I am an itinerate preacher. As an itinerate preacher, I have had the opportunity to visit and preach in many of our New York/New Jersey Asian American churches throughout the years. During the Christmas season, one thing that I find very disturbing, especially in Chinese churches that do not have a pastor, is that too often Christmas is barely celebrated, or not celebrated at all. In fact, there had been years when I have gone through the entire month of December and did not sing even one Christmas carol or have someone mention the approaching holiday. Instead, the congregation is led by the worship teams to sing the same contemporary songs we’ve been singing all year.

I can recall one year when I had been asked to preach on Christmas Sunday. Naturally, I went prepared to preach a Christmas sermon. But, I found to my dismay, that the church did little else to celebrate Christmas. Christmas was not mentioned in the prayer that was lifted up that morning. The songs we sang had nothing to do with Christmas, and if I had not preached a Christmas sermon, one would not know that it was, in fact, Christmas Sunday.  However, I must admit that an announcement about caroling later in the week did make it into the service. But, that was it. The bottom line, Christmas Sunday was no different from any other Sunday.

I was so dumbfounded by that experience that I felt compelled to stand up before the congregation at the end of the service and admonish them for their failure to celebrate Christmas. That is something that I do not generally do, but I was so appalled by their lack of celebration that I could not help myself.

I find it ironic that we Christians claim the world is trying to secularize Christmas when we do something even worse – failing to celebrate the wondrous gift from God at all. The world, at least, seeks to retain Christmas. Our failure as Christians to even acknowledge Christmas will surely bring about its demise.

To keep Christmas special and to help people focus on the reason for the season, I recommend our churches institute Advent into the four services leading up to Christmas. With Advent, in each of the four weeks leading up to Christmas a Christmas reading is read, a Christmas candle is lit and a Christmas song is sung. Each reminds people of God’s gift and helps them focus on the upcoming celebration. Once a church begins participating in Advent activities, one will find it very difficult to forget why we celebrate Christmas. Although the first week of Advent has come and gone, it’s never too late to start. Until Christmas day has come and gone, it is never too late to start. For more information about Advent….just google “advent”…you’ll find a treasure trove of advent learning, readings and songs. 

Last month I drove down a street that in my opinion, should have been a one-way street but to my amazement was a two-way street. When I reached the middle of the block, another car approached me from the opposite direction.  Since the street was very narrow, I had to pull over to the right and stop in order for the both of us to pass. Everything was fine until I pulled out....as I did so; I felt and heard something. I immediately stopped and got out of my car to investigate. It turns out my right rear wheel well had slightly scraped a parked car. The damage was minimal. The top layer of paint from a very small area had been scraped off...it was barely noticeable. The damage appeared so negligible that I felt a strong urge to get back into my car and go. But, my integrity would not allow me to leave that so I reached into my glove compartment, pulled out a blank sheet of paper and proceeded to leave my contact information.

Later that afternoon, Joe (not his real name) called and thanked me for leaving him the note. Previously, others had damaged his car but they preferred to remain anonymous. He proceeded to tell me that he planned to take the car to a body shop to get an estimate of the repair cost. I told him that would be fine. However, I urged him to take the car to a reputable shop. He agreed. I had dealt with body shops before and estimated for myself that a reputable shop would charge somewhere in the $300-$500 range. For the average person and body shop, this is usually the minimum cost for even the most minor of damage....unless you and the body shop person are personal friends.

The next day Joe called to tell me the body shop quoted him $350.00 which he found outrageous but I found to be "about right." (I too think $350 is outrageous, but that is what auto repair shops charge). I told Joe that I agreed to pay that amount but asked if it be okay if I paid him next week after I received my next paycheck. I had previously looked at my checking account balance and found I had only $275. Joe agreed. A few minutes later, Joe called back and offered to lower the cost to $250 if I could pay the next day. He felt the fee charged by the repair shop was "too high." He wanted to give me a discount for "my honesty." And he wanted the matter settled as soon as possible.

I told him I wanted to be fair and pay him what he was due.  But, he insisted. So, we made arrangements to meet the next day and was in the process of ending our call when he said, "Okay, see you tomorrow, Henry." I then corrected him, "My name is Howard. I'll see you tomorrow."

The next day we met in the parking lot of TD Bank. After I had handed him the check, we chatted a bit. It was then that Joe confessed to knowing me. You know me? It seems, he didn't realize who I was until I corrected him on my name. It suddenly dawned on him....that voice sounds familiar! It turns out I had regularly preached at his church, but he didn't realize who I was until the end of our last phone conversation. Even after Joe told me of "our previous encounters" I had no recollection of him. Welcome to my world...where countless people in the congregation know me, but I rarely know "I know" them.

