Official Update - Dec.

Hello, Calvin the seminarian here.

I hope you all had a merry Christmas and a happy new year! I had both, but unfortunately I have still been quite busy, so I apologize that I have not been able to fully process for this update. Sorry.

I’ve finished my first semester of seminary and I can only attribute that to God and His provision. Towards the end of the semester I was living life at a full sprint. The last week of classes I wrote thousands of words and studied hundreds of Greek vocab. It was an incredible feat and I am just blown away that I was able to get it all done and on time! Oh, and on top of this I worked about 18 hours a week too. Yeah, I’m still blown away.

In more personal news, throughout the entire semester I have felt God growing my vision for people around me and my ministry in general. I feel like God is calling me to be bolder and try to take more positive risks for the sake of His work. In many ways this is very exciting, but it’s also quite scary because I do not know what that is going to look like.

I was able to teach another two times, once on Dec. 27 and again on Jan 3. I have been growing in my comfort in teaching, which has been awesome. I think the trick was finding my own voice when teaching at Trellis, at least that’s what it seems like. Before, it was like reading from a script I had not rehearsed enough, but most recently it has felt like taking material I know and just talking about it. I know that I have much room to grow in my teaching, but I praise God for being with me as I prepared and taught because there is no way that I am good enough to properly teach God’s word on my own.

The last two lessons were on “Living Peacefully with the Past.” The first part I taught about living without regret. A verse that wrapped that lesson up well was:

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. 2 Cor 7:10 ESV

A major part of my lesson was knowing that it is not ok for us to fail God, but because Christ died for our failures, it is ok when we feel “godly grief” and repent of our sins, no matter how large. The problem arises when we feel worldly grief and never let go of the failures we have don’t let go and accept the forgiveness God openly gives.

The other part was about living without bitterness by forgiving others, regardless of how hard that may be. I talked about not mixing anger with sin, which produces bitterness, and how we must wait for God’s redemption of the wrongs that happen to us.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Titus 2:11-14 ESV

Both parts are really difficult things to do and I don’t know if people fully got what I was saying or if they felt it was applicable to their lives, but I trust in the Holy Spirit moving within all of our hearts.

All of this success has reminded me of a verse that I often reflect about.

Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 ESV

I think this fits because I can say, while I have not been perfect in my relationship with God, I have been more focused on Him now that perhaps I have ever been. And I can confidently say that I have been delighting myself in Him and for that God has provided again and again and again! I know that my attitude will not always be so appreciative, but knowing now that God has done so much for me definitely makes me feel like this is where God wants me to be.

Thanks for reading my update and thanks for all your financial support and prayers. It is really important that you are my partner in my time here at Gordon-Conwell. Perhaps one day soon, I will host a partner party and we can all get together and celebrate, fellowship and praise God for all He is doing. I hope you feel like you can see God working in our lives because He is!

How can I pray for you?

Thanks again.

Peace,

Calvin

Side note: The picture of Kermit came from the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, DC. I went there for New Year’s.

Official update #4

Calvin, called by the will of God to be at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

To my support team that is in Massachusetts... I mean....


Hi (they really don't write letters like they used to eh?),


How's everyone doing? I hope well!

So I've been at Gordon Conwell for one month and I have read many pages, memorized many greek words, and thought a lot of ... well thoughts. Oh, you'd like to hear some? Sure, that sounds good!

First of all, I have had to make many adjustments. Despite this, going from work life to full-time graduate studies has not been that difficult of a transition for me. I feel like the subject matter is quite enriching. I find it is expanding the skill set that will be used in my future ministries. In fact, I think Greek is fun. What? Yeah, you heard right. I'm befuddled too.

Adjusting my personal life has been a bit more difficult though. It's hard not to see Lindsey, my friends, and family as often as I was accustomed to. It's hard to not feel like I am missing out on the building of relationships while I am here. I know that they(you) are praying for me, so I know that I am not forgotten. Thankfully, I have been meeting new people here at GCTS. I seem to have found a group of friends, but everyone is pretty friendly up here.

I get along with both of my roommates. One is from St. Louis, MO (Zach) and the other is from Charlotte, NC (Chaz). Note the exact same letters in their names. I have wanted to call one the other on a number of occasions. I share a room with Zach and a suite with Chaz. I have really appreciated hearing about their church backgrounds, along with many others'. It's so fascinating how differently people worship God.

That is one of the great things about being here, I can learn so much about the other parts of the body by engaging in meaningful (and not so meaningful) conversations. There are many differences even amongst us Christians and its hard to see that sometimes when you are focused on serving/attending a specific church. I am happy that I am able to intentionally engage different cultures through the lens of my faith more. Some people have served in churches all over the country and some are from outside of the country. Some are conservative and some are liberal. Almost all of them like to debate though. haha just kidding. Sort of. I'm waiting until next year or year three for when the really heated battles ensue. The most heated battle I've seen to date was a substitutionary atonement vs Christus victor one. Stayed up til almost 5am with that one.

