In case you're interested in knowing more about the life of St. Francis after reading all my previous posts, I've already done some searching online. Enjoy.
Who Was St. Francis?
St. Francis of Assisi
Who Was St. Francis?
St. Francis of Assisi
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
St. Francis continued... as promised...
My friend studying in HK Baptist Theological Seminary has forwarded my previous post to Dr. Moye, and then he has forwarded Dr. Moye's reply to me. And this is the email I wrote in reply on what I have learnt from St. Francis. (With some adapation for the very public internet...)
Dear Dr. Moye,
I am the friend of your student from the Baptist seminary, the one who wrote about the Gospel and St. Francis on my blog. He has forwarded your letter to him about what I wrote. In your email, you said you were unsure what I have learnt from St. Francis. (I think you’re absolutely right in what you said in the email about teaching and long term relationships being the best way of giving people understanding on what it means to be a Christian.)
I was reading this novel written by an Anglican priest about an fictional evangelical pastor who had lost his faith and sought counsel from his uncle who was a Catholic priest. And his uncle introduced St. Francis to him and led him into his spiritual pilgrimage.
I knew little about St. Francis before I read the book, apart from the song with the lyrics from his prayer, and that he was the son of a rich guy who abandoned his riches for God and some stories about him from the previous church history course I took.
In the book, I read the story about his calling to rebuild God’s church and how he took off all his clothes and severed his ties to his father, calling God his only father. How he is the patron saint of ecology and a nature mystic. The book also talked about how art is used by God, and how St. Francis spread the Gospel through art, and his creative sermons. (I think that might be one of the reasons you like him?) “Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use the words.” He also taught the friars preaching the good news was useless unless they were the good news. How he was a peacemaker between Muslims and Christians, his life in absolute poverty and how he helped people even when he had nothing. In short, how he lived his life fully according to the Gospel. For me, this whole package is the Gospel, not just “you have sinned, accept Jesus as your personal saviour and you’ll have eternal life.”
In the middle of the book, the pastor said he was half-afraid that when this pilgrimage was over, he might go home a Catholic. That was exactly how I felt in the past couple of months, maybe that’s why the book was so striking to me. I’ve been sick of all the “evangelical” ways, plus I have gotten rid of the prejudice against Catholics I got that are prevalent among Protestants long ago. I've been seriously thinking about converting to a more “traditional” Christian church for some time. That was why I had enrolled in the church history class to search for the roots of why I believe in what I believe in. There has never been any doubt in God in my mind, I just stopped believing in the form of Christianity/Gospel portrayed by the evangelical churches nowadays. I have never heard of evangelical crusades organized by Catholics.
St. Francis lived in a time when the church was corrupted, people were disillusioned. In a way similar to what we’re facing now. And the pastor wrote to St. Francis in his journal in the later part of the book, “Francis, you changed the church (in fact, you reevangelized it)—not through being critical but through forming a community that confounded it. For the last few years, I’ve been a self-righteous critic of the church and all of Christendom, and I need to give that up.”
I guess whatever church I’m in, there’ll still be problems. I like what St. Francis did, he “didn’t criticize the institutional church nor did he settle for doing church the way it had always been done. He rose above those two alternatives and decided that the best way to overhaul something was to keep your mouth shut and simply do it better.”
I guess that is the lesson I have to learn. And I still have no idea how to do it better, now I just feel frustrated most of the times and wanted to scream at people sometimes. And I have always had the problem to keep my mouth shut. When I can’t keep my mouth shut, sometimes I got all these wide eye stares/rebukes from people who are skeptical of what I think the Gospel really is.
Thanks for just reading this email. It’s getting really long.
Amy
Dear Dr. Moye,
I am the friend of your student from the Baptist seminary, the one who wrote about the Gospel and St. Francis on my blog. He has forwarded your letter to him about what I wrote. In your email, you said you were unsure what I have learnt from St. Francis. (I think you’re absolutely right in what you said in the email about teaching and long term relationships being the best way of giving people understanding on what it means to be a Christian.)
I was reading this novel written by an Anglican priest about an fictional evangelical pastor who had lost his faith and sought counsel from his uncle who was a Catholic priest. And his uncle introduced St. Francis to him and led him into his spiritual pilgrimage.
I knew little about St. Francis before I read the book, apart from the song with the lyrics from his prayer, and that he was the son of a rich guy who abandoned his riches for God and some stories about him from the previous church history course I took.
