Justin Fung

Jesus said, “By their fruit you will know them.”
Not by their charisma.
Not by their knowledge.
Not by the size of their following.
By their fruit.

May we live the kind of lives that bear the fruit of God’s justice, mercy, humility, and love.

“What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
“If you love me, you’ll keep my commands.”
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength—and show that love by loving your neighbor.”

I used to lie awake wondering—what if I got it wrong? What if Jesus had some hidden standard, some secret rule I didn’t know about?

But as I’ve grown, I’ve realized: it isn’t hidden at all. It’s written all over Scripture.

YouTube video by Christ City Church “By their fruit you will know them”

When I was a kid, there was a verse that worried me. Jesus says: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father.”

(www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fns4...)

“Asian American history is American history.”

Got to meet and hear from @michaelluo.bsky.social about his book “Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America.”

Thanks to Michael Wear and the Center for Christianity & Public Life for hosting.

Praying for those, including friends and family, in HK and the surrounding region, hit hard by #Ragasa (Taiwan, China, the Philippines).

Rapture rainbow. 🌈 😉

Jesus came preaching and living a kingdom of nonviolent love. So I continue to pray for us as a people, as a nation, and as a world: that the Spirit of the God who is love would shape us in ways that seek flourishing for all—especially those most vulnerable.

So, on the 24th anniversary of 9/11—another example of the violence spiral we’re caught in—let us grieve what we can. Let us resist the temptation to otherize and dehumanize. And let us refuse the idolatry of violence-as-the-answer—whatever form it comes in.

As I said back in May: “Violence against people is never the answer. Bullets, bombs, unjust laws, hateful words—none of these bring life.”

Dozens more have died in Gaza and Sudan and Ukraine and Congo. Migrants in our own city have been snatched off the street. Every single one of these lives, too, bears the image of God. Each of these losses breaks the heart of the One who made them.

Losing someone to gun violence is not something anyone should have to go through—so I try to work and pray for a world where that never happens again.

I also want to say this: yesterday there was also another school shooting, in Colorado, just a week after the school shooting in Minnesota.

Charlie Kirk and I disagreed on much. His callousness about gun deaths, his disdain for empathy, his championing of Christian nationalism—these caused real harm to many. And still I pray for his family and his loved ones, that God would be close to them in their grief.

I took a social media break for most of yesterday, so was late to the news about Charlie Kirk. And then I wanted to spend time processing before sharing. Here’s what I’ve got:

Endless stream of DC patriots

Washington Monument in the distance

Free DC!

Incredibly huge #FreeDC #WeAreDC March has begun

#FreeDC Mass march hitting the streets of DC now.

F: “What are we holding on to, Sam?”


S: “That there’s some good in this world … and it’s worth fighting for.”

Let’s keep going, friends.

Sam (cont): "But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer. … Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. Because they were holding on to something.”

Sam: “I know. It’s all wrong. [But] it’s like in the great stories, the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?

3. One of my favorite moments from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers—

Frodo says, “I can’t do this, Sam.”

2. Follow and conspire with people, orgs, and accounts that will keep you informed and help you engage in communal action for the common good.

For now I need to step out from under the pressure of a(nother) weekly output.

I’ll sign off today with this:

1. Remember: for those who call ourselves Christians, the greatest commandment is love. Love of God that shows itself in love of neighbor—especially those most vulnerable and in need.

Add in the “usual” pastoral work: walking with people through health struggles, relational fractures, or spiritual disillusionment (sometimes triggered by the chasm between Jesus and those who claim his name). And add in a season of transitions on a number of fronts.

But the truth is: I’m tired.

Holding the pain of so many who are suffering from inhumanity—while also pastoring a local church where folks are dealing with job loss, a brutal job market, and navigating life under authoritarian occupation—it’s a lot.

Gonna put #FiveMinuteFriday on the shelf for a bit.

For almost 7 months, I’ve been posting nearly every week, sharing from DC—the epicenter of so many cruel, chaotic, and incompetent decisions—and trying to process it all as a pastor, through the lens of my faith.

Too tired from the week for a #FiveMinuteFriday. So will just say: #FreeDC.

And: “Cursed is anyone who obstructs the legal rights of immigrants, orphans, or widows.” - Deuteronomy 27:19

If you're wondering why you may not be seeing the benefits when the stock market is doing well ...

(You should also read Vulture Capitalism, by @graceblakeley.substack.com.)

A photographer’s view of ICE’s relentless courthouse arrests The shattering of faith in America's goodness is the hardest part to watch.

"Here legally, engaged in a sanctioned process to determine their eligibility for asylum, they have committed no crime. They are arrested anyway, and the lives they’ve risked to come to the United States are thrown into chaos."

Alt text: A screenshot of a post on X (formerly Twitter) by Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) dated August 21, 2025, at 12:22 PM. The post reads: “President Trump is going out on patrol tonight in DC. Shock and awe. Force. We're taking our country back from these cockroaches. Just the start.” Below is an embedded post by Todd Starnes (@toddstarnes) from 2 hours earlier, stating: “JUST IN: President Trump tells me that he's going out on patrol tonight with DC law enforcement and the military. Listen to my full interview with the president at 12P ET on The Todd Starnes Show…” The post has 171.1K views.

This is genocidal rhetoric calling people cockroaches. This is exactly the language used in the Rwandan genocide.

YouTube video by Christ City Church Life Together: Parenting, “Child-ing”, and Generational Change

Grateful for this week’s conversation at Christ City between Pastor @watsonopolis.bsky.social and therapist Pete Bauman (of Garden City Center DC) about navigating our relationships as parents and kids, and generational trauma and healing.

youtu.be/6zE0NubTL80?...