This is the Table of Contents for my book on trials and suffering, called Mad About God.
The book also talks about True Detective, Louis C.K., the Serial podcast, the pressure to be “radical” and do “great things for God,” the romanticism of third world missionaries, overly inspirational Instagrams, The Shawshank Redemption, the misquoting of Jeremiah 29:11 and David & Goliath.
It’s now in both paperback and ebook. Be blessed and love y’all!
— J.S.
Prayers for the 90 abducted and the hundreds of thousands who are affected by the ongoing atrocities.
— J.S.
Image from Reuters
Grieving for Deah Barakat, Yusor Mohammed Abu-Salha, and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha.
Prayers needed for Chapel Hill and their families.
— J.S.
Over 2000 have been massacred. Please pray for the people of Nigeria, whom the media has apparently forgotten entirely.
[Photo from Lecrae ]
— J.S.
Here are the Top 14 Most Viral Posts from this blog of 2014, ranging from topics like singleness, homosexuality, racism, quitting porn, Mark Driscoll, and a confession about my brush with a celebrity pastor.
Prayers for the families of Liu, Ramos, Brinsley, Kondek, and Parilla. Prayers for NY, for our country, for the world.
— J.S.
thesilvercolonel asked a question:
Something has been weighing heavily on my heart lately and I was interested in hearing your thoughts. I greatly care about those in law enforcement (my father is a retired police officer) and pray for them all the time. It bothers me the way they are portrayed by the media, as if all police are brutal and corrupt. I know that’s not the case, because most officers sacrifice so much to protect and serve others. I realize I shouldn’t let what others say get to me, but it’s difficult not to.
Hey my friend, I totally feel you on this one. Having trained police officers myself (I have a fifth degree black belt and I regularly teach martial arts), I understand the stress that law enforcement goes through in both their jobs and public portrayal.
Like anything else, the media often paints things in one-dimensional caricatures that instantly assumes full-fledged heroes and villains, as if people never had gray areas or nuance. Like any other institution, whether it’s church or business or the medical field or social movements, there are going to be some “bad seeds” and unwise decisions made by certain people. And there will always be massive criticism on the entire institution based on the small actions of a few.
However, I think this criticism is sometimes necessary. Public outcry doesn’t happen magically out of thin air. As much as I absolutely support law enforcement, there’s also been an increasing awareness that a few of them, if not many, are doing unconscionable illegal things. I don’t believe this reflects on the entire establishment, but it does mean we need justice for the few who abused the law that they swore to uphold.
I went on social media again to read about the outrage with everything that’s been happening, and all the polarized back-and-forth shouting just made me sick to my stomach — as it always does. It’s a whole lot of yelling, but none of it does anything, nor does it influence anyone who could do something. It’s obvious that juries are not swayed by it. And most people who are yelling on their blogs are just trying to go viral and look relevant and be sassy instead of actually caring about the people involved. You can tell, and we can see right through it.
I believe in the right to peacefully protest. I believe it works. I believe we should leverage our social platforms to speak up for the voiceless. I believe even trolls have the right to speak, because the least dignified person is afforded the dignity to speak their mind.
But I think there’s one thing we keep saying that we’ll do and we simply don’t. We say we will, and we’re not.
I keep seeing, “We need to pray.” I keep hearing that over and over. I’ve probably said it too. “Pray for our country.” It sounds nice and it’s true. But I wonder how many people are actually doing this. I wonder if they realize the potential magnitude of what they’re saying and what prayer can actually do if we went for it.
How about if the billions of people who tweeted and preached and blogged and sassed about injustice actually did pray? I don’t mean to sound uppity or self-righteous. I’m preaching to me too. I’m not telling you what to do with your anger; I’m also angry. But I mean imagine: if we all got on our knees together daily, even just a few hundred of us, and sought to commune with God and reflect on each other’s needs and thought about how to serve one another. Imagine taking five seconds to have empathy, and what that could do for the whole day.
