Serving the King in Queens

2007-12-13T17:58:00.000-08:00

Requiem for a Heavyweight

As I approach another birthday this coming Sunday, I'm unusually nostalgic this year. I'm not really old yet and this isn't one of those landmark birthdays ending on a "0" or "5." That said, this year a large chunk of my youth has has been sold on the real estate pages.

As one of several generations of kids who grew up in southwestern Queens, birthdays always meant one thing year after year: The Kitchen Sink at Jahn's Ice Cream Parlor.

You see, the Kitchen Sink was the largest serving of ice cream known to man (or at least to kid).... eighteen scoops of home-made ice cream topped with a flaming sugar cube and all kinds of syrups, whipped cream, and sprinkles. Nothing thirlled me more on my birthday than to see the waitstaff emerge from the kitchen, past the nickelodeon and march this mountain of ice cream to your table singing an often off-key rendition of "Happy Birthday to You."

But alas, that memory of childhood will always be but a memory for me and everyone else. Yes, the legendary Jahn's has closed its doors.

I found out second hand as I was planning a Christmas ice cream party for the Ascension youth group this week and my fears were realized by a story in the newspaper and a drive down Hillside Avenue.

Other landmarks have gon the way of Jahn's in the two-and-a-half years since I returned to my Queens roots after three years in Mississippi, but this one stings a little more.

Sold along with Jahn's (which everyone always Americanized as "Jan's") were nearly a century's worth of sweetheart carvings all along the wall moldings, a fully functional, authentic nickelodeon (It actually cost a Quarter the last time I was there), the Kitchen Sink, and one more place where you could get an authentic New York egg cream.

I guess the moral of the story is the story of Queens itself. As settled as some things seem here, there's never any telling when they'll go away. If something as established here as Jahn's can go, anything (or anyone for that matter) can too.

2007-11-29T03:09:00.000-08:00

Bridges of Inspiration

In blog posts past I've shown various New York City bridges, most notably, the Queensborough bridge. In this post, I thought I'd take the bridge theme to a different level.

This is the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Sydney, NSW, Australia, one of the most recognizable bridges in the world. Officially opened on March 19, 1932 it was the crowning achievement of Chief Engineer John Bradfield who had been heading up the project to bridge the harbour since 1912.

What is lesser known is the source of inspiration for this major work. During his travels, Bradfield spent some time in New York City and apparently a light went on when he saw the Hell Gate Bridge, a single-arch railroad bridge connecting Queens with Manhattan, the Bronx and points north.

The Hell Gate Bridge, opened in 1916 and is considerably more narrower and shorter than the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but given the time he had to work on the project (lengthened as the plans halted for World War I), Bradfield was able to improve on the design.

The point of this is that a railroad bridge in Queens became the inspiration for something greater in another place. As I've said in this blog before, Gospel work here tends to have international repercussions. My hope is that this simple guy from Queens can be used for bigger things as God directs. That's all I'm saying.

2007-11-15T17:50:00.000-08:00

Dr. Livingstone, I presume.

Before she married my grandfather, Dorothy Raplee's maiden name was Livingstone. As long as I can remember, Raplee family legend had it that our Scottish roots were somehow connected to the legendary missionary to Africa, Dr. David Livingstone. If course, I couldn't begin to draw the family tree linking me to the good doctor, though my grandmother had a cousin named David. Truth be told, however, although he obtained a PhD. (making him, in fact, Dr. Livingstone), he's still alive and living in Pittsburgh.

My mother's father, Warren Buchholtz, was an ordained evangelist at the Bowery Mission, a "skid row" ministry established at the time of the Fulton Street Revival of the late 19th Century, now one of the country's oldest continually operating Christian ministries in the United States.

Then, of course, there's me. I've been working second string at a church plant in central Queens for more than two years now and still wondering which side of my ministry pedigree will emerge in my work.

To that end, I'm heading down to Atlanta this weekend to attend a denominational missions conference. I've always said, and it's true, people from all over the world come to Queens, making this a most unique place for Gospel ministry. It will be interesting to see what cross-cultural ministry looks like when people go to other countries to preach rather than have the other countries come to them the way they do here.

I expect it to be a most enlightening weekend. Watch for my next blog entry to see if I learn anything useful at this conference.

2007-10-18T17:13:00.000-07:00

Past Memories, Present Joy, Future Hopes
Over the last two years, I've skipped my blog, maybe two or three times. Last week was one of them. I suppose I'm entitled to have a Thursday evening where time doesn't allow me to blog. I'll try not to let that happen too frequently.
In any event, last weekend was a busy one as I was reminded of the passing of time venturing out to Stony Brook, Long Island for my 20th high school reunion. It's hard to believe it's been that long, especially considering that I wasn't even 20 years old when I graduated. A fair representation of my class managed to come from all over the globe to be there. I'm in the second row, fourth from the left in th epicture.
It was great to catch up with old friends, particularly one of my closest friends from High School, Jim (pictured here). I was a generally reputible student at the Stony Brook School back then, but I did find myself dabbling in a fair share of mischief and in most of those cases, Jim was right there with me. I'm not sure who instigated everything (we both played a role, I guess), but through everything, over the course of four years, there was always Jim.
Reunions conjure up interesting things. There's always the sense of a return to the lost community of high school. The reuniting of friendships that had been lost. Maybe I'm a bit strange, but there's a Gospel connection here that I can't ignore. On the cross, Jesus restored the lost relationship between God and man brought about by sin. The joy we find in our reunion with God in the Gospel, however doesn't draw to a close with an exchange of phone numbers and e-mail addresses the way a high school reunion does. Not at all. When Jesus restores the relationship, it's a permanent restoration. In a sense, it's like a high school reunion that never ends, though that's not the best way to put it. Forgive me.
The following day was my niece's dedication at my sister's Baptist church, elsewhere in Queens. Dorothy (pictured with a specially commemorative cake, and in her father, Alex's arms below) was born back in June and in the Baptist tradition, she was dedicated. Family and friends came, there was cake, there was food and there was conversation, and of course, the guest of honor, my adorable niece, Dorothy.
While it was a great moment, I couldn't help but think what a wonderful plan God has for her life. In His sovereignty, he brought her into a home with Believing parents who attend a strongly supportive church. I have no idea what kinds of things she'll see in her life, but I know God is good, so it's most exciting to consider.

2007-09-27T20:10:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-09-13T20:04:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-09-06T20:07:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-08-23T20:16:00.000-07:00

Pausing to Preach

Sorry for the brief post this week. I'm preaching at Ascension this week, and I was really caught up in my preparation this evening. I'm preaching on 2 John this week and it will be an uncharacteristically two point sermon (typically I make three points). It's a challenging passage.

I promise to write a much longer entry next Thursday. I might have much more to say about things by then anyway.

Check in here next week. God-bless.

2007-08-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

Changing Seasons

Well, we're half way thought August and summer is fading fast. The sun is now setting before 8:00. Sure it's still pretty hot and humid out there, but Football camps have started, television networks are pitching their fall programs, and Back-to-School sales are in full swing.

We've got some exciting things taking shape for the Fall at Ascension Church. Some of our regular activities will resume after a Summer break, though fresh and new, but new ministries are taking shape as Autumn approaches.

Stay tuned to this site for updates on some of the exciting things we're working on. I'll have some longer entries in the coming weeks as things develop.

2007-08-09T19:58:00.000-07:00

Weather Woes

From time to time, I have to cover major events in New York City, particularly when they make the national media spotlight. This week, it's the weather here.

If you've watched the evening news, you may be aware that a tornado touched down in Brooklyn yesterday. According to the National Weather Service, this urban twister packed winds possibly as strong as 130 mph.

I know this site is supposed to be about Queens, but both my parents are from Brooklyn and of the five boroughs of NYC, Brooklyn runs a close second place in my heart. Besides, it was an historic event as it is the first recorded tornado in Brooklyn since records have been kept.

Queens was not immune from the weather woes yesterday either. I woke up to loud claps of thunder and saw blinding rain outside my window. The winds were strong here too (not 130 mph, but strong). By the time I went out to my car, around 7:15 am, the rain was over but the damage was done. In God's providence, I found a parking spot closer to home than I typically do. I say this because the place where I park six days out of seven, was a lake with water up to the doors on the cars that were parked there. Thankfully, I didn't have to wade through the asphalt swamp to get to my car, but had this happened any other day, I would have.

Though the rain cleared out of the metropolitan area by 8:30, flooded subway tunnels and highways, made getting around, well, an inconvenient truth.

I won't make the eschatological connections regarding the weather that some friends of mine would. The only thing I have to say about this waether and the prospect that the forecast calls for more of the same is this: "Whata you kiddin' me?"

I promise I'll have some updates for you in the near term about how our plans for the Fall season are shaping up. We will be firming up what looks to be a busy Autumn in the life of Ascension Church very soon.

2007-08-02T19:23:00.000-07:00

Home, Home Again...

I like to be here when I can.

The visit to Mississippi was great, but it's back to work here in Queens.

With all my talk of my sojourn in the south last week, I forgot to mention what a great report I hears about our VBS. It was well attended and there was lots of available help from visiting Churches, many of whom had never experienced ministry in a New York City context. Everyone with whom I spoke regarding VBS expressed excitement and encouragement on the top of their list of observations about VBS. Exhaustion was also on people's lists, though that should be obvious.

My boss Michael was off last week, though with the continuing saga surrounding his father's health concerns, I wouldn't call last week much of a vacation for him. With time off behind both of us, planning for the fall is the next big project. Please pray for Ascension Church as we move rapidly into the weeks and months ahead. I would also ask for your continued prayers for Michael's father George and for the whole family as they move through this difficult time.

To change tones a bit, I got this picture of my niece Dorothy by e-mail and I really wanted to post it. She's nearly two months old now and the best picture I've posted of her to this point featured me more prominently than it showed Dorothy. I think it's high time she got her own picture on my blog. Here she is!

I pray God's richest blessings for you in the week to come until I see you on the blogwaves next Thursday.

2007-07-26T03:19:00.000-07:00

Mississippi Musings

Well at long last, I return to my blog. I haven't taken any breaks from this site since I started it nearly two years ago, but my computer access last week was primarily for e-mail corespondence and not for blogging.

Some of you who read my blog regularly may wonder how a guy from Queens could spend three years of his life in a place like Mississippi, a state than when compared with New York City bears very few similarities. It may surprise you to hear that I was warmly embraced in the Magnolia State, particularly in small towns. Go figure.

The opening picture here is not the typical Mississippi landscape (swamp land is primarily along the Gulf Coast and is most pronounced in Lousianna actually), though this cedar swamp along the Natchez Trace just south of Forest Grove, MS is actually rather serene.

My visit brought me to the northern part of the state where I was welcomed by dear friends in Water Valley, MS. I proceeded toward the center of Mississippi with a desert reception in Morton, MS (the church there is surrounded on all sides by farmland). Meridian, MS to the east had a big dinner for me, which was understood, because it was the biggest church I visited. I ended my trip casually in Leakesville to the south who sent me off with a nice big southern-style breakfast.

My center of operations for most of the week was Clinton, MS, just outside of Jackson and near where I went to seminary. I stayed with my dear friend Al Ward (pictured here) and his family there. They were most encouraging and gracious hosts and I am humbled by their hospitality.

It was also a social trip full of opportunities to reconnect with friends I made over the three years I spent in Jackson. In the last picture, I'm the one in the middle, flanked by Neill (green shirt) and Tony (blue shirt). Neill, I've come to believe, is an example of what I might have become if I'd grown up in Laurel, MS (in the Free State of Jones) where he's from (not enough room here to explain). Tony, on the other hand, is not an example of how I might have turned out if I grew up in England like he did. He's a great, godly man who you might mistake for a Mississippian if he never opened his mouth to speak.

All in all, it was a great trip. Next week, my regular blog postings will return.

2007-07-12T20:38:00.000-07:00

NO ENTRY THIS WEEK!
I'm busy making final preparations for my trip to Mississippi. I hope to be able to give an update from the road while I'm gone if I can have access to a computer. It may not be Thursday, but I'll try to work it in.
-Jack

2007-07-05T03:32:00.000-07:00

July 4th in NYC

We do holidays big here in New York. People always talk about coming here at Christmas to see the lights or the store windows. New Year's Eve in Times Square sets the clock for the whole country. Everyone's Irish at the world's biggest St. Patrick's Dav Parade. Outrageous Easter bonnets are paraded down the street every Spring.

Independence day here certainly fits the bill. With fireworks filling the night sky over the East River and New York Harbor, and of course Brooklyn' big Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest each drawing an international crowd.

This year, the Americans recaptured the Hot Dog Crown when Joey Chestnut or San Jose, CA downed 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes (1 every 11 seconds) to set a new world record and beat six-time champ, Takeru Kobayashi of Japan. There's big money to win in these contests, but that can't be good for you. Yikes.

Big events like fireworks displays and hot dog eating contests take lots of planning and publicity. Ascension Church has a big thing coming up that poses slightly less of a fire or heartburn threat. In two weeks, we will have our second Vacation Bible School and there's been much planning and publicity. We've put the word out and put the posters up and we're praying for God to surprise us with a great blessing that will surpass what we experienced last year. I ask that you pray for this event as well.

Meanwhile, I'm planning my trip to Mississippi and that's still taking shape as well. I look forward to seeing some of you when I get down there. I don't get enough deep fried food up this way. Of course, I know where I can get a hot dog.

2007-06-28T20:05:00.000-07:00

Taking Aim; Drying Out

This Saturday I'm taking the youth group at church to an archery range in Flushing (for my readers outside the NYC area, when you live in Queens, Flushing is a neighborhood, not an action), We will be taking lessons and renting equipment and shooting at somje targets. During the warmer weather, it's good to take the youth on a few outings from time to time to provide some additional excitement on the part of the kids and to give them an opportunity to invite friends. Don't worry about me and my group of junior high kids brandishing weapons, it's entirely supervised.

We also need to do a little drying out after what felt like a typhoon last night. We has a few hot and humid days lately, so we were about due for a nasty thunderstorm, but yesterday's rain was strangely powerful. I had nothing in the fridge for dinner and had to venture out into the elements. Ugh! Word to the wise, jeans in the rain act more like a sponge. I must have weighed 20 pounds more when I got back home and in from the rain.

At least in another part of Queens, a 91 minute delay, at Mets pulled out a win in a rain-shortened game. Hey, first place in a tight division is tough to maintain. Hey, it's a better place to be than the other baseball team in town. This season, I wouldn't say the Bronx Bombers are in a "tight" race. But I'll postpone my gloating until the end of the season.

2007-06-21T20:08:00.000-07:00

Trading Places

Well, plans are locked in for my upcoming trip to Mississippi.

Some of you will be hearing from me soon regarding the specifics of my plans, though, I'll disclose that I'm heading back to the birthplace of the Blues on July 14th and will be hitting various churches and homes throughout the state until I head back to NYC on July 21.

Watch your e-mail.

Meanwhile, back in Queens, Ascension Church will be having its second Vacation Bible School program, "SonForce Kids." We're even going to have the help of two churches, one from Ohio and the other from Mississippi.

Mississippi comes to New York; New York Goes to Mississippi, interesting.

Sorry, short entry this week. More to come.

2007-06-14T03:14:00.000-07:00

Ya Gotta See the Baby!

Like I said last week after Dorothy was born, pictures of my neice have been taken like crazy. I, however, only have one electronic version at my disposal at the moment. This picture was taken last Wednesday just hours after she was born. I know the title of this blog entry may remind you of the catch phrase from a Seinfeld episode, but perhaps it will cause you to remember what it was about.

My parents are staying with me for a while to see the baby and help my sister a little bit. There's no room at my sister's house, so the lot fell on me to house my parents while they're in town. The other person in the picture, by the way, is me.

On other matters, Ascension Church had a booth at the Austin Street Fair in Forest Hills this past weekend. Several neighborhood folks stopped by and hopefully strong interest was developed in our Vacation Bible School program coming up in July, and in our Youth Group and other church ministries. Our booth was well located in the middle of the fair across from the Cheese of the World (pictured here). We have not always been as well placed at these fairs, but this time, Praise God, we had a great spot and good weather.

More updates next week.

2007-06-07T04:06:00.000-07:00

Uncle Jack

I know the purpose of this blog is to keep my readers updated about the things that are going on with Ascension Church in Queens, but this week I need to deviate from that objective and make an announcement.

Although I've been an uncle for a few years with my sister Jane's two sons Tyler and Zachary, ov whom I'm very proud, I now have a niece from my sister Charlene. Dorothy Hope Zuljevic was born yesterday morning at 8:02 am weighing in at 6 lbs. 15 oz and 20 inches. When Jane had Tyler, I went up to Connecticut a few days later to see him. Zachary was born when I lived in Mississippi and I was fortunate enough to get up to see him a few weeks after he was born. The cool thing about Dorothy is that I got to see her the day she was born. In fact, she was less than 12 hours old when I visited her yesterday. I didn't have my digital camera on me, but pictures were taken. Don't be surprised if I make an unscheduled post here to show a few snapshots of my new niece. I'm thrilled.

Next week I will return to regular posts about the church, but for now, let me gloat a little.

2007-05-31T03:29:00.000-07:00

Taxi Trouble

My readers from outside the tri-state area are probably unaware of it but there's been something of a crime spree happening here. No, it's not a general danger for the pedestrian on the street, it's a targeted aggression. The victims are taxi drivers. Someone is holding medallion cabbies at gunpoint and robbing them of the money collected from their daily fares. These guys provide an honest (usually) service to tourists and locals and now they have to watch their backs (literally) for the gun toting miscreant in the back seat.

It's always a challenge to help people get around. Medallion cabs once were a unique fixture in Manhattan, but now they are picking up fares at locations in Brooklyn Heights and on Queens Blvd. People with no other means of getting around need these guys to get where they need to go.

In some ways, Ascension Church is like a spiritual yellow cab. People in Forest Hills need to find a way to God and we help them to get there with the Gospel. Sure we don't have people sitting in Sunday service saying, "Hey buddy, take me to the Kingdom and step on it!" If so, our response could well be, "Sure, hop in, oh and by the way, the fare's been paid already."

SAVE THE DATES

For my Mississippi readers, I'll be paying you a visit in the middle of July. I'm looking at the third week, July 15-21. I'll be contacting many of you to firm up the plans, but I've got a taste for some catfish and cant wait to see some old friends.

2007-05-24T03:40:00.000-07:00

Baseball on my Blog

It's come to my attention that the baseball season is a quarter over and I've yet to mention it on my blog. If you visited this space with any regularity last Spring and Summer you know of my little sermonettes about how Ascension Church had a similar dream as the New York Mets... to build a winning team in Queens. I can only carry that kind of metaphor just so far.

If I want to get baseball on my blog, I need to find other illustrative pontifications a bit beyond the basics. Here's my attempt.

In the late 1950s National League Baseball left New York City for the West Coast. The Dodgers left Brooklyn for Los Angeles, while the Giants left East Harlem for San Francisco. For a few years there was but one team in New York, and a large fan-base that wanted nothing to do with the Bombers in the Bronx.

