Why Young Evangelicals are going Liturgical

I have a confession to make;  I have been, and probably still am, a "sneaker."

Now, don't look so surprised.  There are a LOT of us and if you are a Beyond the Pale reader there is a chance you either are one...or may give it a try :)

So what is a "sneaker" you ask?

Well, I read an interesting blog post over at Adorate Worship about how many, mainly young people, are "sneaking" out of their evangelical / charismatic churches on the off Sunday to go hang out with the Catholics, Anglicans, and other more mainline denominations to participate in a little liturgical worship.

Now some of you reading this are wondering "Why on earth would anyone want to do that?"  Others of you reading this are nodding your head and whispering an "amen" because you know exactly why they're doing it!

I've been a Christian for 37 years now and remember the 1970s when the "sneaking" went the other way.  Catholics, Lutherans, & Methodists, bored by the monotony of traditional hymns and church organs, were "sneaking" into charismatic worship times for a little hand clapping, foot stomping "Hallelujah" action.  I remember being 10 years old and telling my Catholic friend Bobby, "Dude, we have electric guitars and drums...in church."

Oh, how the times have changed...

So why, after 30-40 add years where evangelical "praise and worship" has become the new "traditional",  do young evangelicals "sneak" off to more liturgical and corporate times of worship?  The blog piece at Adorate Worship suggests:

The reasons for this new wave of sneakers are obvious.  They’ve grown up dancing, so they long to kneel.  They’ve grown up with masterfully orchestrated services, so they long for worship that may be planned, but never rehearsed.  They’ve grown up with the latest, so they long for the oldest.  They’ve grown up with, “God is here, let’s celebrate!”   They long for “God is here, let’s kneel and be silent.” 

 
They’ve grown up being urged, “Now, everyone can just worship God however you might want.  Just let the Holy Spirit move you.  We are all different.”  So now some are seeking worship where the implied advice is, “Now, everyone leave your hyper-individuality at the door.  Let’s say words together.  Let’s make gestures together.  Stand together.  Kneel together.  Let’s listen to the wisdom the Holy Spirit has given over the centuries."

My own experience in "sneaking" started in 2004.  I attended the Pastor's meetings in Boulder, Colorado and one of the attending minister's was the priest from the local Catholic church.  The very fact that a Catholic priest wanted to join with his protestant brothers instantly warmed my heart to him.  His church was nearly walking distance from my house so one Sat. evening (yes, its easier to do this on a Sat. evening especially when you are "sneaking" away from your own church :) I went over with the family to check it out.

I LOVED it!  There was just a different atmosphere and feeling of reverence that I longed for.  It wasn't "better" per se.  It simply allowed my spirit to experience a form of worship to the Living God that for many in that service was "normal" but for me, at that moment, was new and refreshing.  It's like having eaten hamburgers every Sunday for 30 years and then biting into a nice hot dog.  A different flavor...a different texture.

A visit to the Catholic church became a semi-regular occurrence for me. I even "snuck" out to visit a liturgical Presbyterian church and was amazed that during the Lord's Supper there was ten minutes of silence for reflection. TEN MINUTES!  When was the last time you had corporate silence for 10 minutes  in a charismatic church service?

Not better...just different...

Thank you for (not) Smoking!

It's been 5 years this month since I smoked a cigar.

Now let me just say...I loved cigars alot! Whether with friends in Hong Kong or sitting on my back porch in Boulder Colorado with a view of the Rocky Mountains there were few things more relaxing to me or that I enjoyed more.

So why did I give them up?...Well 5 years ago this month I was also diagnosed with tongue cancer.

It started when I had developed a small, very painful sore on the side of my tongue.  I thought it was just a mouth sore that you get from time to time...but this one didn't go away.  I convinced myself it was a tooth cutting my tongue and went to see a dentist.  He took one look at it and sent me to an oral surgeon that day.

I still wasn't worried!

The oral surgeon took a biopsy and then a few days later called and asked me to come in for a consultation. When I asked if they could just give me the diagnosis over the phone the nurse responded, "No Mr. Hackman, the doctor needs to see you."

