QQ | Routines & Practice

Dope practice at new UMBC building with @QQdp and Kevin Tran! My toprock has been super goofy because of broken foot..

What's Your Expression: Trailer [HD]

Trailer of concept video starring me and @QQdp in DC! Editing looks superb given I couldn't dance on my broken instep. Stay tuned for finished product.

Soteriology #n: (Guest post) timely reminder during finals

Guest post written by a freshman sister but carries the weightiness of scriptural authority. I am thoroughly rebuked, enjoy:

God did not save us so we could be happy. He did not save us so we could have a community, or help the poor, or go on missions. Those are all good and necessary, but they are secondary. God saved us so we could be holy.

“For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.” (Ephesians 1:4)

To be holy means we are separate from the world and set apart for God. It means that our desires, joys, and investments must be different from that of the world. The Bible says that true believers of Christ will live differently from the world. But if Jesus came to campus for a week, would he know that we were Christians? I'm not talking about going to church or listening to Hillsong. If Jesus saw the things that bring us joy, the way we entertain ourselves, the things and events that we invest time in, the way we talk, our attitude towards school, the way we treat one another...would he know that we loved and followed him? If we drink like the world, party like the world, complain like the world, flirt like the world, dress like the world...what makes us different from those who aren't saved? If we really are Christians, we don't force ourselves to be holy, but God gives us a desire to be holy because to love Jesus is to obey his commandments. To love Jesus is to find all of our joy in him, and to sell everything else we hold dear for the sake of getting more of Jesus. If our lives are no different from those of our non-Christian friends, we need to be asking ourselves whether we're Christians at all."

“So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:17-24)

Willis Finds Wifey (WFW): #6

“AND… the first encounter ends.
The star is falling :(“

by @johmygoodness

Willis Finds Wifey (WFW): #5

“The first encounter.”

by @johmygoodness

Willis Finds Wifey (WFW): #4

“Meet Willis. He is so close… yet so far :(“

by @johmygoodness

Willis Finds Wifey (WFW): #3

“Thats what she was working for! She loves her chocolate.
Especially when the taste is… ‘out of this world’”

by @johmygoodness

Willis Finds Wifey (WFW): #2

Caption: “Your wifey enjoys physical activities. However in this case, she has a goal in mind. What could it be? :o”

by @johmygoodness

Willis Finds Wifey (WFW): #1

Caption: “Day 1 special extra: She enjoys just chilling and contemplating.”

by @johmygoodness

Willis Finds Wifey (WFW): Intro

A new webcomic series comes to life!
Creator: Joe Oh @johmygoodness
Script: Joe Oh
Producer: Joe Oh

Today’s intro caption: “Yo. Gotchu dat wifey. BEST WINGMAN EVER OR WHAT?!”

"I have a very serious question for you all"

Maybe more serious than @kimwhkim 's questions. Marketing hype is important whether we admit it or not. In high school this was very prevalent: if a lot of guys started liking this girl, she was immediately perceived as more attractive, though nothing objectively would distinguish her among the rest.

So I was wondering, does this apply to guys too if a lot of girls like him?

Missiology #6

“And [evangelism] is also what we are called to do. We must not wait until we are healed first, loved first, and then reach out. We must serve no matter how little we have our act together. It may well be that one of the first steps toward our own healing will come when we reach out to someone else.” - Rebecca M. Pippert

To perhaps zoom in on the second point of a previous post regarding paradigm shifts, a church is only healthy when it is sent. Increased fellowship among the members will not fully restore it; it truly comes together as one in order to bring light into a dark world.

Of course, Pippert is speaking on a more micro level. Peter personally saw his restoration complete in light of himself having to be sent wholly at the cost of his life (John 21:15-25). Personally and anecdotally for me, battling loneliness and isolation in the last year neccesitated looking to meet brothers in similar situations, and obviously enough there would be mutual healing in that ministry.

My mother: Yoyo is with her creator now, She is a real cat! 不亢不卑（neither haughty nor humber), 但 忠诚 (loyal) 又 钟情 (faithful to what she loves). You will be missed deeply, Yoyo.

Ecclesiology #12

And this series returns! For a bit. Two things.

If you can’t humbly accept a rebuke, you will be unable to lovingly deliver one.

If you cannot see your sin as worst than others, you will not be able to genuinely love people.

Main point: thinking much about yourself will destroy relationships. You hate the truth in a rebuke, therefore you cannot be a messenger of truth. You are not grieved over your own sin, therefore your view of God (and love itself) is very low.

From D. Bonhoeffer’s Life Together.

Missiology #5

Credit to Michael Hu and Campus Renewal Ministries for material.

Ministries can avoid confusion and disappointment in expectation mismatch with regard to missional initiatives if specific vision among the leadership is well-established. There are four main blocks for mission vision, and the specific contexts I wrote as examples are in a college setting because that is what I relate to the most. The explanations for each column and row are:

• Partial: targeting specific segments of population, single ministry involvement
• Whole: targeting whole institution, partnership of multiple ministries
• Tactical: isolated event, short-term
• Strategic: long-term build-up with follow-through efforts

You move block to block by shifting vision. The southwest block is the one that transforms culture.

Missiology #4

Credit to Michael Hu and Campus Renewal Ministries for material.

