becoming

What will you give up for Christ this Lent?

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Dave Gibbons’ Hardcore Lent
Could you give up exercise, sex, and social media for 40 days?

Do you dare?

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, March 9th. The purpose of lent is for prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial. It could be a grueling 46 days. People ask me about the options for observing this season of the church calendar. Well, here’s a list that is a bit different. It’s a top ten hardcore ideas for Lent 2011.

1. Don’t Lock Your Doors. Do we hide behind gated walls and doors too much? Do we need that much security? Maybe keeping open doors reminds us it’s not healthy to live alone. Be radically welcoming! Throw more parties with people you don’t know. (Btw, that’s what hospitality really means in the Holy Book- welcoming strangers.)

2. Don’t Wear Makeup. This was inspired by someone close to me who loves her glow. This individual mentioned to me that not wearing makeup it helped her to focus on other aspects of beauty. Btw, if you’re wondering I do like make up. . . on other people.

3. Fast from Chocolate. Did this last year. It’s harder than you think!

4. Fast from Sex. No explanation needed. How about developing a primal relationship with God. There’s another type of intimacy that is heavenly.

5. Fast from Futbol or Basketball. Life outside the square is possible.

6. Fast from Exercise. This is about normal exercise routines or going to the health club every day. Take walks instead. Okay, before you exercise enthusiasts throw rocks at this one. I work out about 90 minutes a day at the number one voted gym in America. I love it there. So I know this is hard but as with anything we can be a bit too intense in a lot of areas of our lives. Let let go of any unhealthy obsessions. Couldn’t sin be defined as something that is good but twisted in some way?

7. Fast from Your Typical Cultural Food. How about eating ethnic foods you normally never eat instead of your normal fare. There is flavor outside your common behavior.

8. Fast from Driving Alone. Besides carpooling is hip. Turn the rat race into a communal space.

9. Fast from TV. You may find life outside the box. . . err the screen.

10. Fast from Text Messaging and Social Media. This may be harder than you think. We’ve almost become neurotic with our iphones, ipads, and laptops. They have become another limb on our already pimped bodies. The slower pace of conversation and face 2 face interactions may actually be healing for you. Come on stop stalking people and start talking to them!

Do you have other lent self-denial suggestions for those who want to experience something MORE? Come on creatives!

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With the Canadian dollar at par with USD, ordering from Amazon.com for us Canadian still lost its appeal if you add back the shipping cost to any Canadian address.

On the other hand, pricing on Amazon.ca has yet to reflect the current exchange rate, despite the fact that shipping is free on order $25 and over.

I have mentioned a few times about www.bookdepository.com. Shipping is free on everything internationally. Their pricing are quite competitive with Amazon (.com or .ca). And sometimes, it is even lower.

An alternative worth considering.

Instead of babbling all sorts of things you have done for yourself during the holiday seasons, can we post and share about:

1. what others had done for you in 2010?
2. what are you going to do for others in the new year?

Time for a change!

聖誕節將近，再看福音書內關於耶穌降生的經文。記起年前曾將 Kenneth Bailey 在 Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes 一書內相關的討論作了撮要。重貼於下：

1. The Story of Jesus’ Birth: Luke 2:1-20
2. The Genealogy and Joseph the Just: Matthew 1:1-21
3. The Savior, the Wise Men and the Vision of Isaiah: Matthew 2:1-12; Isaiah 60:1-7
4. Herod’s Atrocities, Simeon and Anna: Matthew 2:13-18; Luke 2:22-36

早前在Chris Wright講座想到的一個問題，其實也是我一直問的：到底Kingdom of God的信息跟十字架的關係是甚麼？我留意的現象是，近年越是著重Kingdom 信息的信徒和教會，對耶穌在十字架上所成就的到底是甚麼，就越見含糊。不是說我們是新以色列嗎？不是說天國已經近了，在我們中間嗎？那耶穌為什麼還要走上十字架？

