I have been part of Trinity Church of the Nazarene in Monterey Park since 2012. It was a wonderful church. It was my home church. It was a great place for people to love God and love one another as a united community. The church actually had a second location in Rowland Heights. I grew to love the people at that church too. This was my home church and I envisioned being part of this church for the rest of my time in Southern California. But the church was in a middle of a transition. The church was looking for a new lead pastor after the previous one was called to a new position in Northern California. It became a two-year search. But finally, after that long wait, a candidate was chosen and was offered to the congregation to a vote on whether or not they would extend the position to him.
Continue readingCategory Archives: Faith
A discussion about race
The George Floyd death and protests is fresh on our minds. Check out the first 90 seconds of the video.
I’m totally over online church services
Church service countdowns… I hate staring at these.
Online church sucks.
It’s been a challenging transition going to church since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. From my experience here in America, it’s obviously not the same as it was when I was able to physically attend a service and see my close friends at church.
I cannot take for granted the great blessing that we have during this pandemic. We have the technology to broadcast church services live on many different online platforms. I can still get my experience of hearing a preacher preach every Sunday and being fed the good word of the Bible. I am grateful for that.
Imagine if this pandemic hit us 20 years ago. What could we have done as an alternative to the shelter-in-place ordinance? It would be a massive phone conference (local calls only) every Sunday. Internet speeds would be at 56K for most people with limited computer programming. It would be challenging and the technology likely wouldn’t have been available to everyone.
But we are good right now because we can still “attend” church by pulling up our Facebook Live or YouTube app and watch it on our laptop, our phone or even cast it to the TV. We can still get church and we don’t have to even leave our home or even change our clothes. Isn’t that great?
No. It isn’t.
Filed under Faith
Processing the suicide of Pastor Jarrid Wilson and celebrating what he did for me and my faith
On Monday, Pastor Jarrid Wilson took his own life at the age of 30. I’m still processing this as I have a connection with him despite never having met him.
But before I talk about my thoughts, here are some details on who he was and what he was about.
First, here is a tweet from Senior Pastor Greg Laurie with a link detailing Wilson’s role and impact at Harvest, a church based in SoCal in which he joined 18 months ago.
Filed under Faith
The whole Faithbox idea is absurd
This is Faithbox. They are a subscription company that sends Christian things every month. For $25 per box (or $22 per box if you go for a yearly plan) they will send you Christian items based on a theme. The theme you see above is money. So they will send you money-related Christian things like how to handle it, how to tithe… and oh look, a wallet with Faithbox’s logo on it.
What a strange concept. I know that the subscription box concept is designed for people who are fans. (I know. That is my profession.) You can be fans of TV shows, music artists, movies, etc. But can you really be a fan of Christianity? No. Christianity is not something you be a fan of in life. It’s a lifestyle. You are fans of creations made by other people. The Christian faith is not that.
So it’s very strange that this thing exists. And I would assume it was created by Christians. So people are asked to give money to an organization for something to receive an unknown entity (what’s inside the box) in hopes that it will answer questions they may be having in their lives.
Filed under Faith, Uncategorized
‘I Can Only Imagine’ is a rare Christian movie that isn’t awful
So last week I finally got to see this movie because there was a lot of buzz surrounding it. It was presented to me as a movie that is a must-see because it is a Christian movie that isn’t bad.
Because nearly 95% of all Christian movies I see are so bad. But this one wasn’t. It wasn’t super amazing, but I actually viewed this as a pretty decent film.
But this was a rare treat because unlike all the other Christian movies I have seen, this had a believable story (well, it was based on real events), the acting was competent, and the basic structure of lighting, sound, etc all seemed pretty good.
So Easter is tomorrow
I still think about how every year we approach Easter and that the message of Christ is kind of lost in it between the sales, the eggs and all that. Or maybe I have been so busy that I can’t really see how much Jesus is being talked.
But I do know that it is so important for the message of the resurrection to reign supreme.
But it’s not an easy thing to just explain to people who don’t know. I mean, how can you really believe a story about a man who rose from the dead?
But it’s true. And that’s the challenge. In this world, it’s hard to imagine the impossible. Unless you are willing to let the impossible be a reality. And that is hard to take in unless you believe in a God who can allow of this to happen.
Maybe this will help me understand and see Easter in a new light. More from the perspective of the outsider. This is a side of the Easter testimony the churches haven’t really taught me how to do well.
Hmmm, something for me to ponder.
Filed under Faith
Good Christian Fun is really good!
What do you get when you take comedy and awful Christian media? You get this podcast that I am so in love with. Good Christian Fun is honest in breaking down some of Christianity’s good and bad media productions like music and movies.
I went to their live show on Saturday and I literally was in tears crying because it is so funny with hosts Kevin and Caroline just talking freely about Christianity like that. They are Christians but they aren’t afraid to be honest. If something sucks, it sucks. If it’s good, it’s good. But man, we have to have a sense of humor and not be overprotective of these things. Not everything in Christian media is good. Some of it is just real bad.
I laughed so hard. Oh it was a riot having guest Matt Gourley also share about his experience.
I can’t wait for this episode to go out to the public. I am listening to this over and over again!
Filed under Faith
Christianity: I don’t get what you’re saying
Take a look at the above graphic. Oh I love it!
If you are in a Christian circle, you’ll know what this is about. Christians have these certain lingos that we throw around so often that it either loses meaning or it actually makes the person hearing it react differently that intended. It’s not to say it’s just Christianity. Every group has their own lingo. But having been in a Christian circle pretty much my entire life, I know these terms and it can get annoying.
For example, I shared this.
Filed under Faith
I found a Christian podcast that is going to piss off Christians
Last week I was driving and decided I wanted to see if I could find a podcast to listen to on my drive. I found a wrestling one which was fun but I decided that I wanted to listen to a Christian podcast. After all, as a Christian, I must be listening to Christian things when I drive. Whether it’s Christian music, Christian radio or sermons, I must listen to Christian things.
I stumbled upon Good Christian Fun and the title was misleading. But after listening, I realized it’s the perfect title.
The first podcast I listened to was actually their most recent episode, which was a live commentary on the awful movie “God’s Not Dead.”
I think Caroline and Kevin the hosts already stated that they are Christians so I think this was OK listening, right?
Write a blog on a log, Sam I am 