DIFFERENT ROADS
Amongst all the friends I made when I was in seminary in
Mississippi, there were only a few authentic northerners in the mix.One of them, my friend Stephen, e-mailed me this week to tell me he was taking a Senior Pastor position at a church in New Jersey. Since graduation last year, he'd been an associate pastor at a church in northwestern PA.
Another friend of mine, Joshua (link to his blog on the right) is getting ordained this coming Lord's Day. Joshua is what I call a Pseudo-Northerner. He's actually from Virginia, but he went to school in Pennsylvania. Additionally, many of my Mississippi friends called him a Yankee. Anyway, he's at a church in Delaware, so God brought him to Newark (In DE it's pronounced "New Ark" to distinguish it from the one Noah built for the flood. In, Jersey, same-spelled city pronounced "New-erk").
Nothing against the South, many of my dearest friends and supporters are southerners. Jason, perhaps one of my best
friends is serving at a church in Oak Ridge, TN. I'm happy to see the Gospel preached anywhere God plants a man to do it.
All this to say, I'm excited to see friends of mine working up this way. You see, in some Christian circles, there is what I would characterize as "Yankeephobia," a feeling that anything north of the Mason-Dixon Line is a cold, Gospel wasteland where people hate God and have abandoned and notion that Jesus could be real to them. In contrast with years past, mission work in New York or Boston has replaced deepest Africa as the most intimidating ministry destination. I have to admit, there's a bit of truth to this perception, but there are people fitting that discription all over the world. Preaching Grace is a tough road wherever you go.
So God leads us down different roads. He brought me here to Queens and there's nowhere else I'd rather minister. Sure most of my friends are engaged in full-time ministry and are ordained while I'm relegated to part-time ministry while fundraising continues, and ordination, God-willing remains in my future, but God gives different gifts to different people and uses them as He sees fit. I'm thrilled to see how God is directing the paths of my seminary friends and even more excited about the Gospel both in their churches and here at Ascension.
Please keep 2007 in your prayers as Ascension Presbyterian Church continues moving forward for the Kingdom.
Amongst all the friends I made when I was in seminary in
Mississippi, there were only a few authentic northerners in the mix.One of them, my friend Stephen, e-mailed me this week to tell me he was taking a Senior Pastor position at a church in New Jersey. Since graduation last year, he'd been an associate pastor at a church in northwestern PA. Another friend of mine, Joshua (link to his blog on the right) is getting ordained this coming Lord's Day. Joshua is what I call a Pseudo-Northerner. He's actually from Virginia, but he went to school in Pennsylvania. Additionally, many of my Mississippi friends called him a Yankee. Anyway, he's at a church in Delaware, so God brought him to Newark (In DE it's pronounced "New Ark" to distinguish it from the one Noah built for the flood. In, Jersey, same-spelled city pronounced "New-erk").
Nothing against the South, many of my dearest friends and supporters are southerners. Jason, perhaps one of my best
friends is serving at a church in Oak Ridge, TN. I'm happy to see the Gospel preached anywhere God plants a man to do it.All this to say, I'm excited to see friends of mine working up this way. You see, in some Christian circles, there is what I would characterize as "Yankeephobia," a feeling that anything north of the Mason-Dixon Line is a cold, Gospel wasteland where people hate God and have abandoned and notion that Jesus could be real to them. In contrast with years past, mission work in New York or Boston has replaced deepest Africa as the most intimidating ministry destination. I have to admit, there's a bit of truth to this perception, but there are people fitting that discription all over the world. Preaching Grace is a tough road wherever you go.
So God leads us down different roads. He brought me here to Queens and there's nowhere else I'd rather minister. Sure most of my friends are engaged in full-time ministry and are ordained while I'm relegated to part-time ministry while fundraising continues, and ordination, God-willing remains in my future, but God gives different gifts to different people and uses them as He sees fit. I'm thrilled to see how God is directing the paths of my seminary friends and even more excited about the Gospel both in their churches and here at Ascension.
Please keep 2007 in your prayers as Ascension Presbyterian Church continues moving forward for the Kingdom.
posted by Jack at 3:14 AM
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