Robert Park

The news media has reported that an American, apparently Robert Park, illegally crossed from the PRC into North Korea last week and was almost immediately taken into custody by North Korean authorities. The story has not received a tremendous amount of attention in the mainline press. I’m rather fascinated by both Mr. Park’s decision to go to North Korea, as well as the relative lack of interest by the American media.

Mr. Park is apparently 28 years old and from Tucson, Arizona. He also has family ties to San Diego, where his parents and brother live. Mr. Park is Korean American. He is also a devout Christian. When he entered North Korean territory, it is reported he stated, "I am an American citizen. I brought God's love. God loves you and God bless you." It is also reported that when he entered North Korea, he had a letter for Kim Jong Il which read: "[God] loves you and wants to save you and all of North Korea today. Please open your borders so that we may bring food, provisions, medicine, necessities, and assistance to those who are struggling to survive. Please close down all concentration camps and release all political prisoners today, and allow care teams to enter to minister healing to those who have been tortured and traumatized." Mr. Park’s father, Pyong Park, has stated that his son said “I'm not afraid to die as long as the whole world, every nation, pays attention to the North Korea situation."

Robert Park apparently has done a lot of work with his church for a number of years. It has been reported that he ministered regularly to the poor in Nogales, Mexico (across the border from Arizona). He went to South Korea last summer and apparently prolonged his stay because he was so deeply touched by the plight of the North Korean people. His mother explained, “He felt their pain so much.” Mr. Park had been in the PRC ministering to the needs of North Koreans who were escaping their country, but he reportedly gave up that effort because of the PRC government’s policy to return such North Koreans to their home country, which exposed them to harsh punishment. In San Diego and Tucson churches, prayer vigils have been organized on behalf of Mr. Park. In San Diego, Rev. Madison Shockley said, “Robert is doing what God called on him to do. We call this speaking truth to power."

Personally, I’m not sure what to make of Mr. Park. Part of me thinks he is a misguided young man who has risked an international uproar with the crazed dictator of an already unstable and dangerously closed society. However, another part of me admires Mr. Park's apparently profound love and empathy for the misery of North Koreans, and his willingness to sacrifice his own life in a desperate attempt to bring attention to a forgotten region of great suffering. Indeed, it makes me ashamed that I myself haven’t been more concerned about the people of North Korea. But at the end of the day, I’m not sure if Mr. Park has more in common with Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab or Oscar Romero.

I am also fascinated by the relative lack of interest in this story by the mainline American media. In many media reports, Mr. Park is described as a “missionary.” However, I’m not sure what that label means exactly in his context. Perhaps the secular media just doesn’t know how else to label a young man who goes to a reclusive nation proclaiming God’s love. In fact, I wonder if Mr. Park’s apparent religious motivation for going to North Korea may be responsible at least in part for the relative lack of media interest in this story. I suspect that many in the mainline media instinctively think proclaiming God’s love as a motivation for anything—let alone the potentially suicidal act of illegally entering North Korea—is evidence of being mentally unbalanced (or at least dim witted).


http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/12/29/north.korean.american.held/index.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2009/12/29/2009-12-29_north_korea_american_missionary_robert_park_detained_after_illegal_entry.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34611705/ns/world_news-asiapacific/

Luke 1:78-79


God's love and kindness
will shine upon us
like the sun that rises
in the sky. On us who live
in the dark shadow
of death
this light will shine
to guide us
into a life of peace.

Congregational Spotlight: Travis Park United Methodist Church in San Antonio, Texas

As noted before in this blog, in the modern era, many non-believers have unfortunately come to view Christianity as a subcomponent of conservative politics and to simply equate the faith with political stances against legalized abortion, same sex marriage and taxes. Such a view of the faith tremendously distorts the message and ministry of Jesus Christ, and is one of the motivations for this blog. As a result, I would like to spend some time in this blog focusing on more positive examples of the church in order to provide a more balanced and a more accurate view of the faith. In that vein, I am beginning an occasional series of posts that I will call “Congregational Spotlight.”

