We Need To Get Out

This is one of those days. It’s clear skies and somewhere in the 70s outside here in Philly. It’s supposed to stay that way at least for a few days. I’ve been plugging away for hours on this Sunday’s message in my office with the lights off [I can't stand fluorescents]. We’ve started a new series recently called ‘Heaven on Earth‘. I look outside my window and I’m thinking yea…

Sometimes we need a reminder to just unplug and get out.
This little comic [We The Robots] is a perfect reminder…enjoy!

Is it possible that God intends to bring heaven down to earth and that the in-breaking of that reality of hope and peace is to be found increasingly in the everyday lives of his people?
Truly, we need to get out. Love, laugh and learn.

Here’s a promo for the message series, “Heaven on Earth”

The Keller Effect [ii] The Book Tour, Philly Dates

If you’re in the Philly area…

Tuesday, March 11, 10:10-11:20 a.m. - Westminster Theological Seminary
Catch Keller and the Westminster Theological Seminary Apologetics Department in a conversation on apologetic method.
Van Til Hall - Rust Auditorium. No reservations needed, but seating is limited.
2960 Church Road, Glenside, PA 19038

Tuesday, March 11, 7:30-9:00 p.m. - Penn Museum, University of Pennsylvania
Keller will speak about his book The Reason for God and will then answer questions from the audience.
The public is invited, and no reservations or tickets are needed.
Penn Museum, Harrison Auditorium (2nd Floor), 3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA
If you’re not in Philly check out these other opportunities on The Reason for God Website

New York City Dates

• March 2 - Open Forum at Hunter College in New York City
• March 3 - 6:00PM at NYU, Kimmel Student Center, 60 Washington Square South

White Stone Gallery

The White Stone Gallery (formerly Lime Street Gallery) is a new deal in Manayunk featuring “Biblical Fine Art” or modern art with scriptural meaning according to their website. During January 11 - February 24 the gallery will exhibit a collection from various international artists under “Faith”. ABCPastor favorite, Makoto Fujimura, is among the featured artists. And the work is also available for sale from what I can tell on the site. Not sure if there is an opening reception tomorrow for the artists but I’m very curious about this whole set-up.
So if you’re in Philly…

Last month they had an interesting Nativity Exhibition that included an artist from China utilizing Chinese silk embroidery.

WHITE STONE GALLERY
4219 Main Street [Manayunk]
Philadelphia, PA 19127

or if your idea of Christian Art is more in line with VeggieTales, the new movie, “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything” also opens in theaters tomorrow.

Philly, The Ugliest City in the U.S.

OK, what is Philly known for?
Cheesesteaks. Water Ice. Pretzels. The Liberty Bell. The Sixers, Flyers, Eagles.
I’ve definitely never met more people loyal to their home state and their sports teams.

But Philly is getting recognized for other things less glamorous. Philadelphia is quickly becoming known as the city of death. This is the city of brother love right? In 2006, there was about 406 murders up 7.7 percent from 2005. Here’s another way of looking at the numbers, Philadelphia had a murder rate of 27.8 per 100,000 inhabitants. What’s troubling is that most of those who commit these crimes are youth. So far this year more than 320 people have been murdered, a little over one person a day. That just doesn’t help attract people to live here.

To add insult to injury, this week Philadelphia was voted the ugliest city in the United States, according to Travel+Leisure magazine. No it has nothing to do with the architecture, trash or even the attitudes of people but their looks!
Out of 25 cities Philly is dead last. Miami ranked no. 1.

Oh well. I guess when you’re competing with South Beach or New York, what can you say?

Philly, you just ugly.

ain’t the way it’s supposed to be - in philly

This issue on the complexities of our increasing diversity has really taken hold of me these past few days.
Can you tell from my surge of posts?

Spending most of my time in Philly’s Chinatown I get to see and hear a lot go down. There are things that I see and hear that keep me on the defensive, ready to pounce at any given moment. My fists stay clenched. Our faith community is only beginning to heal from the senseless shooting of one of our members that I posted about a month ago [ain't the way it's supposed to be in Philly one and two]

Recently there was a shooting in Lawncrest (Northeast Philadelphia) that killed a Chinese man, Jiaxing Lu(49), in his family grocery store. Again two young White teens. What disturbed me today was a article that highlighted some of the complexities of race that were mentioned in previous posts.
Sadly, the Lu family has given up on the city of Philadelphia - they’re moving to New York. Is it going to be any better? It doesn’t seem like they enjoyed being in their neighborhood I imagine. They are hurt and upset understandably. I don’t blame them. Would you?
But reading this article can you sense the tensions?