When reaching a specific institutional context - such as a college campus - with the gospel, it is imperative to evaluate possible limitations within your church body’s current paradigm. Three shifts are proposed, with the shift being a more expansive and inclusive paradigm over the original:

• Moving from a come-to church to a go-to church. College fellowships take painstaking efforts in planning events to draw outsiders in, but the simple truth is that the majority of students view Christianity antagonistically, and no matter how much coaxing these students will not go to a Christian-sponsored event. Mostly, these events are good for seekers. By being go-to, a church body develops a sent mentality and claims places of authority within the realm of different fields. For college students, this means acquiring leadership positions in clubs of all kinds and serving others within those contexts.
• Moving from fellowship unity to functional unity. By looking outside of itself to determine the specific needs of the surrounding community, the body simultaneously forms strong fellowship while fulfilling gospel imperatives. We should avoid saturation of in-house bonding activities because, in the words of Dr. Ed Gross, love that stays inside starts to smell bad.
• Moving from church growth to transformation. Numbers are a good metric but not a complete one. PKenny would use the phrase, “Don’t miss the miracle.” Gauge ministry success based on the working of the spirit prompting sheep to make more disciples. Transformation takes two avenues: believers bearing fruit, and the world around them taking notice to respond. We hope in a time when Jesus enters the mainstream vernacular with respectful disposition.

Missiology #3

From http://ceruleansanctum.com:


Evangelicals don’t seem to understand the lives of non-Evangelicals, which is why Evangelicals continue to fail to connect with people who are different from them. Blame this on a bunker mentality. Honestly, how many liberal friends do most Evangelicals have? Why expect any influence at all then?

That lack of influence illustrates how Evangelicals have forgotten the root of their label: evangelism.

Evangelicals must learn that no political party is their friend. Selling out to the GOP has hurt Evangelicalism more than it can imagine, and Evangelicals must stop believing that any one political party represents them. Strange bedfellows have hurt the cause of Christ in America, and it is high-time the reflex to vote Republican stops. Evangelicals must support political candidates, regardless of party affiliation, who more accurately reflect the nature of God’s character and who perfectly answer how God can be known. Evangelicals must also realize that values voting is a major failure because it does not take into account all aspects of who God is. Picking and choosing values only further muddies Evangelicalism’s larger stance on what it means to be in Christ. All of who God is must be considered, and that means looking at aspects of God’s character Evangelicals have neglected. If Evangelicals were as well-known for championing the causes of the poor in America as they were for championing the cause of traditional marriage, perhaps those single, urban mothers who went en masse for “the other guy” might have voted differently.


(Original link)

Missiology #2

I don’t quite understand why people make a big deal out of sharing the gospel, especially in a non-persecutory place like America. Communicating the gospel should be pretty easy for Christians. Just as much as I believe my father’s surname is Zhang and my mother’s is Xu, with equal certainty I can talk about facts and truths about my heavenly father with fair ease.

Why do we make belief and faith such fluffy, tenuous words? Paul uses the word “faith” in a manner that means “persuaded.” Are you thoroughly convinced of your sonship? Can you replace faith/belief in scripture with words like “my entire framework through which I interpret the world” and really mean it?

More than communicating the gospel, living out the gospel is tenfold harder. And yet tenfold more effective to the cause of mission. It still encapsulates verbally communicating truths. But above all is love (Colossians 3:14). Sharing your life and time with people (1 Thessalonians 2:8). So egregiously more difficult, inconvenient, and loving is the way of obeying the gospel.

Missiology #1

The reason God hasn't taken life from the Christian is because they are on mission. No other possibility. The implication there is that if you are not on mission now, you won't be in another field.

Want vision? It's a matter of opening one's eyes (John 4:35).

Once that's accomplished, hopefully you'll feel overwhelmed. Good. The more you know yourself to be insufficient for mission the better candidate you are for mission.

Ecclesiology #11

Demanding things from people automatically causes you to assume the worst about them. You play a perversion of God with crushing judgments only to leave wrecked relationships.

On the flip side, not putting expectations on someone is ironically in itself an expectation. The only correct gauge in validity is the lens of scripture. Hate sin lest you become its embodiment.

Ecclesiology #10

What’s the difference between encouragement and flattery? Encouragement rejoices in the truth. Flattery has ulterior motive and is out of proportion.

Encouragement is the response to God’s grace seen in other people. Look at the examples of Paul and God and you’ll see the main point in affirming someone is affirming God (Matthew 3:17, 1 Corinthians 15:58, 2 Timothy 1:16-18). Therefore, encouragement prompts the receiver to look to God and his salvation with thankfulness.

On the other hand, flattery prompts the receiver to look at himself and thus cosign him to self righteousness, a hardened heart, and hell (Psalm 5:9, Proverbs 27:6, James 3:6). Oo scary |_.

Let’s fill our churches with the warmth of our encouraging God. How do we know when the smiles are fictitious though? Avoid covering a slander by prefacing it with a compliment: “he’s a nice guy and good friend but..”. This is fake.

Ecclesiology #9

Succinctly in one chapter, Jesus in Matthew 18 prescribes relational norms and behavioral practices expected within the church. It’s so awesome, church leaders please read it.. church members please read it.. it encapsulates the whole sum of this mini ecclesiology series.

Far from moralistic principles, the conduct of church members seen through these parables can only be fueled in light of grace. I think I’ll be camping out in this chapter for awhile.

Shout-out to B.Han for relaying dat knowledge from CCC fam.

