glory.
Filed under: Uncategorized
February 6, 2009 • 10:09 pm 2
I grew up thinking that drinking alcohol was like drinking Satan juice. It was just bad the church told me. I can see that they had a point. My father would often drink a bit too much and tell me the same rambling stories of coming to America. What possible good can alcohol bring? But during my post-college years I was turned on to the abuse of legalism and the freedom of Christian living. Let the drinks flow! But with this “freedom” comes inevitable excess.
G.K. Chesteron once said that the drunk and the abstainer are both mistaken, they both regard alcohol as a drug and not as a drink. I think this really hits the nail on the head. Alcohol functions as drink and not drug. It’s wonderful as something that enhances our tastes and moods but destructive when it leads to drunkenness and dependency. Most of sin is not about outright evil but taking a good thing and abusing it. Both liberal and legalist miss the point of this drink.
Jesus puts alcohol in perspective. He CREATES alcohol as his first miracle in the gospel of John. Clearly Jesus is no prohibitionist.
He does it in the context of celebration. Alcohol can be used rightly in the context of community and especially celebration. But with all these things lies moderation and self-control which Paul summarizes by saying, “Do not be drunk on wine but be filled with the Spirit.” Alcoholic spirits should mesh with the Holy Spirit.
But finally Jesus uses alcohol as metaphor to explain the coming of His kingdom. Some whiskey can pack a punch but good wine can be divine. The flavor and beauty of wine can lead us to some transcendent moments. It’s but a faint hint on the beauty and joy that awaits God’s people when they have Christ as their King.
I’m in favor of a soulful life. A life filled with seeing all of life in it’s beauty and brilliance. A life that doesn’t need excess to truly experience. A life that sees good things in its rightful place under the reign of God. Maybe when Christians live more soulfully we’ll be more attractive to a soulless world.
Filed under: Uncategorized
February 4, 2009 • 10:23 pm 0
I was recently having a conversation with someone in our church about modern musical tastes. When I was growing up I saved all of my money to buy exactly one tape or CD a month. I listened to that album over and over until the songs were spinning in my head at all times. I only listened to one or two genres but I was absolutely devoted to it. These days if you ask anyone who grew up in the iPod generation about their musical tastes you’ll almost invariably get the answer, “a little bit of everything.” You’ll get people who listen to country, rock, rap, pop all the way down to indie music. In many ways this is wonderful. People now have more access to diverse streams of culture and knowledge than ever before. But is there a trade-off in all of this?
The trade-off to bredth is often depth. We are a little into a bit of everything but not entirely devoted to any one thing. This leads to what I would call the “Eclectic Life.” The Eclectic Life has a lot of different interests but zero passions. Our lives are filled with a little here, a little there, some friends you see occassionally, some fads that you chase whimsically until the next great thing comes along. The life eclectic has a ten minute attention span and probably didn’t finish reading this article. The eclectic life loves to skim but never to read. It has thoughts but no real ideas.
The great danger of the life eclectic is that it make spirituality almost impossible. Genuine spirituality is about the Devoted Life. Coming to Jesus involves a singular passion. Following Jesus requires an entire life-altering commitment that the Bible calls discipleship. Ministering in our culture requires us to call for people to make choices that will lead to passions. And ain’t nothing better than a life filled with genuine worthwhile passion.
Filed under: Music, Technology
November 25, 2008 • 10:31 pm 0
At City Light we’ve recently been celebrating the Lord’s Supper every other week. When you look at the early church, communion was regularly celebrated. But often communion today seems like an afterthought. It has become an archaic practice with little meaning to the modern believer.
We live in a fast food culture. We want things to taste good, be cheap and not take a lot of time. But the problem with this fast food culture is that it leaves us nutritionally deprived. This seeps into our church culture as well. We want our church to have a great service, a rocking praise band and an entertaining speaker. It needs to be fast (who can stand a long boring sermon!), fast-paced and carry with it very little commitment to anything other than Sunday attendence. But this as well will leave us spiritually deprived.
Communion, when properly practiced, offers us a feast in a fast food world. It tells us to slow down in an “In-N-Out” world. It shows us that our greatest hunger is the hunger to be connected with our King. It fills our senses and stirs our imagination. Communion raises our eyes to heaven to see the beauty of our Savior, this we savor. But communion is also a family meal. Meals are central times for families to come together. We congregate around food as we share our own stories. In communion we remember that we are a forgiven family, connected by the life and blood our King.
But communion is but an appetizer. Nobody would imagine that a little piece of bread and a shot of wine would qualify as a meal. It isn’t in itself completly filling. Communion points us forward to the fulness of the heavenly banquet to come. Here we eat in part, then we will eat fully. Communion helps us anticipate the fulness of the feast to come. All of this lends support for a regular and rich observance of communion in our churches today.
