Wednesday, April 10, 2019

The End is Nigh

School

Blessings:
- Finishing up my 40+ page paper for Exegesis of Poetical Books
- Ping Pong Tournament has been a good source of community building

Prayer Requests:
- Finish up the last few weeks well
- Diligence to complete my last few assignments
- Be intentional about my relationships here at Gordon

The month of March has been one filled with adventure and fun, as well as hard work and diligence. Last update, I wrote about that super difficult paper that I had to write for class; well, I finally finished it!! It has ended up being ~40+ pages double spaced, definitely the longest paper I have ever written for any class and also the most difficult and time consuming. On the one hand, it was probably the hardest paper I've had to write in Seminary, on the other, I learned so much more than I could ever have expected to from Psalm 46. Psalm 46 has become a Psalm of encouragement and confidence for me as I wrestle with the near future that is to come. With school quickly coming to an end and next life plans slowly falling together, it is encouraging to know that in Psalm 46:11 "The Lord of Hosts is with us, The God of Jacob is our fortress." There is comfort, providence and protection from the Lord Almighty. Besides school work, similar to last year, I decided to organize a ping pong tournament with the students at Gordon Conwell to build community. This year, we have more participants than last year, and the ping pong tournament is in full blast. It has been a blessing to watch as people who never would have gotten the opportunity to meet or hang out with each other, build friendships over a simple sport that we all enjoy to play. Besides that, I want to ask for prayer on finishing up the last few weeks here well. I honestly cannot believe that my Seminary degree is about to come to an end, and each new checkpoint that I reach in my degree feels melancholic. Please pray that I wont get hit by senioritis and continue to diligently finish up the last few assignments that I have for class. The last thing I want to ask for prayer for is that I be intentional about the relationships I have made at school. It's only a matter of time before we all have to separate, and it is easy for me to unconsciously distance myself to prepare for separation from close friends and colleagues that have fought through Seminary with me.

Church

Blessings:
- Preached last week on an extremely difficult topic, but the Lord walked with me through it all
- Great leaders who are passionate about ministry

Prayer Requests:
- The pastoral search committee
- CHARIS as it transitions into a new season and batch of leaders
- Basketball 3 v 3 tournament to reach out the the community

Time at church has been a delight and wonderful as usual. This month was honestly dedicated mostly to the sermon that I had to preach a few days ago. The topic was one that required an extremely delicate approach, but was also one that needed truth spoken into it. I preached on the topic of what scripture has to say about same-sex sex, which is really a topic that focuses on what scripture has to say about same-sex behavior. Honestly, I didn't think I was the right person for the job, and maybe that's why this was such a humbling experience. In the past, I had never claimed to be an expert on this topic, but I always made a small claim to fame on the fact that I served with EPIC (Campus Crusade) in San Francisco during my sophomore year of college, and had experience ministering to people who were attracted to the same sex. However, I don't really think I knew what I was talking about then, nor really understood just how much I didn't understand or know. Throughout the preparation for this sermon, I realized my inadequacy and did the one thing I never thought I would do... I read up on the topic. I found and got recommendations for books on the topic and started researching and reading to understand more. I also spent the time to talk to many different people with differing views on the topic to understand where everyone was coming from. Most importantly, I talked with friends who personally struggled with being attracted to the same sex, and heard their struggles and their points of view as well. This was a process that took time, patience and an openness to the fact that I may be wrong. It is so easy to just read scripture or listen to people with a heart that already has my own decision on something. Cuz, then I'm just listening or learning so that I can further support my point or argue why I am correct. But as I approached this topic, I realized that I needed to come at this with an open heart that is willing to take off the "lens" that I view things from, and view things as they are, instead of what I already assume them to be. This is funny, because that's how we should be reading scripture... but we don't... So I am really glad that I had this opportunity to preach on this topic. Although, I know this is only the start, but I am glad that my church is willing to start the conversation. I want to also ask for prayer requests as Cross Bridge continues its pastor search. Praying that the Lord continues to grant discernment and providence for the next leader to take up a position at our church. I also want to ask for prayer for CHARIS (young adult fellowship) because in this next year, there will be a lot of change happening, especially in the leadership. The last prayer request item is or a 3 v 3 basketball tournament that me and a few other basketball enthusiasts started in order to reach out to the immediate community of Lexington. Pray that people from around the neighborhood would come and that we can have a good time together and give those at our church an opportunity to enjoy sports with people in their community.