Enter the New York Metropolitan Baseball Club, the Mets. The concept was born from tradition and the major contributions of a Lawyer named William Shea. In the earliest days of professional baseball, one of the first teams was the New York Metropolitan Nine from which this team would derive. Team colors were a combination of Giants and Dodger elements. The orange color and NY insignia were pulled fromthe old Giants (team colors were black and orange), while the royal blue was taken from the Brooklyn Bums (Dodgers to the non locals). In short order a stadium was planned for Flushing Meadows Park in Queens to coinside with the World's Fair.

Building its future on a strong sense of the past, the Metropolitans (as one local Sportscaster prefers to call them) were born. From the beginning, the Mets built their existance on the past.

That continues with the current construction of Citi Field, a ballpark modeled after Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, the former home of the Dodgers (and frequent Summer hang out of my Father when he was a kid).

As Christians, we understand the Gospel as not siting outside of a historical context. Our faith is supported by the facts and our hope for the future is strongly rooted in the past. Ascension Church endeavors to communicate that appropriate juxtoposition of the ancient and modern that not only defines our everyday lives, but forms our hope for the future.

Did this baseball illustration work. If not, I'll find other ways to get my beloved Amazin's into my blog this season. Turdt me on this one.

2007-05-17T20:18:00.001-07:00

Traffic and Transit

On my morning drive I listen to an all news radio station which features traffic reports every 10 minutes. "The time now is 7:41. Time for traffic and transit on the ones," is the general introduction. This is the portion of the broadcast to which I pay the closest attention. To me the traffic and weather reports are the most useful parts of any news program because they represent news that is more than simply information, it actually contains information I can use and may determine some of my own actions.

When I hear stories about a city councilman's crusade to remove electric currents from manhole covers or a 92 year old Brooklyn woman winning the lottery, I'm genuinely interested, but I keep right on driving. However, if I hear that traffic is backed up on the Grand Central Parkway due to an overturned SUV on the exit ramp to the Clearview Expressway, I change the route I'm on and look for an alternative.

Many people approach Christian teaching like they do a basic news report. It's interesting, but it doesn't do anything to me. I prefer to think of the Gospel in terns of a traffic report. Just as the purpose of the traffic report is to let you know if the road you're on will get you where you need to go, the Gospel is more than information, it tends to show you that the road you're traveling, in spite of your familiarity with it, may be the wrong way to go. The biggest difference is that, while we still may get to work without listening to the traffic report, we are all on the wrong road without the Gospel.

2007-05-10T03:32:00.000-07:00

Speaking and Tweaking

It was my turn to do the Alpha talk tonight, and it went pretty well. Attendance has fluxuated, but it hasn't been disappointing because we know that God is bringing to people to the course that He wants there. It wasn't a sermon, it was simply a talk aimed at generating discussion. There's a great deal of apologetics in running this Alpha Course, something that is an important discipline here in Queens (well, anywhere actually, but the need for it in Queens is pronounced).

By the way, this isn't a picture of me speaking at Alpha. It was actually taken last summer when I was a guest speaker at a Korean church retreat in Pennsylvania, but I don't have many pictures of me speaking, so I thought I'd use it here.

In any event, Alpha continues into June, other ministries continue to develop and our opportunities are coming at us rapid fire. It's all I can do to get a decent night's sleep. I know pastors (and aspiring pastors like me) are often accused of bring workaholics and to some extent, that's true, but there is something to be said for how much work there is to be done. Between the workaholic disposition and the volume of projects going, only God's grace can bring us through. The Gospel has amazing power.

Please keep my boss, Michael and his family in your prayers. His father is quite ill and Michael is taking on a lot of additional responsibilities on top of all the work he's doing for Ascension Church. Needless to say he and his family are under a lot of pressure and facing a lot of challenges these days and I'm sure he'd appreciate your prayers.

Lastly, tomorrow is my mother's birthday and I would be remiss to not mention it here. I've had the blessing of a loving mother all these years and God has been most gracious to me for giving me such a wonderful mother. I also know she reads my blog, so, "Happy Birthday, Mom."

2007-05-03T20:29:00.000-07:00

A Super Hero from Queens

No, I wouldn't be so bold as to refer to myself this way. I'm talking about Spiderman (Peter Parker), the Queens boy who survives a nasty spider bite to become an elusive crime fighter in red and blue spandex.

I don't look too good in spandex, nor do I see my position here as an opportunity to fight crime. For a big city, crime isn't too bad here, but the Gospel is still elusive in much of the five boroughs. It's the Gospel that brought me here and keeps me here and it's not a result of a spider bite, rather it's by the death and resurrection of Jesus that brings it all about.

Actually, the real reason I mention Spiderman here is that I'm taking the boys in the Youth Group to see Spiderman 3 tomorrow night. It should be a lot of fun.

Saturday, Ascension brings in a new outreach under the sponsorship of The Indie Society, our ministry to singles and married couples without children. We're calling it "Post-Modern Jive," and its a dance outreach which will instruct people in a simple and enjoyable style of dance that can be enjoyed to a variety of musical styles. We hope this could be a great outreach to a major group of the local demographic of central Queens: young profesional, singles or married without children. It too should be a load of fun. Please pray for this event on Saturday night.

Until our Alpha Course is completed, I may begin posting here on Wednesday evenings to avoid staying up later than I should on a weeknight. I'm not sure about it yet, but if you see a post here after next Wednesday, you'll know what I decided to do.

2007-04-26T21:04:00.000-07:00

Reaching Out

Sorry for the short post this week, but I got home pretty late tonight. We had our first session of The Alpha Course tonight.

For those of you who don't know, Alpha is an introduction to the Gospel in a non-confrontational setting where no question is too combative, hostile or taboo. It's an opportunity for people to share and learn and, hopefully, come to understand the Gospel, either for the first time or at least better than before. We'll be continuing the course for the next six weeks and are hoping for God to do great things.

There are many other things going on at Ascension right now, but it's late at night and I have to get up in the morning. Please keep Ascension and all our ministries in your prayers.

Hopefully, I'll have more time to write a lengthier entry next week.

2007-04-19T03:10:00.000-07:00

April Showers? Fuggedaboudit!

This past Sunday, the Northeast got clobbered with a rare Spring Nor'easter that brought with it heavy winds and rain with cold temperatures and localized flooding. While most of Queens was spared any serious trouble (Kew Gardens, where I live, and Forest Hills are topographically high ground), but parts of Long Island, New Jersey and Westchester County saw some of the worst flooding in years. The worst thing about this week's weather in Queens was the rain and, what one radio weatherman described, temperatures that were "disappointingly chilly." (A phrase I could use do describe some dates I've been on).

There is sunshine on the horizon though, unseasonably warm weather is in the forecast for the weekend. At this time of the year, there always hope for brighter days ahead.

With all the ministries and activities we have planned at Ascension Church, you might say we have a similar hope for brighter days. From a Gospel perspective, central Queens, may be seen as "disappointingly chilly," but as we continue to build up and proclaim the Kingdom here, there is always a relentless hope for brighter days ahead. In the midst of this whirlwind, we are doing lots of follow-up from EasterFest. People filled out cards to share with us particular areas of interest and we are getting back to people to keep them in the know and hopefully get them invloved.

On another note, tax day has come and gone. Though not as bad as last year, Uncle Sam emptied my pockets. Yes, I have a full-time (non-ministry job) to pay the bills, and some tax is taken from that, but I'm still a great distance from returning to full-time ministry and tax returns remind me that my fundraising efforts still need to increase. With that said, if any of you have spend stime contemplating ministry gifts (or if you just don't know what to do with that big tax refund you got this year), I humbly suggest that you consider me and my work at Ascension Church... all gifts are tax-deductable (helpful during next year's returns). Gift checks should be made out to Ascension Church and sent to my attention at my home address: 83-44 Lefferts Blvd. Apt. 3C; Kew Gardens, NY 11415. This is an exciting ministry where God is doing some amazing things, and it would be great to have you on board with us.

Stay tuned for weekly updates and please keep us in your prayers.

2007-04-12T03:25:00.000-07:00

EasterFest Report

As I've been telling you for several weeks, much planning and prayer went into our EasterFest program this past weekend and I'm happy to report on God's extraordinary blessings in this event.

Our best guess at numbers would have in excess of 300 people from Forest Hills and the surrounding neighborhoods attending Ascension's EasterFest 2007.

Our various teams showed up early saturday morning to prepare the auditorium and gymnasium with decorations, flowers, sound systems, tables and chairs. We even brought in hay from a local stable (I know this is Queens, but there is a bridle stable in the neighborhood for horse riding in Forest Park) for our Easter Egg hunt.

It was so exciting to see such strong turnout and everyone who came and those who helped out, were thrilled that God brought so many people to us on an unseasonably cold day in April. It is yet to be seen how this event will effect the church over the long haul, but it's comforting to know that so many people had an interaction with the Gospel. Everyone who came got a packet which included information on the church's ministries, a welcome letter from Michael Kytka, our pastor, and a book offering an apologetic for the resurrection of Jesus.

I apologize for the expression on my face in the last picture on this blog post, but this is what happens when someone is taking candid pictures and in the midst of a flurry of activity... you look at the camera. But hey, I rarely include pictures of myself on this blog. Occasionally I need to provide you visual proof that I actually work at this church.

God continues to amaze and encourage us in our work here, and it's my joy to share the excitement right here each week. Keep Ascension Church and our continued development in your prayers.

2007-04-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

Noses to the Grindestone

This week, as with any week where Ascension Church has a major community outreach activity (VBS, Christmas Celebration, etc.), we've been in a frenzied pace filling what seems like every waking hour with some kind of EasterFest activity. Between firming up volunteers, distributing flyers and invitations, coordinating the activities, and blanked with a fervent team of prayer warriors (people like YOU included.

Some of this was further complicated by our storage facility closing for the Easter holiday. As you know, we don't have our own building and have a lot of equipment which we keep in a storage facility in the neighborhood. In recognition of Easter, they place will be locked up Sunday meaning that, for Ascension, an already challenging logistical situation, became well, more challenging.

In the midst of it all, we are having a Good Friday service tomorrow night, though EasterFest planning and promotion will be happening on both sides of our service. Immediately prior, and there'll even be a team handing out flyers on Saturday morning immediately before EasterFest starts.

Next week, I'll tell you how it all went. Stay tuned right here and remember to keep us in your prayers.

2007-03-29T21:12:00.000-07:00

Old Meets New

As most of you know, this Sunday is Palm Sunday, the day we recognize Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem the week before His death and resurrection. It also marks one year since Ascension Church had its first public worship service. That's right, a year ago we went public with 4:30 pm worship services in a private school library with significantly fewer people than we have regularly attending our current 10:30 am services in the public school auditorium where we meet now. God has brought this church through its first exciting year and we are excited to imagine what He will do in years to come.

To celebrate, we are having a special banquet to mark this milestone in the life of our church. We are also having a Passover seder conducted by a Messianic Rabbi from Chosen People Ministries, an organization with which we've had good relations. The goal of this seder is to demonstrate how Jesus, the Messiah, is clearly portrayed in the Passover meal. Sure our church may be reasonably young, but the roots of the Gospel we proclaim are ancient. It should be both fun and edifying for everyone who comes to this event on Sunday evening.

As I've been mentioning for the last several weeks, our big EasterFest celebration is coming up next Saturday, April 7. We will be finalizing all the elements of it this coming week and are prayerfully excited about this outreach opportunity. Please continue to keep this event in your prayers this week and I'll keep you updated, as always, right here... same day, same blog.

2007-03-22T19:51:00.000-07:00

Much Adeu about Something

This week, the world's largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380, first touched American soil here in Queens (JFK Airport is in Queens in case any of you wondered if this monster could land on the Long Island Expressway or Woodhaven Blvd.). This gargantuan aircraft resembles most other planes in the air, though by appearances, this one looks as though runs on a diet of fried foods and complex carbohydrates instead of jet fuel. In any event, this bloated big bird should be starting regular passenger service to JFK in the near future. The way I figure it, land enough of these babies at the airport in a day and you may double the population of the borough if for only a few fleeting moments.

Why do I mention the A380 here. Well, it brings more people into Queens at any given time than any other mode of transport. Granted, most of them won't stay here, but at least the first destination for the passengers, wherever they come from, is Queens.

Bringing in a lot of people has been in the forefront of my thinking these days as we continue to develop our big EasterFest event through the church. Restaurants are donating food; posters are going up; press releases have gone out; and we are hoping for God to bring us people from among the neighbors to grow our Gospel community. While they won't get to EasterFest on a big jet plane, they'll get there. After all, God is far more reliable than any airline these days anyway.

Signs of Spring abound as well. Tuesday evening at 8:00 was the vernal equinox, where as theory has it, an egg can stand on end for a few minutes because of the equilibrium of the Earth's gravitational pull. I didn't try it myself. Don't care to actually. At this point in March, with the exception of Christ's return, of course, all I want is melting ice and snow and baseall season. I rest in the hope of all these things happening with absolute certainty.

2007-03-15T03:22:00.000-07:00

Spring Things

This Saturday is St. Patrick's Day and my original plans called for taking the youth group to the parade, not because any of them are Irish (I don't think any of them are), but because it's a parade, and everyone loves a parade. The weather, as often is the case with this parade, it rather threatening, and I'm not feeling all that well. Hence, I had to cancel.

It's not every year that I get the chance to go to this parade. Typically, it's on a weekday that is not given at most jobs, so this would have been a great opportunity.

An Irish friend of mine once told me that he didn't like the St. Patrick's Day parade because the pipe bands marched with Scottish Highland Bagpipes and not Irish Bagpipes. As an Irishman, he didn't like being frequently mistaken for a Scot, and resented the Highland presence in a in a distinctly Irish celebration.

After some research, I discovered that my friend was right. Scottish bagpipes are used in this and most other parades with pipers piping. I also discovered that the reason for this is that traditional Irish bagpipes are played while sitting down. Highland pipes are used in parades because they can be played while standing. It's kind of difficult to march in a parade while sitting down. As someone who's grandmother's maiden name was Livingstone, Scottish bagpipes seem just fine in any setting to me.

As I've mentioned in some recent posts here, our Ascension EasterFest is really shaping up. We've put together some nice posters and postcards. I thought I'd give you a first look at the front of our postcard here (Click on this image for a larger view). On the back, is some more detail about the event itself as well as information about our worship services and contact information. We're all very excited about the EasterFest and are praying that God will do wonderful things through this major seasonal outreach.

2007-03-08T16:23:00.000-08:00

Ya Gotta Love March

Kudos to my old friend Mike McKelvey from seminary who once carefully explained to me that "bone-chilling" cold is colder than cold that chills you, "to the bone." He said that cold temperatures only reaching the bone (to the bone) are less frightening than cold that actually chills the bone. That's right, aside from theology, doctrine, and preaching, men in preparation for ministry often engage in mindless banter.
Mike has a point though, that I came to appreciate this week. It's the first full week of March and in these few days, we've seen a representative sampling of the entire winter. Hey, March in New York is always an adventure.

March paints a picture for me of the human struggle. During this 31 day month, we witness winter taking a last few sucker punches in its dying fight against spring. Fight as it may, the cold dark days of winter inevetably loose the battle against renewal in the spring. We witness the rebirth of living from the dead as trees begin to bud, flowers bloom and brown grass turns to green.

Sin's grip on our life is like winter producing cold, harsh conditions in our hearts. When the Gospel takes hold of our lives it's like a spiritual month of March, bringing in the renewal of our hearts while our sinful nature continues to put up a good fight. As winter gives way to spring, so the Gospel transforms our hearts with the promise of a spring-like renewal.

The other thing about March is that it's the last month I have to live without baseball. That's right, just four weeks before I get to make regular sermonic anecdotes about my beloved New York Mets. After a disappointing post season last year, I'm most anxious for the season to start again.

I do need to cut this blog entry short here. With everything going on surrounding our EasterFest and other spring plans, together with Michael's trip out of town this weekend to gather material for a program we want to offer through the church, I still have a sermon to prepare for Sunday. Pray for me on that one, my prep time is limited this week.

2007-03-01T03:40:00.000-08:00

Ascension at the Movies

Last Friday night, The Indie Society, Ascension Church's ministry for singles and couples without children, went to see the opening of Amazing Grace: The William Wilberforce Story at a local movie house. We had a good turnout with 15 people showing up to see a fine film about this abolitionist with strong faith and conviction.

I think many of those of us who attended the film would recommend it as it is well acted and directed. Admitedly, though it couldn't be blotted out entirely, Wilberforce's faith was somewhat downplayed to bring more attention to his social activism which ultimately ended the slave trade in 18th Century Britain. The most disappointing part of the film for me was where a dying William Pitt comments about wishing he had the same faith as Wilberforce. There was an opportunity to hit a home run here, but we are forced to settle for a bunt as Wilberforce turns the conversation to politics and not the Gospel.

It was great to have a good gathering of young adults from the church together, after which we retired to a local watering hole to discuss the film. The Indie Society is but one of several exciting ministries of our church. We have others.

Several of us met this past Tuesday evening to firm up some plans for our big Ascension Easterfest scheduled for April 7. This will be a major community outreach in connection with Easter to broaden our reach and, God-willing, expand the Kingdom. We will have a major promotion campaign with posters and fliers and newspaper ads, etc. Music, Crafts, Games and other activities are scheduled, but this will not simply be a festival or carnival. There will be follow-up with new friends and, as the Spirit directs, Gospel opportunities a plenty. Please pray for this event as we continue to work on the details.

2007-02-22T03:27:00.000-08:00

Never a Dull Moment

Ministry in central Queens is a never-ending challenge. Combine the fast-moving, career driven, multi-ethnic populous, the "can I sell a kidney to pay my rent?" cost of living, the quest for a parking spot less than a 10-minute walk from home, with my personal tug-of-war between a full-time job, and part-time ministry, boredom never enters the program.

This week, Michael is on vacation, which he very much deserves, but Ascension Church doesn't take a vacation when the pastor does. We keep active and Gospel driven.

People move to New York City for a variety of reasons. Some have come from other countries for opportunities not available in their native lands. Others come here, yes even to Queens, for the glitz and glamour of living in the nation's biggest city. Still others are like me, who, although I've lived in many places in the U.S. and abroad, my prespective has rarely crossed the East River or Cross Island Parkway beyond Queens.

For most of these pepople, business is an escape, even a god. They worship their busy schedules; their plethora of activities; their jobs. For these people, a busy schedule is an escape. Ascension Church, and the individuals in our community are busy, not as an escape, rather out of a drive and passion for the Gospel. We have not made a god of our schedules. God is busy building His kingdom in Forest Hills, and His people are busy fulfilling our kingdom calling.

2007-02-15T20:11:00.000-08:00

A Queens Valentine

For the last few weeks, I've made mention of the weather here with great license. Typically, I don't engage in discussions on the weather typically relegated to the teller line at the bank, but this bears some mention.

The first half of January was unusually warm and produced no snow. From mid-January until last week, we were hit with an acrtic blast of dry cold air and it was too cold for snow (for the benefit of some of my readers who might not know this, it can actually get too cold for snow). Valentine's day 2007 hits on a Wednesday and we get clobbered with a mid-winter nor'easter leaving cars and roads covered with a wintry coctail of snow and ice that not only made it difficult to get around, it made life just a bit more sluggish, utilitarian and, well, dirty.

