by Josh | Jan 4, 2017 | Inspiration, Reflection, Worship
Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him. After that, Abram traveled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the Lord, and he worshiped the Lord. – Genesis 12:7-8 One of our core beliefs and favorite phrases at Pursuit NYC is that “The best is yet to come.” Knowing that the God we worship is the God who promises to “give life and life to the fullest” (John 10:10), we contend, expect, and believe for God to move in powerful ways in our lives, schools, workplaces, and nations. But I believe that one of the greatest battles our generation faces is struggling with timelines. It’s easy to hear, read, and see what other people are doing these days and compare our lives to theirs. We might think, “I should be dating/married by now… I should have kids by now… I should be at this point in my career by now… I should be this type of person/spouse/friend by now… I should be further along by now…” And while the best is yet to come, I believe that it’s difficult for many of us to love God right where we are. BUILDING ALTARS I imagine that Abraham was confronted with loving God right where he was throughout his journey of faith. In the beginning of his story in Genesis 12, Abraham (then, known as...
by Josh | Mar 14, 2014 | Events
Hello all! This is Josh and I’m here to update you on the PursuitNB (New Brunswick) spring break missions trip happening in 3 days. I will be leading 15 other Rutgers University students who have decided to sacrifice and commit their week of spring break (March 16th to March 21st) to serve the city of New Brunswick, NJ. For the past 2 years, I’ve been doing homeless outreach called “Sandwich Runs” in New Brunswick where Rutgers University is situated in. I would grab sandwiches from Rutgers dining halls, go out to into the city, and build relationships with people on the streets by offering sandwiches, praying for them, and getting to know them. Through these Sandwich Runs I’ve been able build unexpected, but awesome relationships with people on the streets, and also witness God healing people. Last year, I led the first spring break missions trip for NB and it was an awesome time as we saw God do some amazing things and some of the college students gain a heart for the city. It has been crazy but good experiences for the past 2 years. This year, the PursuitNB missions team will be primarily serving through homeless and inner-city kids outreach with local ministries. We have partnered up with Elijah’s Promise, a soup kitchen that has been serving the homeless in New Brunswick for the past 25 years. We will be volunteering there every day to prep, cook, serve, and share a meal with the homeless. We hope to be a blessing and an encouragement to the staff at Elijah’s Promise as we serve with them and also build...
by Josh | Jan 21, 2014 | Inspiration, Reflection
“The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed” -HOWARD MACEY “Safe? Who said anything about safe? Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good.” -C.S. LEWIS The past few months, I’ve been reading and processing John Eldredge’s book called Wild at Heart. A great book that has impacted the season of life that I am currently in. Though the primary audience for this book is Christian males, I believe it speaks to everyone (male or female) and how our faith is being lived out. I’ve been personally reflecting on my own faith and what it means to live as a Christian. There’s many different ways to answer and describe that question of course. But from what I’ve experienced and seen, a few general words to describe it would be: safe, comfortable, and settled. I think a lot of us resonate with those descriptions of our Christian lives but give two different reactions. One reaction is that we simply agree with the description because it’s true and are satisfied with the way things are. The second reaction is that we realize that it describes us so well yet we’re unsatisfied reading that description. We’re left wondering why our faith and life isn’t described as bold and fearless like the stories we read in the Bible. And if we’re honest with ourselves, we all feel like that there is something missing and yearn for something deeper in our Christian lives. I think this desire of wanting something more and deeper reveals that we have...
