Smartphones Can Make You Dumb

Don’t get me wrong:  I am a techie at heart.  I was one of the original Mac users at our church in the 1980’s–yes, long before PC’s started making better machines at half the cost!  (Rest assured, I got smarter and have been a happy PC user for the past two decades.)    As you can tell, I’m not afraid to be counter-cultural.

Well, when my Verizon “New Every Two” came up last month, I finally got one of those “smartphones”.  The price was right (it was free!) and this one was smart enough to connect me to my [Google-owned] world of email, calendar, tasks, etc.!  I thought it would help me with my maxed-out life of reading 100+ emails per day and keeping track of the ever-changing schedules/calendars.  (In a pastor’s life, only Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow!)

Well, today’s Breakpoint column got me to think a little smarter than my phone…

It referred to a New York Times article on a recent Kaiser Family Foundation study which found that kids between the ages of 8-18 spend more than 7.5 hours a day staring at a screen (smartphone, computer, TV, etc.).  Add another 1.5 hours for talking & TXTing!  Factoring in multi-tasking of multiple devices they are chained to, it’s close to 11 hours a day spent on media!

Breakpoint cited Ben Witherington’s observation on the connection with boredom:

This “boredom” is “in most cases…the state of mind of those who lack imagination and therefore require all kinds of stimuli to prevent them from losing interest in things, and even in life.” That’s why people, adults as well as kids, are “constantly fiddling with their cellphone.” The alternative to all this fiddling is being alone with your own thoughts, which terrifies people used to the constant stimulation provided by our media-saturated culture.

Furthermore, neuroscientists suggest that “many, if not most, of our most creative and productive moments come when we step back from all the stimulation.” All this got me thinking:  Maybe being free from a smartphone (ringing/buzzing/chiming in all the time) might be more productive in  more important ways!

And besides, having unrestrained access to all the junk on the Internet in the palm of your hands is something I don’t need.  Especially as I minister to countless brothers who are daily wrestling with such temptations, I don’t want to be a stumbling block in any way to anyone out there.  I guess it’s one of those “everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial” situations of 1 Cor. 6:12.

So…(and some of you might call me dumb for doing this), I am going back to my non-smartphone.  This is going to cost me because I just went past my 30-day worry-free exchange period.  But as with many important lessons in life, it is worth the price.  And besides, I want to be known as someone who is smarter than the cell phone I use. 

It’s worth the hassle!

As a lazy person at heart, I don’t like to hassle with things.  And especially as an introvert, I’d rather be sitting still with my Kindle in hand, headphones in ear, and enjoying the quiet life of an introvert!  Well, a month ago Gracepoint Berkeley and Davis church directors families went for a trip to the Sierras, and I confess, I thought it was a hassle…at first.

Our kids had been asking if we’re having another trip this year (actually, they were begging for it for weeks!).  But for me, my first thought is, “Man, we’re going to have to pack our bags again [we had just returned from our trip to LA], sleep on mats [again], find those tight snow pants and [attempt to find again] the missing snow glove, put on chains, clear the snow, push the cars, step into iced water–what a hassle!  And I got messages to prepare and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.”

But just like a good chemical reaction where the activation energy is more than compensated for at the end, the trip was well worth it!  (Sorry for nerding out, but I’ve been helping Kristen with chemistry.) The kids had a ton of fun in the snow and they got to cultivate the precious relationships in this community of faith.

For me, sitting around the fire in the gazebo was worth all the hassle.  Kelly (pastor Ed’s wife) suggested that each person choose an old praise song from our yesterdays (and yesterdecades!) to sing.  When it came to my turn, I picked “New Life in Christ.”

New Life in Christ, abundant and free!
What glories shine, what joys are mine,
What wondrous blessings I see!
My past with its sin, the searching and strife,
Forever gone — There’s a bright new dawn!
For in Christ I have found New Life!

I always choke up when I get to “My past with its sin, the searching and strife.”  Before Christ, I was searching and searching for significance in my life:  To make something of my life. To be accepted.  To be forgiven.  And most of all, to be known, to be loved and to love.

And by the grace of God, I found New Life in Christ!  And the icing on the cake is that I also have so many precious brothers and sisters in this community of faith.  Such times together, making (and recalling) memories, and spurring each other on…it’s well worth the hassle!

Here’s a video of that night captured on my phone. Video quality may be poor, but the memory is rich…

A Short Christmas Greeting

My grandma called me yesterday.  She received our photo Christmas card.  After the familiar greetings, she went straight to the point:  She was concerned that Taylor might be short like you know whom.