Fortunately my home group Bible study which typically meets on Wednesday night, was rescheduled for Monday night. Although I had planned to make some copies at Staples Wednesday night, 14 copies of a single sheet of study questions made facing the elements an option from which I bowed out.

I mention the weather not as a way of complaining but rather as a way to describe yet another challenge faced by a church plant in New York City. As a new church, much of our ministry is decentralized. We meet for Sunday worship in a public school auditorium, we have yet to rent office space for administrative purposes, our ministries meet in homes and restaurant back rooms, and the cell phone and e-mail are prime communication outlets. The weather effects our ability to get around and icing conditions on the subway, disabled vehicles on the Grand Central Parkway, and that ever so ginger walk down an ice-covered sidewalk all play roles in the level of participation we find in our ministries and outreach programs. Yet we move forward by God's grace.

We remain undaunted by outside distractions at Ascension Church. When God is building His Kingdom, what's a big winter storm going to do to get in the way? We may rely on rock salt to melt the physical ice in Queens, but it's only the Gospel that can melt the spiritual ice.

2007-02-08T17:52:00.000-08:00

I Wanna be Sedated

I've said it before on this site, but I'll say it again: There's never a dull moment with a church plant. When I was looking ahead at my post-seminary life two years ago, I considered opportunities in Seattle, Chicago, and various locations in Colorado before deciding on my home turf here in Queens. Each of those places would have presented its own challenges and this week we encountered some localized opportunities of our own.

As I mentioned two weeks ago, it's been pretty cold here recently and this week was exceptionally cold reaching low temperatures not seen here in a few years.

Well we at Ascension Church don't look for excuses for inactivity. When the rest of the world (or at least the people in Queens) were indoors protecting themselves from frostbite, a few brave souls from our church and me were hitting the streets handing out fliers for one of our ourtreach programs where we discuss a topic over dinner and drinks at a local restaurant. It's a great program and even greater when I see people from the church willing to sacrifice the nerve endings in their fingers and toes to invite strangers on the street to come in from the bitter cold and hear the Gospel.

We also tried to get a group of people from the Indie Society, our ministry for singles and married couples without children, to go to a dramatic presentation of one of C.S. Lewis' works before the rest of the city purchased tickets based on a favorable review in The New York Times. While we had to do some schedule juggling, we managed to gather up a few available tickets this weekend and a small gtoup of us will actually see the show.

In all, I've regained enough feeling in my fingers to type my blog entry this week, though several muscles in my body continue to thaw out, hopefully before the weekend so I can be prepared for whatever challenges next week holds.

2007-02-01T03:34:00.000-08:00

Moving Right Along

A lot of people see January one of the months you simply have to endure between Christmas and the onset of Spring. In a church plant, there's never a dull moment. We had a busy January, making plans, bringing in enhancements to our ministries, and continuing to work toward building the Kingdom. Our home fellowship groups are cooking with gas, our children's education program continues its strong course, and excitement and enthusiasm is growing along with the church. You don't see that kind of positive energy in many things during the winter doldrums, but then again, when God is doing a great work, hey, it's quite a ride.

February is upon us and we anxiously await the groundhog's report tomorrow to see when we'll have our official introduction to Spring this year. As you know, it's a major holiday to be approached with reverence and respect. To that end, the Indie Society, our ministry to singles and couples w/o kids is getting together at Michael's house to watch the epic masterpiece, Groundhog Day. We will also be laying out some plans for other activities for the group for the coming months.

The following evening my youth group will join the youth from another PCA church in Queens to go bowling. I, myself, haven't bowled in quite a while and realize that I'm setting myself up for great embarassment in front of the kids. But then again, what kind of youth leader would I be if I weren't willing to sacrifice some dignity for the sake of the spiritual condition of the youth. I'm enthusiastic about all these things and hopefully you are as well as I know many of you have been faithfully keeping Ascension Church and me in your prayers.

On another note. My Nephew Tyler turned 5 last week and I went up to his birthday party this past Saturday (I forgot to bring my digital camera with me or there would be a shot of him here). He's a great kid. Additionally, my Father celebrated a milestone birthday this past Tuesday and oddly he seems to get healthier with age. To pass him on the street, you might mistake him for a man 10 to 15 years his junior. These too are matters of great praise to God on my part.

Check in next week for more exciting updates on God's work through Ascension Church

2007-01-25T03:00:00.000-08:00

A Cold Reality

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that one of the fears that people have about ministry in New York City is that people here are cold to the Gospel. While that is true, another fear that some may have its downright cold here... period.

The weather forecast for the overnight temperatures has the mercury dropping to 10 degrees or below in some parts of the Tri-State area. This is not the kind of January I experienced living in Mississippi three years. One weather man on a local radio station characterized this weather as, "rude." Yeah, that sounds about right.

I also liked these pictures... especially the dog sled because it reminds me that as cold as it may be outside, I still don't see thise mode of transportation outside my door in the morning. Plus, I'm sure you generally wouldn't expect a picture of a dogsled on a blog where the focus is on ministry in Queens.

The cold temperatures and frightening winds, do not stop the work of Ascension Church, however. We have a 6:00 am discipleship study that is surprisingly popular. People in the church are getting involved in small groups and other ministries that we run and there is an enthusiastic response from both visitors and regulars about the work God is doing here in Queens. On top of that, there's growing excitement about the future. We are approaching our first anniversary after going public last April. We have big Easter plans that are beginning to take shape including another community activity similar to our Family Christmas Celebration that went so well last month. As those plans gain more definition, I'll update you right here.

Remember to check this blog each week (Thursday) for updates on our work here so you can keep me, Michael (the pastor) and Ascension Church in your prayers.

2007-01-18T05:26:00.000-08:00

A Climate Change
I know it snowed in Malibu, CA yesterday and that's a little strange. Two weeks ago, we hit the low 70s on a Saturday ... also strange. Whatever you wish to use to explain the phenomenon; Global Warming, the Greenhouse Effect, The New Jersey Turnpike, or any other "inconvenient truth," the fact remains; we recognize when things are not the way they should be. In any event, yesterday, we had some bitter cold weather and a touch of snow today. As uncomfortable as these things are, it's January and it feels like January, and Jack can sleep at night.

The Gospel brings to light that something even bigger than warm winters and frozen citrus crops has gone down. Since the Fall, people have been out of communion with God and all of creation has been groaning for restoration. In Eden, there was another inconvenient truth that took hold: sin. Since that time, it has been clear that things are not what they are supposed to be. Only the Gospel can bring about the restoration and renewal for which we all yearn.

That's why we're here, preaching, teaching, and living Grace in central Queens and we're pulling out all the stops.

One of our many goals for the coming year is to find some office space. This will bring us a neutral, official center of operations and give us an even stronger placement and position in the community. In the atmosphere where God has put us, this is one little step we are looking to take (among others) to bring about a climate change ... a spiritual climate change.

2007-01-11T03:14:00.000-08:00

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.

2007-01-04T03:43:00.000-08:00

How Quickly we Forget

It doesn't take long once the Holiday season draws to a close to see the ghosts of Christmas past waiting on the street for their final destination... mulch in a city park most likely.

As much as we anticipate certain things, like Christmas, birthdays, graduations, etc. we always need to keep moving forward without too quickly forgetting our past. We had a great Advent season at Ascension Church, but we can't simply rest on the laurels of God's work last month. There's momentum now, and there's much ahead for the new year.

Our youth ministry has seen impressive growth, I am continuing to explore joint activities with other churches, outings, fielf trips and the like, as well as continuing to develop material that will maintain the interest of Junior High kids while giving them a firm grasp of the Gospel. It's actually quite a challenge. I've managed to squeeze in some relationship building with other youth leaders in Queens, and hope to forge a stronger partnership with them in 2007.

Over the next week or so, I will also be meeting with some active minded people to iron out plans and activities for our Young Adults Ministry that will take us through the Spring season. There's been great response to the program so far, and there continues to be a real need for this kind of ministry in Central Queens.

I would also like to bring out some more interest in musical ensembles during our Lord's Day worship services. I've put together two quartets so far, and there seems to be growing interest in having more. I'm not the music director at the church, but I think that a good music program greatly enhances our worship.

Hopefully, this year will usher in further progress with regard to my ecclesiastical position. Between my full-time job, and my work with the church, studying for presbytery licensure will present a formidable challenge. I ask for your prayers.

I must also mention how great it was to visit my sister and brother-in-law in Connecticut for New Year's. My arents were in town for the holidays as well. None of that is really the point. The biggest thing for me is the chance to spend some time with Tyler and Zachary, my nephews. I just don't get to see them as often as I'd like, but hey, it's more frequently than I did when I was in Mississippi.

Lastly, many of you have been anticipating my year-end gift to my supporters. I just picked them up today and will hopefully get all of them in the mail no later than Monday morning. Let's not call them a year-end gift at this point. How does "2007 Kickoff Gift," grab you?

2006-12-28T03:09:00.000-08:00

Slippin' Slippin' Slippin' into the Future

At the end of the year we often reflect on the year gone by and consider all that took place. I don't generally make resolutions for a new year because they essentially draw attention areas where I've failed during the previous year and punctuate my weaknesses into the future.

Why not make new day's resolutions or new hour's resolutions. If I resolved to serve the Lord each day when I woke up, I think I'd find much more fulfillment than if I resolved to drink less coffee in 2007 (I'm not planning to actually drink less coffee. This was merely an example).

What a year it's been. Ascension Church launched and grew, I began tentmaking to make ends meet. I'm still not married and continue to age relentlessly (though the old guy in the picture isn't me).

Time marches on. God keeps on working. When I consider the magnificent work of God here in Queens over the past year, it's pretty exciting to imagine the things He'll do in the coming year and for years to come as we continue to proclaim His Kingdom here in New York City.

The new year is also an opportunity for some of you to partner with me afresh. I am still very much in need of financial support as I continue in my capacity here at Ascension Presbyterian Church. Many of you reading this blog can possibly afford $20 to $25 a month. Perhaps your churches can join in with $200 a month. No matter how large or small, financial partnership in our Gospel endeavours here goes a long way in bringing people here face to face with the Gospel of Grace. Should your 2007 budget fit such support, checks should be made out to Ascension Church and mailed to my home address: 83-44 Lefferts Blvd. Apt. 3C; Kew Gardens, NY 11415. Remember to put my name on the memo line.

May God bless you abundantly in the coming year.

2006-12-21T16:06:00.000-08:00

Christmas in Queens

Well, here we are. Christmas arrives this Monday and I've done no shopping, I'm behind on my support letter writing, and my parents arrive for a visit late Saturday night, not to mention, I'm broke. This time of year is always busy, especially when you're involved in ministry.

As exhausted as I am, I'm just as excited about what God is doing through Ascension Church this season. Last week's children's program and family Christmas extravaganza we hosted was a smash hit. We had lot's of people visit with us and made some good connections. People were very excited with the crafts, games, and music and it was a thrill to see how positive our volunteers were, and that the community was able to see that we weren't just a dry bunch of Presbyterians who get together once a week for services. What was apparent was that this church is active and involved in the community.

Last year, when Christmas and New Year's were on Sunday, and we were still meeting in the library, we were unable to have worship services. This year, I'm happy that we will have our weekly worship on Christmas Eve and New Year's eve, without interruption.

Oh yeah, about those Christmas support letters. Most of you will hear from me by both e-mail and snail mail. The e-mail will probably get to most of you first, rendering the letter nore of a year-end report than a Christmas letter. Sorry about that, but my time is not exactly my own these days. Also, many of you received something from me with the Christmas letter. That'll be coming as well if I can work it out, but it may not get to you until January. Money's a bit tight these days too. Save some wall space.

Have a most blessed Christmas.

2006-12-14T02:57:00.000-08:00

The Bridge to Queens

Of the five boroughs of New York City, only Queens and Brooklyn share a land border. Both sit at the western tip of Long Island; the Bronx is on the mainland, and Manhattan and Staten Island are, well, islands. With all the waterways attached to New York Harbor, there are, as you might imagine, lots of bridges around these parts.

At this time of year, we are presented with an opportunity to build and cross bridges. Our bridge, of course, is the Gospel and it connects a lost and broken human race with a loving and gracious God. As we contemplate the birth of Jesus this Christmas, Ascension Church is reaching out to communicate the Gospel to central Queens. This week we will be presenting our first ever Christmas program and will be renting the gymn at the school where we meet, to host games, crafts, and family activities and have stood out on street corners and invited our neighbors to participate in this with us.

Before engineers undertake bridge construction, they stand on one side of the river and look at where they are in comparison to where they want to go, and determine the means of getting there. This is what makes the Gospel a bridge to the community. We see where the people are, and where they need to be and recognize that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only means by which any of them will get there. That's our job and we're sticking to it.

I'm crossing a different bridge this Saturday... the birthday bridge. Of course, I've featured two views of the Queensboro Bridge, of which I've crossed hundreds of times as a passenger and driver, and even once on foot. I don't expect to cross the birthday bridge hundreds of times. I am always amazed each year at how many times I've crossed that bridge, though I'm also thankful for God's grace seeing me through another year.

2006-12-07T03:16:00.000-08:00

'Tis the Season

Yes, friends, it's the Christmas season, and Ascension Church is hopping. Our dance card is full of special gatherings and events, and in the midst of the busy schedule, our goal remains clear: To establish a Gospel community and proclaim the Kingdom in central Queens.

Tomorrow night I'm taking the youth on an Holiday outing, breaking away from our usual meetings in light of the Holidays. Satudray begins with a number of us hitting the streets to invite the public to our first Christmas program next week, and culminates in our annual church Christmas party. I say annual because this is the third such party celebrated in connection with this church. That's right, before I even graduated from Seminary, a group of people had a vision for this church and celebrated at a Christmas gathering three years ago. All that goes to show how long this church has been in the works and how much work has gon into this church. Three years ago, no one could have seen the wonderous work God had in mind for a church plant in Forest Hills, Queens that would go on to become Ascension Presbyterian Church. God has been so good to us.

Please pray for us during this important Advent season, as we seek to take advantage of the meaning of Christmas to open Gospel doors and open our church doors for God to usher people into His Kingdom.

2006-11-30T04:13:00.000-08:00

Discovering Ascension

Well friends, we've reached an important milestone in the life of our church. No, we didn't purchase a building or buy television rights to broadcast our worship services to the Ukraine or anything like that. The building thing's a way down the road yet and air-time? Not even a consideration.

The big thing is that this Saturday and Sunday, we will be having our first membership class called "Discovering Ascension." It's a big deal because until this point, while we have many regulars, we have only had one member. Me.

Over the last several months, we've been blessed with regular growth and now we are introducing ourselves to people, explaining whet we're all about, what church membership means and looks like, and, of course, bringing people under the authority of the church. It's a huge deal.

New Yorkers typically master the art of rubbing shoulders with great numbers who are routinely ignored. Ride on a crowded subway car during rush hour and observe the skillful manner in which people avoid eye contact by dozing off or reading. It's really quite impressive. It's so pronounced, that people here often carry that approach into the community.

Ascension Church want's to break the mold of this practice. As a church with members and one with a wealth of developing ministries, we seek to interact with our neighbors and engage them in Gospel discussions. Membership is yet another step we're taking toward that goal.

2006-11-23T05:23:00.000-08:00

Thankful for Thanksgiving

After braving the traffic on the roads, putting up with crowds and delays at the airports, or battling the elements (at least here is the Northeast), the Thanksgiving Holiday itself is the very thing for which we are most thankful... at least from a man's perspective.

Think about it. The primary activities of the day center on eating a huge meal, watching football, and dozing off on the couch. Speaking on behalf of American men everywhere, these things constitute a textbook perfect day. When it comes down to it, I think most men would find that if they had a choice, everyday would be Thanksgiving.

Of course, I would argue that everyday should be Thanksgiving, though not because of the particular elements of the day itself. We serve a wonderful, loving and gracious God who is full of mercy and compassion, who out of His great love for us, sent his son Jesus to live and die to bring us into communion with Himself. Our thanksgiving should rightly flow from that.

When I consider the Gospel movement in central Queens through Ascension Presbyterian Church, I'm filled with awe at God's hand at work here and am humbled and thankful for that work. When I think ahead at the wonderful plans He has laid out before us, not even knowing many of the details of them yet, my thankfulness increases. Please continue to hold our ministry here in your prayers with thanksgiving, and accept my warmest wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving as well. May God continue to bless you all.

2006-11-16T04:17:00.000-08:00

Parking in Queens

This entry may fall flat on my readers outside New York City so it might bear some fleshing out. Most of the homes and apartment buildings in my neighborhood were constructed before cars played such a major role in American life. My building in particular was built in 1931 when the automobile was a luxury item for the wealthy of which there were select few during the Depression. In 2006, however, parking in my neighborhood is at a premium. The problem is so pronounced that when I get home after 6:oo pm, it's not unusual for me to drive around for a half an hour looking for a spot within reasonable distance of my building.

Parking being what it is (NYC drivers will appreciate this), when I find a good spot, when I have a place I need to go, I jump through hoops to avoid driving there if I can walk for fear of loosing my precious parking spot.

Do you see the irony here? We want easy access to our cars and promptly avoid the advantage that very access provides. I use my car every day, but if I didn't, the city steps in by forcing cars to move for a few hours one day each week to send in the street sweepers. Were this not the case, I'm convinced that people with the best parking spaces would be content to let their cars rot and rust where they are rather than give up their spot.

In some sense, you could say Ascension Presbyterian Church has the best parking spot in Queens. We found parking right in the heart of central Queens. Unlike parked cars, however, we have sought to take full advantage of our parking job. We have been all about movement since we launched back in the Spring. Our ministries have grown and we still look for opportunities to keep moving. There is no advantage to simply rest on our prime location and suffer the spiritual rust that complacency brings. What good is a great spot if you don't use the car?

2006-11-09T04:18:00.000-08:00

And God Created Coffee... and it was good

On the third day of Creation, God created plants and trees. Genesis 1:12 specifically mentions fruit and seed. I assume this would include beans. By way of extension, it would be appropriate to say, therefore, that God created coffee on the third day as well. Why mention this particular observation here?

During my time in seminary, I was amazed when I would come accross a fellow seminarian who remained caffine free. Typically I wondered out loud how a man who didn't drink coffee could possibly be called to Gospel ministry. Perhaps such a man could serve a small church as pulpit supply on occasion, but I can't imagine working in a church planting situation without the blessing of a piping hot cup of stimulation. I would never have graduated where it not for the Holy Spirit, prayer and coffee.

Until the middle of the summer, as most of you probably know, I was working full-time for the church plant which has developed into Ascension Presbyterian Church, and although I served in an essentially assistant's position, there was much work to be done. At least there was coffee.

Now, because my support is a bit low, I work full time elsewhere while continuing a 20 work week with the church. There's still a great deal of work to be done. At least there is coffee.

Of course, the holiday season is coming up. and we have many plans with Ascension Church to go out into the community and invite people in. It's exciting and exhausting and there's much to do. Hey, at least there's coffee.