It is probably helpful to note that I personally do not necessarily agree with or endorse 100% of the things espoused by the leaders of each of these spotlighted congregations. Contrary to popular misconception, Christ followers are not a homogenous group. Heck, even my husband and I do not see eye to eye on every topic. God made each of us to be unique with our own perspectives. Consequently, I do not think it is necessary to agree on every detail to spotlight a particular congregation.

The first congregation I would like to spotlight is Travis Park United Methodist Church (TPUMC) in San Antonio, Texas. When our family is in San Antonio visiting relatives, TPUMC is the church we typically attend. Our children enthusiastically refer to it as the “cookie church” because at the end of the service, volunteers are in the hallway with trays of cookies that they offer to people as they leave the church building. This is one the highlights of my gourmand kiddos’ day! I admit the cookies are pretty tasty, but that is hardly the reason I wanted to spotlight this particular congregation.

TPUMC was founded in 1846, which is ancient in Texas terms. (Texas became a state in the union in 1845.) TPUMC is located in downtown San Antonio in a lovely old building amongst well-appointed hotels like the St. Anthony and the Menger. It is close to the tourist revelry of the River Walk. The church also sits cattycorner to Travis Park, a public park that is home to a number of the city’s homeless population. For this reason, the church has long had a robust ministry to the homeless. Its Corazon Ministries program is the umbrella for its homeless ministry programs. (In Spanish, the word "corazon" means "heart.")

TPUMC states it is “grounded in history and vision” and its people “seek to live and love as God does: passionately and unconditionally.” The church also believes that “God calls us on a journey forward, to break down the walls of prejudice, and to embrace all our brothers and sisters.” As a result, the church’s motto is “We serve and learn with brothers and sisters from all walks of life: rich and poor, housed and homeless, gay and straight, black and brown and white, secular and sacred, PhD and GED.” That diversity is evident when we attend the 11 a.m. “celebration” service. There are conservatively-dressed older white folks, young people in hip jeans, biracial families, same sex couples, and tired-looking people in tattered clothing. The 11 a.m. jazz band and choir are a composite of very talented folks from different backgrounds. Their music really energizes the diverse congregation.

One of the most moving bible studies my husband and I have ever attended was an adult Sunday school class at TPUMC, which was attended by a number of homeless folks. It is hard to know for sure, but beyond the pastor who faciliated the class and his assistant, my husband and I might have been the only attendees who were not homeless. A couple of the other attendees frankly slept through the class, presumably due to a rough night with no place comfortable to sleep for an extended period. But the (many) others were very engaged in the pastor’s morning lesson. Many of them had brought their own bibles to consult during the lesson. My husband and I were pretty quiet during the class, but the other attendees answered the pastor’s doctrinal questions knowledgeably and responded to his more open-ended questions with moving, personal testimonies of their faith. They gave us a lot of food for thought. They also taught us powerful lessons about judging people without even listening to them and discounting a person’s insights due to their exterior appearance. It was very humbling.

A link to TPUMC’s website is provided below. If you have occasion to visit San Antonio, I encourage you to visit the “cookie church.”

http://www.travispark.org/templates/System/default.asp?id=42710

Matthew 22:37-40

He said to him, ‘ “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’

West Valley View editorial on Christmas

I am a fan of community newspapers. I like to read the West Valley View (a secular periodical) because it informs me of the geographic area where I live. It also has a vibrant editorial page, where my neighbors in the West Valley passionately proclaim their political views and rip to shreds those of their opponents. (Long live the First Amendment!)

