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CLOUZINE Contemporary Music Magazin #17 Published Today

In order to protect marriage, we should be careful not to denigrate singleness.

*** I wrote this last year on the occasion of my wife's and my 10-year anniversary. It's now our 11-year anniversary, and I thought I would repost it as it's an important topic to revisit. ***

Tomorrow is my 10 year wedding anniversary. 10 years is an important anniversary for any couple, but doubly so for us as just a few years ago, I was terrified that we would not make it this far. But lo and behold, we have arrived at this important milestone, and my wife is still healthy and cancer-free. I love Carol to bits, and am so thankful for every year, really every day, that we spend together.

At this point, you would probably expect me to gush about my wife and our marriage for another thousand words, but I actually want to do something quite different, even the opposite: I want to talk about the value of singleness in the Christian faith. I know it is a strange subject for a happily married man to talk about on the occasion of his anniversary, but perhaps that makes what I have to say all the more relevant, that a happily married man might feel it is vital to make this point.

It seems to me that the evangelical church places marriage on something of a pedestal, describing it in elevated terms, and investing enormous amounts of time and resources into strengthening that institution. I wasn't born in the evangelical movement and so don't know if it was always this way, but I would guess that this was a response to cultural developments of the past few decades, both the rising prevalence of divorce as well as co-habitating couples. These dynamics did legitimately threaten a biblical understanding of marriage, and still do. And so it was only natural that the church would shift its attention to marriage, ...

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Generalize not, lest ye be generalized

I have been unemployed for nearly a third of the past three years, which means that I have been a part of more than a few pastoral searches, and know what’s involved. And I’m fairly certain they weren’t supposed to involve two people slinging subtle insults at one another.

This particular one happened over Skype. The church was in California, and for that reason alone was high on my list of preferences. If you are wondering why that was the case, it’s not the weather - it’s the food, specifically, the fish tacos. The man who was conducting the interview was in his mid-fifties, wearing the harried expression of a man who has conducted entirely too many pastoral interviews. Perhaps this in itself should have been a sign that things were not going to go well, the fact that this church had gone through so many candidates and had not managed to find anyone perfect enough for their forty-person congregation.

After our initial exchange, he looked down at my resume, and then looked back up. “Four children?” he said with emphasis. “Am I reading that correctly? FOUR?”

This was back when I had four children.

I smiled and nodded. “Yes, that’s right. I have an eight year old, all the way to a one year old.”

I expected him to smile back and remark how children were such a blessing, or something to that effect. His response was rather different. With a chilly voice he replied, “Wow. Got yourself quite a quiverfull, don’t you.”

Wow. First time I had heard that joke...that day. But as this was an interview for a job that I was quite keen on getting, I simply smiled and shrugged off his snide comment. “Yup, yup, that I do. Quiverfull.” ...

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For minorities, there is a big difference between having an anger problem and having a problem that makes you angry.

There was an effort recently to ban the word "bossy", spearheaded by Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg. The reasoning behind this is that when “bossy” is used to describe women (as it almost always is), it discourages them from speaking up for fear of being saddled with that derisive term. I had never considered that before, and wondered if there are other words that can have the same effect - adjectives that have specific connotations when employed towards specific people. And I came up with at least one more example, a term which I have heard on a few occasions: angry. People of color and other minorities who are vocal about issues of race and justice are often called angry - “angry asian man”, “angry black guy", “angry feminist lady”, etc.

This might not seem like a big deal because some of these people are indeed angry in a purely objective sense. But the use of this word in this context often carries an additional connotation, that this person's anger is not appropriate or justified. That is what people really mean when they talk about an “angry _____ person” - they are saying, “unnecessarily and excessively angry _____ person.” Intentionally or not, the use of that word implies abnormality, an anger that is pathological in nature, as if a product of genetics, rather than context.

You can see this dynamic at work in nearly every racially charged controversy in American culture, from the riots in Ferguson to debates on football mascots, where people are quick to dismiss the concerns of minorities as nothing more than political correctness run amok. In this way, minorities are often portrayed as having an anger problem, rather ...

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Pastors often loathe to weigh in on controversial topics. There are reasons.

I have never considered myself a very political person. As a proudly evangelical pastor, for a long time I possessed a somewhat bemused and distant attitude towards politics, focusing my attention instead on my calling to teach and preach the Word, which was above all worldly concerns. But that changed a few years ago. After my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, and our insurance company tried to terminate her coverage using the dreaded “pre-existing condition” clause, I became a vocal advocate for health care reform. Shortly after that, as a resident of a city wracked with racial tensions, I timidly called for greater understanding between Korean and African-American communities.

These brief forays into the public sphere have taught me a lot, and have given me a lot more compassion on the plight of pastors. Evangelical pastors are often lambasted for their lack of engagement with society and politics. We accuse evangelical leaders of being too passive and silent on the most pressing issues of the day, and wonder if this is due to a lack of conviction, or a lack of courage. We call them cowards, dinosaurs, unbiblical, irrelevant. And I hate to admit that I have often joined that chorus of criticism. But the truth is not nearly so simple. Although I don't seek to totally exonerate myself from wrongdoing, here are five reasons why I personally hesitate to speak out on controversial issues:

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The Separation of Church and State

This might seem like something of a cop-out explanation, but you should remember that one of the foundational principles of American culture and government is the separation between church and state. It's an idea that ...

