Question in the Abstract

Hey I've got a question. I would like to hear people's opinions: What does it mean to 'love God'? Is it pragmatic or emotive? Emperical or abstract? When someone says they love God, what is denoted by those words?

 

-Steph-

Captive

-note by Micah-

A powerful and heart wrenching masterpiece of poetry by Stephanie.

If this does not move you, I pity your soul.

Read it here.

TED India on child sex-slavery and rehabilitation

If you do nothing else today, WATCH THIS.

Sex industry rampant in Bucheon

Stephanie's poignant description of Bucheon, South Korea's pervasive sex industry, at StopChildSexSlavery.blogspot.com.

Read it here.

Ode to my bike

-by Micah-

This short post was birthed from the small adventure that was started by an Italian beer bottle.

It was the summer of 2007, Dad and I were astride our bikes, atop a prominent hill in Firenze overlooking the spectacular Duomo and the charming Ponte Vecchio as it spanned the river. In truth we were  not yet sightseeing, but searching for that night's campsight, hoping to set up the tent prior to finding what was to be one of many superb dinners in Italia.

We pointed our bikes down the East side of the hill, hoping to coast into camp when "Psssssssshhhhhhhh!!" my front tire was dead-flat in two seconds. The culprit was a broken green Birra Moretti bottle.

It was no matter, the day was brilliant and beautiful, and we were in Northern Tuscan hills; nothing could dampen our spirits! In fact, it was the only flat of the whole three week trip. Wow, what a great trip it was too.

But the glass did manage to gash the tire's sidewall, something that was a non-issue at the time, but now, two and a half years later, after hundreds of touring/commuting/general riding miles, it had become a thorn in my side.

Here in Korea I have been fortunate enough to be able to ride to the school I teach at; taking the bus has become a "fail!" scenario for me. The record so far has been -4C, and as winter gains momentum I'm sure to break it several times over. The temps may not hinder my addiction to two wheels, but the failure of said wheels could, and have.

"Psssssssshhhhhhhh!!"

I guess two flats in more than that many years on a set of tires is more than acceptable. Hooray Forte' tires! But this time it was not in Italy, it was not a beautiful day in Florence,  nor were the birds singing. Rather, the very heavy traffic was polluting the already heavily hazed sky, that was further hazed by the bleakness of the impending winter; the ever-setting hazed sun was doing little to warm anything, as the temperature was somewhere below zero and dropping fast.

In what I thought to be a stroke of genius I slid some Won notes between the inter-tube and the gashed sidewall (an old mtn. biking MacGyver trick), but as it turns out, Won notes are nowhere near as durable as the good ol', albeit depreciating, US Dollar bills. Shame! MacGyver trick - fail!

The Birra Moretti gash was only increasing in size, with inter-tube/Won notes peeking out like a turtle's head from its shell.

In the end I resorted to a new-used tire ($7 vs. the sticker-stock of $35-$60 for a new one). The dreaded "Psssssssshhhhhhhh!!" prayerfully a distant, haunting memory.

How's that for anti-climactic?

I think I'll use this as an excuse to post some portraits of my trusty steed - kind of a "still life" tribute

post script: Steph says, "these can't really count as 'still life' ya know?" - true, but my bike has life!

Kayla and Joel's 5th Anniversary

-by Micah-

-photos by Steph-

The Ericksons are some of our best friends here in Korea, and January will be delivering them a 5th wedding anniversary. Partly as a way of saying "congrats!" and partly just for the simple fun of it, we took some photos for them. We divided our time in both Bucheon's City Park and Seoul's Hongik University area (that place refuses to cease delivering excellent photo opportunities).

-click on any photo for best viewing-

-the above photo is a single shot, not two separates mirrored-

t

he fall colors were at their best

Stop Child Sex Slavery - our new blog

More Video!

You asked, we delivered! Three more videos from your favorite folks in Asia.

(Flicker only allows x<90sec. uploads, but that keeps Micah less long-winded, so prob. a good thing.)

Click 'em here!

God is answering prayers and working on people's hearts.

...and we will keep on praying with even more faith than before.

Red China

-by Micah-

INTRO

It may have been 3 months ago, but China is still fresh in our minds. The sixty year old communist state piggy backing on a multi-millennia old culture is bound to be memorable, but add to it a few logistical nightmares, the Great Wall, and surprisingly good food, and memorable becomes unforgettable.

GETTING THERE

The adventure started right off with a “delayed” flight out of Incheon. A scheduled 10:30am flight was re-scheduled to 2pm. An espresso, croissant, and nap later, we were sitting at our gate only to hear the plane was delayed an additional 30 mins. Thank God for good books.

