Friday, October 29, 2004

Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

- James 3:1

Weekend was great. Came back from the prevailing church conference - but this time, I have a lot more people from my church join me. I think everyone's beginning to see the potential of our local church. There's been a lot of productive talk about church direction, constructive programming changes, and ultimately... really trying to figure out where God is at work and joining him there. I've been thinking through/analyzing my passions/potential gifts and I really want to develop an understanding across the generations in our church. In my mind, what's the use if one generation is extreme strong and on fire for God if the other generations are not being developed? I'm hoping to start something early next year: a leadership module where I can facilitate the development of leadership throughout the generations. Honestly, I don't know how this will work. I'm beginning to pray and discern how to actually do this. It might take the form of a sunday school, but maybe it'll be less frequent or more like a small group meeting. I'm also beginning to talk to older people because unlike some people in our church who think that "children are the last hope of the world" (ahem rani), I think my burden may be to kick start the relationships with the parents. Question is: how would they react to me being a 'teacher', or at least a facilitator of discussion. Relating to this - I'm praying over whether to take a 'leadership in the postmodern context' course next term at tyndale, or 'issues, strategies, and directions in north american chinese churches'. Any advice? Jeff Greeman's teaching the leadership one, and Warren Lai (SCBC) is teaching the chinese church one. Keep on praying. Praying. Need to pray every day for my grad small group members, my pastors/leaders of TCBC, and now... pray every day for specific VISION for english ministry. Will tell you what happens after a month.


Yu-Ling posted at 10/29/2004 01:12:00 AM

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

They don't do random. There is always an objective. Always a target.

- Nicky, The Bourne Supremacy

I haven't seen The Bourne Supremacy, but it's a random quote from a random movie that hints at my random update. Random Update 1: Finished reading Twelve Ordinary Men by John MacArthur. He's a leading biblical scholar who wrote many books and even has a commentary series. This was a great book that highlighted the life and call of the 12 apostles. What I'm beginning to feel nowadays (as experienced by reading the book) is the awkwardness in understanding how fundamental christianity portrays Christian life. Can't articulate my thoughts about this, but working on it. Random Update 2: I downloaded episodes of Extreme Makeover house edition. So good. In spite of the occasional corniness (and the occasional tears while watching), I love the house renovations and the family reactions. Pretty kewl how they get the entire community involved. Random Update 3: Thoughts about TCBC leadership development. I'm in the process of discerning how I can heat up the issue of developing leaders in our church. I'm dreaming right now - but I'm thinking about facilitating a group during sunday school time where I can invite a variety of people (a few adults, young couples, grads, univ/HS students) and begin a perpetual ministry where potential leaders from across the age spectrum can meet together and struggle through the leadership issues. Don't know how feasible this is, but I'm beginning to talk to a variety of people, we'll see what happens as I plan for the new year. Random Update 4: Preparing a survey for CCF needs assessment purpose. Also, working on a 'balance workshop'. Both will be presented at the CCF leaders meeting at Waterloo on Oct 30. I'm praying for guidance as I continue to draft ideas. Random Update 5: Committed to playing violin for a four seasons concert at TCBC. Haven't picked up the violin in a while, need to start practicing. I'm playing the first violin part for Autumn.... man, I can't play double-stops any more. Last update Looking forward for the Renew your passion conference this friday/saturday. Need to have some spiritual rest rite now in order to better absorb from the speakers/workshop leaders. Tune in again where we all live happily ever after.


Yu-Ling posted at 10/20/2004 01:33:00 AM

Thursday, October 14, 2004

We need churches that are both purpose driven and postmodern, timeless and timely at the same time. May God use you for that purpose.

- Rich Warren, forward for The Emerging Church

I finished reading two books recently: the Connecting Church by Randy Frazee and The Post-Evangelical by Dave Tomlinson. Now I just received two books that I ordered through AFC: the emerging church and emerging worship - both by Dan Kimball. If I have been talking to you recently about my dreams/fears for the local church, our conversation will bound to carry over towards the realm of postmodernity and how our current culture is affected by this prevailing mindset. I love the quote from Rick Warren because it reflects my developing attitude: a desire to see the timeless truth being embodied by the church... but in a relevant manner so that we can reach the people at large. I'm fearful because sometimes people (including myself) will elevate relevance to the point that it overshadows the truth of the gospel. Further difficulties are developing because these new forms of relevance in christianity vary drastically across the spectrum. I see some people desiring a simplistic faith that is drenched deep in symbolism. Yet on the other end, there are people who want to celebrate their faith through lively worship and great proclamations of the gospel. Now, even looking at TCBC, where does the heart of the people lie? Is this even the proper question to ask? What if the leadership of the church really got together to pray for direction and God supernaturally directs us toward a path that is too difficult for most to accept? Too many questions... and reading all these books is just filling me with even more possibilities for our church. I think I need to pray more.


Yu-Ling posted at 10/14/2004 01:04:00 PM

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

When God's ideal is realized, the impact upon an individual,a church, a community, or a nation will be enormous.

