Show our love to the children in our churches

Someone at church made two comments today, which I think are very insightful.

(1) For the parents the most important thing is that their children want to come to church. (I guess that is the ideal scenario.)

(2) The children stay at church (when they grow up) because they have had a good relationship with other parents.

As a parent I know that it feels great if the children want to go to church. But at the same time it is not about going to a church where the children can be "entertained" (if I may use that word) with a fantastic program. Instead, it is about relationships that they can have in church. It is not only their relationship with other children either. Rather, their relationship with the adults is also very important. Do they feel welcome by the adults? Do they feel loved and cared for? Do they feel, on the contrary, that they are second class citizens in the church (ie. not as important as the adults)?

People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." (Luke 18:15-17; TNIV)

Tim Chester, UK

Here is Tim Chester's website. To give you an idea of who he is and what he does, here is an excerpt from his website.

I am a writer, Bible teacher and church planter. I am married to Helen and have two daughters, Katie and Hannah.

I am a leader in The Crowded House – an international family of church planting networks – and within TCH I lead The Edge Network in Sheffield, UK. Most of our congregations meet in homes. We emphasise sharing our lives together rather than programmes and structures. ‘Ordinary life with gospel intentionality’ is one of our catchphrases. The Crowded House is often described by other people as part of the emerging church movement. It is true that we have a different approach to church to that of most traditional churches. But we are also different from many in the emerging church movement – we are Reformed and evangelical with a strong emphasis the centrality and sufficiency of the gospel word. See also the blog entry on Total Church.

Have a lookat his website!

Tim Chester website

The challenge for a Christian media manager

I am reading a magazine called East Asia's Millions (Jul-Sep 2009). There is an article written by the OMF International Media Projects Manager. Here is a reflection from him.

My other challenge is to tell the whole truth, however imperfect it may be. There's a tendency in the Christian media to create and tell 'perfect' stories, with anything unpleasant or difficult left out. I believe most people realise this filtering goes on and can therefore become suspicious, even desensitised, to most media. What would their reaction be if we told the gritty truth, even about mission? I believe that vulnerability and truth builds trust; after all, our god is a God of truth,...

Want to serve God in Asia?

I like the work of OMF because they have (1) A proven record of long-term commitment to the people in Asia; (2) A genuine international team of workers; and (3) A heart to serve the poor.

For video resources for yourself and your church, just click on the following links.

OMF Overview: Love Asia
OMF Media
A call from the international general director

Love Asia

Looking for a book about hospitality, violence, and reconciliation?

If you are interested in the issues around hospitality, violence, identity, otherness, reconciliation and the cross, I would recommend Hans Boersma's Violence, Hospitality, and the Cross and Miroslav Volf's Exclusion and Embrace.

Their conclusions are different in many ways. But I think they do agree on many points. Both authors cover the issues in a very thoughtful way, and both endeavour to be faithful to the Scripture. The two books are not easy to read. But if someone is going to hold a strong view about peace, hospitality, the theology of atonement, and/or "just war", it would be wise to first wrestle with the issues the books cover.

The God I don't understand

I just started reading Christopher Wright's new book called The God I don't Understand. It looks like a good book. I particularly like Wright's humility. It explores four questions.

What about evil and suffering?
What about the Canaanites?

What about the cross?

What about the end of the world?

I like the fact that the author acknowledges that there are issues that he never understands fully because the Scripture does not give all the answers we want, but at the same time tries to outline what the Bible does say.

Here is a quote on the issue of suffering (page 27):

"Whereas we often ask 'Why?' people in the Bible more often asked 'How long?' Their tendency was not to demand that God give an explanation for the origin of evil but rather to plead with God to do something to bring about an end to evil. And that, we shall see, is exactly what God has promised to do."

Is there such a thing as "just war"? - ask a child

Last night I chatted with my son about the issues around war and peace, and explained to him that there are Christians who believe in "just war" and there are those who are "peace activists". We looked at some Scriptures and talked about why different people arrive at different conclusions. Here are two interesting comments from my son.

(1) Whether the war is just often depends on your point of view. It depends on who you talk to. For example, on which side of the conflict are the people you talk to?

