Getting Ready for Palm Sunday

This Sunday is more than simply an ordinary Sunday. In the Christian calendar, it is also known as Palm Sunday, the day in which Jesus was greeted with palms, and shouts of joy with celebration of a coming king. This event is significant enough for all four gospel writers to record. (Matthew 21; Mark 11; Luke 19; John 12). Here are the similarities.

• All four gospel writers recorded Jesus' request to untie and to bring a colt (young donkey) to him.
• All the people were excited about the coming king
• All the people celebrated with raised arms and palm leaves
• It was a joyous occasion and a remarkable flashback to the prophecy in the Old Testament.
• Shouts of 'Hosanna!' rang throughout.

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of what we commonly call Passion Week. Amid the happy throngs and celebratory atmosphere, Jesus knows that there is more than meets the eye.

• The people were expected a kingly figure to ride on a majestic horse, but Jesus came on a never been ridden colt;
• The people expected Jesus to be the one to liberate them from Roman bondage. Instead Jesus will soon be arrested and executed under the Roman authorities
• The people thought that this is the beginning of the end of Roman rule. Little did they know that Palm Sunday begins the road to Calvary, to liberate all mankind from the rule of sin.

As we get ready for Palm Sunday, it is important to remind ourselves to learn to see from God's perspective, rather than to be stuck in human perspective. Watch this video and see the difference.




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Our Responsibilities Trump Any Me-First Attitudes

Last week, a resident in my community wrote a letter to complain that she 'awfully tired' of having to pay for public transit services that she does not use. Published on the 23rd of March 2012, she wrote in Tri-City news,

"Don’t believe me? Let’s recap. Lower Mainland mayors, including those in the Tri-Cities, got together last fall and voted to have all drivers shell out two cents more per litre at the pump to pay for a public transit line. I’m supposed to pay for a transit line I’ll never use, so that someone else can have a better ride? I am supposed to ensure my neighbour who doesn’t drive has faster, better, more comfortable transit service? Really?" (Letter from Francine Maxwell, Port Moody)

One can tell that she is frustrated about having to pay more at the gas pump for her car. The logic is this. Why should car drivers be punished simply because they use a car? If they do not use the bus or the subway, they should not be paying for it right?

Not so simple.

This week, one reader rebutted her logic. In his letter entitled, "In a democracy, we pay for greater good," S Hyde explained that democracy does not always mean fairness to everyone. In a democracy, there is no room for a 'me-first attitude,' but to accept that in a democracy, the public good trumps over individual benefits. Hyde has a point. After all, in any election, a majority vote will win the election. Even if the winning vote is puny, democracy submits that the winner is the one with the most votes.

While I am not so sure about the part of 'greater good,' I feel that Hyde has some good pointers. Here is his direct response to Ms Maxwell.

"I don’t have kids who attend public schools and I have fortunately never had a hospital stay but I am informed enough to realize people require an education and, if sick or hurt, access to get medical attention. By your logic, we shouldn’t have to pay for schools, public parks, recreation centres, health care, employment insurance, roads, etc. if we never use them." (S Hyde, Port Moody)

As I think about it, there are many things that I pay on a monthly basis that I hardly use. For example, the Medical Health Plan, where hundreds of dollars each month have to be paid to the BC Government in order to pay for medical services throughout the province. Based on the logic of a 'if-I-don't-use-it-I-don't-pay' attitude, it makes funding or planning for any medical infrastructure impossible.  As responsible residents in any city or community, we all have a role to play. Paying taxes is one role that we do. Not everything can be made fair for everybody. I think of the recent gas tax increase that had been approved by the respective mayors, I frown at the list of mayors who voted against the proposal. For example, the mayors from Burnaby, Richmond, and New Westminster all voted against the additional 2 cents per litre of gas surcharge throughout the province. On the one hand, I understand that they are representing the interests of their respective cities. On the other hand, I wonder how they will vote if they do not already have a transit system in their cities. Mind you, Burnaby, New Westminster, and most recently, Richmond have already had a world class skytrain system built in their cities. What makes me disappointed is that the opposition was led by a Richmond mayor, whose city of Richmond is the beneficiary of an over $2 billion Canada Line, paid largely by tax payers all over BC and Canada!

