Category Archives: Thoughts on Faith
A Christian Response to UCSD’s Growing Racial Tension
I’m not going to claim I know all the answers. Nor am I going to speak on behalf of any organization or particular group. Rather I want to speak right now as a follower of Jesus who is desperately seeking God’s heart on how to act in the midsts of a lot of pain and anger that’s escalating at UCSD.
Today as I joined hundreds of others on campus to say “no” against blatant acts racism, I watched person after person take the mic and share their hearts. Some shared impassioned pleas to actions, others shared words of solidarity, and still others shared their pain and fear. As I stood there for 3 hours listening, I began to ask two very disturbing questions. First of all, where was the Asian American presence? As a majority minority on this campus, do we not have the responsibility to at least say we stand is solidarity with those who are suffering? But I think what was more troubling was I kept asking where was the Christian presence? Of the 30 or so people who spoke this morning representing everyone from the LGBT to faculty and even an openly Communist representative, I did not witness one person represent Jesus in the midsts of all this. Read the rest of this entry
Sovereignty and Free Will: The Radical Middle?
Here is my unofficial entry to the “Sovereignty of God Blog Series” on the Man of Depravity blog and really my first attempt to articulate thoughts I’ve wrestled through for the last 5 or 6 years. This entry was really a comment or response to Pastor Eugene Cho’s contribution to the series (of Quest Church, Seattle). His simple but clear articulation of his view on God’s sovereignty and our free will really helped me clarify some of my own thoughts on the subject (which is usually a jumbled mess).
Here is the thrust of Pastor Eugene’s thoughts (read his full entry for more detail):
Creation is a beautiful reflection of God’s character. And in that creation, he gives to humanity what I often interpret as the greatest expressions of His love: Freedom or Free will. What’s even more amazing is that God gives us the gift of freedom knowing the possibility that humanity could sin and rebel. For me, this is stunning. In giving the gift of Free Will, I believe God actually chooses to “relinquish” power. He still remains in control because power or authority isn’t stripped away from him but in His love, benevolence, and grace, God chooses to give the gift of ‘free will’ to humanity. (An idea Eugene later refers to as “self limited sovereignty”)
Perhaps one thing I could add to the conversation as I see it is that although I do generally agree with this idea of “self limited sovereignty,” I still do believe God can reasonably in love exercise His sovereignty over our free will from time to time. Read the rest of this entry
InterVarsity’s Multi-Ethnic History
11 am on Sunday still remains the most segregated hour in America, and for most Christians the best way to deal with race is to be colorblind and simply disregard it as not important. With that said I’m really proud to be apart of an organization that has kept ethnic reconciliation and multi-ethnicity as a core value of our movement. Since its conception in the US, InterVarsity has remained a catalyst of racial reconciliation not only in the church, but in the culture as well. I believe what we have done and what we are going to do is going to continue to bless, challenge, and transform the church’s view on culture and ethnicity for years to come. It is so exciting to be part of what God is doing!
Here are a few examples of our multi-ethnic legacy from our history that I am particularly proud of (from Multi Ethnic Ministries Website):
- 1944-1948- Jane Hollingsworth (Haille) in NYC confronted an IV Board member when she refused to permit Black students in her home for the city’s monthly meetings. Jane’s Biblical honesty breaks the Board member’s racism and her home is opened to all students.