Recently, the newspaper ran a really interesting editorial about how the religious meaning of Christmas has been exploited and degraded in our culture. The editors do not mention Focus on the Family’s “Stand for Christmas” Campaign explicitly, but that campaign seems to be the implicit target of the editors’ anger. The link below pulls up the editorial, which is entitled “Would Jesus Celebrate Christmas?” Food for thought.

http://www.westvalleyview.com/main.asp?SectionID=6&SubSectionID=2&ArticleID=35984&TM=72632.77

Luke 12:33 (Wycliffe New Testament)

Sell ye those things that ye have in possession [Sell ye those things that ye wield], and give ye alms. And make to you satchels that wax not old, treasure that faileth not in heavens, whither a thief approacheth not [whither a thief nigheth not], neither moth destroyeth.

Friends of God: A Road Trip With Alexandra Pelosi (2007) (The Film's Title)

The title of the film comes from the song “Friend of God” by Israel Houghton. Perhaps I am wrong, but my impression is that Ms. Pelosi chose the title in order to insinuate that the Christians featured in the film were self-righteous people who believed themselves to be God’s chosen people and/or to have special insights as to God’s will. Again, that subtle message does not serve the purported aim of the film to help the rest of society to better understand Evangelicals. Moreover, it distorts and misrepresents the song, from which the film’s title is taken.

Israel Houghton’s song is not a boastful song. Quite the opposite. The song begins with humble questions that are typically sung softly:

Who am I that You are mindful of me
That You hear me when I call?
Is it true that You are thinking of me?

The chorus rejoices in the answer to these questions:

I am a friend of God
He calls me friend.

The song is based on James 2:23, which references Isaiah 41:8. The point of these passages is that the Creator of the Universe loved Abraham so much that He called him his “friend,” a term that denotes intimacy and love. As the spiritual descendants of Abraham, God loves us all in the same way. This is a beautiful, powerful concept to many if not most Christ followers. It is the essence of the Good News of Christ—that God loves each us very deeply and personally.

If one listens carefully to the lyrics, it is clear that Houghton’s song is not at all boastful or self-righteous. Instead, the song actually expresses great humility and awe that despite being relatively powerless human beings our omnipotent Creator loves each of us so ardently and intimately.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu4PWSnVabg

http://www.logon.org/English/s/p035.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMnMN08sv4k&feature=fvw

James 2:23 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

So the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness , and he was called God's friend.



Isaiah 41:8 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)


But you, Israel, My servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
descendant of Abraham, My friend

Friends of God: A Road Trip With Alexandra Pelosi (2007) (Trying to Understand Evangelicals or to Mock Them?)

Alexandra Pelosi was born in San Francisco and lives in New York City. She is the daughter of Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, and the granddaughter of the Democratic politician, Thomas D’Alesandro, Jr. Alexandra Pelosi is a former journalist who began making political documentaries for HBO in the 2000s. Her most recent film was Right America: Feeling Wronged, which chronicled the failed 2008 McCain bid for the presidency and the subsequent plight of disappointed Republicans. With such a pedigree, it probably comes as no surprise that Ms. Pelosi tends to be left of center culturally and politically. In interviews, however, she has expressed that she tries very hard to be fair and not simply portray conservatives as freaks or fanatics. When watching Friends of God: A Road Trip with Alexandra Pelosi, that assertion is pretty hard to swallow.

In the film, Ms. Pelosi does not visit with people whom I would consider to be typical Christians. There are no visits to the local youth group sorting cans at a food pantry or a men’s group meeting for a monthly Bible study/pancake breakfast. Instead, Ms. Pelosi introduces us to a much more unusual slice of the American Christian population as her road trip crisscrosses the South. (Aren’t there Christians outside of Dixie?? Or is it just easier to lampoon the subjects of the film when they speak with a drawl?)

