Changing Churches: Reasons to Consider

Just over a month ago our family made a church switch.  After 14 years of membership and service at Bethel Grove Bible Church, we decided to transition over to Christ Chapel.  We deliberated and prayed a lot about the decision, and it wasn’t easy.  We talked with friends and family and fellow Christian leaders. Changing churches isn’t something that should be done hastily or without thought.  This is my second post writing about our move.

The Covid pandemic was disruptive in a million different ways, and our church experienced some serious changes over the past couple of years.  In addition to the regular complexities we lost all three of our pastors.  First our head pastor Eric resigned, followed a week later by our associate pastor Santosh and then a few months later our youth pastor Jeff and his family moved to California to take a job.  How and why each of those pastors left is significant, and maybe I’ll address some of that later, but my main point is that Bethel Grove got rocked! At the risk of being sensational, imagine a city getting hit with a Hurricane, followed by a tornado and then a forest fire.  It’s not that there was nothing left, but especially coming through Covid, everything was ravaged.  

By God’s grace, we certainly continued to have worship services, people still experienced fellowship and God continued to work in and through his people.  But the disruption provoked serious reflection and evaluation.  In the same way that the chaos of the pandemic propelled some people to change jobs, or changed the city they lived in, it seemed natural to at least ponder: should we consider switching churches?

At some level, things were in such a state of disrepair, it really felt like BG was gonna have to ‘start over.’  And that’s not a bad thing all the way -we’ve used the word ‘restart’ with our ministry on campus since we came back from the year of virtual classes and meetings etc.  But From that vantage point we spent time reconsidering some of the basic questions that everyone should ask when choosing a church to be a part of.  

• Is this church theologically right on? Of course we want to be a part of a church where the good news features prominently and where there is clear and orthodox conviction about the major tenets of the Christian faith.  But beyond some of the primary issues, is this church headed in the right direction doctrinally?  Are they informed and guided by God’s Word? 

• Do we agree with the way this church conducts its worship services and practices ordinances like baptism and communion?  Are the norms and the “liturgy” informed by a right understanding of God and the gospel.  What’s the style of preaching and musical praise? 

• Do we like the way this church is organized?  Is the style of church government helpful? How are elders and deacons chosen and what do they do? 

  

• Who are the leaders of this church?  Are these people we feel confident following after? 

• Does this church have a missionary spirit and an obvious passion to reach the world with the gospel?  Is this church set up to make an impact on the local community? 

• Is this a church where our whole family can be built up and discipled?  Is this a place for men and fathers?  Is this a place that disciples and cares for its women?  How about the children and youth? 

• What is the community like at this church?  Is there diversity within the congregation?  Is this place welcoming and invitational?  

Beyond this, when choosing a church I think it makes sense to consider relational connections.  You want a church where there is potential to make friends, share life with people and experience meaningful community. 

I think there are good reasons to evaluate a church's reputation in the community, and discern what kind of relationship a church has with the other gospel preaching churches in the area? 

While “vision statements” can be over emphasized in a church, I think it’s important for a church to have a solid sense of direction and calling.  Again, hopefully this is informed by God’s word and not simply cultural trends or popular ideas.  Beyond this you want to try and discern whether it's just talk or if the church is 'moving forward' in any recognizable way.

And for us, because we are in full time campus ministry, we want to evaluate how aligned and passionate a church is about reaching college students. 

For most of our time here Bethel Grove was the church that we felt was a “good fit.”  Of course no church is perfect and BG is no different, but on the whole it has been our place of worship and fellowship.   Over the years we considered going over to Calvary Chapel because we have such a close working relationship with Pastor Scott and his wife Joanie.  Pastor Scott is like a co-laborer with us in many ways, and over the years we have done a lot of ministry together -and we have many students who attend Calvary.  

But evaluating in this season of transition, we felt that Christ Chapel is more aligned with where we are and where we want to go.  One big thing that served to “tip the scales” is the presence of Ben Hutton as pastor.  Ben is both our friend and teammate.  He’s on the pastoral staff at Christ Chapel, but he is also part of our staff team as volunteer staff.  Ben was a student leader here when we showed up in 2008 and he and his wife Hannah have been a huge part of this ministry the whole time we’ve been here!  They were out in Philly for a few years while Ben went to Seminary, but ever since they came back they've been at Christ Chapel.   In light of our shared ministry it makes a lot of sense for us to be plugged in there.  The challenges of campus ministry and reaching the university seem to be increasing and as we navigate the changing landscape, it seems wise to work from the same base camp.