I may be stretching it, but truth be told:  I’m 5 ft 4.5 inches on a good day (in the morning).  My grandma asked, “How about giving Taylor that growth hormone stuff?  You know, in America if you’re short, it’s harder…”  I don’t know if grandma read that book where it cites how an inch of extra height is worth $789 a year in salary (Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink, chapter 2).  Maybe that’s the real reason why I never made much money and never will! 

This is not a tall tale, but short people do have many advantages as well.  Here’s the short list:

• We fit comfortably into every car, even those fuel efficient mini/nano-cars.
• We can walk throughout the Sierra Lodge basement standing tall and proud without hitting any pipes.
• We have the famous short-man’s complex that drives us to do amazing things that taller men would never stoop down to attempt.
• We can relate to little kids very well as we see eye-to-eye with them.  (Hey, didn’t Jesus say we should be like little children?)
• We get less altitude sickness.

So Taylor, don’t worry.  You don’t need human growth hormone.  You just need a good sense of humor. 

Merry Christmas everyone!

Watch what you watch!

As a pastor of Gracepoint Davis Church, one of the big challenges I face is the long winter break — not for myself, but for the many college students who are home with a lot of time on their hands and a lot of media at their fingertips.  College ministers are familiar with the winter break blues, where many students come back with regrets, shame, and guilt after having wasted loads of time.

Well, I read a little book a while back (Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World, edited by C. J. Mahaney) that had a bunch of good questions to ask before one goes out for a movie, pops in a DVD, or connects to the Internet.  I’m sharing some of it here for your edification: (pp. 57-58)

Time Questions:

• Am I skipping or delaying something important in order to watch this now?
• How much time have I already spent on media today?
• How much time have I spent surfing the Internet? How much time have I spent blogging or maintaining an online presence through social network sites?
• In the last week, how much time have I spent on the spiritual disciplines, building relationships, or serving in my local church compared to time spent consuming media?
• After investigating the time to view this, will I look back on it as time well spent?

Heart Questions:

• Why do I want to watch this program or film? What do I find entertaining about it?
• Am I seeking to escape from something I should be facing by watching this?  Am I seeking comfort or relief that can be found only in God?
• What sinful temptations will this program or film present?
• Do I secretly want to view something in it that’s sinful? Am I deceiving myself by saying, “I’ll fast-forward through the bad parts”?
• Similarly, am I telling myself, “I’ll just visit this web site once, and I won’t click on any other link I find there”?
• Am I watching because I’m bored or lazy? If so, what does that reveal about my heart?
• Am I watching simply because others are? Am I trying to be relevant or to fit in?
• How have my online relationships impacted my face-to-face relationships? How has my online activity impacted my soul? For better or worse?
• What motivates me to create and maintain a blog, MySpace, or Facebook presence? Am I attempting to impress others? Am I being prideful, slanderous, deceitful, or self-righteous?

Craig Cabaniss, who wrote this chapter in the book, adds: (p.59)

After reading these questions, you may get the feeling that practicing discernment is a lot of work.   It can be, but it’s worth the careful deliberation because the goal is lofty: discerning what pleases the Lord. By asking these sorts of questions, we may find that although a certain program is acceptable, spending the time to watch it may not be beneficial. Think about Paul’s counsel to the Corinthians: “‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things build up” (1 Cor. 10:23).

I want to thank Craig for reminding all of us the importance of spending our precious time on things that build up (rather than break down).  Let’s all spend this winter break on things that pleases the Lord!

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.” [Ephesians 5:8-10]

Gracepoint @Knott’s Berry Farm

Gracepoint Berkeley, Davis, Austin church members will have some berry good fellowship time at Knott’s Berry Farm in Southern California on Dec. 28 with rides, food, and Snoopy on Ice — that’s nice!  We were able to get a discount and it will be $23 per person when we go as a group.

So those of you Gracepointers in Southern Cal: If you want to go, please sign up here !

• When: 12/28/09 Monday
• Time: 9:45 am (Knott’s opens at 10am-9pm)
• Where:  Meet at “Breakers” between 9:45am-10:30am where you will find Steve Suh for tickets! (“Breakers” is Knott’s Picnic Center in the EAST Parking Lot near Independence Hall – right by the Underpass.)
• Note:  You will pay when you get there; if you signed up but can’t go, don’t worry about it.  (i.e., If you don’t come, you don’t pay, even if you signed up.  If you can’t come, just don’t show up, even if you signed up.)
• Got Questions?  Call Steve at 510-913-3733

Fortune Teller or Truth Teller

Don’t go to a fortune teller; go to a Truth teller!