- Henry and Mel Blackaby

My grad group is beginning a shared journey together through the Experiencing God (EG) syllabus. This is a discipleship resource that helps people develop a more intimate relationship with God. It was designed by Henry Blackaby and Claude King. I must admit that I am both excited and apprehensive about this new venture. I’m excited because our grad group has now made a commitment to one another to grow closer to God and to each other. The EG study has helped us articulate our needs as well as our fears of group life. I’m also glad that EG will give us the opportunity to rotate leadership duties so that we can all be developing leaders. On top of that, the actual content of the study is quite challenging as it tends to focus on the more spiritual side of things – which is a challenge for most people (Christian or not). I really am beginning to pray to earnestly seek God’s guidance but I don’t want to be naïve in believing that He will begin to supernaturally direct my life or that I will find ‘specific life purposes’ after going through the course. I’m hesitant about entering this study because I’m still struggling with the same issues even after doing the study before. EG’s approach for knowing God’s will and following it is quite easy to understand, but oh-so-hard to do. It really puts an emphasis on being involved with God’s work as HE is the initiator, and HE is the beginner of all things, and ultimately HE welcomes you to a journey with HIM. I love this approach (as I tend to forget God’s work in my life and my surroundings), yet my difficulty lies in discerning what specifically is God’s works. By leaning towards more of a deconstructive attitude, I can almost rationalize that everything good comes from the Lord, and therefore, any good work that I’m involved in must come from Him. Therefore, I can join Him in any good venture (whether ‘Christian’ or not). Ah… so herein lies my dilemma. I’m not focusing on the big picture (that God is God and I am not) but I’m being caught up in the small things: - How should I react to having certain ideas/aspirations? - What’s needed to figure out HOW he’s leading? - What does it really come down to in terms of discernment? An intuitive (spiritual) feeling? - How can I honestly assess my relationship with God and my decision making process without resorting to overspiritualized language? I guess these are bigger questions than I thought. Ah well. Just need to figure it out within the next 12 weeks of the study ;). Thank God I have a community that can help me with this. I think a Christian life is like a spiral – a gradual movement that spirals closer and closer to the mark of having a full and abundant life with God and with others. Now that I’m honest with my own struggles before EG begins, I think that I will have a better time during the study process. Tune in again for more updates from a learning learner.


Yu-Ling posted at 10/13/2004 01:24:00 AM

Saturday, October 09, 2004

Weddings... Congrats Wayne and Jess. May God bless you and keep you all your days together.


Yu-Ling posted at 10/09/2004 07:48:00 AM

Friday, October 08, 2004

I saw this link through Marianne's blog... it's so good. I was laughing so hard. Go take a look, the bible stories, as told through LEGO! The Brick Testament


Yu-Ling posted at 10/08/2004 06:04:00 PM

Friday, October 01, 2004

After years of prayer, fellowship, and everyday life with five close roommates, a weekly meeting with a dozen people seemed shallow.

- anonymous., The Connecting Church

I’m nearly finished reading ‘the connecting church’ by Randy Frazee. In light of my involvement at AFC, church, and even considering my personal interest in the issues surrounding community – I thought it would be beneficial to begin studying the concepts of church and the personal search to belong. Frazee’s book has a subtitle that really attracted me to reading it: beyond small groups to authentic community. In my last year at UW, I was really plugging small groups since I believe this is the best vehicle to encourage spiritual growth that I have encountered. I spent lots of time studying books and biblical passages in order to increase my knowledge about the methods and biblical principles surrounding the use of small groups. Imagine my surprise when an author dares to criticize my developing passion for small groups (my goodness, it’s a Willowcreek resource book as well). The connecting church is Frazee’s discourse about the issue of community. He has done a lot of research in collaboration with the likes of the Gallup group in order to research how north Americans have developed community. He punctuates every chapter with quotes from various social scientists who have insightful things to say about why US (and by association, Canada) has become ‘the loneliest nation on earth’. His observations look at consumerism, individualism, isolation, and many other factors in our lives that have determined a society that lacks the sense of community. If we compare our immediate culture to small town life, pre-suburban city, etc. – there is definitely a discontinuity in how we experience community nowadays. We gather together by pre-planning and driving far distances in order to meet with a group of people of same affinity for 2-3 hrs, for the purpose that we all agree upon. Yet as we meet together there is always talk about how the sense of community can be improved. Can we ever fully achieve a level of intimacy (or should we?) that can allow all people to feel a sense of belonging? In my grad group, we’re still having a hard time to ‘really’ get to know each other. Some of us long for accountability to the depths of truth telling and rebuking if necessary. Yet others may not feel that it is necessary for our immediate group. We’re also hesitant about inviting new people in the group for fear that we may be overwhelmed by numbers, and thereby losing our primary purpose of forming the group: getting to know each other, support one another through accountability. Clearly our own ideals of community are clashing. Frazee has 3 main points in his book: 1) we should connect to a common purpose 2) we should connect to a common place 3) we should connect to common possessions These seem like no brainer conclusions… and having to be able to write a whole book surrounding these 3 main points… let’s just say I was less than optimistic about reading it (and yet I bought the book, I’m a freak). BUT, after finishing 2/3 of the book, I must admit that the implications are staggering. He takes these ideals and applies it to his local church, and they seem to be working. Some of the issues that I’m wrestling with include: - agreeing to beliefs, practices, virtues - centralized vs. decentralized church - not grouping by affinity, but by neighborhood - establishing assessment tools for church - what’s the point of Sunday worship, fellowship, SG If you have any thoughts about these topics, or about the issue of community in general, please come talk to me. Check out this link for Frazee's church when you have the chance. Tune in again as I sort out my thoughts about who should date my friend's daughters.


Yu-Ling posted at 10/01/2004 03:05:00 PM