"Wartime Walkie-Talkie"

In 1988 Pastor John Piper* delivered his sermon titled “Prayer; the Work of Missions.”   Even amid a long list of famous messages I’m pretty sure this is one of his most well known.  The sermon is full of great theology, inspiring insights and a powerful exhortation to pray! Prayer is a gift from God -it’s a direct line of communication with our heavenly father and we are missing out on all kinds of help when we forsake it.  ( We try to listen to at least parts of this talk every single year with our student leaders.)

In the sermon, Piper spends a lot of time talking about spiritual battle and unpacks scripture to explain that “life is war”.  One famous punchline in the talk is this: “Until you believe that life is war, you cannot know what prayer is for.” He contends that without a “wartime” mentality we will ultimately overlook the vital importance of prayer and miss out on all that God has for us in it and through it.  

Piper compares prayer to a “wartime walkie talkie”.  In the midst of our spiritual battle, it’s a life altering, gospel advancing means of communication with our heavenly father.  When we fail to recognize that life is war, we inevitably don’t pray, or we use prayer as though it were a “domestic intercom” system that we might use in a house to call for more pillows in the den.  We end up self-centered and misdirected, there’s no intensity, and it lacks power in our lives.

At our Ironman Men’s time we play paintball on a course we set up about 8 years ago.   When we host paintball events we try and not only facilitate a really fun time, but also make it as purposeful as we can by having a short ‘debrief’ at the end.  We have the students play different games and in the end we gather up around some food and have a discussion. (We use basic experiential process learning skills.)  The discussions are not sermonic, but they are places where we can introduce spiritual concepts, interact about worldview and hopefully help people to understand the glory of life in Christ more adequately.  

This year, in order to talk more about prayer and the spiritual ‘wartime mentality’  we invented a paintball game we called “Wartime Walkie Talkie.” Through victory in another competition, one of the teams was given an actual walkie-talkie.  Then we placed our intern Scott up in tree in a deer stand right in the middle of our paintball course. Scott is a very good paintball player because he played on the Cornell club team.   Scott also had a walkie talkie.

The team with the walkie talkie was able to communicate with Scott and ask him to shoot guys on the opposing team or provide cover fire as they advanced.  The opposing team was not allowed to shoot Scott -he was invincible. Scott had the ability to survey and see the whole course from his elevated position and was easily able to take out the enemy.  Likened to the way that we as Christians can easily speak to God and ask him for help, the team with the radio was able to take advantage of Scott’s power.

It was a pretty powerful object lesson that one of the teams was really able to benefit from.  Having Scott up in the tree raining down paintball’s a was clear advantage, and when Lucas Raley's team had the walkie talkie they asked Scott for help and achieved victory without even losing a player. Depending on Scott was a wise move! Another one of the teams however -even though they had the walkie-talkie didn't use it at all! It was crazy! Watching it was painful and almost maddening! They had access to this definitively "game-changing" advantage and they were just scampering through the battlefield un-assisted with the walkie-talkie in their pocket!! It was unbelievable -except that that's pretty much how we live all the time!

Josh is a student leader who happened to be on the opposing team and he was also deeply impacted by the situation. The game taught him about having a righteous reverence or fear of God. He said: "It gave me a better idea of what Biblical 'fear of the Lord' is like. I wasn't scared because Scott was mean and unpredictable; I was scared because he was so powerful and could light me up if he wanted to! In the same way, even as God is loving and merciful and just, I should fear Him for how powerful he is." The game provoked Josh to think about what it means to sin against God. Josh said "Sinning is like shooting at Scott -which is clearly a bad idea!" Why do we think it's ok to flippantly and defiantly offend God?

Picture Credit: Christina Thomas

*We really appreciate the ministry of John Piper and we highly recommend his resources which can be found at https://www.desiringgod.org/

Leader Profile: Lucas Raley

When Lucas Raley picked up a double headed ax and instigated a game of "chop the burning catapult" with Jake Haddock, I knew he and I were gonna be great friends!  During our Men's retreat we had a "trebuchet build off" where I had teams of guys construct primitive catapults which we used to launch pumpkins.  Calibrating a trebuchet is quite challenging and in the end none of them launched very well.  But, they burned just fine!  Since they were made from scrap fence and pallet wood we heaved them into the fire once it got dark.  That was cool enough, but it got even cooler when Lucas and the fella's decided to deconstruct it while it was catching on fire!  What a riot!  

We talk about junior Lucas Raley a lot in my family.  Not only is he an incredible student leader who happens to be dating one of our staff interns, but he's a hero to my kids!  From Jack on down to Junie, Lucas is one of our favorite people in the world.   Lucas' fun-loving, gung-ho spirit is inspirational, helpful and contagious!  Because he was here working in Ithaca this summer we got to spend a lot of time together.