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Passion is a wonderful thing. But it should not be the sole means by which we discern calling.

Having been unemployed for months at a time over the past few years, I have taken part in more than a few interviews for pastoral positions. In these interviews, there is always one question that flummoxes me more than any other, and that is when a search committee asks me what I'm passionate about, or what I feel called to, or have a heart for, or any Christian-ese variant of the question. And I totally understand what they are asking when they pose such a query, and I know what response I should give, that I am passionate about this aspect of faith or the other, that I feel called to serve a particular community. It's a standard question to ask any pastoral candidate.

My answer? "..." Confounded silence.

The easy answer would be to say that I have a heart for two things: to help the church reclaim a biblical theology of suffering, and encourage us also to embrace our calling to racial reconciliation. That is what I have found myself doing for the last four years, and is probably the kind of answer that the search committee is looking for. But there's a reason why I don't simply blurt such an answer.

You see, I never really had a passion for those who are suffering, nor for multi-ethnic ministry. That's not to say that I'm against either in any way, because they are incredibly important movements of faith. It's just that I didn't have any natural or personal inclination towards those ministries. I had no internships at inner city churches, never attended a multi-ethnic church conference, never scoured academic texts in search of the answer to the problem of pain. I always thought my passion and heart were in music and leading worship, more than anything else.

The reason ...

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Black history month is not just for black people. It's for all people.

Note: I use the term “Black History Month” rather than “African-American History Month” because a friend informed me that there are individuals who would not be considered African-American, but still very much are considered part of Black history, like Marcus Garvey and others. In general, I tend to use the terms "black" and "African-American" interchangeably, and I apologize in advance if anyone finds this offensive.

Every February is Black History Month. I have to admit that before a few years ago, I didn’t really celebrate it in any real way, besides some cursory acknowledgement. But now, I actively celebrate Black History Month, both in my personal life as well as in the life of the church. I don’t do so because it’s the right thing for an educated person to do, or in an attempt to pander to political correctness. Nor do I do this because I consider myself anything close to an expert on black history and culture. The reason I unapologetically celebrate Black History Month is because the past couple of years of my life have made me realize that, even as a Korean-American, it was only appropriate that I do so.

The first event that brought me to this realization was that whole “Make Me Asian” and "Make Me Indian" thing. Two years ago, there was an app on the Android market called “Make Me Asian”, which took photos from your phone or mobile device and digitally altered them. This seems benign enough, but the manner in which they altered them was that they made your skin tone yellow, your eyes slanted, slapped a fu-manchu mustache on your face, as well as a rice paddy hat on your head. Of if you wanted to pretend to be a Native ...

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It's easy to hate on Christian music, but Christian musicians often find themselves in impossible terrain.

I have a confession to make. I really dislike Christian music.

Now, Christian music is a very broad term, so I think some defining is in order. I don't mean music that is written expressly for use in the church for praise and worship. I'm talking about Christian music that does not exactly fit in church, but has an unmistakable Christian theme in its lyrics and content, what I think is commonly referred to as CCM, or Christian Contemporary Music. It tries to cleave to some of the lyrical and theological orthodoxy of worship music, but with the musical sensibilities of pop and rock (and sometimes even hip hop), and somehow manages to mangle both. I don't like this kind of Christian music, and I know I'm not alone.

I listen to it everyday on the radio, partially because I find the lyrical content that's broadcast on other stations repugnant ("Cuz your sex takes me to paradise, yeah your sex takes me to paradise..."), and partially because as a pastor, I feel somewhat guilty if I don't. But I regularly grit my teeth while listening to the local Christian radio station. My beef is that even though the music has such high production values and is performed by such high caliber musicians, it often lacks realness and authenticity. Amazingly, it manages to sound shallow even when talking about ideas of incredible depth. The lyrics are prosaic and affected, and the themes that it covers are shockingly narrow. There are the "I'm a bad person but you love me anyway" songs, the "Teach me to love like you songs", and the "Don't give up" songs. Aaaand, that's about it. Of course, I'm being facetious and stupid, which comes as no surprise to those of ...

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A letter to my son, who is a testament to God's wild goodness

Oh Jonathan, you turned four years old this month! Amazing how time flies so fast. You are my little guy, and I love you, although there are times when you drive me up the wall. Like yesterday. And the day before that. And the entire month of July, for that matter.

I still remember the day I first heard that you were coming into our lives. Your mother was going into surgery for her mastectomy, and her doctor called me in to the surgical ward because she had to tell me something important. When I heard that, my heart dropped into the pit of my stomach. In fact, I almost vomited. You see, the prior year had taught me to expect the very worst from life, and from God: miscarriage, burglary, cancer, health insurance cancellation. And so that morning I braced myself for another kick to the teeth, perhaps news that the cancer had spread, or that the surgery couldn’t be performed.