I froze...my heart pounded!  I didn't tell Tammy yet and just headed off to the doctor.  When I arrived the doctor stated, "Mr. Hackman, the biopsy confirmed the sore is cancerous."

He had said it.  The "C" word!  My face began heating up and I was barely taking in what the doctor said after that.  I had been aware of a couple aqauintances who died of tongue cancer.  I started thinking if something happened to me, what would happen to Tammy and Gabriel??

What began then was a 3 month journey of tests (and prayer), surgery (and prayer), and recovery (and prayer).  The details are perhaps best left for another time (It was quite a ride).  But I stand here 5 years out from that diagnosis and am now "clear" in medical terms.

God is so very faithful and took mine and my families hand throughout this entire ordeal.

But I can say that 2 days before the diagnosis on a crisp Colorado January afternoon I was standing on my front porch  with a cigar in my hand not realizing then it was the last cigar I would ever smoke.  I love my cigars...but I realized I love my tongue even more!

Mainland China Students Irk Some At American Universities

A recent blog article I read grabbed my attention today.  It highlighted the complaints many local American students have with foreign Chinese undergraduates* studying at U.S. universities.  Complaints such as:

•  "They don't come here to learn. They just come here for the grades."
•  "They are killing class discussion. They never contribute."
•  "You will never see any of them at any school function. Never ever ever. Unless it can  help them with a grade."
•  "They never make any effort to talk with anyone other than those who are also from China."
•  "They cheat all the time. It is pretty unbelievable how often"
•   "This is a great way to ruin relations between China and us."
  
  * The article noted these were complaints concerning students from Mainland China and not ethnic Chinese from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, or Singapore.

I was intrigued and immediately asked some of my Hong Kong Chinese peers about their thoughts on this.  One responded to me that the reason is that maybe ten years ago very few students from China went to the States for study and those that did were the best and brightest.  He mentioned there was often great sacrifice incurred for it to happen and the students made the most of their opportunities.

"Now", he explained, "there is so much 'new money' in China that all these corrupt businessmen and officials are sending their spoiled brat kids to the States not because they are the best educated, but because they can afford the big dollars." 

Essentially he was saying was that the best and the brightest are being replaced with a "less than stellar" representation of China.

That's a lot to digest but consider the following statistics:

Number of Chinese undergraduate students at American universities

 2006 - 2007 academic year - 9,955 students
 2011 - 2012 academic year- 56,976 students

Such an explosion of population lends credence to the notion that less strict criterea is being used.  In fact, an MSNBC article noted 90 % of  Mainland students submitted false recommendation letters on their college applications and 70% of them had a professional write their entrance exam. 

Worrying to say the least!
I can say my own experience with Mainland Chinese students in America has been limited but very positive.

In 2006 my family and I attended the "Mid-Autumn" Festival celebration at the University of Colorado hosted by the Chinese students association.  Tammy and I were missing Hong Kong and thought we would take advantage of a little piece of it on display 10 minutes from our Boulder home.  When the students found out our connection with China and the fact that Gabriel was born in Hong Kong they really went to great lengths to make us feel welcome and at home.  They were a wonderful group of young people who were a very positive representation of China.

Of course that was 2006...I wonder if it has changed any?

Pet Peeves of Working in a Bookstore

For three years I got to work in what many consider a dream job;

...I worked in a bookstore.

Yes, I worked for Barnes & Noble Booksellers.  And yes, it was fun and got to work with some fantastic people, (and thanks to the magic that is Facebook, I able able to stay in contact with many of them.)

Anyhow, there are a 101 funny stories from my time there and they were often the direct result of the absurdity that is the American Consumer.  People are selfish and our retail led culture panders to that selfishness by, well, pretty much giving them whatever they want no matter how badly they act. 

