Inattentive in class...

Is it wrong to have the opportunity to be studying systematic theology at a seminary and not be able to pay attention?

I got bored enough to do a search on my own name. Looks like there are other Lon Wong's out there. I even found an ibm award photo of myself from a couple years ago. So lame.

I've had Erwin's new book Barbarian Way on order from amazon for several weeks to ship when it was released. To my surprise it was already availble in the bookstore here. Some inspiring excerpts i found scouring the web...

Two thousand years ago God started a revolt against the religion HE STARTED. So don't ever put it past God to cause a groundswell against churches and Christian institutions that bear His name. If He was willing to turn Judaism upside down, don't think for a moment our institutions are safe from a divine revolt. I am convinced that even now there are multitudes of followers of Jesus Christ who are sick and tired of the church playing games and playing down the call of God. My travels only confirm that the murmurings of revolution are everywhere. I am convinced that there is an uprising in the works and that no one less than God is behind it...

Amazing. More excerpts here and here. Is anyone else excited about what's to come as well?

While I'm procrastinating. Let me give give some random props. I'm writing this entry with w.bloggar. I haven't found a simpler and more comprehensive tool to meet my occasional blogging needs. I work primarily off of an ibm T30 notebook. I use a Palm TungstenT. I'd like to upgrade when they integrate something with a phone, video/camera, mp3 player, pda, with apple styling. I use iambic agendus, palm bible plus and mybible niv deluxe. GAIM is my all-in-one instant messenger. I fell in love with firefox when i discovered tabbed browsing there (so i can further multi-task) and picasa2 has got to be one of the best free image viewers around. All this to say that i'm a geek, and all these tools help keep me afloat. All this and i'm just barely making it by.

Whelp, class is up. I'll share where I get much of my spiritual feeding next time around.

Mission shmission

Enough about mission for a moment. I've got more on my heart than my mind can grasp. I've got my hands in several things that I'd rather be knee deep in. I've been gaining in vision to the point of going cross-eyed. I need to sit still if just for a moment.

I had a nightmare recently where I was organizing a conference or a revolution rally of some sort… and thousands of people were there, but I forgot to book the auditorium/stadium. How typical of me.

The mission is a movement

The mission of God requires kingdom advancing warriors moved by the spirit of God. It will not be accomplished by those who stand idly by. Those joining God's mission realize that there are forces both human and supernatural that move against the mission. The mission does not wait, but creates. It makes the most of every opportunity. It has unshakable hope that every effort is worthwhile. It believes that monumental transformations can happen over time with even the most minor shifts in a person's heart. The mission fuels itself with every movement forward. God calls every person to join him on mission, motivated by his love, and offering hope to all people, by every possible means.

I'm at the Ignite the Light conference this weekend with Ravi Zacharias.

Hope is what the mission offers

The mission must always be conveyed as hope for the world because that is what the good news is. Followers of Jesus are to be voices of hope, encountering culture and relevantly communicating the purposes of God for all humanity. Today people are not looking for a hell to get out of or a heaven to get into, but a reason to live and to die. The world must know that this is what the God of the living offers. Christians must see the hope of God in people. Just as God believes in us more than we believe in Him, we must believe in people more than they may believe in themselves. The hope is not something new to believe in, but a new life as it was intended to be lived. This hope is in a life before death, not just after. The mission offers the world hope of life, and life to the fullest.

We had our first discovering God session last week. Eight people from different backgrounds gathered to discuss their spiritual journey. It's amazing how every single person had come into contact with the church and had left. How can a message so wonderful and life-giving have a near hundred-precent rejection ratio? Spirituality today is at an all-time high, yet Christianity is far from it. One can only conclude that much of Christianity in our culture is nothing more than an empty shell of a religion. This is not the church that Jesus Christ died for. Yet their is a rumbling beneath the surface of a rising generation of Jesus-followers whose passion is to be the church that God had intended. To offer hope and love and life to all those who are willing to receive.

I love this quote, via Tony, see the rest of the article here.

If you have apostolic passion, you are one of the most dangerous people on the planet. The world no longer rules your heart. You are no longer seduced by getting and gaining but devoted to spreading and proclaiming the glory of God in the nations. You live as a pilgrim, unattached to the cares of this world. You are not afraid of loss. You even dare to believe you may be given the privilege of dying to spread His fame on the earth. The Father's passions have become your passions. You find your satisfaction and significance in Him. You believe He is with you always, to the end of life itself. You are sold out to God, and you live for the Lamb. Satan fears you, and the angels applaud you.