Filed under: Uncategorized
November 5, 2008 • 8:02 am 1
It’s been an exhilarating week with the birth of our first child. Witnessing the birth of Zadie was definitely one of the greatest life-changing experiences of my life. Her life is a gift from God and a testimony of His faithfulness. Zadie’s middle name is “Glory” as we hope her life is one of worship for our great God.
Nina and I are typical nervous first-time parents. We get paranoid at every turn when we suspect even the slightest things are amiss. But fortunately we’ve been tremendously blessed by the outpouring of support from our church and families.
Reflecting on being a parent for the first time I think it is both exhilarating and exhausting. Not just the physical toll of staying up from the late night cries. It’s just the thought that you are entirely responsible for this little growing life. If I mess up now I not only bring myself down but also my entire family. I realize that marriage and children are a key way that God is sanctifying my life. He’s drawing me away from my selfish insticts to focus upon the needs and growth of others. He’s drawing my heart outward and upward through the blessings of family. And through all my future failings, He’ll surely extend His grace to carry me.
As I think about family this verse stings all the more: “If anyone comes to me and hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). This verse isn’t talking about actually hating our family as we are called throughout the Bible to love (Ex. 20:12; 1 Cor. 13). But it means that compared to our love for God, everything else must pale in comparison. I must love my family and am willing to give up everything for my daughter but I can never make them my idol. My chief duty is not only to love my God but teach my family to love Him as well.
I have never experienced the kind of love I feel that I feel now for my wife and child. It is but a dim reflection of the love of Christ for His first family. I hope we would reflect that love well as a family. Zadie, welcome home my love! May we love well our God and serve Him greatly!
Filed under: personal
October 14, 2008 • 10:09 pm 0
One of my favorite video highlights of this last year has Kevin Garnett screaming after he wins his first NBA Championship, “Anything is Possibleeeeeeeeeeee!” I just love the sheer passion of KG at that moment. Some conspiracy theorists suggest he was trying to say, “Impossible is Nothing” which is the slogan for his sponsor Adidas. But I find this comment absurdly ridiculous as well.
If you were 7 foot, one of the most gifted basketball players in the world, teamed up with two other All-Stars on the best franchise in the NBA, I don’t think winning an NBA title accounts for doing the “impossible.” On the other hand if you were 5′5, Asian-American, on the wrong side of 30 and led your very mediocre team to an NBA title, then I think you can safely say, “Anything is Possssssibleeeeee!” That would truly be doing the impossible.
Sometimes people misquote 4:13, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” This for instance doesn’t mean that if you have faith you can win an NBA Championship. It doesn’t mean you can be whatever you dream of. All of us have certain physical and intellectual limitations. The context of this verse in Philippians is Paul’s ministry to the church. He says in the previous verse, “I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.” Paul is saying that he can face any circumstance with abundant joy and contentment.
Another way to look at it is this: God’s grace doesn’t help me to fulfill my personal dreams but God’s Kingdom dreams. We should have an “Anything is Possible” approach to growing God’s kingdom, reaching the lost, ending poverty not getting my promotion, losing weight and growing wealthy.
But to return to basketball, I’m hoping my Golden State Warriors will win the NBA title in the next few years. Anything is possible!
Filed under: Uncategorized
October 9, 2008 • 5:31 am 0
I was running in the evening in downtown and I came upon this huge Haloween display in a coporate building. It struck me as odd because I’ve always associated Haloween with children. But it seems that more and more Haloween has become an adult affair. I’ve read that alot of companies have chosen to move thier main winter celebration from Christmas to Haloween. A costume party is more neutral (and fun!) than a winter religious celebration. There are now huge stores dedicated to costumes for these Haloween parties. I think this follows a larger cultural trend of adults reverting to childlike behavior.
Think about the rise of Las Vegas. I can’t think of a more poular destination right now than Vegas. Every seeming batheclor party has its great destination there. But what is Vegas? It’s Disneyland for adults. It’s a place where you routinely walk by Elvis as you go to play games by plastic Roman colliseum pillars. Vegas is geared to be a fantasy world where you let your inner child roam free for a weekend. And the mantra “whatever happens in Vegas” also typifies the great pastime of children: keeping secrets.
But should all of this bother us? Yes and No. Play is serious business after all. We’re not called as Christians to be stiff, unemotional “adults”. Jesus seemed to have loved parties. He was first found getting the party started again when the wine ran dry at a wedding feast. He always seemed to show up at all kinds of celebrations and banquets. Jesus wasn’t a kill-joy. Christians should have the best parties because we have the most to celebrate. But there is one fundamental difference with us. Jesus says we should become like children (Matthew 18:3). But in saying that he had something different in mind than what we normally would consider childish. Where we associate childishness with immaturity and recklessness, Jesus is pointed us toward child-like wonder, dependence and purity.
We are to be child-like without being childish. But as I think about this it seems like a delicate balance. Like saying we are to be wise fools. That’s all a part of what it means to be cross-cultured I guess.
Filed under: Uncategorized
