Updates

Well, God continues to teach me things about myself, others, the world, and life in general. We've started a new semester at school, and I really miss the kids that graduated. They come in the afternoon now after elementary school, but I don't teach their classes. But I'm glad they've moved on, and I am enjoying the new kids I've started teaching now, but nothing can replace the joy of the first students I taught, since I learned and grew so much through teaching them, and because they were just such good students, they can never be replaced. Continue to pray that God gives me the grace everyday to teach well and to represent Christ to these kids.

Recently I've been so busy that my Korean studying hasn't been as good as it should be these days. You can also pray that I'll get more motivated and back into studying it, because I can already see it leaving me the more I put it off. 나는 나쁜 학생입니다. (that's pronounced - naneun napeun hakseng imnida, which means: "I'm a bad student).

On Thursday, I went with my friend and finally saw the film "My Blueberry Nights." It's the first and perhaps not the last American film that Wong Kar Wai, perhaps my favorite director, made. I didn't know what to expect. It didn't get great reviews, and Hong Kong directors have a history of making terrible movies in America. But overall, I was happy with the film. It definitely had Wong Kar Wai's stamp all over it, but perhaps a little too much. He homaged himself way too much in the film, but still, it was engaging, and it was very easy to connect with the characters. This is a trailer for the film:



One thing the film definitely impressed upon me, and something I've been hearing in sermons recently, is the issue of pain. And how pain and bitterness completely imobilize us from doing God's work. Pain and Idolatry, as Anthony Bradley pointed out in his talk at the Jubilee Conference this year, are the two major sources that keep people from being missional Christians. And I don't mean "missionaries"necessarily, but simply missional in the sense of actively and purposefully serving God in a real, effective, and perhaps risky way. Because we so often use pain as a crutch, we are never willing to take risks because we've seen what risks have done to us in the past.

My Blueberry Nights really hits on the subject of pain, rejection, and loss. And for me, it's hard to know what the right way to deal with it all is. Wong Kar Wai doesn't give answers in his movie, he just poses the problems for the most part. In the Bible, I think it's clear that God can use us in our weakest state to do the greatest things. That it's in our most painful moments, that Jesus will show up. But why then, for so many Christians, does the pain linger on. Why does everyone have that area, or those areas in their life that are just too painful to talk about. Why does everyone have their kryptonite, that if you poke that right area, they'll crumble. Is it because we haven't responded to Christ correctly? Is it just another effect of the fall. How much can we expect to overcome pain in this lifetime, before Jesus returns? If we still have bitterness and pain in our lives because someone hurt us, is that a sign of unrepentent sin?

I've been thinking a lot about this recently, because I've been thinking a lot about my generation of Christians. And not just my generation, but all Christians. So often, we as the church, want to show the healing power of Christ, but why then are our lives not evident of that healing process. I think I need to go back and read the "Healing Path" by Dan Allender again. And this isn't to say that I'm in a particularly gloomy, or hurt state. I'm not. I am quite content here in Korea, but in general, why is there so much pain in the church?

I've been pondering this new movie idea I have, and I want it to deal with a struggling Christian. I can't think of a movie that has this topic at the center, besides perhaps "The Apostle", and I've heard that "21 Grams" deals with that issue too, but I haven't seen it. But I feel like many in the church are neglecting their own people. There's a lot of pain going around, and I don't think people are dealing with it properly. Maybe it's because people don't know how to, or maybe it's because people have been told that it's sinful to feel bad, so they repress it, pretend like it's not there. But the topic has been on my mind a lot recently, so I think I'm going to start writing a script about it. Obviously, it will take place in Korea! Whether or not I'll ever get to make it, who knows. But maybe this will be the big film of my career.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. Do we as Christians not deal with pain in our lives the right way? Does the church just need a good cry? What does it mean to be "joyful always"?

I do know that I've come to understand that if you set your mind on Christ, you are freed from the bondage of circumstances. That when we truly find delight in Him, no matter what the circumstances, we can have cause to rejoice. But while I fully believe that's true, it often is very hard to put into practice.

Wow, I don't know how I got on this tangent. Anyway, yeah, things are good for the most part, thank you all for your prayers, I appreciate every single one of them, and pray that God keeps blessing and teaching me in Korea, and that I will continue to serve Him in every way that I can.