Not only is this apostolic passion emerging from 'Christians' today, but a desperate longing for something more has been errupting from people all around us. The questions that came from our group that night were endless, we didn't even try to answer any of them. But in the questions there is a quest... the journey has begun for many... How is it that we can keep the hope that God offers the world to ourselves?

Back from San Diego

Our yearly kick-off meeting was in San Diego this week. Even though i came back home to a 70 degree drop in temperature, there is no place like home. This picture is me looking tacky in business attire at La Jolla beach. It is supposedly one of the most beautiful shores in North America... but actually kinda lame without my wife there with me. Noteworthy was that the leader of our IT based and incentive-driven organization openly stated that her discovery for the year was realizing that people didn't need her to be perfect as much as they needed her to be human. hrm...

The mission is motivated by love

Every human being no matter far from God is invaluable to God. There is no mission without love for people - not as targets as often is the case, but as precious people made in the image of God. Jesus did not see the last, the lost, and the least, as charity cases, but as authentic people that he related to with compassion. The mission is deepest and widest, when God's redeemed love people as genuine human beings.

Unlike in the past where it has often been that one must first believe the right doctrines, then subsequently become the right person, and then finally were finally permitted to join the inner circle of community, Jesus demonstrated the reverse. Jesus' mission was motivated by love as demonstrated by his radical inclusiveness. His mission invites people to belonging in community and engages them to becoming the people they were each intended to be. As God's undeniable love presses against the hearts of people, the hope is that they might find themselves passionately believing and embracing the love of God. Love lies at the heart of the mission.

In response to Lu, thanks so much for your comments and your honesty on that last value.

I agree with your thoughts. That is why i'm convinced this core value must tie back to the first value. We have a God that is passionate for believers and non-believers alike. While we can often get caught up in joining God on mission to this world, we must never forget that we ourselves remain God's mission field. God longs to do something in us as much as He longs to do something through us.

It's interesting that Rob Bell was quoted on the response as well. I was going to title this second value with a term he once used, Be-incarnation. Christian's believe in be-incarnation, that our mission involves bringing the invisible presence of God into a visible reality through our lives. When I talk about mission, I extend this to applying to every single person God has created. Even non-believers have the capacity to reflect the beauty of God, whether they acknowledge Him or not. I guess I'm fundamentally talking about purpose in life, something more than simply receiving and enjoying God forever, as the old catechism states.

At the same time, I don't believe that we are indispensable to God's mission. Sometimes it is easy for Christian's to forget that God is the ultimate missionary. I can sense laced within the language of some missionaries that God is not present, unless they are present. That is why the first value also states that it is the Holy Spirit that goes ahead of us. God is working in people's lives long before we arrive. The recurring theme throughout Scripture though is not only God's workings throughout humanity, but that of people's relationship with God becoming so intense and responsive that they take on the heart of God and do the things that God would do. And so we join Him on His mission.

Every person is called to be on mission

The good news of God always comes to us on its way to someone else. It must never be contained or possessed. The call of Jesus goes far beyond acceptance and heaven. Every follower of Jesus that remains on this earth continues to live and breathe for a reason. Every child of God is called to join the Father on His mission of sharing his heart and passion with the entire world. This mission is not only to the gifted or the elite, but is entrusted to every person regardless of ability. God believes in each one of us more than we could ever believe in Him. His mission is our mission.

Tyndale starts again tonight. Systematic Theology II. We'll see how it goes. Finally starting our discovering God group this Tuesday and our small group is multiplying into three groups this week. Should be exicting.

God is the ultimate missionary

The first of several core values...

God is the ultimate missionary. God passionately pursues every one of us with His love. Whether we are believers or not every one of us is, and continues to be, God's mission field. Mission is God's initiative, not ours. We are never alone on this mission. The Holy Spirit goes ahead of us preparing the hearts of men and women long before we arrive. Jesus serves as the ultimate example of seeking the lost and revealing God's love. God's missionary heart for people is not a crutch, but the inspiration, power, and example by which we move with him on mission.

I spoke at our church's high school fellowship last night on their theme verse for the year, from 1 John 1:7, which also happens to be one of my life verses. "If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another".

