running commentary

what’s up.

Bert — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:48:08 +0000

so, yes, i’m going to update this blog.

coming up.
this friday & saturday – off to cardiff for phan’s dad’s birthday. back on sunday for message. next weekend, friday & saturday for phat camp leaders weekend. giving 3 talks, and part of a Q&A. then back home late saturday night to preach on Sunday. then monday morning off to phat camp, for 5 talks, 2 workshops in 4 days. then back on friday, alex’s friend’s birthday party on saturday, then preaching in telford on Sunday.

mmm.

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Everyone’s Got A Story

Bert — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:59:59 +0000

I came across this amazing story from This American Life that talks about how a bunch of kids with cardboard videocameras end up absolving themselves from humanity. (i’ve perhaps described a bit more bleak than it may be, but from my perspective it is that bleak).

I was talking a.chow about how the advent of the television changed the way people looked at the world. and in other ways how the internet has become an extension of that. In many ways, everyone now has a story worth telling, and somehow being on television, makes that story vital and relevant. Facebook status, and twitter reflect that same reality. The idea that somehow the “I” is the most important element to life.

The article which got me thinking about this was one person’s commentary about the twitter reports coming out from the Fort Hood tragedy. Thought provoking and poignant he perhaps sums up the issue saying:

As I’ve already said – and I’m even starting to bore myself now – the answer isn’t censorship (which won’t work), but rather in our social evolution catching up with the state of technology. We need to get back to a point as a society where – without thinking – we put our humanity before our ego.

The issue of putting our “humanity” as he puts it, before our “ego” has been a long standing issue – probably since the beginning of time. And though he seems to suggest that the answer lies in “social evolution.” I’m more inclined to believe that it begins not out of the goodness of man’s own heart, but rather from the realisation of humanity’s destiny through the revelation of Christ.

The story being told is no different than the story of the Good Samaritan – where one person’s view or lifestyle – prevents him from simply loving his neighbour.

Is mankind naturally good? It seems that when left to their own devices, mankind would slide into a egoism and self glorification. But by the inspiration of God, the hope for humanity is found in the goodness we find in Christ.

ps. illustrations for the animation done by the amazing Chris Ware.

the death of evil in our cell group we’ve been going through the book...

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the death of evil

Bert — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:37:53 +0000

in our cell group we’ve been going through the book of revelation, and most recently, it’s dawned on me that God has completely vanquished evil. by that i mean, through Christ, evil, complete and absolute evil is completely destroyed. at the end of time, only God and his goodness remains. evil is completely vanquished.

and so when i look at the state of mankind today, and i begin to see the complexities in people’s situations. how one person’s sin is the result of another person’s wrongdoing, it begins to dawn on me that salvation, true and absolute salvation, can never come by human reasoning or creation, but by someone, somehow, triumphing over evil. and that hope – the hope of salvation for mankind – the hope of evil being completely and utterly overwhelmed – comes only through Christ.

Everyone’s Got A Story I came across this amazing story from This American Life...

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how to be tough without being mean

Bert — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:33:39 +0000

“Most importantly, Pau Gasol figured out that being tough doesn’t necessarily mean being a banger. For him, it means being resilient, playing smart, and never giving up. It means using his superior speed, quickness, footwork, and intellect to gain an advantage over his opponents. It means working hard, remaining aggressive, and sometimes demanding the ball. And every now and then, it means getting in his opponents’ faces and daring them to try that again. He may have faltered a year ago, but in the 2009 Playoffs, and in the Finals most of all, he figured these things out, and he executed them to perfection.”

is the only way to be tough, to be someone that gets into a fight, “defends himself”, shouts at the opposition, bullies his way to the top?

what we see in the working world, the academic world, the social world, is that somehow he who makes the most noise wins. and being tough is about being the one that shouts or struts about the loudest — intimidating others, and puffing themself up.

so i like this quote about how pau gasol, labeled soft/quiet/weak, managed to toughen himself up to bring another championship to LA.

Maybe being tough is more about being resilient, smarter, more efficient. I think i posted something about this previously, but it’s nice to see in this case, the modern tough guy wins out against the noisier tough guys (the celtics — KG i’m looking at you!).

–

As for the Magic, they are a sweet team. Dwight Howard is a class act. Hope you either win a championship after Kobe retires. Or else you move to LA where you belong.

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obama & the presidency

Bert — Wed, 27 May 2009 07:56:22 +0000

i read this quote by Obama the other day. He was asked about the presidency and the incoveniences that come with it (long ours, loss of privacy, inability to go out in public regularly, threats for him and family).

He started off the response talking about the difficulties openly and honestly, and then said this:

“But the point is that what I found at a very young age was that if you can only think about yourself — ‘How much money can I make? What can I buy? How nice is my house? What kind of fancy car do I have?’ — that over the long term, I think you get bored,” he told the audience of mostly students.

“I think if you’re only thinking about yourself, your life becomes diminished, and the way to live a full life is to think about what can I do for others, how can I be a part of this larger project of making a better world,” he said.

Obama said with all the challenges facing the world now, the younger generation has an abundance of opportunities to make a difference.

“It would be a tragedy if all of you who are so talented and energetic — if you let that go to waste, if you just stood back and watched the world pass you by,” he said.

“Better to jump in, get involved — and it does mean that sometimes you’ll get criticized and sometimes you’ll fail and sometimes you’ll be disappointed — but you’ll have a great adventure. And at the end of your life, hopefully you’ll be able to look back and say, ‘I made a difference.’”

Everyone’s Got A Story I came across this amazing story from This American Life...

