Initially I sat down to write up something willy-nilly for my blog this week and to give you an update of my first week in NYC at Times Square Church (TSC). But then I came to myself and realized I should ask the Lord what He would have me say. Now having heard from the Lord—and I thank Him for His faithfulness and relationship—I will try to convey to you why God has sent me here and then give you a quick update about how my first week has been.
Before I left Auburn, I was praying in my tomato garden about what God wants for me here at TSC, among other things. And God spoke to me and said, “Get lower.” So I got down on my knees and continued praying. A few minutes later God said, “Get lower still.” So I laid down on the pine straw in the garden. Then God said, “From here I will establish your authority.” I don’t know what this means exactly, but I now count it as a promise from God. As it is written,
“‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time…”—1 Peter 5:5-6.
So it is significant to mention what I found out when I arrived at TSC. I was quickly told that interns at TSC are “at the bottom of the totem pole” and “under lock down.” But I assure you when I heard this news, I only rejoiced because what God had already told me was confirmed and I know that God is at work in my life. So understand this truth: unless you know how to beunder authority, you cannot legitimately be in authority, at least not in God’s economy and kingdom. Your authority and mine is nothing if we exalt ourselves and attempt to establish our own authority. But Jesus said
“When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him, and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place.But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”—Luke 14:8-11.
The Lord Jesus also said elsewhere,
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”—Matthew 20:25-28.
So while it may be that my position is low here and though the work I do is hard, it may not be readily noticed, I can still be assured that God is using me and apparently has plans to exalt me in due time. Whether that means here at TSC or elsewhere later doesn’t matter because God will perform His word.
My job here consists mainly of painting. I work in the maintenance ministry under a good man named Earl Stocker. But since I am the new guy, I am actually under all, and rightly so. It is appropriate for us to always give place to one another and to submit one to another. One of my main prayers in recent months has been that God would make me humble and wise. You can aid me in praying for the same, along with anything else that God lays on your heart. More importantly pray for the influence of Jesus through His church here in this city and that God would do a work of uniting the churches here in New York City for the sake of the lost, because Jesus wants them.
Ground Zero behind the Winter Gardens.
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