This verse was transformational to me, because I use to struggle with how to make fellowship happen. How to create a community that loved as Christ did. Was it by having a cool theme, sharing, music, games, and snacks? This verse makes the subtle declaration that when people are convicted by the God of light, and are forming the character of Christ as they walk in the light, community and fellowship is a direct result. It is inevitable.

Reformission

I just finished reading my first official church planting book. I guess now I know how to plant a church. Right. The only thing I'm left with is how overwhelmingly difficult it would be. I can't believe I dared to mention to people last year considerations of planting an entire city/village.

However, talking to some men one night while I was in Ottawa, we stumbled on to a discussion on living in new types of community, based on relationships, sharing possessions, even homes, practicing compassion… isn't this much like the early church living out the teachings of Jesus? It reminded me that God is the supreme planter, and that He has already planted a yearning in the fabric of our beings for something we label today as church. How close it is to the church God had in mind is another question.

I've recently started reading a book called, Houses that Change the World. It's been shaking up my structural paradigm of church. It suggests a next reformation on its way. From the theological reformation, to the spiritual reformation, a structural reformation is now emerging. It has some profound insights, and it's definitely been fueling my vision. More on this later, I'll need some time to absorb it.

I stole the title from Mark Driscoll's new book and conference (downloadable messages there of Driscoll and John Piper). I have yet to read or hear any of his thoughts on the topic, but my guess is it's likely along the lines of some of the things I've been discovering about God's misison, and it's a catchy title. I'm going to spend sometime the coming week working out some of the talks I've been giving to different groups on evangelism/mission. As I'm on this journey of integrity this year, I hope to hash out more formally my core values. I believe for this topic it comes down to a conviction that God calls every person to join Him on mission, to be motivated by love, offering hope to all people, by all possible means.

Note, I've migrated my blog's indexing sidebar to the bloglines feed tool. Unfortunately it doesn't allow me to link those of you who don't have sites that support feeds or haven't activated it in your online journals. Let me know if you that changes and you'd like to be linked to.

God's message, gaps, and integrity

It's been a whirlwind of a month. God's been revealing much. Hopefully I will be journaling more this year as I've been trying to convince myself that it is a spiritual discipline.

I took a professional development business skills class recently and had the opportunity to do a presentation of my choice for evaluation. It was quite exciting as I've trying to be more myself in front of an audience and speak more from my heart this past year. I had the opportunity to share about purpose in life and God in a public forum on IBM facilities, how amazing is that? Yvonne had been praying for me and God was working. Everyone shared that they were deeply touched. One lady I noticed crying half way through my talk and said she was so overwhelmed and physically shaking that she could not fill out my assessment.

We were not supposed to be evaluated on content, but I'm certain it was God's message of purpose and hope that touched people and not any of my style or skills. I think what made my presentation different was that I wasn't just saying something to share, but I shared because I had something to say. Every follower of Jesus has heart-igniting words to tell the world.

I went to Ottawa with so many plans of getting personal projects done, but did none of it. It felt so good for some reason. We had almost every meal with family, played games, and just hung out. So very good.

On the flipside though while I could go on about what an awesome year 2004 was, going into 2005 I've had a conviction for integrity in my life.

I've been corresponding with Jack Popjes, a speaker that come by our church a while back. He had asked a profound question. Where would you place yourself on a scale of one to ten - one being hardship, struggle, and extraordinary accomplishment, and ten being comfort, peace of mind and no accomplishment. I placed myself fairly low on that scale, but what's been bothering me is that my life doesn't quite reflect where I so passionately see myself being. Reading through the Uprising Experience guide book, it asked a question - What is the gap time between your understanding and your execution of God's will?

Unfortunately, reflecting on my life, it's not a gap, it's a chasm. One that I am usually in no hurry to cross. I spend a good portion of my time learning about the gap, analyzing the rate at which the gap widens, and maybe taking baby steps towards the edge of the gap. But the more I get into the presence of God the wider that divide seems to get.

I spent yesterday in the hospital as my mom had surgery. Thank God she's okay. During the wait I could not help but have thoughts of the possibility that she may never see the great things that I will one day do or the person that I will one day become. It aches me that with all that God has blessed me with, so much of it has remains dormant in my heart. Integrity refuses to violate the heart like that. Any gap between my values and my actions is a failure of my integrity. This will be a key focus of the year.