Ecclesiology #8

I see Matthew 4 and Matthew 9 giving insight into the correct priority and emphases in church dealings. Our supreme minister Jesus demonstrates his knowledge of the greatness and sufficiency of God by having intense self-control while being tempted in the wilderness. He could have attained glory “the easy way” but on terms that were contrary to the Father’s; he was, however, sensitive to the Father’s timing.

Christian minister, are you in a rush to attain ministry glory? Have you sought counsel from those further along that can speak to your readiness to engage in greater responsibilities? Btdubs, what I write in the second-person is usually a rebuke aimed towards myself and my former ways. This section was an aside hehehe.

Movinggg onnn, priority and emphases! Before doing any miracles, Jesus goes and preaches the good news in the local synagogues. The first priority of the church is the preaching and teaching of God’s word to God’s people. Any other priority, e.g., community or outreach, points to a church that is not centered on God but man’s sinful purposes. But no worries, good teaching necessitates the manifestation of good community and good outreach, etc. We see this when Jesus proclaims forgiveness of sin, and then proceeds to heal them physically. He is much more concerned about the spiritual matters over the physical.

So where do we typically see the resulting miracles of good preaching in this day and age?

Healing occurs much more profoundly in the ministry of forgiveness among congregants because a life claimed by God’s love changes a community and generations after. A physical healing is a cool topic of discussion for maybe like a day.

Therefore, when people make false dichotomies in the form of “preaching is meh but the community’s good at this church” etcetc, they are mistaken in either one of two ways:

1. They’re simply not giving their pastor enough credit, or
2. Their perception of a good community is not based on the Bible, but rather it is infected by the world’s standards of fun and friendship.

Be alarmed, then, if you find that the teaching at a church is not preaching Christ from the scriptures. Or just not preaching the scriptures but primarily basing the content off human anecdotes, huhuhu how sad. Do not take too much stock in how much a community seems to be doing well.

How about the situation where you have good preaching but subpar community? Again, the preaching could actually be more entertaining than compelling, that is, compelling one to full submission to obedience to the gospel. My using imperatives on the free gift of the gospel is not incorrect (1 Peter 4:17).

Therefore, the only appropriate dichotomy are Christ-centered churches and, well, fake churches.

Ecclesiology #7

If you do not have immediate access to (older) people in your life to guide you with the knowledge of God, nor have people you can pour this knowledge into, you are not living a complete Christian life. If you do not have these resources and are not being proactive about finding them, you are on the devil’s side because he doesn’t like guidance either (Genesis 3:1). And it sucks to be on his side (Revelation 20:10).

Flipside: if you have sought and found such provision, God’s blessed you because some people aren’t so lucky :)

Feel free to share. Who are your mentors? Who are you mentoring?

Ecclesiology #6

Spiritual growth only occurs in the context of community. Doesn’t that make sense? How can I apply the worship I supposedly gave to God without practicing it on the body? Post-Pentecost Peter needed it because he was still a cowardly sinner even after his life-changing call to be an apostle and “feed my sheep” (Galatians 2:11-14).

What you do after service matters a lot more than how you felt during. I can have all the warm feelings, but if right after I’m thinking about my kingdom and my agendas then something is seriously wrong! Am I in a rush to go home right after benediction instead of desiring to fellowship? I thus count my worship Cain-like in its fake self-seekingness. What a waste of a morning. The proof of worship is thus the application after service versus the reflection time during.

Ecclesiology #5

You can tell how someone’s doing in their relationship to Jesus from how they’re relating to people in the community. Don’t make an excuse for them, such as a propensity towards an awkward disposition or not finding much common interest with particular people. If Jesus would only come to me based on common interests, I’d be so screwed.

Therefore, not having an outreaching attitude speaks clearly to one’s priority in preserving the self instead of allowing oneself to be vulnerable. We can afford to be vulnerable because of Christ’s vulnerability shown towards us. So what do we do about this awkward individual? You allow them into your life and watch the spirit break down the walls (1 Thessalonians 2:8).

My working definition of accountability takes into account how people interact with others more than their spiritual disciplines. Accountability groups can unfortunately degenerate to pride festering in the form of “oh, look how open I can be about my sin” or “oh, look how diligent I am.” I don’t need to know how diligent your devotional life has been when I can see it in your interactions with people and myself. The main question in accountability is, “Is there something affecting our relationship? If so, what are we going to do about it?”

Oh, you’re struggling with lust. With pride. With anxiety. Great, let’s restore you in Christ and restore our relationship. Contrast this with how a judging pharisee does accountability and their priority in identifying the root sin. Don’t we do this a lot in the name of godly accountability? This objectifies and distances the person. Instead, you humanize him by making the restored the relationship the main priority.

Pharisees keep people at a distance. We come into the mire with people because that is what Jesus did for us.

Ecclesiology #4

We’re called to be peacemakers, not nicemakers.

The world simply shows tolerance. Christians show forgiveness. Call sin sin. Without truth, there can be no love.

Ecclesiology #3

Surveying the work of Jesus’ ministry, in performing his miracles through the Holy Spirit, we see him never using any of this miraculous power for his own sake but for others and the Father. This is especially clear in his temptation in the wilderness. I wouldn’t count the sneaky ninja disappearances (John 8:59). Indeed, how meek is our savior! (Philippians 2:5-8)

Those of you with gifts, and that is any sincere believer, how are you using them? Or are you using them? Failing to perform your miracles means failing to see a regenerated community, and perhaps proof for a lack of any regeneration within oneself (Mark 16:17, 2 Corinthians 5:17).