People in ministry typically run the danger of burn out because they simply work too hard and rest too little. It's true. We need a stronger sabbath practice amongst my fellow brothers. Even with rest, ministry can be tiring, but when I have a headache, I thank God for asprin, and when I'm tired from work, I thank God for Coffee.

2006-11-02T04:26:00.000-08:00

Musings on the Fall

At this time of year, I'm reminded of the three years I spent in Mississippi. No, the autumnal stretch in the deep south, with heat and humidity that doesn't let up until late November bears no resemblence to the cool crisp days and the beautiful reds, oranges, yellows and browns of the Northeastern foliage. I think I'm reminded of Mississippi less by the similarities and more becuase of the differences.

As the trees gracefully prepare themselves for a long and leafless winter's slumber (for the benefit of my readers who've never ventured north of the Mason-Dixon line, there are trees in Queens), the result is a smattering of colors, the greatest painters on earth couldn't duplicate. Ya just don't see that in Jackson, MS. It's no secret that I love New York, and Autumn is but and one of the reasons I'm glad to be here.

Of course, there's another Fall that's in our focus in ministry that also draws a comparison to that which is its exact opposite. Just like a walk in Flushing Meadows in November surrounds us with reminders of one Fall, a walk down Queens Blvd. or Metropolitan Ave. at any time of year reminds us of the other Fall. That, of course, if the primary reason I'm here. In our ministry here, we present the alternative to the Fall, the redemption and renewal of all of Creation through the Gospel by a loving and gracious God. This is the Fall that strained our relationship with God and our interactions with others, and by contrast, the Gospel brings us into communion with God and love for our neighbors. One always reminds me of the other, not because of the similarities, but because of the contrasts.

Brief partnership update: I haven't mentioned my finances here lateley, but there are a few things by way of update, that bear some mentioning. I need to thank my supporters for their continuing support of my ministry here. Thank You and may God continue to bless you. I also need to mention that my financial support is far from what it needs to be, as evidenced by the fact that I now have a full time, non-ministry specific job in order to pay the bills. I'm still looking for approximately twenty more people to commit to $20 a month and five or six churches to pledge around $200 a month. That would go a long way to offset my large bills (NYC is an expensive place to live and minister). For those of you who haven't partnered up for this exciting ministry in central Queens, I ask that you prayerfully consider joining me. Support checks should be made out to Ascension Church and mailed to me at my home address. They say money talks, but in the case of Gospel penetration in Queens, not only does it talk but it preaches and teaches as well.

2006-10-26T03:15:00.000-07:00

Urban Development

In 1898, following the Greater New York Act by the state legislature, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island joined Manhattan and the Bronx to become part of New York City. It was an interesting move for the previously sleepy burgh of factories to the west and farmland to the west because unlike Brooklyn and Staten Island, only part of Queens county was included in the deal. After some political scuffles between the eastern and western parts of the county, the line between city Queens and country Queens became the new eastern border of Queens, leaving everything in between the newly-formed Nassau County. Even after this resolution, a walk around Queens at the turn of the 20th Century would hardly have a city atmosphere.
Soon enough, however, bridges were erected, tunnels were dug, highways were constructed, and salivating developers swarmed in to make small fortunes in urban development. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Add to the frenzy, unprescidented immegration, subway access and the construction of two airports; LaGuardia to the north and Idlewild (later JFK) to the south, and Queens was quick to develop into a diverse landscape of people and neighborhoods unique when compared to its sister boroughs.

Today New York City's largest borough is home to more than 2,229,379 people with a population density of 20,409 people per square mile, and is the fourth most densely populated county in the United States after New York County (Manhattan), Kings County (Brooklyn) and Bronx county, and ahead of Cook County, IL (Chicago), and Philadelphia County, PA. (2000 Census).

Developers saw the growth potential and opportunity in Queens early on. When Ascension Presbyterian Church was planned and launched, we saw and still do see tremendous opportunity in Queens. With so many people from so many places packed into 109 square miles, the Gospel is ripe for the taking here... and in Forest Hills, the center of it all, God has placed us in a unique position. Of course, we're not developing part of Gotham City, we're establishing a part of a Gospel Kingdom.

2006-10-19T03:18:00.000-07:00

A CBGB Gospel

Last weekend marked a sad day for struggling musicians everywhere. After much conflict with it's landlord, the owners of CBGB in Manhattan's East Village closed its doors for good. It its heyday in the 1970s, CBGB was THE launching pad for out-of-the-mainstream bands including Blondie, the Talking Heads, and four remarkably ugly guys from Queens, the Ramones. That's right, when the rest of the world was going Disco, CBGB was punk, a musical destination for those who took issue with the status quo.

My guess is, if ground level real estate trends mean anything these days, it will become a Dunkin' Donuts before long and what was once a symbol of non-conformity will become something common and mainstream.

Why do I mention this stuff on a website designed to inform its readers of the Gospel movement in Forest Hills, Queens in the form of Ascension Presbyterian Church. Stay with me on this one, I have a point.

Like CBGB, the Gospel is against the grain of society. The whole world sends one message and goes one way, and the Jesus shows us that there's a different way. Like the struggling garage band, believers take their lumps for standing for God's Kingdom in the midst of a less-than welcoming culture. Yet, we are inspired, encouraged, and strengthened in God's grace and mercy. In a sense, it's a CBGB Gospel.

Yet, many people have replaced the CBGB Gospel with a Dunkin' Donuts Gospel... one that's cheap, sweet, lacking in nutritional value and makes you fat and lazy. Believers often turn their faith into something barely distinguished from the culture around it. We think the Gospel is something that should shake you up and get you on your feet and not something that clogs your arteries and lulls you to sleep.

2006-10-12T03:58:00.000-07:00

Mr. Raplee's Neighborhood

My parents' generation is almost single-handedly responsible for turning Long Island into ahodgepodge of antiseptic and disconected developments unified solely by their proximities to a mall or an exit on the Long Island Expressway.

Both of my parents grew up in Brooklyn, Mom in East New York and Dad in Park Slope. To listen to my Dad tell stories about his childhood, you would have to wonder everyone fled to the 'burbs. His house was always a bustle of activity with extended family, friends from school and church, most of whom had some kind of clever nickname and all of whom called my grandparents Uncle John and Aunt Dot. There were a lot of people in the picture, almost all of whom lived in Brooklyn and many lived within a few blocks of my Dad.

There were stickball games, cheap movie houses galore, groups of friends venturing across Prospect Park for Dodger games at Ebbets Field. My grandmother was so accustomed to having company, there was never a shortage of of biscuits or cookies on hand at the Raplee house on Windsor Place. From the sound of it, community came so natural to everyone my Dad knew, why would anyone dream of giving all that up just to have a lawn and a driveway?

Many of their friends were in their respective churches, which played a major role in these strong communities. My parents themselves met at a church softball game (which I believe my Mom's church won). Even my mother's sister and father's brother met and married someone from the neighborhood. Marriage, for most of their friends, however, became a launching pad to the suburbs.

After World War II, Long Island, Southern Connecticut, and most of New Jersey became prime real estate to developers seeking to draw people out of the cities. William Levitt invented the modern American suburb with Levittown on Long Island. The town of Lynbrook was established and intentionally named to present itself as an attractive alternative to Brooklyn. The suburbs of Long Island meant that average people could live more like Ozzie and Harriet and less like Ralph and Alice and most of my parent's friends headed east thinking that the grass must be greener where there's simply more grass.

My parents were bitten by the same bug, but it didn't have the same effect. After they got married, they moved to Queens (arguably a lateral move), and my sisters and I ended up growing up where Brooklyn was only a five minute walk from our house. The suburban seduction was apparent even to me as a kid on 78th Street, as many of the friends I played ball with on the block eventually disappeared to the 'burbs. Robert across the street spray-painted a football field on the street (which is illegal), and it remained there long after he moved out. Don't misunderstand me, I have many friends who lived and currently live in the suburbs. Heck, I have many friends who live on farms, but I couldn't live like that. God loves people in the suburbs and so do I. I just don't love the suburbs thenselves.

These days, people have discovered that the cookie-cutter homes of Long Island and other suburbs have managed to isolate people from each other and are coming to the cities for at least a taste of the community that their parents knew. Now that they're here, they don't know how to find community.

That's where we come in. Ascension Church is a community church. We are in the community, ministering to the community and are ourselves a faith community. As our church community grows and proclaims the Gospel of the Kingdom to the community, we believe God can and will transform the community. The Gospel does that kind of thing you know.

2006-10-05T17:22:00.000-07:00

Out of the Wilderness

That's right folks, it's Sukkot. Where I live, you can't ignore Jewish holidays. We've come past Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur and are in the midst of the Sukkot month. This is the time of year when Jewish people build tents to remind themselves of the wilderness wondering found in the Old Testament and to look for God's deliverance and covenant with His people. In my neighborhood, you can't walk down the street without seeing these tents in front yards, alley ways and, in some cases, patios.

As Christians, we see God's deliverance in Jesus as our Redeemer and instead of waiting anxiously, we live joyfully as a result. The other noticeable thing, as a guy living in Queens, is that most of the other people are wondering through the wilderness of their lives and have no hope of deliverance outside of Jesus. I know it's difficult to look out my window and imagine that it's a wilderness out there, but that's why we're planting a church here in Central Queens. No more wondering; just the simple hope of the Gospel.

On another note, I'm playing the stage at the Improv tomorrow night. Some of you may recall that I've done a little stand-up recently. With my busy work schedule (full-time job, and church work), my ability to do schtick has been limited and will likely take a hiatus after tomorrow night, but, hey, maybe I'll keep them laughing as they go home tomorrow night. Maybe I'll get my own TV special. Maybe I'll raise enough money to return to ministry full-time. It's good to have ideas anyway.

I'll say no more about this, but this picture should say it all. Can anyone say, "Subway Series?" Hey, it could happen. You just gotta believe.

2006-09-28T16:00:00.000-07:00

Back to the Grind

I really mean to use that term in the most positive way. Planting a church is hard work and now that September is over I think it's fair to say we're back to the grind.

Our kickoff event for our home fellowship groups was Wednesday evening, our youth program is moving right along, our young adults ministry has made a few plans for the Fall. We've got lots of exciting things brewing this fall and we've certainly gone a long way at rekindling the flame of ministering to our neighbors. Michael and I talk all the time about loving and serving our neighbors and transforming Central Queens with the Gospel. Re really believe it too. Our parent church, Redeemer Presbyterian has a vision for church planting than put a lot of wright on active church planting in order to reach the whole city for the Gospel. We're in the trenches here in Queens, living out the Gospel in word and need.

Please keep Ascension Church in your prayers, as we move forward with our ministries, evangelism, and outreach projects. It keeps us busy and bold, but it also keeps us humble as we seek the Lord's guidance in all we do.

2006-09-21T04:24:00.000-07:00

Bringin' it Home
You didn't actually think that the New York Mets could win the Division title without a mention of it in my blog, did you? Of course, the inevitable church planting comparison follows. Pardon me while I gloat.

On Monday night the Amazin's captured the National League Eastern Division Championship with a win over the Florida Marlins at Shea... and they did it right here in Queens. It's great to see the title go to another team than the one owned by that media mogul in Atlanta who doesn't like God.

As I've said before on this site, I'm all about building a winning team in Queens and the Mets get me excited. We've been building a winning team since April, just like the Mets. Last week, we broke the previous week's attendance record, and the hits just keep on coming. Our home field, like Shea Stadium, is in Queens. In a town that seems to gravitate to another team, it's great to see a different one getting some credit for a change.

Since I mentioned the other team, I have to say something else. They managed to win their division title too. Unlike the Mets, however, they did it by loosing a game in Canada. I'm sure they have a fan out there who's blogging and making comparisons between baseball and foreign missions. I'm sure his readers are as annoyed by his comparisons as my readers are by mine. Next week, I'll return to my regular church planting updates without the baseball tie-ins.

2006-09-14T03:44:00.000-07:00

Back to Normal

The word normal is probably not the best term I could use for anything related to a church plant. After all, some outside observers would look at what we're doing here and say it's anything but normal. However, if "normal," is a term used to describe how things ought to be, given all contributing circumstances, normal may just describe what's going on at Ascension Presbyterian Church right now.

During the Spring, we were experiencing a surge in attendance and had several ministries, social activities and Bible studies rolling well. The Summer was a little light with vacations and other summer scheduling conflicts, but by God's grace we pressed on.
This past Sunday, we witnessed record attandance and this week we began to bring our ministries back into the picture. Our youth program kicked off on Wednesday evening, and our home fellowship Bible studies will be starting over the next two weeks, and our young adults ministry will also be reintroduced with new ideas for events and outreach. We're beginning a few new things like a parent's ministry, a women's group to boot. We've got a busy Fall ahead, and would greatly appreciate your continued prayers.

On another note, representatives from all over the world invaded Queens two weeks ago in an attempt to conquer the world... the tennis world at least. The big show was played for many years at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, Queens before the USTA established the tennis center in Flushing Meadows. Hey, it brings the attention of the world to Queens. Hopefully, come October, the eyes of the sporting world will focus on Queens when my Mets hit post-season baseball. I just want to keep that World Series trophy out of the Bronx. It's spent way too much time there. Who wants to spend that much time in the Bronx anyway. Queens is so much nicer.

2006-09-07T17:18:00.000-07:00

Jack, The Working Stiff

I started my new full-time job this week and let's just say it'll take a little getting used to. If you read this blog regularly, you know that my last year has been full of adventure as Michael and I, with God's direction, somehow managed to get Ascension Presbyterian Church off the ground. My full-time service to the church was facilitated by a combination of generous ministry gifts and a generous stipend from our parent church, Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. Now that the stipend is gone and my strange part-time gigs are behind me, I've returned to my former line of work in order to pay the bills.

I now work as a Technical Writer for a consumer electronics company. My job is to write those thrilling user's guides that come with your DVD players, plasma TVs, etc. Yes, I'm sure it'll be as exciting as it sounds... especially since I sit in a room with two other Korean men who say almost nothing all day. The only conversation is a few brief statements in Korean between the two of them. I'm used to general inter-office banter between co-workers, but there's none of that here. Those of you who know me can see the irony of me working at a job in virtual silence for a 40 hour work week. I certainly will be missing the excitement of church planting full time, but hey, the bills won't pay themselves.

All this to say that I have increased incentive to step up my fundraising efforts with an eye to returning to full-time ministry. If any of you know of any churches or individuals I can speak to who might be interested in Gospel ministry in Queens, please point them in my direction. Some of you may already be on board with support, for which I'm humbled and grateful. Perhaps you can prayerfully consider increasing your giving. Others of you may be considering support. If God directs you, now is a great time to get on board. In the meantime, God has provided me with a full-time job and continues to meet my needs.

We have a busy Fall planned at the church, and I'll fill all of you in about what that's shaping up to look like next Thursday right here. Stay tuned.

2006-08-31T05:33:00.000-07:00

Showing Hospitality

This week has been interesting because It seems like everything I've been doing has been a form of hospitality. If you read last week's entry, you know about the BicyTaxi job I've been doing to pick up a little extra cash on the side. A strong case can be made that such work is a form or hospitality. After all, in providing an alternative to yellow medallion cabs, tourists can have a pleasant, open-air experience on a BicyTaxi. It's not the fastest transportation in the city, but I think it's the nicest.

I took in a houseguest for a few days this week. He's a nice young chap from England who's flying out of JFK tomorrow and needed a place to stay for a few days while in New York. My apartment is small, but I have a futon, so when a good friend of mine from Jackson, MS called me to find out if I could put this fellow up for a few days, I thought it would be a nice opportunity to be hospitable. It has been interesting having him here, though I've had to bring him along on some Church business that may not be of particular interest to him, he's certainly been a good sport.

I also helped a friend move from the Bronx to Queens (house guest in tow). Normally, I wouldn't ask a guest to engage in such labor, but we needed all the hands we could get, and he was happy to oblige. It was interesting helping my friend move from her fourth floor apartment in the Bronx with no elevator into a first floor dormatory in Queens, but we got her moved just fine, and in eyeballing the situation, she's much better off in Queens than she was in the Bronx (I'm biased to Queens, or course, but indulge me).

I did make it up to my guest by taking him into Manhattan today to see some things he wanted to see, though I did have to drag him around to a few church-related errands in the morning.

On the tent-making front, I've finally landed a stable job as a technical writer (no more BicyTaxi), so God has really met my needs on yet another level. I start on Tuesday. As you know, my larger concern is with my work at Ascension Church, but at least I'll be able to pay my bills while I continue my fundraising efforts. God is good.

2006-08-24T05:25:00.000-07:00

Adventures in Tentmaking

The Apostle Paul was an evangelist, a theologian, a missionary, a church planter, and apologist. I personally think that if he were alive today, Paul would be a blogger. With all these things Paul was doing, he also needed to make a living and did so making tents. If someone like Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament worked another job to pay the bills, certainly a schmuck like me working at a church plant in Queens should appreciate the need to make a few tents myself.

Since the end of the Fellows program, while looking for stable full-time work, I've been bouncing around some short-term gigs to make ends meet in the interim. If you read my blog regularly, you know I do a little stand-up comedy on alternative Tuesday nights at the New York Comedy Club. I didn't mention the short-term research project I did on the New York City subway system for a developing tourist website. I sold discount comedy tickets to the Improv to people on the streets of Times Square. This week, I started driving a bicycle taxi cab (click on the picture to get a better sense of what that means). It's up and down work. Some days I'll get a few rides and make some good money. Other days... not so much. It is a lot of fun though and it gives me a bit more exercise than I've had in a while.

I must remind you, however, that I still work for Ascension Presbyterian Church part-time. I might be the only person I know who's part-time job is more important than his full-time eforts.

An outside observer would think my situation was most bizarre. I gave up a good paying job to go to graduate school (I remember the speech during orientation at RTS about seminary being "graduate professional education," on par with medical school or law school). I've graduated with a Master's degree and now I'm driving a bicycle taxi cab. I suppose it would look pretty strange were it not for the fact than my heart is in advancing Jesus' Kingdom in central Queens. Call me crazy.

Please continue to pray for my job and financial situation, my continued fundraising efforts, and my work at the church. Follow the adventure next Thursday when I update all of you again right here as always, God-willing.

2006-08-17T05:16:00.000-07:00

Getting out of Dodge

In the midst of everything that's been going on with me right now (job search, church work, etc.), I had a unique opportunity this week to get out of the city for a day.

I have been engulfed in the job search of late, as you may know, but through a friend of mine, a pastor at a Korean Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, I had the opportunity to speak at a youth retreat in Pennsylvania. With everything I'm doing, it was great to get out of the city and take in a little country air. It was fun. The picture below is of Mike Kearney, my friend who set this up, and his youth group. Obviously, he's not Korean and neither am I, but this group of kids was primarily second generation teenagers who speak and understand English... hence, my ability to speak to them.

While I am looking for full-time work to make up for my discontinued stipend, my obvious preference is to do things that revolve around ministry, and this was a great chance to broaden my experiences and do what I love to do most; preach the Gospel.

