Jon Acuffs on Provs 12:16

"A fool shows his annoyance at once,
but a prudent man overlooks an insult."

I'm not good at responding with an attitude of love when annoyed, so Insults really spoke to me. My first instinct is to get back.

"But that’s what a fool does. A fool responds at once....A prudent person realizes that an instant response to an insult is probably going to be emotion driven, if not flat out designed for revenge."

Sigh. I need to memorise this verse and work on living it out.

How successful was your LIITA event?

So, the LIITA dust has settled and reports have been sent in. Now is the time for measurement and evaluation. After looking at the form we had to fill up, I realised that it wasn't comprehensive enough. With some inspiration and a few suggestions I've come up with a handy list to help measure the success of your LIITA event. Presenting:

The SCL-Inspired LIITA score guide!

Scoring of visitors brought:

1. Uncelled believer from church = + 1 point
2. Unchurched believer = + 2 points
3. Pre-believer = + 3 points
4. Pre-believer who, upon being presented with the gospel via the Bridge method, accepts Christ= + 7 points5. Irregular cell member shows up = + 1 point
6. Irregular cell member leaves early for another appointment = - 2 points
7. Uncelled believer from another church = + 0 points
8. Visitor is from a foreign country = + 2 points
9. The foreign country was formerly communist = + 3
10. Cell member from another cell in your church = - 10 points
11. College cell member who has graduated and is transitioning to the workforce = + 2 points
12. The transitioning college cell member can play guitar for cell = + 5 points
13. A boy/girlfriend that actually attends another church tags along = - 2 point
14. That boy/girlfriend who attends another church just got installed as a cell leader there = - 5 points
15. That boy/girlfriend who attends another church and just got installed as a cell leader wants you to settle in that other church so that the next 100 years of your bloodline will be members there = - 50 points

Scoring of the program:
1. Christmas carols were sung = + 1 point for each carol
2. The organisers relaxed and smiled* = + 1 point
3. Your drinks were chilled, using ice where necessary* = + 1 point
4. Ice wasn’t used because it melted into a huge chunk and someone tried to break it into smaller pieces
by bashing it against the wall, causing the bag to tear and spill all the ice^ = - 5 points5. The cell made their own Christmas video to present on that night = + 50 points
6. There are left over LIITA flyers after the event = - 1 point for each flyer
7. Cell members met up earlier to decorate Christmas trees for the event = + 3 points
8. LIITA flyers were cut up to decorate the trees = - 5 points per flyer
9. Neither of the two recommended programs were used = - 30 points
10. Cell members were planted to share their personal testimony = + 3 points per testimony shared.
11. Two weeks after the LIITA event, you don't get invited to a leader's meeting = - 500 points

12. Three weeks after a LIITA event, you receive a letter from the church that says “We apologise but we are unable to process your marriage application form as you have been ex-communicated from this church. God bless you.” = - 1,000,000 points = time to find a new church

* criteria taken directly from the guide booklet, as seen here.
^ true story, apparently.
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My cell's score is in the region of -700 points, which after glancing through the other YA reports sent in and making some rough calculations, would be the lowest scoring cell. Bah. I bet this guide is skewed.

Anyway, at least we got a video. Pretend you don't notice the cut-up LIITA flyers in it ok?

LIITA (Love is in the air)

That's our Christmas program in church this year. No big production with Chinese wise men and shiny dancers. Instead, it will be entirely cell-based and cell-driven! Now, this is to be taken seriously, because all the leaders got a 38-page file of program notes. On the first page, there's a note saying that the program has been adapted from Trinity Christian Center, Singapore with their permission.

Now these "pointers for you to take note off" were under the dinner heading:

· Plan your menu and decide on the décor at least three weeks before the actual day.

· The menu should as far as possible be appropriate for your guests. For instance, prepare Asian food if the majority of them are local food lovers!

· Please ensure there is enough food, napkins and utensils (eg plates, forks and etc). It is also good to prepare more than just enough

· If you are catering the food, do remember to ask the caterer to set up at least 30 mins beforehand.

· Cooked food must be ready fifteen minutes before the program.

· Please ensure the young kids do not stand near to the food for their safety.

· Chill your drinks. Have ice at hand if necessary.

· If you are serving hot drinks, please make sure there is enough hot water.

· You may prepare some snacks or finger food for guests to munch.

· Relax and smile.

I dunno man. Only a Singaporean would find it necessary to tell you stuff like "chill your drinks" and "relax and smile" at a cell dinner.