There’s a verse in today’s Devotion passage that caught my attention:  “Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?” (Gal. 4:16).  Apostle Paul was into telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth–God’s Truth! But along the way, some people in the church in Galatia did not like what they heard and viewed him as an enemy.

This truth teller brought the truth of the gospel to them (v.13)–this Truth that set them free from their to sin!  But now that he is pointing out errors in their understanding of how a Christian life should be lived, they turned bitter cold toward this truth teller…

But that’s the cold hard truth of ministry–that when a particular truth is NOT what people want to hear, they turn away to someone else (cf. 2 Tim. 4:3-4).  After all, everyone likes truth that’s easy to swallow and digest.  When I give good tidings of good cheer to people, they thank me, appreciate me, and want to name their firstborn after me!

But when I tell the truth of how they need to change, the truth of their errors/blindspots/sins, and the truth of humble repentance required, they’d rather go to someone else…perhaps to a good-fortune teller.  And sometimes, it even results in painful rifts in relationships and the truth-teller might be viewed as an enemy.

It’s one of the occupational hazards of being a pastor.  As a chemist, an occupational hazard was the toxic chemicals like benzene that might harm me physically.  But as a pastor, there are other occupational hazards like emotional harm that can arise when I am viewed as a “bad guy” or even an enemy for proclaiming truth. I wonder how many a tears Apostle Paul shed as he wrote, “Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?“

But truth be told: I cannot shrink back from telling God’s truth to people who need to hear it.  I’d much rather be a Truth teller that God likes, than a fortune teller that everyone likes–so help me God.

See Sierra Snow Sledding!

Koinonia Christian Fellowship’s End-of-Finals Snow Trip was full of SNOW!  It was the first big snowfall to hit our Sierra Retreat this season!  I’m gathering some pictures to post, but for starters, here’s a video:

Here are some pictures:

Magical Memory-Making Moment!

First big snow of the season in Narnia!

Picture taken 11pm without any flash (lighting courtesy of our basketball court!)

Grand opening of our new gazebo!

Nice fire started by a real Eagle Scout!

Night-time Snow Basketball !

Getting air at 5200 ft!

Women should…Say what?

Today’s DT passage on 1 Corinthians 14 has a section that might be confusing to some.  1 Cor. 14:34 says “women should remain silent in the churches.  They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says.”  (Some of you might be wondering, “Whoa! What kind of church is that??  And where do you find that Law?”)  As you can imagine, this passage along with 1 Timothy 2:11-15, has been a point of contention for a long time over whether women should be able to teach in the church.

I don’t want to get into a big debate over this issue, but I do want to offer some help in understanding difficult passages like this.  While there are many Greeky academic journal articles on this topic, I think you’d rather not go that way…

Well, I recently found an excellent explanation written by Dr. James Choung (the National Director for InterVarsity’s Asian American Ministries) that’s very understandable for everyone.  So please take a read at this pdf document “Can Women Teach? An exegesis of 1 Timothy 2:11-15 and 1 Corinthians 14:33-40“–it’s very well written:

http://www.intervarsity.org/mx/item/4175

But what’s most important in all of this is that we all remember the overarching context of Apostle Paul’s letter in the first place:  That there should be loving unity and not division in the church.  That is the context of 1 Cor. 14 (and much of the previous chapters), and so I trust that everyone will exercise grace & love in interpreting and applying Scripture.  After all, if everyone took even one verse of 1 Cor. 13 and applied it with the same rigor, zeal and passion, then there would not be much bickering over obscure passages in the first place. 

4 Gracepoint Davis Church Retreat

Dear Gracepoint Davis Church members,

I’m gearing up for our annual winter retreat and I need your help! Please leave a comment to this post with topics that you’d like to hear messages about, things that would help  further your spiritual growth as a Christian (or if you are a seeker, what aspects of Christianity you would like additional help with).

Also, please include different things that were good from previous retreats that you’d like to see again  (e.g., testimony time, specific games, other activities/elements, small group sharing, etc.).

I’d like a ton of responses for this, so please leave a comment now (it can be anonymous if you’d like).  Thanks for helping and contributing to make this winter retreat a blessed one for all of us!

With anticipation of what God will do,

Pastor Jonathan

P.S.  College retreat will be Jan. 15-18, MLK Holiday weekend; Praxis retreat is tentatively set for Jan. 29-31 (but this will be confirmed soon).

