Kong Hee Media

In 2007, David Kinnaman published his groundbreaking book, UnChristian: What A New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity. This book is the result of three years of extensive interviews with young adults today. Through his research, Kinnaman discovered the negative perceptions the unchurched (he called them “outsiders”) had toward Christianity, which altered their willingness to commit their lives to Jesus. One person he interviewed put it this way: “Most people I meet assume that Christian means very conservative, entrenched in their thinking, antigay, antichoice, angry, violent, illogical, empire builders; they want to convert everyone, and they generally cannot live peaceably with anyone who doesn’t believe what they believe.”

Kinnaman’s research explores the six perceptions these outsiders have of Christians:

(1) Hypocritical. Outsiders consider us hypocritical—saying one thing and doing another—and they are skeptical of our morally superior attitudes. Christians present the church as a place only for the virtuous and morally pure people.
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Sun was finally discharged from Cedars-Sinai Hospital on March 26 (Thur) after staying there for 16 days. She has lost a lot of weight and is still rather weak. As of now, she can only take soft diet that is high in protein, and low in carbohydrates and fiber. This is because the ability of her intestines to digest food is not fully restored. The hospital has assigned a very capable nutritionist to advise her on her diet.

On her first night back home, Sun took some tofu for dinner. An hour after dinner, she felt nauseous and her stomach started to bloat. Dr. Philips has instructed the team that if Sun faints, vomits or has severe diarrhea, she is to be readmitted to the ER immediately. Thankfully, she slept through the night without any incident. The next morning, the nutritionist visited her at home and said that tofu, and all soy products, should be avoided after a major abdominal operation. Soy is simply too “tough” for her recovering intestines to digest. She then wrote out a strict diet regiment for Sun to follow. In the US, there is surprisingly, a high regard for traditional Chinese medicine and herbs, which most Americans believe are the best supplements during the post-op rehabilitative period. Sun will be eased into such herbal treatment soon.
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Many of you have heard that my wife, Sun, had been sick for the last two weeks.

Since early February, Sun had been feeling nauseous and sick in her stomach. At first, she passed it off as being perhaps a viral attack or food poisoning. But as the weeks passed and the symptoms persisted, her regular LA physician, Dr. Sugerman, advised her to see Dr. Feldman (gastro-enterologist), Dr. Fine (internal medicine) and Dr. Philips, a director at Cedars-Sinai Hospital at Beverly Hills.

When Sun was a little girl, she had a severe case of appendicitis and her appendix was removed. As the injured tissues tried to seal themselves back, tissues that should have been separated started to adhere to one another, causing “adhesions.” The adhesions prevented the organs from moving freely, causing them to become twisted or pulled from their normal positions. (Apparently, more than 90% of patients develop adhesions following open abdominal surgery.)

When Sun was a teenager, she had an operation on the same area of the appendectomy to remove her adhesions, which explains her “famous” scar across her flat tummy.

This time, after a series of tests, Dr. Philips discovered that there were adhesions again. They were in the small intestines, twisting the latter around and obstructing the flow of food into the digestive tract. On March 3 (Tue), Sun was admitted to Cedars-Sinai for a laparoscopic surgery, a keyhole procedure, to remove the adhesions. She was discharged after two days and was expected to go back to the recording studio within 10 days or so.
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On February 4, 2009, American President Obama gave his State of the Nation address. He said, “History reminds us that, at every moment of economic upheaval and transformation, this nation has responded with bold action and big ideas. In the midst of civil war, we laid railroad tracks from one coast to another that spurred commerce and industry. From the turmoil of the Industrial Revolution came a system of public high schools that prepared our citizens for a new age. In the wake of war and depression, the GI Bill sent a generation to college and created the largest middle-class in history. And a twilight struggle for freedom led to a nation of highways, an American on the moon, and an explosion of technology that still shapes our world … We are a nation that has seen promise amid peril and claimed opportunity from ordeal. Now we must be that nation again.”

In other words, what makes a people great is their ability to creatively try out new ideas in the face of immense challenges and crises. Recently, my friend Aries Zulkarnain sent me an article of a list of innovative ideas that have emerged during times of economic duress. Some examples:
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