(2) A full-scale war can start simply because of a minor conflict between a small number of people.

I think both my son and I agree that love and forgiveness are the key to understand the gospel and should be our focus in each conflict.

Weakness, shame, honour, foolishness, wisdom, power

"To Paul, weakness is strength, shame is honor, foolishness is wisdom, and humility is the power of God. This is why the Corinthians did not appreciate Paul, did not understand the gospel and therefore did not realize what was required of them (2 Cor 13:5-10)" (Capes, Reeves and Richards)

For the Corinthians, Paul's letter was apparently very counter-cultural. It is probably still very counter-cultural for us today. A big challenge for us all.

(I read the above quote from a book written by David Capes, Rodney Reeves and E. Randolph Richards called Rediscovering Paul (p. 167). The context is 2 Corinthians. It is clear that the Corinthians failed to understand Paul and the gospel. )

Victory over powers of oppression

Hans Boersma (Professor of Theology at Regent College, Vancouver) has written a book called Violence, Hospitality, and the Cross. It is not an easy book to read unless one has had theological training. But the following is a good quote about the place of the church in speaking up against injustice.

"The Christus Victor theme of the atonement is in a real sense the most significant model of the atonement. The result of Christ's work of recapitulation is victory over the powers of oppression. In other words, God's hospitality aims at the freedom of humanity and all creation. The whole creation is waiting to 'be freed from its slavery to corruption and brought into the same glorious freedom as the children of God' (Rom. 8:21). This freedom no doubt includes freedom from social and political bondage. The concrete language with which the Old Testament prophets describe the peace and justice of the coming kingdom of God precludes all spiritualizing that seals off salvation from our concrete historical contexts... The Church must of necessity be careful in asserting its authoritative voice in the particularities of social and political issues. Nonetheless, there are situations of egregious evil and injustice where the Church must speak as Church in order to effect redemptive liberation. What is more, even when the Church cannot speak as Church on specific issues, it nonetheless directs the religious and moral lives of the believers, who cannot but make social, economic, and political judgments that ultimately stem from faith commitments that speak of redemption and liberation." (p. 248)

Book: Unconditional Love brings "dead" women back to life

I have written a book review for a recent book called Dead Women Walking.

Here is an excerpt from the review.

"Dead Women Walking is a book for those who have a passion to see authentic Christianity at work in real life situations - domestic violence, alcoholism, poverty, racial and class discrimination, and even demon possession."

It's available at Australian Christian book stores.

Click here for the review.

Australia endorsed the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

On 3rd April 2009 the Australia Government formally endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Australia was one of four countries (along with the United States, Canada and New Zealand) that didn't sign the Declaration in 2007.

Click here for more info.

Coming a child's mouth

I am "studying" 1 Corinthians with my son, who is in Grade 3. Tonight we looked at the Lord's supper in chapter 11. We talked about the fact that the death and resurrection of Jesus was the most important event in history, and that it's not just for "me" as if "I" am the centre of the universe ... and, in a real sense Christ's work has finished but at the same time the full realisation of God's kingdom is still to happen. (I didn't use those exact words.) Here is the analogy my son came up with (my paraphrase):

"It's like baking something in the oven. You have done everything you have to do, and then you put it in the oven. When the time is right, you take the food out and the job is now fully done."

I think it's not a bad analogy.

(Well, one can argue that much more has to be said - e.g. God does want us to live out the values of God's kingdom now through the empowerment of the Spirit. But let's not expect more in a bedtime conversation with a child.)

Performance enhancing drug and band-aid

I am listening to a lecture at Regent College given by Miroslav Volf. One thing that stays with me is his description of a kind of malfunction faith in which people turn faith into a kind of "spiritual performance enhancing drug". I don't have a transcript of the lecture, but I have found something similar on the Internet.

"Most of us would rather think of ourselves as objects of God’s blessing and deliverance than as God’s servants constrained (as we wrongly think) by God’s commands and God’s ways with humanity. So we split up what belongs together: we embrace God’s blessing and deliverance and reject God’s guidance and purposes. The result is kind of a magical religion: we function as fully independent masters of our own lives, living as we please and pursuing goals we deem worthy of our efforts, while availing ourselves of God’s power to help our efforts to succeed and to deliver us when we are endangered or have in some way failed. In the process, we turn faith into a spiritual “performance enhancing drug” and divine “band‐aid.”... This approach, which effectively makes God our servant and we God’s masters, is a fundamental misuse of religion with pernicious effects, especially in conflict situations...."