Over the summer, Barnes & Noble's biggest competitor, Borders, filed for bankruptcy. With their stores closing, one employee apparently got to declare what the employees of any solvent retail organization would never dare;  He got to list a number of grievances that the employees had with their customers.  So, without further ado:

Here is a Borders Bookstore's employee' “Things We Never Told You: Ode to a bookstore death”(and you can believe Barnes & Noble employees have a similar list)

++ We hate when a book becomes popular simply because it was turned into a movie.


++ It confused us when we were asked where the non-fiction section is.


++ Nicholas Sparks is not a good writer … if you like him, fine, but facts are facts.


++ We greatly dislike the phrase “Quick question.” It’s never true. And everyone seems to have one.


++ Your summer reading list was our summer reading NIGHTMARE. Also, it’s called summer reading, not three days before school starts reading.

++ It’s true that we lean to the left and think Glenn Beck is an idiot.

++ We always knew when you were intently reading Better Homes and Gardens, it was really a hidden Playboy.

++ Most of the time when you returned books you read them already — and we were onto you.

++ Limit One Coupon did not mean one for every member of your family — this angered us. Also, we did know what coupons were out.

++ It never bothered us when you threatened to shop at Barnes & Noble. We’d rather you do if you’re putting up a stink.

++ “I was just here last week and saw this book there” meant nothing to us. The store changed once a week.

++ When you walked in and immediately said, “I’m looking for a book,” what you really meant to say is, “I would like you to find me a book.” You never looked. It’s fine, it’s our job — but let’s be correct about what’s really happening here.

++ If you don’t know the author, title, or genre, but you do know the color of the cover, we don’t either. How it was our fault that we couldn’t find it we’ll never understand.

To this I would like to add a few I remember from my time at the bookstore:

* Parents that let their kids pull out 20 books and then say, "Come on the attendant will put them away"

* People that would come with a STACK of books that obviously had not been bought there and try to return them

* People that would grab a book off the rack and then come up and say, "I'd like to return this book but I lost the receipt."

* Customers that would come into the coffee shop and have a whole other meal from a different restaurant.

* People that would buy, "Eat, Pray, Love"

* When people would get mad at Christmas because we had run out of "Hanukkah" wrapping paper.  (We only had 1 or 2 rolls every season)

I'm sure I could think of more but this "Ode" pretty much sums it up.

Remembering Sept.11, 2001

Has it really been 10 years?


Our phone rang and Tammy answered.  I saw her face furl a bit and she turned to me, "Its Donna, she said a plane has just flown into the World Trade Center."

My first thought was that it was a light plane and a bad pilot.  I reached over and flicked on the news.  There it was...one of the towers with smoke billowing out.  It was both tragic, confusing... and fascinating at the same time.  We stared...commented....stared...and commented.  And then we watched as another plane slammed into the second tower.  And then we knew!  We all knew!


I turned to Tammy, "We're under attack!"


I was working as a concierge at the Westin Hotel just south of Boulder Colorado and scheduled to go in.  Does one go into work while your country is being attacked by an unknown enemy?  What is the protocol for this.  I didn't want to leave Tammy and my then 3 year old Gabriel.  Eventually a Russian neighbor came over and she and Tammy stayed together as the events unfolded and I rushed off to work.

When I arrived at the hotel the area around my lobby desk was already in chaos.  I can't remember exactly when ALL flights were cancelled and the air space over America was shut down but I was immediately thrown into the chore of trying to get guests home by any means other than air travel.  I quickly put together a master list of locations around the country where people wanted to go...and it was everywhere.  Dallas, Atlanta, New York, and Chicago to name but a few.  I had two phones in each ear as I scrambled to get people on buses, planes, and renting cars from agencies that were none to happy about knowing that guests were driving their cars cross country.

I remember a private Denver town car service I worked with offering to drive a guy to Dallas for US$ 1600 ...and having that offer accepted by a man desperate to get home.  People that rented cars to travel across country I talked into taking complete strangers to cities they would travel through along the way. I managed to talk one guy going to Detroit into dropping off another guy in Chicago.

I can be quite persuasive...

