Two Weeks!

Two weeks from tonight, on Wednesday, June 13, I will be interviewed at Synod. All new CTS faculty members are interviewed by Synod before they are officially offered employment. The interview is slotted for Wednesday evening and I would love to see many of your faces in the Fine Arts Center at Calvin College that night. I know it's easy to stay home and listen via webcast, but I would love to look out and see your smiling faces sending encouragement my way. If you can't physically be present (cuz you're in, like, Alberta or something), then I humbly ask for your prayers for articulate answers and much joy. Pray that the Spirit speaks through me, that the evening is enjoyable, and that the whole experience is another affirmation of this call on my life.

Of course, Synod is also dealing with some other things that need your prayerful attention. Click here for more on that.

Between now and then I am off to Snow Mountain Ranch to launch the Calvin students there into their summer. I will train small group leaders, take the whole group through orientation, teach Monday nights to them, teach Tuesday mornings to the international employees of SMR, do some reading and writing, and hopefully get in some good hiking, mountain biking, and whitewater rafting. Pray for these 30+ kids who are out there for the summer. Few of them know each other, most of them have never been to SMR, and many of them are a long way from home. I'm really impressed with the quality of the group and have every confidence that it will be a great summer for them, but they are going to be going through some adjustment this weekend and a few more people praying for them is going to make a difference.

Thanks for praying, and see you in two weeks!

"For Real?": A 4-year-old's Take On the Ascension

Yesterday I spent some time with my little friend Anton (he's 4). As I was making lunch, he said, "You know what we learned about Jesus in school?"

"What?"

"That he said, 'I'm not going to see you anymore' and he lifted up into heaven." Anton used hand motions to illustrate the "lifting up" part.

"Yes," I said, "But he didn't say, 'I'm not going to see you anymore.' He said, 'I'm going to--" Anton interrupted, "'I'm going to come back in the way that I left.'"

"Yes!" I said. "Jesus is going to come back someday and we are going to see him."

Anton studied my face to see if I was serious. "For real?" Anton says "for real" often as a test of others and to prove what he himself has said, as in, "I see a rabbit in the garden! For real!"

"For real!" I said. "Jesus is going to come back to earth and we're all going to see him."

"Come back here?" Anton tapped the kitchen table.

"Yes!" I said, "And it could happen anytime! It could happen today!"

Anton's eyes grew big, as if I had just told him that his birthday and Christmas were both going to be that afternoon.

"TODAY?!" His face burst into a grin and he started to run around the kitchen saying, "I want to see Jesus today! I want to see Jesus today!" Then he ran into the dining room and tipped over one of the chairs.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm going to make a rocket ship to go and see Jesus." He climbed into the tipped-over chair and made whooshing noises.

"Do you think that will work?" I asked.

"Oh, yes." Whoosh, Whoosh.

Then he looked at me again. "Jesus could come anytime?"

"Yes." I said. "Anytime. For real."

Whoosh.

Decently and in Good Order

Today the Board of Trustees of Calvin Theological Seminary voted unanimously to recommend me for a Synodical interview for a position on the faculty. The interview with Synod will take place the week of June 11, most likely on Tuesday or Wednesday evening. If Synod approves, I will start at the seminary this summer.

The Synodical interview is the last step on the long and winding road of the last several months. My first conversation about post-Calvin College employment happened on December 1. Today is May 17. That's almost six months of wondering where I was going to land, and those six months involved travel, interviews, meals, informal and formal conversations, prayers, daydreams, frustrations, impatience, weariness, more prayers, anxiety, uncertainty, disappointment, a little more travel, many more prayers, and finally, a decision.

Some of you caught my earlier announcement, but I'll repeat what I said there: I am settling into the reality of this decision and looking for God to affirm it again and again. He's already done that a few times, and I'm going to be leaning on his faithfulness in the years (holy smokes! years!) ahead.

Over the past few year's it's been fun to be an outside observer of the many good things that have been happening at Calvin Seminary. From what I've seen, Calvin Seminary is on the move; on the move the way Aslan goes on the move in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe where the snow melts and animals come out of hibernation and birds sing. This place is alive. And now I get to join in. How cool is that?!

New Prof on Jeopardy

This announcement ran in the Calvin News this morning:

Meet new Sociology professor Martin Hughes even before he arrives on campus this fall. Martin will be on Jeopardy! this Friday, May 18, at 7:30 p.m. (CBS;Channel 3 in Grand Rapids). Martin says it was the experience of a lifetime, and the fulfillment of a dream he'd had since the show was first televised in1984. Martin adds: "And for some reason, my 12 year son is more impressed by my being on Jeopardy than my having a Ph.D. Go figure."

Job

I can't tell you yet. There are a few more hoops to jump through and I can't be presumptuous. Yep, this is taking a while. Yep, inquiring minds want to know. Yep, we're all just going to wait together until the announcement can be made decently and in good order.

Let's just say this: I am glad to have made my decision and am eager for the potential of what's next.

We're in a "don't ask, don't tell" phase here. Practice discretion. Thanks for waiting with me.

Moving into Rest

I give an exam tomorrow and then head Up North for a few days to pray and ponder. The past few days have been intense, and I am tired. But I am also moving into a sense of peace and clarity about what's ahead, and I have no doubt that those feelings are a direct answer to your prayers. So thanks one and all.

I haven't even had a chance to let it settle in that I have completed a year of teaching---my first year of full-time teaching is over! I made it! I have some grading to do, sure, but despite all the rest that is swirling in my life there is definitely a part of me saying, "Yes! The school year is over!"

So, I am grateful for that. And for you. Have a good weekend.

Uhhh.....

Many of you have been curious to know about job stuff. Me too.

Turns out I was offered one job on Friday and sat with that reality over the weekend, and then had another vibrant possibility extended my way yesterday.

Now I am churning. And the clock is ticking.

I really don't want to go into details on which job where, but I am inviting you who are of the praying kind to intercede for me in an intentional and specific way over the next 48 hours. I need clarity. I need it like oxygen.

Thanks in advance. I'll try to keep breathing............

Preaching Gig

I'm preaching tomorrow here. 10am. John 20:19-29. Bring your mints.