Ecclesiology #2

This is the test of true meditation and true Christian community. Has the fellowship served to make the individual free, strong, and mature, or has it made him weak and dependent?

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Ecclesiology #1

Has it never struck you that, in the New Testament, almost nowhere does it tell you how to do evangelism? Why? Because it understood that being the church was to do evangelism. We do evangelism because we are not convinced that our Christian community is radically and supernaturally different.

- Sinclair Ferguson

ultimate first world problem?

Mine has been falling asleep in my Ivy League class from too much food.

What have been yours this first day of classes? Submit!

2012 Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan Trip

Highlights (specific time shown during video playback):

Philippines (0:20)
- Evan's estate
- El Nido resort
- Manila (big meals, big churches, small revolutionaries)

HK (3:02)
- Mongkok
- Lan Kwai Fong
- Clothes shopping

Taiwan (5:30):
- Night markets
- Hualien
- Taipei chillin

Not many reasons to be excited about school this year

but one big one would be the chance to be around so many people again.
Which means I get reminded way more quickly how sinful I am.
yay God! :)

On the poems he wrote for RCF Valentine's Day:

• Curtis: dude that is just practice for my marriage
• it took 30 years for jesus to start his ministry
• the practice is necessary

First issue of Penn Christian Journal now online!

My article is titled, “God, Unifier of Mathematical Truths.” Click here to read!

OK I'm cool with delighting in the law of the LORD but...

these tweets make dining at Chick-fil-a an extremely unattractive prospect. Why are humans so quick to stand on a moral righteousness they simply do not have? Bigots please just hush, you’re making this kingdom growth thing harder for the real Christians.

QQ | 2012 Howard County, MD - Footwork Combos

Last 5 seconds is the best.

Countercountercountercounter-cultural

Intense prayer and emotional recharging is supposed to happen at Sunday services, school, home, and work. Retreats are supposed to be chillout times with God and God’s family.

Philly + NYC Summer 2012 Sampler

Watermelon soju + babymill practice in bed + rainy Brooklyn bridge + new Nike cortezes = this clip

Is being clingy (read: not needy) Biblical?

30 minute commute down ICC

This divine 18-mile slab of pavement and concrete is a gift from the most high. I really don’t care about the tolls; it totally undercuts the health bills I would pay for chronic stress down 28 up through 97.

Reconciled with dad this morning

It was so awkward. It was so awesome.

So the "so" in John 3:16

does not actually mean “really” or “very much.” Instead, it qualifies the type of love from God. This love is described in verses 14-15, where he atones for his unrighteous elect.

Ohhh. Won’t ever quote this verse stand-alone again.

My summer suburban community

Identity compromised

With great consternation, I must admit I wouldn’t be a good MI6 operative. All my intentions are very clear, I suppose. Both clear and not innocent (parents’ pov).

Hanging out with my sister is obvious; my mom tells me to stop taking her to Christian things. But stuff like if one day I choose to stay at home instead of go out, my dad will call me out on wanting to convert the family.

Why do the only people on the planet that really understand me are against my life’s main thrust? God, you are my help.

How to provoke my parents

Big Chinese gatherings are the best environments for such an endeavor. Here, we have females my age that my parents would want me to talk to. With the latest email received a couple minutes ago replete with contact info for some Chinese schoolboard official’s niece who goes to Bucknell, I’m convinced this whole matchmaking thing is fun for them. I’d probably do the same to my kids, but probably more for entertainment than actual looking out for them.

So when we finally have these sought-after conversations, I would refuse to stop talking about the Bible and how God’s working in my life. Much to my mom’s dismay. “You’re doing it all wrong!”

I know I've asked so many to pray for me at different points this year, so I genuinely thank you and thank the lord for the joy that is finally being restored.

That moment when you have bad news to report to your company and want to write LOL in the email to ameliorate bad feelings but you know that won't fly since everybody is 40+ years oldSIGH.

How do you know when a person is humble?

When you come out of a conversation with them, you’re all energized and refreshed. It’s refreshing to talk to a humble person.

Ways Willis wages war

In pursuing holiness, I've recently been using two concrete strategies in the midst of anxiety/depressive attacks:

1. Expel the lesser love with the greater. If Jesus came back and found me longing for something that wasn't him, I wonder who'd win the shame game. I can't simply rip out a love for sin without replacing it with another object of affection lest my heart be subjected to worse (Matthew 12:43-45). It doesn't matter if the idols themselves (items, persons, or ideals) don't have malicious sentiment against me, for the sake of winning the war I must have utter hatred of them relative to Jesus' place on my heart's throne.
2. But at the moment is it hard to love Jesus over this current idol? Get foresight and look at the outcome doe. My idols want nothing but to distort all of my faculties and leave me a bloody, pitiful mess on the side of the street with all the other prostitutes (am I not a prostitute when I idolize?) This is the outcome of every idol but Jesus. We can find this in scripture but past pain should testify to this as well. 

These are ultimately gospel-centered methods - not only because Jesus told us himself to do so - because we can effectively use them in light of the good news. No longer under the power of sin are we (Romans 6:14-18)! Die die die!!

God and his ironies

We’re aware of the many opposites of God - in scriptures Matthew 20:16, 1 Corinthians 3:19, Luke 17:33 - and I’ve simply been cataloging how this plays out in real life.