Lucas plays on the Cornell football team, but he's struggled with a back injury for the past two years.  Commenting on his back pain, Lucas said "Originally, I thought it was just going to be a few months of taking it easy and it would be recovered, but God had some other plans."  Lucas had hoped to be starting all last year during his sophomore year, but it just wasn't working out!  That was frustrating, and yet it gave Lucas the opportunity and the space to grow in his walk with Jesus.

  Lucas said that when he came to Cornell, he "had been completely wrapped up in the belief that being a starter on the team was what it was all about."  He said; "Having played in several games during freshman year behind a player that had graduated, I was convinced that it was my time to shine. But, what God aggressively informed me of is that it was not, nor will it ever be MY time to shine. However, it is always HIS time to shine."  Having his own plans and dreams disrupted enabled Lucas to recognize and rest in God's plan instead.  

"No longer having my Friday nights occupied with football, I had decided to try out this “Cru” thing that I had heard about from a few people.  So my friend Cole and I decided that we would check it out. That first Friday that we went, about three weeks into the year, we showed up and were immediately welcomed by tons of people that we had never met.  The gospel band played that night which was amazing, and then we heard a solid message. The next week we went back and then heard the announcement for the fall retreat which happened to be on a weekend that we had a Friday night game, giving me the opportunity to go after the game and spend the weekend at the retreat."

 Although we had met before, I remember clearly last fall when Lucas walked up to me with his friend Cole and said "we want to go to the Fall Getaway!"  Lucas came up to our Seneca Lake retreat and he's been a huge part of our ministry ever since.  Although it was a bummer to be injured, God redeemed the time tremendously and we've all been able to benefit.

Lucas Raley is all in.  Starting with that Fall Retreat he's been a faithful and passionate part of Cru.  This summer we got to spend some good time working at the Second Wind cottages together each Saturday.  We also got to cook every Wednesday night for our Summer fellowship.  This semester Lucas is helping to lead a Community Group.  More football guys are being given the chance to connect with Christ and walk on mission like he is.  

It's hard for me to express how grateful I am for him.  He's a faithful man of God, an incredible student leader and a beloved role model to our kids!  Lucas is a blessing to his fellow Cornell students and to our family.

Our Initiating God!

The God of the Bible is a God of action and initiative.  Even and especially as it relates to the saving of mankind, God is not passive.  Before the foundation of the world, God had determined that he would gather a people for himself.  Throughout history He has expended himself to make the way for men and women to be united in fellowship with himself.  Despite man's sin fueled rebellion, God graciously sent his one and only son, Jesus Christ to earth to rescue us!   Jesus lived the perfect life that we could never live and died the death we deserved to die to make the way for us to live the glorious life we were created for!  

1 John 4 makes it very clear -we love because he first loved us.  Nobody is in a relationship with God because they took the first step!  Paul, in the book of Romans says "no one seeks God!"  If you are a Christian, it's not because you went out looking for God!  It's because he was looking for you!  He looked for you, and he found you!  God takes the initiative to save sinners!  Romans 5:8 famously says that God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  God cared for you, and laid down his very life for you his life for you before you every gave a rip about him!   

Brought into fellowship with God, Christians are now commissioned to join God in his mission of reconciliation.  Following Jesus by faith, the discipleship life is a life of action.  With Christ as both our Lord and our leader, we expend ourselves to connect others with his transforming Love.  

As Christ's ambassadors we want to act like Christ. We reach out.  We take initiative.  We give.  We bless.   As a ministry, we don't just set up camp somewhere and hope people happen to hear about Cru and come find us!  We move towards the campus, we find ways to start conversations, we look for ways to serve and we strive to make the gospel as visible and accessible as possible.   We want to care for others irrespective of their care for us!  

 God is on the move, and we are in movement with him!     

Seniors 2016: Jon Kim

"Men of Cru, the women around you are your SISTERS. Guide them, protect them, love on them as you would your own blood sisters..... We want to see our sisters flourish, to become absolute beasts for the Lord!"

I sat down with Jon Kim this past fall and I could tell something was different.  Over the summer Jon had ridden his bicycle all the way across America.  There is no doubt it takes real fortitude to make it on that kind of adventure, but it was obvious that the journey had cultivated much more than physical strength.  Jon was different down to the soul!  