Last week, I mentioned my work hocking comedy tickets on the street. I dropped that job because the pay was wildly disproportionate to the amount of work involved. It also interfered with my ability fo find legitimate work. I will, however, continue my semi-weekly schtick at the New York Comedy club. Please continue to pray for my employment and financial situation, as well as my continued, part-time involvement in the ministries of Ascension Church.

2006-08-10T05:34:00.000-07:00

Pounding the Pavement

Well, this is my first full week of post-fellows life and I'm pounding the pavement hoping to be able to pay my rent. As I mentioned last week, I'm working as a promoter for the Improv comedy club. Basically this means I'm pitching discount tickets to stand-up comedy shows to tourists in Times Square. It's actually quite fun, but I don't think I'll make enough from my sales volume to bring home a decent dollar figure. I really need to find something more stable. The only person on the street who makes good money is the naked cowboy, a street musician who prances around the city with a guitar, a ten gallon hat at tighty whities and reportedly takes home $1,000 a day from tourists who pose for pictures with him. Given my part time job in pastoral ministry, I'm not about to try this gimick myself. I don't think the presbytery would look well on such self-promotion, so if I have any plans to get ordained, Jack, the Naked Cowboy is out of the question.

Because I'm looking for full-time work and also looking for short-term paying gigs in the meantime, It looks like by the end of this week, I'll be a few hundred dollars short on my rent (probably between $300 and $400). I am speaking at a Korean youth retreat next week, but I'm not likely to know the full amount of pay that will result in until after my rent is due (Aug 15). Money is quite tight, but the adventure is actually quite thrilling. God is certainly teaching me to rely on His providence. He's always provided for me. On that front, I do ask for prayer, both for my financial/employment scenario, and my continued ministry at Ascension Church. I am still attempting to put in 20 hours a week with the church because my financial support makes me a part-time employee. I also need to remind you that the generosity of faithful partners decreases the amount of money I need to make in full-time work each month. Once again, if you are already on board with your support, please prayerfully consider if an increase in giving fits your budget. If you are not currently a financial partner, perhaps God may put it on your heart to begin support. Lastly, if you know anyone who might be interested in bringing God's Kingdom to Queens, please put them in contact with me. Support checks need to be sent to my home address and made out to Ascension Church with my name on the memo line. I'll continue blogging each Thursday and keep you all updated on my job and ministry progress. May God bless you abundantly this week.

2006-08-03T08:18:00.000-07:00

Sweating it Out
They call New York City a melting pot and they're not kidding. This week a crippling heat wave has had us under its spell. Even my Mississippi friends might find this a bit extreme. In the three years I spent down there, I don't remember temperatures cracking 100 degrees. We've had three consecutive days where (depending on where you live) the mercury hit the century mark. People are dragging themselves around. The power grid in the city is under unusual stress resulting in scattered power outages around the five boroughs. I'm glad our VBS program was last week because if it were this week, there may have been some casualties. It's hard to think of anything else but how to keep cool. Yet we press on.
Fortunately, the heat is expected to break tonight with a savage rain storm. Much lower humidity and heat is expected to bring us a comfortable weekend and coming week. That's good news for Ascension Church because the school auditorium where we worship has no air conditioning. I know my deep south friends can't relate to the concept of any building not having central air, but many of the older edifices in the North are more accomodating to cold weather than hot.
The heat presents another challenge for the new part-time/job seeking status in which I now find myself. Pounding the pavement looking for work in 100 degree heat and humidity is quite a challenge. My job search has two faces. On one level, I'm looking for temporary gigs for some quick cash so I can pay the bills which are arriving faster than the money. On another level, I'm looking to firm up some full time work at the same time to stabilize my income. Obviously, I am maintaining part-time status with the church as well. I feel like I'm back in seminary where I took numerous odd jobs to pay the bills while studying for my M.Div. It may give some people heart failure, but it gives me kind of a rush.
I have nailed down a good gig working promotion for the Improv (I'm still doing the occasional stand-up routine at the New York Comedy Club). The job can be full time if I do well, but it's flexible enough to allow me time to search for full-time stable jobs. The Improv is the most well-known comedy club in the city. Major comics have taken the stage there over the years including two guys from Queens who you may have heard of, Rodney Dangerfield and Jerry Seinfeld. Does the name Jack Raplee go with those two? You tell me. I need to find enough work to make up for my reduced church income on this side of Redeemer's Fellows program and raise additional funds to work me more and more into the church's budget so I can focus my efforts in a Gospel direction.
Please continue to pray for my job search to stabilize so I can concentrate on the things that matter most to me: working to proclaim God's Kingdom in central Queens, and paying my bills.

2006-07-27T03:40:00.000-07:00

For Such is the Kingdom of God

Ascension's first VBS program is just about wrapping up and we are very excited. We had some extra help in our efforts thanks to a planned visit from our partner church, Crossroads Community Church (PCA) in Fishers, IN. Their youth pastor brought a large contingent of his teenagers who were very instrumental in our lessons, crafts and activities. It has been great to have them here during this busy week.

The program had a large number of children sign up, more than half of whom had no affiliation with our church. A number of parents expressed interest in our church as a result. With so many families with small children living in this part of Queens, our ability to offer quality Children's ministries is crucial in Ascension Church's planned growth. It's all we can do to praise God for the wonderful work He has done through our VBS program this week and what that will mean for us as we move on.

Our midwestern brothers and sisters also had an opportunity to experience another aspect of missions in Queens this evening (Thursday). We set up a table near a playground in a local park and distributed free bottled water (it was a hot day), and water for dogs as people often walk their pets in the park. We also had some books, Bibles and church literature at the table. Many great conversations were had through this venue and some good connections were made.

The rest of us handed our tracts and church info at surface exits for a major subway terminus in Forest Hills. Many great interactions were had by this exercise as well. Our Indiana friends were very excited to participate in this hands-on opportunity to minister to people in Queens this way. It was great. We've been pretty busy this week.

Change in my status: As most of you know, my work at Ascension was made possible through my participation in the Church Planting Fellows Program through Redeemer Presbyterian Church. Under the program, Redeemer paid me a stipened which accounted for 75 percent of my income this past year allowing me to work here as an Intern full-time with the additional help of some generous partners like some of you. The Fellows program is now over and the stipened is gone. What this means is that beginning next week I will become a part-time intern instead of a full-time one and will need to find full-time work elsewhere. The plan is to raise additional funds through my existing supporters and additional supporters so that I can eventually return to full-time status in the church. Because Ascension Presbyterian Church is new and small, it doesn't have enough money to pay me a salary. I ask those of you who currently partner with me to prayerfully consider increasing your gifts. I also ask that if you know anyone who might be interested in my work here, that you would put them in touch with me.

There is another change you need to know about. Your checks should continue to be mailed to me at home: 83-44 Lefferts Blvd. Apt. 3C; Kew Gardens, NY 11415. You should now make out checks to Ascension Church (the word Presbyterian is ono on the church's account at the bank) and continue to put my name on the memo line. Don't worry if you have already made out a check to Redeemer. They will be calculating funds for me and summing up the total this month.

Please continue to pray for my work in the church and also for me as I look for a full-time job.

2006-07-20T21:02:00.000-07:00

Short Comments this Week

I need to keep this brief because I'm swamped with preparations for our Vacation Bible School program next week. I do want to update you on a few things I mentioned last week.

As, I mentioned, I had my first exposure to the New York City comedy scene on Tuesday night at the New York Comedy Club. Several people I invited came, most of whom were connected with my own church or me connections through Redeemer Presbyterian Church. I was up near the middle of the evening and was far and away, the cleanest comic of the evening... and I don't mean that I showered before I came. All the other guys filled their material with various forms of vulgarity. They couldn't figure out why so many people in the crowd weren't laughing. They didn't know, of course, that my friends were church-goers. Go figure.

I went over pretty well. Got a few laughs. The guys at the club invited me back this coming Tuesday but because of our VBS program at church, I declined. I'll be playing there the following Thursday though. I think it's good for people to see that you don't need to dig up the dirt in order to be funny.

Please pray for my random job search and our VBS program next week. I gotta go for now.

2006-07-13T15:49:00.000-07:00

The Party's Over... The Comedy Continues

Well, the Church Planting Fellows Program has come to an end. We had our last meeting with Tim Keller two weeks ago and the Lord has various directions in ministry lined up for each of us. Fuji Kim (at the left in the picture, taken by Irene Lee of Redeemer's staff) will be heading back home to Philadelphia, PA to plant a Pan-Asian church there. Martijn Horsman (next to Fuji) will return to the Netherlands to plant a church in Amsterdam. Tim Keller is in the middle of the photo. Al Taylor is looking to plant a non-denominational church in Harlem with the help of Redeemer's Church Planting Center and Infinity Church in The Bronx. Reyn Cabinte was sick on the last day we met and isn't pictured. He's going to begin the process of planting a church in Washington Heights (Manhattan).

And then there's me. As most of you know, I'm sticking it out with Ascension Presbyterian Church for a while until I feel clearly called to plant a church in another part of the city (preferrably in Queens). I still have a lot to learn before that time comes.

Because the Fellows program is over, I will now be only a part time church planting intern because Ascension Church doesn't have the financial resources that Redeemer has, the stipened, which accounted for 75% of my income this past year, is gone. I'll still need to raise additional funds and keep the donations coming from those of you who've been sending support. Beginning in August, support checks should continue to be mailed to my home address, but should now be made out to Ascension Church instead of Redeemer. Continue to put my name on the memo line.

So now the search is on for outside work. I've managed to piece together a few odd jobs in much the same way I did when I was in Seminary. One of the most exciting gigs comes up this Tuesday night. I will take the stage at the New York Comedy Club. That's right folks, I'm the Jerry Seinfeld of church planting. I've never played a New York crowd. My material went over well in Beaver Falls, PA and Jackson, MS, but New Yorker's are a tough bunch. I'll let you know next week how everything turns out. At the very least, I will be paid handsomely considering they only want seven minutes of schtick.

2006-07-06T14:42:00.000-07:00

Playing Pastor

For the next two weeks I get to play "de facto" pastor as Micahel and his family disappear to take a vacation and celebrate their wedding anneversary. Well, at least that's how it feels. I'm not even ordained yet, so I'm not a real pastor yet (I'm tempted to say that I play one on TV), but if I'm not willing to step up to the plate in the pastor's absense, I might want to reconsider my own call. Well, hey, it's Summer here, things are a bit out of the ordinary, people appear and disappear all the time. Why not the pastor? Michael is one of the hardest working people I know and he deserves to take a break.

He's off to the City by the Bay, San Francisco and I hope he has a great time. Meanwhile, I'll be back here holding down the fort, working with some of the people who've volunteered to help us with our VBS program which we've scheduled for the last week in July. VBS will be my last full-time responsibility as an Intern because beginning in August, I'll be working a full-time job to pay the bills so I can continue to work part-time for the church. I know it sounds complicated, but God has put me here and I'm happy with whatever that ends up looking like.

2006-06-29T05:13:00.000-07:00

Bubba and the Blog

Back in April, I got a comment submitted to my blog (look in the archives if you want to see it), from a woman named Jennifer, a flight attendant from Florida who expressed interest in our church, particularly our developing singles’ ministry (now known as The Indie Society), and more specifically in me. She indicated at the time a mild, though I thought harmless interest in meeting me, and that we might hit it off.

Because I didn’t set up this blog as a means by which I could meet women, I responded cautiously. I didn’t want to entertain her infatuation, but I did want to direct her to Indie Society outings and subsequently our Sunday worship services. We developed an e-mail relationship whereby I learned bits and pieces about her, her family, and her plans to get together with me. She e-mailed me some candid snapshots of herself (followed by the question of whether she was my type) and her brothers Bubba, Butch, and Bobby and her “Momma.” I was able to determine that this family was not like many of the people in Florida. My parents live in Florida, like many transplanted Yankees, but there’s a distinct difference between people who move to Florida and those who are from Florida. She also mentioned early on that she would work more shifts in order to fly her family up to New York in late June.

There were considerable gaps between our e-mails and each of them contained more indications of her growing interest in me. Again, I was careful not to lead her in that direction, continuing to invite her to our worship services and other events. I even brought her up as a prayer request in at least one of my home Bible study groups.

Some weeks ago I received an e-mail from her brother Bubba thanking me for being Jennifer’s friend and how pleased he was that she’d met a religious guy who was good in his book as well as the “Good Book.” He asked me to keep an eye on his sister while he kept one on me.

Last week, Bubba e-mailed me informing me of the planned visit and expressing to me the difficulty Jennifer was having finding a place for her family to sleep and their tight budget. He asked if he could stay with me appealing to my compulsion toward hospitality as a man of God. I told him I thought I could put him up for two nights but would have to adjust my schedule somewhat.

He followed up my reply with a list of items I should stock in my refrigerator. He included cheese wiz, Wonder Bread, pork rinds, beef jerky and Bud. I informed him that I would try to provide some snack food but would likely have trouble with some of the items he suggested. I was amused at how much of a stereotype this man was becoming and shared my amusement with Michael and some other people. Having spent three years in Mississippi, I was well aware of what kind of person this was and I even shared this story with friends of mine in the Deep South who I was certain would find this entertaining.

Over the course of the next several e-mails, Bubba developed into a beer-drinking, brawling, “Good ‘ol Boy,” who drove a pick up truck and ditched his plans to fly up so he could bring his hunting gear. He expressed plans to hunt in city parks like Forest Park and Flushing Meadow in Queens and even Central Park in Manhattan. In spite of my urgent requests that he not consider New York City a hunting destination, he explained how he would be able to hunt at night and how he could bribe the police if there were any problems. His use of spelling and grammar was amazingly poor, and seemed to get worse with each e-mail. Once again, this caricature was developing to ridiculous proportions. He also implied a longer stay with me and added brothers Butch and Bobby into the mix as guests in my apartment. By Friday and Saturday, I fully expected to be significantly inconvenienced by my guests who, it seemed, were certain to dominate my schedule during the week.

As I pieced the story together, I began to suspect that this couldn’t possibly be true because it was so over the top. Friends in church expressed the same sentiment. Jennifer had designated a meeting place for everyone at a small café in Forest Hills scheduled for this past Monday night. As I headed over there, I was strongly convinced that the joke behind this would be revealed.

Upon arrival at the meeting place, I was met by Michael, my pastor, who informed me that Bubba and Jennifer were waiting there for me and we needed to talk outside until everyone else in the family showed up. When we returned to the café, he took me to the back outdoor annex of the place and the joke was revealed. A large representation of people from church greeted me with a surprise. Apparently Michael had carefully orchestrated this story in order to get me to the place for a party in celebration of my first year at the church (though it’s only been eleven months at this point).

I learned that all the characters were from Michael’s vivid imagination and that he’d established free e-mail addresses through Hotmail to lend legitimacy to the story line. It was a brilliant practical joke which provided laughs not only as it was playing out, but also every day since it ended. We had a wonderful gathering to honor me, for which I was humbled. The entire scenario will likely provide laughs for Michael and me for a long time to come.
Throughout this last year as we’ve been planting this church, humor has played a major role. I’m thankful that God put someone like Michael in my experience here and for the gift of laughter. With all the pressures and stresses of church planting, I’m thankful for the gift of humor and the ability to laugh at situations, and in this case, at myself.

2006-06-22T14:44:00.000-07:00

Summer in the City

As June winds down and temperatures begin to rise, central Queens comes alive. Commuters make their ways home emerging from overheated subway stations to have reheated leftovers for dinner and watch re-runs on their plasma TVs or sit out on the stoop to engage in chit-chat with their neighbors.

Children play in water from fire hydrant sprinklers and anxiously await the familiar chimes of the Mister Softee ice cream truck and beg their parents for money to buy a vanilla/chocolate twist cone or bomb pop. Playgrounds in Flushing Meadows of Forest Park, complete with swings, slides and see-saws are popular destinations for families with small children, while the bigger kids pick up a game of softball or basketball. Even the streets are home to a few games of wiffle ball, stick ball or freeze tag, while little girls in pigtails still play hopscotch and jump rope.

Shoppers browse the windows of the swanky shops on Austin Street in Forest HIlls or look for bargains along 63rd Drive in Rego Park. Outdoor tables fill along restaurant row off Queens Blvd. or beside the tracks at Austin's in Kew Gardens.

Summer in Queens still has much of the magic it had when I was a kid growing up on 78th Street and in my opinion it's still the time of year when NYC's largest borough shines brightest.

Ascension Church has some big doings this Summer. The biggest is our Vacation Bible School which we are continuing to promote by word-of-mouth and fliers posted all around the area. We are excited by the prospects of introducing the neighborhood children and families to the Gospel thought what is shaping up to be an exciting program. The Indie Society, our young adults/singles ministry has a number of outings and other social events that Summer in the city affords. Michael and I will hopefully be making another attempt at a fundraising trip in August. The Summer is a challenging time for a young church considering people's crazy and unpredictable schedules. Please keep all out summer plans in your prayers as we seek to serve the Lord as we serve our neighbors and engage in Gospel interactions with them.

2006-06-15T06:30:00.000-07:00

Fatherly Inspirations

This Sunday is Father's Day; a day to honor our fathers and thank them for their influences on our lives. More by coincidence than by design, this week's blog entry has a fatherly theme.

This past weekend, I finally had the chance to visit with my sister in Connecticut to celebrate her birthday along with my older sister's birthday (June 8 and 9 respectively with a four-year difference between each sister). While I took pictures, my digital film isn't finished so there are no pictures of my nephews on this blog this week. It was, however, great to spend time with the family and see my nephews whom I haven't seen since Christmas. Don't worry, I sent my brother-in-law a Father's Day card a few days ago. I think there should be an Uncle's Day so someone will send me a card in lieu of my own fatherhood status.

I had the chance to experience a little taste of fatherhood yesterday when I took the boys from our youth group to Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey. We had a wonderful time. One of the boys even braved the Kingda Ka roller coaster (the fastest and tallest in the world). I like roller coasters, but this thing rockets people at a whopping 128 mph and travels more than 400 feet straight up and down with an unsurpassed Zero Gravity effect. I had a hard time even watching it. The boys got along great and thanked me for taking them to the park (I hadn't been there since my senior year in High School). I got the father feeling, though none of these boys could pass for my son. The nice thing was that I got to drop them off with their actual fathers and get a good night's sleep on my own.

Of course, the Father theme would not be complete without mentioning Ascension Church's continued reliance on our Heavenly Father as our Summer plans continue to take shape. There is much on the docket during the next couple of months, not to mention a major change in my own status in relation to my work in the church. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

2006-06-08T04:48:00.000-07:00

Water, Water Everywhere!

Ascension Church marked a milestone this past Sunday. We held our first Baptism during our morning worship service. It was exciting, not only for the three individuals who were baptized, but for their extended family and our church family. Like all Protestant Christians of an Orthodox persuasion, we recognize two sacraments of the Church: The Lord's Supper and Baptism. At our church, we celebrate the Lord's Supper each week. Baptism, by design, is not a weekly practice, but we do endeavour to do it as often as possible in recognition of God's covenant grace. Of course, from a logistics standpoint (without going into any theological detail), it's much more advantageous for a Presbyterian church plant to perform a Baptism, than for our Baptist brothers and sisters.