Personally, I dislike paying more taxes. I get irritated each time I watch the pump prices go up. Having said that, we do not run a country on the basis of feelings, whether we like it or not. Neither do we conduct ourselves based on "what's in it for me" atttitude. If everyone cares only for themselves, there is no community.

Well said, Mr S. Hyde. We need to be reminded on a regular basis that we live in a city and we need to live up to our responsibilities as city dwellers. I cautiously applaud his 'greater good' logic because there are some things in which we cannot apply the greater good explanation. For example, what if a person has a rare illness and cannot afford medical care? What about the marginalized who remain on the fringes of society, and are considered a minority?


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Great Book for Personal Evangelism

TITLE: JUST WALK ACROSS THE ROOM: Simple Steps Pointing People to Faith
AUTHOR: Bill Hybels
PUBLISHED: Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan 2006, (224 pages).

This simple book is a very readable and empowering book on personal evangelism. Like John Ortberg's "If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat," this book aims to encourage Christians to learn to be bold and to overcome any fear about sharing one's faith. In typical Hybels-style, this book is filled with personal stories of how he himself has overcome personal reservations and to embark upon a genuine sharing of his faith with people he meets on a normal day. He turns ordinary moments into holy moment. As Christ followers, we need to walk like Christ, to learn to walk to other people and to share the good news of the Kingdom of God. He starts with a powerful story of how he managed to share the gospel with a Muslim man. Without coercion, he tells of the story of grace and the free gift of salvation. The result was a wonderful time of honest and open sharing from both persons.

Far too often, we allow our fears of rejection, and the desire to keep the peace through assuming people dislike our gospel. The truth is, there are people who will be more than open to listen, as long as we get their permission. Unlike certain evangelistic activities that are short-term fads, seed sowing is the activity that sustains evangelism in the long run. Hybels talks about the 3Ds of personal evangelism: Developing friendships, Discovering stories, and Discerning next steps. Whether one is telling Bible stories, personal testimonies or other types of stories, one needs to learn 4 things:

1. Keep it brief
2. Make it clear
3. Keep it simple
4. Be humble as you share.

The good news is not about what we are doing or going to do. It is about what Christ has done for all mankind. Hybels takes a leaf from Greg Ferguson's song entitled, "Peacemaker" to highlight the need to show Christ as:

"Peacemaker. Fear-taker. Soul-soother Storm-smoother.
Light-shiner. Lost-finder. Cloud-lifter. Deliverer.
Mind-clearer. Sigh-hearer. Hand-holder. Consoler.
Wound-binder. Tear-drier. Strength-giver. Provider.
Peacemaker to me. "  (163)

The entire book is not difficult to read. In fact, it is one of the best books on practical steps on everyday evangelism. Hybels reminds us that we do not need big brains or large groups to share the gospel. We need a big heart of willingness, and a humble approach to ask for permission to share, and when given, to share gladly and generously.

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"Intolerance of Tolerance"

Recently, Dr Albert Mohler interviewed D.A.Carson on his new book entitled, "The Intolerance of Tolerance" published by Eerdmans in Jan 2012. The key idea in the book and the interview is that modernism has redefined the meaning of what tolerance is. It is not longer allowing one to stand for what one believes, but to bow down to the modernist expectation of keeping one's views to themselves, and not to rock the boat of existing paradigms. In every culture, there is a strain of intolerance, even secular circles. For example, anyone who makes a stand against homosexuality, will be branded 'intolerant.' New media and many public figures will on the one hand trumpet 'tolerance' for all, but on the other hand, be very quick to lambast and criticize anybody for taking a stand against the gay agenda. One is no longer allowed to tell another person that he/she is wrong. Carson adds that in a culture where:

"And they could say the same to me. So, tolerance did not mean that everybody was pretending to say the same thing; it meant that there were no public coercive powers that were exerted to force people to be in line as to what they thought and what they taught in public. But for all kinds of complex reasons, increasingly tolerance means that in a variety of domains you mustn’t say that somebody else is wrong. You might even go so far as to say that they’re all equally right, and if you criticize anybody for anything, then you are intrinsically intolerant. Now that’s a massive change and it becomes actually publically dishonest."