• Had a conversation with friend who has gone through special education and found myself very annoyed talking to him. I realized this was because he talked all about himself and didn’t have any questions for me nor show interest in my life. The spirit at that moment hit me with the weight of hypocrisy where earlier in the evening I had been talking to people all about myself in times of fellowship. Except with me, I have neither disability nor shortcoming to find excuse in.
• I judged this person, honestly, for never being able to have a successful social life. Startlingly, he talked about a tenuous plan for marriage and how its more about sacrificing for the other person. Then proceeded to talk about organizing a hangout for the ministry. This person’s main priority was all about what he could give rather than what he could receive, in which the lord would find due delight.
• My father was being oppressive to my mom and I demanded he apologized, leaving fiery words in my wake. God would have it that I would be the one to first feel ashamed, and so therefore I was the first (and only) one to be humbled and apologize for my own sin in using words as a sword rather than a salve (John 18:10). Gah, that wasn’t the original plan doe!

His ways are indeed higher!

QQ crew at Columbia Lakefront!

We take cash or credit :D

And what's wrong with being a Christian extremist?

My parents always warn me of the grave potential of possibly becoming a Christian extremist. If you actually read the text, would a world full of people following the submissive, humble, and truthful example of our savior actually be that terrible?

Crazy déjà vu

I dreamt earlier this semester some outlandish dream where I was talking to old people about SQL server, ActivePerl, ASP .NET + C#. Lo and behold, I somehow learned all this ish in two weeks. Life is strange.

Upon realization that the subtitle of my blog "byproduct of undeserved grace" is completely redundant,

I feel like a complete idiot.

Private bible interpretation

One of the gems of reformation doctrine is the enabling of an individual to interpret scripture without a church cardinalship breathing down your neck or supervising your every step. “Sola fide” came out of a presumed “sola scriptura,” in that Martin Luther referred to the authority of scripture over all other man-made doctrine.

The fine print for us now is recognizing that the original authors had a specific context, intent, style and audience. We would do well, with our privilege to read and study scripture, to study it accurately. Peter writes in his second epistle how there is such a thing:

And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:19-21)

A couple chapters later, the author confirms that there are indeed right and wrong interpretations for scripture, regardless of whether the reader initially understands (here referencing Paul’s epistles):

There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. (2 Peter 3:16-17)

These verses on interpretation, thankfully, do not leave much room for interpretation. Before we quickly pull out John 3:16, Jeremiah 29:11, or Philippians 4:13 to apply to a situation, let’s take some time to contextualize the author’s intent within that whole passage according to the audience’s situation. This is crucial in grasping God’s revealed will for us. In addition, be wary when pastors pull out shotgun verses on a topical sermon to back up an argument without regard to the history behind the verse.

Is it maturation

or is it jadedness? I suppose I’m better than where I was this day last year, or even where I was four weeks ago. It’s just that I undeniably feel I have nothing to give to people.

From all outside appearances, however, I am better able to serve. This most clearly shows in the interactions with family and new communities. Perhaps this was the kenosis, or “emptying,” Paul wrote about in Philippians 2:7; self-forgetfulness is the preeminent Christian virtue. So to qualify the earlier statement, I’ve realized there’s nothing in me worth giving. Only Christ.

And I do hope Christ fills the residual emptiness. Christian hope, far from vapid and uncertain, rests in the victory already given.

you just can't do that!

Popular artists Meek Mill and Drake have a song called Amen that I recently heard on the radio. Idk if they’re trying to troll real Christians, but it worked!! Very outraged. I’m a friend of God and you cannot diss him or his beautiful bride, the church, like that. He’s a consuming fire and will avenge your words.

Prayin’ for you, ma ninjas.

the stuff of summer saturdays

Practicing at Columbia Lakefront never gets old. Afterhours hit and the local restaurants started closing. As the crew filed out and I was but the only bboy left, a lone skateboarder made his way over. Even if most of his movements were simply gliding, I could tell by his body leans that he was vibing out to the breaks I was playing. No words or glances, just feigned apathy in each others’ activities.

He was admittedly impressive. High kickflips and ollies —> wheelies across my platform turf. Maybe he was impressed by my fast mills or threads, who knows. I found it appropriate to end the night with Sarah Brightman’s “Time to say goodbye.” I made out his chuckling behind me as I was stretching.

Finally, we exchanged nods. The bridge was there between disparate communities. Breakers and skateboarders .. we get each other!

Jesus Loves the Predestined Children

Lyrics credit to @sa_mantou :
Jesus loves predestined children, all predestined of the world
you and you, not you not you
T-U-L-I-P is true
Jesus loves predestined children of the world

If I may be real

I was incredibly moved by the personal concern my physician showed me today, how he was more interested in my emotional well-being the past year than my physical health. He says it's all related. He wasn't rushing to determine what drug I should be put on. I appreciate having that come from a doctor.

On the way to seminary..

Messing around with speed traps at Westminster with @eslchen

Why did the chicken cross the road?