In the book, I read the story about his calling to rebuild God’s church and how he took off all his clothes and severed his ties to his father, calling God his only father. How he is the patron saint of ecology and a nature mystic. The book also talked about how art is used by God, and how St. Francis spread the Gospel through art, and his creative sermons. (I think that might be one of the reasons you like him?) “Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use the words.” He also taught the friars preaching the good news was useless unless they were the good news. How he was a peacemaker between Muslims and Christians, his life in absolute poverty and how he helped people even when he had nothing. In short, how he lived his life fully according to the Gospel. For me, this whole package is the Gospel, not just “you have sinned, accept Jesus as your personal saviour and you’ll have eternal life.”
In the middle of the book, the pastor said he was half-afraid that when this pilgrimage was over, he might go home a Catholic. That was exactly how I felt in the past couple of months, maybe that’s why the book was so striking to me. I’ve been sick of all the “evangelical” ways, plus I have gotten rid of the prejudice against Catholics I got that are prevalent among Protestants long ago. I've been seriously thinking about converting to a more “traditional” Christian church for some time. That was why I had enrolled in the church history class to search for the roots of why I believe in what I believe in. There has never been any doubt in God in my mind, I just stopped believing in the form of Christianity/Gospel portrayed by the evangelical churches nowadays. I have never heard of evangelical crusades organized by Catholics.
St. Francis lived in a time when the church was corrupted, people were disillusioned. In a way similar to what we’re facing now. And the pastor wrote to St. Francis in his journal in the later part of the book, “Francis, you changed the church (in fact, you reevangelized it)—not through being critical but through forming a community that confounded it. For the last few years, I’ve been a self-righteous critic of the church and all of Christendom, and I need to give that up.”
I guess whatever church I’m in, there’ll still be problems. I like what St. Francis did, he “didn’t criticize the institutional church nor did he settle for doing church the way it had always been done. He rose above those two alternatives and decided that the best way to overhaul something was to keep your mouth shut and simply do it better.”
I guess that is the lesson I have to learn. And I still have no idea how to do it better, now I just feel frustrated most of the times and wanted to scream at people sometimes. And I have always had the problem to keep my mouth shut. When I can’t keep my mouth shut, sometimes I got all these wide eye stares/rebukes from people who are skeptical of what I think the Gospel really is.
Thanks for just reading this email. It’s getting really long.
Amy
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Prophet vs Priest
I remember from the Bible Study Camp last week. Dr. Moye said Ezekiel was both the prophet and the priest, which was rare because most are either prophet or priest.
I definitely feel like a prophet today.
My church has finally chosen a candidate for the new pastor-in-chief.
One of the deacons actually said the pastor is willing to submit to the church!! (And this is supposedly a good quality of him.) Who should one submit to? I'm sure by church they did not mean Jesus as the head of church, that kind of thing...
And then someone said she didn't know what he was talking about in sermons, they said some benefit from stories in sermons as well, (our previous pastor-in-chief just talked about stories unrelated to the Bible in ALL his sermons) and then even if the sermons are really good (like a banquet, that's what he said), few can understand and there is no "increase" in numbers in church, it's no good...
Can you believe they actually said this kind of thing???!!!!
I asked them why they said stuff like this and they gave me stupid answers... sigh...
Like growth in church in a THEOLOGICAL DISCUSSION! Let's not discussed it this time...
And the church means all the church members, not just the church committee, HAH, like they have ever consulted us on each and everything and even if they had, I mean, who are we?? the pastor should submit to US???!!! What KIND of LOGIC or belief is THAT??!!
I'm sick...
I definitely feel like a prophet today.
My church has finally chosen a candidate for the new pastor-in-chief.
One of the deacons actually said the pastor is willing to submit to the church!! (And this is supposedly a good quality of him.) Who should one submit to? I'm sure by church they did not mean Jesus as the head of church, that kind of thing...
And then someone said she didn't know what he was talking about in sermons, they said some benefit from stories in sermons as well, (our previous pastor-in-chief just talked about stories unrelated to the Bible in ALL his sermons) and then even if the sermons are really good (like a banquet, that's what he said), few can understand and there is no "increase" in numbers in church, it's no good...
Can you believe they actually said this kind of thing???!!!!
I asked them why they said stuff like this and they gave me stupid answers... sigh...
Like growth in church in a THEOLOGICAL DISCUSSION! Let's not discussed it this time...