Approximately halfway into the flight, the pilot informed us of “bad weather” in Beijing and that we were to land at a nearby airport. Taxiing along after landing we were greeted by rows of napping planes, all apparently waiting for clearance into Beijing. Fun.

A few hours later our feet finally hit the ground at China’s capital city. A 2.5hr trip had turned into a 12+hr haul.

But the next few days more than made up for such a hellish arrival. That first night was an 11pm, overpriced, but tasty dinner at the hotel’s restaurant, and a crash in a surprisingly posh, but inexpensive suit. We were soon to find that much could be had for relatively little (if you knew where to look).

THE GREAT WALL

The first item on the must-see list was the Great Wall. As it turns out, the grounding of the previous day’s plane due to bad weather was legitimate, and not some communist scheme to keep red-blooded Americans away. In turn the rains had temporarily washed the polluted sky to blue and our pictures were much happier for it. Check out some here. We were genuinely impressed, even a jaded Micah, at the sheer stature and length of this World Wonder. Apparently so was everyone else, cuz the Wall was just littered with people, as far as the eye (and lens) could see.

Mention must be made of that night. After a strenuous hike along the Wall, in the beating sun (note the umbrellas were not used for rain) we were famished. And much to our surprise, the downtown area of Beijing is NOT littered with eateries of every shape, size, and type. It's not even sparsely populated with a few back-alley dives with the local cuisine. What gives???

And two hours of wandering the downtown streets with guidebooks in hand did nothing to change the situation; our stomachs pleading only that much more. Even the taxi drivers would out-right deny us a ride as we shoved our guide books under their stuck-up noses. This is Beijing! This is the tourist center of Beijing! What gives???

Feeling very much defeated, but still unwilling to give in to the call of McDonald's, we turned to our hotel concierge. Brief directions and a cab ride later, we found ourselves in a hopping (and I do mean hopping) area of Beijing; we had just been looking in all the wrong places. After tossing our guide books in the nearest trash-bin, we found ourselves sitting in a dimly lit, but colorfully decorated dive-bar. In Asia you soon become comfortable with ordering food based on pictures alone. We just started pointing, and they just started bringing. This was the real deal, the real McCoy. It was greasy, it was rich, it was dense, it was hot, it was oh so good, and it just kept coming. Think American Chinese food...and then you will have no idea what I am talking about.

The night was far from over, even if the liter of Tsingtao beer was lulling us to sleep. There were things to see, and places to go. The night life was beckoning us to follow, and follow we did, along a lake-side walk way lined with bars, eateries and coffee shops. After some time of wandering, and a relaxing lake-side espresso to keep the engine running, it was time to call it a night. But being past 11pm the subway was bared and locked (My continued frustration in Asian subway early-closures is another blog post.), but we only discovered this after a 2k+ hike north to locate said subway. 2k north of what was a comfortably populated pedestrian mall turned into East Harlem on a Friday night at 2am. So naturally we turned to a cab, but apparently their noses were still sky-high, "Look bud, just cuz we're Americans, and are free from the lethal grip of communism, does not justify your animosity towards us. And even if it did, don't you want our money!? What gives???"

THE FORBIDDEN CITY

The one must-see item that might have competed with the Great Wall was the infamous Forbidden City. Cartoons based on movies, and movies based on history, and history based on folklore, and folklore based on…well, whatever folklore is based on…have been written and told for millennia, all based on events that took place right here. It’s all very sobering and mystical…until you stand in a sun-baked, hour-long line for tickets, only to be herded bovine-like through another hour-long line as it funneled down into three single-file entrance lines, at which point the frenzied crowd mentality was intense enough to have one more than a little concerned for physical well-being.

But once inside the sheer enormousness of the grounds was staggering. I'll admit I was not initially impressed, "This is just like every palace I've seen in Seoul..." And that was mostly true, yet with the size being multiplied by a factor of ten, some times over. Impressive.

One seemingly oxymoronic state-of-being: within what is essentially the shining crown of a communistic society stands proudly a Starbucks Coffee shop; one of the greatest symbols of capitalistic power. The irony was far from lost on me.

THE SUMMER PALACE
With numerous temples, palaces, and shrines surrounding the largest man-made reservoir on royal property, the Summer Palace was epic-ly beautiful.

From the Forbidden City it required a hike to a taxi to a subway to another taxi, and then once there: nothing but walking and walking. But the sights were scenic in nature and authentically ancient. So much so that some movie producer decided it was the perfect setting for his next blockbuster, and decided to film a royal procession for our benefit. Cameras rolling, extras standing in, the royalty up on litters, and us trying to sneak as close up as we could to get a view...look for us as extras in that new movie, "China! The big country over there in Asia!"

