Friday, June 24, 2005

We cannot assume that by saying the word Jesus, still less the word Christ, we are automatically in touch with the real Jesus who talked in first-century Palestine.

- NT Wright, The Challenge of Jesus

So my first official book completion in the 10 Book Challenge is 'The Challenge of Jesus' by NT Wright. Let me trace back the context to how I first got interested in his works. If I've been speaking to you about all things Christian, you would probably get the sense that I'm fascinated by the pomo movement. Whether you agree with it or not, I would try to make a case that postmodernity is the context in which we live in, and we have to correctly live out a gospel that can respond appropriately to our pomo culture. So what does pomo have to do with NT Wright? Well, far more than I ever thought. For those who believe that pomo is a fad, a dangerous movement that's founded on relativism or supercharged-emotional-spirituality, I think you're not looking at all facets of this emerging movement. Many mainstream pomo christians have been articulating a faith that says our post-enlightenment worldview needs to get past reason/logic as the end-all-be-all and move towards a more holistic type of knowing. This is why there's been an increasing amount of stress put on an ancient-future faith - a move towards understanding our biblical roots in order to build up the future. So now, finally, we get to Wright. After reading many pomo books and understanding a bit better the arguments surrounding our emerging culture, I felt a need to understand the original context in which Jesus found himself. We always stressed this point in bible study (ie. what is the context of the passage), but I think we have always superimposed our 21st century values/ideas into the very interpretation of Jesus' historical context. This is where the pomo movement has been great, it's so skeptical of every interpretation, and it points out that even our most objective interpretation is still based on hidden motivations. Wright has been a well established theologian who some people label as part of 'the third quest of the historical Jesus' movement. Basically, Wright's perspective is that Jesus introduces something radically new, especially in relation to the identity of the people of God (Israel). Jesus specifically offers a new beginning, a new conclusion in God's great plan (how's this for jawdropper - Jesus is the new temple...). I really enjoyed the book, especially Wright's emphasis on historical research and appropriate reasoning. I would sum up his flow of the book (and his critique on mainstream Christianity) as being the following: we know the right answers, but we don't know the right questions and the reasoning leading to those answers. For instance, we know Jesus is the Messiah - but what does that mean? What did that mean to a first century Jew living under the Roman government? Did Jesus meet the Jewish understanding of messiah-ship and/or did he go beyond such interpretation? I could write down so many more things to say about this book - like his wonderful take about the identity of Christ, identifying and offering practical response to the pomo movement, creating a renewed desire for me to understand the Jewishness of Jesus/Bible, etc. All these things are great, but I think this book may be required reading in some seminary class, so I'll wait til then to write a more indepth analysis of the book. All in all, if you like swimming in the deep end, go check out this book! If you're interested in re-discovering how history/Christianity fit well together, or how we can better understand who Jesus was, check out the following links: NT Wright's Expositions at the IVCF Following Christ 98 conference. 'The Challenge of Jesus' can be seen as a summary of his mega theological works combined with the talks he gave at this conference. Check it out here. An unofficial webpage dedicated to all things about NT Wright. His article about 'how the bible can be authoritative' and 'the bible for the postmodern world' is especially great. Check it out here. If you like exploring the "Jewishness" of Christianity, check out the website that's called 'FollowTheRabbi'. Check it out here. I might as well add a few more links. The person who oversees the followtherabbi website is a guy named Rob Vanderlaan. He is a passionate teacher, and if you want to watch a video sermon of his, check it out here (click on the 'Message' link). A great preacher that was mentored by Vanderlaan is Rob Bell. This guy help grow a church from a few hundred to several thousand people in a year, just preaching on one book of the Bible.... LEVITICUS!!! If you want to see great biblical preaching mixed in with humor and relevance, you gotta check out these video sermons: The Nazarite Vow Between the Trees We're over here Jesus and Domitian A Day of Atonement Covered in the Dust of the Rabbi Tune in again when I bust out all the good links.


Yu-Ling posted at 6/24/2005 01:50:00 PM

Saturday, June 18, 2005

I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better.

- G. C. Lichtenberg

I'm experiencing new changes in my life - so I might as well start changing my blog to mark a moment in this life-changing-process. Will update more soon. In the meantime, it's safe to say that my body's sore from softball, my mind's tired from reading about SIN (for my final book critique in Sys Theo 1), and I think I'm working out my spirit with the help of God and others. Also finished the Challenge of Jesus by NT Wright - wonderful book. Will write a review soon. Tune in again when 'that's just the way it is, things'll never be the same'.


Yu-Ling posted at 6/18/2005 02:41:00 AM

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

If you are weary of some sleepy form of devotion, probably God is as weary of it as you are.

- Frank Laubach

Quick update - prompted by my reading from The Life you've always wanted for GG. I've been tired recently, both physically and spiritually. To be quite frank, indulging in sin as well. I'm telling myself it's cause of the heat wave and that I just finished my intensive course at tyndale, and that I'm not used to using my body for physical exercise :P. But it's not just that, I'm failing in my attempts at my self made 'boundary-marker spirituality'. Haven't read the bible for devotional purposes in a while, haven't had a personal time of prayer in a LONG time. Doesn't help that when I fail at these things, I continue in a spiral of self-condemnation and hoping in pseudo-transformation for lifestyle changes. I need to be redirected towards loving God and loving others.