And the church means all the church members, not just the church committee, HAH, like they have ever consulted us on each and everything and even if they had, I mean, who are we?? the pastor should submit to US???!!! What KIND of LOGIC or belief is THAT??!!
I'm sick...
The Gospel of Mark (Lesson 1)
Basically, my emphasis on the Gospel of Mark is on three aspects. (Just part of my lesson plan/summary, so a bit brief.)
1. Gospel- What does it really mean according to what Jesus did?
2. Mark- understanding Christology: through the people, religious leaders, disciples, Gentiles, demons' understanding of who Jesus is
3. How to read the Gospel? By literary analysis. We need to read the whole book in continuity. Not for historical accuracy or simply combine materials from different synoptic Gospels. Sometimes the materials are selected for certain purposes.
Mark 2:1-3:6 is one section
We can see
A> CONTRAST: Religious leaders’ hostility to Jesus (Ch2-3) vs People’s ready acceptance to Jesus (Ch1: even when Jesus touched the leper: also against the law, but people accepted him.)
B> Escalating Conflicts
C> Chiastic Structure
A Forgiveness & Healing (2: 1-12)
B The Calling of Levi & Eating with Sinners (2:13-17)
C Discussion on Fasting (2:18-22)
B’ Discussion on Sabbath: grain picking (2:23-38)
A’ Discussion on Sabbath: Healing (3:1-6)
From this structure we can see the central message of this section of Mark
A Healing SIN/SINNERS
B Food SIN/SINNERS
C Fasting * CENTRAL!! New vs old
B’ Food SABBATH
A’ Healing SABBATH
Good book recommendation for the study of the Gospel of Mark
新約文學釋經－馬可福音、腓立比書、雅各書
1. Gospel- What does it really mean according to what Jesus did?
2. Mark- understanding Christology: through the people, religious leaders, disciples, Gentiles, demons' understanding of who Jesus is
3. How to read the Gospel? By literary analysis. We need to read the whole book in continuity. Not for historical accuracy or simply combine materials from different synoptic Gospels. Sometimes the materials are selected for certain purposes.
Mark 2:1-3:6 is one section
We can see
A> CONTRAST: Religious leaders’ hostility to Jesus (Ch2-3) vs People’s ready acceptance to Jesus (Ch1: even when Jesus touched the leper: also against the law, but people accepted him.)
B> Escalating Conflicts
C> Chiastic Structure
A Forgiveness & Healing (2: 1-12)
B The Calling of Levi & Eating with Sinners (2:13-17)
C Discussion on Fasting (2:18-22)
B’ Discussion on Sabbath: grain picking (2:23-38)
A’ Discussion on Sabbath: Healing (3:1-6)
From this structure we can see the central message of this section of Mark
A Healing SIN/SINNERS
B Food SIN/SINNERS
C Fasting * CENTRAL!! New vs old
B’ Food SABBATH
A’ Healing SABBATH
Good book recommendation for the study of the Gospel of Mark
新約文學釋經－馬可福音、腓立比書、雅各書
The Ongoing Adventure of ASBO Jesus
Click on the pic to view it more clearly. Sorry the width is limited by the size of my blog...
Find more here.
Find more here.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Evandalism
I saw this poster while I was in Auckland a few months ago. I looked at it for so long, a friend finally bought it and gave it to me. =P
And I went to their website today, and saw this...
Isn't this what we've been doing?? Evandalism... what a good word!
And I went to their website today, and saw this...
Isn't this what we've been doing?? Evandalism... what a good word!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
What is Gospel??
Last week, I attended a Sunday school class to observe, as I am going to practise teaching in that class later on.
The topic for this term is the Gospel of Mark, so the teacher started off with an introduction of what Gospel means.
He asked students for their input first. Of course, everyone answered with stuff you would have expected. Jesus dying for our sins, eternal life etc etc.
I thought he had some great ideas about what the Gospel was, so I held my tongue throughout, which was a really difficult thing for me. (You all know how talkative I am, especially on subjects which I have an opinion.)
Anyway, the answer was-- (!) it was all of what the students had said, just a whole package of it, not just a part of it.
I'm really sick of the McDonaldised version of the Gospel, i.e. the Gospel means Jesus dying for us on the cross in order to deliver us from our sins and giving us peace and joy in our life, just believe in Him, and you'll be able to get all these and your guaranteed ticket to heaven.
(Not that these are not true, BUT THEY ARE NOT THE WHOLE TRUTH!!!)
