It’s good to have everyone back on campus after Fall Break. This morning, we had our campus prayer at 11 am. Chaplain Messner leads this time of prayer for anyone on campus on Thursday when we don’t have Chapel. Today, as has become our pattern, we break into small groups of four or five and pray using particular passage of Scripture as a guide. Last week, we used Psalm 51, and today Exodus 20 was a starting point for praising God for his character, confessing of individual and corporate sin, rejoicing in our forgiveness, and praying for ourselves and others to live in the fullness of the gospel. These times have been a great encouragement to me, and a helpful focus on the Word and its deep and rich application to daily living in community.

Tomorrow’s Chapel features President Nielson preaching, and I understand he’ll also be revealing the name of the new residence hall.

The campus is quiet as many students are away for Fall Break this week. They return for classes on Thursday. Do be in prayer for several groups of Covenant students who are involved in short-term trips over this extended weekend. RUF campus minister Ron Brown is traveling with a group of Covenant students to work with Lagniappe Presbyterian Church in Bay St. Louis, MS. They’ll be part of the ongoing work there to rebuild the area which was decimated by Hurricane Katrina. They are finishing up their work today and driving back tomorrow. Twenty-three members of Covenant’s baseball team are in the Dominican Republic with SCORE International. You can read daily updates on their time here.

Dr. Paul Kim, our chapel speaker yesterday, followed up his excellent chapel message on how the gospel deals with the shame in our lives with an evening seminar.
Last night, to a full room in Mills 270, he gave an interactive seminar on discovering and using our God-given strengths in our calling. Although his discussion was geared toward preachers using their gifts, such as analytical thinking, consensus building, problem solving, it was very clear that these lessons could be applied in many realms.
He shared from Ephesians 2 that God has made each of us uniquely to do the specific good works that he has prepared for us to do.  Then, we looked at his use of the StrengthsBuilder, a tool developed by the Gallup organization, to help pastors, particularly, identify their strengths. The idea turns us on our head a bit, as we are used to focusing on areas of weakness and working to improve. Instead, he suggests that we focus on more fully embracing and developing our strengths in the contexts God has given us. He challenged us to really learn what our strengths are, and to focus on honing them and using them to their fullest.

Today, T. March Bell was named Alumnus of the Year and he spoke on the issue of human trafficking in Chapel. Just last week, he took part in a webchat about human trafficking. The transcript of that is here.

He answered the question: “Where can we read more about it?” as follows (I’ve added the links for you):

The US Department of State web site is a good place to start as well as the US Department of Justice, US Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Labor. These web sites have reports, statistics and information on best practices. I would also check the International Organization for Migration and the International Labor Organization web sites.

On another note, I’ve posted Dr. Jim Wildeman’s List of Books he didn’t choose to speak about on Wednesday here.

Next Wednesday, we have Dr. Paul Kim coming to speak on campus. He and his wife Janette and sons Elijah, Caleb, and Noah are pictured above. Dr. Kim is the lead pastor of Renewal Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, PA. Renewal has an interesting history as first a college outreach program of Emmanuel Church (in the Korean Eastern presbytery) and then an English-speaking congregation under the leadership of the Korean congregation. They ordained their own elders and became a particular church in the Philadelphia presbytery last spring.

A number of the students I worked with at the University of Pennsylvania were involved in this college ministry and church, and in the outreach and tutoring programs that this church invests in. The Lord is working through this church as they reach out to the neighborhood around them, and we are delighted that Dr. Kim is coming to preach to us.

He will be having lunch with students after chapel on Wednesday from 11:45-1:00. The first 17 students to contact Mrs. Kellner at anne.kellner@covenant.edu will get a seat! The luncheon is a great opportunity to delve a little deeper into the personal story and calling of Pastor Kim, and to ask questions and hear about his ministry. Students with an interest in preaching, city ministry, college outreach, mercy ministry are particularly encouraged to come.

Dr. Kim will also speak at 7:30pm Wednesday evening. Chapel Credit will be given. His topic is “Developing the Preacher in You.” He writes:

Preaching is an art. Not all preachers are supposed to preach the same way. Preaching is the personal and creative expression of God’s truth through a preacher. Or to use Phillip Brook’s classic definition, it is “truth through personality.” There are not many tools, however, to help preachers understand their uniqueness and utilize their strengths. This seminar aims to helps preachers apply their strengths to their preaching so that their preaching flows out of, not in spite of, who God has made them to be.

Here’s a recent article from World Magazine on the Worldwide Anglican Church and Archbishop Orombi. It includes a photo of him speaking in chapel.

You can still send your own reflections from the Archbishop’s time with us to char.okie@gmail.com.

As Chaplain Messner mentioned in today’s Chapel, we are called as members of Christ’s body to be praying with and for one another. He was speaking from Philippians 1:9-11, but it might be helpful to look at some of Paul’s other prayers as well. You may want to study through Ephesians 1:16-19, Ephesians 3:16-19, Romans 15:5-6, 13 Colossians 1:9-12, 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12. in these prayers, Paul makes no small requests of God. Among others requests, he intercedes for the following: love abounding in knowledge and discernment, walking worthy of the calling we have received, being filled with the fruit of righteousness, living in harmony with one another.

Chaplain Messner also mentioned several opportunities for corporate prayer. