Recent Blog Posts from Pursuit NYC
Feb 13, 2018
The first time I felt proud to be a black woman was when I lived with three other black suitemates during my sophomore year in college who celebrated and shared their West Indian and Nigerian culture, food, and heritage with me. As sisters in Christ, we would worship, sing praise songs, and discuss theology on the same night we would joyfully dance to Caribbean and African beats, share hair products, and talk about the latest rap song. It was a beautiful marrying of cultures and experiences that made me feel like I had returned home to a forgotten motherland. I felt proud to say that I was black, female, and created in the image of God; for the first time in my life, I had real sisterhood. Yet in that same season, I was reminded that every aspect of who I am as person was still dishonored, ignored, or disbelieved in our society. That semester, we wept when we heard the news about Tamir Rice being killed while playing in a park and worried about the future of our brothers and children; we were heartbroken at the ignorance and casual racism within our fellowship we had experienced from our white and Asian American brothers and sisters in Christ; we joined in solidarity with those who marched after Eric Garner’s killer wasn’t indicted; we shared stories of the sexism and misogynoir we experienced from those who claimed to be our brothers in Christ. We were bonded by our sisterhood and our pain, and that is at the core of how it feels to be black in America, especially as a... read more
Jan 22, 2018
One of the common threads you see in the calling of God is that it’s impossible. Not “impossible” as in a figure of speech like “it’s really, really hard, but it can still be done”, but literally impossible. How can an exiled murderer lead a people who have been enslaved for four centuries through a sea into the Promised Land? How can a young shepherd boy turned fugitive on the run become king? How can an unmarried, virgin girl give birth to the Son of God? Impossible! But God called them to it. That should tell us that God isn’t interested in calling people who can do what He asks, but those who are available and will “yes” no matter the cost. The old adage is that God doesn’t call the qualified, but rather He qualifies the called. God will always call you beyond what you’re qualified for and what you can do in the natural. Not so you can strive and perform and qualify yourself, but to make you seek the supernatural God. God doesn't call the qualified, but qualifies those He calls. Click To Tweet God gives you an impossible call because that’s what drives us to our knees. Our natural can never fulfill a supernatural call. Since it’s supernatural, it demands intervention and involvement of a supernatural God. Thankfully His Word says that nothing is impossible for Him! (Matthew 19:26; Luke 1:37) He gives us an impossible call so that He can do the impossible on our behalf. God doesn’t call us because He needs a task to be done, but rather because He wants to... read more
Jan 5, 2018
I once heard that after their formal education and college years, the average adult does not pick up another book. And if they do, it is just a fraction of that minority that actually finishes a book. Mark Twain keenly noted, “The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.” Elsewhere I heard Jim Rohn remark on stage that only three percent of adults in the U.S. own a library card. A mere three percent! Can you imagine? Which is why I suppose the Christian real estate billionaire Peter J. Daniels observed, “Never before have the libraries of the world been so full, and never before have they been so empty.” 'The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.' - Mark Twain Click To Tweet The last verse of the Gospel of John (John 21:25) still leaves me flabbergasted, years after I first read it. No doubt when my time on Earth comes to an end and my new life begins, you will find me perusing through God’s library (good thing I’ll have eternity to do it!) In fact, I hope God’s current librarian plans on retiring when I get there, so I can fill those wings. I am a voracious reader. I picked up the habit of reading books (cover to cover) in my early 20s, because I had many mentors encourage me to. In reading I found even more mentors, and I expanded my awareness, thinking, and consciousness through swimming across a wide ocean of subjects – psychology, philosophy, personal and professional development, leadership,... read more
