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About me
I grew up in Taichung, Taiwan and Portland, Oregon. I attended the University of Oregon and got a BA in English. After getting a Master of Arts in Religion and serving for several years as a pastor, I now work as an acquisitions editor at a Christian publishing house. Even though I’m no longer working in pastoral ministry at my church, I still teach theology classes, preach sermons, and lead a preschool kids class.
I live in Eugene, Oregon with my wife, Rebecca, and our three daughters.
Necessary caveat because it’s the internet and everyone is crazy: All opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent the opinions of my employer, church, wife, or daughters.
What’s with the name, Peculiar People?
It’s plucked from the KJV’s translation of 1 Peter 2:9, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” In this context of old-timey English words and spellings, “peculiar” refers to something that exclusively belongs to someone. The church is God’s special possession, a people that belong to Him.
But I also like this title because of the other definition of “peculiar”: strange. We are meant to be a strange people. We have different values, viewpoints, goals, and ethics, and live by a different Story. Stanley Hauerwas and William H. Willimon in their book, Resident Aliens, talk about how the church is a colony of the heavenly kingdom, which means our citizenship is not primarily found in earthly kingdoms. While we live in this world, we are “strangers and exiles” awaiting our “heavenly city.”
Growing up in the church in the 90s, I remember youth pastors constantly telling us to not be weird and to instead show that Christians can be cool too. I understand why they said that. They were talking to a room full of kids who thought wearing t-shirts that said “Jesus” in the style of the Reese’s logo was evangelism. But now when I look at our cultural landscape that’s polarized, enraged, isolated, phone-addicted, disembodied, and anxious, I say, maybe we need to embrace a bit of Christian strangeness. Be peculiar.
To be clear, being peculiar doesn’t mean being an arrogant jerk or just constantly antagonistic. The attitude and posture with which we do things matter just as much as what we do and say. The goal is to not just focus on what we’re against (although there’s a time and place for that) but to instead focus on, to paraphrase Tolkien, the good in this world that’s worth fighting for. Instead of asking, “What needs to be defeated?” I believe the narrative of the people of God in Scripture shows us that we should instead ask, “How can we live faithfully and thrive in this world?” (And what I mean by “thrive,” I don’t mean in a materialistic sense of being wealthy, healthy, and successful, but in the deeper sense—living a life of virtue, integrity, and purpose. A life that is truly flourishing and honors our Lord.)
To explore these ideas, I plan to write about a wide range of topics—theology, culture, sports, philosophy, books, and more. I’m going to try to avoid hot takes and won’t immediately respond to the most recent headlines. I hope you like your takes served up ice cold. I’m also not going to write about every important subject in the #Discourse. That’s just not appealing to me. And you don’t really want to hear about my thoughts on bank runs and geopolitics. I don’t even want to hear them.
What’s this newsletter going to be like?
I’m might play around with the structure of the newsletter, but I at least initially will aim to give you:
One main thought around a specific subject.
A short thought around a different subject, perhaps something sparked by something I am currently reading.
A Thing of Beauty: a recommendation of something I love, since we all could use a little more beauty in our lives. It could be a snack, a song, a video clip, or something else.
What I’m currently reading (or watching or listening to): if you’re looking for ideas or just want to snoop.
Links: Other stuff around the interwebs that has caught my eye or got me thinking.
Don’t worry. I’m not here to spam you. And I can’t write that fast anyway. The plan is to try to write every two weeks, but I won’t be rigid about that schedule if it turns out not to be working for me.
There won’t be any posts behind a paywall for a while. All you need to do is click on the Free plan and you’ll get everything. If you like what I’m doing and want to express your appreciation, then you do have the option to subscribe with a payment. Who am I to stop a person who wants to give me money? I may also use affiliate links when recommending something, but you can always use Google yourself to avoid them.
