Ya Gotta Believe!... Really

You didn't think that I could avoid mention of baseball at this stage in the season... especially given the nail-biting position of my beloved Mets.

After sitting comfortably in first place in the National League east division since May, the Mets have lost 10 of their last 14 games and have blown a 7 game lead finding themselves in a tie for 1st place with the Philadelphia Philies with three games left to play and are on the verge of one of the biggest chokes in baseball history.

But, hey, as a lifelong Mets fan, I know this is New York Mets baseball. Unlike the Devil's team in the Bronx who steamroll to championship after championship, the Miracle Mets tend to make winning much harder than it needs to be.

In 1969 (I don't remember this, by the way), the Chicago Cubs were the best team in the National League and choked in the second half of the season to send the Mets to the World Series as heavy underdogs. After losing the first game, most sports writers had them written off. For the first time, it became clear, writing off the Mets is not always the best idea.

In 1986 the Mets were in first place from day one of the season, but the World Series presented a challenge. Down by a run in game six, the pitch count ran full to Mookie Wilson, a player not known to hit well in the clutch, the Mets proved again that writing them off would be a mistake. When a wild pitch tied the game, a routine bloop hit by Wilson through the legs of Bill Buckner of the Red Sox (who actually became something of a hero to me), the Mets scratched out one of the most unlikely wins in baseball and went on to win the World Series.

I'm not predicting a Mets World Championship. I kind of did that last year. What I'm saying is that people should be careful before writing the Mets off despite this monumental collapse.

Why am I talking about this kind of stuff in a blog about church planting in Queens. Like Baseball in Queens, church planting is not a steamroller. Instead it's often a nail-biting struggle, but don't write us off. The church is a winning team despite any struggles we have faced in the past and any struggles we will face in the future.

Looking to the East

A number of years ago, the Doobie Brothers sang about a place around San Antonio, Texas called China Grove and sang of people "...looking to the East."

I've always found the East/West distinctions fascinating. When you're in India, China or Japan you are considered "in the East." If you're from any of those places, you're "from the East," or "Eastern."

If you're American, British, French, Italian etc., you're considered "Western."

If you're from Kansas or Nebraska, you're from the Midwest, while if you're from Saudi Arabia or Lebanon, you're from the Middle East.

All of these considerations taken for their value, no matter how far east you travel, there is more East to cover and when Horace Greely said, "Go west young man," where was the intended stopping point?

My senseless musings aside, Ascension Church, located in the northeastern region of a western country will have a bit of an Eastern flavor this week when the sitar and tabla will be a part of our musical ensemble this week in worship service.

A group of musicians will be visiting us this week who perform Indian music in the Hindi language known as Yeshu Bhakti (devotion to Jesus). They will be performing a special concert this Sunday evening and the musicians will be participating in our morning worship. While we expect it to be a great experience to have these instruments during the worship service (how often do you here a sitar and/or tabla on Sunday morning services?), we are more excited about the outreach opportunity these musicians present in their evening concert. Given the multicultural complexion of Queens, these kinds of events are of great significance in the life of the church. Please pray that God brings a wonderful variety of people to us this week and speaks to their hearts with the Gospel through the music.

Mission to the World

Once a year, during the last week of August and the first week of September, the eyes of the sporting world are gazing on Queens. Of course, whe I say "world," I mean world. Tennis is one of the most international of all professional sports, partly due to the individual nature of tennis, and partly due to the worldwide appeal of the sport.
During this period, the New York Mets always schedule a road trip to keep traffic and transit congestion under control. Shea Stadium is literally across the street from the USTA Tennis Center and share the same station on the subway.

While the entire world descending on Queens is not generally remarkable, as this happens every day here as the most diverse single county in the United States, I alwals like the fact that so many people visiting from all over get the chance to discover that there's more to New York City than Manhattan.

Queens represents an alternate view of foreign missions. Typically the approach taken by many is to leave American soil to venture out into the world with the Gospel. In Queens, you remain on American soil and the world comes to you. It's an interesting twist on the traditional model.
As a young church plant, Ascension Church is classified a "mission church" until it is financially solvent and has its own elected officers. From where I stand, Ascension, as a church planted in Queens will always be a "Missions" church by virtue of it's location. Pray that this church always remain true to its evangelistic placement and opportunity.

One other newsworthy item worth noting. For the last few days there has been a taxi strike going on in New York City. While one of the reasons for the strike is the cost of installing credit card readers for passenger use, the other is the Taxi and Limousine Commission's plan to install GPS navigation devices in the cars. Drivers complain that they will be tracked and watched as in a "Big Brother" secnario. I've been a passenger in a NYC cab before and found myself wondering how great it would be if the driver actually knew where he was going. I say, install the GPS so I can hail a cab in Midtown without having to convince the driver that he doesn't need a passport or visa to get to Queens! Maybe it's just me.