It makes me think about how I will develop in my theology and as a minister. Will I debate with someone for hours upon hours? Will I be able to defend my stances with ninja-like speed and precision? Or will I simply know what I know and share when I share? I'm not sure and honestly am not as concerned about my debating skills as I am my pastoring ones, though they overlap. I wonder if I will be a strong positive example or a strong negative example. Or maybe I'll be in the middle. Sometimes I think of being great for God, pushing the limit, bringing multitudes of people to Christ and leading my congregation to live on fire for Him, but honestly I'd be happy(er?) being a humble and faithful pastor to the flock God has given me.

I feel blessed to have BCEC as the church I grew up in for many reasons that I did not realize until starting here. I have had a pretty solid base of theological training, despite never studying theology deliberately. There have also been so many people supporting me in my decision to go to seminary. It is also really beneficial having a home church. I don't have to hop around to find one to ask for an internship. It's pretty awesome. Praise God for small/large favors.

I want to leave you with something that I have been finding comfort in. At chapel last week we were looking at Psalm 73 and verse 26 really stuck out to me.

Psa. 73:26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

How amazing is that? Though my flesh and heart will fail (and don't they always?), I will still be strong because of God. This is not what I'm accustomed. Failure usually equates weakness. You fail you are weak and this would still be the case, but because we have such an amazing God, that when we are weak, we are strong. (What up, 2Cor 12?) Think about that. Like really think about it. Maybe I'm not fully fleshing out the verse or properly exegeting it but that sounds like a pretty incredible God to me. We would've never thought of that.

Anyway all that is to say I will struggle and fail, but God will sustain and provide for me and that is quite reassuring. But that doesn't mean I don't need prayer! haha! Here are some ways you can pray for me. Don't forget to tell me ways to pray for you too!

Pray that:
I continue grow in my faith and love of God and His Word
I build a strong foundation of biblical principles and continue working to become a man of great integrity
I can find the right balance between social/personal life and studies
I will grow in my heart to lead through service
I stay healthy, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically (no seminary 17)
That you will be blessed through your prayers and support of me here!


In Christ,



Calvin

PS. follow my blog at calvin-at-seminary.blogspot.com/ for more up to the minute updates.

Official Update #3

Greetings! Thanks again for your support! Can't stress it enough.

Recently, I've been thinking about my potential. If you've known me for long enough, you know in my youth I was a mix of potential and tomfoolery...shenanigans even. Perhaps you even interceded many times because you saw I was more than meets the eye. (Thanks for that) My concerns are of squandering opportunities to grow and never fully reaching what God has for me. Like Luke says, "to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more."

I know that He's been faithful thus far, so I should not worry, but I also know and fear my flesh. Will I grow to be a man after God's own heart or will my disruption of His will for my life lead me down a different path? Please pray for me that I will be fully aware of the battle within, that I am constantly checking myself for wrong motives, and that I will be focused on Him so I can be a more useful tool in His hands.

Official Update #2

Good day to you all!
This is my second update, but if this is your first, welcome! and thank you for your generosity in time and/or money. It's such a blessing to have so many people literally investing in my future. Being Chinese, I pray that God will really sharpen me in seminary so you get the most bang for your buck. :) But seriously, I'm very excited about school and the growth I will experience while there.

It has been interesting to see how my co-workers respond when they find out I'm leaving to become a pastor. It ranges from "Oh WOW! That's so cool!" to "oh...interesting." Despite the mixed reaction, it's been encouraging that some folks at work have said they can see that ministry would be a good fit for me.

Want to hear more of my words? Me neither, but if you get bored enough, you can read my blog at calvin-at-seminary.blogspot.com. Go there to read more about my life and my experiences as it pertains to seminary.
Thanks again for your support. :)
Peace, Calvin

Official Update #1

Dear Friends,
First of all, thank you for your support. Your prayers are really what will sustain me and I am very excited about keeping you informed about my highs and lows over the next three years. As I am preparing for my first year at Gordon Conwell, I am beginning to realize how different my life will be. Initially, everything sort of felt distant and surreal, but as I am only a couple months away, reality is starting to sink in...I'm going to seminary.

Please pray that I will study hard at GCTS, remembering that my diligence will not only benefit me, but also anyone that I encounter. Also, pray that I will be able to balance my time well because while my studies are a primary focus, it is important for me to remember that God created us for community. There are more requests, but my space is limited.

Once again, thank you for your partnership. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any prayer requests or would like to just catch up. Thanks for listening!
Calvin