The Blogsite of an Alien in Chinatown

2005-11-28T20:38:00.000-08:00

God is constantly pursuing us.

This is what my friend Usman thought was the meaning of John 2:1-10. We looked at just a little while ago at a Spiritual Discussion Group in Rubin Hall. We looked at how it seems Jesus is constantly trying to get us to have a sensory experience of Himself. That He is longing for an ultimate wedding feast with us.

The idea of God constantly pursuing us has been bouncing around in my brain all night. Every experience, everything we see or come in contact with, God is using, in His wisdom, to give us a greater experience of Himself. The poet Gerard Manley Hopkins said, "The world is charged with the grandeur of God." Somewhere in the space around us (and in the space in us) sits God awakening those whom he's purposed to save to his reality.

2005-11-16T15:06:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the two random guys who posted comments to the last post. Thanks, Jeff, for telling me how to stop spammers.

Things have almost been too busy for me to write this. Our Rubin Hall Spiritual Interest Group is going well -- we're in John 1. I just got back from two road trips. One very huge one to San Destin Florida for a Navigators collegiate staff conference. The other to Penn State for our fall student retreat. An incredible 45 students came! This was way more than we've had on any other road trip before. Many new freshmen beginning to develop a passion for going deep into Scripture.

One big surprise this week was finding out that a freshman, Danielle, decided to put her faith in Christ for the first time about a month ago. She grew up in church for most of her life and one day, while sitting in a girl's Bible study led by Katinka Harrison (also on staff with us), she decided to ask Jesus to be her Savior. She told us for the first time this weekend!
Now, whats really interesting is that at the begining of the year all of the staff decided to spend the next 45 days praying for God to "move a mountain". I felt led to pray for one NYU student to be saved. Danielle (whom I didn't know) chose to let Christ into her life just as those 45 days were ending!

There is actually much more I could talk about. Unfortunately, I'm overwhelmed at the moment. I said in my newsletter that it feels like I'm needing to work two full-time jobs -- Real Estate and Ministry. Actually now it feels like my two jobs have been Fundraising and Ministry. I still have a lot of money to raise. Please pray for this! There is so much more I'd like to be doing with my time than asking people for money.

I'd like to produce a play that has Gospel-related themes in it. Redeemer Presbyterian Church (in NYC) has Open-Arts forums every so often. They'll produce a musical or theatrical piece and Tim Keller (the pastor) will give a lecture on how the piece sheds light upon some aspect of the Gospel. It has been a wonderful instrument to reach the lost. The Navigators at the University of Amsterdam (led by my friend Laurence Koo) do a similar thing. I'm really interested in doing this here at NYU. We have so many theater majors in the Navigators and such a huge secular acting school that loves to attend theater. This however, would require full-funding so that I can devote both time and money to it.

I'll try to blog shorter and more frequently in the future.

If you're reading this -- let me know! Post your thoughts in the comment section. I removed the block on non-members, so that all of you can post now.

Grace and Peace,

Mike

2005-10-25T01:01:00.000-07:00

Hello and Welcome everyone. It might take a while before enough people know about this site and this post is actually read; but I might as well start somewhere. I'm finally completely moved into my fourth floor Chinatown apartment. My room looks out onto Allen street and has a partial view of the top of the Empire State building on most days. My desk is arranged so that I can gaze out onto the street below me while writing.

Of course, as those of you in New York know, its been in a seemingly constant state of torential downpour which, I've been told, was supposed to be transformed into a "noreaster" in a few days. And apparantly, as I've also just been told, a "noreaster" is some kind of evil blizzard which is coming to pummel our city. The spawn of so many hurricanes.

The most amazing thing is happening with our "Spiritual Interest Group" on the 11th floor of Rubin Hall. (For those of you who don't know me, I am currently serving as a missionary staff worker with the Navigators ministry at New York University (my alma mater)) A non-believing Muslim is, I think, really being gripped by the idea and person of Jesus, as he is described in the gospels. He is thinking this out with a much greater ferocity than I can ever imagine myself doing if I didn't have the background I have. Its admirable. Oh that he would meet Jesus as the perfection his religion strives after, and the sacrifice that his guilt demands!

The Navigators has such a cool approach to advancing the Kingdom. My work here is to pass on work. To disciple and equip students to minister to others, who minister to others, and so on. In a word, "To advance the message of Jesus and His Kingdom into the nations through spiritual generations of laborers living and discipling among the lost."-- as the calling statement goes. So, I've begun to lead younger believers on the NYU campus out into the harvest field while helping them discover for themselves the amazing life that is called "in Christ". And the funny thing is that its not exactly like some marketing campaign. See, I'm realizing how much Christ ministers to me, and how much I generally function better as a human being, while helping others discover the Gospel (both Christians and non-Christians).

Anyway, I don't want to establish the habit of indulging myself by typing too long on my blog. So, I'll cut it off there. (It probably sounds horribly advertisment-esque, nevertheless, I'll let it sit the way it is -- open to the whole worlds' critiquing eye)