I’ve always known Jon to be faithful, funny and talented.  He’s smart and easy to get along with. From the moment he transferred into Cornell University as a sophomore he was a dedicated part of Cru. He is notorious in my book for showing up to the Community Group in College Town when literally no one else did! From day one, he was definitively "all in" as a servant leader in our Ministry.  But he came into his senior year with a whole new level of confidence and tenacity.  Jon came back more deliberate, assertive and diligent than he was before.

Jon and his girlfriend Jocelyn Lee

I remember asking Jon "Dude, what sermons or podcasts or audio books were you listening to while you rode your bike all summer?" His maturity was obvious and evident. Jon grew over that summer in a way that I have likened to "taking spiritual steroids!" I wanted his reading list so I could pass it along to other guys!

John came back to campus this fall with a renewed vision to help other people grow and thrive at Cornell; especially men.  Last year Jon was a big part of the Cayuga Heights Volunteer Fire Department -a testament to his adventurous spirit.   This year he decreased his involvement specifically so that he could spend more time helping and mentoring younger students.  Jon helps to lead one of our Community Groups.  These groups of 8-14 students get together each week to eat, study the Bible and talk about life.  Cru’s Community Groups help facilitate spiritual, emotional and social health. We believe these gatherings are very important, especially at a place like Cornell where the academic rigor and competitive environment tend to isolate and separate people.  Along with his friends Grant and Josh,  Jon helps other men to grow in their faith and understanding of God’s design for life.   

During his "senior share" he had some powerful words to share with his classmates. Jon talked about "growing up" and becoming a "man" of God as opposed to a "boy."

Making reference to 1 Corinthians 13:11 where Paul says, 'When I became a man, I gave up childish ways', Jon began by confessing the ways that 'boyish immaturity' and a general refusal to "grow up" and take responsibility had seriously caused other people pain. Throughout his life, self centeredness had facilitated sin that had hurt family and friends. Rooted in the gospel, Jon boldly recognized his faults. He continued; "My story of brokenness is also a story of redemption. I stand here because of God’s redeeming love. He has torn me from my old ways, he has taught me and re-taught me and continues to teach me how to put off my boyish ways and to put on the armor of God. To stand and fight. And we cannot fight on our own."

From there he proceeded to give tremendous exhortation talking about men as spiritual leaders and fathers. A father is responsible for setting the spiritual climate in his family, and for showing sacrificial love to his wife. He said "Where a father and husband and brother shirks his duties, brokenness and weakness follow. When a man is missing from his home, the family is at half strength. Now, (even if we aren't married with kids) we as men do have a family right now, and they are all around us: it’s the church. Jesus looks around at his disciples and followers in Mark 4:33 and says, “Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” In 1 Timothy 5:2, there are instructions for the church: “do not rebuke an older man, but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as SISTERS in all purity.”

"Men of Cru, the women around you are your SISTERS. Guide them, protect them, love on them as you would your own blood sisters..... We want to see our sisters flourish, to become absolute beasts for the Lord!"

Jon continued saying, "Another way to develop manhood: Go and WORK. Work for the good of the church. In Genesis Ch. 2, after God creates man, it says, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to WORK IT and TAKE CARE OF IT.” Men, you are designed to WORK, to be FRUITFUL, PRODUCTIVE, in a way that PLEASES THE LORD. Men, whatever they are in charge of, they must do it to the best of their ability for the glory of God. Men, you will set the spiritual climate in your homes when you have a wife and children. You also will set the spiritual climate in this family at Cru. Get involved. Get tired. Influential preacher Charles Spurgeon says, “A perfect man is a working man.” That was our design in the first place! We as men need to rise to the occasion!"

Jon definitely worked hard this year! As one of the main leaders of our music ministry he helped coordinate the numerous musicians ensuring that we had a group ready to play each week. (He also plays drums!)  Jon’s role required him to both organize logistics and take care of people.  He helped manage everything from scheduling to transporting of sound equipment to organizing the volunteer musicians and helping everybody to grow theologically.    

Jon is related to two of my other favorite people, David and Hannah Kim!! 

I am very impressed and very grateful for the way that Jon stayed so involved throughout his time here at Cornell.  Many seniors can tend to “fade out” but Jon is a man of endurance and character.  Week in and week out, he was walking alongside his friends and serving his fellow Cornell students in and through the ministry of Cru.

Senior 2016: Jon Iavarone

During the opening days of the fall semester, we typically spend an afternoon playing the game we call "Big Red Ball."  It's a chance for us to spend time on North Campus and have some fun as we meet new students settling into Cornell.  We are always praying for "divine appointments"; opportunities to meet people who are spiritually open and curious.  Four years ago I was standing on the sidelines when a freshman kid named Jon Iavarone came riding by on his bicycle.   I invited him to play with us, but as he was on his way somewhere, he decided not to get in the game.  We ended up watching and talking for 10 minutes or so.

