Friday, August 31, 2007

Hallowed




This event happened last year and will happen again this year. This video chronicles our journey in 2006! If anyone is interested in being a part of this event, see more info below, attend the meeting on Wed. night Sept. 5th.




Host: X-Factor
Location: Mission City Coffeehouse
2221 The Alameda, Santa Clara, CA 95050 US

When: Wednesday, September 5, 7:30PM
Phone: 408-813-2505
Please join us for our second planning meeting for the 2007 Hallowed event, A Sanctuary for the Soul. We will be discussing the vision for each of the lead artists in relation to the theme, as well as the charity we have chosen to support this year.

Hallowed will take place Saturday, 10/27/2007 at The Oasis in downtown San Jose. We will have a more unplugged vibe this year and I am looking for 6 artists to create an installation space with their team, as well as spoken word artists/poets and documentary filmmakers with content addressing social justice issues.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Who am I?

Each season I have to repriortize my life and schedule. Over the years I have come to these seven important considerations to prioritize and evaluate my spiritual growth and maturity. As fall approaches I have taken a look at these again.
This is what I want to be about.

1-Live into your identity in Christ and grow in your relationship with God as your Father. You were made to be in relationship with God, your creator, who made you for intimate communion as his child through Jesus Christ and to be made like him. You will never be disappointed with spending your life understanding God's love. Your beliefs will affect your behavior. Your life and beliefs are shaped by reading God’s word, the Bible, and taking time to pray and relate to him. Read any and all books about God’s love and the roles of the Trinity. Talk about it with humble, trustworthy, Biblically-rooted people, mediate on the Bible’s truths and examine how your family of origin has affected you and your understanding of God as Father. Seek to live in God’s forgiveness, and extend it to others. God really loves & likes you. John 15. Eph 1-3. Col 3:16. Make the time to love God and let him Love you.
2- Live your life passionately, as worship and with purpose. Develop (and utilize) your prayer life, purpose, and spiritual gifts. In love, God created you to be satisfied with himself and with a specific purpose to help usher in his kingdom. This means you must listen to him in order to live this out. Be an active part of God’s church filling your “part” of the body and living out your role. Read, study, and meet with people who live this out. Pray without ceasing. Study biblical prayers. What can you learn from them? Then make sure you can teach others. Read up on spiritual gifts. What are yours? How do your passions, hobbies and skills work together to advance God’s kingdom? Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Col 3: 17, 23, Eph 4, 1 Peter 4. Commit to worshipping with others. Be mentored and mentor others. (Worship is not just about music, it’s your lifestyle. Do everything as worship and be holy ad God is holy.) 1 Peter 1-2.
3-Live into God’s design for healthy masculinity/femininity and practice godly relationships. Study the roles that God has given to men and women and live in purity. Learn all that you can about sexuality and healthy relationships. Be single and pure, and if you want to be married, live like it now in your purity and roles as men and women. (When/if you are married, then prioritize your family above all else. Your spouse (family) is your first ministry.) I believe that when men and women truly live out their God given roles, it affects all of society. When these roles are dysfunctional, weak, or lacking power, it contributes to the breakdown of the family, society, and our world. Ephesians 5, 1 Peter 3, Proverbs 31.
4-Practice authenticity, be honest about your brokenness, live in forgiveness and seek reconciliation. Are you honest about your issues? Have you confessed your sin and found help? Are you free from bitterness toward all the people in your life? Find people with whom to share your story and prioritize living in God-centered community. Care more about what God thinks of you than what people think about you. Check your emotions. God created you with them and they are good. Live life with trustworthy, close people who you can share anything with yet depend on encouragement and accountability! Seek to get over your pain from the past with God’s power and love and live free. The lamest choice in life is the choice to be fake, to live in unforgiveness or in fear of what people think, to compartmentalize life, or to choose to believe or live lies. Do you need counseling? Get it. There is no shame in that! James 5:16, Hebrews 10:24-25
5-Live a missionary life where ever you are...wherever you physically live, live/serve as God has made you. We are called to live like Jesus and love others. Bless others, know and love your neighbors and those who work and serve around you. What has God called YOU to do? What is your mission? Don’t be anybody but who you are, and do this in a way that impacts and influences our world. Ministry is not just for those who are paid by the church—we all can live lives of ministry. Love/serve others: Our workplaces, neighborhoods, communities, etc. are our mission fields. Matt 5:16.

6- Give, save, and manage money as God’s steward. All you have comes from God. How you spend your money is worship. Your spending and giving is a reflection of your heart and character. If not wisely planned and budgeted, money can be very dangerous and have negative implications on your whole life. Get a spending plan and spend less than you make. Prioritize and budget giving to God’s purposes and the Church. Spend more on others than yourself. Seek simplicity. Your credit card statement/checkbook reflects your heart for God. Avoid debt, materialism, and closets full of clothes and stuff. Matt 6:19-24, 1 Tim 6:10.