Source: http://www.yale.edu/faith/downloads/Agents_of_Peace_in_Theaters_of_War.pdf, accessed on 18th May 2009. I have not read the whole article myself.

Feberal Budget: Fairer refugee determination process

What we don't hear much about the recent federal budget (12th May 2009) is that it allows for a fairer determination process. According to my own reading of the Bible, this is a very important issue from a Christian perspective. Here are two reports from the Refugee Council of Australia:

Common Sense Changes Build Fairer Refugee Determination Process

THE 2009-10 BUDGET IN BRIEF: What it means for refugees and those requiring humanitarian protection

Federal Budget: Funding for the poor

Micah Challenge comments on the Australian Federal Budget yesterday (12th May 2009). This is what they say on their website:

"The federal budget was announced yesterday with mixed results. Micah Challenge welcomes the increase in funding towards Child and Maternal health, but would like to see a greater commitment in spending towards the aid budget, in order to see Australia meet 0.7% of GNI by 2015. We believe that as Christians in a nation with plenty, we have a responsibility to be 'Good Samaritans', and care for our poor neighbours."

This is what their email says today (13th May 2009):

"This budget has seen an increase in aid to $3.82 billion (up from $3.66 billion last year), taking the aid percentage from 3.2% to 3.4% of GNI (lower than the expected 0.35% projected last year)."

On this policy I think we should be thankful for the good results and positively encourage the Governemnt and the Opposition to take further action for more and better aid.

Click here for the Micah Challenge website to see what you can do in response. Click here for an ACFID (Australian Council For International Development) analysis of the budget.

Looking for a good book to read?

Here are two books I read last year.

(1) The Kite Runner by Khald Hosseini

The Kite Runner is a tale of friendship, betrayal and redemption. It is about human’s struggles with sin and family traditions. It is about personal and cultural honour and shame. It will also help us understand the lives of Afghan migrants in the West. Read my book review for more info about this book.

(2) The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne

In this book we see what an authentic Christian community looks like. We read stories of Christians living among the ghettos in America. We find followers of Jesus dressing the wounds of lepers in Asia. We see Christian communities in impoverished neighbourhoods. We find Christ’s love shine in the “abandoned places of the empire” (as Claiborne puts it), where there are oppression and economic hardships. Have a look at my book review to find out more about this book.

Coles and Mars getting into ethical chocolate

I heard recently that Coles and Mars are getting into ethical chocolate! Click here for more details.

Mission in the pluralistic West

A friend of mine has posted a great piece in his blog. Here is an excerpt.

"This new world is a world of post-Christendom, post-denominationalism and post-institutionalism. In this new pluralistic world Christianity is no longer the main player on the block. The old denominational and organisational structures are crumbling because brand loyalty is a thing of the past in our consumer-orientated society. Institutions, particularly those of the church, are seen to belong to a style vacuum, since almost everyone is looking for freedom and autonomy in this increasingly anti-authoritarian world."

Click here to read more.

The Crucified and the cross, that "eminently counter-cultural symbol"

Here are two quotes from Miroslav Volf's Exclusion and Embrace. I find them very insightful, and they serve as counter-cultural - even scandalous - statements for the 21st-century world. Something for us to meditate on.

“All sufferers can find comfort in the solidarity of the Crucified; but only those who struggle against evil by following the example of the Crucified will discover him at their side. To claim the comfort of the Crucified while rejecting his way is to advocate not only cheap grace but a deceitful ideology.”

“In a world of violence, the Cross, that eminently counter-cultural symbol that lives at the heart of the Christian faith, is a scandal.”

Book notice: Another Way to Love

Here are what people say about the book (Another Way to Love: Christian Social Reform and Global Poverty) I mentioned earlier. It should be available at the book stores soon. Click here for more information.