Jon grew up on Long Island where his family has owned a couple of local grocery stores for many many years.  Jon and I hit it off right away for at least a couple of reasons: #1 he was riding a bike!  Most people walk across the vast sprawling campus of Cornell, but some of us have an indelible appreciation for the wheel!  #2 Jon was a "hotelie", he was studying in Cornell's famed School of Hotel Administration.  Although I didn't attend Cornell as a student, if I did, I would want to get the hotel degree -it is definitively my favorite major here.*   Jon was looking for a particular building where he needed to drop something off, and since he was new to campus I jumped on my bike and helped him get where he needed to be.

I am so thankful for that providential meet up that day.  Over the years Jon and I have grown to be great friends.  Jon connects well with others, he's very friendly and also very generous.  Like most Cornell students he is driven and ambitious, but not in a way that's neurotic!  Jon likes to live life, he loves to fish and eat and spend time with people.  One of my favorite memories is the time time Jon came over to my house in the morning, we went to the store and bought these huge steaks, and then we grilled 'em for breakfast!  

Although Jon grew up with a Catholic background, when he came to college he wasn't really looking for a spiritual community.  Like most students, seeking and connecting with girls was a way higher priority than seeking and relating with God!  On his own, he wasn't going to come looking for a group of Jesus-loving students to study the Bible with.   He wasn't trying to find any Friday night worship meetings or mission trips or small groups!  He probably wouldn't have even stopped at our Cru table at an event like "clubfest".  When I met Jon Iavarone 4 years ago in front of Dickson Hall he was a really cool guy, but he was not a guy that was planning on growing in the gospel during his time at Cornell.  Thankfully, God had other plans.  

Jon (middle) with Sean Salmon and Will Poon

Jon started coming out to our Large Group meeting on Friday nights, he got plugged into a small group and then during spring break, Jon went on  Cru's Big Break Trip!  At Big Break, students hear awesome Bible teaching, they get trained in how to share their faith effectively and they spend every afternoon engaging others with the good news of Jesus.  That trip was huge for Jon! That week living in community on mission was very helpful for Jon's understanding and experience of the gospel.  

Last year Jon was out in England at the London School of Economics.  To finish out his senior year, I asked Jon to be a part of the freshman Community Group that I was leading.   Jon was a servant leader all the way through this year and his faithfulness was a real blessing to the younger guys!  We had an awesome year meeting up every week with a phenomenal group of dudes.   

Jon is headed to the Bay area to work with a small company in Real Estate Investment.  My prayer is that God will use Jon in San Fran just as he has out here in Ithaca.

Jon and I cooked the Fajita's for our Men's time. 

*(I take credit for convincing a number of students to change their major to Hotel Admin.) 

From the Campus to the World!

Gospel transformation in and through family connections!  

For someone like me who received an atheist education since I was very young, the Bible was no different than any other collection of ancient myths. Many people have tried to share the Gospel with me... but I could not understand or agree with it.....

A couple of weeks ago Nick Biebel married Ronkui Han (class of '15) I got to be a part of their wedding ceremony which was definitely an honor.  I've known Nick since he was a freshman; he was part of a Community Group (Bible study) that I lead with Edgar Lei.  

The story of how God has worked in and through Nick and Ronkui is so good, I just wanted to share some of the high points here!  It's a story of how God works on campus and how that reverberates out into the world!

As I mentioned, Nick plugged in with us here in Cru pretty much right away.  He'd become a follower of Christ towards the end of high school though a youth group that a friend invited him to attend.   The youth program at Valley Bible Church helped Nick to understand and believe the gospel.   In the fall of 2010 Nick came to Cornell to study Plant Science.

It was in the Plant Science department that Nick met Ronkui Han.  Ronkui is actually from China and she came out here to the U.S. specifically for school.  Nick and Ronkui had some classes together and they were also part of a plant breeding club.  As they spent time together they started becoming pretty good friends.  They talked about a lot of stuff, including faith, God and "religion."  Nick is a passionate follower of Jesus Christ and so the topic came up pretty often.  God used those conversations to provoke interest and curiosity in Ronkui.

Somewhere during Ronkui's sophomore year, one of our student leaders named Kaytlin (Kimball) was out on campus with some of the girls in her Community Group.  They were initiating spiritual conversations with people.  In a divine appointment Katylin met Ronkui! Some would say "randomly" but we can see God's providence too clearly to use that word!   Ronkui didn't know Katylin, but that day they started a friendship with Jesus at the center.  Ronkui started attending Kaytlin's Community group from time to time and reading the Bible and interacting with the truths of Christianity.

