Dark Night of the Blog

Sorry for the absence, but I’ve been graduating from seminary and driving across the country and stuff like that. Right now I’m spending some time with family, and Des and I fly to Kenya in a week to spend the summer serving with Made in the Streets. After that we will be driving across the country again so I can begin my doctoral studies at Emory University’s Graduate Division of Religion. So…don’t expect to see much on here for the next couple of months. I might try to post something once in a while, but I’m not making any promises. Grace and peace to you all this summer.

Jesus: Revolutionary of Revolutionaries

I’ve got a new post at Wrecked for the Ordinary today entitled “Jesus: Revolutionary of Revolutionaries.” Go check it out.

So You Want to Go to Seminary?

This past Friday I attended my last class as a student at Claremont School of Theology. This upcoming Saturday I will graduate with a degree in Christian Ethics with an emphasis in Peace and Justice studies. I have been at CST for two years now and I thought I’d pass along some advice to anyone who may be considering going to seminary. This advice will be especially relevant, I think, for people who come from more “evangelical” or “conservative” theological backgrounds who are considering attending a “mainline” or “liberal” seminary.

I guess I should preface my advice with this background: I studied religion at Pepperdine University (a well respected “evangelical” university), I am a member of the churches of Christ (and was the only one at CST during my entire time here) which is congregational and has no formal ordination process, I was already a minister at a church when I entered seminary, I entered seminary considering further doctoral studies, I entered as an M.Div. student but switched to the M.A. in my second semester, I entered seminary married, and I held a full-time job on top of my part-time ministry work at the church and full-time studies. So, now on to the advice…

1. You first need to decide which type of seminary you want to attend. There are several factors which will help you determine this: professional goals, location, denominational affiliation, interests, cost/financial aid, etc. If you are not limited to a certain location I would recommend considering a school someplace new because of the way getting outside of one’s comfort zone physically somehow allows more “space” to get outside of one’s comfort zone theologically. If you attend a good seminary you will be challenged. In fact, I believe having your beliefs challenged and refined is one of the biggest blessings of seminary.

Thank You Normandie!

This past Sunday night was the last time I will be at Normandie Church of Christ for a while. After being a minister at the church the last four years Des and I will no longer attend Normandie. It has been a wonderful four years filled with excitement and disappointment, joy and sadness, and much growth spiritually.

Thank you for all you have given me Normandie. It has been my honor to serve in the same pulpit as the visionary Carroll Pitts once did. It has been humbling to speak to the you the Sundays after Barack Obama was elected and inaugurated and to share in history and your celebration in that way. Thank you for the willingness to listen to me, a young white/Korean guy (with all the racial tension that exists between black/white and black/Korean in L.A.), Sunday after Sunday and providing the space to grow into the preacher I’ve become. Thank you for the joy of seeing you dream of and then grow an exciting and thriving ministry to the thousands of homeless in L.A. Thank you for your willingness to be stretched and challenged by me in your faith and ministry. Thank you for partnering with me in my service to the “least of these” around the world. And thank you for all of the kind words, free meals and prayers for Des and I.

Normandie, you have taught me how to love and be loving, and inspired me with your faith and perseverance in prayer. I hope you know I have learned as much from you as I hope you have learned from me. It has been my pleasure to share life with you, with all of the ups and downs that have happened at Normandie over these last four years. It has not been a cake walk, and we have had our tense moments, but I am eternally grateful for my time with you.

Thank you for all you have done for me and my wife. You will always have a place in our hearts. Grace and peace.

Marching for Justice

Jesus sin Fronteras = Jesus Without Borders

This past Friday, May 1, 2009, I joined with thousands of others across the country in marching for immigrant and worker’s rights. I was part of the march that began in Echo Park in Los Angeles, went down Sunset Boulevard, and concluded in front of Our Lady of Queen Angeles Church near historic Olvera Street near downtown. At that location we created a giant human postcard that was sent to President Obama that said “Worker’s First.” (Pictures can be found here.) We marched, waved “We are Human” signs, chanted “Si se Puede!” and sang “La Bamba.” It was an honor to march in solidarity with those seeking justice in their lives. At the end of the day my feet were a little tired, but my soul was refreshed, I had let my voice be heard on the side of justice and I had spent time in the presence of God who was in our midst.