As I have said in my previous post about St. Francis,
Gospel is the good news. A New Testament teacher said it was called the "Gospel" because before the Roman emperor went to a certain place, he sent his messenger to the place with the "Gospel" announcing his imminent arrival. The Gospel means the King is coming. To this world.
So what does it mean by Jesus- the King coming to this world?? Of course, that means he's reigning here.
What does it mean??
He reigns to save us all from our miserable present life, and promises us a future life in heaven??? Is that all GOSPEL is about????
You can hear from my tone, of course no!
I don't think our portrayal of the Gospel or our way of "evangelism" is ever going to move some of the people to believing us. It is not their problem, nor the real Gospel's problem. It is our problem. We have distorted the real Gospel, no wonder so many people refused to have anything to do with such a shallow "Jesus".
Don't get me started on the mega festival stuff and promotions. I believe most people who decided to "accept Jesus as their personal saviour", MOST of them did so because of the seeds that were planted way before any speakers said a word about Jesus. (Please note that the "personal saviour" thing is under quotation. Not my choice of words.)
And these stuff are really a waste of money and manpower. They may be able to do some good in places like China where some people simply have never ever heard of Jesus before, not to turn people into real Christians, but as an introduction of Jesus to them.
Jesus reigns in this world. The present world. Jesus and His disciples should be here changing THIS world. Not the future heaven.
I was studying Ezekiel in the Bible study camp yesterday. He had all these great visions. Dr. Moye said God showed himself to us using images pre-existing in our minds, that's why everyone sees "God" a bit differently. (The images Ezekiel used to describe God were prevalent in those Near East civilisation.)
People talked about our church, and all the bad stuff we have seen when they talked about visions.
What I see is all the stuff we have neglected. As I have said before, in environmental protection, in social support of the neglected and poor, not spreading the "Gospel" to them (e.g. in the Tin Shui Wai district, just look at the recent tragedy), Fair Trade (did you know there are actually fairtrade churches that only use Fair Trade products??), these are all important concerns we Christians should have. What Jesus would have cared about. Protecting God's creations (human and otherwise).
What are we concerned about?? The future ticket to heaven??? It is simply not enough!!
I'll probably write more about this as I further study the Gospel of Mark. Stay tuned!
The topic for this term is the Gospel of Mark, so the teacher started off with an introduction of what Gospel means.
He asked students for their input first. Of course, everyone answered with stuff you would have expected. Jesus dying for our sins, eternal life etc etc.
I thought he had some great ideas about what the Gospel was, so I held my tongue throughout, which was a really difficult thing for me. (You all know how talkative I am, especially on subjects which I have an opinion.)
Anyway, the answer was-- (!) it was all of what the students had said, just a whole package of it, not just a part of it.
I'm really sick of the McDonaldised version of the Gospel, i.e. the Gospel means Jesus dying for us on the cross in order to deliver us from our sins and giving us peace and joy in our life, just believe in Him, and you'll be able to get all these and your guaranteed ticket to heaven.
(Not that these are not true, BUT THEY ARE NOT THE WHOLE TRUTH!!!)
As I have said in my previous post about St. Francis,
Gospel is the good news. A New Testament teacher said it was called the "Gospel" because before the Roman emperor went to a certain place, he sent his messenger to the place with the "Gospel" announcing his imminent arrival. The Gospel means the King is coming. To this world.
So what does it mean by Jesus- the King coming to this world?? Of course, that means he's reigning here.
What does it mean??
He reigns to save us all from our miserable present life, and promises us a future life in heaven??? Is that all GOSPEL is about????
You can hear from my tone, of course no!
I don't think our portrayal of the Gospel or our way of "evangelism" is ever going to move some of the people to believing us. It is not their problem, nor the real Gospel's problem. It is our problem. We have distorted the real Gospel, no wonder so many people refused to have anything to do with such a shallow "Jesus".
Don't get me started on the mega festival stuff and promotions. I believe most people who decided to "accept Jesus as their personal saviour", MOST of them did so because of the seeds that were planted way before any speakers said a word about Jesus. (Please note that the "personal saviour" thing is under quotation. Not my choice of words.)
And these stuff are really a waste of money and manpower. They may be able to do some good in places like China where some people simply have never ever heard of Jesus before, not to turn people into real Christians, but as an introduction of Jesus to them.
Jesus reigns in this world. The present world. Jesus and His disciples should be here changing THIS world. Not the future heaven.