7-Take care of the least of these. Jesus was concerned for the outcast, sick, and socially estranged. Christians need to be concerned and broken for the poor, orphaned, widowed, sick, and imprisoned. Do not take God’s word lightly we must not neglect the poor, widowed, and oprhans. Read the Bible and see how often God takes up the cause of the alien and stranger. Consider adoption, simple living, and radical sacrifice so that you can give to and serve in God’s purposes? Do you know a homeless person in your area? Take her to lunch. Invite him over to your warm house. Pray for the 163 million orphans in the world. Start and/or partner with ministries that make a difference for these causes. To know God is to love the poor. To follow Jesus is to live a life of sharing with those in need. Prov. 14:21&31, 19:17, Jer 22:19, Matt 25:31-46.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Wrestling through compassion and justice

WE NEED GREAT LOVE. WE NEED BIGGER HEARTS.




I am currently writing from Dallas Texas where I am participating in an amazing workshop on COMPASSION AND JUSTICE.

(Here's me listening intently)

I HIGHLY encourage that you read through the following blog EXTERNALLY FOCUSED LINK and read through the posts, look at the artistic note taking pictures, and eventually LISTEN to the MP3s of the main sessions.



HERE'S SOME AH-HA THOUGHTS SO FAR.
The closer we come to knowing and loving God, the more we will want to love people his ways.

We cannot truly follow Jesus without finding ourselves caring for the poor.

If all we offer are lots of Bible Study groups, times of prayer and singing and no one is seeking to show compassion and justice, care for the poor, or help the lowly as a result, these Bible study groups and prayer times are not truly transforming us. When we are truly transformed this will be evident.

When we are truly transformed we really become RUINED for God's purposes.

Living in the Kingdom of God means that we are living a life of giving and sharing not hording and building for ourselves.

MATTHEW 25 IS SERIOUS. There are lots of scripture where God calls us to care for the poor. Do we take this to heart? Seriously?

Quote: "When we say we worship Jesus but all we do is shop, we've made Jesus and idol. If we worship Jesus then we serve the poor." This was spoken in the context of raising children, too. Our kids will learn how to live out their faith if they see their parents living out this faith and being generous to the poor.

The good news for the poor means that they will receieve physical help! The will receieve food and shelter not just a spiritual change. And when we encounter Jesus and his love and his model, we will want to help people physically. That's they the church in Acts was all about helping others and sharing.

Ministry of Money website




Which one of these locations looks like where you do your shopping?


Ok, got to get to my discussion group. More later.

Humbled,

TG

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Want to particpate in Hallowed this year?

PRELIMINARY MEETING THIS WEEK!!!!
This awesome artistic event is coming again. See pictures below from the previous years. If you would like to attend this event please try and make this meeting in San Jose. I am at a conference this week and cannot make it! Art for God! I love it!

Host: X-Factor
Location: Mission City Coffeehouse
2221 The Alameda, Santa Clara, CA 95050 US
When: Wednesday, August 22, 7:30PM
Phone: 408-813-2505

Hallowed is approaching quickly in the next 2 1/2 months. This year we will utilize Hallowed as a fundraising outreach to a charity (to be announced) that services the poor and needy.

This year's theme is A Sanctuary for the Soul and will take place Saturday, 10/27/2007 at The Oasis in downtown San Jose. We will have a more unplugged vibe this year and I am looking for 6 artists to create an installation space with their team, as well as spoken word artists/poets and documentary filmmakers with content addressing social justice issues.

We will have our first planning meeting this Wednesday, Aug. 22nd at Mission City Coffeehouse. Please call Jonathon at the above number if you are available.


Jonathan Fung





Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Hot Water Weekend 2007







Here's a little video recap of this truly awe-inspiring weekend at Lake Don Pedro. Our 8th annual trip. God moved in so many ways. People came to know him, others found themselves growing, people were baptized, and we had great food, fun, and sweet times of prayer in this community. It's times like these that I am reminded of how blessed I am to live the life that I live (a gift from God) and how important it is to live in community and do life together by praying and sharing our stories.

ALSO--WE WELCOME CURTIS ASHFORD AND CHRIS "SHOE" INTO GOD'S FAMILY!

