George Martzen "georgos"

"What is the kingdom of God like? And to what should I compare it? It is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in the garden; it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches" (Luke 13:18-19). I've never seen a tiny little mustard seed grow into a tree before. But I understand the perennial marvel of watching seeds turn into seedlings and eventually fruiting plants of one kind or another. Even more marvelous are the myriad "hospitable" relationships between plants and animals. This potted bamboo that our missionary neighbours set out last year has recently become the home to a new bird family, some Ashy Minivet hatchlings, to be exact. The adults are medium small, black and white, migratory birds. It was only a week or so ago that we discovered the nest and tiny eggs. Hence we have all been very circumspect when passing by, so as not to disturb the new family. The "tree" is a common biblical image - the tre...

This week we did sort of a soft launch of the Methodist youth website. We presented to the Methodist school principals, and requested that each school designate a liaison to submit student creative work. We also prepared bookmarks for distribution to a gathering of student leaders on Saturday. I am happy that we have finally opened the curtain, though the audience be small. This website project has forced me to learn a few things about web development, not so much on the technical end - at least with the content management system I don't have to be an expert in mark-up code. The greater learning has been trying to organize the effort while navigating within the limits of ecclesial structure. It is not simply my website, but an official organ of the church. Developing media instruments for the church falls partly under the umbrella of PR or corporate communication. After all, it's an organization that deals with a public, both within its walls and outside. And most certai...

This weekend Singapore held its annual Chingay parade, marking the first week of Chinese New Year. The Lunar New Year is always very colorful in Chinese communities, and Singapore is no exception. Chinatown especially is brilliantly lit up, and various venues shoot off fireworks. Though I've only seen the Chingay parade on TV, it looks like everyone is having a lot of fun. Beside the public festivities, two things stand out about Chinese New Year. First is the evident importance of family; the second is the value of hospitality. Chinese New Year is usually a time of family reunions. Since the first day of New Year was Feb. 7, and many people living in Singapore have parents or other relatives in Malaysia, there was a mass migration on Feb. 6, with most people going north. The best comparison I can think to culture in the USA is Thanksgiving and Christmas, both of which always draws family together for a big feast. One thing that continues to bring families together is the p...

Sitting at my computer screen in my 6 th floor Singapore office, looking out at a darkening sky, I have taken a lunch break from the various tasks at hand. As I munch on a ham and cheese sandwich, with Dijon mustard, I suddenly have a flashback to a typical event in another hemisphere and another lifetime. The typical event: lunchtime somewhere on a winding mountain road in California ’s central Sierra Nevada . It could be between Hume Lake and Lake Sequoia , or between Hartland and Camp San Joaquin . As Dad traveled from one summer campsite to another to take the group photograph we would often-times assemble the sandwiches on the back seat. It took a bit of skill – laying the bread out and smearing the mayonnaise so it didn’t fall on the floor as Dad careened around the corners. Then carefully lay out the meat, followed by cheese slice. We didn’t always have pre-sliced cheese, so it was always good to have a cheese slicer along. Then comes the lettuce, dil...

A tree falls in the middle of a remote California wilderness. No one observes it, except maybe a passing doe with her fawn, a few squirrels, some mosquitoes and a few million micro-organisms, if they can even be said to observe anything at all. But to those creatures of varying states of consciousness, the falling tree is merely a passing phenomena. While it is potentially information, yet if no one takes note or records the phenomena, it is simply one of many hundreds, thousands or millions that might occur every hour at any one location. After all, the wind blows, rain falls, animals eat and are eaten, plant and animal cells are constantly growing and reproducing, air molecules are swirling through the atmosphere, atoms are constantly churning with energy. An unimaginable number of events are occurring constantly. But who cares? Ok, God cares. But otherwise, it’s just passing phenomena, unless some sentient being takes note and begins to reflect upon it, and shares it with another, a...

The US dollar turned 70 cents against the Singapore dollar last week (currently registered on the Yahoo Finance page at 1:0.7024). In Singapore one might not be overly concerned, considering there are only about 4.5 million people here, and a very small fraction of those are directly dependent on the once mighty greenback. My family is one of those, so we celebrated the turn to 70 with a minor “Oh dear,” and then went on about our business – our business being missionaries. Quite frankly, I did not enter full-time ministry to make it rich. Rather I find fulfillment in knowing that I am planting or cultivating that little mustard seed of God’s Reign wherever I go. In fact, I’m not fully convinced that the popular goal of becoming a millionaire is compatible with the biblical witness to God’s Kingdom. But that’s another story. But the fact is, missionaries, like everyone else, live in a global monetary economy. We are affected by the fluctuations between national currencies and the nat...