Speaking of Baptism, only eight days into June, and it seems we've had about a month's worth of rain. If you've been reading my blog since I started, you may recall my mention of a two-week span of constant rain back in the Fall. This one isn't quite that bad, but the volume of rain in nonetheless impressive. This past Friday afternoon, we had such a downpour that Subway service was disrupted for track and station flooding. For a guy without a car, mass transit is my lifeline, and problems with the trains pose big problems for me. Relief is in the future according to the weather forecast and the weekend is looking good at the moment.

On that note, today is my older sister, Charlene's birthday and tomorrow is my younger sister, Jane's birthday. That's right. There's a four-year and one day difference between my sisters' ages. I was born in the meantime. This weekend we will all be gathering at Jane's home in Connecticut to celebrate. This will be my first trip up there since Christmas. In addition to celebrating two birthdays, I'm looking forward to seeing my nephews (Jane's two sons). Don't be surprised to see pictures of them posted here soon. I think they're, "blog worthy."

2006-06-01T04:57:00.000-07:00

Troops on the Ground

At the Memorial Day Parade on Metropolitan Ave. in Forest Hills, Ascension Church pounded the pavement to hand out postcards and other church info to the people lining the street. It was a beautiful day (though a tad humid), and we may have generated some interest in some of our church's programs like VBS and next week's DaVinci Code discussion.

These events are always a platform for the local polititians to press the flesh. Mayor Bloomberg walked at the head of the parade and there was at least one senator and congressman there as well (others may have been there, but I didn't see them). If the people's representatives can make their presence known, why not the Kingdom's representatives?

I preached this Sunday and missed an opportunity. Memorial Day is a day when we remember those who died for the sake of our freedom. Didn't Jesus do that? Of course, he also resurrected and ascended, but the sermonic opportunities for a tie-in only hit me at the parade... after I preached.

Wow! It's June already. That means our summer plans are in full swing and it will be a busy one. In a couple of weeks I'm taking the boys from our youth program to a Six Flags amusement park. When I was a kid, there were two amusement parks in Queens; Adventurer's Inn and Rockaways' Playland, both of which have been torn down. I suppose we could have planned for Coney Island, but from the very beginning of our planning, all the buzz was for Six Flags. Oh well. If I had it my way, I'd prefer a park with subway access. Coney Island, of course, is a subway hub. The nearest station to Adventurer's Inn was an unreasonable walk. Playland had, and still has, a stop. The station still says "Playland," though the park was demolished in the late 1980s.

We are also trying to nail down a few things for VBS and some other summer ministries. Please keep all this in your prayers as we enthusiastically and creatively look ahead.

2006-05-25T04:40:00.000-07:00

Battling the Elements

Street fairs are usually scheduled for Spring and Summer in the hopes that the weather will be good for outdoor activity. The Chamber of Commerce assigned us a place in the Forest Hills Arts and Crafts Fair on Austin Street this past weekend. We were way down at the end of the fair's route next to the Jewish Center's booth and an Italian Sausage stand (which sent a wonderful aroma in our direction all day) in front of the Men's Wearhouse. If you've ever been to Austin Street, you know where that is.

Setting up around 8:30 in the morning for the 11:00 fair was a challenge because of the wind. The two people in the church who helped me in the morning, brought their own canopy, but we had no sandbags or bricks to keep it from blowing. If there was a list of things a church plant needs, sandbags would probably not be on it. Bricks? Maybe later, but not right now. It was all we could do to keep the canopy and our literature from taking flight. It seemed that we experienced a week's worth of weather in the course of one day.

Our presence there was good because it was the first time some people in the community had heard of us and we were able to hand out information about Ascension Church letting people know when and where we meet for worship, our plans for Vacation Bible School and other ministries we have. Despite the weather, the street fair was well attended. Late afternoon rain caused us to close up shop before the fair was actually open, but because the conditions were so strange, by the time we had everything packed up in the car, the sun was shining and the wind had ended. Go figure.

Last weekend also marked another annual event. Baseball's Evil Empire invaded Queens for a three game series against the Mets. With one run deciding each game, the Mets took two of the games (although their star closer blew a 4-0 lead in the 9th inning of game two, preventing a sweep... a meltdown which resulted in me yelling at my television set), sending the Bombers back to the Bronx to continue their second-rate season in the American League East. We must protect this house!

I know some of you are thinking I draw too much inspiration for church planting from baseball. To that, I reply: "I have but one objective... to see a winning team in Queens." I'll let you figure out what that means.

2006-05-18T06:04:00.000-07:00

A Change in Plans

In my last blog entry, I mentioned that Michael and I were planning a fundraising trip for this week. Well, that trip is now postponed until late August. If you read this blog regularly, you know Michael has a herniated disk in his back which he re-aggrivated last week. His doctor advised him that a trip that would involve long drives in the car would be a bad idea right now, and the earliest he would be well enough to make the trip would be in a couple of months. So, once again, we experience a roadblock in our plans, but God is sovereign, and while the cancellation of our trip is disappointing, He wanted us here this week. As we have been proceeding through the week, it has become apparent why God wanted us to stay in Queens this week.

This year marks the 100th anneversary of Forest Hills. In 1906, developer Cord Meyer renamed the Queens farming community of Whitepot to attract new residents. The Chamber of Commerce is promoting this milestone all year, including this weekend at the Austin Street Arts and Crafts Fair. Ascension Presbyterian Church is a member of the Chamber and has purchased booth space at the street fair. We will have a variety of books and informational material to hand out at the booth, and have asked some people in the church to participate and interact with people in the community. This is the first public event in which Ascension Church has been involved, and we are excited about the opportunity to present our public face. I've had to do a lot of leg work for this, and Michael has been busy with the planning for it as well. If we had gone on our planned trip, an already difficult task would have been even harder.

If you're reading this blog in the New York City area, please stop by our booth. The rest of you can pray for us as we have this great opportunity to develop new relationships and meet new people.

2006-05-11T08:42:00.000-07:00

Engaging the
Culture

Ascension Church is embarking on some bold outreach programs, embracing a call to engage the culture with the Gospel. This Saturday, a number of us will be attending a seminar on The DaVinci Code in an effort to better understand the claims in the film and the book, compare and contrast them with the claims of the Bible and of Christ Himself, and discuss how the Gospel addresses the issues raised.

The release of this film has resulted in a number of responses from Christian groups, ranging from boycotts to protests to lawsuits. We are looking at this as an opportunity to have Gospel conversations because of the issues it raises, not as an opportunity to draw battle lines in the Culture Wars. We are hoping to come away from this seminar with some great ideas so Ascension can develop discussion groups and other outreach programs in conjunction with the film.

Michael and I also attended a conference this past week to learn about Christianity Explored, a basic introduction to the person and claims of Jesus designed by an Assistant Minister and another chap from All Souls Church in London (John Stott's church). We are likely considering using this curriculum as yet another way to engage the culture.

The Indie Society will have its first meeting tomorrow night and it too will seek ways to take advantage of the cultural mecca that is the New York Metropolitan Area. It will also be designed to develop accountability and stronger relationships between the younger adults (primarily singles) who either attend Ascension Church or have a friendly connection with us, through the workplace, neighborhood, or other relationships.

Michael and I will be traveling on a fundraising trip next week, and as a result, I may not have the opportunity to post an update here, though I will try. If not, please log on in two weeks so I can pick up where I left off. Take care for now.

2006-05-04T06:06:00.000-07:00

Getting Online

To me, the term "getting on line," always meant something I would do at the bank or grocery store. While the rest of the country waits "in line," New Yorkers wait, "on line." One goal of my blog is to provide education to those of you west of the Hudson River and south of the Mason-Dixon line so you would learn not only about our church planting work here, but also to paint a picture of life in Queens. So if, in your travels, you meet someone who tells you to take your purchases and get, "on line," you've probably just encountered a New Yorker.

These days, "online," indicates internet activity, and Ascension Presbyterian Church has entered that realm. I've added a link to the website on the right side of the blog template so you can check it out yourselves. It's a work in progress, so there's not much by way of information on the site, but it will be developing over time. The design is great and the general information is helpful. We do have a purpose statement, directions to our new worship facility, and contact information, but you should check it often to see what is added in the coming weeks.

Speaking of our new worship facility, this Sunday marks our first service in the public school auditorium. Please pray for us to make a smooth transition and that our new 10:30 worship time will bring more people through our doors as we continue to grow.

Other News: New York City has issued a bit to host the 2012 World's Fair. In 1939 and 1964, the expo made its home in Queens. If we get the fair, it would be great to put Queens on the world stage in this way. Generally, the World's Fair is a showcase of human achievement. Maybe our church could get a pavilion at the fair and provide a showcase of God's achievement. Just a thought.

2006-04-27T06:04:00.000-07:00

Growing up in Queens

No my friends, this will not be an autobiographical sketch about me. If you've read my blogger profile or you've known me for more more than five minutes, you know all about that. This is about growth and development of Ascension Presbyterian Church, which was officially born in Forest Hills on Palm Sunday.

This Sunday marks the last week that we will be worshipping in a private school library at 4:00 in the afternoon. As I've mentioned before, beginning May 7th, we will move operations to a public school auditorium and meet at 10:30 in the morning. We are anxious to make this move because this facility will provide for us opportunity for growth. To add to that, we gain legitimacy in inviting people to our worship services when we tell them we meet at 10:30 as opposed to 4:00.

Other ministries at Ascension are taking shape. POLO (Parents of Little Ones) will be designed to meet the needs of the large number of young parents in our congregation. I know it may seem strange to some of you that people would attempt to raise children in New York City by choice, but we have a number of such people. My parents raised me and my sisters here and we turned our okay (keep your comments on this limited). Additionally, the singles ministry I've been mentioning here now has a name: The Indie Society. This name was intentionally chosen to protect us from making this outreach a Geek Fest or Meat Market. We will be having our first meeting in a few weeks, and will branch out to have social activities that should take us into the Summer.

I am also planning to have more joint activities with our youth and the youth at Astoria Community Church (PCA) like we had a few weeks ago. Now that the weather is getting better, there is an increased opportunity to do these kinds of things and strengthen our relationship with another church at the same time.

Other News: Michael and I went out to my old high school stomping grounds with his son, Michael Jr. He's considering sending his son to the Stony Brook School and I waxed nostalgic touring the campus this past Monday. While much has changed since I graduated, enough had stayed the same that I was able to conjure up good memories of my teenage years. I think Michael was impressed with how the school integrates faith and learning, something for which the school has become known for over the years. It will be interesting if young Michael ends up there. That's the option that would get my vote.

Please continue to keep Ascension Presbyterian Church in your prayers as we move to the new facility and as our ministries continue to develop.

2006-04-20T07:18:00.000-07:00

How the People were Saved

On Tuesday evening, at the height of the evening rush, the Roosevelt Island Tram experienced a power surge and failure that brought the only operating commuter tramway in North America to a halt. A trip that averages between five and ten minutes became an ordeal lasting several hours. Police, Fire, and Emergency personnel struggled to find a way to rescue the approximately 70 stranded passengers in the two cable cars, one of which hovered over York Ave. in Manhattan, while the other hung hundreds of feet above the waters of the East River.

After six hours, officials determined that there was only one way that the people might be saved. A small police basket with an independent, diesel-powered engine could travel along the cables and take a limited number of people safely to either side. There were no other options, and not everyone could fit into the basket. After twelve hours, the whole thing was over and the tram is currently grounded pending further investigation into the problem.

Yes, I know this is a bit of New York City current events, but this story is rich with sermon illustration possibilities. I'll have to remember this one for the next time I preach at the church.

I know most of you are wondering how our Easter service went, especially in light of our public launch on Palm Sunday. Considering that we meet at 4:00 in the afternoon and it was Easter after all, we are pleased to acknowledge that our attendence was still larger that our pre-launch average and we can certainly give praise to God for his continued blessings in the life of Ascension Presbyterian Church. Here, Michael and I are involved in the set-up of the library in preparation for the worship service. Following worship, we had a great potluck dinner at Michael's home.

We also had a wonderful, Good Friday service in the library followed by a catered dinner. It was a rainy day, but several people came and it was a wonderful time of fellowship and worship. Our Passover Seder was also a great outreach function and the Messianic Rabbi did a stellar job of demonstrating how the Passover points us to Christ.

I know several of you are anxious to get my prayer letter in the mail, but I've been waiting to report with more detail to you, news of our launch and follow-up. At the moment, I plan to put together a letter next week to share such details with many of you on my mailing list. We are most thankful for your continued prayers.

2006-04-13T04:55:00.000-07:00

Thy Kingdom Come

If you've been reading my blog, e-mails, and letters, or if you've spoken with me recently on the phone or in person, you know Ascension Presbyterian Church officially made its public launch this past Sunday. Those of us involved can certainly give praise to God for His kingdom work in Queens.

Several new faces changed the complexion of the worship service as well as a few well-wishers. Our attendance nearly doubled from our previous worship services and it was great to see so many first-time visitors.

We also rolled out our new signs and banners (something that is critical when you rent a worship facility). We were fortunate to find a sign place that was local and could produce high-quality signage for us. Many people commented on how beautiful the signs are and how much they like our church logo.

For many years, people have been praying for a Gospel-driven church in Forest Hills. Redeemer Presbyterian Church, our parent church, has long had a vision for planting churches throughout the city under the conviction that the best way to reach the city for Christ is through a network of local churches rather than as a large mega-church. Ascension is an example of this vision playing out.

Since it was Palm Sunday, we sought to supply everyone with palms. Most churches have the simple stalk that the kids often transform into little crosses. Ascension had full palm branches. A woman in our church picked them up and Michael and I were most excited to see full palm branches used not only as part of our Palm Sunday service, but as part of our public launch.

We were also excited to announce our planned move to the public school auditorium as I mentioned in last week's entry. Michael announced it three times during the service just to make certain that everyone present was made aware of it. You should have seen his face. He could barely contain his excitement at telling everyone that we were going to be in a bigger and better location and having a 10:30 am worship service instead of a 4:00 pm one. Everyone was very encouraged by the launch service, especially with this announcement made. God is doing a wonderful and exciting work here in central Queens.

This week, we will be renting the library again for a Good Friday service. We are expecting it to be more of an intimate setting with a dinner, scripture, the Lord's Supper, and some music.

Saturday, one of the women in our church (as I also mentioned last week) is also hosting a Messianic Passover Seder. The timing of Easter and Passover this year presents a unique opportunity for us to connect the Old and New Testaments in this way. Since we believe that the Gospel is on every page of Scripture, the calendar worked in our favor and we are excited at this most timely outreach opportunity.

Please keep Ascension Church in your prayers both in thanksgiving for what he has done and in supplication for what he will do as we seek His guidance in all things.

2006-04-06T05:04:00.000-07:00

Opening Day Jitters

Monday afternoon, my beloved New York Mets won their home opener against the Washington Nationals, strengthening fans' hopes to return a world championship to Queens. Each year at this time, fans of the Amazin's contemplate off-season acquisitions and trades and Spring Training performance and boldly recall Tug McGraw's 1973 mantra: "Ya Gotta Believe!"

Ascension Presbyterian Church has had a very busy off-season if you will and our pre-launch and broadening phase (church planting's Spring Training) has ended and the regular season begins this Sunday with Michael throwing out the first pitch at 4:00 pm. Excitement is high and anticipation of God's current and future work is encouraging. Our reliance on God's grace and enthusiasm can draw a bold claim from us as well: "Ya Gotta Believe!"

I won't drag out the baseball analogy too far lest some of you begin to wonder if I'm more loyal to Ascension Church or the Mets. How cool would it be though, to bring the Gospel and the World Series to Queens in the same year?

As I indicated last week, there is some exciting news afoot for us on the heels of our launch preparations. This past week, we secured a new worship location. Michael and I delivered a check to the New York City Department of Education's regional operations center this week to secure our use of a public school auditorium. This facility is in a better location in the center of Forest Hills, significantly larger than the library where we currently meet, and we are able to schedule our worship service for 10:30 am... a move which creates a level or credibility for us that our current 4:00 pm time does not. This has been in the works for us for a few weeks now, but I didn't want to mention it on my blog until it was secured with check in hand. Add this news to the excitement over our launch this week, and you can imagine the electric atmosphere between Michael and me, and our entire launch community.

This is a busy week for us, as you might imagine, so I need to cut this entry short here, but please keep Ascension Presbyterian Church in your prayers this week and in the weeks to come as we hope to follow up the launch with a number or outreach programs and ministries.

2006-03-30T13:22:00.000-08:00

The Final Countdown

Just one more Sunday before the official launch of Ascension Presbyterian Church and the excitement is building. We had a meeting after the worship service this past week to discuss outreach and follow-up for the big day and beyond. Everyone was excited shared several ambitious and creative ideas for inviting and engaging with friends and neighbors. It's encouraging to see such enthusiasm from our launch community and to consider some great outreach and evangelistic ideas. Several in our church family have expressed to me how thrilled they are to be a part of what God is doing and will do here in central Queens through Ascension Church.

We also have lined up some great musicians to play on Palm Sunday. Our regular pianist is unable to make it that week, but we've found an excellent replacement in a friend of mine from my pre-seminary days. We also have an impressive ensemble which includes a flute, guitar, and stand-up bass. We also have some additional musicians lined up for Easter so we don't have a tremendous letdown the week after our launch... not to mention that it's Easter after all.

We are also renting a smaller space for a Good Friday service and church-wide dinner. One of our home groups is having a Passover Seder with a Messianic Rabbi which will be a more directed outreach given the Forest Hills demographic, and considering that Passover and Easter occur together this year.

This time of year is busy for any church, but for a church about to launch, it's particularly busy for us. Please keep Ascension Presbyterian Church in your prayers during this crucial period.

Big Things Brewing: There are some huge developments with regard to our worship service location. Because the final details about it have not yet been finalized, I'm not at liberty to explain much further. Rest assured, however, it's pretty much a done deal. I can hardly contain myself. I expect to be free to let you know by next week's blog entry. Of course, I can tell you anything you want to know over the phone. Just don't call my cell phone during weekdays before nine at night (EST).

Baby News: Reyn Cabinte, one of my fellow Church Planting Fellows (Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Manhattan) became the proud father of a baby boy today. The only details I know at this point are that his name is Soren and baby and mother are doing fine. Check Reyn's blog on the link to the right. I'm sure he'll post some pictures soon if any of you are interested.

2006-03-23T05:12:00.000-08:00

Already. Not Yet.

A couple of entries ago, I discussed the dynamic of March in New York. The tension between winter and spring is pronounced here, making this month one of the most dramatic and, depending on your perspective, the most frustrating times of the year. Although Monday marked the vernal equinox, the winter chills have plagued us all week.

The image of March is similar to our status as a church plant. We've already begun worship services and home fellowship groups. We've already got a name. But we've not yet gone public. The next two weeks will be a frantic push of publicity. We've got fliers and postcards; we're going out into the streets and the subways to invite people; we're inviting our friends and neighbors. I guess you could say we're gettin' busy. It's exciting and potentially exhausting and we will certainly need your prayers during this critical time. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to be at work both in the lives of the people of our church and in those of individuals in Forest Hills and the surrounding neighborhoods. We are confident that God will draw His people to himself, and we are praying that we will be used in an effective way to be used by Him to do this.

