Monthly Archives: December 2011

Abortion – A Feminist Pastor’s View

Posted on December 29, 2011 | 5 Comments

At the moment, I’m quite busy working on my New Year’s talk, but I wanted to share with you a sermon I found by the Presbyterian minister the Reverend Terry Hamilton-Poor. I came across this gem while doing comprehensive research on the issue of abortion. In 1991, Stanley Hauerwas (Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School & Professor of Law at Duke University) gave a talk on abortion titled “Abortion, Theologically Understood” at the annual conference of The United Methodist Church. To start his talk, he read this sermon by Pastor Hamilton-Poor. It’s short, and not comprehensive, but it gives what I believe to be an excellent example of how Christians and the church can (and should) respond to the issue using the gospel. It also includes some powerful and real responses to abortion toward the end. Continue reading →

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Posted in Theology, Ministry, Women, Life and Death, Pastoral, Abortion

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Memories of Racism, Memories of Grace – Among Professionals

Posted on December 27, 2011 | Leave a comment

In this post, my friend and colleague Dr. Hue-Sun Ahn (pronounced Hae-Sun) shares about an experience with racism in the professional world of clinical counselors and psychologists. I’m sure many readers will resonate with her story as racism is still systemic across most professional disciplines. Continue reading →

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Posted in Professional, Psychology, Racism

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How I Write Sermons

Posted on December 20, 2011 | 4 Comments

This post will probably be of particular interest to pastors; however, over the years, I have found that some congregants are also quite curious as to how pastors go about preparing their sermons. I am writing this entry in hopes to give folks a somewhat voyeuristic peek into the sermon writing process. Of course, my method is only one of many, but I think this entry should help folks get a rough idea as to what sermon prep can be like. I also hope to dispel the common misconceptions that writing a sermon is easy and that pastors are able to “just get up and preach” (behind which the assumption is that little preparation is necessary.)* By the way, I think the question I’ve been asked the most by far as a pastor is, “What do you pastors do during the week?” I remember someone saying to me, “You guys have it easy. Just chilling all week and hanging out with people and reading. That’s gotta be the life.” Don’t I wish. My friend addresses this question and myth on his blog. I’ll probably write about it one day as well. ;p Continue reading →

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Posted in Pastoral, Theology

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Official Facebook Page

Posted on December 16, 2011 | Leave a comment

Hi everyone!

So this is it. This is my official foray into the “professional” blogging world.

I’ve also just launched the “everything is beautiful*” Facebook Page. If you could help a writer out by clicking the “Like” button at the upper right side of the page, I promise to work my butt off at improving the blog’s content and writing for your enjoyment. Just trying to get some traction as I get things going.

Thanks a bunch!

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Posted in Uncategorized

A Story About Holding Hands

Posted on December 14, 2011 | 6 Comments

Over the summer in 2003, I served as one of the chaplains at Overlook Medical Center in Summit, NJ. I actually didn’t choose to do this voluntarily—one unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is required for pastoral candidates to get ordained in my denomination. But despite it being forced upon me, I was looking forward to it. Among my friends, every pastor who completed the CPE requirement told me it would be life-changing. And, indeed, it was. Continue reading →

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Posted in Life

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Memories of Racism, Memories of Grace – Credit Card Fraud

Posted on December 10, 2011 | 3 Comments

It happened sometime during my years in junior high. I still remember it being a dark and dreary day. (Talk about a hackneyed beginning. Please forgive. ;p) I forgot why our family was on the road, but I remember thinking that I didn’t want to be in the car anymore. What made things worse was that our family was hungry. Not hungry in the sense that we were starving as a family, but hungry because it was time for dinner. But even this type of hunger makes things unbearable for me and those within my “killzone”. (My wife learned this lesson early on, the hard way.)

Anyway, I remember finally stopping somewhere to eat dinner. My dad parked the car, and the rest of us quickly followed him into the restaurant shielding ourselves from the drizzle.

I’m not sure which restaurant it was, but I can still see vividly the entire encounter unfold before my mind’s eye. My dad is walking up to the long, well-lit counter, he places an order, and then pulls out his wallet to pay for the meal. Continue reading →

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Posted in Family, Life, Racism

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Memories of Racism, Memories of Grace – On a Bus in Philly

Posted on December 8, 2011 | Leave a comment

I don’t know why I was in Center City Philadelphia on that particular day. But I do recall it being an especially beautiful spring day and that I was waiting for a bus to take me back to campus. I wasn’t really in a rush, so instead of jumping at every bus appearing over the horizon, I took the time to soak in the sun and let my mind wander as I stood in the bus stall. I remember closing my eyes, and thinking, “Nothing can ruin this day.” I probably also had the conviction that I would skip all my classes that day, which added a pinch of euphoria to my emotional state.

That’s when a man’s voice jolted me out of my serene stupor. “Excuse me,” he said from behind me. “I hope I’m not bothering you, but are you Korean?” Continue reading →

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Posted in Racism

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Memories of Racism, Memories of Grace – Princeton Seminary Dining Hall

Posted on December 4, 2011 | Leave a comment

Very few seminary campuses compare to Princeton Theological Seminary in terms of sheer beauty. Anybody who’s visited the historic institution knows this. In fact, I heard through the grapevine that Miller Chapel was mentioned in Martha Stewart’s list of most beautiful places to get married. I haven’t been able to verify this, but I can easily see how it could very well be true. (The wife and I got hitched there.) Not enough can be said about the architecture, the greens and the surrounding area. The place looks absolutely gorgeous year-round. (Click on pics to see more photos.)

One place that typically gets overlooked in terms of aesthetic appeal is the Mackay Campus Center, especially the dining hall. The picture doesn’t do it justice. The tall, wide windows at the end of the hall let in copious amounts of sunlight and give students excellent views of the changing seasons as they eat, chat and study throughout the year. It also has two levels and massive chandeliers noticeably held up by only three or four large screws. We used to comment that if those things fell, they would kill half of the student population. I have many fond memories of that dining hall.

Unfortunately, it is also in this setting that I had one of my more memorable racist encounters. We don’t normally associate the modern seminary with racism, especially fairly liberal ones like Princeton (though certainly a spectrum of conservatives, moderates, and liberals are represented); however, racism is alive and well even there. Continue reading →

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Posted in Ministry, Racism

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