Like some other residents, she expressed some discomfort with Lu Jiaxing, saying she thought he viewed black people with suspicion. Other residents, though, said Lu made a point of knowing his customers so well that he knew what each typically bought at the store.

“About two months ago, when it got dark at about 6 or 7 p.m., he started closing down and selling food through a slot,” Brown said. “I did have a problem with that. But he did seem to be a decent man. Once, I lost my … card in his ATM and he went out of his way to get it back for me the next day.”

Another neighborhood resident, Edward Molizone, 74, touched on the suspicion that often exists between black residents and Asian merchants.

“A lot of blacks don’t go to the Chinese store because they feel the Chinese think they steal from them,” he said. “I don’t have a complex about that.”

But Molizone said that he was disturbed when he heard that Lu’s wife dismantled a makeshift memorial to her husband created by neighborhood residents.

“I was hurt this morning when she took all the teddy bears and put them in the trash,” he said.

Please don’t give up on Philly.

Read the full philly.com article here
Read also
The Multiracial Divide Without Easy Answers
Interracial Relationships: UK “Asians” more likely intolerant and racist
The Asian Invasion and other minorities fast becoming the majority

The Asian Invasion and other minorities fast becoming the majority

According to a recent aricle from the NYTimes, minorities now form majority in one-third of most-populous counties. That’s right, a whole lotta Asians.
Asians were the only major racial or ethnic group to record population gains in every county in the New York metropolitan region since 2005, according to recent census figures. Interestingly, the Hispanic population decreased.

From 2005 to 2006, the number of Asians increased by more than 10 percent in three New Jersey counties: Gloucester, Salem and Warren.

The highest growth rates among Asian populations were in metropolitan Napa, Calif., and Ocala, Naples, Cape Coral and Port St. Lucie, Fla. The greatest numerical increases were in New York (309,773), Los Angeles (216,987), Washington (105,390), San Francisco (103,073) and Chicago (93,237).

From July 1, 2005, to July 1, 2006, metropolitan Chicago edged out Honolulu in Asian population.

Whites are now in the minority in nearly one in 10 U.S. counties. Some of them aren’t too happy with the increasing diversity in our country. What year is this? Minorities have for a long time had large populations in the cities but now they’re spreading into the suburbs and beyond where many Whites moved to get away from the ails of the city. Change happens.

“The new melting pots are not large international gateways,” Professor Frey said, adding, “Rather, many are fast-growing suburbs themselves.

As a person who’s job is to be where the most people are to make the highest impact I used to think I needed to be in the cities exclusively because of population density. Being in New Jersey shown me otherwise. While I think I still need to be in the city for other reasons it would be wise to think strategically about the suburbs.

Some churches seem to be on top of that.
Who woulda thunk that Lansdale, Pa would have a growing Asian population? Just 21 miles north of Philly. Cornerstone Presbyterian is a growing Asian-American family church engaging that growing population. Lansdale? It has a population of 15,913 among which is 8% Asian. Neighbor, Montgomeryville also sports a hearty 8%.

aint the way it’s supposed to be - in philly [ii]

i’m still processing my feelings about this whole event, the senseless act of violence that had taken the life of a member of our community, a friend, a brother, a father. i’ve been thinking about the impact it has on our church community. the latest news is that a suspect has been arraigned. he’s one of ten young boys being identified.

how do we make sense of it all?

was it a hate crime? what makes it a hate crime? what about all the other witnesses? how do you help heal a community? how do you help heal a family? what’s my role in all this?

all in the same breath this week, my 10mo. old nephew was in the ER with a 105 degree fever. my boy hosive requested prayer for his 8yr old nephew who was in a tragic accident that broke his spine in several places. by week’s end, that young soul passed on.

these kids whatever their motivation was probably never suspected that they would be identified as murderers after that night. a fleeting moment would change their lives, our lives from here on out. foolishness.

this morning i attended the funeral for mr. Kwok Wai-Ho. amongst the many family members i saw many friends from childhood. they probably did not recognize me. it’s been almost 15 years. i’ve filled out according to one friend i was able to reconnect with. it was not the most appropriate time or place to play catch up.

i preach tomorrow morning. i had planned on preaching from ecclesiastes weeks before.
who would have known that it would be the most appropriate book for such a time as this? God.
that’s the point i guess.
everything is just - hebel
this is a silent alarm.

here’s some new news links for updated stories: msnbc, foxphilly
read how a community blog forum responds - phillyblog

aint the way it’s supposed to be - in philly [updated]

there are disruptions in life all the time. then there are disruptions that slows your life down to where you question it. as a pastor sometimes you hear news that make your nostrils narrow. notice the physical presence of air going in. out. you swallow hard and become acutely aware of everything around you.
things aint supposed to be like this.