I was studying Ezekiel in the Bible study camp yesterday. He had all these great visions. Dr. Moye said God showed himself to us using images pre-existing in our minds, that's why everyone sees "God" a bit differently. (The images Ezekiel used to describe God were prevalent in those Near East civilisation.)
People talked about our church, and all the bad stuff we have seen when they talked about visions.
What I see is all the stuff we have neglected. As I have said before, in environmental protection, in social support of the neglected and poor, not spreading the "Gospel" to them (e.g. in the Tin Shui Wai district, just look at the recent tragedy), Fair Trade (did you know there are actually fairtrade churches that only use Fair Trade products??), these are all important concerns we Christians should have. What Jesus would have cared about. Protecting God's creations (human and otherwise).
What are we concerned about?? The future ticket to heaven??? It is simply not enough!!
I'll probably write more about this as I further study the Gospel of Mark. Stay tuned!
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Continuing the Journey with St. Francis
Basically the book Chasing Francis: A Pilgrim's Tale is about a mega church pastor who had lost his faith. (Having read the story, I don't think he did lose his faith in Jesus/God, I think he lost his faith in the McDonaldised version of Christianity which is prevalent nowadays.) And the story is about his search for faith through St. Francis.
I am so interested in this book, because I am losing my faith on the McDonalised version of the Gospel according to evangelical churches as well. Last weekend, I had to attend an outdoor evangelical function of my church (due to obligations, sigh), even before the function started I had already told one of my friends I didn't want to be there telling people McDonaldised versions of the Gospels.
The day after that my fellowship mates discussed the methods used, and said some of the people are apathetic to what they told them, and they asked if there is a better way to introduce people to the Gospel. (5 colors representing the Gospel... or 4 spiritual laws... whatever... did Jesus/Paul EVER use them when they talked about the Gospel? Are we more "modern" or are we getting more "primitive"??)
I don't know the best way to do this, I just know the way we are doing it doesn't seem right.
Gospel is the good news. A New Testament teacher said it was called the "Gospel" because before the Roman emperor went to a certain place, he sent his messenger to the place with the "Gospel" announcing his imminent arrival. The Gospel means the King is coming. To this world.
Do you actually see God/Jesus reigning in this world being talked about in the Gospel? Not just reigning in your heart. "Do you accept Jesus as you "personal" saviour??" Is Jesus just your personal saviour??
Christianity was never a "personal" religion in Jesus'/Apostles' time.
St. Francis lived in a time similar to us. The church is losing its credibility, Christians are at war with Muslims, etc. What about his solution?
(Please click on the photo to read more clearly)
Is this my solution??
(To be continued...)
I am so interested in this book, because I am losing my faith on the McDonalised version of the Gospel according to evangelical churches as well. Last weekend, I had to attend an outdoor evangelical function of my church (due to obligations, sigh), even before the function started I had already told one of my friends I didn't want to be there telling people McDonaldised versions of the Gospels.
The day after that my fellowship mates discussed the methods used, and said some of the people are apathetic to what they told them, and they asked if there is a better way to introduce people to the Gospel. (5 colors representing the Gospel... or 4 spiritual laws... whatever... did Jesus/Paul EVER use them when they talked about the Gospel? Are we more "modern" or are we getting more "primitive"??)
I don't know the best way to do this, I just know the way we are doing it doesn't seem right.
Gospel is the good news. A New Testament teacher said it was called the "Gospel" because before the Roman emperor went to a certain place, he sent his messenger to the place with the "Gospel" announcing his imminent arrival. The Gospel means the King is coming. To this world.
Do you actually see God/Jesus reigning in this world being talked about in the Gospel? Not just reigning in your heart. "Do you accept Jesus as you "personal" saviour??" Is Jesus just your personal saviour??
Christianity was never a "personal" religion in Jesus'/Apostles' time.
St. Francis lived in a time similar to us. The church is losing its credibility, Christians are at war with Muslims, etc. What about his solution?
(Please click on the photo to read more clearly)
Is this my solution??
(To be continued...)
Monday, October 15, 2007
Chasing Francis: A Pilgrim's Tale
This book has finally arrived!! I have devoured the book in two days!! WOW! Read my previous intro of this book here. A short intro from Amazon is here.
Chase Falson has lost his faith-and he did it right in front of the congregation at his megachurch. Now the elders want him to take some time away: far away. So Chase crosses the Atlantic to visit his uncle, a Franciscan priest, where he encounters the teachings of Francis of Assisi and rediscovers his ancient faith. Follow Chase's spiritual journey in the footsteps of Francis, and then begin one of your own through the pilgrim's guide included in this book. Come discover Francis, the first postmodern Christian.