Earlier today, after reading too many cruel comments online, I felt driven to my knees to pray. To be truthful, I haven’t done this in a long time. I consider myself a “Bible-believing Christian” — but prayer is hard. I usually do it in the car, between places, always on the go. It’s totally different on my knees. At first I thought, “This will make a great blog post.” It took a while to really be in silence. I was too self-conscious, and I expected it. I pushed through. Soon — I ran through the fog of my own distraction, and I knew He was there. I knew He was grieving over us. And I could only say, “We’re so screwed up right now. I’m screwed up, God. Please help us. We need your help.”
Maybe it did nothing. But at least God and I, we had a good time together. I felt a sober peace. The light outside felt brighter, sharper, new.
I don’t think we need to be “religious” to do this. If there’s no God, then there’s really no harm. You spent some time wishing peace upon the world, and if anything, it’s helped you think of others. We think about fictional people all the time, and it’s probably less healthy. But if there is a God, and He has the power to intervene and change hearts and orchestrate human structures, then I don’t see how we could be doing anything else but prayer. If God does exist, and I believe He does, then we need nothing less than His divine power to heal a hostile weary world. We need action strengthened by prayer.
I’m sure this sounds like Pascal’s Wager or that I’m endorsing passivity. I suppose there a lot of reasons not to pray. It’s easier to yell and tweet and write passive-aggressive commentary and to preach to the same choir and attack phantom enemies. Something in us resists the spiritual. Even those who want to pray find it hard to focus.That’s all understandable.
I’m only asking that we would ask, “If I really believed prayer worked, what would I pray for the world right now?” Then maybe some of us would go do that. A few of us might cross the line and really pray to the God who can do what we can’t. And even if nothing changes, then you did, and if we all did, then there’s a chance we could turn this whole thing around. I have hope for that, even in a world such as this.
— J.S.
Nearly every Christian on TV and in movies is portrayed to be an extreme bigot, a closet prodigal, or a gun-toting uptight neo-con Republican. A good screenwriter can manage to squeeze all three in one.
Christians do deserve some of the criticism. In the 1980s, we over-reached our grasp by trying to politicize “Christian morality” in every platform, and we now live in the backlash of trying too hard to force the church into the state. In the 1990s, there was a “Christianese” version of everything, from Testa-Mints to Bibleman to Xtreme Youth Group Pizza Night to the Holy Land Experience theme park. Either we’re getting good stuff like Lecrae and Switchfoot, or we’re getting awful stuff like a tame Nic Cage in Left Behind and yet another Westboro picketing.
For every time that Christians call foul on how they’re portrayed in the media, I always have to say that we’re not helping our case either. It’s true that the media sensationalizes the worst of us: but we’re giving them great material.
So it always surprises me to see a multi-dimensional Christian in the entertainment media, who’s not a dichotomous banner-waver but a modest down-to-earth father, who happens to be a Christian. Hershel from The Walking Dead has some of the familiar tropes we’ve come to expect — a sage-like advice dispenser, has too-perfect Bible verses for the situation, owns an actual farm — but there’s a deep world-weariness and bemusement in his mannerisms that brings a depth we never see in screen-written Christians.
On a show that’s been panned for uneven writing, false motivations, and some bad dialogue (Things-And-Stuff Rick), Hershel’s character arc is one of the best on the show, and one of the best in any show period.
Here are five reasons why Hershel Greene is my favorite Christian on TV.
[Some spoilers follow, especially for #5.]
Continue reading “5 Reasons Why Hershel From The Walking Dead Is My Favorite Christian On TV”
Ryo Oyamada, a 24 year old student from Japan, was struck and killed by an NYPD vehicle in a hit & run. Witnesses say the police car had no lights or sirens on and was going over 70 mph. The released footage by NYPD was proven to be heavily altered in a cover-up, showing “lights” on the vehicle, when compared to footage from the NY Housing Authority on the same street with the same timestamp.