I think I read ya

"If they say 'I'll try to come', it actually means 'Don't rely on me, I'm not going to make it'. They're setting you up so that at the last minute when they say 'I can't come' you've been prepared already. But they actually already know."

*

Said that last Wed and meant to post it up. I think it's a cynical but truthful observation.

Kingdom fandom

Talking about last night's United concert, Fergs made the observation that teenagers naturally express fandom (which is an extension of their expression of identity), and if all they're exposed to are worship bands, they're going to express that fandom onto them.

I suppose some might say that it's better to adulate something Christian then not. But I'm not sure if I can be comfortable with the idea of translating expressions of adulation normally seen in the secular sphere to Christian artists and bands. You see, if worship bands are there to facilitate worship, then it's just contextually wrong to respond to worship music with fandom.

Oh well, about the concert last night. I think that the band and singers did a good job in negotiating the tricky balance of setting the atmosphere and staying out of the spotlight, and they let the crowd respond to it as they chose. So for me, somewhere in between the swarming, screaming, teeny-booper kids and long-suffering parents, I found my place and reason to be there.

Loretta Lux and the case of sheep mode

I've attended a fair number of cells/home fellowships in my lifetime, both as a member and just to visit. While you have different programs methods and structures, I recently noticed that there is one common factor to be found in all of them. That is, regardless of how rousing the ice-breaker or intense worship is, once the Bible and lesson sheets come out everyone turns into spiritual beings. They're technically present but pretty much impossible to hold any sort of sustained, meaningful conversation with.

I've heard the terms micro-sleep and zoned-out mode being bandied about, but I prefer to call it "sheep mode" or "blind listening". Because that's what this woolly phenomenon is. They're paying attention in a sort of obedient, passive mode, without really examining what is being put forth before them. They know that they're going to be steered into a predetermined conclusion by the leader at the end anyway, usually called "wrapping up" or "issuing a challenge". It's the equivalent to vegging out in front of the TV, except that because this is church-related and has God in it, it must be good for you. Which I guess it is.

But I'll save my comments on how sheep-like, anti-intellectualism behaviour is in vogue for another time. Right now I want to talk about the works of Loretta Lux, which I came across yesterday. She's a successful fine art photographer known for her surreal portraits of young children. Basically, she takes charming pictures of small 'uns and photoshops them into cold, emotionless shells. And they sell like hot cakes.

Don't they look like they're in cell?

A Les Misérables Friday

Do you hear the people sing
Lost in the valley of the night
It is the music of a people
Who are climbing to the light

For the wretched of the earth
There is a flame that never dies
Even the darkest night will end
And the sun will rise.

I’ve read about the Christian themes and motives in Les Misérables, but I was still surprised by how dominant they were. It was so fitting that we watched the 10th anniversary concert DVD on Good Friday. It was the best illustration of the transformative power of grace I have ever seen.

The greatest master stroke is how the same song was used to close both Act 1 and 2. A standard feature in musicals, yes. But in the first act the French revolutionists sing it, calling for others to rise up and fight for an earthly cause – a freer and fairer France. In the second act, the call changes into a crusade for an eternal cause as Valjeen’s page on earth, glowing with the testimony of how grace transformed a hardened criminal into a force of good in the world, is turned.

Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Somewhere beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?

It reminds me so much of what Easter brings – a promise that one day, life will be perfected. As people living in an unjust, wounded world, we all need that hope.

Standard Christian Caution

That’s a really apt phrase coined up this morning during a discussion with Fergus.

It started with discussing a controversial music video. I went on to say that I think modern Christians shy away so much from judging that it’s reached a point of being a fault. When there is something that is really wrong, and warrants speaking out against, we tend to shy away from doing so by suddenly becoming very relativist.

I agree that it's a fine line between forming an opinion and handing down a judgment for matters of right and wrong. In fact, I think that they’re both two ends of the same continuum. One way of resolving this was to say that it's ok to judge ideas (eg the idea of a fat Christianity or immodest entertainment), but you stop short of judging the person behind it. Granted, you can’t really separate the two but you can at least make a cosmetic difference. ‘I think that China Wine is unnecessarily immodest' and 'I think that Sun is being a really bad example' both essentially express the same opinion, but the first statement tries to avoid talking directly about Sun.

Yet, the opposite of Standard Christian Caution leads you into Judgmental Obnoxious Opinion territory, which is probably a greater temptation for me. I mean, what's not to like about unleashing a whirlwind of blistering words upon small-minded and defensive people?

Don't you judge me for that, you hear?