There are some amazing similarities with the period St. Francis lived and the postmodern world. Yeah! One thing in particular is Christianity is losing its control in the world, and St. Francis helped rebuilding the church by becoming a fool, following the footsteps of Jesus.
Because today is Blog Action Day, I have chosen to post some of the ways St. Francis helped in pioneering environmental protection.
From Ecology: St Francis and the EnvironmentIt's not remarkable that St. Francis would move small worms to the side of the path, even though Thomas of Solano, historian and companion, mentions it in his writings. What is remarkable is how much we make reference to that today as something extraordinary. I think St. Francis would find it remarkable that we do, as well. It's an indicator of how far removed.. .how much we've become separated from our brothers and sisters of creation. To care for the worm lest it becomes trampled is a neighborly act, and not necessarily uncommon to caring people today. St. Francis cared for even the tiniest of creatures, not only because he came to know them as neighbors, but he recognized each one as "an imprint of the Most High." If we came to know, love, and care for God's creatures as St. Francis did, the birds would flock to us as well. Stake your life on nature, and she'll stake her life on you. We do live in the Kingdom, if only we could see beyond the shallow facade of materialism to find value as St. Francis found value.Another link:St. Francis of Assisi: Why He's the Patron of EcologyChristianity is doing a really bad job in helping the environment. (Which country is producing the most greenhouse gases in the world??) We can all learn from St. Francis on how to love God and love the world God has created. I'll write more on other aspects of St. Francis later.Canticle of the Creatures
All praise be yours, My Lord,
through all that you have made.
And first my lord Brother Sun, who brings the day....
How beautiful is he, how radiant in all his splendor!
Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Moon and Stars;
In the heavens you have made them, bright and precious and fair.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air....
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Water,
So useful, lowly, precious and pure.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Brother Fire,
through whom you brighten up the night....
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Earth, our mother,
Who feeds us...and produces various fruits
With colored flowers and herbs....
Praise and bless my Lord, and give him thanks,
And serve him with great humility.
—St. Francis of Assisi: Writings and Early Biographies,
edited by Marion A. Habig, 1973 by Franciscan Herald Press
Check out my other blog for another environmentally related post.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Real Sex: The Naked Truth about Chastity (Review)
I have finally read this book. I had wanted to read it since July after reading part of its excerpt on how chastity can be used to develop spiritual discipline.
It's really an amazingly good book. It didn't treat me like an idiot and say things like "Don't have sex before your marriage because there are sexually transmitted diseases" OR "You are NOT married so you REALLY do not understand, guys think differently from women, you need to dress modestly as they ARE different." (You can't believe how many times I was being told that... sigh...Do we really look this dumb??) This book actually told men to cover themselves up when they go jogging. HAHA! Just an example to show how different this book is to what you usually hear in church.
Because I'm too lazy to actually type a passage from the book, so here are parts of an interview with Lauren F. Winner about this book, they should be able to give you a glimpse on what to expect from the book.
The book first started with why we need another book on chastity-- how the church failed in this task.
Hooked you yet??
Then it goes onto part 2 about how to stay chaste.
It talked about line drawing. It's like one of the top FAQs, "how far can I go with my gf/bf?"
Again an excerpt from the interview for an unmarried Christian.
It's the story of how the man that I'm now married to and I navigated sexuality when we were dating. We got this advice from a very good friend of my husband Griff's, a man who's a campus pastor at the University of Virginia, which is near where we live. He said, what you can do sexually with each other in private is whatever you would feel comfortable doing standing on the steps of the Rotunda, which is the architectural capstone of the university's campus.
And how then how to do it?? As I have posted some excerpts in my previous post on Chastity as Spiritual Discipline, so I'm not going to repeat it. Here's a little bit more from the interview.
What we have to recognize is that the Christian life is full of loss, suffering, and difficulty, in addition to being full of joy, contentment, and peace. Part of what unmarried Christians cope with is that stark recognition that chastity is sometimes really difficult. You have sexual desires and longings that are not fulfilled, just as married Christians sometimes do. The answer involves recognizing that this is a discipline of abstinence, and sometimes it is really difficult and doesn't feel good.
And then followed by " What Marriage Teaches the Church: God's Love Actualised among God's people" and "What Singleness Teaches the Church: Vacancy for God", here's part of it from the Singleness part.
