october 27th, 2006
conferences...

well, i haven't blogged in a long time (as usual), but there are a few things that i wanted to write about. one happened today (friday) and something else from last weekend.

last weekend, i had the privilege to go to a conference with my english pastor, my senior pastor, 2 deacons and 2 other members of the church. it was called "TIPPING SACRED COWS" (Morehouse & Vincent, 2006). i really learned a lot from this b/c it is aimed to church leaders about church "practices that hinder ministry and mission in the 21st century church". basically it covered 6 points that i think are very salient in churches these days....

1) silver bullet sacred cow --> a constrictive uni-dimensional approach to evangelism... it neglects the fact that change occurs as part of a spiritual journey and that we're all on a journey... kind of sees it as only one way to spread the gospel (i.e. preacher preaches, people raise their hands/come to the front, pray for them and that's it)
--> so in some sense, we have to create an environment of journey where we let seekers belong (feel accepted) and from that see why they should believe and then eventually they will become a Christian

2) dog least sacred cow --> structures and policies cause the church to become rigid and unflexible
--> this is often a result of our inability to trust others...

3) magic mirror sacred cow --> assumes that people in the community perceive us the way we perceive ourselves
--> should provide an environment that produces truth-telling and honesty

4) priestly pastor sacred cow --> the exclusion of others from significant spiritual activity; the idea that only certain people can do certain things
--> in fact, we are all a "royal priesthood" and should all be servant-minded "priests"

5) old sweater sacred cow --> a.k.a. the sentimentality cow b/c of keeping traditional programs/events even if the method does not bring the lost people into the picture
--> basically, making sure that we are looking at God's values and not our own personal preferences for programs or stability

6) bonsai tree sacred cow --> attitude that thinks a small church is better b/c it equates a caring, discipling church
--> BUT we should be expecting God to do so much more... meaning there are so many more in our communities who do not know God and we shouldn't be content with just being a small church

anyways, it was good b/c there were 10 churches there and we all had to sit in our church groups. the two speakers, pastors from new brunswick, would talk about each type of sacred cow for 12 minutes... then give us 3 minutes of personal reflection... and then 12 more minutes for church group discussion. there was such open dialogue between my church leaders and i'm excited to hopefully see change in our church. on the other hand, i personally feel that my church is so structured and sentimental that it will be so hard for our church to change if we don't have all the leaders on board. keep praying for my church guys! (and i want to hear what you think about the points i've posted)

the second thing:
i went to the toronto chinese evangelistic ministry revival meeting today... it's a cantonese event and i didn't learn too much from it. but the theme this year is about using your career to serve God in the 21st century. basically, this is the main verse he used:
"8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth 10and find out what pleases the Lord." - Ephesians 5:8-10
--> basically, i was reminded about being light in my community... regardless of whether i'm a student or a teacher with kids. people will not learn about Christ no matter how many flyers and tracts i give them... the greatest witness of Christ is "Christ in me"... i need to remember that. :) hopefully, less complaining on my part.