Reflections on Two Years with the Homeless

I’ve spent the last, roughly, two years working at a homeless shelter. In fact, this is the first Monday in a long while that I haven’t spent at the shelter doing things like helping homeless men create and stick to a budget, look for work, gain self-esteem, and learn life skills like cooking, opening a bank account or brushing their teeth. I even spent most of last Monday cleaning up the mess from, and fixing, a backed up toilet and septic system. These are the things that go on at a homeless shelter. During these last two years I have seen many men come through the doors of the shelter. Some eventually moved into their own apartments/rooms and others had to leave and ended up back on the street. I have seen families reunited, people get promotions and addicts relapse. There have been many days where seeing the joy on the face of a guy entering the shelter knowing they wouldn’t have to sleep outside any longer or moving out successfully has made everything worth it, but there have been more disappointments than successes and at times the job has been harder than I ever imagined.

Because Des and I will be moving out of southern California after I graduate, Friday was my last night on the job so that I can focus on completing my coursework and graduating with my masters degree. It was a fun night on Friday. The guys there cooked me a going away meal of ox tail, cornbread and red beans and rice. I, of course, brought my famous collard greens to the meal. It was sad saying goodbye to some of the guys I have worked with for a while now, but it was fun to celebrate in that way, and I know it was a gift to them for them to be able to serve me in that way. I know one guy had been saving up for a month to buy the food for the meal. Anyways, after almost two years working with homeless people trying to help them gain employment, save money, pay off debts, stay sober, make life improvements and move into their own places these are some of the lessons I have learned:

1. All kinds of people become homeless and you can never make a value judgment on why someone is homeless. Everyone has a story and if you don’t know it you can’t judge.

Dear Gary…

A few days ago I received this comment on my post entitled The Bible as a Social Justice Manifesto from a guy named Gary. The spirit of the post seemed to be one of true concern and a desire to understand, and not something mean spirited, so I thought I’d respond with a new post since I have heard similar thoughts on countless occasions before. I hope this is helpful for those trying to understand where I’m coming from. Here is the text of the comment (the numbers in parentheses correspond to my answers below):

Jimmy,

I have been looking through your blog trying to gain perspective and understanding of who you are before I reply. I believe your sincere, I respect your passion, and I admit up front to making assumptions about you. I didn’t find definitions of the words you use so I’m left with using my own. For example:

(1)“Social Justice” on the blogs you list in your blogroll and the books you’ve posted often means a centralized entity taking from one for the benefit of another which is merely theft by the state or slavery and very far from justice. God commands you and me, not the state or society, to meet the needs of the poor, the widow, and the orphan.

(2)When the Bible is used as a “tool” for social justice it misses the point. The Bible from Genesis to Revelation points to Jesus as the salvation of the world. Jesus was not an activist or a community organizer He is our savior. The “social justice” line of thinking takes away from Jehovah Jireh and fosters a victim mentality.

(3)You are justifiably upset with Christian merchandising yet what you seem to be selling is a secular world view wrapped in Christian Compassion without the foundational truths of the gospel. Namely God alone as our source, Jesus as our salvation and the Holy Spirit as our guide.

(4)As I read through your blog I get the impression you have allowed your life experience and world view to shape your theology instead of allowing the Word of God, living and active, to shape your world view, politics, and ultimately your theology.

I’m asking you to step back and look at the Bible without the filters from a well meaning but misguided group of educators and leaders.

(5)I imagine you and I would agree on the problems we face however we would disagree on how to fix them. I don’t question your motives that’s God’s job. I do however question whether you are being informed by “the whole councel of God”. The “social justice” conversation threatens to take us further from the solutions we need. Please consider James 3:1 as you prepare to teach and influence those entrusted to you.

If I missed your point I apologize. My heart is broken for the bride of Christ and the country I love. The church is the only hope for the world and the paths chosen by both sides of the isle are taking us further from the solutions.

Thank you for allowing comments.
Blessings to you.
Gary

More at God’s Politics

I’ve had another blog posted over at God’s Politics on the topic of torture. Go check it out here.

What Makes a Minister “Excellent”?

The Fund for Theological Education, of which I was a fellow, has published a report based on several consultations entitled Faithful to the Call: Reflections on Excellence in Ministry. Everyone involved in, or considering, ministry should check out the report. Below is a quick synopsis of the report that was posted on the FTE Facebook page.

1. Excellent ministers believe what they are proclaiming.

“They embrace their faith as a living, breathing thing, and they share that faith with others by pointing to the scriptures and the life of the worshipping community.”

2. Excellent ministers love their communities.

“Whether introverted or extroverted, gregarious or reserved, a good minister thoroughly grounds himself or herself in the life of the congregation.”

