Category: Culture
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Our Culture of Viral Fame
Read more: Our Culture of Viral FameWe live in a world full of interesting moments that are captured forever on the internet. Different worlds can collide. For example, the recent viral video of Justin Bieber serenading Dr. Barry Corey, president of Biola University, was captured by paparazzi. While the rest of the world wondered about the “random guy,” the Biola community…
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An Evangelical Black Theology of Liberation
Read more: An Evangelical Black Theology of LiberationIn James Cone’s revolutionary work, Black Theology & Black Power, Cone depicts a theological system that is truly black in its methodology and biblical in its exegetical foundation. Prior to his work, there was no theology by and for black people, and the prevailing theology of the day, a burgeoning evangelical theology, was decidedly white…
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Erasing Shame Podcast
Read more: Erasing Shame PodcastI had the opportunity to share about some of my research on shame on the Erasing Shame podcast with DJ Chang this past week. Check it out here: http://erasingshame.com/why-its-harder-for-filipino-americans-to-talk-about-shame/
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Bad Analogies and the need for Charity
Read more: Bad Analogies and the need for CharityThe news, once again, is not good. Migrant caravans or asylum-seekers are being tear-gassed at the border. An American Christian was killed when he attempted to evangelize to natives on the island of North Sentinel. A British Ph.D. student was convicted and sentenced to life in prison on espionage charges by the UAE. (Thankfully these…
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Do I still like Kanye?
Read more: Do I still like Kanye?Do I still like Kanye? Sure, maybe, idk. It’s Kanye season once again, and every new interview I watch only makes me more confused. Do I like Kanye or do I hate him? You probably already know your answer. He’s a polarizing figure that makes crowds salivate at any chance of absurd drama or brand…
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Everyone Believes My Stories
Read more: Everyone Believes My StoriesMy life is a series of ridiculous, over the top, unlikely stories. I’ve confronted a neighbor on meth whose reply to me was, “The shadow people are coming.” As a kid, I was chased down by a teenager in a car who, in his own words, was hell-bent on killing us. The first time I…
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A Word on Character
Read more: A Word on CharacterSelf-mastery, ordered love, and self-examination are key elements to a life of character and virtue. In this post, I will unpack the myths and kernels of truth in each of these elements. Self-Mastery Self-Mastery is not akin to “finding oneself.” I heard a story of a young woman who was headed to medical school but deviated…
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Why BTS Fans Give Me a Little Bit of Hope in a Tribal World
Read more: Why BTS Fans Give Me a Little Bit of Hope in a Tribal WorldIt is getting harder to explain the BTS phenomenon to people without sounding like the facts are being made up. Industry execs and celebrities have resorted to comparing it to Beatlemania — which sounds like an exaggeration until one witnesses ARMY in person (the name for their worldwide and fiercely devoted fan base). ARMY generates…
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Wrestling with Gungor’s Doubts
Read more: Wrestling with Gungor’s DoubtsHow do we help people who are wrestling with doubts in their faith? Can we create a safe space for them to question and voice their doubts without being judged for their questions? How do we help give them this space, while also still pointing them gently back to the truth that God is real…
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Fundamentalism and Recent Trends in Evangelicalism
Read more: Fundamentalism and Recent Trends in EvangelicalismWhat is Fundamentalism? Christian fundamentalists (think R.A. Torrey, A.C. Dixon, or recently, John Piper, Norman Geisler, Paul Washer, John MacArthur, Wayne Grudem, etc.) are part of the movement in Evangelicalism that originated in 1910s America. This phrase has been used to connote religious bigotry, abuse, and close-mindedness, but fundamentalists are merely Evangelicals with a complex (we…