Chariots, Horses and Essays

Where am I putting my trust?

It's 11:20PM right now. I am currently in my work office editing business school essays. I sometimes prefer to work on these essays in my office rather than at home because:

(1) I have internet at the office and not at my studio

(2) I like having my apartment as a place for stuff other than work - reading, writing, ministry, sermon listening and sleeping. (and eating string cheese)

Anyway. This business school application process has been an ongoing struggle to trust fully in God. During this process I've had to do a lot of introspection and self-evaluation. Through these times I've become more aware of my weaknesses as an applicant, whether its in the areas of work experience, academics or otherwise. So, partially in an effort to counterweight these weaknesses I'm trying to write really great essays. Essays have become my hope.

Unfortunately, I'm not an essayist.

Fortunately, God rules over everything, including admissions officers.

In today's ESV Study Bible reading I read Psalm 20:6-8:

"6 Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand.

7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses,but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

8 They collapse and fall,but we rise and stand upright."

So, even as I continue to edit my essays tonight, I am reminded that God hears me and answers me from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand. I will trust in God.

Read a Book

Winter break, for many, means extra time to do engage in activities we enjoy. I think its a great opportunity for students in particular to spend extended time reading the Word.



Use this break to do reading you normally wouldn't be able to do:
* read the OT
* read the NT
* read entire books at time instead of a chapter or a cluster of verses

Presents for Mom & Dad

Nice. In Chinese. I bought books in English for them but they didn't really read them. Hopefully Piper translates well.

In addition I got them some other nice stuff.

What We're Looking For

"Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee, O Lord" - St. Augustine



In the next calendar year there will be at least two church plants within relative proximity to RCCC. Liquid will be starting in January 2009, and The Bridge has a planned start around Fall of 2009. There is also Jacob's Well, which is another church plant in central NJ with a heart to reach Rutgers students and even unworthy Princeton Students. Jacob's Well is part of the Acts 29 Network headed by my good friend Mark Driscoll. (OK, Mark has no idea who I am but I would want to be friends with him. I listen to about 3-5 of his sermons a week).

So, what to make of all this?

First, from the macro perspective, praise God!I think that many people will come to Christ and grow in Christ because of these churches. Even though I lead R8 at RCCC, my greatest desire is not for R8 to be the preeminent college ministry, but that many would come to God through Jesus Christ.

Second, from the RCCC internal perspective, we must ask ourselves tough questions. Where do we 'fit in' amongst all these churches? How does the planting of these churches change our ministry? Who are we and more importantly, who are we seeking to reach? With several EC people in leadership positions leaving for The Bridge, what are we doing to develop new leaders? With the more appealing methods that these new church plants employ, will RCCC seek to contextualize the Gospel more? There are tons of questions to ask, and we must be willing to ask the hardest ones, and then work through them thoughtfully and prayerfully.

Third, from a theological perspective, the churches must be about contenting for timeless truth through timely methods (yes, that's Driscoll). The churches must be about God. As I thought about these church plants and RCCC throughout the week, its easy to compare, contrast, and complain. The most important thing about a body of believers is their relationship with God and the presence and power of God at work amongst them. Flashy stuff can not make up for it, and a poor website can't diminish it. We are ultimately seeking God Himself whether or not we know it, and our hearts will be restless until we have Him.

So, as several new churches come to central NJ, I'm excited to see what will happen! For RCCC, I think it ought to cause a time of deep, thoughtful prayer and refining, while ensuring that God stays at the center of all we do and why we exist as a church.

The Difference

I live in two worlds. Well, maybe more. But two main ones are (1) The Corporate world (2) The Ministry world. I spend a lot of time in these worlds and many things about them are different. Here are just a few.

1. Patience - My experience in the corporate world of finance / consulting is generally one where people are not that patient. There are deadlines to meet and expectations to exceed. And you can't make mistakes. In ministry, there are deadlines of course and in many ways, even greater expectations. But, there's an overall environment of patience - an understanding that deadlines don't indicate the end of the world, and that in some sense, we all make mistakes.

2. Passion - In the corporate world, people are motivated by lots of different things - just like ministry. But on the whole, I'd say many people (not all) are motivated by money, prestige, and exit opportunities (job as a stepping stone to something else). In ministry, particularly lay-person ministry, there is no money for sure. There isn't prestige in the sense that you can brag about what ministry you're in. But in the best ministries I've observed or particpated in, there's an overwhelming passion for God that drives people. It goes beyond personal passion, its a passion that's placed within by God that consumes.

3. Prayer - There is perhaps now, more than before, an acknowledgement in the corporate world that there is a lot that happens or may happen that is out of our hands. In our economic downward spiral, there is a limited control of our financial destiny. But, at the same time we plan, strategize, and excute on ways we can cut costs and mitigate risks. All this is right. Yet, the underlying operating principle is that we, as humans, run stuff and its up to us. In ministry, humans run stuff and a lot of stuff is up to us. But there's something more going on too - there's a sovereign God reigning over the universe and over hearts and minds of people. And because He's sovereign we bring forth our requests and petitions to Him.

Jonathan Edwards | Resolution 20

20. Resolved, to maintain the strictest temperance, in eating and drinking.

It's Friday! This means a few things for me:

1) R8 - I look forward to Friday not because its the last day of work (OK, partially) but because I get to see my second family - my R8 leadership team, and I get to see all of our wonderful students to whom we are ministering to.

2) Essays - In theory, I dedicate my weekends to writing my businees school essays. This is only partially true. There's too much other stuff I need to do.

3) Salads no more - I eat salad for lunch and my 4pm meal about 4 times/week. Food at my work cafeteria is very reasonably priced and the salad bar is pretty good. But once the weekend hits there is no more readily available healthy food. In addition to that I'm always eating out on the weekend - burgers, wings, Hoagie Haven, etc. Bad news man.

A couple years back I went to check my mailbox at church and I found a book on Christian dieting. What? Yes. I'm sure it that in the bookstore it came from it was placed right next to the Christian candle holders. But it is important that we take care of our body. Jonathan Edwards knew this even at the young age at which he wrote Resolution 20 above.

I think if we want to operate at top capacity it is important that we tend to our body. For me that means lots of water + (coffee) + vitamins + healthy food + exercise to counter my lack of sleep (Rockstar is for weekends only). I've become more aware of the importance of being in 'optimal' shape as responsibilities and demands on my time pile up. As busy as I am during the week, I often feel even busier during the weekends. So I'm going to be more careful about what I eat to the extent that I can post-Thursdays.

Anyway - time to eat a snack.

The Clothes We Wear

So today my pastor emailed me saying that, unfortunately, I can no longer wear jeans and sneakers when I preside during worship service. A presider basically does the opening prayer, makes announcements, reads the Scripture passage for the day, and then invites the pastor up to speak.

The presider also stands behind a big solid wood podium. So the only time people can see the lower half of my body is when I walk up on stage and walk off - a total of about 9 seconds or about 1.5% of the time I am on stage.

Nevertheless I've been asked to wear business casual.
...
If I wore business casual at Mark Driscoll's church they'd probably tell me to wear jeans and sneakers - you know, how the pastor dresses when he preaches.

* The picture above is a screenshot of Mark Driscoll preaching to other preachers