5 Questions With...(new) Deacon Stephen Tsai

            (new) Deacon Stephen Tsai

1. How did you first get involved with Friendship Presbyterian? My wife and another Christian from her workplace set out to find a place we could call our home church while we lived in Taiwan. The first church in Taipei we attended was well known and recommended, but after attending several services we decided it wasn’t the right one. The teachings they preached sounded good on the surface, often referencing God’s love and grace, but under the nuance and subtlety was a deeply legalistic message. Although it seemed harmless, even good, my wife and I were both enslaved by messages like that in the past.

For twenty-six years, I had gone to Taiwanese-American churches steeped in legalism and mysticism. Their teachings deeply damaged me for most of my life. My wife has a similar past. Then, in 2006, God led us to a pastor and church that was theologically sound where the good news finally reached us.

Finding a church in Taiwan that was centered on the gospel was a priority for us. FPC was the second church we attended. My wife knew right away it was the place we were meant to go. It took me another two or three services to come to the same conclusion. (What can I say? I come to conclusions slowly).

2. What do you do Monday through Saturday? I do not have a paying job, so, in one sense, I do whatever I want! However, I have tasks that I am deeply committed to. One is studying. Pastor Dennis had recommended that I look into seminary courses by Third Millennium, a ministry intended for training leaders who may lack proper theological resources in their home countries. I heartily endorse the curriculum for anyone interested. It is free and available in several languages. At first, I did this just out of curiosity, but it has become a real joy in my life lately. I am also currently leading FPC’s #tbt community group. I am not a leader or teacher by nature, so it takes me a long time to prepare for each study--about three hours a week. I attend the T.G.I.F. group as a participant. And I practice Jiu-Jitsu. I have trained in martial arts for almost thirty years. My physical abilities have decreased with age and injuries so, these last few years, I have quit the striking arts (hitting, punching, kicking, etc.) and focused on grappling (wrestling, grabbing, submissions). It allows me to enjoy the physical challenge and competitive sparring with fewer injuries. I started Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in 2010 and used to train daily and compete. But it has been on the back burner these days, as I shift my priorities to studying.

3. What is something people might be surprised to know about you? I am, or was, really into motorsport. It started with cars, just typical American teenager stuff like drag racing and modifying cars. Over the years my hobby evolved. It went from street to racetrack, and from cars to motorcycles. I eventually got my certification to race motorcycles and have completed several classes/courses on advanced riding. Nowadays, due to lack of funds and time I do not get to the track regularly. But I still get professional instruction and train at a race school every couple of years as a refresher and for fun.

4. What do you find most challenging about being a Christian today? The promises of this world. Our career promises financial security and purpose. Money promises security and leisure. Education promises self-fulfillment and social admiration. Significant others promise true love. The list goes on. We are constantly bombarded by these promises, spewed out by all forms of media and deeply embedded into the personalities of those we call our friends and family. It seems impossible to escape.

The real struggle for me is to preach to myself every moment I can remember to and turn to God. I often fail, both consciously and unconsciously. But I have faith in God’s promises and know God will enable me to reject the enslavement this world offers.

5. What is your favorite book of the Bible, and why? It used to be Romans because it is so densely packed with theological wisdom. But lately, Galatians has really spoken to me. I really relate when Paul writes that adding anything to the gospel reverses (“distorts” in ESV) it. That message hits me hard because it’s something I unintentionally do all the time.

Gospel + (good works; serving; being a moral person; going to church; etc.) = salvation. That is the direction my mind keeps going back to, even if I know better, intellectually. So when Paul is writing, it feels like he is writing directly to me.

Paul reminds us that God called us, we did not call Him, and that any change to the gospel makes it about what we do for God, rather than what He has done for us.

5 Questions With...(new) Deacon David Morton

     (new) Deacon David Morton

1. How did you first get involved with Friendship Presbyterian? I found Friendship Presbyterian through a former Wycliffe missionary that I met in St. Louis. When I told him about some plans I had to move to Asia, he encouraged me to consider Taiwan and told me about some churches out here in Taipei, among which Friendship was one. Now, the reason that I stayed has much to do with a particularly delicious batch of chocolate chip cookies baked by the honorable Mrs. Dennis [Pastor Dennis’ wife, Kay]. That, and the wonderful people who have showered me with love and grace since the moment I arrived.

2. What do you do Monday through Saturday? I like to meditate on Scripture, watch rivers flow, play music, write stories or read them, pass time with friends over cups or bowls of something warm, generally marvel at the miracle of life and gradually chip away at the language barriers that keep me from closer communion with all my brand-new neighbors. 

3. What is something people might be surprised to know about you? I really love Latin music. Particularly Salsa, Meringue, Bachata, oh man, those rhythms really get me going.