3. Excellent ministers display agility, flexibility and grace under pressure.

“Excellent ministers are agile ministers. They move fluidly across a range of responsibilities, from the sublime to the everyday and the tedious.”

4. Excellent ministers know how to ask the right questions.

“To be effective in their call, pastors must challenge the mind of the congregation as well as the heart. Doing so includes knowing how to ask good questions.”

5. Excellent ministers are courageous.

“For some ministers, courage means standing up against racial, class and gender injustice. For others, it means preaching a particular sermon, supporting a person with cancer, calling a board to account for a problematic decision, or advocating for a young person in need. Whatever form it takes, courage is essential to excellent ministry.”

Updates on U.S. Sponsored Torture

If you haven’t heard, President Obama released four memos from the Bush administration approving of and describing acts of torture used by our government. You can read about it here and here and here. I was asked by the people at the God’s Politics blog to write a piece regarding this announcement since I have written about torture for them previously. I ended up writing a piece and so did Ryan Rodrick Beiler. Check them both out below:

Torture: A Crime that Requires a Verdict by Jimmy McCarty

Torture: What Part of ‘Do Not Repay Evil for Evil’ Don’t You Understand? by Ryan Rodrick Beiler

My previous posts for them on this subject are:

Torturing the Least of These

Jesus Convinces Some Evangelicals to Reject Torture

History Won’t Wash Away Torture’s Shame

The Bible as a Social Justice Manifesto

Tonight and tomorrow the Glendale Church of Christ in Glendale, CA is hosting the First Annual Risen Young Adults Conference. The theme this year is “How to Start a Riot: Lessons from Acts.” I am one of the speakers tomorrow, and the title of my session is entitled “The Bible as a Social Justice Manifesto.” I will attempt to demonstrate how the theme of social justice runs throughout scripture. I will focus on the life and ministry of Jesus and the words of the prophets, but I will try to show how it is found in every portion of scripture. Here are the scriptures I’ll be referencing. If you want to hear my explanations and connections you’ve got to come out to the conference tomorrow!

Isaiah 58:1-12 (All scripture quotations come from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.)

Shout out, do not hold back!
Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways,
As if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
They ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God.
“Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers.
Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high.
Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?
Is not this the fast that I choose:
To loose the bonds of injustice,
To undo the thongs of the yoke,
To let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And bring the homeless poor into your house;
When you see the naked, to cover them,
And not to hide yourself from your own kin?
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly;
Your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
You shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.
If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
If you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
Then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong;
And you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail.
Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
You shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.

Deuteronomy 15:1-17

50 MORE Ways to Love a Neighbor (or an Enemy)

Yesterday I posted Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove’s and Shane Claiborne’s 50 suggestions on loving our neighbors/being the answer to our prayers. (I’m excited that there’s a book now out on this topic since I preached a sermon with this idea, that we are the answer to our neighbor’s prayers, just a couple months ago.) Well, here are 50 more suggestions (some of which I have done and some I haven’t…yet) from yours truly. Pick one to do this week and then pick another and another and another…

1. Sponsor a child in a poor country through an organization like World Vision or Compassion International.

2. If you’ve got an extra room in your home open it up to a refugee living in America. You can find such a person in need through organizations like World Relief. (Or maybe you can offer it to a family that just lost their house to foreclosure.)

3. Write or call your congressman or senator and ask them to support public policy that shows mercy, compassion and justice to the “least of these.” Tell them you care about peace. Let them know that you will not give them any more votes if they are not promoting the common good.

4. Give up “your” seat at church to a visitor and then invite them to lunch after service.

5. Go to your local homeless shelter, encampment or “tent city” and offer someone there a job mowing your lawn, cleaning your home, washing your car, fixing your fence or whatever else you need to have done. While they’re at it serve them lunch and some cold lemonade, and then pay them more than fairly for a job well done. THEN recommend their services to all of your friends.

6. Take several friends and provide free condoms and clean needles for those who are in prostitution and addicted to drugs.

7. Pray with them when they desire it. Pray for them always.

8. Start a small group where each meeting the group looks at a different country around the world (Zimbabwe, Congo, North Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti and Sudan are good places to start), studies the social and political climate of said country, studies a relevant scripture that speaks of mercy and justice (not hard to find), provide a meal with food from that country and commits to some act of justice as a group on behalf of the people there and pray specifically for that nation until the next time you meet.

9. Pray for the soldiers and families of those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

10. Pray for the Iraqi/Afghani soldiers, families and terrorists/combatants dying in Iraq and Afghanistan.