I worked on this for the next 3 days never really getting thanked by hotel management or given any acknowledgement other than a "Thanks" from a grateful guest heading out the door.   But everyone was busy...and we all pulled together selflessly and did our duty.  It's unfortunate that it is in these times of tragedy that people's lights seem to shine brightest.

That night our church had a prayer meeting at someone's home.  We stood outside on the porch looking at the disturbingly quite sky interpreted occasionally by the fighter jets flying overhead out of Colorado Springs.

I remember looking over at a couple of the others and saying, "It all changes now"

And it did...

USA Trip 2011: New Orleans Lousiana & Boulder Colorado

Just got back from a couple weeks in the United States.  When Tammy and I used to visit the States in the 1990's, we split the time between Detroit (my home town) and Louisiana (Tammy's home state).  Now though our years in Boulder Colorado has thrown another destination into the mix and with the time I had to be away from work limited, something (Detroit) had to get cut. 

Had a great time catching up with family and friends.  Some of the highlights included:

The National World War 2 Museum:  My dad and mom came down from Detroit to spend a week with us in New Orleans with Tammy's family.  My dad turned 70 during the visit so Gabriel came up with the idea of us "boys" taking "grandpa" to something we would all really like: The National World War 2 Museum which you think would be located in Washington DC but is actually to be found in New Orleans Louisiana.  It was the PERFECT birthday present for my dad; to walk with his son and grandson through an

amazing display and multimedia presentation of both the European and Pacific theaters of war.  On top of that there is an amazing 4D movie, Beyond all Boundaries, narrated by Tom Hanks that should be mandatory viewing for all Americans.  What is it about Tom Hanks and WW2 that makes me fight the impulse to stand up and salute?

White Water Rafting in Colorado:  My friend Tre had the good idea for his boys and Gabriel and I to go on a daylong white water rafting trip during our time in Boulder Colorado.  Actually, we drove about 2 hours west into the Rocky Mountains to the town of Buena Vista and from there hooked up with the Buffalo Joes rafting company for a trip down the Arkansas River through Brown Canyon.  We spent the day shooting rapids, diving off rock outcroppings, and enjoying some of the most beautiful scenery God felt fit to place on Earth.  For lunch our guides cooked us the most delicious steak, along with corn on the cob and salad right alongside the river.  Incredible!

A Colorado Rockies Game at Coors Field:  Just before I returned to Hong Kong I had, what is for me, the cherry on top of the dessert; a baseball game at Coors Field.  When we lived in Boulder, we spent many a summer night at Coors Field watching the Colorado Rockies.  I love baseball and would joke that in going to Coors Field I was visiting "my other church."  When Gabriel was a young child he would play on the children's jungle gym while I kept an eye on him, and the game, from the left field foul line.  My game last week was wonderful and the highlight was as I was holding little Ethan George in my arms wearing his little # 2 Tulowinski Colorado Rockies t-shirt, the cameraman caught his cuteness and broadcast us on the giant Jumbotron for 40,000 fans to see.  It was quite a night.

Some other highlights:

• Teaching Gabriel, along with his grandpa and Uncle Trent, how to shoot a gun for the first time
• Hanging out with my brother and his family who trekked 10 hours from Salt Lake City to spend a day with us.
• Eating Chipotle Mexican Grill burritos
• Cajun Fish Fry with Tammy's family in Louisiana
• Going with Tammy up to Flagstaff Mountain overlooking Boulder with breakfast burritos and coffee like we did when we lived there
• Spending quality time with our church friends in Boulder while drinking Friar Smith's Agent Orange I.P.A.

• Spending 3 hours on the tarmac as United maintenance crews tried to fix our plane before my flight to Hong Kong.  They were unable to and I spent the night, courtesy of United Airlines, in San Francisco

 Well, now I'm back in Hong Kong while Tammy and the boys still have ANOTHER WEEK in Colorado.  Yes, one of us has to get back to work...can you guess which one?

Where are you (really) from?

As a Westerner living in Hong Kong one of the questions I get asked on a regular basis is, "So, where are you from?"