Borrow the book from me or buy it yourself!!
Because I'm too lazy to actually type a passage from the book, so here are parts of an interview with Lauren F. Winner about this book, they should be able to give you a glimpse on what to expect from the book.
The book first started with why we need another book on chastity-- how the church failed in this task.
Is the `True Love Waits' pledge program one of those?
I don't want to pick apart a particular program. Recent studies have come out to show that abstinence pledge card programs tend to delay sexual activity in teenagers by 18 months. So the average non-pledge-card-signing teenager has sex at 18, the average person who signs a pledge card has sex at 19 and a half.
But these programs also don't do college-aged or teenage girls any favors in basically denying that women have sexual desires and saying that their job in remaining chaste is to fend off the walking ball of hormones who takes them to the movies and tries to have sex with them.
One of the things I talk about in the book is in particular how we talk about women's sexuality. So many `Christian' books that I've read on sexuality really don't acknowledge that women have libidos. I don't think that we have to say that men and women are identical, or that men and women experience sexuality in identical ways, to recognize that women do have libidos. We would better serve unmarried women in the church to instead say, look, women also feel sexual desire, and here are some ways that you can discipline that desire rather than saying, eh, you're not really going to have to worry about this.
And then continues to talk about what "Real Sex" is. Apart from the lies our culture tells about sex, there's also a chapter on the LIE OUR CHURCH is telling us about sex. =) And Lie # 1 is "Premarital sex is Guaranteed to make you feel lousy." HAHA!!Hooked you yet??
Then it goes onto part 2 about how to stay chaste.
It talked about line drawing. It's like one of the top FAQs, "how far can I go with my gf/bf?"
Again an excerpt from the interview for an unmarried Christian.
It's the story of how the man that I'm now married to and I navigated sexuality when we were dating. We got this advice from a very good friend of my husband Griff's, a man who's a campus pastor at the University of Virginia, which is near where we live. He said, what you can do sexually with each other in private is whatever you would feel comfortable doing standing on the steps of the Rotunda, which is the architectural capstone of the university's campus.
And how then how to do it?? As I have posted some excerpts in my previous post on Chastity as Spiritual Discipline, so I'm not going to repeat it. Here's a little bit more from the interview.
What we have to recognize is that the Christian life is full of loss, suffering, and difficulty, in addition to being full of joy, contentment, and peace. Part of what unmarried Christians cope with is that stark recognition that chastity is sometimes really difficult. You have sexual desires and longings that are not fulfilled, just as married Christians sometimes do. The answer involves recognizing that this is a discipline of abstinence, and sometimes it is really difficult and doesn't feel good.
And then followed by " What Marriage Teaches the Church: God's Love Actualised among God's people" and "What Singleness Teaches the Church: Vacancy for God", here's part of it from the Singleness part.
Borrow the book from me or buy it yourself!!
P.S. I have also written about marriage and this book here on my other blog.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Hear
"Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger." (James 1:19)
This has to be the best phrase to describe me in the Bible =P. For those of you who know me, you'll know I talk really fast. (One of my friends told me it's incomprehensible why I can speak so fast, and yet so clearly... HAHA!!) And I do have a quick temper.
Today, I received this reminder again through the sermon today from the Parable of the Sower.
I have been studying Mark for Sunday School material recently. Mark seems like the most boring Gospel of all, teaching it looks like a daunting task to me. I couldn't find any good references even from Amazon. I have started using 奔走風塵的僕人 ──馬可福音析讀. I have also ordered NT Wright's Mark for Everyone, but still haven't received it yet. And today I read this really good part from Mark 6:30-7:23.
From my previous study of the other Gospels, I knew some of these miracles had profound theological meanings from the Old Testament. Like in this case, feeding the 5000 is like Manna in the desert, walking on the sea is like crossing the Red Sea.
However, what I wanted to share here is the two important reminders I have heard from God in the stories.
Mark Chapter 6
[31] And he said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
[32] And they went away in the boat to a lonely place by themselves.
[33] Now many saw them going, and knew them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns, and got there ahead of them.
[34] As he went ashore he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.
We often have plans in our life. I hate it when people disrupt my plans. I need rest, a lot of it. I need planning. However, my plans are often interrupted by my mother, my friends or my work (at work or in church). I get really frustrated and angry whenever this happens.