Sharp Rebuke: Why/When/How

I posted before an excerpt from a Centurions Program Newsletter, and I received one last week that I want to pass along as well. From Centurions Program Newsletter Vol. 3, No. 26 (19 November 2009) by T. M. Moore: (emphasis his)

Relationships are hard work and not always either easy or pleasant. In our day the idea of relationships has been colored by silly notions of unlimited tolerance projected from the popular culture – think: such TV series as “Friends” or “Seinfeld.” According to this model relationships depend on an infinite capacity to overlook goofiness and sin for the sake of having a cadre of pals among whom one finds his identity, fulfillment, and fun. This, of course, is a completely self-serving approach to relationships; its implicit rule is, “If I don’t judge them, they won’t judge me, and we’ll all get along just fine.” [...]

[P]art of the way God relates to us is through confrontation. Here’s David on this subject – a man who knew a thing or two about God’s confronting propensities: “When you discipline a man with rebukes for sin, you consume like a moth what is dear to him…” (Ps. 39:11). Paul understood that confrontation was a necessary part of meaningful working relationships in the Kingdom of God (ask Peter, Gal. 2:11-14). He even commanded church leaders, when necessary, to “rebuke sharply” any who are upsetting the church by their teaching or lifestyle (Titus 1:10-14).

Therefore, since confrontation – including sharp rebukes – seems to be an essential part of leadership and good relationships, we ought to understand what this entails.

When is a “sharp rebuke” necessary? First, when someone, by his words or conduct, is disturbing other believers, consistently and without concern for their wellbeing but only his own, that person may be a candidate for a sharp rebuke (Titus 1:10, 11). Of course, the first approach to such people must be that of gentleness, making every effort to persuade them, whether of the wrong they are teaching, the hurt they are inflicting, or the harm they are doing to the cause of the Kingdom (2 Tim. 2:24-26). But when patience and persuasion (bathed, of course, in prayer) don’t seem to be getting the job done, it may be time for a sharp rebuke.

First, we need to make sure we understand the goal of a sharp rebuke. [...] Paul says our objective is to restore the ones we are rebuking to soundness in belief and practice (Titus 1:13). [...] Second, a sharp rebuke is one that stabs people to the heart, so that they are convicted of their sin (Ps. 39:11; Acts 2:37). Thus, it may be necessary to show people the damage that is being done by their teaching or ways, so that, as we lead them to think more about others than themselves, they may come to their senses and return to a proper love for their neighbors. A sharp rebuke like this can only be accomplished with a spiritually sharp instrument. The Word of God, therefore, must be an indispensable part of any sharp rebuke (Heb. 4:12).

Thank you, T. M. Moore, for helping us understand why and when a sharp rebuke is sometimes necessary.

Happy Thanksgiving, Gracepoint Davis!

Just wanted to wish Gracepoint Davis Church folks a big Happy Thanksgiving! I’m very blessed to be a part of a church where God’s Words are received and applied personally through fellowship of love, truth, and grace. Thank you for sharing in this great journey of faith together all these years!

My parents drove up from LA yesterday and we were talking around the breakfast table about Project Angel Tree, a ministry that our church partners with every Christmastime.  Susanna stayed up until 3am last night reading an amazing book about the lady who started Project Angel Tree, Mary Kay Beard, who was once on the American’s Most Wanted list in the early 70’s.  (I’m sure Susanna will share later on about the book at the next occasion!)

As Susanna was sharing from the book about how the Gideons International ministry helped Mary Kay Beard come to know Christ, my dad told me that my grandfather was a Gideon in Korea (when he was an elder at Young Nak church)!  He was even a delegate from Korea to their annual convention in Anaheim decades ago.  He also apparently helped build more than 15 churches in Korea.  (He owned a lumber yard in Korea and so he frequently donated lumber and supplies to start churches and schools.)  My grandfather passed away many years ago, but I’m grateful that his sacrifice and giving touched many lives back then, and perhaps even now…

As we’re currently thinking about building church facilities and planting churches, I was reminded that it’s been that way from generation past all the way to now.  We’ve been entrusted with this baton of sacrifice and giving, to take (and give) to the next generation.  So many people laid down their lives and gave to the Lord so that we in this generation might receive new Life in Christ.  Let us thank God for them, committing to steward well this entrustment by giving ourselves to God’s work all the more.  That’s the happiest way to give thanks on Thanksgiving…

(BTW, if you’d like to sign up for this year’s Project Angel Tree outreach, please visit http://gracepointdavis.org/signup )

Scum of the Earth

Gracepoint Davis Church, do you want to be the scum of the earth? Nobody wants to, but we may be called to, per today’s Daily Devotion text (1 Corinthians 4).