• Greg Boyd: It’s a possibility that the chicken crossed the road.
• Rick Warren: The chicken was purpose driven.
• Mark Driscoll: The chicken crossed because of the rooster’s leadership.
• Pelagius: Because the chicken was able to.
• John Piper: God decreed the event to maximize his glory.
• Irenaeus: The glory of God is the chicken fully alive.
• C.S. Lewis: If a chicken finds itself with a desire that nothing on this side can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that it was created for the other side.
• Billy Graham: The chicken was surrendering all.
• Pluralist: The chicken took one of many equally valid roads.
• Universalist: All chickens cross the road.
• Annihilationist: The chicken was hit by a car and ceased to exist.
• Fred Phelps: God hates chickens.
• Martin Luther: The chicken was leaving Rome.
• Tim LaHaye: The chicken didn’t want to be left behind.
• Harold Camping: Don’t count your chickens until they’ve hatched.
• James White: I reject chicken centered eisegesis.
• John Wesley: The chicken’s heart was strangely warmed.
• Thomas: I won’t believe the chicken crossed unless I see it with my own eyes.
• Philip: The chicken teleported to the other side.
• Rob Bell: The chicken. Crossed the road. To get. Cool glasses.
• Joel Osteen: The chicken crossed the road to maximize his personal fulfillment so that he could be all that God created him to be.
• Creflo Dollar: God told the chicken that if he clucked, “That land across the road is mine!,” he could claim it. He crossed the road to take possession.
• Roger Olson: The chicken recognizes no clear evangelical boundaries.
• Peter: What chicken? What road? Never knew a chicken!! (rooster crows)
• Ezekiel: God revived those chicken bones and then they crossed the road.
• Paul: The chicken went to sleep and fell out the window only to be able to cross the road
• TD Jakes: A manifestation of the Chicken crossed the road for his blessings.
• Jim Wallis: The poor chicken was fleeing fundamentalists.
• Gary Demar: The chicken was fleeing the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. That’s it.
• Jim Wallis: The chicken is an organizer for Occupy Barnyard.
• Emergent: For this chicken, its not the destination that’s important. Its the journey itself.
• Christian Pacifist: This is clearly an act of barnyard aggression that is condemned in the Sermon on the Mount.
• N.T. Wright: This act of the chicken, which would be unthinkable in British barnyards, reeks of that American individualism that is destructive to community.
• Al Mohler: When a chicken begins to think theologically, he has no other alternative but to come over to the Calvinist side.
• Freud: This whole exercise is obviously driven by chicken envy

Confusing verses in John, Pt.III

Pilate is schizo.

euangelion

Or “gospel” in Greek. I thank the lord that the good news is consistently preached at my church in Philly not only in its narrow sense - the saving death and resurrection of Jesus in whom a sinner is freed from the condemnation of sin and finds eternal life with God - but also in a broader scope. Allow me to elucidate what I think to be efficacious gospel preaching.

1. Paul uses the gospel narrowly in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 and 1 Timothy 1:11-16. A sermon might try to engender trust for God, either in his sovereignty or his goodness, in some vague sense, or it might even exhort obedience to his commandants. How vain this is without the news of the New Testament covenant promises of Christ! Remember how God the spirit does nothing but glorify Christ (John 16:14)? Any trust or obedience that stems outside the security of “it is finished” is tenuous at best, at worst a deceptive form of self-righteousness.
2. Paul uses the gospel broadly for God’s general purposes in this world; 2 Timothy 1:8-10 and pretty much the whole letter of Titus conveyed the comprehensive fruits of gospel living. This gets across the message of a previous post. The gospel has always had an aspect of obedience (1 Peter 4:6-7, Romans 1:5, 10:16, 16:26, 2 Thessalonians 1:8) along with faith (Acts 15:7, Ephesians 1:13). That’s because it’s the only appropriate motivation for sanctification (Mark 8:35, 10:29, 2 Corinthians 9:13, Ephesians 6:15, Philippians 1:27), as stated before. In addition, the kingdom and its benefits are ushered in through the gospel (Matthew 4:23, 9:35, 24:14).

With it, the word “gospel” carries a large overhead of implications. But not one is inconsequential, and therefore to preach (and evangelize!) effectively, the narrow and broad essences must be brought to light in accordance with the measure of skill of the message-deliverer.

Confusing verses in John, Pt.II

Chapter 11:

5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazaruswas ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died,15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16  So Thomas, called the Twin,said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

One of my favorite narrative passages from the gospels. The climactic miracle before Jesus’ death and resurrection:

• The ESV uses the word “so” to begin verse 6. Less literal translations will have something misleading. Therefore, we see him quite explicitly “permitting” an “evil” because he loves his children, and what’s best for them is more of him and his power. God will use what seem to be defects in the world to accomplish his mission of bringing people to belief. God is not a God that he is man-centered but God-centered. We see the same principle in John 9:3 with the blind man and finally culminating to greatest evil of Jesus’ death sentence.
• I once went to a Charismatic conference where the speaker took a question of God permitting suffering and he (immaturely) replied, “That’s bullsh—. God is good and his will is always to heal people.” Let me point out that this statement is - lightly put - extremely unhelpful and completely unbiblical. We see that God’s concern is not solely our worldly prosperity (healing and physical life can indeed be counted in that category). We need more reformed churches down south and out west, that is all.
• Verse 9: Jesus uses the analogy of limited time left in the day to his waning time left on earth before he was to be crucified - simultaneously referring himself to the light of the world like the literal sun. Compare with the “stumbling” Judas who departed during the darkness of night to betray Jesus (John 13:30).
• Thomas is a cynical troll.

