Sorry, but closing out site for now

I am going to be closing out this blog site until further notice.  I will most likely be putting some of my DT sharings and such using another medium. 

My Favorite Yogi Berrisms

I think one of my true enjoyments growing up was watching,  playing and reading about baseball.  True, on the surface, baseball seems like a boring and slow sport with little spectator value but often I have likened it to chess because of the intricacies and complexities that are not immediately apparent but what makes the game so interesting and for me, exhilarating.  I probably enjoy the history of baseball just as much as the enjoyment of the game itself and it is out of that knowledge, I have appreciated over the years one of the true Yankee greats, Yogi Berra, who played on the great Yankee teams of the 40’s and 50’s with such towering figures as Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio.  In recent years, however, he has been notable for his Yogisms that perhaps you have heard from time to time and I have personally found delight in.  So here are a list of my favorites from quotes he actually made.  Enjoy!

“It’s like déjà vu all over again”.

“When you get to a fork in the road, take it”

“I didn’t really say everything I said”

“Nobody goes there anymore because it’s too crowded.”

“We have a good time together, even when we’re not together”

“It was hard to have a conversation with anyone; there were so many people talking”.

“We make too many wrong mistakes”

“You can observe a lot by watching”

“It gets late early around here…”

“A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore”

“If I didn’t wake up I’d still be sleeping”

“I usually take a two hour nap from 1 to 4″

“If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll wind up somewhere else”

“The future ain’t what it used to be”

“If they don’t want to come, you can’t stop them”

“Always go to other people’s funerals otherwise they won’t go to yours”

“You have to give 100 percent in the first half of the game. If that isn’t enough, in the second half, you have to give what is left.”

“Never answer an anonymous letter”

“Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel!”

“Ninety percent of this game is half mental.”

When he was asked if first baseman Don Mattingly had exceeded expectations, Yogi said “I’d say he’s done more than that!”

At a dinner in an Italian restaurant, he was asked how many slices should be cut in his pizza, and he replied “You better make it four, I don’t think I could eat eight”

My Gracious Host

Psalm 23:5, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”

“Your prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies”. God is pictured here as the gracious host. I imagine God setting the table, preparing the food, telling me to sit down so that I don’t need to do anything but simply sit down and receive. I know this feeling of receiving something from someone clearly greater and nobler. I felt that way when Chuck Colson prepared various ‘tables’ during my first Centurion’s conference. I was amazed at this great man who has experienced so much, whose life and testimony has brought about a revival in Christendom, and here I was, in a room full of highly accomplished individuals, and I got to be there and simply receive. I remember more mundane moments when my parents would make a fuss over me during significant events like my high school graduation, or after I came home for the first time during Thanksgiving break during my freshmen year at Berkeley [Boy, that was literally a table they set before me with my favorite foods and all different kinds of delights]. I have been on the receiving end countless times in these ways, like during my baptism and most recently during my ordination when people ‘prepared a table for me’ to encourage me and affirm this calling in my life. I remembering feeling tremendously awkward during these moments and it is because I felt so undeserved of this kind of attention and grace. On the flip side, I remember preparing a table for others. One Thanksgiving, I cooked an entire Thanksgiving meal for my family when I was 14. As a shepherd, I have prepared ‘tables’, honored people in my life, just because God’s love compelled me, whether it be through the careful attention and prayer over a College Student or to the various friends in my life. Through those incidents, I have some sense of the detailed love and care involved in this process, but more than anything a greater appreciation for the descending one needs to do in order to be that gracious host. Descent is needed but it is not done out of a begrudging spirit but out of love and reverence for Christ. After all, Christ played the ultimate host for us so poignantly symbolized through the last supper event and ultimately as He laid down His life as expressed in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son….” Having been on the receiving end and having done the preparing, when I read this verse, “You prepare a table before me…” I am reminded that I am the object of tremendous love and grace. God is not this exacting, fiery, judgmental deity interested in ‘catching me’ do wrong so that I can be punished and so that He can enjoy with delight the experience of power over my life. To the contrary, this picture gives a window into the true heart of God. He prepares a table before me, he anoints my head with oil and he fills my cup until it overflows. How much does this convey a picture of His heart to dare say, pamper and spoil, but contrary to what I want, spoil with true blessings? He wants to fill my life with abundance, joy, peace and ultimately His salvation.

And He does this in the presence of my enemies maybe to convey the utter powerlessness of the enemies before the perfect shepherd and His ability to deliver blessings into my life. In the end, what assurance this brings that no enemy, no power can ultimately prevent God from preparing a table before me and making my cup overflow. And this has been my story as I think about all the blessings I have received despite numerous ‘enemies’ in my life.  Looking at my life now, my cup overflows in terms of relationships, in terms of the messages I have received, the various experiences that have been challenging, fun, and inspiring, the different countries I have been able to visit for the Gospel. Truly God has been my gracious host and I want to meditate on that next time I think God is someone different, the next time I hear those voices of condemnation. I must remember He prepares a table before me and truly my cup has and will continue to overflow in my life!

Finding Comfort in His Rod and Staff

Psalm 23:4, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,for you are with me; your rod and your staff,they comfort me.”