The film kicks off the road trip with a visit to Lakewood Church in Houston. Predictably, it is noted that the Church’s current facility is humongous—it is the city’s former pro-basketball arena. Ms. Pelosi also introduces us to a Bible-themed theme park in Florida that is attempting to compete with Disney World. The Christian Wrestling Federation (complete with cheesy costumes) and Cruisers for Christ (a club for Christian automobile enthusiasts) are also spotlighted. Ms. Pelosi interviews a gentleman who spends tens of thousands of his own dollars to erect huge, towering crosses in prominent locations near high traffic roadways. She also shares footage of a seminar where young children are shown evidence that the Theory of Evolution is a lie. Later smug adults are interviewed to explain why they believe in Creationism and why Evolutionists are not well-educated. Ms. Pelosi and her camera also visit a bank-style drive-through church where a Christian in a teller booth provides motorists with a quick prayer before they drive off into the sunset. And in between these vignettes, we are shown lots of religious billboards with bumper sticker type humor and/or scary warnings.

One of the few times Ms. Pelosi’s road trip ventures outside the South, she visits the New Life Church in Colorado Springs and interviews its pastor, Ted Haggard. In one particularly bizarre scene, Pastor Ted boasts that Christians have the best sex lives, and to prove his point he impulsively asks two of his stunned parishioners how often they have sex with their wives and how often their wives have an orgasm. Due to the reactions of the parishioners, the scene is actually painful to watch.

To open the film, Friends of God begins with silent text indicating that shortly after the documentary was shot in 2006, Pastor Ted’s affair with a male prostitute became publicly known. My sense after watching the whole film was that the news of the scandal was likely received with glee by the makers of Friends of God because it just added to the freak show nature of their film. Indeed, Ms. Pelosi’s next film focused just on the scandal: The Trials of Ted Haggard.

Friends of God was produced at a time when the news and entertainment industries (are they really separate industries any more?) were still reeling from and trying to dissect John Kerry’s narrow loss to George W. Bush in 2004. The semi-hysterical tag line from the election had been that Christians were the secret to W’s success. The press and pop culture particularly focused on the influence of an apparent subcategory of Christians: the Evangelicals. Pelosi and HBO plugged this documentary as an attempt to better understand Evangelicals, who were an increasingly influential cultural and political force.

Personally, I get a little wary whenever the term “Evangelical Christian” is even used. I hear the term most from people who are not Christ followers, particularly as they try to describe the relative political success of George W. Bush and other socially conservative politicians. In my life, I’ve attended a lot of different churches. In my experience, the term just doesn’t come up. People don’t say things like “I’m not an Evangelical, I believe in the Theory of Evolution” or “This is an Evangelical Church, liberals beware.” That just doesn’t happen. Indeed, I’m not sure what the term “Evangelical” even means. I’ve looked it up in several dictionaries, but the definition is fairly broad and technically describes a good number of Christians. Heck, per some definitions, I even appear to be an Evangelical. But I don’t think that is what the news and entertainment industry intend when they use the term. Their aim seems to be to describe the narrower slice of Christians who vote in elections inspired by conservative positions on hot button issues like abortion, gay marriage and the teaching of evolution in public schools. My perception is that such use corrupts the term “Evangelical” just like the term “Christian” has been corrupted in recent years.

Although Alexandra Pelosi is polite to her interviewees and does not exhibit towards Christians the overt hostility demonstrated by others in pop culture, Friends of God just cannot fairly be characterized as an honest attempt to better understand Evangelicals. The film sets such a freak show tone that Pelosi’s clear message is that Evangelical Christians are quite different from us normal folk. Such an approach does not promote understanding, it promotes further polarization. If Ms. Pelosi had focused on more mainstream individuals, the result might have been different.

Ephesians 2:14-16

“Christ has made peace between Jews and Gentiles, and he has united us by breaking down the wall of hatred that separated us. ...He even brought Jews and Gentiles together as though we were only one person, when he united us in peace. On the cross Christ did away with our hatred for each other.”

God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It by Jim Wallis (Final Thoughts)

In a chapter entitled “The Ties That Bond: Family and Community Values,” Wallis shares his thoughts on the “Controversy over Gay Marriage.” But those thoughts are not shared until well into the chapter. Instead, Wallis devotes much time describing how he thinks family values are under attack in our culture.