Confusing verses in John, Pt.I

Chapter 10:

33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? 35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— 36 do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37  If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 38 but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”

One can extract the following theological truths from the passage:

• The reference is Psalm 82:6, where the judges of God were called elohim (literally “god”) because of their divine function. Jesus is using the analogy to show he is the ultimate judge because his works are directly reflecting the Father’s will. In layman’s terms: “Don’t hate cuz I say I’m the son of God. Check dem credenshals.”
• This shows that any part of the Old Testament has the same authority as the traditional “law” as per the Pentateuch definition. Jesus pins his entire argument on one word in one minor psalm.
• The trinity relationship has each part of the Godhead “in” each other. Not simply “one” (Greek neuter) in purpose but one in essence and fullness of divine nature; aka Christianity is monotheistic. If one more Jehovah’s Witness comes to my door..

Your loneliness is not a mark of your imperfection but rather your perfection

Our loneliness and desire to be understood by others should prompt an “aha!” that yes! We were made to be in community to reflect the perfect community of the trinitarian God - father, son and holy spirit all joyfully pleasing the other in a communal dance.

That means “no” to a solo Christian walk this summer, guys! :) Serve the local kingdom in accordance to your savior’s example and promise to bless you tenfold in return.

This time will be different

Life at home, that is. My father complimented my mom’s cooking in addition to buying me Christian bracelets from China. I honestly don’t recognize this man.

Finding myself easily submissive to chores and commands by my parents. This summer should be alright.

The most common command in the Bible

“Do not be afraid”

cash rules errthang around me

CREAM, git the money, dollar dollar bill yall.

As faith would wane in increased monetary giving, God provides with an incredible tax refund! Thank you Obama. Time to steward.

GET ILL

Photocred: @romantic

First Friday with @ayocurtis @eslchen @sa_mantou @jungminnee !

Isaiah: covenant prosecutor

In the beginning parts of his book, Isaiah accuses especially the leadership on what we might call “permissible sins,” or at least sins beneath the surface that are harder to detect. So I’m getting hit pretty hard on this one.

We have listed hypocrisy, selfishness, self-indulgence, and sarcasm (Isaiah 1:10-15, 5:8, 5:11, 5:19-20). Like any other sin, these sins produce both destructive fruit within the doer and also bring down ruin for anyone under the authority of these leaders. Frightening, yes for I will be held accountable to some, and so my attention is drawn to the special yet disturbing wrath that God has in store for those not keeping their end of the covenant: “These have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations; I also will choose harsh treatment for them and bring their fears upon them … The sound of an uproar from the city! A sound from the temple! The sound of the LORD rendering recompense to his enemies!” (Isaiah 66:3-4, 6)

The same spirit of the covenants is not altogether done away with the ushering in of the new one through Christ. Father, I who am prone to wander, I plead that the spirit keep my paths straight and intimately near my shepherding savior!

The first issue of Lamp Post is out today!

Be sure to pick up a copy today and let me know what you think of my article - thanks! :)

To my disciples and my officer

Thank you!

My life summarized in three points aka Sarah's parody of my preaching style

• i got three things to say to all of you:
• pants - keep 'em tight
• Bible - keep it esv
• and doe - keep it real

First polaroid picture!

Entitled “fade to red.” ooooo

@_sryu @sa_mantou

Ways I have pissed off my coleader

1. Called her pale (though does not equate to ugly last I checked the dictionary)
2. Fooled her into thinking I was not reformed
3. Called her fat (okay yea, this is legitimately stupid of me)

I present to you JenJen, the ironfist of Humblebees >:O!

Five social catalysts that have undermined the American church

Dr. Tim Keller writes on Ross Douthat’s Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics:

• First, the political polarization that has occurred between the Left and Right drew many churches into it (mainline Protestants toward the Left, evangelicals toward the Right). This has greatly weakened the church’s credibility in the broader culture, with many viewing churches as mere appendages and pawns of political parties.
  
• Second, the sexual revolution means that the Biblical sex ethic now looks unreasonable and perverse to millions of people, making Christianity appear implausible, unhealthy, and regressive.
  
• Third, the era of decolonization and Third World empowerment, together with the dawn of globalization, has given the impression that Christianity was imperialistically “western” and supportive of European civilization’s record of racism, colonialism, and anti-Semitism.
  
• The fourth factor has been the enormous growth in the kind of material prosperity and consumerism that always works against faith and undermines Christian community.
  
• The fifth factor is that all the other four factors had their greatest initial impact on the more educated and affluent classes, the gatekeepers of the main culture-shaping institutions such as the media, the academy, the arts, the main foundations, and much of the government and business world.

Of course, not exhaustive. I personally have beef with politics hijacking the church then damning its credibility. But for what it’s worth, the church in America definitely could be a lot worse.

The Great Debate: Does God Exist?

In 1985, a debate was set up between Dr. Greg Bahnsen and Dr. Gordan Stein. It was at this debate that the transcendental argument was unveiled to the general public (Van Tillian apologetic). The packed audience was largely convinced that the Christian Dr. Bahnsen had won, as Dr. Stein had no intelligible comeback to the claim that his idea of logic was completely borrowed from Christian presuppositions:

The transcendental argument for the existence of God, then, which Dr. Stein has yet to touch, and which I don’t believe he can surmount, is that without the existence of God, it is impossible to prove anything.

I am maintaining that the proof of the Christian worldview is that the denial of it leads to irrationality. An atheist universe cannot account for the laws of logic. However, we still hear [Dr. Stein] saying that laws of logic are a matter of consensus and are just this way.