Nick was praying for his friend Ronkui.  Kaytlin and her girls were praying for Ronkui and God was at work all the way through!  Eventually Nick and Kaytlin found out that they were both friends with Ronkui and they were able to help her explore the gospel together!

Within a few month, Ronkui put her faith in Jesus!   And also, Ronkui and Nick started dating.

AND THEN....

Two summer's ago Ronkui's mom came out to visit from China.  She found herself a little bit bored during the day and so Ronkui suggested she go over to the First Ithaca Chinese Christian Church (FICCC) to make some friends and speak some mandarin.  The people at FICCC were incredibly welcoming and Ronkui's mom ended up spending a good amount of time over there.  She began to explore the Bible earnestly.  Here is a part of her reflection:  

Ten years before the summer I spent in Ithaca, I met a couple from Hong Kong.  They gave me a Bible.  Occasionally I would read it, for conversational purposes.  To be honest, I did not understand most of the material, nor did I believe any of it.  For someone like me who received an atheist education since I was very young, the Bible was no different than any other collection of ancient myths.  Many people have tried to share the gospel with me since then, but I could not understand or agree with it.  During my first Sunday Worship at First Ithaca Chinese Christian Church (FICCC), I fell aslee -as I thought I would_ when the pastor was explaining some Bible verses.  At that moment, the lady sitting next to me gently nudged me and spoke to me quietly: "That's okay.  It takes time."  Ashamed, I started listening to the sermon, and surprisingly, i could focus and understand what the pastor was talking about.  I came to Sunday worship every weekend in the following two months, and understood most of the content delivered at the services.  I began to believe that in this massive universe there is an almighty God, and his being is very relevant to my life!  

Nick and his now monther-in-law

In just a few short months, she also put her faith in Jesus Christ!  This past May, she came back to the states to attend Ronkui's graduation and wedding.  While here, she also got baptized!  She has been able to connect with a family of believers in Asia, but she wanted to get baptized at the church -and among the people who helped her to know Christ.  A number of people gathered to hear here incredible testimony and rejoice with her. 

New Interns for Next Year!

As we look towards next year we are extremely encouraged by the number of interns that will hopefully be serving with us here at Cornell!  Each of us is laboring to raise our funds this summer, but if all goes well there will be 7 of us (including Stephanie and I) working as a team here on campus next fall.  I'd like to introduce our three newest interns so that you can be praying for them asap! We've got three new interns and two returners; all of whom are Cornell alum.

Sam Rabkin

Sam graduated with a degree in Engineering Physics.  By faith he turned down at least one lucrative job offer with IBM in order to stay here with us for a year ministering to college students.  Sam became a follower of Jesus while he was a student.  The community of Cru was instrumental in enabling Sam to understand the gospel and his desire is to help others experience that same blessing.  

Sam is an incredibly loving guy who is known for serving and helping others.  As a student leader he was instrumental in (consistently) mobilizing our movement to help serve the homeless in our city.

 On campus he was on the Taekwondo team where he not only excelled athletically, but he also facilitated an incredible community group where both Christians and others were able to explore the Bible and the Christian worldview.

Sam has an incredible heart for kids and last year he and I got to serve together in Haiti.  Although engineering internships are important for career prospects, Sam spent a couple of his summer's serving kids in both the U.S. and Bolivia.

Kelechi Umoga

Kelechi Umoga is an inspirational man!  Specifically because our ministry here is so international, I am really excited to have a team member who is from Africa; Kelechi hails from Nigeria.  Kelechi is a man of conviction and faith and sticking around to intern with Cru is just one more demonstration of that.  Usually, when a student comes from another country to study in the States, it is so that they can get on sort of "fast track" to success, wealth and even power.  Slowing that momentum down in order to humbly ask others for financial support  so that you can hang out on campus talking about Jesus and hosting Bible studies is not normal!  And in fact, according to common opinion*, it's considered stupid!  When people ask Kelechi why he is doing this, the tone tends towards concern, confusion and even pity.  It's a "what happened?   Or "where is your focus?  Did something happen to you?  Don't you remember what's really important?"  haha!  The answer to all of  those questions is Jesus!    Kelechi has a powerful and personal relationship with God and that certainly affects everything!

As an international student it's scary to even attempt the fund raising endeavor because he doesn't have as many relationships here in the states!  I'm grateful for Kelechi's courage!  

He's not afraid to walk a different path even if it seems completely "out of the box."