Wallis decries reality T.V. shows that encourage the paid participants to have sex with one another, and relays the observation of a friend that such arrangements fit the definition of “prostitution.” Wallis also queries how Fox can get away with “preaching conservative politics and family values in their news and commentary shows while produce such a sleazy lineup of ‘entertainment’ programs.” He also notes that the 2005 Super Bowl half-time show was made infamous by the baring of Janet Jackson’s breast, but in actuality that was simply the “crude climax” to a crassly sexualized half-time show and a barrage of violent and sexualized images in the commercials. Wallis says:

“You want to know why people join the religious Right? It may have less to do with wanting to take over the country than being desperate to protect their kids from the crass trash and degrading banality that media conglomerates like Viacom (which owns both CBS and MTV) seem to think is just fine family entertainment for Super Bowl night. Fortunately, my kids were in bed before the half-time show, but next year we may just go with Mary Poppins in the other room.

Again, some people think that only right-wing conservatives care about such moral pollution. Wrong. Most parents I know, liberal or conservative, care a great deal about it, as do most self-respecting women and men. It defies ingrained stereotypes to suggest that a healthy, moral consistency applies to personal and sexual ethics as well as to social and political values. It’s time to break out of those old ideological shibboleths and forge a unified front against the amoral corporate agree that violates all our ethics—personal and social—by creating a system that sells beer and breasts in the same advertising plans just to make a buck.”

Later in the chapter, Wallis adds:

“Being new parents ourselves, with two young boys, Joy and I talk to lots of other parents. Our experience suggests that mothers and fathers across the political spectrum now regard parenting in America as a countercultural activity. When I make such a statement on the road, all the parents in the audience begin nodding their heads—whether they are political liberals or conservatives. The values of a materialistic and hedonistic culture are clearly arrayed against our raising children with moral and spiritual values.”

Proverbs 22:6 (New International Version - UK)

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It by Jim Wallis (Wallis's Views on Abortion)

Wallis has some interesting comments on the issue of abortion: “Religious and political conservatives often raise the issues of abortion and gay marriage. I have clearly disagreed with the Democrats on abortion, believing that Christians can be both progressive and pro life. I’ve urged the Democrats to be much more respectful and welcoming of pro-life Democrats. Someday, a smart Democrat will figure out how both pro-choice and pro-life people could join together in concrete measures to dramatically reduce the abortion rate by focusing on teen pregnancy, adoption reform, and real support for low-income women. That would be so much better than both sides using the issue as a political football and political litmus test during elections, and then doing little about it afterward.”

Wallis also stated: “If the Democrats could be persuaded by both good political sense and sound moral values to moderate some of their positions by becoming anti-abortion without criminalizing an agonizing and desperate choice, and being pro-family without being anti-gay, they would change politics in America by giving permission to millions of voters who would naturally vote for them except for the cultural and moral divide they feel with Democratic language and policies.”

Wallis warns that political “liberals generally fail to comprehend how deep and fundamental the conviction on ‘the sacredness of human life’ is for millions of Christians, especially Catholics and evangelicals, in forming their view of abortion.” Such “pro-life” Christians may be economic populists, feminists, and even radical on other issues of peace and justice. Wallis decries a political litmus test amongst Democrats that alienated Robert Casey from the opportunity to speak to the party convention in 1992 and 1996, and “virtually forced” Jesse Jackson to change his pro-life views to run for president. Wallis also criticizes the Republicans as too rigid on their pro-life platform, and as not vocal or active enough in efforts to bring down the number of abortions in our country. By contrast, Wallis endorsed the emphasis of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin on a “seamless garment of life” that links the “life issues” of abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, nuclear weapons, poverty, and racism.

Deuteronomy 30:11-20 (King James)

11 “For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. 15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16 in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, 18 I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 20 that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”