a week ago, a member of our church, Kwok Wai-ho, took a walk outside his home in his neighborhood where he was attacked by a group of young people. his head struck the ground leaving severe hemorrhaging. he’s been in a coma since the attack. an hour ago, i received word that his condition is terminal. i’m angry. sad. frustrated.
please pray for the family and our church community. pray for philadelphia. pray for the peace of the city
link to the nbc report

[update] the investigation now becomes a homicide case

as of today the homicide total in philly is 222
links to articles related to violence in philadelphia

• interactive map of homicides in philly 2007: nbc | philadelphia inquirer
• my previous post on fear and the city
• the philadelphia inquirer tracking the violence from 2004-2007

the future of chinatown

there was a recent article on the future of chinatown in the christian science monitor. there is no truer chinatown than what we experience in new york city but as the article points out it has felt the squeeze as it becomes harder for new immigrants to live there. as a result, chinese communities in flushing and brooklyn have thrived each with its particular culture. philadelphia is still able to attract many new immigrants but they live primarily in south philly not chinatown. south philly is closer to an ethnic enclave than philly chinatown is. the pressure of the squeeze has never been more visible with clear boundary markers and new construction for nice modern condos. our faith community seeks to help the community of chinatown flourish as well as track those of Chinese descent to engage them where they choose to live. many of our fuzhou congregants live in south philly and many of our graduate students live around upenn. many of the actual restaurant workers are hispanic. what does this all mean? well we’re still trying to figure that out but will keep you posted.

Urban development will ultimately win out, and as part of that trend, Chinatown will become a tourist destination, predicts Michael Liu, a research associate at the Institute for Asian-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts at Boston.
“The question is, who will this new Chinatown benefit?” asks Mr. Kwong, the author. “Making Chinatown a tourist destination … is not something to be handled by the location population.”

your turn:
if your church is located in a chinatown, please share your observations and how does your church engage the life and politics of chinatown

also reference peter kwong, the new chinatown
read a brief history of chinatown, philadelphia
another look at philadelphia chinatown through citypaper
phillyblog forum on chinatown
i heart the pcdc [philadelphia chinatown development corporation]
chinese churches committed to the community of chinatown - chinese christian church and center | chinese gospel church of philadelphia

Post Primary and AsiAms in the Philly electorate

I’ve been dragging my feet on blogging stuff but have had incredible human interactions lately. But alas this is an interesting read from AsianWeek on the reactions from the Philadelphia Primary.

Philadelphia ’s May 15 primary election brought one win and one loss for this city’s burgeoning Asian American electorate, but it was enough to move the city one step closer to its first Asian American councilmember. Contenders for city council at-large Republican David Oh and Democrat Andy Toy battled with candidates from their parties in the May 15 primary. But only Oh garnered enough votes to move into the general election in November.

Oh came in third out of a field of five. By placing in the top three, he will challenge the two leading Republicans, both incumbents, for two Republican council positions.

“In boxing, you have to step into the punch…let’s stop moving backward,” Oh has said of the city’s loss of jobs and decline in population.

“He would reclaim public service, and not for the sake of political power,” said Lee Huang, 34, an economic consultant.

Community and economic development expert Toy just missed placing in order to move on in his council race for one of five Democratic seats. Toy placed eighth among 19 candidates.

“Andy was not running as the Asian candidate, he was running as a candidate with an agenda for the whole city,” said Edward Kung, 73, who sits on the advisory committee of the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation. Toy is currently the chair of the board and has sat on the board for 15 years.

In the late 90’s, the mayor had chosen a site in Chinatown to build a ballpark without consulting with the community. The community eventually forced the plans out of Chinatown, one of the experiences that influenced Toy to run for office.

Asian Americans have started running for political office in the nation’s fifth most populated city at a time when the city’s racial demographics are changing. Philadelphia’s largest immigrant population are mainly from India, China, Korea, Vietnam and Cambodia.

“Asian Americans are a growing part of the electorate in Philadelphia,” said Glenn Magpantay, staff attorney of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund. “It also shows that they are really beginning this work.”

During the 2006 general election, AALDEF found that 29 percent of Asian American voters had limited proficiency in English. The city is not required to translate the ballot and election materials or provide interpreters in any other language except Spanish. AALDEF has asked the city to provide materials and interpreters in Chinese, Vietnamese, and Khmer.

Congratulations to David Oh and his family on the arrival of their new baby daughter, Hannah.