tellitslant

BANGKOK, Thailand — 2549. Is it the number of Starbucks stores in Bangkok? Or perhaps the number of older farang men holding hands with significantly smaller Thai women? Or maybe it’s the number of times Thai people say khrap or kha in a given day? (Depending on your gender, you can use one of the words at the end of a sentence to be polite, or use it as “yes” or “uh-huh” throughout conversations.) Or maybe it’s the number of portraits of the King of Thailand strewn all over the city? Or it could be the number of welts left by mosquitos who have drunk deeply from our veins?

No, instead it represents a stitch in time. Read the rest of this entry »

BANGKOK, Thailand — Sawadii khrap! Greetings from Bangkok — and Jinhee and I both feel that we’re getting to see a side of Bangkok others rarely do.

Walk with us across a busy street on an overpass. It’s muggy, over 90 degrees with sweat on us like paint on walls. Head to the 7-Eleven, but don’t be tempted by its air-conditioning inside. Go to its left and down the alley. Keep going through the parking lot of a golf range, and walk down a narrow garbage-strewn path between the fence of a soccer field and the barb-wired wall of the golf range. Then you’ll see the sign to Dave’s community, Permsup, way off the beaten path and out of Bangkok’s sight. Read the rest of this entry »

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA — Many years ago, I gave a talk called “the Art of God-Watching.” It’s the craft of seeing God’s fingerprints on everyday life. It takes some training, but once we have some competence, we can start to see burning bushes even along concrete, gum-stuck city sidewalks. Yes, each moment then can be a heart’s cry, lifting up over the car horns and carbon monoxide and soaring up to the heavens. Each day could be filled with Mozart-like inspiration.

Yesterday, a friend of mine said that she wanted to be inspired by her boyfriend. I want to be inspired too — not by her boyfriend though. (Just wanted to be clear.) Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been doing more teaching about women’s roles in ministry lately, in part because of the popularity of the Da Vinci Code. In it, Dan Brown highlights the ways Christianity has oppressed “the feminine” over the centuries. He gets some things right, but gets much of it wrong. It is, after all, a work of fiction. But the topic of women in ministry has been on my mind. (If you want to read an article I wrote on a Biblical view of women in ministry, click here.)

So a week ago, I was reading through the book of Judges in the Bible. It’s a bipolar book, cycling between upswings of faith and downswings of infidelity. But the people go from bad to worse, with the highs getting lower and the lows even lower still — it’s downright depressing. But in the middle of it all is a highlight I’ve never noticed before: Manoah’s wife. Read the rest of this entry »

I turned 33 yesterday, and many people have told me that it’s the year that Jesus finished his earthly ministry and was crucified. Not only did I start thinking about all that I hadn’t accomplished up til now, but I also started thinking how I would be crucified this year. And they call themselves my “friends.” But today, I got a taste of pain, though on a much, much smaller scale.

This evening, I was putting the finishing touches on this website. I clicked the button and sat in shock: I erased all of my posts. All gone. But I’m not afraid. I have a backup. Phew. So I followed the instructions and purged my old website from the server to make room for the backup. Then I uploaded the backup, and I got this message: “It looks like Wordpress is not installed. Click here for…” My server was a blank slate. Read the rest of this entry »

Hi everyone! I couldn’t sleep yet again but this time it’s because I was obsessing over this new blog. I wanted to spiff up the ol’ website. What do you think? Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been unable to sleep well these days. So after about 15 minutes, if I’m not asleep, I wander back to the living room and start surfing channels. Sometimes, the remote takes me to FOX news — and like a bad car accident, I have to linger and catch a glimpse.

As I watched, a commentator said that he wasn’t a racist, but that he could tell the truth because he’s not a politician. The truth? All illegal immigrants should be sent back to Mexico, he said, because it’s the law. But I just wonder if he uses that same logic with the speed limit or jaywalking on himself. Read the rest of this entry »

With gas prices topping $3 per gallon out here in San Diego, it’s hard to hear that Exxon had a year of record profit, raking in $36 billion. And no matter where your political allegiances lie, when American servicemen and Iraqi civilians are being killed in a drawn-out war that has less ties to WMD’s and perhaps a bit more to American oil interests, it’s even harder to hear that its newly-retired Exxon CEO Lee Raymond received a $400 million retirement package today. Out of violence, a corporation reaped great profits.

Something’s not right. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been getting into conversations about money these days, and that’s not usually my style. But in the past three days or so, I’ve had at least four major talks or so about money — about people who have it, about people who don’t, and in particular, the dreams people have about it.

But I have a dream: ten years from now, it would be great to look someone in the eye and ask for $20 million to eliminate tuberculosis in Cambodia or something — anything. I would love to ask another person for $30 million to teach everyone in Sierra Leone how to read. I would love to have the networks to ask big, and redistribute the wealth sitting in commercial real estate, stock portfolios, second homes or other investments and use it to really make a difference in the world. Read the rest of this entry »

Prophets are hard to find these days. But there is one in our midst, wearing a leather jacket, long hair, colored shades and some stubble. Perhaps it’s the camel-hair clothing and leather belt of the 21st century.

Bono was born Paul Hewson, but a high school buddy stole the name “Bono Vox” from a hearing aid store — Latin for “good voice” and gave it to him. He shortened it to “Good,” and he’s lived up to his namesake: he has not only made some incredibly soulful music, but he has also called presidents, kings, governments and nations to bring shalom — wholeness — to the poorest countries in the world. Read the rest of this entry »

Forgive me this blog, because I want to praise my wife. I know, some of you want to reach for the garbage pail and hurl. But since the not-so-grand genesis of Tell It Slant, I have not once dedicated an entry to her, and she deserves much more. So pull out the Air Sickness bags if you have to, but we’re still going to taxi and take-off.

It was six o’clock on Friday morning, and I was frantically searching through my backpack. I had 25 minutes before United Airlines flight #1106 left Gate 15 of San Diego’s Lindbergh International Airport, but I hadn’t yet gotten in line to pass security. I had been careful to bring my cell phone, Bluetooth earpiece, laptop with an extra battery, iPod, headphones — plus all the corresponding cords and adapters — two books, and even the Holy Bible to travel to the East Coast. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m speaking on worship twice in the next few days, and so I’ve been doing a lot of research on it. (Sing: Google it, just a little bit…) One cool thing I did learn today was that our word worship comes from the Old English weorthscipe which means “worth-ship,” the homage given to something because it is worthy. But to be honest, it gets frustrating reading what many others write on it.

For one thing, few people use the word the same way. Some people use it to talk only about the musical experience of the gathering of God’s people. At the other end of the spectrum, others use it to talk about the entirety of our lives. All of life is worship, and it’s true. But the loose definitions aren’t always helpful. Read the rest of this entry »