This question will be asked at dinner parties, church functions, the workplace, and nearly any other activity where at least one other person is involved.  The cosmopolitan nature of Hong Kong means you have a lot of people "from" somewhere else and the question just seems to roll out when you first meet a new acquaintance right alongside of "So, what do you do?"

The "Where are you from?" question has become a lot harder for me to answer as the years roll by.  When I first moved to Asia more than 20 years ago I would always answer, "I'm from Detroit."  It made sense then but as I haven't lived in Detroit since 1990 am I really still, "From Detroit."

So where am I "from"?  Well here are some contenders and why:

Detroit Michigan USA:  (Birth - 1990) City of my birth and still very dear to my heart.  Its where I was raised and gave me the Mid -West American values I like to think have shaped me somewhat into the person I am today. The family moved to the suburbs when I was 8 and I experienced a wonderful childhood there in the 1970's and '80s with great friends and great memories.  To this day I'm still a Detroit Tigers, Red Wings, and (sigh) Lions fan!

Hong Kong:  (1990 -2000, 2009-Present) I arrived in Hong Kong in 1990 for 5 months and stayed nearly 10 years.  I met my wife here and both of my sons were born here.  A formative part of my adult life was established in this city.  I have had the privilege of experiencing Hong Kong both as a territory of Britain and then later as a Special Administrative Region of China.

Boulder Colorado USA:  (2000 - 2008) Our years in Boulder were not always easy but they were special.  It was the formative years for Gabriel and he is still quick to say he is "from Boulder".  Within Boulder though we have dear friends, a dear church family, and many dear memories.

We briefly lived in  Qingdao China in 2008 and  Gabriel would have a little fun whenever Chinese people would ask where we were from.  He would say, "From Hong Kong" often eliciting stunned reactions from the questioners.  There is a certain expectation based on a person's ethnicity of where they are "really" from.  I know when I have attended conferences where my name tag will say I'm a participant from Hong Kong but people would subtly try to find out where I was "really" from. 

Which had me wondering; "Are white people allowed to come "from" Hong Kong?" 

I realize now in America the sensitivity some people have when other people try to categorize where they are from.  For example we tend to assume a person of Hispanic origin is "really" from" Mexico or other South American country when they were very likely to have been born and led their whole lives in the States. 

I remember once when I was working in Colorado how I asked a hotel guest, who I recognized with a very distinct Singaporean (Singlish) accent, where he was from.

"Chicago" he replied.

He didn't elaborate and I was disappointed as I am quite familiar with Singapore and wanted to talk a bit with him about it but he said, "Chicago" in a way that indicated he didn't want it challenged...so I didn't.  But deep down I wanted to know where he really was from.

My children are Americans but born in Hong Kong.  Are they from America...Hong Kong... or both?  Recently I was chaperoning a school trip overseas with some of our students.  As we were entering the customs area there are electronic booths for Hong Kong residents allowing them to insert their I.D. card and thumb print and not have to enter the long immigration lines.  One of the Hong Kong Chinese students laughed and said, "Ha, Mr. Hackman now we get to go through here but you must go down there," indicating toward the long lines at the immigration counters.

The students inserted their cards and walked through.  I smiled and inserted my card placing my thumb on the scanner.  The metal gates opened up and I "departed" Hong Kong.

Watching this, the student's mouth dropped open and she asked in bewilderment.  "Mr. Hackman, how did you do that?"

"You do know I am from Hong Kong as well...right?"

"But ...you are a foreigner."

"I may be a "foreigner", I answered, "but I was living in Hong Kong since before you were born."

So where am I from?  Maybe the best answer is "lots of different places" or maybe Larry Norman said it best when he sang, "This world is not my home...I'm just passin' through"

And the Oscar Goes To....

Living in Hong Kong is great...but its not conducive to throwing a good Oscar party.  To throw a party for the Sunday evening event in Los Angeles would mean an early Monday morning here....not so good!   Now Colorado, there was a place to throw a party for Oscar night.  The Red Carpet would kick off about 5:00 and the whole thing would be done by about 9:00...making work on Monday morning bearable!