9 For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. 10 We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! 11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

What is going on here?  Is Apostle Paul out of his mind?  Who invites suffering and pain?  Or is it because Paul is so focused on knowing nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified? (1 Cor. 2:2)

We Christians are called to follow Christ.  And that’s what Paul is encouraging us to embrace, especially as it is clear what kind of life Jesus lived:

• was strong but became weak (“made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant” Philippians 2:7)
• was dishonored even by His own people (Matt. 13:57)
• was brutally treated (just recall one of the scenes in “The Passion of the Christ“)
• warned would-be followers, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Matt. 8:20)
• “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats” (1 Peter 2:23; Matt. 27:14)
• “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34)

How much closer to becoming a scum of the earth can you get?  Jesus gives us a clear picture of laying down one’s life so that someone else might live.  And we are alive today because Jesus (and the previous generations of followers) embraced opportunities to be even the scum of the earth.

And so, I’d gladly be the scum of the earth if in laying down my life, one more person might enjoy eternity with Jesus in Heaven…

Song: Unredeemed by Selah

Someone from Gracepoint Berkeley shared with us a very moving song.  The Christian music group, Selah, sings “Unredeemed” in their latest album You Deliver Me and this song speaks of the faith in God we should have in our deepest times of need.

Selah’s lead singer, Todd Smith (and his wife), experienced a painful loss of their newborn daughter who only lived a mere 3 hours.  During such painful losses of life, how can we see through the eyes of faith?  How can God redeem such pain and sorrow?  How about all the shameful dark pasts, wasted years, and even things that seem impossible to restore — Can God redeem the unredeemed?

Listen to this song while reading the lyrics below for the answer:

Unredeemed

The cruelest words, the coldest heart
The deepest wounds, the endless dark
The lonely ache, the burning tears
The bitter nights, the wasted years

Life breaks and falls apart
But we know these are…

[Chorus]
Places where grace is soon to be so amazing
They may be unfulfilled, they may be unrestored
But when anything that’s shattered is laid before the Lord
Just watch and see it will not be
Unredeemed

For every choice that led to shame
And all the love that never came
For every vow that someone broke
And every life that gave up hope

We live in the shadow of the fall
But the cross says these are all …

[Chorus]

Places where grace is soon to be so amazing
They may be unfulfilled, they may be unrestored
But you never know the miracles the Father has in store
Just watch and see it will not be
Just watch and see it will not be…unredeemed.

Amen.  Lord, we want to watch and see how You will redeem even the most unredeemed…

From Gracepoint Davis Fall Retreat

A few weeks ago, we had our first Gracepoint Davis Church 1-day Fall Retreat where we studied Biblical view on Dating/Marriage, Entertainment/Culture, and Work/Fulfillment.

Some of you have asked for the links to the resources that I used, so here they are:

Joni & Friends (“The Prison that Set Me Free: Angola Prison”)
http://www.joniandfriendstv.org/video.php?id=2

Nick Vujicic (LifeWithoutLimbs.org)
http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/media.php

Biblical Dating & Marriage from www.boundless.org (by Focus on the Family) featuring dating & courtship issues that college students and young folks (and older ones) might find helpful; by and large, they have solid advice on these important matters:

• “What Does a Biblical Relationship Look Like?” by Scott Croft
• “Boyfriend is Not ‘Outwardly Christian’” Boundless Answers by Candice Watters
• They have other related articles such as:
  • Biblical Dating: An Introduction
  • To Kiss or Not to Kiss
  • Just Friends

Church Pastors Unplugged

Pastor Ed Kang (Gracepoint Berkeley Church) invited me to spend some time with him and other church pastors at the Sierra Retreat.  It’s always good to spend time with pastors from other churches, and it’s been a while since we last got together, so I join them yesterday.

Among other things, we compared notes on how we’re using PowerPoint to make our points, talked about the theology of spiritual battles until 1 AM, ate ramen noodles while our wives were not around, and even went on a little hike.

One fun moment was when pastor Chris Pak (Bridgeway Church of Silicon Valley) challenged pastor Loren Chong (New Covenant Church) to an arm wrestling match.  It was a close match, but at the right moment, pastor Loren used the physics of the moment arm to win:

I also captured this picture of Mr. Disgracepoint himself, Daniel Kim, losing this-grace-fully to someone much older.  Now, what would you put for a demotivator caption for this one?  (let’s hear your comments!)