Hebrews 10:24-25

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Enjoying my daughter reminds me of God's enjoyment of us




I know every parent has the "love revelation." It just hits you. All of sudden you get a small, but real piece of God's heart. I'll be looking at Isella and totally enjoying her--whether it's during her moments of screeching with joy, holding her toes, waking up in the morning, and even during diaper duty when WHAM the love revelation hits me. I stop, think, and feel...I am absolutely in love with this little person. Not only has she moved into our house with her entourage of gadgets, toys, and accessories, but also she has fully moved into my heart. I sometimes want to hug her so much that I wish I could pull her inside of me. I want to just eat her. (Not in the cannibalistic way..but in the...well, I don't know what kind of way, it's just an expression-I don't like to eat babies. I just love her so much I have no other words. Wendy warns me that this may give her nightmares so I need to cut back on the sound effects when kissing her toes). BUT To think that God's love for me, for all of his creation, expands beyond this little feeling I have boggles my mind. I cannot fully digest this. It's too much, too wonderfully messy. He LOVES US.

I have made it my ambition to pray for Isella and try to speak God's word to her. Often as I am whispering, "God created you, you are fearfully and wonderfully made" or "God has a purpose for your life to prosper you and not to harm you but to give you a hope and a future," I have had to stop myself and receive those words for my own life. I have to remind myself that this incredible love that I have for Isella is the same incredible love that God has for me. Even when I don't feel it, God loves me like this. Ah. Argh. Ug. Sigh…..(Selah)

This is amazing.

AND... another crazy God LOVE REVELATION correlation! I have even felt a twinge of jealousy in my love for my daughter. Now, I don't dare compare this type of love to God, because I am human and my motives are really fleshy..selfish...but the thought works again as an analogy.

I (selfishly) don't want any other person, especially another man, to make her smile more or give her more joy THAN ME. It struck me today, that (again, it's a metaphor) God must feel like this for us. He doesn't want anyone or anything to be the main source of our joy but HIM. It made total sense today as I thought about it. Honestly I have no jealousy toward my wife, thankfully ☺, she’s the best and we have enough challenges as parents than being competiitve in this area, so whew..not an issue.(I’d probably lose anyway cause I don’t have what we call the magic latte!)—but I have honestly felt this toward others. Weird huh? But let me say: Of course I want her grandparents, aunts, uncles, baby-sitters, etc to love on her and gush over her--but I always want to be her Papa who she runs to and keeps number one. I tear up as I type this because I again thank God for his passionate love for me in this same way. He longs for us to run to him and to make him our soul’s satisfaction.

For an encouragement read Zephaniah 3:17

God, thank you for loving me so much that you want to satisfy all my desires with good things. Thank you that you are good and worthy of my attention. I love you for loving me and being an amazing father. May I please be a father like you to my children.

In Jesus’ name forever.

Amen.

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Street Church update

“..and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.”
Isaiah 58:10

Hello Street Church Family! In this blog:

-1-website coming
-2-Need extra help this month
-3-Thanksgiving heads up
-4-Next meetings—mark your calendar
-5-Needs

So thankful for all you do in serving and giving your time to our friends at Street Church!
Our PCC High School Students served our Street Church brothers and sisters last night for a special meal! I am so thankful to see God moving and blessing on the streets. I have been so encouraged by reading Isaiah 58 lately. I dare you to read about the fasting and praying that God asks of us. It’s humbling and inspiring.



1-GREAT NEWS!!

We will launch a website in September specifically for Street Church. It will be an interactive site used for those on the street to find help and food, as well as information for you as leaders and servers in the ministry.

We will have stories, hopefully videos, and pictures of what God is doing. Please pray for this project that God uses it to bring many people to himself and also for those creating it and taking the photos to see JESUS through the least of these.

2-Need more coverage on Tuesday and Thursday nights
I will be gone for almost all of the Tuesdays this month. I need some rest from a very busy summer and I am vacationing, as well. I will also be in Dallas to participate in a conference (with Ruby Jacques, and some others from PCC), specifically on compassion and justice—and preparing for a class that we are offering on that very topic this fall!!

So, I would really appreciate lots of coverage on the street in my absence!

Also—our Thursday team is in need of more leaders to befriend, talk, and pray. We always lose a lot of help after summer when our interns and college students return back home. And the summer months are easier and warmer, but we always anticipate needing helping when winter comes. Please pray about joining us from 9-10:30pm behind cafĂ© barrone on any Tuesday or Thursday night.


3-THANKSGIVING LUNCH IS APPROACHING

Please consider participating in our fifth annual Thanksgiving Lunch for the whole church body and our friends from the street! November 22nd at 11:30am in the fellowship hall!! We need lots of gifted people to make this amazing experience happen.

4-NEXT STREET CHURCH LUNCH MEETING
10/21-Lunch 12:30-(Thanksgiving planning)
11/18-Thanksgiving lunch pre-prep meeting



5- WE NEED SOME DRIVERS THIS MONTH on Tuesdays IN AUGUST AND A MEAL FOR TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 18TH. If you are able to take care of these needs—please contact Kirsten at 364.3604

Thanks!

Happy August to you all!
tony