This week, each of our home groups is having a prayer meeting over the church's outreach and launch. We want to seek the Lord's guidance in our efforts and look for opportunities to engage people and invite them to Ascension. I will also be using the boys in our youth group to hand out fliers and postcards. I must admit, church planting is quite a rush.

In the next few weeks, we expect to introduce an operational website for Ascension Church so it launches as closely as possible to our church launch on April 9. Once we do that, I will post the URL here and add a link on the sidebar with the other links there.

Country in the City: Working in a church plant, sometimes I feel like I'm strapped to a whipping post. Michael and I took a break Tuesday night and went with a Lutheran minister friend to see the Allman Brothers Band at the Beacon Theater. The band plays 15 sold-out shows in at the Beacon each March and they put on quite a show. My Deep South Bretheren (one of whom I spoke with recently on the telephone) find a touch of humor in the fact that I spent three years in Mississippi and end up going to see a legendary Southern Rock Band here in New York. Surprisingly, New York, Boston, and Atlanta are the band's biggest-selling venues. It would likely be a safe bet that we were probably the only three people in the theater employed in full-time church ministry.

2006-03-16T12:45:00.000-08:00

Inspirations from St. Patrick

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day and people all over New York City mysteriously claim some Irish heritage in order to excuse the volume of alcohol they take in. I always find great humor at watching people who, by their physical characteristics are obviously not Irish, stumble out of local pubs donning kelly green attire and belting out off key Celtic folk songs.

Most people, however, have no understanding of St. Patrick himself and what he did to earn his own holiday.

Born in 387 in Scotland, Maewyn Succat was the son of Roman immegrants and considered himself a pagan until his early teens. At 16, Patrick (his Christian name) was kidnapped in a raid and shipped to Ireland as a slave, working as a shepherd. At the time, the Emerald Isle was populated by Celtic Druids and Patrick developed a heart for the people, learning both their language and customs.

At the age of 20 he escaped slavery and was able to reunite with his family in Britain. His desire was to preach the Gospel in Ireland and he went to study in Rome in preparation for ministry. Eventually, he was assigned to be Bishop to Ireland where he preached throughout the country and planted churches. In the course of 40 years, he preached and discipled to the extent that most of the country was exposed to the Gospel and many converted. He died on March 17, 461 in the town of Saul, Ireland, the town where he planted his first church.

When we consider the difficulties of planting a church in Queens, one can only imagine the obstacles St. Patrick faced in ministry. The effectiveness of his ministry can be attributed to his love for the people, his familiarity with the language and customs, and his ability to disciple others who could teach and preach the Gospel. This is what we are continuing to do as we seek to reach central Queens with the Gospel through Ascension Church.

The clock is ticking toward our public launch on April 9 (Palm Sunday). There is much to do between now and then and we very much appreciate your prayers during this critical time. Michael and I will need to maintain focus while juggling multiple tasks and we will be enabled to do so only through God's grace and the fervent prayers of His people.

2006-03-09T04:18:00.000-08:00

Marking the Days

Today is March 9; exactly one month to the day before Ascension Church's public launch. It's hard to believe that this church, which was merely a concept known as the Forest Hills Church Plant when I came on the scene, is actually coming to fruition. During our pre-launch stage, which began at the end of October, and our broadening stage since January 15, we have slowly developed our worship services in light of the big day on Palm Sunday.

This past week, we finally introduced our weekly celebration of the Lord's Supper. Michael did a great job of incorporating the Supper into our order of worship, but we had to drop one hymn near the end because the service ran quite long. Our keyboardist (who lives in Manhattan) and bass player (who lives in Brooklyn) each had commitments after our service to which they had to rush and our originally-planned music line-up would have made each of them quite late to these appointments. As much as I like a lot of music in the service, we need to keep in mind how the Lord's Supper lengthens the service.

I had an opportunity to see a dramatic presentation of C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters this past Saturday throuth The Fellowship for the Performing Arts. It was superb. If any of you are planning to be in New York City before the end of April, I would highly recommend it to you. I wasn't sure how it would play out on stage, but Max McLean is an outstanding performer and brilliantly portrayed Screwtape in all his brooding and devious glory. We are currently attempting to reserve some tickets for later this month so several people from Ascension Church will have an opportunity to see it. Between taking the youth to see The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, our recent church outreach on the topic of love (using Lewis' model from his book, The Four Loves), and this performance, we've been heavy on the C.S. Lewis lately. That's okay. You know, his friends called him Jack.

Last week Michael, practical joker that he is, convinced me that we were going to conduct a funeral for a dog belonging to an individual in our church. He told me that it would give me an opportunity to practice in the event of a real funeral. I wrote a eulogy featuring a fond recollection of the dog based on my brief encounter with him several weeks ago. I also included some carefully worded encouragements for the dog's owner, making sure I offered real comfort without making theological leaps with regard to the dog itself.

Telling me that his son needed to practice using his newly purchased video recorder, Michael had the camera rolling as I rehearsed the eulogy before the "service." This was followed up by a battery of questions from Michael about the souls and afterlife of pets. He said that it's possible that I may face such questions on the floor of Presbytery when I stand before them for ordination. I, of course, believed this, having been to Presbytery meetings both here and in Mississippi and seen some bizarre questions asked of ministry canditates. Eventually, I was informed that this was a joke. Michael now refers to me as the pastor of pets at Ascension Church. Just call me Rev. Doolittle.

Seriously though, we have much going on at Ascension Church and we covet your prayers greatly. Take care for now and God-bless.

2006-03-02T11:06:00.000-08:00

In Like a Lion

Growing up, I always heard that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. I've got a lion outside as I write this entry as we have our first installment of March-like weather. A friend of mine once told me that March in New York is three months long, and to most people, that's how it seems. Working stiffs get no holidays during the 31-day stint on the calendar, though many of them attempt to drown their winter frustrations mid-month in the name of the Irish Patron Saint. It's the month where winter leaves us kicking and screaming. It's not so much an easing of Winter into Spring; it's more like an all-out, knock-out brawl. Today's weather is typical March mush. It's not the crisp, dry snow we experienced a few weeks ago during the blizzard of the century. Temperatures are slightly warmer creating a mixture of snow, sleet, and rain, leaving something the texture of Cream of Wheat (only much colder) on the streets and sidewalks. It's downright nasty.

Our March will be something befitting the mush and maddnes. This week we introduce our weekly observance of the Lord's Supper, the logistics of which are still being worked out. This practice is a growing trend amongst newer churches which I think is a great thing. Many recent seminary grads, like myself, have developed a conviction that the Lord's Supper ought to be a part of regulative worship elevating it's importance amongst the community of believers. While this practice is not a mandate, it certainly seems to us to be something that we as church planters are excited about introducing. We are also trying to increase our outreach opportunities as we head toward our April 9 (Palm Sunday) public launch. These things, among other unknowns will certainly keep us busy this month. Please keep all these matters in your prayers.

2006-02-23T05:35:00.000-08:00

Finishing February Filling In

Donald Trump and Martha Stewart are exchanging heated words. Anthrax is discovered in a Brooklyn storage facility. The government wants to sell the West Side shipping docks to terrorists. These are big concerns in the lives of New Yorkers, but my biggest focus this week was the fact that Michael Kytka has been on vacation this week placing responsibility for Ascension Church squarely on my shoulders. I can't really complain. I've been living a charmed life with Michael handling the lion's share of preparation for our Sunday worship services and planning and organizing things. It's not that I can't handle the extra responsibilities; it's just that I haven't had to before.

With the kids out of school for President's week, his wife off from work (she works for the NYC Public School System), and his birthday falling during the week, he is taking a well-deserved vacation. He is one of the hardest working people I know, and I'm happy that he trusts me enough not to single-handedly bring down the church in one week.

How many church planting blogs feature pictures of Donald Trump and Martha Stewart anyway?

I was a bit disoriented this week, however. Each of our home groups is working through the book of Galatians, but each of them is at a different point in the study. I gave an advanced lesson to Michael's Monday night group, while showing up on Tuesday night with a repeat lesson prepared for them. To clarify, what I prepared for Monday night was what I should have thought on Tuesday night and vice versa. Are you following me? I'm sure Michael will forgive me without handing me down the Donald's, "You're fired!"

The late February winter blasts have continued to batter the New York metropolitan area. As you know, we had a record-setting blizzard a couple of weeks ago. While there was a warming trend during the following week that melted most of the snow, we were hit by an arctic blast over the weekend. This weekend promises more of the same. We've been in a pattern of experiencing the most dramatic weather changes on the weekends, and that trend seems to be continuing.

Next week, we introduce our weekly observance of the Lord's Supper, and sometime in March I will be scheduling the much-hyped singles ministry. Please keep these things in your prayers. My other major prayer request, once again, involves financial matters. Because my income is primarily based on the generosity of my partners, I've been living tax-free since July. April 15th is shaping up to be a scary day for me, as my fundraising activity has resulted in barely enough to get me by. Every dime I take home is spent on bills and groceries and I haven't been able to put money aside to prepare for the tax man. I do wish, however, to comply with the law and pay my taxes. If you have been considering partnership with me in this exciting ministry, or you know someone who might be interested, please let me know. Make checks payable to Redeemer Presbyterian Church and mail them to me at: 83-44 Lefferts Blvd. Apt. 3C; Kew Gardens, NY 11415. Be sure to put my name on the memo line. That's all for this week. Take care.

2006-02-16T08:10:00.000-08:00

A Blast of Winter; A Glimpse of Spring

Winter weather has not been the best friend of Ascension Church. You might recall, if you read my blog regularly, that the night before our broadening service on January 15, we were blasted with a dramatic drop in temperature together with snow and ice making it difficult for people to come to our worship service. This past week, New York City experienced its biggest blizzard in recorded history. A massive 26.9 inches was measured in Central Park by the time it was all over. Needless to say, not only was it dangerous for people to come to church; it was downright impossible.

On Friday afternoon, one weather prediction on TV had the storm missing us all together, but by Saturday evening everyone was calling for a "raging" snowstorm. There are two kinds of winter weather systems that we watch carefully here in New York. One is called an Alberta Clipper which is a Canadian air mass approaching out of the Northwest bringing unseasonably cold temperatures but only rarely snow accumulation. The other is a Nor'easter, a system typically moving North and East from the Gulf of Mexico often skirting the Atlantic coastline gathering moisture often resulting in rain or snow. This was a Nor'easter, and it brought us to screeching halt. These were some scenes around Forest Hills, Queens during the blizzard.

At least there was some sign of Spring this week as pitchers and catchers reported in Port St. Lucie, FL to open Spring Training for the New York Mets. I imagine they also reported elsewhere in Florida for the Devil's team in the Bronx, but I'm not sure.

Despite this week's weather, our ministries continue. Monday evening we had our second outreach dinner at Michael's house. Invitations were distributed throughout the neighborhood inviting people to dinner and discussion on the topic of Love. Even with the mounds of snow outside, dinner was well attended and healthy discussion was had. This Sunday evening, I am leading a group in the same discussion. Please pray for God's direction over this outreach opportunity.

I'll be preaching for the next two weeks. This week, Michael will hear me preach for the first time (all the other times I've preached here have been a direct result of his inability to be there). The following week, Michael will be on vacation. We've begun preaching through Philippians and I will be keeping the series in uninterrupted flow.

The singles ministry and our introduction of weekly Lord's Supper observances has been postponed (as I mentioned in earlier entries) until sometime in March. Pray for us to be patient and rely on God's grace and not on our "ideal," plans. That's all for this week.

2006-02-09T06:52:00.000-08:00

Hurry Up and Wait

I mentioned last week that our church had planned to institute a weekly observance of the Lord's Supper this month. While we do plan on doing this, our introduction of this design will be postponed until March. You may remember that our broadening service had to be moved from December to January due to situations beyond our control. This is a similar situation. Michael is planning a short vacation with his family and will be out of town on Feb. 26. As a result, he has asked me to preach (this, by the way, is the most notice I have been given before being asked to preach). The problem is that I am not ordained yet in the PCA and cannot administer the Sacraments (Baptism and the Lord's Supper). He doesn't think (and I agree) that we should begin weekly communion until it can be done without interruption for some length of time.

I am also still making an attempt to schedule a meeting time for the singles ministry to which I've been assigned and February is a short month. That too may need to be put off until March. Next week, our small groups will be hosting dinner discussions on the true meaning of love. It should be fun.

Personal Request!: When I got my cell phone bill in the mail this week, I nearly lost my lunch. I noticed several long distance calls were made to my phone during the day on weekdays in January. I only have free nights and weekends and those of you who know me know that there is no such thing as a brief conversation with Jack. I really want to talk to you, but I don't want to sacrifice a week's worth of groceries in order to do so. Please restrict calls to my cell phone to weekends and evenings (after 9:00 EST). If you must reach me during the weekdays, please call me on my home phone. I'll be happy to e-mail you the number.

Please continue to keep Ascension Church, Michael, and me in your prayers. Until next week, God-bless.

2006-02-02T12:03:00.000-08:00

Battle of Words; Love in the Air

PUNXSUTAWNEY, PA- In a nationally televised ceremony, Punxsutawney Phil, the national groundhog, reportedly saw his shadow this morning translating into a prediction of a longer winter. The groundhog's appearance was met by a round of boos from the crowd gathered to witness the annual event. Phil has been suffering in the polls of late due to extreme weather conditions nationwide and charges of corruption in his administration.

In contrast, New York City Rep. Charles G. Hogg ("Staten Island Chuck") witnessed no shadow and triumphantly declared a swift end to winter. "Once again we have seen how this administration is out of touch with the concerns of average Americans," Hogg told reporters. "Punxsutawney Phil has no clear exit strategy for winter, while we are offering a message of hope." Staten Island Chuck is enjoying unprecedented popularity on the heels of the New York City's third warmest January on record. Hogg also called for an independent counsel to be appointed to investigate intelligence prior to Feb. 2. "The American people deserve to know what Phil knew and when he knew it."

A spokesperson for the Punxsutawney Phil administration dismissed Chuck's charges as "outrageous," stating that the New York Rep. was engaging in, "political grandstanding."

In Church Planting News: February will be a busy month for Ascension Church. Beginning Feb. 12, we will implement the Lord's Supper which will be a weekly celebration for us. As we move along, we introduce things slowly so our intentions will be clearly communicated Scripturally and logistically. I am personally excited that our church will be administrating the Lord's Supper each week and am hopeful that the congregation will be able to fully appreciate it's meaning and draw closer to the Lord through it.

We are also planning another opportunity to invite our neighbors. In light of Valentine's Day, each of our small groups is making plans to invite neighbors and friends to a Biblically-based discussion on the meaning of True Love. We did something similar to this back in December in connection with Christmas and were pleased by how many neighbors responded to our invitations.

I will also be developing a singles' ministry that is not a dating service. People tend to think that the only way to minister to singles is to pair them off. I want to give them opportunities for fellowship and Biblical reflection without the atmosphere of a Christian meat market.

Please keep these ministries and Ascension Church in general in your prayers this week. Until next week's update, I pray that God will continue to bless you beyond your expectations.

2006-01-26T11:12:00.000-08:00

The Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Fortune

If ever there was an example of Satan's attack, our church plant would be one. After being forced to worship elsewhere on Christmas and New Year's, Michael's continued back problems (he also had a cold back in the fall and suffered from food poisoning two weeks ago) it would be easy to fall into discouragement. Fortunately, our church is strengthening its resolve and finding renewed encouragement in light of the slings and arrows.

Yes, these distractions were again on full display this week as I received the the phone call Sunday morning to which I've becomed quite accustomed. After significant progress with his physical therapy and treatment on his herniated disk, something happened Saturday to re-aggrivate the condition and Michael was again in unbearable pain on the other end of the phone line. Yes, boys and girls, once again I had to preach on the fly. It's okay. I don't really mind. It's part of my job, and in light of this critical time in the life of Ascension Church, I'm happy to step up to the plate. It does make for an increasedly hectec Lord's Day, which is quite a challenge.

Entertainment Suggestion: I always try to encourage enthusiasm for our work and ministry here in Queens, so allow me to make a suggestion to that end. For an authentic depiction of life in New York City's largest borough, tune in to "The King of Queens," which airs on Monday nights on CBS. The scenes and depictions are dead-on accurate and each of the characters reminds me of someone I know. It also airs in syndication on UPN (check your local listings).

Prayer Concerns: We have broadened and are continuing our development of evangelistic projects. We are looking to incorporate these efforts into a logo for all Ascension Church literature (weekly bulletins, letterheads, web page, etc.). Several people from the church met with a graphics designer this week and we are confident in developing a good design for this church. Continue to keep Michael in your prayers. He was able to actually stand up during our meeting with the graphics designer, but his back problems have not exactly gone away. Pray for me also as I prepare the multitude of material I will need for licensure and ordination in this Presbytery.

Until next week, take care for now and God-bless.

2006-01-19T08:06:00.000-08:00

Off to the Races!

This past Sunday was our broadening service and in a certain sense we are off and running. We had the best music we've been able to sing yet. Our music program is developing and it was good for us and our visitors that it has improved and the improvement was quite obvious. Our Christian Education work also began this week and we are hoping to grow the program both in numbers and scope. Lastly, it was also great to see our church name, "Ascension," in print on the bulletins for the first time. Now that Ascension Church has it's greatest definition yet, we will be developing interactive ministries aimed and sharing the Gospel with our neighbors in Forest Hills and the surrounding communities.

We did encounter something of an adventure however, and that was the weather. Last Saturday it rained all day, heavy at times, though temperatures were unseasonably mild. Overnight the New York City area experiences a cataclysmic drop in temperature. When I awoke Sunday morning, we had a coat of ice over a bed of solid ice from the previous day's rainfall. These factors, combined with fiercely strong winds made for dangerous driving conditions and an overall nasty outdoor experience. Undoubtedly, some of the people we invited to our broadening service were inhibited by the weather, but... Praise the Lord, we still had a pretty good turn out of visitors and launch community alike. God's providence is wonderful considering that even the parking lot of the school from whom we rent was glazed with ice making even the trip from the car to the building a measure of faith.

Saturday evening, I took the boys from the church to see The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Though a rather lengthy film (2 hours; 19 minutes), it was quite well done and true to the C.S. Lewis classic (did any of you know he preferred to be known as Jack?). I'm not going to write a movie review, but I would recommend the film if you haven't already seen it.

Prayer Concerns: Please continue to pray for Ascension Church. We are on a tight budget and have some big plans for the near term. I am looking at Presbytery licensure (the pre-call phase of ordination) and it appears that I will need to do everything short of raise the dead to get licensed in is Presbytery. On top of my increasingly busy schedule with church activities, licensure reports, forms, tests, etc. will need to be squeezed into my schedule. My financial picture hasn't gained much focus in the new year. After July, my Redeemer Fellows stipend (75% of my current income) will disappear as the internship program I am in closes and my regular work begins. Consequently, I need to think ahead and continue to request additional financial support. If any of you are considering increased support or new support, please send checks made out to Redeemer Presbyterian Church (my name on the memo line) to my address: 83-44 Lefferts Blvd. Apt. 3C; Kew Gardens, NY 11415. I am thankful to those of you who have pledged support and am trusting God to meet my needs.