Jesus had compassion on them. (These people who disrupt His own plan for a retreat!) He was so busy that He did not even have time to eat. Yet He still consider people's need more important than His own. Efficiency had never been a top priority for Him, compassion was.
[35] And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, "This is a lonely place, and the hour is now late;
[36] send them away, to go into the country and villages round about and buy themselves something to eat."
[37] But he answered them, "You give them something to eat." And they said to him, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?"
[38] And he said to them, "How many loaves have you? Go and see." And when they had found out, they said, "Five, and two fish."
[39] Then he commanded them all to sit down by companies upon the green grass.
[40] So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties.
[41] And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all.
[42] And they all ate and were satisfied.
What??!! 200 denarii of food?? That's like 8 months' wages from the poor disciples. For the administrative minded people, it seemed like a crazy idea. I am one of them. I have been questioning all these crazy ideas people have recently. Being a real practical person, I have always said, "That's impossible." I didn't even realise the problem until today.
Thanks for Your reminders.
This has to be the best phrase to describe me in the Bible =P. For those of you who know me, you'll know I talk really fast. (One of my friends told me it's incomprehensible why I can speak so fast, and yet so clearly... HAHA!!) And I do have a quick temper.
Today, I received this reminder again through the sermon today from the Parable of the Sower.
I have been studying Mark for Sunday School material recently. Mark seems like the most boring Gospel of all, teaching it looks like a daunting task to me. I couldn't find any good references even from Amazon. I have started using 奔走風塵的僕人 ──馬可福音析讀. I have also ordered NT Wright's Mark for Everyone, but still haven't received it yet. And today I read this really good part from Mark 6:30-7:23.
From my previous study of the other Gospels, I knew some of these miracles had profound theological meanings from the Old Testament. Like in this case, feeding the 5000 is like Manna in the desert, walking on the sea is like crossing the Red Sea.
However, what I wanted to share here is the two important reminders I have heard from God in the stories.
Mark Chapter 6
[31] And he said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
[32] And they went away in the boat to a lonely place by themselves.
[33] Now many saw them going, and knew them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns, and got there ahead of them.
[34] As he went ashore he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.
We often have plans in our life. I hate it when people disrupt my plans. I need rest, a lot of it. I need planning. However, my plans are often interrupted by my mother, my friends or my work (at work or in church). I get really frustrated and angry whenever this happens.
Jesus had compassion on them. (These people who disrupt His own plan for a retreat!) He was so busy that He did not even have time to eat. Yet He still consider people's need more important than His own. Efficiency had never been a top priority for Him, compassion was.
[35] And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, "This is a lonely place, and the hour is now late;
[36] send them away, to go into the country and villages round about and buy themselves something to eat."
[37] But he answered them, "You give them something to eat." And they said to him, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?"
[38] And he said to them, "How many loaves have you? Go and see." And when they had found out, they said, "Five, and two fish."
[39] Then he commanded them all to sit down by companies upon the green grass.
[40] So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties.
[41] And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all.
[42] And they all ate and were satisfied.
What??!! 200 denarii of food?? That's like 8 months' wages from the poor disciples. For the administrative minded people, it seemed like a crazy idea. I am one of them. I have been questioning all these crazy ideas people have recently. Being a real practical person, I have always said, "That's impossible." I didn't even realise the problem until today.
Thanks for Your reminders.
Monday, October 01, 2007
The Death of Moses
From a sermon I heard yesterday.
Moses died without ever going into Canaan. However, he was being called "the Servant of the Lord", he was being buried by the Lord (usually done by a relative, plus the dead body is considered unclean), and there were no other prophets like him who could talk to God face-to-face.
What do you want in your life? Your wishes granted by God or a close relationship with Him?
Moses had a close relationship with God, but in the end, he could not do the one thing that he had wanted (maybe most??).
We would say "a close relationship with God" if we were given the choice. However, if we look into our real life, we'll know that we want the things God can give us more.
When are we going to learn? When am I going to learn??
Moses died without ever going into Canaan. However, he was being called "the Servant of the Lord", he was being buried by the Lord (usually done by a relative, plus the dead body is considered unclean), and there were no other prophets like him who could talk to God face-to-face.
What do you want in your life? Your wishes granted by God or a close relationship with Him?
Moses had a close relationship with God, but in the end, he could not do the one thing that he had wanted (maybe most??).
We would say "a close relationship with God" if we were given the choice. However, if we look into our real life, we'll know that we want the things God can give us more.
When are we going to learn? When am I going to learn??
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