Anyhow, the local Hong Kong station will air the awards Monday evening here and I'll invite a few film loving friends over to see if we can recapture the magic.  We'll play "Oscar Bingo" where everyone gets a bingo card filled with random, sometimes crazy, events that always seem to happen at the awards.  As we see them occur we mark them off on the card.  But the real focus will be on whether our favorites of the year will win...or Black Swan

So my thoughts on some of the key movies nominated this year:

The Fighter:   True story of boxer Micky Ward's (Mark Walburg) struggle to overcome adversity which comes in the form of his white trash family including his cocaine addicted half-brother / trainer Dicky (Christian Bale).  With the help of  the girl (Amy Adams)  and a little grit though  he becomes champ.  Boxer movies like this are always Oscar favorites and with the strong performances of the cast I imagine some gold will be brought home on Sunday night.

True Grit: Jeff Bridges did what few could do and thats step into a role made iconic by John Wayne...and he does a good job!  What I found a little disappointing was Matt Damon who I usually enjoy in just about every role he's in...except this one.  For some reason when Glen Campbell (who had the role in the original film) compares favorably with an actor of Damon's caliber, you know something ain't clicking.  The kid was pretty good to but is it just me, or was she just getting on my nerves by the end?

The Kids are All Right  Closeted heterosexual Julianne Moore is in a struggling homosexual marriage with Anette Benning.  She strikes up an affair with their children's sperm doner father played by Mark Ruffalo.  Unfortunately society today is just not ready for heterosexuals to find true love in these situations and she dutifully goes back to her family.  Annette Benning gives a strong performance as always and I would not be surprised if she took home a statue.

The Social Network:  Unbelievable that a movie about how Facebook got started could be this good.  Chalk it up to an airtight script penned by Aaron Sorkin (for which he will most likely get a screenplay award)
If you haven't seen it...you need to.

Black Swan:  Natalie Portman plays an innocent ballet star who develops a REALLY dark side during a production of Swan Lake.  Her acting level is incredible but the movie itself is the type of pretentious nonsense film that always seems to find a place at awards time.  I admit I only got half way through the movie before I stopped it and read the plot ending on Wikipedia.  Life is too short and there are good films yet to be viewed.

The King's Speech:  I'll admit it, movies like The King's Speech are like oxygen to Anglophiles like myself. Colin Firth as the stuttering King George V, and Geoffrey Rush as his unorthodox speech therapist has become the front runner for...well...just about everything.  Amazing movie and if it wins, it will be well deserved.

Toy Story 3 & Inception:  Neither one of these films have a chance of winning but the expansion of the Best Movie category to ten nominated films gives these two movies some of the attention and accolades they deserve.  I loved both of them!

Anyhow, we'll see how things turn out Sunday night.  Feel free to comment on some of your favorite films of the year!

In Memorium: "Touched by an Angel's" John Dye

Just wanted to note the sad passing of actor John Dye at the tragic age of 47.  Dye is primarily remembered  for teaming up with Della Reese and Roma Downey as the angel "Andrew" for 9 seasons of the CBS show Touched by an Angel.

When Tammy, Gabriel, and I first moved to Boulder Colorado 11 years ago we didn't have a church family yet.   Being new to the area, we used to joke that for the first few weeks there, the show Touched by an Angel became our weekly "church" meeting; and Dye's "Andrew" was a favorite .

We loved that show!  Week after week people were shown that there is a God who loves them, and even though the world is hard, to have hope because HE has overcome the world. 

The clip I include is from an episode called 151st Psalm.  I must have watched this episode five or six times and can't get through it without shedding tears. A boy with Cystic Fibrosis is dying and his mother has lost her faith in God.  At the end, Dye's character takes the boy home to heaven as his mother sings the song she has written to God that despite tragedy, she will sing of His love!  My heart sores and is torn every time I watch it.



Dye character was the "Angel of Death", but in a much more positive light, he would prepare people for eternity.  As Dye himself has entered eternity, I trust that he is now in the hands of our Father. Good bye and God Speed John Dye...