But the last thing I ever expected to hear was that mommy was pregnant, and that you were in her belly. I was at an absolute loss for words, something that doesn’t happen to your father often. It was in that moment that my understanding of God completely collapsed. I realized that I didn’t understand God in the least, a God who could allow your mother to suffer so terribly, but also would bring such an unexpected gift into our lives. I felt like Job standing before the whirlwind, my haughty theology eroding and folding in upon itself in light of the sublime mystery of God and His ways.

So thanks, Jonathan, for completely destroying your dad’s theology.

Fast forward a few months, and I was with your mother at the Sculpture Garden of the National Mall. I got another call from a doctor, this time from a wonderful cancer ...

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Although sometimes frowned upon, experience with other Christian traditions may be just what we need right now.

Sometimes, I’m a little embarrassed to be identified as an American Christian because it feels like we fall into one of two camps: either we hate everything that we are not familiar with, or hate everything that we used to like.

A good example of the former is a controversy that recently sprang up at Gordon College, where undergraduates were scandalized at the introduction of a strange and foreign type of worship experience during their chapel services: gospel music. Yes, GOSPEL MUSIC, one of the oldest and richest liturgical traditions in American faith.

Examples of the latter are too numerous to count. The Christian blogosphere and publishing industry are filled with memoirs of people ranting about how terrible their church experience was growing up, and how their current place and style of worship is what Jesus had in mind all along. When cast in this adversarial light, what should have been personal stories of finding one’s home in faith instead read like a harrowing escape from a doomsday cult, and serve as yet another salvo in our nation’s already raging cultural wars.

These two tendencies have unfortunately come to define Christians in this country, that we either despise everything with which we are unfamiliar, or the exact opposite. But personally, I have never had much of a problem with either, and it’s not because I’m all that great of a person – just ask my wife. It’s probably because I have spent so much time in diverse kinds of churches.

I grew up in the Roman Catholic church, and can still remember the cathedral in which Sunday mass took place. The entire building was constructed in a cruciform shape, the main entrance located at the foot of the cross, and ...

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(US 1st Circuit) - No. 19-1611

(US 1st Circuit) - No. 19-1908

We explore what antibody testing is and the potential it has against the coronavirus as UC Davis Health begins testing some of its healthcare workers. Local county leaders check in, and the results of the Next Generation Jazz Festival.

The conversation around testing and when to reopen continues; we check in with the Solano County. Questions about filing for unemployment get some needed answers, and how children’s parties are still happening online.

The latest developments in the coronavirus pandemic from weekend across the region. We check in with the mayors of Truckee and Chico on how their cities are managing, and a local photographer offers a window into the lives of her neighbors.

California Rep. Doris Matsui discusses what did and didn’t work in COVID-19 relief packages. The Greater Sacramento Economic Council on the region’s potential for recovery, and poet Amanda Harrinauth on finding joy in every day.

The distinguishing factors between the flu and COVID-19, and why it matters. Dr. Carolee Tran discusses her new memoir about her family’s escape from Vietnam 45 years ago, and ‘Socially Distant Saturday’ with CapRadio’s Nick Brunner.

The latest in the presidential race and how the COVID-19 pandemic continues to shape the political landscape. New state and local programs addressing food shortages, and ‘Sunshine Letters’ as a way of supporting hospice patients and their families.

Today on Insight, we check in with essential businesses that are thriving during the pandemic. Sacramento County Health Services director Dr. Peter Bielenson shares his thoughts on reopening and other safety protocols, and at-home pizza kits

We check in on the state budget deficit and the controversial reopening of the Yuba Sutter Mall. A trio of UC Davis Medical Center nurses on the value of nursing during the pandemic. How to monitor mental health and a new COVID-19 children’s book.

Neil Young is streaming the fourth episode in his home concert series, 'Fireside Sessions'

Miami hard rockers Gears have released a lyric video for their brand new single and previously unreleased track

Former Oasis star Liam Gallagher has announced that he has delayed the release of his 'MTV Unplugged' live album

Kenny Chesney has surprised released a music video for his track 'We Do'.

Queen guitarist Brian May is sharing his thoughts on the likelihood of a sequel to the band's 2018 biopic

Iron Maiden have announced that they have postponed all 2020 Legacy Of The Beast Tour dates until 2021

Caligula's Horse have released an art video for their new single 'Valkyrie'.

Puscifer have been teasing fans via social media and they have now delivered with a brand new song and music video

Pennsylvania rockers Sick Century have released a music video for their new single 'Echos & Dust.'

DED have released a music video for their latest single 'A Mannequin Idol (Lullaby)'.

Motorhead are debuting a lyric video for their 1980 classic, 'Ace Of Spades', as part of the first annual 'Motorhead Day' celebrations

David Gilmour is streaming his 2016 film, 'Live At Pompeii', as the fourth and final installment in Pink Floyd's new weekly series

Dead & Company will be taking fans back to their 2018 show in New Orleans for this week's installment