How do you say "Switch!" in Cantonese?

Sports: the language that needs no translation.

I've waited for this moment ever since moving to Hong Kong last year...

...I've watched and watched as all the locals play their pickup games of soccer in the parks and dreamed of the day that I could be among them.

Today was that day. It just took what I thought was a wrinkle in my plans, and it all turned out better than I expected.

2.5 incredible hours of being the sole white guy playing game after game of pickup soccer. I had no idea what was being said. And I didn't need to. I haven't played soccer in over a year, and it was ok. My muscles ached. My feet pounded. My body just hurt. And I loved it!

One thing that makes soccer (football in HK) so great, as with many sports, is that the purpose is very clear. Your goal is the goal, and there are no questions about it. Score a few goals, and you're in the clear

But it's not no simple in the Christian life. I mean, we know that we have one path. Jesus claims to be "the Way, the Truth and the Life." So as long as we hold true to His teachings we should be ok, right? I think scoring a goal is easier.

In Matthew 23 seven woes are proclaimed to the Scribes and the Pharisees. Jesus warns them to change their ways. He shows them how they wash the outside of their plates and cups so they appear clean, yet the insides remain dirty. Again, he tells them they are like white-washed tombs, beautiful and clean on the outsides, but only containing dry old bones on the inside...nothing resembling the "life abundantly" that Jesus came to give us.

Easy as it is to look down my nose at the Scribes and Pharisees and proclaim "Why didn't they understand what Jesus was trying to teach them?", I realize how easy it is for me to fall victim to the same trap. Especially now that I'm part of the 'rat race', holding a job in a bustling city where just walking down the sidewalk makes me feel like I've gotta be competing with everyone around me...for...what? To look like I've got it together? To look like I'm more in shape than the next guy? To look like I'm successful and happy?

These things are not ultimately bad, of course. You don't need me to tell you that. But they are not the point. The point is that the inside is of more importance. It seems so base to say this. It's hopefully what Christians are taught from day 1, but I think it's easier said than done.

So let's help each other out in trying to keep our focus off of appearances and on issues of the heart. On love. On compassion. On 'whatever is noble, whatever is pure, whatever is just', and the list goes on.

I beg you to help me with this. And I hope that somehow I can be an encouragement to you, too.

Confessions of a Broken Down Man - My First Blog

Hm...I've never blogged before, much less really followed up on other people's blogs. I always tell myself I'm too busy for things like this, but the reality is that I've just been too lazy...or spending too much time on Facebook. So I guess this is yet another distraction to keep me away from things that may be more important, but I also think this can be something that will help me to figure myself out a little more. And keep others updated on my life. But I guess I don't need to justify myself to you, so I won't go into all the other details.

Anyway, I chose this as the title of my blog - Confessions of a Broken Down Man - as a means to remind myself what not to become. One of my favorite music groups is Waterdeep. They are truly incredible and have some mind-blowing lyrics, and the title of one of their songs is "Confessions of a Broken Down Man." In the song there's this dude: he gets caught up with his job and his desire for acceptance and ends up making choices he wished he hadn't, and he even comes back from a business trip having forgotten his son's name.

Now, that's not exactly the boat I'm in, but I'm in a place in life I'm not used to. I'm living in a huge city that never sleeps, I have a full-time job with no breaks in sight (unlike last year when I knew I'd be back working at summer camp before too long), and it seems there is always something to do. So hopefully this blog will help me to keep myself grounded. I'm hoping to share things I'm learning from the scriptures, from God speaking to me, from my various travels around Asia, and the lessons that life, by nature, teaches me. I don't want to become a broken down man who has to shamefully report his confessions; rather, I want to be a man who is able to confess the commonplace and the fantastic from my every day life so that I may be continually reminded of my purpose and my place in this world.

Let the adventures begin.