A few lessons from the NYC (cause its on my brain)

Here are few things that I learned on my recent vaca to the NYC:

1. New York folk are actually pretty nice. I was surprised how sweet *most* folks were.

2. Lots of folks in the city are searching, and this presents a huge opp for the Church. We went to Keller's church on Sunday evening (yay for Jazz worship...Vitamin Z style) and it was PACKED. And, lo and behold, packed with people under 35. Wow, people are hungry. Feed em!

3. From what I can tell, not a lot of folks in the NYC having babies. Manhattan Pastors have said this before, but trying to 'make it' in the NY is often an implicit form of child sacrifice. You have to choose: career or kiddos. Many folks choose the former, which leaves another great gap wide open for God's kingdom workers. Having babies is an awesome (though far from the only) way to do deep and down home discipleship.

4. My buddy in NYC is a freelance character doing some work for Zondervan. He let me know that they are working on a book that takes all the common 'bible verse colloquialisms' in ordinary language and helps to illuminate their roots. This is a great and subtle tactic. Folks spout bible talk all the time, but rarely know where it comes from. I'm glad to see publishing houses getting intentionally evangelistic in they way they publish what they do. This is one of many projects, currently on the market, designed to raise awareness about the bible without being pushy, demeaning, or lame.

5. God is sovereign. I texted an old friend from a pub on Saturday night. His lady friend lives in NYC and I wanted to know if he'd ever patronized the establishment in which I sat. In fact, he hadn't, but he informed me he would be 'in town' the next night. We met up for some killer 2nd street Italian on Sunday evening and talked long and hard about life, Jesus, life, and life. He is not a Christian, nor is his lady. They are moral hardworking entrepreneurs searching for truth and love in a world without norms. It was a great blessing to share some stories with them that bring clarity to the gospel narrative in which my wife and I live, move, and have our being. I can tell that we struck a chord, and I was blessed by the opportunity.