Drawing Near After the One Who First Drew Near
As those who follow Christ, we believe in a God who provided daily bread in the wilderness (Exodus 16); a God who multiplied bread for thousands of people (Matthew 14:13-21), and a God who ultimately became bread to satisfy our deepest hunger (John 6:22-59). We can imagine it grieves God that anyone should be hungry; it should lead us to lament too. How do we wrestle with the weight of these realities and love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:34-40)?
Why Trump Hits Home
I’ve learned that change rarely comes through arguments. My parents aren’t moved by stats. But stories, especially ones that echo their own, sometimes open something up. When I connect their immigrant struggles to those of others today, it sometimes softens them. Not always. But sometimes. What helps most is grounding our conversations in the life of Jesus—his humility, compassion, and refusal to chase power. When we remove Trump from the picture and just look at Jesus, the contrast is jarring. In the best way.
Historical Reckoning and Asian American Political Theology
To become the church as it is called to be, the Asian American church should also engage in a historical reckoning of its own complicitous legacies, such as authoritarian and neoliberal complicity.
Birthright Citizenship and the Current Immigration Crisis
Migration and immigration are among the key issues of our political moment. Immigration is a complex issue with more factors than are often considered in short sound bytes, but a clear call in the Scriptures is to care for the “sojourner in our midst.”
Our Faith, Our Vote: Pursuing Advocacy as Asian American Christians
When Asian Americans show up and take their seat at the table, they can influence and enact policies that promote justice and equity for their community.
The End of Affirmative Action
Affirmative has never been a perfect tool to level the playing field of educational diversity. But it has made an important impact for thousands such as myself who otherwise were overlooked and not given a fair chance.
Not All Social Justice Advocates March
Over the years, trying to emulate my peers and my social justice heroes—Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Óscar Romero, and others—led me to burnout again and again. Each episode of burnout was worse than the last, until I found myself in bed, debilitatingly depressed, unable to work and barely able to function, for almost a year. I finally began to understand that I was following the way of other people more than the way of the cross.
“You bring your gun to church?” A Chinese American Pastor’s Reflections on the Epidemic of Gun Violence
There are lots of reasons that people own guns. For comfort, to collect, as part of their jobs, for personal defense, or for sport. But as pastors and as a church, we cannot ignore and be silent on guns anymore.
Dare to Dream: A Reflection on the AACC Gun Violence Symposium
To take a stand against gun violence requires more than decrying it from the pulpit, we must go to local legislators and communities to bring about tangible change.
Creating More Asian Tables
In the coming weeks and months, we want to share with you some of the big dreams we have for us as Asian American Christians. And we want to hear the big dreams that are stirring in your hearts and souls too.
Jesus Sees Us: A Reflection on the Atlanta Spa Shootings
The tragedy and following narrative of what happened in Atlanta last year helped me see that I am not alone but have been part of systemic discrimination, racism, sexism, and xenophobia that had clouded my ability to see me.
Invisible and Silent No More
I sensed God saying my voice did matter to God, and really, it’s not about me, but it’s about what God is already doing. God is used to working with broken, messy, unfinished people anyway, so I’m nothing new.
Reimagining Political Engagement
How can Asian American Christians embody our faith through and in our civic and political engagement? That is the core question that Joshua Wu will be addressing as he joins the AACC team as the political engagement specialist.
The Biden Presidency & The Continued Omission of Asian Americans (Part Two)
Let the church declare: Asian Lives Matter
Anti-Asian attacks have been skyrocketing at an alarming rate since the start of the pandemic. Yet there has been a gaping void of evangelical voices publicly speaking up to defend their Asian American brothers and sisters.
From Dal to Cornbread: Vice President Kamala Harris’s Mixed Identity
With her election as the first woman Vice President, Kamala Harris also brings the issue of ethnicity to the forefront. The gospel of our brown multiethnic savior says that she—and all of us—can and should embrace the entirety of ourselves as created and beloved beings.
Social Holiness in a New World
As a Biden-Harris administration begins, Asian American Christians must continue the faithful work of love and justice across all society’s spheres.
Between Insurrection and Inauguration: Faithfulness in Tension
The rioters' use of Christian symbols at the Capitol insurrection was blasphemous, and I wonder how we Asan American Christ followers might respond to our nation's political crisis and the anti-Asian hate we're experiencing.
The Church’s Role in Creating Systemic Racism, and How the Church Can Dismantle It
We still live with the legacy of historical, heretical beliefs. But God can make us new.
Following the Call of Shalom into Politics
Asian American Christians are among the least politically engaged in the country. This needs to change.