"Jesus once told a moving story of a wealthy person who ended up in hell, not because he was wealthy, but because he ignored a poor man named Lazarus who lived right at his gate. In our global village, there are many people just like Lazarus living at our gate. The authors of this excellent book seek to stir us afresh with God’s heart for the poor and needy. With theological insight, historical perspective, and contemporary case studies, they seek to move us to action in addressing the critical social issues of our time."
MARK CONNER, Senior Minister Melbourne City Life Church

“The real question is not whether religious faith should influence a society and its politics, but how? Another Way to Love helps to answer this question. It provides the biblical foundation for social engagement as well as practical examples grounded in World Vision’s long experience opposing poverty and injustice around the world. This is a valuable book that brings together Christian thought and action.”
JIM WALLIS, Author, speaker and founder of Sojourners USA

"Can any theme be more important today than finding a new way to love people in a world that suffers and hurts because of poverty and injustice? This remarkable compilation enables some of the most thoughtful and committed Christians to share their insights and experiences with us in ways that not only inspire and inform, but also encourage us to find our own ways not to miss out in joining what is on God’s heart today. This is a must read for any follower of Jesus who wants to be both relevant to the needs facing our planet and be faithful to our Lord."
ASH BARKER, Director of Urban Neighbours Of Hope and author of Make Poverty Personal.

Here are the chapters in the book:

Don't Trade Lives - Child Slavery by Tim Costello (CEO of World Vision Australia)
A Passion for Hope and Justice by Tim Costello (World Vision)
Climate Change by Dr Brett Parris (World Vision)
A Theological Approach to Social Reform, Advocacy and Engagement by Dr Andrew Cameron (Moore College)
The Nature of Poverty and Development by Dr Jayakumar Christian (National Director of World Vision Inida)
Fair Trade by Rod Yule and Peter Weston (World Vision)
Make Poverty History - Trade, Aide and Debt Relief by Rev Angus McLeay (Anglican minister) and Fiona McLeay (World Vision)
Micah Challenge - Voices for Justice by Amanda Jackson (Micah Challenge)
Voice to the Voiceless by Bill Walker (World Vision)
Christianity and Social Reform by Dr Mark Hutchinson (Southern Cross College)
The Old Testament and Christian Social Engagement by Dr Andrew Sloan (Morling College)
Good News to the Poor by Siu Fung Wu (World Vision)

Christopher Wright and Old Testament Ethics

I find Christopher Wright's Old Testament Ethics for the People of God an excellent book. If you want to have a good understanding of Old Testament Ethics, social justice, ecology and the earth, economics, the land and the poor, etc, this is a good book to read. Highly recommended.

My friend Jim

Here is a webpage of a good friend. (Click here.) Jim is a good man, and was my teacher. I learned a lot from him. Jim is a Christian, and is a Greens member. His views can be controversial. In fact, I don't agree with him all the time. But I learn from him as I listen to him and let him challenge my views. So, have a look at his website and his blog, and get ready to be stretched, to disagree and to be challenged.

Humility and grace

I had the opportunity to hear from the International Director of a major mission ageny today. Here are some encouraging words from him (my paraphrase).

"It is not about our organisation, but about the people we seek to serve."

"We have a great history. But it is not for us to be proud of - instead, it is for us to remember God's faithfulness."

"There is no place for triumphalism or superiority... there has to be cross-centred humility."

Climate Change Day Conference

A day conference on climate change will be held at St Hilary's Anglican Church in Kew, Vic. One of the speakers is Dr Brett Parris, who holds a Bachelor degree in Theology and a PhD in Economics. He is the Chief Economist at World Vision. I think the conference will be good. Click here for the church website for more information, and here for a brochure.

Welcomed by strangers: Asylum seekers raising money for bushfire victims

In previous post (18th April 2009) I mentioned the Christian mandate to welcome strangers. Today I heard that a group of asylum seekers/refugees in Melbourne are running a fund-raising event for the recent bushfire victims. In a sense, they are showing Australia hospitality and love by their action.

I found a UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) report, which shows the following stats regarding the recipients of new asylum seekers in the first half of 2008.

Australia 2,000
Canada 16,800 (10.2%)
France 15,600 (9.5%)
UK 14,500 (8.8%)
Greece 10,200 (6.2%)
Switzerland 5,900 (3.6%)

As you can see, Australia did not take in a lot of asylum seekers at all. Let's be generous towards them. You may want to write you the PM, your MP and the key senators about it.