Being honest pays...although admittedly, not always so...at least as long as we walk in this world. Thank you Joe for giving me a discount for my honesty. You were a blessing to me that afternoon.

A third principle that the Apostle Paul sought to make about unity in diversity is found in verse 12, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body.”

In this verse the Apostle declares his central principle about unity and diversity…despite the diversity of our body parts; they form one body. When the diverse parts of the body work together, the body is able to accomplish its tasks and fulfill its mission. On the other hand, when the parts of a body are divided, even the simplest of tasks will be difficult if not impossible.

For more than one hundred years, the Chinese church body in all its diverse forms has not worked together as one unit. Instead, the various parts of our body have gone their own way, have done their own thing, and have ignored one another. The fruit of that failure was made clear in the 2010 Spring Unity in Diversity Conference. In that conference Pastor Stanley reported on “The State of the Chinese Church in Our Region.”

The statistics brought out in his presentation were both shocking and depressing. The statistics revealed that our churches, whether they are Overseas Born Chinese, American Born Chinese, or some combination of both, are in trouble. One reason our churches are in trouble is because we have all chosen to work separately and independently of one another for far too long.

The vast majority of the churches in our region are small. The resources available to most of our churches are limited.  As a result, what we can do to advance God's work and grow his kingdom is limited. And they will remain limited unless and until we band together and work together.

For such a thing to happen, many obstacles must be overcome: theological differences, denominational differences, geographical differences, personality differences, cultural differences to name just a few. While difficult, it is not impossible. Why? It is not impossible because we all claim to serve the same master. And if that is, in fact, true then God has given us our diversity to strengthen and bolster our work and efforts, not weaken it. Diversity gives us more options, greater opportunities, and broader possibilities....if we can find it within ourselves to set aside our own agendas and focus solely on God's agenda.

I believe the Apostle Paul in this chapter has told us what you and I need to do to bear fruit; we need to work together as one unit, for the sake of the body, for the sake of the church, for the sake of the kingdom.

Last December I presented the first of three principles Paul presents in I Corinthians 12 about the need for unity among diversity. Today, I would like to present his second principle.

Paul's second principle about unity in diversity can be seen in verse 21. Here, he tells us that the eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you” because our different body parts are mutually dependent upon one another. No one body part is able to do “all that needs to be done” on its own. Consequently, no one body part can fully serve every need that our body has. Instead, each body part is dependent upon other body parts to do that which it, itself, cannot do.  

If we applied that principle to our circumstances, we should understand that no single church, organization, or denomination can accomplish everything that God wants his Church to do in our region. The work in our region is too diverse and the needs too broad for any single church, organization, or denomination to effectively reach every people group in our region.

This is why it is important for us to understand that the diversity in our region demands a diverse outreach - an outreach that is comprised of white churches, black churches, Hispanic churches, Chinese churches, Korean Churches as well as multi-ethnic churches to name a few. Each church is mutual dependent on other churches in our region for us to reach “all those that are lost.”

But, our mutual dependency does not stop there. Because we are Chinese churches seeking to reach those of Chinese ancestry this idea of mutual dependency goes even deeper. For the needs of those in our communities demand that we as Chinese churches establish ABC churches, Mandarin churches, Cantonese churches, Taiwanese churches, Pan-Asian churches, second generation churches, etc., etc., etc. No single Chinese church or denomination, no matter how big, can establish all of these ministries, in the numbers that are needed, to effectively reach all the Chinese in our region. Instead, we are all mutually dependent on one another to fill the gaps, to reach those that we ourselves can never reach.

If are to reach this diverse group of Chinese for Christ, we will all need to work together for the sake of the kingdom. Can we do that? Are we up to the task? We had better be. Otherwise, we are no different from the world. And if that proves to be true. How sad that would be. How truly sad that would be.

Howard

On March 24, 2014 World Vision made an announcement that rocked the Christian world. They were changing their hiring practices to allow Christians who are in same-sex marriages to work in their organization. Shortly after their announcement was made, thousands of Christians cancelled and many others threatened to cancel, their sponsorship of their World Vision child or children. Two days later, World Vision succumbed to the pressure, reversed itself and apologized for their errand policy change. In response, some former sponsors asked for their child/children back; others did not and vowed that they would no longer have anything to do with World Vision.

