Somehow, the last iteration didn’t quite capture the contrast between light and darkness that I hoped to.  It did however, catch the emotive sense.  In this iteration, I simply took out the color and made the contrast starker through differing tones and levels of definition.

Light Coming Down

• 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom
• Beautiful hardwood floors
• Modern, renovated kitchen
• Dishwasher, fridge, and microwave
• Washer & dryer adjacent to kitchen
• Small backyard with driveway
• $85,000
• Location: 1415 S. 13th St
• Less than 3 miles from campus!

With that, a basic update seems in order.  Rachel is currently working two jobs until the fall when she will quit her part time one.  She is working full time at TechMission, an organization that strives to bring technology into inner city ministries.  Her part time job is as a tutor at a Sylvan Learning center.

I am currently in my second Greek class, and am working as a “media tech” for the school.  That mostly means that I copy a lot of cd’s and dvd’s and occasionally run sound.  In the fall I will start as a Physics lab instructor for Gordon College. 

Our life is crazy, but we’re settling in and will hopefully find our place here soon.  Blessings to you!

http://improveverywhere.com/2008/03/09/food-court-musical/

Heavenly Father, you are gracious beyond our understanding.  Thank you for this time that we have to meditate on you, help us to see you clearly.  Lord, would you empty our minds of distraction?  Will you open our spiritual eyes and ears so that we may see and hear you clearly?  Will you calm our pride, our anger, our anxiety, our fear, and our self-righteousness so that we can listen with our whole heart?  Will you quiet the lies of our enemies, let the Truth ring in our souls, and prepare us to hear of your great might and glory?  Thank You for yourself, your gift to us, an unworthy people.  Thank you for your grace that takes the pressure away from us as it frees us to be what you intended.  Thank you for your mercy on us in our broken state.  Thank you for a right relationship that brings us back to you.  May it continue to bring us to you in humility with a proper view of who we’re not in light of who you are.

“I’d like you to integrate this course (NT501) with your future ministry goals.  For example, is there anyone you look to in the NT as a role model for the kind of people-focused ministry you are interested in?  Or is there a particular passage that serves to guide your ministry desires?  Take this in any direction you wish, just tell me how the NT can play a role in your future ministry.”

This last question seems rather difficult, perhaps because it’s so open, or maybe because I have such a fuzzy picture of the future.  I admire a good number of people who appear in the New Testament as well as the authors who wrote certain books.  They influence me greatly by their example in what they wrote and how they obviously lived.  Then of course Jesus is a model to us all…

As someone who converted when he was 16 from an anti-Christian atheism (wow I’m in the 3rd person) I feel a particular affinity towards Paul and his conversion story.  I grew up in California liberalism and was for the causes of secularism, globalism, and choice that mark our liberal societies.  I adamantly pursued these goals against Jesus and yet when I found Christ, I realized how I was persecuting Him unjustly in a lot of ways.  My life changed and I was called into ministry, and now I feel called to the lost, and hope to fight for their salvation.

However, now I look at Peter, his betrayal of Christ, and how Christ built him up to be a rock for the Church.  Again, my life is full of turning from God, and Christ being gracious enough to not only forgive, but to build me up to ultimately serve God to the greatest capacity (I hope) I can.  I am passionate about the Church and the building up of this Body that Christ established.  Unity and Strength coming from humility and service are the pieces of Peter I hope to emulate.

Then, (and perhaps more oddly) I look to James.  The language in his book is peppered with biblical allusion, the words of God are his own, and his arguments are a hard-hitting summary of what life in this Body is really all about.  It’s difficult to hear, but I’m impressed that he knew God so well.  Hopefully, the things in the Bible will become so much of me, that what I say sounds oddly familiar because it’s what God has put on all of our hearts.

Finally, I look at John, (or Juan, as I am) and I see someone “Blessed by God” who considers himself beloved of God and I am grateful to be in good company.

Are there any people you look to in the NT?

In the last few years I’ve noticed 2 things that have changed the direction my life has taken.  Firstly, I’ve become somewhat unsatisfied by the models and modes of ministries that I both work with and under.  They are by and large, racialized segregated models of a Church that should not be so.  I am passionate about the unity and health of the Church, and would love to see Love win out over a myriad of evils.  However, there is a lot to learn before I can more adequately help the Church move forward to a loving, relevant part of normal society.  At this point I’m not sure what I’m even able to accomplish.  Secondly, my own personality and gifts aren’t used very well in my current job.  I am by nature a person who loves ideas and people.  I enjoy pressure and high energy environments.  In what I do currently, I am often tied down by administrative details and work with spreadsheets more than people.  I would like that to change, and so along with what I’d like to accomplish in my short life, seminary seemed like the right “next step.”

Indeed, the way Christians respond to this question may reflect whether or not they are relevant in today’s society and in what way. 

Firstly, I do believe that Christians have a vital role in contributing to the American process of Democracy.  I remember pledging many times “…to the republic…”  What does this pledge mean except that I take part in what our constitution declares?

“We the people of the United States of America, in order to form a more perfect union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity…

As an American, I have the privilege to shape the direction of this country.  I would hope that our country honors God, and while I do not think a theocracy would honor Him per se, (Look at some Kings that didn’t last) I believe a merciful, just, and gracious country that promotes Godly values would.  (Mitt Romney said it pretty well in his Religion speech that was recently delivered.) 

Secondly, I believe that by serving your country, you are able to serve God and live the kind of life God desires.  (This doesn’t mean you can’t serve God in other ways, but the political way is a possibility)  To be brief, God gives us the command to love him and our neighbor.  Insuring that our country values God and/or Godly values and that our country allows us to worship freely, results in the presence of God among the people.  This allows us to not only be engaged and love our neighbor better, but it helps demonstrate to non-believers that we as Christians care about what happens to them and where our country is going.  In that way, we can build bridges on issues people care about in order to fulfill the Great Commission.