Kelechi and Sam are actually really good friends and so it's going to be awesome to have them both on campus for another year.

I wrote a blog post on Kelechi back in January.  Link to it here. 

Anna Thompson

I often tell prospective students that THE BEST REASON to come to school at Cornell is to be a part of the awesome things God is doing here on campus.  Anna whole-heartedly agrees!  She first plugged in with us when she was attending the local community college in our area.  After getting her associates and working for a couple of years in another city she felt lead to pursue more education  -specifically at Cornell.  One of the driving motivations for her applying to come here was the chance to spend  more time serving and being  involved with our ministry!  

She told me; “Cru was truly instrumental in my life  – it made a huge difference while I was a local community college student and [was again when I transferred back!]  Because of the way that God used Cru in my life, when people ask me how I came to Cornell, I have a natural avenue to tell them about God and invite them to Cru. 

Anna and her brother doing the "Tough Mudder" adventure race!

Believe me, God has been using Anna to make a huge difference in the lives as others as well!   She's very social and extremely friendly and it seems every single week she has the chance to talk with somebody about her faith and how the gospel brings life and joy.  

Anna has a lot of energy and it's going to be good to have her spending time with younger students; mentoring and helping them to walk by faith.  She has an adventurous spirit and I know that our female leaders age gonna be so blessed! 

Nick Biebel will be returning as an intern.  His new wife Ronkui will also be here of course! 

Mercy Gbenjo is also going be here serving as part time field staff! 

* depending who you are talking to it is very common to hear negative perspective towards the idea of graduates raising funds and serving for a year in ministry.  Why?  Many think it poses too great a risk to one's career advancement opportunities.    Even some Christian parents consider the Cru intern option a foolish decision that can have an adverse affect on a person's educational or professional and economic future.  This despite the fact that every single one of our former interns has in fact gone on to pursue/obtain a graduate degree and/or a job.  

Ben Hutton M-Div (Westminster)
John Sullivan M-Div  (Westminster)
Edgar Lei  Currently in Med School at Tufts
Charlene Chan  Currently in Med School at Loyola
Larry Lin (interned in D.C.) Currently in Seminary pursuing M-Div at Southern 
William Poon  Currently in business in NYC  Still has plans to pursue an MBA

Senior 2015: Esther Koo

"I grew up in a Gospel church, where half the congregation was black, the other half was white, and there were four Asians: my dad, my mom, my sister, and I. It was fun, and I thought all churches looked like that!"

Esther Koo is one of those people who really "gets" what we are trying to do as a ministry.   She is an extremely dependable and faithful servant who has contributed a lot to our movement here at Cornell.  There is no actual way of tabulating how many girls are  plugged into Cru and growing in Christ  because of Esther's leadership and example.  She is a real shepherd of women, she's an encourager and she has a lot of spirit!  We call it "Cantonese Fire!"   

Esther has an inquisitive mind.  She asks great questions and is commited to thinking about things critically.  

A few weeks ago at Church, Esther Shared about a particularly pivotal moment that occurred during her sophomore year. She said "I was meeting with my mentor, who was an upperclassman in Cru, and she posed the question to me, “Why are you a Christian?”  I responded that I enjoyed having the knowledge that God had a plan for me, and I could trust in Him for the future.  My mentor acknowledged that, but then proceeded to share the Gospel.  I was about to write it off, because I had heard it many times, but I realized that the Gospel should have been the answer to her question.  And for the first time, I was convicted by it.  I realized that up to that point, my “faith” consisted of Christian values and [knowledge of] Bible stories.

She continued: "Applying the Gospel to my life meant confronting sin.  I did not know the destructive effect that sin had on my thoughts, thinking about people in an unedifying manner and projecting my desire for affection physically and emotionally on the way I perceive others.  What’s more, sin is a barrier to an intimate relationship with God.  However, the power of the Gospel shatters that barrier and when I recognized sin and laid it at the foot of the cross, I felt freedom."

A couple of years ago on the Haiti spring break trip. 

Esther's zeal for Jesus is pretty overt.  She's served as a Community Group leader for the past several years and she's been a big part of our Spring Break mission trips every year!  Thankfully Esther will not be leaving Cornell next year.  She'll stick around to get her masters degree so we get at least one more year with her!

Esther also lived in the 10 girl Cru house.  

Our Housing Stuff

Our housing situation has recently become unfortunately complicated!

4 years ago we moved into this house right next to campus.  Cornell University actually owns this house (166 Pleasant Grove Rd.)  and we rent it via a third part management company.  