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food

Bert — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:16:39 +0000

so my sister has a food blog, where she puts up photos and comments about food she’s created. and my family’s always been pretty into good food and creating good food.

interestingly enough, i’ve always kinda been the black sheep of the family food wise – neither appreciating good food nor preparing it. i think my parents still can’t understand why i like mcdonalds.

so in the past year though, i’ve discovered these things called taste buds, and perhaps they’re only starting to function properly now. I think it all started when i tried this amazing proscuitto – so delicate and tasty. And then i had a poached egg the other day, which i also found pretty spectacular.

so in the past few weeks i’ve been tasting my food more, and working to prepare better tasting dishes. improving my culinary skills. i’ve made a black pepper beef dish, chili con carne and cornbread, and last night i tried making salmon with a poached egg. The poached egg came out nice, the salmon less wonderful.

And so the han in me begins his culinary journey.. and believe it or not, i know think mcdonalds doesn’t taste very good at all!!

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mini news feed

Bert — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 09:25:10 +0000

yes, for those who wonder whether this blog is still alive, or does bert simply change the look without updating – it is still alive, but the news comes more sparsely. i suppose part of it is because i’m trying to write at least once a week for the church blog. and life’s pacings has shifted bertphan.com into the back…

but yes, some might be wondering what i’ve been up to. so here’s a mini news feed.

***
this month i’ve taken the fun undertaking of preaching every week in the sunday service. it’s something i’ve done before, and in the back of my mind i’m just afraid that people will get very tired of hearing my voice, or that i’ll run out of things to say.

last week was particularly greuling, because i was also asked to step in to preach in all three services as well.

people always ask, “do you give the same sermon in all three congregations?”

unfortunately no. usually the cantonese and mandarin services have similar topics, but they are so culturally different, they normally come out feeling like very different sermons. Last week, they were all distinctly different. Challenging but fun. And definitely exhausting.

***

I’ve also become the resident bass player for church. Am i any good? Hahahaha. I’m not sure, but i always think it’s funny to be playing bass, and then speaking straight after. Not that I mind. I quite enjoy playing the bass.

***

Last week Alex was drooling (dribbling as they say in this country) immensely. He went through 10 bibs and 2 muslin cloths in one day. It was from his teething. We’ve also discovered that he can be a little bit moody. And he’s discovered the art of throwing tantrums. He’s only 1!

Little alex also loves Coldplay’s Viva La Vida.

***

Our friends, Alex and Betty have moved here from North America, and it’s nice to have them around. Big Alex keeps calling our Alex, his namesake. I think he’s obsessed with that word.

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bcec home

Bert — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:58:48 +0000

i’ve started a church blog to help draw some continuity in our Sunday services, as well as challenge and encourage each other. And like everything Google, it’s in Beta.

One of the challenges we have at BCEC, is the variety of speakers that come in, sometimes the congregation feels as if there’s not enough continuity in the messages. It’s nice to have outside speakers, but at the same time, this blog may help to bring a little more continuity to things.

The other difficulty i found, was alot of the students who go away to university, or move away to new jobs, want to stay in touch with what’s going on in the BCEC. So this blog lets them at least hear what’s been happening, so when they come back, they don’t feel as lost.

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nostalgia

Bert — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:42:09 +0000

so today i had a feeling of nostalgia.. but not for the US, or when I was a little kid… but for an earlier time in the UK. I guess after 11 years in the UK, i have enough history with this place that I can reminisce about the old days.

Yes, the thing which brought up all these old memories, was drinking Ribena. The sweet taste of blackcurrent cordial reminded me of the days when Sam, Esther, Adrian and I would have our TOPIC leaders meetings. Sitting around a Watson Road table, drinking Ribena, and acting like weirdos. And then it reminded me of when i first came to the UK, on a short-term missions trip… eating Shreddies and drinking Ribena… or putting Weetabix on toast and grilling it… then being led across the streets of London by a skinny Liverpudlian with short shorts…

Ahh Ribena. You bring sweet memories back.

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Seven

Bert — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:54:04 +0000

Our church’s theme this year is about moving from a believer to a disciple and our current summery series goes through 7 things that make a disciple. Obviously, these aren’t the only 7 things, but they’re 7 things which i thought were interesting enough to highlight.

Follower
Prayer
Servant
Learner
Ambassador
Conqueror
Worshipper

My intention was that each of these 7 things illustrated part of who we are/or who we become when we choose to be disciples of Christ.

This past Sunday, David and Joyce shared with us about Prayer. (Initially i had intended the message to be about our calling to be Pray-ers, though David and Joyce shared more about what prayer is.)

Their subtitle was, Supernatural Communication.

It’s challenging to be reminded that prayer is a form of supernatural communication. I’ve found the greatest challenge for me in prayer, is recognising that i’m addressing God – not just speaking words out loud. I can see a clear difference between the times when my heart, soul and mind are all engaged in conversation with God, and the times when i’m simply talking to myself, hoping that God is listening in.

I suppose in an age of self-sufficiency and self-satisfaction, it’s easy to forget about God. There’s a numbing quality to life here, something that wages war against our very spiritual identity. I suppose that’s why engaging prayer is so important – it forces us to come before a glorious God, and humbly engage with Him.

***

At the BCEC, we’ve started 7 weeks of heading into Chinatown to meet people, share about God, and introduce our church to people. It’s been fun so far, and it’s exciting to see where God leads things from here on out.

I’ll be speaking this Sunday (Servant) and the following Sunday (Learners).

***

Oh yeah… so, the other day i was cleaning out the garage, and as i headed down the driveway a saw a car drive by – It was the Google car, taking pictures of the street for Street View. I got so excited that when it came back around (we live in a cul de sac) i waved excitedly at it.

I’m looking forward to seeing whether i’ve been snapshotted for our house for Google Street View.

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