Yu-Ling posted at 6/14/2005 03:39:00 PM

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

You broke the bonds And you loosed the chains Carried the cross Of my shame You know I believed it But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

- U2, I still haven't found what I'm looking for

Just two more days of Sys Theo 1 and it's been great. Of course if you really know me, you know I'm mostly a night person (even tho I know waking up in the early morning is when I'm most productive), so I end up daydreaming in class a lot. I just have to share that it's been great having Dennis (my prof) deconstruct my preconceptions of faith and reconstruct the conceptions of belief (2 point sermon - scintillating indeed). There have been times in my class where people's core beliefs in a specific understanding of Christianity have been completely shattered. Two such incidences come to mind: first, the idea that God completely gave up Jesus on the cross. Second, the idea that the Holy Spirit does not reside in us (bodily), but rather in a strong relational manner. Tough stuff - but good stuff to wrestle with. What better way to describe discipleship then the tearing down of ill conceived notions of God/man, and building up better relations with them? Hmmm... I have two more papers to write and I'm done. First, a small 5 page reflection on either Augustine's perspective of the Holy Spirit, or Jurgen Moltmann on the Suffering of God. Second, book critique about Sin (as suggested by Dennis). Will be an interesting few weeks. Oh yeah, got some more books from Alldirect (thx Vanessa for smuggling them over the border), so I can now begin reading some more books in the 10 BOOK CHALLENGE. I've read the preface for 'In God's Time' and 'The Return of the Prodigal Son' (check the links for reviews on amazon). Two very different books, but looks like they have very challenging ideas about life and God. Also, in the back of my mind, I'm planning for a new challenge for next year: BIBLE MARATHON. There's lots of links/articles online about what that is, but basically a bible marathon takes place when a group of people dedicate themselves to solely read the bible for an extended period of time (ie. read Gospels+Acts+Romans in one day, or read the whole bible in one weekend). Boundless.org gives some idea of what a bible marathon looks like, check it out here. You game? Let's start training for next summer.


Yu-Ling posted at 6/08/2005 11:00:00 PM

Thursday, June 02, 2005

This is juicy stuff.

- Dennis Ngien, Systematic Theology class

I am now nearly halfway finish my 2-week intensive Systematic Theology course at Tyndale. My professor, Dennis Ngien, has been remarkably engaging throughout a 4-hour-daily-class with a format of little class participation. I bumped into Mrs. Chou on the break of my second class and I described to her how Dennis' style of teaching is more like preaching - she quickly joined me for class. He would literally share anecdotes from his life (juicy stuff, I might add) in response to theological questions, and he's always quick to point out theological points in a relevant and interesting manner that he would then challenge our class to use in a sermon (for instance, on the revelation in Christ - God hides in order to reveal, man hides in order to conceal). Dennis is unknowingly deconstructing my belief in the inadequacy of preaching/spoken word and is building up a newer/richer paradigm for me. Juicy stuff indeed. Early on in the class, someone raised a question that has been on my heart for some time. My classmate asked whether systematic theology (or similar categorizations of different doctrines) has led Christianity to argue and bicker and thus ultimately leading to a state of disunity. I have been feeling this uneasiness like a deep groaning in my spirit - especially of late when I see Christians be so divisive and critical over everything under the sun. Maybe that's why I have been so attracted to the POMO approach: critical of all justifications/reasoning, allowing greater authority for the relational/mystery approach, and wanting to focus more on the attitude/intuition of a person rather than correcting beliefs. Dennis has been great to point out that this danger (like for most things) is where we have taken a good thing and corrupted it. Certainly God would want us to be critical about our doctrines, dogmas, and beliefs... but far too often, us Christians have crossed the line from thinking critically into possessing a critical spirit. Dennis drawing from his own experience, said that he used to be more of a hardline rationalist - believing that everything can be explained and thus set right with good and careful articulation of a problem. Yet, as he has grown older, he realizes that he was becoming more like the apostle Paul who at the end of his life, still had to exclaim that the mystery of Christ is too great for him. So Dennis is now more of a softline rationalist, who sways between thought and feeling - believing that there can be a good balance for both. Dennis has taught me how to try and see all the different theologies in a proper context. I have to figure out why people came up with certain theologies - was it a response to a certain struggle? Or more surprisingly, a lot of theologians offered new theological insights out of their sheer piety, so how can you criticize something when it wasn't meant to be a systematic proof for their belief? As I was thinking about my own beliefs in class, I realize more and more that I'm just purely skeptical about people's theology in general. Even as I try to put their theologies into context and figure out why people believe the things they do, it's hard not to be judgmental. It's hard not to be judgmental of past theologians based on what they said througout history. But Dennis continues to warn me - check my attitude at the door. Sure, be critical, but try and figure out where the other person is coming from, and STILL love them. I'm loving Dennis' approach to theology. He wants to preach Jesus, cause that's who will do the real transformation in our lives. Our work is secondary compared to Him, but still important. So if we're obliged NOT to be silent about certain difficult issues like 'why does God allow suffering', then we give a reason for the hope that we have in Him - that's what studying theology is all about, developing this divine human intimacy with God. So aside from class, a few other things have been developing. GG is growing, we'll be meeting in the same night/time on tuesdays at 8-10 but we're splitting off in two and studying the life you've always wanted by John Ortberg. I'm hopeful that this book can help us train our spiritual muscles and draw us closer to God. Another thing, softball is starting so fun times. Gonna get really dark (check out my previous driver's license and you'll know what I mean). Also need to buy new contacts, I'm playing with an older prescription... aiya. Oh yeah, I just got a AFC uniform. Since I have to advertise as much as possible, I have to wear it to every christian event... haha. Tune in again after I finish my tyndale class... and start figuring out the rest of my life.


Yu-Ling posted at 6/02/2005 03:48:00 PM