 We love being close to campus for a lot of reasons.  The whole endeavor of our ministry here at Cornell is to make the good news of Jesus Christ as accessible as possible.  

Ever since my first international mission trip in the summer of 1997, I have been convinced that the best way to connect  people with God's gracious love is to go and live among them. God originated this idea; walking with Adam in the garden, dwelling with the Israelite's in the tabernacle and then sending Jesus to earth as the ultimate missionary. Jesus lived as a man, with men in order to reconcile men to himself. He came to earth and gave his life so that we could have a personal relationship with him forever. And he has invited us to participate with him in this same mission.

This house has served us very well in our ministry here; it has enabled us to live very close to the students we minister to and with.   But it seems now we must live somewhere else!  Please pray for us as we look for another house that will serve our family and our ministry like this one has.  

If this stuff is interesting to you, you can read on.  

"Calving Season"

There's really nothing quite like the beginning of the fall semester!  It's a time of year that is truly special and unique.  

    

Most people have never seen the 7 part documentary called "The Last American Cowboy."  It's about 3 different Montana cattle ranches and the families that own/run them.  It's thoroughly interesting to see how all three ranches really do things a little bit differently based on their size and resources. 

I reference that movie often at the beginning of the year as I'm coaching our student leaders because  I compare the beginning of the school year to "calving season."  Calving season on a cattle ranch is an extremely important, extremely busy,  and unique time of year.  It's an "all hands on deck" season where the normal rhythms of life are disrupted by the critical work of delivering  the baby calves.  The whole years work and the  financial future of the ranch is dependent upon live, healthy cows, so the key is to see as many calves "hit the ground" safe and ready to thrive.   Everybody is "on call" and life looks different during calving season.  

Normally the cowboys and ranch hands don't stay up all night -but during calving season, that's not rare. The work is exhausting, and although normally the hands don't sleep in the barn -during calving season they might.  The workers are on a round the clock schedule and where on a normal day, no one would ever have to sleep in the truck -during calving season they will!  Everything is different during calving season and the "routine" or lack thereof is informed by the mission during this special time of year. 

And that's how it is during the beginning of the fall semester on campus.  Diligence is the name of the game, especially at a place like Cornell.  Together with our student leaders we labor in ways and at a pace that is unlike any other time of year.   We spend more money on food -both as we host kick-off events, but also as we spend time eating in the north campus dining facilities with new students.   I eat fewer meals with my family during this time of year, and our student leaders also eat less at home.  We stay up later -attending glow in the dark dance parties, hosting late night sports events and planning for the next days activities.  We get up early, to spend time in prayer, we're sending tons of emails, texts and facebook messages to new students who are interested in getting connected to the body of Christ.  We spend hours standing at tables in all sorts of strategic places on campus welcoming people, handing out information packs and inviting people to our small groups.   The first few weeks are different, they are definitively more hectic and they require more energy than usual.  

A campus ministers life looks very different during the first month and a half of school the same way a cattle ranchers does during calving season.  You simply cannot treat that time of year the same as any other.  The pace slows down around October, but right now, we're still in the midst of our "calving season."  

Class quotes 2

Here are some more excerpts from our senior leaders.  The class of 2014. 

I've mentioned before, that Brian Green is notorious for helping people understand God's unconditional grace. One thing that enables him to convey the hugeness of God's love is his willingness to talk about his own sin and shortcomings. He definitely did that on senior share night -confessing sin and talking about the transforming benefits of life lived honestly before God and others. He ended with this.  

I'll sum up my call to vulnerability with my personal testimony. I grew up felt very sure that I was not good enough to be worthy of anyone's love, especially not God's love. "There is so much wrong with me, how could anyone love me for who I really am?" So I hid who I really was from everyone and never opened up. The most beautiful moment of my life was realizing that even though God knew exactly who I was, He loved me anyway and was willing to die for me so I could know Him, be fully known, and experience His love. So I go to God vulnerably, with all of my failings, knowing that He loves me completely. And I do the same with friends, family, coworkers -- everybody, knowing that God loves me for who I am right now and hoping that we can love each other the same way.

Caroline Emberton gave a well worded encouragement to get involved in various organizations on campus.  She pointed out how good it is for Christ following leaders to serve within campus organizations and not just sequester themselves.  

Being a leader in the community can help you grow in your faith because you can be challenged to really wrestle with and understand other people’s viewpoints and you get out of your comfort zone. One of the best lessons that I learned was that God does not expect you to be perfect, he just wants you to have the faith inspired courage to stand. Be willing to be that person to stand, and be a servant leader in communities that are completely out of your comfort zone.