4. What do you find most challenging about being a Christian today? I grew up in the "fabulously free" Western world, so for me the devil has always been in the details. I think we fear men more than God. I think we're afraid of being judged as intolerant by the world for our beliefs on marriage or sexuality and we fear being judged as “weak” or “worldly” by our brothers and sisters for being honest about our spiritual doubts and struggles. We need to remember that absolutely everything is vacant of meaning or purpose without the saving power of Jesus Christ, and stop clinging to the rags we claimed to forsake when we chose to follow Christ. Please know that I am preaching to myself. 

5. What is your favorite book of the Bible? In the Old Testament, aside from the Psalms, it’s got to be Isaiah. It’s all there, man. I mean—wow. In the New Testament…tough contest, but I’ve got to say Colossians. Really shakes reality down to the bones and shows us what all this is truly about. 

The Sure Thing

What would you do if you knew you would not fail?

It is a stimulating question for conversation. In our modern world, more people have more time, money, and (relative) freedom than at any period in history. Yet the question of what we should actually do with it all can sometimes be mystifying. We think about what we would like to do, but must balance that against what we are able to do, what we are trained, educated, or gifted to do. Because, naturally, none of us want to fail at what we do.

But what if we knew we would not fail?

Want a career as a concert musician? Just start playing. In our make-believe scenario, you will attract the necessary attention to get concert hall bookings. How about a doctor? Just enroll in medical school. It is not that we already know everything. We still may need to learn a skill or a body of knowledge. The point is simply that we will not fail in doing so. Want to be an entrepreneur? A political leader? A professional athlete? Just take that first step. You will not fail.

It is a pleasant fantasy. It can also be a helpful exercise in thinking about career paths. But, of course, in reality, there are no guarantees of success in any endeavor. As Christians, we understand this to be largely a result of the Fall, the disobedience of our ancestors Adam and Eve that led God to curtail the fruitfulness of our labor (Genesis 3:17-19). But this same God has also given us a job at which we will not fail: prayer.

The idea that prayer is not just an option but an actual “job” for Christians is put clearly by the apostle Paul in 1st Thessalonians 5:16-18: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” And prayer is not just one of many parts of the Christian life. It is the central activity, the one that must accompany or underpin all our other activities. That is why we are to do it “without ceasing.” As the great Scottish teacher Oswald Chambers said, “Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work.”

Why is prayer central? Because in its essence, Christianity is a relationship. When we, as sinners, are saved by God’s grace through faith in the atoning work of Christ, we are not saved in a vacuum. We are saved out of our relationship of slavery to sin, and into a relationship of intimate love and forgiveness with God.

And a relationship, by definition, involves relating to someone. Christ declares that the greatest commandment is to relate to--specifically, to love--the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:28-30). There is no more direct or accessible means of relating to God than prayer. Direct, because it goes straight from our heart to God’s ear, without the “middle-man” of priest, ritual, or good works. Accessible, because we can do it under any circumstances, even if our hands are tied, our mouths gagged, or our eyes blind.

And…it is a job at which we will not fail. Romans 8:26 states, “…the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” Now, if anyone should know something about prayer, it is the apostle Paul. Yet here is Paul, the author of half the New Testament, declaring that we do not know how to pray properly. He does not even qualify it with a “when,” or an “if.” It is a blanket statement that in all times and places, we do not know how to pray properly. It almost seems like prayer is a job at which we will only fail! But, no, Paul goes on to say that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us when we pray, turning our ignorant, stumbling thoughts and words into praises, confessions, and petitions that please our heavenly Father (Rom. 8:27).

Let us be clear—it is not that the Spirit somehow persuades the Father to grant exactly what we ask. It is not that the Spirit is just better with words. Indeed, Paul writes that the Spirit does not even use words. The work of the Spirit is not to get our prayers answered just as they are, but to transform them into godly requests. The work of the Spirit is, as someone has said, to change our prayers into what we would ask of God if we had his perspective on our lives and the world. 

Because of this tremendous blessing of the Spirit, when we pray as Christians, we know we will not fail. Our work is not to pray properly. That is the work of the Spirit on our behalf. Our work is simply to pray, rather than not pray, and to direct our prayer to the God of the Bible, rather than to anyone or anything else.

Here at FPC, you have the opportunity to pray for each other every week in your community group. If you need to get connected to a group, visit this page. You also have the opportunity to participate in kingdom-centered group prayer at “The Engine Room,” our monthly prayer meeting. Charles Spurgeon, the great 19th century British preacher, would regularly welcome visitors who were eager to learn the “secret” of his church’s “success.” He would lead them away from the Metropolitan Tabernacle’s impressive crowds and sanctuary and take them down to the basement of the church. There they would discover a group of people fervently praying on their knees. “Here is the powerhouse of the church,” Spurgeon would declare to his astonished guests. “If the engine room is out of action, then the whole mill will grind to a halt.”

To find the date of this month's Engine Room meeting, click here.