Rant of the Exiles

Carly Fiorina says the Chinese "are not terribly imaginative" And I agree with her (1:54 or so in the video). The average native-born, raised, and educated Chinese citizen is not terribly imaginative, innovative, or entrepreneurial, as compared with the average American citizen. Is that truly a racist comment or a cultural/national one? I haven't worked in China for decades like Fiorina but I've worked with native Chinese people for decades and I'm fairly confident no native Chinese person would take issue with Fiorina's comments. The Chinese educational system is superb at preparing students to excel in standardized tests.  Asian countries are awesome at rote memorization in a way Western countries couldn't begin to approach. China also indoctrinates people from birth in communist philosophy. Chinese people are not trained to think critically as individuals, at least not in the way the American universities do (which helps explains the massive ...

A couple years ago, our couples group at church went through the book  Free by Mark Scandrette . The subtitle of the book is "how to spend your money and time on what matters most". Time and money are both private matters but money is often a much more sensitive and personal topic than time. It wasn't easy for our group to share openly and consistently do the exercises the book recommended. I also sense it was difficult because most of us were fairly entrenched in how we view money. It almost felt like it was too late to change. Our college/young adult group is now going through the same book and I'm hoping to adopt a different approach this time, by cultivating an atmosphere of vulnerability. That's why I'm sharing my story. Because I'm convinced of this -  Our values are revealed by how we spend our money. And many of those values, conscious or not, are formed by our childhood. So here are two dominant images that have shaped how I view ...

John 16:8-11 ESV*   And when [the Holy Spirit] comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. Feeling convicted about the convicting of the Holy Spirit:  Within evangelicalism, there's a popular notion the Holy Spirit convicts the believer of sin. The verb "convict" is used in the sense of making one aware of a sinful thought or behavior. Feelings of remorse and regret will often accompany sin awareness**. Whether the Holy Spirit convicts the believer is an important question because it gives the sense the Holy Spirit is dissatisfied with us. As a friend puts it, because the Holy Spirit lives inside of us, we often perceive Him walking through the rooms of our heart and remarking in disgust - Wow. What a mess. How do you live l...

Recently, a couple guy friends told me their plans to have a "Define-The-Relationship" (DTR) with women in whom they had a romantic interest. It got me thinking about when a DTR is necessary and when it's not.  When two people discuss their mutual understanding of a romantic relationship (casual dating, serious boyfriend, etc). -   Urban Dictionary definition of DTR False Advertising  A DTR is a discussion about how to label a relationship.   Labels are important . Without labels, it's easy for men to manipulate women and easy for women to be manipulated (the converse happens as well but it's not a labeling issue*). In this   award-winning essay , a young woman, Jordana Narin shares about the one-way relationship she developed with a guy. The object of her affection is clearly a douchebag but the tragic part is Narin completely fell for it because among other issues, their relationship never bore a label.  Narin emotionally and sexually b...

Jeff Louie, a professor at Western Seminary, came to speak at our recent quarterly church network elder/staff meeting about evangelistic trends in the ethnic church. He has twenty-seven years of pastoral experience Chinese churches in New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco. It's safe to say Louie knows a little about Chinese people, especially those in the US.  Acts 6:1  Now in those days, when the disciples were growing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Greek-speaking Jews against the native Hebraic Jews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.  One of his points came from the passage above describing a conflict between first-century Jewish believers. The native Hebraic Jews made up the the current church leadership.  They were likely older. They spoke Hebrew. And they were more Jewish. By contrast, the Greek-speaking Jews were hellenized. They were probably younger, had grown up with Greek culture, and w...