Lifestory: "I don't want to be poor"

Here is a brief story about myself. Just click here for the article.

My intention is to share something about the Scripture, faith, poverty and wealth, and how they have shaped my life and thinking. I hope the article will bring you peace and hope.

Types of people not in our churches

Transforming Melbourne has reported on a research about Melbourne churches. Here is an excerpt from their recent email news (24 April 2009).

Major groups largely absent from the churches

People in de facto relationships: (=1% of church attenders, 8% of adult population)
People who have never married (=19% of church attenders, 43% of adult population)
People without tertiary qualifications (=53% of attenders, 80% of adult population)
People in full-time employment (=27% of attenders, 37% of adult population)

I think to some extent these are due to the fact that we tend to share the gospel with those who are similar to us. I live in an eastern suburb in Melbourne. Most of my friends have someone in their household working full-time. Most of them have tertiary qualifications, and indeed many of them have postgraduate qualifications. But my heart goes to the others whose lives are different from mine, especially those who are less fortunate than I. That's why I prefer to be part of a Christian community that has plenty of people unemployed, single and without tertiary qualifications. (But I understand that not everyone can, in practice, be part of such a community, and often for good and/or valid reasons.)

Any thoughts after reading the above stats?

Paul as a pray-er

I find that Professor Gordon Fee is by far one of the best teachers on Paul's letters. One of Fee's books is called Paul, the Spirit and the People of God. Here are two very good quotes from the book.

"A prayerless life is one of practical atheism." (p. 149)

"What is clear from Paul's letters is that he was a pray-er before he was a missioner or thinker.' (P. 147)

Often pastors, teachers and preachers (and scholars!) think of the apostle Paul as either a practitioner/pastor or theologian. But if we read his letters carefully we will realise that he is first of all a worshipper of God - and a pray-er! A role model for us.

Another Way to Love

Look out for a new book called Another Way to Love: Christian Social Reform and Global Poverty. It's edited by Tim Costello and Rod Yule. I wrote a chapter in this book and so I thought I might promote it here.

Writers in this book include Dr Andrew Sloan (Morling College), Tim Costello (CEO of World Vision Australia), Amanda Jackson (Micah Challenge), Dr Andrew Cameron (Moore College), Rod Yule (World Vision), Peter Weston (World Vision), Rev Angus McLeay (Anglican minister), Dr Brett Parris (World Vision), Bill Walker (World Vision), Fiona McLeay (World Vision), Dr Mark Hutchinson (Southern Cross College), Dr Jayakumar Christian (National Director of World Vision Inida).

The book is about how Christians can engage in issues surrounding poverty and injustice. It has a theological/biblical section, as well as a section with practical examples. It should be available in Christian book stores in the next couple of weeks.

A book about working class in Taiwan

I am close to half way through a book called Dead Women Walking, written by Jennifer Su (who has a degree in journalism). It is about the lives of three women in Taiwan. They belonged to the working class in Taiwan, where there are only about 0.5% Christian. Their lives were surrounded by traditional folk religion, alcoholic husbands, domestic violence and poverty. In one case, the woman was regularly raped, and then she became a sex worker. My understanding is that later in their lives they all became Christians. (I haven't got to that part of the book yet.) If you are looking for a book to read, this would be a good one.

G20 reaffirmed their commitment to the poor

The G20 contries affirmed their commitment to the poor on 2nd April 2009. Here is a quote from their Communiqué.

"We recognise that the current crisis has a disproportionate impact on the vulnerable in the poorest countries and recognise our collective responsibility to mitigate the social impact of the crisis to minimise long-lasting damage to global potential."

But please also note that more has to be done for the poor. Have a look at this article from TearFund (UK) commenting on the G20 statement.

"We are not the centre of the universe." (Tom Wright)

I just started reading Tom Wright's new book Justification: God's Plan and Paul's Vision. Here are a number of interesting quotes.