So, Carson is pointing out that the very people that champions tolerance for all, turn out to be intolerant toward certain people, especially Christians, or anyone speaking out against certain popular positions. Carson's new book is not new on this subject. Several years ago, Josh McDowell has already identified the cultural movement that we are in right now. In "The New Tolerance," McDowell and Hostetler list the two different understanding of tolerance.

#1: Traditional: "to recognize and respect other positions without necessarily sharing them."

#2 - New: "truth is relative to the community in which a person participates. And since there are many human communities, there are necessarily many different truths." (Josh McDowell and Bob Hostetler, A New Tolerance, Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1998, 18)

The difference between the two comes out strongly in the modern era. While in the past, the word 'tolerance' keeps disagreements at a healthy distance, the new tolerance essentially compromises any idea of an absolute truth.

Carson brings this idea farther, saying that even those standing up for truth are being crushed by the oppressive worldview to conform to the new tolerance. This view is in itself bigotry. He goes on to make this statement:

"The greatest intolerance we need to fear is the intolerance of the one who believes that we have this best of imaginable news and it is not our obligation to share it with everyone." (DA Carson)

Agreeing but in a different way, McDowell and Hostetler proposes 5 ways to implement a 'new apologetic' that can enable Christians to shine as stars in such an 'intolerant culture.'

1. Develop Community: so that people know without a doubt that we have a vested interest in the betterment of everyone in it, rather than only one faith group
2. Show Compassion: so that people know that Christians truly care for people.
3. Protect Creation: so that Christians gain credibility with an increasingly environmentally conscious generation
4. Foster Good Family: so that Christians can magnify Christ's goodness through strong marriages and family relationships
5. Compelling Personal Testimony: so that people can recognize that the Christian witness is real in the lives of real people.

For me, a new society that depends on tolerance to live on is basically building relationships on sand. Tolerance about everything means we stand for nothing. The battleground is not tolerance or intolerance per se. The battleground is truth, and we need to be able to continually engage one another to distill truth in all positions. After all, truth in itself has no error. All errors have in themselves a bit of truth here and there. Do we tolerate errors? No. That is why Christians are called to press on to proclaim the truth on two fronts. Be open to correction, but at the same time, affirm the truth of the gospel, but always doing them in gentleness and humility.


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Things are Not Well? It Never Has Been.

Things are not going well right now in Canadian society. The economy is struggling. The common man in the street is not happy. Workers in many public sectors are not happy. Families are not happy. From airline strikes to school teachers' job actions, it seems like the long arm of the struggling economy is suffocating the plans of many people. The wildcat strikes yesterday in Toronto by some baggage handlers working for Air Canada is only the tip of the iceberg. As management cuts costs, they are also making their employees unhappy, disgruntled, and downright angry. Over in British Columbia, the teachers union has said enough is enough. They are standing up for their rights. They claim that the Provincial Government has taken away their right to strike. By the way, gas prices are rising.

Things are not well in Canada, a first world nation. A country with solid AAA financial credit rating. A land of massive natural resources and people well known for being nice. For many newcomers to Canada, it is certainly an eye-opener of the extent of goodness the nation has. There is a universal health plan that basically ensures affordable medical benefit for all, even the most dire health conditions. There is free public education for children and needy people. There are community centers and recreational facilities that house some of the most modern equipment in the world. Come Summer, many outdoor events are free. The natural beauty is a sight to behold, and free to view. Libraries are free.

Yet, things are not well in the workplace. The ongoing strikes and labour problems occurring in many parts of the country are crippling the economy. People blame one another. Workers blame the government. Governments blame the economy. Analysts blame the uncertain global economy. Some blame God.

As the saying goes, money makes the world go round. I like to add that the lack of money runs the world aground. If there is not enough money, governments cannot do much with the budgets, except to raise taxes risking the ire of regular taxpayers. It is typically the case. When the economy is well, the good times roll. When the tide turns for the worse, the bad times grow.