What I find troubling about this incident is two-fold. First, how some have callously hurt innocent children who are paying the price for a mistake they had nothing to do with in any way. They are the pawns in this scenario and many will suffer the consequences of sudden and unexpected loss of sponsorship. If a sponsor is offended and does not wish to work with World Vision any longer, fine. But, they have made a commitment to sponsor a child or children and they need to fulfill their commitment(s). If they feel that they cannot fulfill their sponsorship, fine. However, in my opinion, at the very minimum, they need to continue their sponsorship for an additional six months while notifying World Vision of their intent to withdraw. The time allotted will give World Vision an opportunity to find replacement sponsors. Giving World Vision any less time, in my opinion, is being irresponsible, unchristian and heartless.

The second area I find troubling in this incident is our general lack of forgiveness. We all make mistakes, people and organizations alike. In making their policy change, World Vision sought to unite the body of Christ. They have instead brought greater disunity within the body. It is both ironic and sad. Nevertheless, they humbly have admitted to their error and have deeply apologized. And, we in turn need to be forgiving. But some of us have not and will not forgive. Our Lord himself tells us how generous we are to be in our forgiveness of others who hurt or offend us. He tells Peter that he needed to be willing to forgive “seventy-seven times” (Matt 18:22). In addition, our Lord himself personally shows us how generous our forgiveness needed to be. Despite the fact that the Apostle Peter denied him three times, our Lord lovingly forgives and reinstates him to his former place among the Disciples (John 21:15-19). Can we do anything less?

World Vision has, and continues, to do much good work in the name of our Lord. Like the rest of us, they too will sin and stumble along the way. World Vision, after all, is run by imperfect and sinful human beings. No one is perfect, none except one. Thus, we all need to be charitable and forgiving of the offenses of others. If we are not, our Lord warns us what will happen, we will be judged in the same way we judge others (Matt 7:2). How do you want to be judged? Judge World Vision accordingly.

In today’s New York Daily News (Jan 31, 2014), Ron Kim of the New York State Assembly wrote an editorial explaining how he planned to address the scarcity of meeting places in our communities for our Asian seniors to “hang out.”

This shortage of space had been a hidden problem in our communities until recently when it became a very public issue. The problem came to light when the needs of Asian seniors, who viewed their neighborhood McDonald’s as a social meeting place, conflicted with the view of a local McDonald’s, who saw their restaurant as a place of business. As the two sides negotiated, they eventually agreed upon a settlement; the senior citizens would visit local senior centers during the busy lunch period.

Ron suggests that the root problem of this issue is “the lack of social meeting places in our urban communities” and offers a solution to help alleviate the problem. He suggests public-private partnerships be formed, and tax credits offered to those who open their places of business to our Asian seniors to hang out during non-busy hours.

Ron offers one viable solution to solve this problem. Let me suggest another which can work with his idea hand-in-hand.

Our Asian/Asian American churches have an opportunity to open their doors and be a part of the solution to this problem. In many ways, our churches are ideal solutions for this problem for the following reasons:

• Most churches are empty during the week when social places for our Asian seniors are most needed.
• This is an opportunity for our churches to serve and minister to our seniors in their communities.
• Seniors can feel comfortable hanging-out all-day without fear that they are driving customers away.
• The church can demonstrate their social responsibilities to the broader community.
• The church can show its love and compassion to those outside their four-walls.

Naturally, our churches should not overtly evangelize those that come or those seniors may decide the church is not the place for them to hang-out. However, the church can still answer any question they may ask. In addition, it would give those seniors who might never step into a church on Sunday, to do so for a social purpose during the week.

Of course, some churches are already doing this. Certainly many more churches can get involved. If the church is to play a significant role within its community, it needs to be active within that community. Here’s an opportunity to do just that.

In I Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul explains to the Christians at Corinth the general nature and use of spiritual gifts in public worship. What I find most intriguing about Paul’s teaching on spiritual gifts in this section of chapter 12, is not what he says about spiritual gifts, but how he explains their relationships.

Instead of being straight forward about it, Paul uses an analogy. He compares the spiritual gifts that we have been given to our bodies. The comparisons Paul makes with his analogies pertain not only to spiritual gifts but also to the body of Christ.

In today’s blog, I would like to share the first of three principles that the Apostle Paul teaches about unity in diversity. I believe these principles also apply to us as pastors and leaders who serve in the NY/NJ region.