"Discovering that God is gracious, rather than a distant bureaucrat or a dangerous tyrant, is the good news that constantly surprises and refreshes us. But we are not the centre of the universe. .. It may look, from our point of view, as though 'me and my salvation' are the be-all and end-all of Christianity. Sadly, many people - many devout Christians! - have preached that way and lived that way." (p.7)

"God made humans for a purpose: not simply for themselves, not simply so that they could be in relationship with him, but so that through them, as his image-bearers, he could bring his wise, glad, fruitful order to the world." (p.7)

"God is rescuing us from the shipwreck of the world, not so that we can sit back and put our feet up in his company, but so that we can be part of his plan to remake the world." (p.8)

"The reason I am writing this book is because the present battles are symptoms of some much larger issues that face the church at the start of the twenty-first century, and because the danger signs, particularly the failure to read scripture for all its worth, ..., are all around us... I am suggesting that the theology of St Paul, the whole theology of St Paul rather than the truncated and self-centred readings which have become endemic in Western thought,..., is urgently needed as the church faces the tasks of mission in tomorrow's dangerous world, and is not well served by the inward-looking soteriologies that tangle themselves up in a web of detached texts and secondary theories..." (p. 9)

I was in Hong Kong when I became a Christian. I always understood that the Christian faith is not about "me and my salvation". But now, after twenty years living in Australia, I have to admit that in some ways Tom Wright's observation is right - ie. often we think that we are the centre of the universe. But the Christian faith has to be much more than my salvation. Instead, it is first and foremost about God, and what he has done - and continues to do - in us, for us, in the world and for the world.

I think this new book by Tom Wright would be a good reading for pastors and Christian leaders.

(Not all will agree with Tom Wright, obviously. I, for example, don't expect myself to agree with everything in this book. This book is, however, recommended by Scot McKnight, I Howard Marshall, Rob Bell, Micahel Gorman, Richard Hays, Brian McLaren, Darrell Bock, and others. I am sure it will be an interesting read.)

The Christian mandate to welcome strangers

On ABC Lateline last night there was a piece about the latest political debate on the government (relaxed) policies on detention rules and temporary protection visas. (See the Lateline script here.)

In my own Christian circle I have the opportunities to talk to asylum seekers very often. The fact is that often they still have to wait for a very long time for a permanent residence visa to be granted (if it is granted). Often their temporary visas are renewed for a few months at a time (sometimes monthly), and as a result they have to constantly live in a state of uncertainty.

I talked with one of them recently. He is a kind Christian man who loves God. He loves the Bible and reads it regularly to seek comfort and hope. As I got to know him I found that he was separated from his wife and children as they fled their country. A permanent visa would enable him to travel to the region (not his own country, I suppose) to search for his family. We can hardly understand the hardship he endures as he waits anxiously for his permanent visas and at the same time separated from this loved ones. (A timely article from The Age entitled No Way Back Now would help us to understand the issue further.)

The Bible again and again refers to God's people's obligation to plead the cause of the fatherless, widows and resident foreigners (or "aliens" in the NIV). It is important to realise that in other ancient law codes there were rules to protect/help orphans and widows. But it was only in Israel's Scripture that foreigners (or "aliens") were to be protected because of their vulnerable situation. Israel was to remember that they were once aliens in Egypt and now they were to look after the foreigners in their midst. And of course Jesus told the parable of the good Samaritan because he was asked "who is my neighbour?" Our neighbours are not only those who live in the same street or suburb, but include people from all nations and cultures - and hence when they suffer from persecution and hardship we are to help them. May the church hear the heart of God and respond accordingly.

Q & A: Rick Warren

The following is an interview with Rick Warren after he accepted the invitation to pray at the President Obama's inauguration. Personally I find that people - out of their respect to this leader of a great church - tend to get offended when someone criticises him. And then there are those who don't particularly like him because of their perception that he represents the megachurches. I tend to think that we should not hesitate to critique his teaching in light of the Scripture (something that I guess he would welcome), but at the same time listen to him and show him the respect due to him. This interview is full of interesting stuff for discussion. Feel free to start the conversation.

Click here for the interview.

Tom Wright on Easter

Have a look at this article written by Tom Wright on TimesOnline in the UK. You may want to start by browsing the comments on the article. Apparently it's fairly well received. Let me know what you think!

Click here for the article.