Today we’d like to introduce you to Phillip Chan.
Hi Phillip, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a blogger turned author.
I’ve been blogging for about 15 years at phillipchan.org where I try to help people of faith deepen their relationship with God through thoughtful and insightful commentary on the collision of living out the precepts of the Bible and our relationship with Jesus in light of today’s society.
One of those precepts was the concept of the day of rest, or Sabbath, as Judeo-Christians call it. As 2020 saw the world go to flames, I found that the practice of Sabbath was a powerful practice I was practicing in my life that yielded incredible fruit. Where I saw others falter in chaos, I thrived in peace. The day of rest is a day of recognizing that God, not humans are in control.
I believed in this message so powerfully that I wanted to tell all my friends about it. Yet dinner after dinner, I could never fully get the message across in time. It was at the point I decided that I needed to write a book, at least for my friends so that they would not be lost in chaos.
The writing process was divine–it felt as if I was gaining so much insight. It was at that juncture that I realized that I didn’t want just my friends to read this book, I wanted the world to read it because I believe it could prosper many people. One thing led to another, and I found a publisher willing to work with me. And as many have experienced the turns of life, I am now on the way to writing a book that I believe will truly change people’s lives.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It’s honestly been mostly smooth from a logistics standpoint.
The greatest challenge has been the journey of self. It feels pretentious to write a book as if I know all the answers. But I realized that I don’t need to know everything to know something. And this something, I believe, is enough to transform someone’s life.
Getting over myself and finally owning that I had something powerful to offer people was a hurdle and I am still learning.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I think what makes my book special is that I am writing as a non-clergy.
I feel that one of the frustrations I have in my life is the life of clergy people and how, for lack of better word, disconnected from the world they are.
This book will connect with people because I live the life they live. I have a full-time job, I have a mortgage to pay for, I have kids running around the house. It’s hectic. But I thrive in it. And I think it’s that context which gives my message authority. I’m not on a pulpit telling you to live a life I haven’t. I have lived it and am excited for you to as well. I think that’s what’s unique about the context of my work.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
Los Angeles is a both a mix and clash of cultures. We all enjoy the surface-level things about living multicultural e.g., food, music, friends, but the most challenging stuff is learning to live together in the deeper things of life. I find being a Christian and living in Los Angeles a challenging place to live and thrive.
Most people would prefer to move to a place more like them, but I think there’s strength in staying at a place with violently fragmented ideas and thoughts. It challenges and chisels my own beliefs in a positive way.
Contact Info:
- Website: phillipchan.org
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/thisisphilchan
