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Having recently been working on my application for admission to George Fox Evangelical Seminary, I thought I would post a couple excerpts from the brief essays I had to write.

The first is in response to a question asking me to relate my spiritual pilgrimage:

God has done a lot in my life. Perhaps on the surface it might seem unremarkable how the home-schooled, shy, sheltered son of a white, middle-class, suburban, church-going family came to be applying to George Fox Evangelical Seminary. However, I don’t think it is at all. I think it is quite remarkable indeed.

One of the most significant single changes that God orchestrated in my life is that I used to be very, extremely shy. I am no longer. It has been a long, painful, and awkward process to come out of my shell and learn to relate and interact with many different kinds of people. It is also a witness to the fact that God wants me to be a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is impossible to minister without interacting with people. Probably the most freeing part of the whole process for me is realizing that I do not have to be outgoing to be obedient to God’s call on my life. I can be quiet and still communicate well; I can overcome my shyness and walk across the room to meet someone.

It is also significant that God has brought me to a place of healing in my relationship with Him. I am certain of my identity as a child, servant, and friend of God. I can relate to him as a Father. I’ve been freed from legalism and the tyranny or rules and "Christian" expectations, freed to live a live of joyful service to God. I can love people as God sees them because I know God and because He has transformed my eyes so I can see a little glimpse of how He sees the world. I can live without fear because of what God has done in me. I can take initiative and be bold, not because I have it in my personality or learned it from experience, but because God has placed it in me.

As I journey on in His service, I find that I have a vision. I have a vision of what the Church could look like – unified, loving, accepting. I have a vision of followers of Christ crossing barriers not just for pagans to hear the gospel but also to be in fellowship with each other. I have a vision for holy people who immerse themselves in culture, without letting it define who they are. Of them colliding with the unholy, the sacred saying hello to the secular, and not only standing true in the face of it, but also bearing witness that "they" may not be as far from Christ as we have led them to believe. I have a vision for Christians agreeing together about the essentials and laying aside the non-essentials; and emphasizing the questions more than pat answers. I have a vision, to communicate the truth of Jesus Christ and His gospel in as many mediums and means as people have interests, hobbies, and life experiences.

In short, God has done a lot in my life; but in the big picture, I want it to be just a small portion of what He will do. Once ordinary, but I’m not anymore, and I’m getting more unordinary every day.