Good Times Hide It; Bad Times Show It

I think the bad has always been there. Good times hide it. Bad times reveal it. Like the computer operating system that slows down over time as more programs are installed. People blame the slowness on the poor operating system. Some blame the hardware saying that it is time to upgrade. Relatively few people blame the badly written software program. Good hardware often hides the problems of bad software. Many programmers have been guilty of writing bloated software containing additional stuff that users hardly use. Yet, the entire software comes as one package. The latest and the greatest hardware will tend to hide these problems through its advanced technologies. New hardware do not solve the problem. They merely solve the symptoms. This is precisely the case for many things in life. Good times hide the problem. Bad times reveal it.

In the Bible, there is one condition that has afflicted humankind far greater than we acknowledge: Sin. The Bible declares:

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Rom 3:23)

Sin corrupts the soul. It interrupts our journey toward God. It disrupts our lives in many different ways. One of these is relationships. From the home to the workplace, schools to holiday places, sin lurks. It makes people suspicious of people. It breeds negative sentiments. It pushes evil agendas even under the guise of many 'innocent' platforms. Sin is pervasive. Yet, many of us cannot truly understand what sin is, without comparing it to a standard. Norman Wakefield calls sin as 'a destructive power that cheats, robs, and kills the guilty and innocent alike.' He adds,

"It whispers in our soul's ear, telling us we deserve the forbidden fruit that will bring us pleasure and fulfillment. Like Novocain, it numbs our brains so we function on pure passion. But in the end, we discover that we've played the fool and are left with a stinking cesspool in our soul. Though we look at David's sordid episode and lament, 'How foolish. How could he commit such a wicked act?' deep in our hearts we know that we have been hewn from the same tree and are capable of the same evil." (Norman Wakefield, Who Gives a Rip About Sin?, Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2002, 12-13)

Sin works best when it hides under a cloak of innocence. We all like to claim we are victims of a particular system. Truth is, we often can do more good than we choose to admit. Perhaps, what is needed for many of us is not to think too highly of ourselves, but to think more accurately about our conditions. If we are wrong, say we are wrong. Even if we are right, there is no benefit to trumpet our rightness. Humility urges us to retain gentleness and move only when we absolutely have to. Above all, the best antidote to sin is grace. Reflecting on Henri Nouwen's classic work on the Parable of the Prodigal Son, Mark McMinn shares:

"I was captured by Nouwen's story and his book. He was right - sin and forgiveness were embracing. The father's lavish mercy could not be understood without the story of the son's outlandish rebellion and rejection of the father." (Mark McMinn, Why Sin Matters, Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 2004, 4)

Grace

Things are certainly not well with the economy, the people, and Canadian society at large. In fact, things have never been well in the first place, since the Fall at the Garden of Eden. This is because sin has gripped the world in more ways than we truly know.

One book I am currently reading for review has a perfect subtitle for today's reflection. It is called, "Glorious Mess - encountering God's relentless grace for imperfect people." I think about it, and I have to agree that we are sustained not by our acts of standing up for our rights, but by the receiving of God's grace to us. Jerry Bridges says it well in his book, The Discipline of Grace:

"Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace." (Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace, Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2006, 19)

There is hope. Whether the times are good or bad, God does not want to merely address the external symptoms of our worldly problems. He is not interested merely in the facade of our daily living. He wants to reach out to our hearts, in both good times, and the bad, the ups and the downs, the joys and the despairs. Sin will deceive us. Sin will break us. Sin will destroy us.  It is ultimately God's grace that will save us from ourselves. Perhaps, in the light of the troubling events happening in the Canadian scene, I like to suggest 3 things that Christians can do. I call it UPS of life.

U - Understand

Read widely. Read with an eye to understand as many different points of views as possible. Whenever there is a strike, or a work disruption, there is often more than meets the eye. Workers do not strike without a reason. Companies do not make policies without rationale. Understanding the different points of view is key to any constructive actions.


P - Prayer

Christians are called to pray at all times, not just the bad. In fact, in prayer, we acknowledge that without God, we can do nothing. In prayer, we put our hearts' deepest yearnings before God. In prayer, we submit to the Sovereignty of God. In prayer, we be open to the leading of the Spirit of God.