One principle that the Apostle Paul makes about unity in diversity can be seen in verse 14. There, he tells us that the body is not made up of one part, but of many. These parts are not only numerous, but they are also diverse. Paul never explicitly declares that these parts are diverse. Instead, he makes sure that we know that they are diverse through a series of comparisons that he makes. For example, in verse 17 he asks, “If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? Of, if the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?  Thus, without saying it outright, Paul makes clear to us that the various parts of the body are not only numerous, but they are also diverse.

Likewise, you and I are a diverse group of pastors and churches leaders. We all serve the same NY/NJ region, but each of us is different.  For example, some of us are Chinese, others Korean, some are American-Born, others Overseas-Born; some old, others young, some serve urban ministries, others serve suburban ministries, some serve a denomination, others serve independent churches, and we all come from different backgrounds and traditions.

Differences can be seen either as a strength or a weakness. Diversity can be seen as a strength when we see our differences as something that gives us a greater ability to reach groups of people that would be unreachable otherwise. On the other hand, diversity can be seen as a weakness if we see our differences as a reason to divide and an excuse to work independently of one another.

How do you view diversity? Would you consider it a strength or do you see it as a weakness? How we view diversity, greatly impacts how we do ministry.

Howard

This morning Mrs. M. called. Mrs. M. is someone who has  been a dear friend of mine for more than 40 years. We first met at the  Metropolitan Life Insurance Company where I worked as a Life Insurance  Underwriter for 131/2 years.

My first encounter with Mrs. M. did not go well.  In those days, Mrs. M., an intimidating hulking black woman, had a chip on her shoulder and resented anyone in authority. That was more than a few people since Mrs. M. was a file clerk employed to serve the underwriters in section 4. In the early 1970’s, I was a new underwriter who transferred into section 4. That was all she needed to know; I was someone to resent.

Many months passed before Mrs. M.’s attitude towards me began to change. She could not help but notice that I treated her differently from the other underwriters. In truth, I did not treat her any differently from anyone
else. It mattered not to me that the person was my boss, another underwriter, a file clerk, or a member of the night cleaning crew. I treated everyone the same, with kindness, dignity and respect. Eventually, her resentment towards me mellowed and in time we became friends. In fact, we became such good friends that after I had left Met Life to go into ministry, she started to call me from time to time to ask spiritual questions, discuss various matters and catch up on our lives. This continued even after she left New York and moved to Alabama. 
 
Thus, when Mrs. M. called this morning, I was not surprised. However, what did surprise me was the news she shared. She told me she was dying and had called me to say “good-bye.” I asked her how she could know that she was dying. She informed me that her kidneys were failing, and the end was near. 
 
Our talk did not last more than 20 minutes. She needed to head to the hospital. She promised, if possible, to try
and call again. Before we hung up, I asked if I could pray for her. She agreed. I prayed and then we said our “good-byes,” possibly for the last time.

Mrs. M. is a dear friend whom I will profoundly miss. I will especially miss our post-Christmas dialogs when invariably she would call to talk about my family’s latest Christmas letter. I will sorely miss my phone
conversations with her.

The opportunity to see each other again became possible because God crossed our paths and intersected our lives. He enabled me to share about his love and live out that love which helped Mrs. M. to open her heart. It was not I who led Mrs. M. to receive Christ, but I was a part of that process. Thank you God for giving me a role in helping Mrs. M. become a member of your family. Thank you especially for the remarkable friendship we have shared these many years. One day I will see Mrs. M. again. I look forward to that day, to renewing our friendship for all of
eternity.

Howard

Why do I feel compelled to blog?

Well, I guess it comes down to the following question, "Did God create me to be a Lake, or did he create me to be a River?" What’s the difference?

A Lake is, in essence, stagnant water. It “takes in” what God freely gives while doing little to share what it has received. Only those who come to it may share in its bounty. A river, on the other hand, traverses mountains, plains, forests, and valleys. It travels the countryside far and wide; it does not keep within itself what it has taken in.

The lake vs. river image is something I heard, or read, from my distant past. It appears I found the image compelling since I seek to apply it in a blog, a medium that is only some fifteen years old.

What holds me back from being more aggressive and open in offering my opinions, views and perspectives is my view of myself. I see myself more of a trickling stream than a flowing river. In my mind, I have too little to offer.

In my old age, I have come to realize that my fear of having too little to offer is, in truth, a fallacy. God made rivers of varying sizes and strengths, each for a different purpose. Regardless of how big or little we may be what's important is that we don’t just receive and amass for ourselves what God has given us; for even trickling streams are more than capable of refreshing and renewing.

Howard