But before the day was over, and before our legs gave out on us. We got in some hiking up to a few shrines and a big temple, for a breathtaking view of Beijing and the surrounding palace grounds. China may not be known for their mountains, but they are some of the most rugged and majestic of any I have seen.

THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN

Sounds lovely does it not? Well names can and are deceiving. This was our last day in the Red City, and

Fighting for God

-by Micah-

One of my best friends shared a revelation with me recently. He told me about his new struggle in "fighting for a relationship with God". He explained it as, "removing distractions and allowing the Holy Spirit to be my motivation for the things I do day to day."

I thought about it, fighting for God, fighting for our time with God. It's a revelation we so badly need. Solomon says there is nothing new under the sun, and I believe it, but in today's "modern/technological" world I think it could be argued that there are more things than ever competing for our time.

Not that Old Testament Jews had it any easier, actually guess I could shoot down my aforementioned statement by considering the way people used to have to work the land for their dinner, while we just throw something in the microwave (well, some people do).

I'd be willing bet that if we told the Old Testament Jews of our 21st century conveniences and luxuries, they would assume us to have the surplus time to spend hours a day in Scripture and prayer, and even further hours in the care of widows and orphans. But quite the opposite has resulted. What exactly are we doing with all the time the microwave/cell phone/Internet/automobile have afforded us? We sure aren't breaking our backs like the Old Testament people did. We aren't digging wells for our water. We aren't spending every daylight hour for months building walls to protect our cities from invasion. We aren't even milking goats for milk anymore. But somehow we manage to say, "Wow, I've just been too busy this week to get into the Word...maybe on Sunday."

My friend mentioned "removing distractions" as a way of fighting for time with God. I think he is on to something. 'Cuz the stats show we are spending our time in three places (actually I have no idea what the stats show, I'm just making an educated guess here): at work, in the car, in front of the TV/computer. So, let's quit our jobs, sell our cars, and burn our TVs!!

Well, maybe not, but something along those lines is where our generation needs to head. Okay, forget the whole "our generation" cliche'. It's where WE need to head. How many cars do you own? No, seriously, that's not a rhetorical question; how many cars do you own? How many TVs? Cable or satellite subscription? How many hours per week are you working? If it's over 40-45 you may need to prioritize.

Am I being too judgmental? Too legalistic? Maybe I am; only God can judge the heart.

So yeah, we could cancel our cable TV service, give away a car, limit the number of movies and Friends episodes we watch each week. And guess what!?!? We could tell our bosses to take no more than 40hrs/week or we'll quit and find a job that actually respects us and our lives outside work! Sure you'll take a pay cut, but let's talk about priorities! Actually, priorities are another topic altogether.

We could do all those things, but in the end I'd just encourage you to add up where your time goes, and then pray about it. If you listen, He will tell you.

Kingdom of God?

-by Micah-

A good friend poised a hypothetical question, in response to the previous post:

"Is the Kingdom of God an organization or a church? [W]e don't belong to a church and don't really feel connected to any church from our past. On top of that we are not all that familiar with many ministries that we could give it to...What is the Kingdom of God?"

He brings up two important issues: what composes the "Kingdom of God"? And, what does someone do if they don't have a "home-church" and have no true heartstrings attached to any given ministry? (As a side note, I would encourage anyone in this situation to pray for God's leading towards a home-church; important stuff.)

I will not try to sound like I have all the answers, but this I know: God's Kingdom is everywhere. It's the scruffy beggar, the orphan, your neighbor, the widow (poor or rich), your spouse, the massive Presbyterian church on the corner, any ministry that is organized in Jesus' name, the non-denominational church that meets in the elementary school gym, me and you, etc. etc. etc. (as some bald headed king once said.)

In regards to not feeling connected and not being familiar with specific ministries: a wise author wrote, "Your heart will follow your money." And it's so true. Just pick a ministry and give. It's that simple.

-Compassion International
-the Voice of the Martyrs
-Love146
-Focus on the Family
-Focus Action
-International Justice Mission (IJM)

The list goes on, but these are some ministries and organizations that are doing POWERFUL work for the Kingdom. These are places we give and our hearts have grown heavy for their missions: Children in Ethiopia, Martyrs in Saudi Arabia, 11 year old girls sold as sex slaves, the American family, conservative politics, human trafficking.

There are hundreds of organizations that are giving everything for the Kingdom. We are called to give everything too; we are going to be held accountable for what we do with our resources: our prayers, our money, our time, our blood, our tears, our sweat, our lives.

