Humble Future

Dream Poems by Langston Hughs

2012-01-27T17:31:00.000+09:00

Next week, I'll be preaching on Joseph's dreams and their impact (Genesis 37). In my research, I discovered an amazing poet - Langston Hughes. How have I missed him till now? For your reading pleasure and edification, three Hughes poems on dreams. Dreams Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go

Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus

2012-01-27T11:25:00.000+09:00

This "spoken-word" poem has been watched nearly 17 million times since it was posted a mere 17 days ago. That's a million viewings a day! It has also started a firestorm of comments, likes, shares, tweets, and video responses (both for and against). This tells me a few things. 1) The relationship between religion, church, and Jesus is a VERY hot issue in this era. 2) A very well-crafted piece

Me and Abel - Genesis 4:1-16

2012-01-20T13:39:00.001+09:00

Today we skip forward in our journey through Genesis. After the creation of humans, there was the famous “Fall,” when humans first sinned. Chapter 4 tells us, we kept falling, farther and farther. Old Testament Lesson: Genesis 4:1-16 1 Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the LORD’s help, I have

The Runaway Jury - Review

2012-01-18T14:26:00.003+09:00

Every vacation, I read at least one John Grisham book. This year it was The Runaway Jury. Once again, it was hard to put down. There was more mystery than usual for the first half of the book. The story begins with the selection of the jury for a huge tobacco lawsuit. A widow of a man who died of cancer after smoking three packs a day for thirty years is suing the maker of his cigarets.

Korea Tip 124: Know Thyself

2012-01-17T14:15:00.002+09:00

Know Thyself. Plato often advised his students: “Know thyself.” But the phrase probably precedes him by many centuries. By Plato’s time, KNOW THYSELF was already etched in temple walls. This ancient wisdom takes on contemporary significance when we start jumping on planes and flying across oceans. Landing in a foreign land with a foreign language, foreign culture, and foreign foods can be

The Trail to Seven Pines - Review

2012-01-17T10:10:00.000+09:00

So, I'm an addict. I started reading this book on Thursday, and I'm finished already (Tuesday). If it's a good story - especially with a lot of action - I get sucked in, and I try to read in every spare minute. In The Trail to Seven Pines, Louis L'Amour doesn't do anything spectacular. The plot is basically predictable. The good guys beat the bad guys. However, the twists in the details and

1 : 4 : 7 - Genesis 2:1-3

2012-01-14T14:49:00.001+09:00

I quit. A few months ago, I started a sermon by restating Paul’s struggles in my own words. Several people thought I was resigning. Before I left for Christmas vacation, I started a sermon by claiming that I was an alcoholic and all kinds of other things. But this time, I’m serious. I quit. I quit because God quit. And

The Ferguson Rifle - Review

2012-01-12T15:41:00.000+09:00

My grandparents love Louis L'amour. When we visited them this winter, I asked them to recommend a few of his books. We also listened to some short stories on tape. (Yes, my mom's car still uses audio cassettes!) This has been a good way for me to get a sense for my grandpa's world. Also, L'amour is one of the best selling American authors of all time - with 101 books and around 300,000,000

A Thousand Acres - Review

2011-12-20T00:35:00.000+09:00

Jane Smiley won the Pulitzer Prize for A Thousand Acres, a novel about an Iowa farm family. Since I was on my way to Iowa (though not to a farm family), I thought this would be a good read. I was right. True to form with good books, I ended up staying up late one might to finish the last 100 pages. A Thousand Acres moves through the mundane details of farm life - cans of used nails, repairing

The Gospel of Restoration - Isaiah 61

2011-12-09T10:46:00.001+09:00

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Korea Tip 123: What the Book

2011-12-08T08:25:00.001+09:00

If you want English books in Korea, you have scant options. 1) Scour the frustratingly small selections at local bookstore chains. (However, these have improved from nothing in 2004 ... to a single shelf a few years ago ... to a genuine English book section with several book cases.) 2) Hit up some of the larger bookstores in Seoul with expanded selections. 3) Pay exorbitant international

Korea Tip 122: Fine Italian Dining in SsangYong Dong

2011-12-07T15:42:00.001+09:00

There are some great Italian restaurants in Cheonan, and there are some Italian restaurants in SsangYong Dong (one of Cheonan's neighborhoods or districts, where KNU is located). But there aren't many really good Italian restaurants in SsangYong Dong. Most are semi-fast food, or they are a good try, but not quite. Until now. Lieto opened several months ago, but I thought it was just a pricey

Annie Hall - #35 Greatest American Movie of All Time

2011-12-06T08:55:00.001+09:00

Thanks to Itunes and loaners from friends, Sarah and I are slowly working our way through the American Film Institute's Top 100 Movies of All Time. This week we watched Annie Hall, a 1977 movie, co-everything (writing, directing, staring) Woody Allen. It's a semi-biographical, romantic comedy, telling the story of Alvi (Allen) and Annie Hall (Diane Keaton) and their on-again, off-again

Korea Tip 121: English Teacher Rights

2011-12-02T18:04:00.001+09:00

Health Insurance: Your employer is required to enroll you for National Health Insurance. The cost is shared 50/50 Employer/Employee. The employee’s contribution is usually 2.82% of the monthly wage. Pension: You are required to participate in the National Pension Savings. The contributions are shared 50/50 Employer/Employee. The employee’s contribution is usually 4.5% of the monthly wage.

