2009 West Coast Epic Conference

Here's a slide show of some pictures from our West Coast Conference. You'll catch a photo of me sharing with the crowd about the unique opportunities they have as Asian Americans to reach their peers here in the states and also internationally. I have to confess, it was a new experience for me (as a white guy) to cast vision to these (non-white) students to reach Asians and Asian Americans. But they seemed to respond well and also seemed to catch the simple fact that I can't do what they can do. They are automatically insiders in circles that would never be immediately accepted as someone safe and friendly. I really enjoyed the conference and was thankful to get to be a part of this ministry. And I was especially thankful that I felt very welcome as an outsider...you could find me almost instantaneously if you needed to!

"Honey, our kids are blockheads."

Boxes are the cheapest childcare around!

Hot Pot and BBQ Brisket and Chinese Texans

I recently was in Austin, Texas for some planning meetings with my teammates, Dennis and Carita Chen. We serve together by leading the domestic and international missions efforts for the Epic Movement. The Chens live in Austin and I made the trip this time, as they usually have to travel to So Cal for Epic meetings.

First of all, it was COLD. The night before I arrived, it lightly snowed!

In addition to some good planning times, the Chen's were great hosts. Within only two days, I had experienced a 13-piece big band at an underground Austin jazz club, Chinese hot pot, Texas-style BBQ, and breakfast tacos (think breakfast burrito in a soft taco shell). Austin is like the Berkeley of Texas, so most of the time, it never felt like "Texas". Very few people with accents, no cow wrangling, or 10-gallon hats. I was told if I left the city I'd need a gun in my truck window to feel at home. Don't mess with Texas.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to hand Lance Armstrong an extra water bottle while he was riding the Austin hills. Thanks to Twitter, I knew he was there, but I'm not a stalker, right?

Here are some pictures of the trip. Some amazing Texas BBQ brisket, sausage, and ribs from Rudy's BBQ and hot pot with some Austin Epic Movement staff. A great group of people. And that brisket was so good. My director, Tommy Dyo will vouch for it...he ordered 2 lbs of extra-moist and I brought it home on the plane!

I like Obama and all...

...but does he really have the necessary skills for being our next President?

Ninjas can do anything!

Twitter and the Tour.

If you don't "get" Twitter, I can identify. I didn't understand it and thought, "Why do I want to spend even more time on my computer?". Well, I decided I'd try it and I'm hooked. Here's a few things I like:

• It's quick and simple--not like Facebook, which always seems to want more and more of my time and has more and more content.
  
• In our increasingly disconnected society (not that I prefer the disconnection, but it is a growing reality) that spends hours on the computer, it's a good way to track with friends (or whomever) and hear about what's been going on in their day, what they're thinking about, where they are, what they're reading, etc.
• I get to follow celebrities, corporations, business, etc--and these people/groups would never be my "friend" on Facebook.
• It creates a sense of inclusion and sharing.

And my favorite Twitterer....Lance Armstrong. I'm a fan in general, but his tweets (yep, that's what there called) are great. It's been fun following him because he shares all kinds of very current info and pictures. He knows people follow him and is intentional about making people feel involved in his day.

And for you cycling fans...I had a moment of Twitter contact with the 2007 Tour de France winner the other day. I was looking on Armstrong's Twitter and who he was following. I noticed Alberto Contador (Spanish rider who won the 2007 Tour) was on his list. I clicked on Contador's Twitter page and noticed he was new to Twitter (maybe had 8-10 followers) and I decided to follow him.

Well, only moments later, I get an email saying that Alberto Contador is following ME. Here's what I received:

Hi, Rocky Waters.

ALBERTOCONTADOR (ALBERTOCONTADOR) is now following your updates on Twitter.

Check out ALBERTOCONTADOR's profile here:

http://twitter.com/ALBERTOCONTADOR

Best,
Twitter

I couldn't believe it! He obviously noticed that I was following him and he was checking out who I was. Well, he's a Twitter flirt because he stopped following me momentarily...and I just recently noticed that he BLOCKED me from following him.

What a punk.

Well, Alberto...I'm now rooting for Lance for this year's tour. How come you blocked me? Blocking your fans? Great idea.

(To fill you in a little on the situation, Lance and Alberto are on the same team (Astana). Alberto was not too happy to see Lance return as this means Alberto may no longer be the top dog on the team and the one who gets supported by all the other team members. Currently it's up in the air who will be the team leader and will be determined by who's the strongest rider. Lance is supposedly in the top 3 on the team right now.)

Here's my Twitter if you're interested. Don't worry, I won't block you.

And for even more info, here's an exhaustive link on the benefits of Twitter.

John Ortberg on evangelicals in politics

Just read a good post by John Ortberg titled, "The seven deadly sins of evangelicals in politics." Can't get Friedman off the brain and some of Ortberg's comments reminded me of his writings.

All of his "deadly sins" are good, but I especially liked:

• One Issue-ism. Justifying our intolerance of complexity and nuance by collapsing a decision into a simplistic and superficial framework.
• Messianism. The sin of believing that a merely human person or system can usher in the eschaton. This is often tipped off by phrases like: “The most important election of our lifetime” (which one wasn’t?); or “God’s man for the hour.”
• Alarmism. A friend of mine used to work for an organization that claimed both Christian identity and a particular political orientation. They actually liked it when a president was elected of the opposite persuasion, because it meant they could raise a lot more money. It is in their financial interests to convince their constituents that the president is less sane than Jack Nicholson in The Shining. Alarmists on both sides of the spectrum make it sound like we’re electing a Bogeyman-in-Chief every four years. I sometimes think we should move the election up a few days to October 31.

It's so easy to identify the anxiety-driven forces behind each of these. Also identifiable are sabotage (another topic of Friedman's that I didn't address in my summary) and the need for certainty.

What a lively mess of religion, politics, and immaturity...enjoy!