That is to say, I don’t have to prove that the laws of logic exist, or that they are justified, it’s just this way. Now, how would you like it if I would have conducted the debate in that fashion this evening? God exists because it’s just that way. You just can’t avoid it.

You see, that’s not debate. That’s not argument. And it is not rational. And, therefore, we have interestingly an illustration in our very debate tonight that atheists cannot sustain a rational approach to this question. What are the laws of logic, Dr. Stein? And how are they justified? You still have to answer that question from a materialist standpoint. From a Christian standpoint, we have an answer, obviously, that they reflect the thinking of God. They argue, if you will, a reflection of the way God thinks and expects us to think.

But if you don’t take that approach and want to justify the laws of logic in some “a priori” fashion, that is, apart from experience, sometimes he suggests that when he says these things are self-verifying, then we can ask why the laws of logic are universal, unchanging, and invariant truths? Why they, in fact, apply repeatedly in the realm of contingent experience.

We have to ask, why is it that they apply repeatedly in a contingent realm of experience? Why, in a world that is random, not subject to a personal order, as I believe, Christian God, why is it that the laws of logic continue to have that success generating feature about them?

Once, again, we have to come back to this really unacceptable idea that they are conventional. If they are conventional, then, of course, there ought to be just numerous approaches to scholarship everywhere, different approaches to history, to science, and so forth, because people just adopt different laws of logic. The laws of logic are not treated as conventions. To say that they are merely conventions is to simply say that I haven’t got an answer.

Now, if you want to justify logical truths along a “a posteriori” lines, that is, rather than arguing that they are self-evident, and arguing that there is evidence for them that we can find in experience or by observation — that approach was used, by the way, by John Stuart Mill— people will say we gain confidence in the laws of logic through repeated experience, and that experience is generalized. In some weaker moments, I think Dr. Stein was trying to say that.

Of course, some of the suggested logical truths, it turns out, are so complex or so unusual that it is difficult to believe anyone has perceived their instances in experience. But even if we restrict our attention to the other more simple laws of logic, it should be seen that if their truth cannot be decided independently of experience, then they actually become contingent. That is, if people cannot justify the laws of logic independent of experience, then you can only say they apply as far as I know in the past experience that I’ve had. They are contingent, they lose their necessity, universality and invariance. Why should a law of logic, which is verified in one domain of experience, by the way, be taken as true for unexperienced domains as well? Why should we universalize or generalize about the laws of logic, especially in a materialistic universe not subject to the control of a personal God?

Now, it turns out if the “a priori” and the “a posteriori” lines of justification for logical truths are unconvincing, as I’m suggesting briefly they both are, perhaps we could say they are linguistic conventions about certain symbols. Certain philosophers have suggested that. The laws of logic would not be taken as inexorably dictated, but rather we impose them— we impose their necessity on our language. They become, therefore, somewhat like rules of grammar. As John Dewey pointed out so persuasively earlier in the century, laws of grammar, you see, are just culturally relative. If the laws of logic are like grammar, then the laws of logic are culturally relative, too.

Why then are not contradictory systems deemed equally rational? If the laws of logic can be made culturally relative, then we can win the debate by simply stipulating a law of logic that says anybody who argues in this way has got a tautology on his hands, and, therefore, it is true. Why are arbitrary conventions like the logical truths so useful if they are only conventional? Why are they so useful in dealing with problems in the world of experience?

You see, we must ask whether the atheist has a rational basis for his claim.Atheists love to talk about laws of science, laws of logic, they speak as though there are certain moral absolutes for which Christians were just a few minutes ago being indicted because they didn’t live up to them. But who is the atheist to tell us about laws? In a materialist universe there are no laws. Much less, laws of morality that anybody has to live up to.

When we consider that the lectures and essays that are written by logicians and others are not likely filled with just uninterrupted series of tautologies, we can examine those propositions which logicians are most concerned to convey. For instance, logicians will say things like, “A proposition has the opposite truth value from its negation.” Now, when we look at those kind of propositions, we have to ask the general question, what type of evidence do people have for that kind of teaching? Is it the same sort of evidence that is utilized by the biologist, by the mathematician, the lawyer, the mechanic, by your beautician? What is it that justifies a law of logic, or even belief that there is such a thing? What is a law of logic, after all? There is no agreement on that question. If we had universal agreement, perhaps it would be silly to ask the question.

It isn’t absurd to ask the question that I’m asking about logic. You see, logicians are having a great deal of difficulty deciding on the nature of their claims. Anybody who reads the philosophy of logic must be impressed with that today.

Some say that the laws of logic are inferences comprised of judgments made up of concepts. Others say that they are arguments comprised of propositions made up of terms. Others say they are proof comprised of sentences made up of names. Others would simply say they are electrochemical processes in the brain. In the end, what you think the laws of logic are will determine the nature of evidence that you will suggest for them.

Now, in an atheist universe, what are the laws of logic? How can they be universal, abstract, invariant, and how does an atheist justify the use of them? Are they merely conventions imposed on our experience, or are they something that reflect absolute truth?

Dr. Stein tonight has wanted to use the laws of logic. I want to suggest to you one more time that Dr. Stein, in so doing, is borrowing my worldview. He is using the Christian approach to the world so that there can be such laws of logic, scientific inference, or what have you, but then he wants to deny the very foundation of it.