There is SO much joy that comes in giving (and NOT just money, although that is the place to start). Please don't let any excuse stand in your way.

$100K!!

-by Micah-


A WINDFALL
 When great-Aunt Emma past away last week, it was a shock to the whole family. Her health had appeared fine, but sometimes these things just happen. We all morn for Aunt Emma, but the sorrow has been tempered a bit.

We all knew Aunt Emma was rich, she had a home in Carmel, and vacationed to Mexico often. But just how rich was not realized until word came of the inheritance.

We were not even that close; I remember visiting with her years ago at a family reunion in San Fransisco, but since then we hadn't exchanged anything beyond the annual birthday greeting. The news of $100,000 came as a bit of a surprise. But we are not complaining in the slightest. Thanks Aunty Emm!!!

SPENDING THE MONEY
The cool $100K has not even hit our bank account and the money is already spent. Funny how that works. Not physically spent mind you, but in our heads we know where every dollar is going.

Being obedient, and striving for virtue, the top 20% will go back to God's Kingdom. There are multiple ministries and organizations who we would love to bless.

Next, prudence must rule. We still have student debt and this will be taken care of. Another $20K leaves as quickly as it came.

Then we think towards the future and will continue to fund our Roth IRA, and perhaps set up a Health Savings Account (HSA). $5K to each should do nicely.

Now the fun begins right? Obedience and obligations satisfied leaves us some room to play. We both need new computers, we both need road bikes, we both need new mtn. bikes, and we could really use a more Colorado oriented car for the winter driving.

Okay, okay, the fun may sound a little over blown, but hey! We just came into $100 grand! Live a little. Toys all come in at about $21K.

So, there it is: $71K down and $29K left, the perfect amount for a down payment on a house! Colorado home-ownership here we come!

THE QUESTION

But you know what this leaves me wondering? Is this the way it's supposed to be? Is this windfall really a good thing? Have we indeed bettered ourselves in this process? Sure we will have been "obedient" and "prudent" with our giving, and our savings, and our investments; heck, the debt pay-off in itself is applaudable. But in the end, will we actually be closer to God?

THE TRUTH

Well, in case you thought it odd, and even audacious of me to flaunt this news (and all the spending details) in your face, I think you would be right.

The truth is, this is all fabricated; there is no Aunt Emm and no $100K. But my point is this:

THE POINT

I asked myself what I would do with $100K. I answered honestly, that really is what I would do. And for the most part, I believe it a decent expenditure of the money. Paying off debt is always good, saving and investing are prudent, and giving to the Kingdom is the BEST use of your money period.

But when I asked myself the question, "Would I be closer in relationship to God?" I realized I would not. In fact, quite the opposite would result.

In spending that money I would have eliminated liability, liability that makes me very dependent upon God, I would have created a "safety net/buffer," something that would make me less dependent on God. To top it off I would have created/purchased more idols/gods in my life to worship other than Him. In the end I would have pushed myself further from Him.

You could say to me, "But you would have given twenty-thousand dollars to the Kingdom; that would bring you closer to God." But does $20K-closer plus $80K-further add up to a positive?

THE END

So, in the end, I think I got a glimpse of why God does not shower us with tons of money, even when we know He wants good things for us. Maybe someday, when I could honestly say I'd give it all away, He will bless me like that. But until then...

Would $100K be nice? Yeah it would! But if it means I mentally lose my dependence on God while pride and idols take root, then no. No amount of money is worth that.

Post-It Verses

Brady & Jessica's Engagement Shoot

Well, this long weekend we had the unique opportunity to provide a favor for a couple good friends.

We met Brady and Jessica on our first visit to Onuri English Ministry here in Bucheon (BOEM). Brady is the teaching pastor at BOEM as well as an English teacher at a local academy; Jessica is on her second year of teaching at a public elementary school.

Brady and Jessica were engaged this last summer on a return trip to the States. They will be married this January.

We spent the Saturday afternoon in Seoul's Hongik University area. Being the top liberal arts school, it is known for its eclectic mix of coffee shops, eateries, boutiques, and artistic murals.

See? Korea can be fun.

Click on any of these to get a high-res image:

One of my favorites.

If some of these posses look familiar, that's because they are. Being a first time for us, we were not hesitant to take a few cues from known pros.

This turned out to be Steph's and my favorite background; there is something about deep-red that is rich to me.

Brady spotted this Korean-graffiti for what turned out to be the most unique series of the day.

Most all credit goes to Steph for her quick work and general knowledge of the Nikon, while I got a handful of shots in, she took a lion's share of the near 600 frames.

Thanks Brady and Jessica, for trusting us with such a significant event - we had a blast.