I first encountered Tony Evans when I first became a believer in 1996 and his ability to create stories that connected with scripture really brought me to a place where I believed that what the bible stated does bear in real life. Well, he is coming to town to promote and endorse 2020 Vision for Schools.

A night for all pastors, church deacons and elders, youth ministers, educators, community leaders, and congregants still uncertain about 20/20 Vision for Schools or not sure what to do next in adopting a local school. Come hear Rev. Dr. Tony Evans of the Urban Alternative, a nationally recognized faith leader and President of the National Church Adopt-a-School Initiative, share why public schools are the cutting edge of ministry in our city.

Pastors must RSVP by email for the 5 pm gathering.

The 7 pm gathering is open to all.

Watch what Dr. Evans is doing with the National Church Adopt-a-School initiative.

There are few times I am left speechless and with great heaviness. due to the earthquake in China that registered a 7.9 (some estimates say 7. magnitude hit China. It is the worst earthquake to hit China since 1976 which took the lives of 200,000 people in Tangshan.

Initial estimates say it is 10,000 people who have died because of the earthquakes. The most troubling story for me was about the 900 students who were trapped in the wreckage of Juyuan Middle School in China’s Sichuan province after Monday’s earthquake. Most are now presumed dead. Workers have recovered dozens of bodies and a few survivors from the rubble - but hundreds remain buried. The image of hundreds of parents standing to await news of their children is heartbreaking . Some could hear their children’s cry for help.

in Please consider giving to the relief efforts who are on the ground already doing work in China.

World Vision

Samaritan’s Purse

This is eschatology with such profound implications of reality. If we only had a vision of hope like this.

Finally (and I know this is late) but the long awaited video of Tim Keller at Google is out on Youtube. Of course he had to be introduced by an Asian guy. Enjoy! 

for more complete footage look here.

Pastoral and Laity Ministries (PaLM). PaLM is launching another season of monthly ENGAGE Speaker Series for the Laity serving Asian American churches. The past seasons we had topics on developing Asian American youth ministry, as well as, Asian American Church leadership. This Spring we are presenting a series to equip the Asian American church to think about social justice and community engagement. Last month we had over 70 people come out to hear Director of Restore NYC discuss the ministry outreaching to sex trafficked workers. Please forward this to your fellowship group leaders, lay leaders or pastors who might be interested in attending. Our next ENGAGE Speaker Series announcement is below:Tuesday, March 18,2008, 7-9pm

@ Oversea Chinese Mission (OCM) church in Chinatown154 Hester St. on the corner of Elizabeth St.To RSVP, contact Peter Ong at peter@palmny.org

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HT: Between Two Worlds

As a ministry to engage those people in the marketplace, I am hosting a weekly Friday Brown Bag lunch in Bryant Park this week (March 7th). We will discuss Tim Keller’s new book “Reason for God.” This is part of a ministry at Living Faith Community Church to build gospel community. My hope is that as we share a meal and exchange thoughts about faith we can get a deeper sense of the reality of God and engaging our faith in our workplace with those with questions. Keller’s “Reason For God” mends the lines that are often been estranged between those who proclaim to be skeptics. It will be a time for us to fellowship and to enjoy some conversation around the book. I recommend that you go out and purchase the book here (WTS) or here (Amazon) but your local bookstore should have it. We will meet at the Midtown Library at 40th and Fifth Avenue at 1 pm sharp and then head out to stake out a place in Bryant Park. If it should rain, we will meet a local conference room two blocks north of this venue. Please save my number onto your cell phone.

So bring your lunches, your minds and hearts to fellowship together and to seek out answers to these questions of faith.

If you are interested in joining us, please email me at peter {at} lfcc {dot} net or call met at 212-202-3264.

Yes, I am on a Tim Keller kick but “Reason for God” made the top New York Times Bestseller list for Hardcover Nonfiction. I honestly didn’t know there would be such a broad demand for it…looking forward to the buzz…yes, I am working a review…I will keep you posted.

Time Magazine wrote an article called “Does Obama Have an Asian Problem?” and as I read through this I realized how I felt both a sense of embarrassment as well as relief that some of the issues that it brought out. One part of me felt it like it was an airing of Asian America’s “dirty laundry.” What struck me was the question, “could it be that Asian Americans are not voting for him because he is black?” When I read that, I was caught off guard and not sure what to make of that question from a national publication. Perhaps race does play a part in the way we vote or want to see our leadership but I suspect that the Time article was trying to be provocative and not making a real investigative approach but rather it was a story looking for an issue rather vice versa.

But one quote that got me was this:

Alan Shum, 24, an analyst for an investment fund in New York City, cast his vote for Obama. But he also thinks his elders might have a problem doing the same. “Voting for a black candidate is just not something that would jump out at them,” he says. “Chinese people are really racist at times.” He points to the colloquial Chinese for “white” and “black,” which append both words with “devil.” “The vernacular tells you a little about something,” he says. “Chinese people can be very, very insular as a culture — very superior. We look down upon any race that isn’t Chinese.” (more…)