誰不知，這不只是我的問題，喜見TGC 的Justin Taylor有一篇短文，提到Greg Gilbert的新書和他在T4G的錄音。

另外，Scot McKnight在CT關於耶穌和保羅的文章，其實也是問同樣的問題。（Michael Bird在IBR對N.T. Wright的回應也是一例）

我常說：不要老是說現代科技的邪惡。沒有如blog、fb 那樣的聯繫，就沒有一次又一次的「歷史性網友聚會」。

Samuel，為神對你的呼召而感恩。聽你一席話，讓我看見的是機會 — 是華人教會承擔整全福音的新機會。我用心的聽，腦裡轉著無限的「可能」…

Gabriel，你成了這些聚會的common denominator 了。因為你，很多人因此連結起來。謝謝你。

我期待，神今日如何聯絡我們這些小人物，成就祂明日偉大和奇妙的工作！

各位同「道」，等著瞧！

As a pastor, I need to write day in, day out. Having emails, notifications, phone calls, and all sorts of other updates throughout the day make it next to impossible to focus on my own work.

A recent article from Lifehacker on Distraction-free writing tools reminds me about my own struggle to get things done. Here is what I do when I need to sit down and write:

1. Go to a dedicated space where distractions will be minimal (For me, that’s my basement study area).
2. Turn on an app like Think, which basically turns your multi-tasking computer into a single-tasking machine (because you need to) while focusing on the app you are using and blocking all alerts and updates from other apps showing up.
3. If the task at hand involves heavy writing, use OmmWriter or similar full-screen writing app. Trust me, the soft music and the key-pressed effects do help!
4. Unlike Anson, I am not as discipline as to adopt the Pomodoro Technique. I basically just keep on writing until I can’t think of anything else, and then take a break (by physically leaving the place I work), and come back within 30 minutes.

More importantly, don’t write until you finally sit down in front of your computer. Keep the thoughts and points in your mind throughout the week. Create a mental outline as to what you want to say. So when you finally do sit down and write, you are really there to write it out, instead of struggling with where to start…

Oh, I also tend to write non-linearly, i.e, I don’t necessary start from the introduction and move on…. Try filling-in your various main points BEFORE spending time figuring out how to connect one thought to another. Sometimes, I also find it helpful to have the final words spelled out and work backwards!

So what’s your writing style? What works and what not?

今天去了Chris Wright 在Tyndale 的一日特別講座。講座內容的大部份是他的大部頭Mission of God的雞精版。只是最後的一部份加入了他的新作Mission of God’s People的內容。

不過不要緊。因為每次我聽到有人努力將聖經的overaching story 表達出來的時候，我總是十分雀躍的。不少時候，我們讀經的所謂「領受」，是「只見樹不見林」的。我們逐句逐字的研究和推敲，有時令我們忘卻了why it says what it says，只管急於問what does it mean to me?

Chris Wright 基本上問的也是NT Wright 的Worldview 問題：Who are we? Where are we? What time is it? What is wrong? What is the solution? 不過作為舊約學者，他精彩在大量指出OT/NT的「相互指涉」之處（intertextuality），並這種關係怎樣unfold this one Mission of God。這樣的解讀，相當接近 Bartholomew ＆ Goheen 在Drama of Scripture 的描述。另外，正如Chris Wright自己所說，他的舊約倫理研究背景，在寫 Mission of God的時候，正好與他對Mission的熱衷，完美地結合起來，讓他更能了解：”God’s people are chosen (for mission) to be different (= ethics)”.

本來有個問題想問他（不過後來因聽見Q＆A也要錄音而打消 了，哈！）：第二聖殿時期的猶太教，是否屬悉這樣的一個Mission of God？當時猶太教本身的宣教工做得怎樣？是他們忘記了作為「外邦人的光」的身分？（用NT Wright的話是”solution becomes the problem”）。他們的策略（我的基本印象）是Come and see the difference。為什麼跟初期教會的Go and tell 有這麼大的分別？今日的教會，怎樣避免再一次”solution becomes the problem”？耶穌在十字架上成就的，令教會跟昔日的以色列人在使命上，有甚麼基本的分別（we already understand the obvious similarities e.g Ex.19:4-6, 1 Peter 2:9 etc… ）？

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Update: Here are the recordings and ppt slides of Chris Wright’s lecture @ Tyndale