‘Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.’ At first blush, the rod and staff would not elicit comfort particularly since it is associated with instruments of discipline and correction. I imagine a sheep who has gone astray being led back into the fold by the shepherd’s use of the staff and the rod. Perhaps if this sheep was a ‘proud’ sheep with a large ego, it would not appreciate being brought back as it would remind the sheep that it cannot ever strike out on its own, that it is a dependent creature, that ultimately without the shepherd’s guidance, it will find itself in places of danger and vulnerability, in the ‘valley of the shadow of death’. I think when I was younger my view towards the rods and staffs in my life was that it was a necessary but ultimately unwelcoming presence. Every time such ‘implements’ were used to guide me, I would rebel against the need for them quietly within my own heart. My ego would be wounded. I would tell myself how come I need guidance? Why can’t I be left to make my own mistakes? How come I am not afforded more respect? These were some of the irrational and frankly unjustifiable thoughts that filled my heart. But that was when I was younger, when I didn’t know any better, when I was overconfident in myself, and where my understanding of the problem of sin did not rise to the level of needing discipline and guidance at the risk of emotional discomfort.

Now that I have grown older, I can now begin to appreciate and welcome the ‘rod and staff’ of God’s shepherd’s hand in my life.  Only now in my late 30’s have I begun to appreciate the destructive power of my sinful nature, of just how fragile the line truly is between purity and degradation. Only as I have gone through various struggles, do I understand more clearly the evil that lurks within my own heart and the potential for harm I can bring upon myself, my family, my church and my sheep and this has thankfully led me to welcoming accountability and guidance any time such opportunities present themselves. The greater appreciation of my vulnerability towards sin is why I now see how God’s rod and staff ultimately brings comfort to me. When I know that God guides me with His rod and staff, I am assured that I can never stray too far, never become so tainted, never cross too many boundaries that I should not be crossing because His hand of protection and discipline will be upon me and that brings tremendous comfort to someone whose heart is so fickle and whose tendencies inevitably lead to greater sin and destruction. It is like someone who signs up for the U.S. Marines as a last resort knowing he was headed down a destructive path, having dropped out of school, having lost self-respect through various relationships, having dabbled in petty crimes and knowing that the discipline and protection the Marines supply is what will be needed to halt that downward spiral.  I imagine he would find comfort every time he goes through his drills and his superiors offer him discipline knowing this will ultimately lead to good.  My application is to welcome the ‘rod and staff’ in my life. I need God’s hand leading me, teaching me, disciplining me, bringing me away from the valley of the shadow of death even if that means knowing this will disrupt my sense of independence and temporary peace. I am reminded of what Jesus told Peter in John 21:18, “I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” When I was younger I did dress myself and go where I wanted, and do I wanted to do but I don’t look back on such periods with fondness. I realize more than ever that as God has led me to the point where someone else dresses me and leads me where I do not want to go, that that is a good thing. I see that God does this for my own protection and if I didn’t have such walls of protection, such expectations and responsibilities, my sins and desires would ultimately take over. I thank God for providing me with this ministry, for giving me a flock, for having people in my life that look to me to set an example. As I take on the role of a pastor, I am reminded of the increasing narrowing of options. I need to be blameless lest others stumble. I need to be authentic, spiritual, growing in my faith, and in my love for people. But were it not for these expectations, I would most likely be driven by my desires. I am glad for the myriad of people in my life and also for the opportunities to lead prayer meetings, to give messages, to counsel people, to lead meetings, because those are the rods and staff that encourage me to not fall into a life of sin. I am thankful for the people who can offer words of accountability when I am straying as they speak the truth in love to me when I am blinded or calloused to my ways. Ultimately, I need His rod and staff knowing the valleys of the shadow of death will be plenty and fraught with many dangers. I trust that God uses these ‘implements’ for my protection, growth, maturity and to remind me of my need for Him.  Consequently I now can say what I was unable to say before that I need God and that His rod and staff, they comfort me!

De-Motivating Brothers

A few years back some of my friends at Gracepoint Berkeley gave a birthday gift to our beloved Pastor Ed Kang based upon the commonly seen inspirational motivators found in office suites and classrooms across America. However, in our attempt to come up with such motivators to inspire Pastor Ed and his wife Kelly Kang (as we envisioned these posters hung prominently in the halls of Gracepoint and in the pastoral offices) we ended up doing some soul searching when we realized how truly challenging of an undertaking this was going to be particularly if we were going to be the subjects of motivation. But I am thankful for this process because through it we discovered a knack for other means of encouraging our pastor. Over the years we have honed this gift of ours because in the end, we discovered blessings and encouragement can take on different faces, and in that sense we have truly been a source of blessing for many! [for a personal example please refer to Disgracepoint]

Reflections on True Love

1 Corinthians 13:6, “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth…”

Love does not delight in evil. It rejoices with the truth. Evil is a perversion of good, a distortion of what was true and intended. Love, then embraces the reality as it was divinely ordained from the very beginning. God had in mind a picture of beauty, of human value and purpose, of relationships, of society and marriage and sex and family and education and social responsibility and meaningful work. God called His creation ‘very good’. He delighted in His creation. Here the message is that ‘Love does not delight in evil’. In other words, love is not for a distortion of God’s original design. But love rejoices with the truth. There isn’t a sense of rebellion against truth. Man, in his sin, is rebellious by nature. He does not like the fact that he is not autonomous, that he is limited, that he is a dependent and contingent creature.  Recently, man has rebelled against the concept of marriage, of what life is in the whole abortion, euthanasia debate. But closer to home, I think I rebel at what I am like, how I have been created and the discontentment I feel towards the qualities I possess.  I often end up going back to a focus on the self. As a self-centered creature, I end up wishing to be someone else and that causes me to be unable to rejoice with the truth. But if I am fundamentally other-centered, which is what love is, then I will be capable of rejoicing with truth, because I have no apriori commitment to what I should be like. I simply accept people and the world as it is because I am free to celebrate God’s creation and design.

Hello world!

I am excited to finally have a space that I think lends itself to what I enjoy doing (encouraging, exhorting, reflecting and the occasional jibe and trash talking – particularly regarding basketball!).