On a personal note: I know that this will probably not be shared or reblogged very much, because Asians are not very prominent in American culture. I understand this, because Asians (like me) are partially at fault for being so passive. But I am begging you to please consider signing this petition out of human decency. Ryo was just a student walking home, then struck by a nearly silent police cruiser going at excess speed, and the NYPD covered it up.
Here is the side-by-side comparison of the released video footage, including updates from the case. This article contains a link to a graphic video moments after the crash, showing the body of Ryo Oyamada and NY citizens yelling at the police. Please advise, it is highly disturbing.
And the following is an excerpt from the petition, which as of this writing only has 286 signatures.
On February 21st, 2013, Ryo Oyamada was struck and killed by a police cruiser while crossing the street. NYPD claimed that the cruiser’s lights and sirens were on before the collision, but multiple eyewitnesses stated otherwise, that the lights and sirens were only turned on afterwards, and that the cruiser was speeding in excess of 70 mph down a residential street. None of these eyewitnesses were interviewed for the police report.
This was originally posted on my Tumblr, and the post has now gone viral. It’s at over 33,000 notes and there are nearly 7000 signatures for the petition.
*Update* 8/28/14 – The petition has almost 12,000 signatures! Peter Chin, the one who started the petition, has also made an update on the petition page.
*Update* 9/8/14 – Over 66,000 signatures! Please keep it going!
It has been fifty-years since the passing of C.S. Lewis, as well as JFK and Aldous Huxley. It’s also been one-hundred twenty years since Lewis was born.
C.S. Lewis has been the most influential Christian writer in my spiritual journey. He has shaped my spirituality more than any other writer I know. I do not agree with all he says (when do we ever find such a person anyway?) — but he is absolutely a kindred soul. I also love his tales of pulling pranks on his dear hapless friends.
To commemorate, here are some of my favorite Lewis quotes.
Birthday Campaign to Fight Human Trafficking
Last year I donated half my salary ($10,000) to fight human trafficking.
Today, March 7th, is my birthday. Instead of gifts, I’m asking that you consider donating with me to fight for this cause together ..!
You can donate here to my campaign (scroll to the middle of the page), and all proceeds go directly to fighting human trafficking and sex slavery.
Please consider giving $5, 10, 25, or any amount you’d like!
Here’s what your contribution can do:
Thanks for considering. Love y’all!
The organization One Day’s Wages to which I had donated $10,000 wrote up an interview with me. Check it out here.
You can also help contribute to fight human trafficking with me.
Here’s an excerpt:
You are donating half of your salary. This is crazy and some might say even stupid. Why did you choose to do this?
Earlier in the year, I listened to a sermon in the car by Pastor Eugene Cho (founder of ODW) from the Catalyst 2011 Lab, and I was pretty much struck dead. The main thing that kept rocking my gut was: You can’t ask other people to do what you’re not first doing yourself.
I had been playing it pretty safe for a while — the typical blogging pastor hoping to stir up his little youth group to bigger and better things, and while there was growth, I just knew I was missing it. Every week I thought, “Well next week we’ll be fired up. God is cooking up something.” But Ephesians 2:10 had been pressing me — you know, those good works God prepared in advance for us to do. I just didn’t know how to fulfill the “do.”
I don’t make a lot of money, but I’m filthy stinking rich compared to the world. I’m sure you’ve heard other preachers go bananas on that before. On that night in the car, Pastor Eugene laid this on pretty thick, but that particular night was different: something just tore open raw inside.
By the time I got to my destination, my face was a slobbery mess. I was kind of crying and laughing and shaking my fist at God all at the same time. My level of “radical” was being challenged to become the biblical norm. I knew I’d be called crazy, but I decided: it would be crazy not to go for it either.
Thanks for posting this, Pastor Eugene!
J.S. Park: Hospital Chaplain 