Family/NYC

Blessings:
- Went to Atlanta for a Bachelor Party
- Went to Buffalo for a wedding
- Parents came back from Hong Kong safely

Prayer Requests:
- My brothers continue to discern God's will for them
- Unity and faithfulness for 3 Stone ministry

In the middle of March, during the second reading week, I had two action packed weekends back to back. At the beginning of the reading week, I was blessed with the opportunity to go to Atlanta with a bunch of amazing guys to celebrate with our soon to be married friend. I honestly went in with no expectations, but left feeling refreshed, fatter, and encouraged. Besides all the fun, craziness and food that we had, the trip was also filled with great conversations and was very edifying overall. There were definitely some weird moments where things just seemed to "blow up" out of no where, but these guys handled it well, and we all played our part on this trip. It was a nice get-a-way from the busyness of school work or work work, and I'm glad to have been a part of it. The following weekend, I was blessed with the opportunity to attend a friend's wedding all the way in Buffalo. Even though it was a 7-8 hour drive, time flew by because I was in great company. Me and Visalia were blessed by our good friends Monica and Peter who drove us up and engaged in great conversations with us. We always end up touching on a multitude of different topics, and since I was preparing my sermon for April 7th, we ended up also touching on the topic of Same-Sex attraction and behavior. As we discussed, it was really encouraging and helpful to hear the different perspectives that were shared, as well as the importance that this topic played in our society and ministry nowadays. Besides that, the wedding was a wonderful time to celebrate the union of two of our good friends and a fun time to just enjoy the escape from the city. During the end of our trip, I also got to visit Binghamton, which I had never been to before, but was a fun opportunity to experience a little part of where Visalia spent a good chunk of her life at. In terms of actual time spent in New York, it wasn't that much, but in terms of spending time with people, I had an amazing time. I now want to just ask for prayer requests for my brother's to continue discerning God's will for them. As they get close to wrapping up their college degree, pray that God provides for them and guides them. I also want to ask for prayer for my home church, 3 Stone. Pray for unity and faithfulness especially with all the changes that are too occur soon.


Final Comments
Blessings:
- Interviews with potential churches to serve at
- Time with the Lord
- Finishing up another chapter of my life

Prayer Requests:
- A new chapter of my life is about to begin, one where I will have to be going through a whole lot of change again
- Transitioning
- Discernment for churches and future

As I approach the end of my seminary career, there are just so many things going through my head. I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that life is about to change drastically and I am no longer going to be a student at this school. Instead, I will have to go out into the world and engage with people at a church that a may or may not be familiar with. On one hand, it is terrifying to consider, but on the other, it is sooo exciting. I can't wait to do ministry and to serve in a new context, but I also don't want to leave the comfort and bubble that is Gordon Conwell. It is going to be a bitter sweet departure, but praise God for providing the next steps for me. There are churches that I am currently in conversation with to potentially serve at so please keep that in your prayers! During this last month, I have also been recognizing the importance of spending time with the Lord. I have been trying out this new practice of spending the last 30 minutes or so of my day in meditation with the Lord and not looking at my phone afterwards. It has been an interesting experience, and I can say that it definitely helps to reflect on my day and recognize all that the Lord has been doing. As I reflect, I also recognize that God has continued to bless my relationship with Visalia. It has been a very busy season of life for the both of us, and it has become harder and harder to find time together, but this just reminds me of the priorities in my life. Being in this relationship has continued to teach me where my priorities should be and how to be intentional about each step. My first priority is always first and foremost to God, then to my family and loved ones, then to the places He has called me. Especially in this time of busyness, I'm reminded of the importance of setting aside time and being considerate of the stress of the many things that Visalia may be balancing. At the same time, I am learning how to recognize conflicting values we may have and am learning how to have conversations that ultimately point back to Christ. Overall, it has been one heck of a month, and there is just so much uncertainty still in the air about the future. Thank you for having kept up with me for all this time, and stay tuned for my last update for Gordon Conwell next month!!