Time Lapse Theology (Isaiah 40:1-11)

2011-12-02T16:11:00.001+09:00

That was called “Cheonan By Night,” and it is a time lapse video by our own Andy Phelps. One of the things I love about this video is the contrast of stability and change. If we could expand the length of this video to 24 hours, we would see even more change. The ebb and flow of people and traffic and light would change. If we could expand the video to a month, we could see more

Korea Tip 120: Cheonan at Night

2011-12-01T09:46:00.001+09:00

Want a sneak peak of Cheonan? Or maybe just an interesting look at a place you've seen a thousand times? Here's a cool time-lapse photo video of downtown Cheonan by my friend Andy Phelps, who is an outstanding photographer.

Korea Tip 119: Gmarket

2011-11-30T09:11:00.001+09:00

Gmarket is Korea's Amazon. Actually, it's owned by Ebay, but it's not an auction-based site. It has a pretty good English translation of it's website. There's even a button for product to use google to translate product descriptions. This translation is spotty, but the parts that are absolutely necessary for transactions are easy to understand and easy to use. We recently purchased diapers

The Overload Syndrome - Review

2011-11-28T11:18:00.001+09:00

I thought I was reading The Overload Syndrome for other people. I realized I was wrong in the introduction. People are stressed ... exhausted ... overloaded. "I feel like a minnow in a flash flood." Margin is the space that once existed between our load and our limits. Margin is the space between vitality and exhaustion. It is our breathing room, our reserves, our leeway. We push the

Feeling our Prayers - Isaiah 63-64

2011-11-25T08:43:00.001+09:00

Every single person I know has struggled with prayer at some time. Most people I know struggle with prayer most of the time. Praying can be hard. Someone told me last week that he has just about given up on prayer. Most people say they wish they had more time to pray, but most people don’t seem particularly interested in actually spending more time in prayer. When it comes right down to

Success and Failure

2011-11-23T09:30:00.001+09:00

Do not run to success For success may bring As much burden as blessing. Do not run from failure For failure may bring As much blessing as burden. Run only to God For God will bring All that we need.

The Hiding Place - Review

2011-11-22T08:32:00.001+09:00

I grew up with my mom talking about The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boon. She told and retold several of the stories until I felt like I had already read the book. In my university ethics class, the professor referenced Corrie Ten Boon's ethical disagreements with her sister about whether it is ever OK to lie - even when lying might protect a human life. Corrie Ten Boon's story has taken on

Sanctuary - Review

2011-11-18T12:15:00.001+09:00

William Faulkner's Sanctuary was the best, weirdest, darkest, most difficult novel I've read in a while. It was like reading a novel through a kaleidoscope. The characters, settings, and times shift and turn at a dizzying pace. Half-way through the novel, he gives information that makes sense of the opening scenes. Even in the closing chapters, information unfolds that interprets many of the

Indian in the Cupboard - Review

2011-11-17T10:30:00.001+09:00

Emma and I just finished reading Indian in the Cupboard, the classic children's novel by Lynne Reid Banks. A boy named Omri finds a magic combination of an old cupboard and a mysterious old key that makes his plastic figurines turn to life. In addition, to the suspenseful and and entrancing story, this book teaches the values of empathy and unselfishness. As Omri gets to know his little

The African Queen (Best Movie #17) - Review

2011-11-15T10:21:00.001+09:00

The African Queen, starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn, ranks as the #17 best movie of all time on the American Film Institute's top 100 list. This is one of the few older romantic comedies that we didn't find supremely cheesy. Sure, it has its moments, but overall, this is a movie about one person coming out of her shell and two people falling in love. Katherine Hepburn is a

Korea Tip 118: Getting a Teaching Job in Korea

2011-11-13T15:51:00.001+09:00

"I'm thinking of working in Korea. What should I do to prepare? What advice do you have for me?" I've been getting these questions a lot lately. Here are my answers. 1) Work for a reliable institution. You are usually safer with universities or public schools (or programs working with public schools). As a general rule of thumb, the larger the institution and the older the English