S - Serve

We are called to serve wherever we are. Make every effort to do all the good that we can in our various communities. Work it. Share it. Blog it. Communicate the needs. Always do so by showing true humility to all people.

Yes, all is not well. Let us not make it worse. Let us not fight ourselves silly. Remember who the real enemy is.


conrade

Regent Conference: "Thinking Together About Aging"

Aging. We have all heard of the aging population in the developed parts of the world, or the first world nations. As people live longer, pressure will mount on each nation's healthcare and medical costs. Physically, aging people will face the common problems associated with aging, like fatigue, body aches, slowness, and deteriorating physical dexterity. Mentally, many suffer from dementia, attention deficits, memory loss, etc. Emotionally, there will be problems associated with a withdrawal from the normal work life, and a gradual lack of interest and care from the rest of society. The challenges are many, especially in a technological world where speed is worshiped, and the youthfulness is cherished above many. What does it mean to age well? What are the biblical considerations for aging? These are many more will be dealt with at this conference.

Here is a great opportunity to learn from four learned individuals. Two of them are men and the other two are women. Three of them are former full-time faculty of Regent College while the fourth is a Laing lecturer back in 2004. If you add up all of their ages together, it will be more than 300 years of wisdom and experience.

A snippet from the publicity brochure:

"More people are living longer today than in any time in history. Seniors are the fastest-growing age group in North America. Yet neither Church nor culture seems adequately prepared to face the needs, the costs, and moral consequences of this 'grey tsunami.' Cultural models for meeting the challenge of aging either are based on denial or succumb to despair. Aging in hopelessness is misery, aging in false hope is ruinous, aging with no forward look at all is pathetic. Could the biblical vision of human life offer us a more realistic, more ethical, and more hopeful understanding of age and aging? Join one of Canada's leading public intellectuals and three of Regent's own gifted and beloved scholars as they think about the implications and the opportunities that this next great challenge offers us."

1. May 18th, Friday 7pm: "Courageous Aging: Finding a Parth Beyond Denial or Despair." (Maxine Hancock)
2. May 19th, Saturday 9am: "The Challeng of Aging for the Culture and the Church." (James M Houston)
3. May 19th, Saturday 10.45am: "An Aging Society as a Litmus Test of our Ethics." (Margaret Somerville)
4. May 19th, Saturday 2.45pm: "Toward the Blessed Hope: An Eschatology for the Aging." (James I Packer)

All are excellent speakers. Register now at Regent College conference site here before April 20 and save.

I recommend this conference for all. Register here.

conrade

Bye Kindle. Sob!

I like my Amazon Kindle. I like the fact that I can carry many different books in one device. I like the portability and the compact unit. I like the e-ink technology which makes reading so pleasing to the eye. In fact, it looks like real paper even though it does not feel the same. The battery life is excellent and the range of e-books selections continue to grow at an astronomical rate. 

One last look at my Kindle

Unfortunately, today I have to say goodbye to this little unit. I am sending it back. Reluctantly, I am returning it back to Amazon simply because of one factor. It freezes after I try to highlight or bookmark certain sections of any book. Each freezing of the screen means I cannot do anything except to wait for the Kindle to respond. Each freezing means about 5 minutes of wait-time. Each wait time means my reading is interrupted. Each call to Amazon support tells me to reboot my Kindle via a hard reset or software upgrade. Each hard reset needs about 5 minutes to boot up. It is futile. While the Amazon support staff have been extremely helpful to try to resolve the problem, there seems to be an inherent problem in the Kindle software's ability to handle more than a few hundred books. I have more than 1000 books on my Kindle, less than one-third of the 3500 capacity in Amazon's marketing brochure. Amazon even sent me a replacement unit, but the problem still remains. Amazon says I have too many books on my Kindle. I say Amazon's Kindle is not performing according to what they are claiming. 

Sob! Bye Kindle. Now I have to decide if I want to get another e-ink Kindle and fill it with lesser number of books, or to upgrade to the Fire. Tough choice. I like the e-ink for its readability, and the Fire for its stability and reliability. If only Amazon can give me both! 

conrade