Until next week, may God continue to richly bless you.

2006-01-12T11:15:00.000-08:00

There's Something about that Name

At last, brothers and sisters, we have finally announced the name of our church. After months of canvassing neighbors, discussion amongst the launch community, research and a tremendous amount of prayer, we are no longer the Forest Hills Church Plant. We are now Ascension Church. I know what some of you are thinking. There's a trend out there in the PCA to call new church plants Redeemer. In fact, it seems that every time I read about a new church in this denomination, it's called Redeemer. Acesnsion is intriguing and memorable without being a theological compromise. It points to our outward face in sharing the gospel and our focus on preaching God's kingdom here in central Queens. This week's bulletins for our worship service will be the first to bear the new name. This is one more step in our early-stage growth and we are all very excited.

This Lord's Day, as I've been mentioning to you, is our broadening service. I've been inviting most of my friends to come, as well as some local pastors I know in the hopes that a connection would be made. We have also sent out an e-mail invitation to the various contacts Michael and I have made over the past few months and we are expecting a larger crowd than we've had in our pre-launch services. Some of these will be individuals that we will be encouraging to attend our services weekly, while others are people we have invited in order to make them aware that we are out here and want to be a resource and well connected in the community. Please pray for our preparations for this important worship service as we are hoping to put the best foot forward not for our own glory and recognition, but that God will receive all the glory in our church planting efforts.

Finally, the Post Office changed the price of a stamp from 37 cents to 39 cents and almost no one knew it. In fact, the Post Office did such a poor job publicizing it, this blog entry may be the first some of you are hearing about it..I'm just glad this didn't happen over the Christmas holiday or my mailing would have seen a little problem. Well, it looks like I'll have to raise more money this year to cover postage. Oy Vey! Please keep Ascension Church in your prayers.

Until next week, may God continue to richly bless you.

2006-01-05T08:50:00.000-08:00

We Now Return to our Regularly Scheduled Program

After an unintentional break in our church planting efforts, January brings us back to reality as we look forward to our broadening service on the 15th.

More on that in a second. First, the holidays were busy for me. I went with my parents to my sister and brother-in-law's home in Connecticut for the New Year (since we didn't have a worship service on the 1st with the church plant). It was great to spend some time with my nephews Tyler (3) and Zachary (1). I also thought I'd bless you all with a picture of them. It snowed on New Year's Eve there and the whole area looked like a Christmas post card. The New England coast always looks like a post card, but even more so this time. We had a fire going in the fireplace and it was festive. Of course when you put an animated group of people like my family together, it's interesting to put it mildly.

As I said earlier, our broadening service is scheduled for January 15th, and we are very excited. Our music program, under my direction, is taking shape and we are already rehearsing music not only for this week, but for the broadening service so we can put our best foot forward at that service. We will share our name with the launch community this week after the worship service (I'll inform you here next week) and our programs are seeing renewed life with the new year. Our home fellowship groups re-convene beginning this evening and I plan to take the boys in the church to see The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe next weekend.

My friend Becky made the observation that I represent a portion of a deck of cards: My name is Jack and I'm serving the King in Queens. To expand the metaphor slightly, we'll have our ace if we can get a full house on January 15th. I know you're laughing out loud right now.

Prayer Concerns: Michael continues his physical therapy for his back amidst all our planning. He is doing a wonderful job keeping focus despite his pain. Invitations have been sent out for our broadening service and we hope to keep some of these visitors and invite them to worship with us regularly. Following the broadening, we will be developing a concerted evangelistic effort leading up to our public launch near Palm Sunday. Many of you have shown me great generosity over the holidays with your contributions to our work here. If any of you are still considering additional support or joining with me, you can make checks out to Redeemer Presbyterian Church with my name on the memo line. Send them to me at 83-44 Lefferts Blvd. Apt. 3C; Kew Gardens, NY 11415.

That's all for this week. Check back next week for my announcement of our church name.

2005-12-30T08:36:00.000-08:00

2005-The Long Strange Trip

In the midst of the holiday madness (my Parents have been staying in my apartment since Saturday), I'm a day late on my weekly blog update. Sorry. By the way, the transit strike ended within hours of my last entry... a Christmas gift of sorts.

It's hard to imagine that 2005 is over. At this time last year I was concerned over my Greek grade and if I would actually pass all my classes and graduate from Seminary. Now, graduation has come and gone and I am finally entrenched in full-time ministry and moving forward. The coming year holds great promise. Our church plant anticipates a launch and subsequent growth. Lord-willing, I will be looking at Presbytery examinations and ordination later in the year. And, of course, there are a variety of unknowns ahead as well. I am trusting in God's providence and blessing as we move ahead.

I want to wish you all God's richest blessings for the New Year and remind you to check back here frequently for updates on our church planting ministry here. Take care for now.

2005-12-22T13:53:00.000-08:00

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

As of midnight Monday, an agreement was not reached between TWU Local 100 and the MTA setting into motion the first Transit Strike in New York City in 25 years. This was the scene Wednesday morning on the street near the Long Island Railroad station in Forest Hills as commuters from all over central Queens scrambled to find alternatives to the otherwise convenient subway service. Meanwhile, across the street on Queens Blvd. striking transit workers, whose illegal job action caused this mess, walk the picket line before a less-than-sympathetic general public.

Borrowing a page from the Al Queida playbook, the union decided to strike at a time when it would do the most harm to the most people... the week before Christmas. Ironically, the union heads are asking for the moral support of the very public they abandoned. New Yorkers, however, are showing their true colors, walking great distances, car pooling with complete strangers, and finding creative methods of getting around. I'm thankful that for the first time in my adult life, I have no real commute. But most people in the city have not been similarly blessed... As of the time of this blog entry, state mediators have stepped in and it looks like the workers may be returning to work as a deal is ironed out. This strike has made the national news scene, so if you're interested in the outcome, please check your media outlets for more information.

I had intended to use this week's blog entry to make a simple Christmas greeting, but I also want it to be informative so I found it necessary to make mention of the biggest issue facing city residents. With the unavailability of our worship facility, combined with the Transit Strike and predictable low attendence expected on Christmas Sunday worship services, we have been granted an unplanned reprieve from an otherwise busy season.

Prayer Concerns: Looking ahead, assuming this strike won't stretch into January, we are planning our broadening worship service for the 15th. Our music program is improving and we expect that to continue through mid-month. We will have our last pre-launch service on January 8th which we hope will re-orient our launch community to worshipping together before we open our doors to more people. Hopefully this two-week hiatus will be helpful to give Michael the rest he needs to get his back in better condition. Please keep all these matters in your prayers.

If any of you have been considering a ministry worthy of year-end giving, please consider the Forest Hills Church Plant. Should you contribute, make checks payable to Redeemer Presbyterian Church with my name on the memo line. Send your gifts to my address: 83-44 Lefferts Blvd. Apt. 3C; Kew Gardens, NY 11415 with a note explaining the frequency of your giving (monthly, quarterly, one-time, etc.). This will help me to track the funds I've raised.

Lastlty, I do want to wish you a most blessed Christmas and pray God's Richest Blessings on all of you throughout the new year.

2005-12-15T12:20:00.000-08:00

Learning to Walk

I know what most of you are thinking, I'm about to say something witty about the difficulties of church planting in Queens and how it's something like learning to walk. Well, it is something like that, but when I titled this blog entry, "Learning to Walk," I may be referring to what I'll have to do as far as getting around town if the threatened transit strike becomes a reality.

That's right. As a man without a car, I might have to walk everywhere I go after the midnight deadline for some workable agreement to be reached between the Transportation Workers Union (TWU) and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Fortunately, I can walk to most things directly associated with the Forest Hills Church Plant, but if I want to go anywhere else, hey, what're ya gonna do?

In any event, this Sunday will be our last scheduled pre-launch worship service as we do not have access to the building for Christmas and New Year's Days. We are NOT, however, following the lead of many mega-churches who have voluntarily canceled services these days so people can spend more time with their families. That's an absurd idea. We want to meet... we just can't.

Lots of Christmas stuff going on with the church plant. We are having the small groups host Christmas parties with a featured directed look at Christmas. People are encouraged to invite neighbors... especially ones they don't know. So far, it's been well received amongst the groups who've done it so far. Also, many people in the launch community will be going to a Christmas pageant in Staten Island this Friday evening at the Church where Michael met his wife. And, Sunday will also witness the second annual Christmas party at the Kytka's. Because I've let it be known that I like to bake, I've been asked to do so and plan to bring my famous cookies (those of you who've had them, know what I'm talking about.). It is keeping all of us very busy.

Lastly, my birthday is this Friday (Dec. 16.). Other than my birth in Queens, the only other noteworthy New York happening on this day was 20 years ago. On December 16, 1985, Big Pauly Castellano was wacked as he was getting out of his car in front of Sparks Steak House in Manhattan. The hit was allegedly ordered by John "the Dapper Don," Gotti, who essentially ran the Gambino Crime Family from that time until Salvatore (Sammy the Bull) Gravano ratted on him to send him to jail. Gravano is currently in the witness protection program. Gotti died from cancer.

Prayer concerns: Michael has been undergoing physical therapy for his back and there appears to be progress made. This is a real answer to prayer, but he will continue to need the therapy and not strain his back to continue the progress. My parents will be coming up next week for the holidays. Please pray for their safe travels. As I said last week here, we will be broadening our worship community on January 15. Please keep this matter and all others in your prayers. Until next week, take care and God-bless.

2005-12-08T16:00:00.000-08:00

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Okay, it's getting a little crazy these days. With the Christmas Season upon us and our Church launch scheduled for January 15th, there's little time for mundane activities like grocery shopping, laundry, showering or shaving. Strangely enough, I have prioritized these things and they get done or I would be a hungry, grubby, smelly bearded man trying to encourage people to come to my church. That wouldn't work well.

This week we had a double blast of winter weather. That's right boys and girls... SNOW! The first round hit overnight on Saturday opening the Lord's Day to a winter wonderland. Monday evening brought the second wave around 8:00. By Tuesday morning the scene outside of my apartment building resembled a Currier & Yves painting (with the exception of the busses, traffic lights and gypsy cabs). There's more snow in tonight's forecast helping me to readjust to living in New York after three years in Mississippi.

My readers in the Deep South deserve some kind of explanation here. Snow is frozen, crystallized water vapor that falls from the sky, dramatically (though temporarily) modifying an otherwise dull and lifeless winter landscape. There, now that's out of the way.

With that context established, I was called upon to preach again this past Sunday. Michael has a herniated disk and couldn't stand without tremendous pain. I had to step in.. it's my job.

Each of our Home Fellowship Groups is hosting a Christmas-themed activity to which they can invite their neighbors. We want to instill an inviting atmosphere amongst the people in the launch community for the sake of our efforts to share our faith with neighbors and the Forest Hills area in general. Once we broaden, these efforts will intentionally increase.

Prayer Concerns: Please pray for Michael and his back. This is a critical time in the life of our church plant and there is much for him to do (and only so much help I can provide). This is a major concern as we are on the verge of broadening (we are calling it "broadening" because we are opening our doors to individuals outside our launch community. Following this broadening, we will be seeking a more public launch nearer to Easter) our ministry on January 15 (ALERT! Last week I told you that we were doing this on December 18, but because Christmas and New Year's fall on Sunday, the school from whom we are renting space may not have any staff available to let us in the building. We can hardly welcome a broader representation of the community to our church and tell them that we'll meet again in three weeks. January 15 will not pose this problem). Pray for our Home Fellowship Groups and the other Christmas activities we have planned. As you might imagine, my dance card is quite full at this point as well. Pray that I will be disciplined and effective in the various responsibilities given to me. Until next week, may God continue to bless you all.

2005-12-01T12:05:00.000-08:00

Let's Talk Turkey

As promised, here is a picture of the enormous Lazy Susan on the table at the Thanksgiving festivities at my sister's brother-in-law's house. It was quite impressive... two levels, about two and a half feet in diameter (rough estimate). The biggest temptation I had was not to eat too much (that's not a consideration at Thanksgiving). No. I had to overcome the urge to spin the Lazy Susan really fast to watch all the food fly off all over the room. Alas, as a guest who wishes to be invited back next year, this child-like inclination had to be surpressed. The second picture, by the way is of me with my sister Charlene and brother-in-law Alex after Thanksgiving dinner.

Big News! At long last, we are announcing the launch of our church. Dec. 18th is the big day. Some of us in the church plant will be meeting soon to discuss the new name of the church which we expect to have in a week to a week-and-a-half. The launch will be followed by a Christmas reception at Michael and Roseann's house. Additionally, each of our home fellowship groups is planning a Christmas gathering hoping to invite neighbors and friends.

Prayer Needs: With our launch date now set and the Christmas holiday drawing closer, please keep our church plant in your prayers. Additionally, with the new year on the horizon, my plan is to get a car (I have come to the conclusion that a car is more of a necessity than a luxury for me), and my year-end fundraising efforts will be increasing. To that end, any of you who have been considering support or perhaps considering increasing current suport should make checks out to Redeemer Presbyterian Church with my name on the memo line. Send them to my address at 83-44 Lefferts Blvd. Apt 3C; Kew Gardens, NY 11415. Please include a note with any check explaining the frequency of your giving (one-time, monthly, quarterly, etc.).

Until next week, may God continue to bless you and grant you His riches during this Christmas season.

2005-11-24T08:36:00.000-08:00

Give Thanks Always

I have very little update this week aside from a few key items. I plan to join my sister and brother-in-law for Thanksgiving at his brother's home on Long Island. Apparently they have a rather large, two-level Lazy Susan reserved for holiday meals. Before I left for Mississippi three years ago, it was merely a concept. Now, it would seem, it has become a reality. I hope to take a picture of it and post it here next week. We'll see.

Sunday morning I received a telephone call from Roseann Kytka informing me that Michael was sick and unable to preach. The next obvious request from her was that I preach. Though I'm generally not a fan of preaching on the fly, I have a rather extensive archive of sermon outlines from passages I've preached in the past. Thankfully I was able to grab one of them and preach on short notice. Sure, the guy gets himself ordained and I end up preaching the next week. Oy Vey!Whattaya gunna do? Adventures in Church Planting.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I promise a more thorough update next week.

2005-11-17T14:13:00.000-08:00

Icing on the Cake

For those of us who went to Seminary to train for a call to ministry the capstone event is not graduation, it's ordination. Ordination is the confirmation of an inward call to ministry by an outward call to shepherd a flock. This happened on Sunday, not for me (my ordination is at least a year away), but for Michael.

At a beautiful, encouraging, and well-attended service at Astoria Community Church, Rev. Michael A. Kytka was ordained as the church planter to Forest Hills. After his seminary study and Presbytery exams, Michael finally took the ordination vows and following the laying on of hands by several pastors and elders, he was pronounced an ordained minister of word and sacrament in the Presbyterian Church in America. Here is Michael with his first pastor from Staten Island (left) and the pastor under whom he worked in St. Louis during seminary (center).

This was a key event in the life of our church plant. Now we can have more complete worship services, with the Lord's Supper and proper benedictions each week. With this, we can look forward with more excitement to our launch. During the service, several people from our launch community presented Michael with gifts, including a shepherd's staff. I'm not sure where you can buy one of those things in Queens, but I think Michael should preach with the staff in one hand and a Bible in the other. Wouldn't that be interesting?

I like this picture of me and Michael because it makes me look brawnier than I actually am. My double breasted suit jacket was open and I look like I've been working out. I should wear this suit more often. The picture was taken at the reception that followed the service where there was a lot of great food and a really big cake (pictured above).

In a related news flash, this past Sunday also marked the return of free parking in New York City. A few years ago, in response to a budget crisis, the "Pay to Pray," policy was put in place eliminating free meter parking in the city on Sunday. Pastors from throughout the city have been complaining about it ever since because their parishoners were constantly leaving worship services in order to feed the parking meters. Who says the church has no clout in New York?

Finally, the CMA Awards were presented at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. My Mississippi readers might find it interesting to know that New York City is the second largest market in America for Country Music. Fuggedabout it, y'all. This was the first time the CMA held the gala outside of Nashville in 39 years.

Prayer Concerns: We are still waiting to hear back from the church who is considering renting worship space to the church plant. Until we hear, we will continue to meet at the school as we have been for the last several weeks. We are continuing to research ideas for a church name. We hope to have one soon... at least before our launch. Over these first few months, I've discovered an increased need for a car. Yes, I'm in Queens and have access to buses, cabs, and the subway, but my ability to work more widely is hampered by my lack of personal transportation. Currently, I cannot afford either to buy a cheap car or pay insurance. In order for me to do this, I will need to raise more money. As many of you are considering holiday giving, please consider my work in this church plant. I'm still short on general funds, but would need a bit more in order to pay car expenses. If you are interested in support (longer term or one-time Christmas giving, etc.), please make checks out to Redeemer Presbyterian Church with my name on the memo line. Send them to 83-44 Lefferts Blvd. Apt 3C; Kew Gardens, NY 11415.

2005-11-10T14:00:00.000-08:00

Running the Race

This last weekend, atheletes from all over the world descended on New York City for a five-borough street tour. That's right, the 36th New York City Marathon, a gruling 26.2 mile course, is the grand prize for distance runners and was won by (surprise, surprise) a Kenyan. Interestingly, the race was run in some of the thickest fog in the marathon's history. Hmmm... running a race in the fog, certainly there's a metaphor here for our church planting work. Thoughts?

Our second pre-launch service was a notable improvement over our first. The biggest improvements were in our bulletin, which was legible this week, and our music, which was easier on the ears.

We are in the midst of a six-week pre-launch series where Michael is preaching on texts related to the purposes of the church. We are following up the sermons with Home Fellowship Group studies on the sermon texts. One of the people in our launch community told me how excited he was when I handed him a bulletin last Sunday because we are starting to feel less like a concept and more like a church. I certainly share his excitement there.

This Sunday is Michael's ordination which will be held at Astoria Community Church (PCA). It's yet another step in the direction of our launch and there is much excitement here over that as well. Most of the launch community will be on hand for the ceremony and we will all be invited to come up as the Presbytery representatives will pray not only for Michael, but also for the church plant.

Another Michael, Mayor Bloomberg was re-elected this week marking the fourth consecutive mayor's race won by a Republican in a heavily Democratic city. Apparently people here vote for the person and not the party. This is not a political blog, so I won't say any more about this. I'm more concerned about the transforming reality of the Gospel in central Queens than I am about the mayor's transit system proposals. I'm not certain what conclusions that will lead you to, nor do I know what conclusions it should lead you to. It's simply a news flash from me to you about doings here in the Big Apple.

Prayer Concerns: Michael's ordination is this Sunday. Please pray that it will be a God-honoring event as a large number of people will be there both from our church plant launch community and from outside. Our actual launch date is still a few weeks away and we haven't ironed out a name for the church yet. We are being very intentional with what we call the church and need careful, prayerful consideration before we go forward. We are also looking, as I've mentioned previously on this blog, at an actual church who may be interested in renting to us. Please pray for God to make clear to us whether this door is opened or closed to us.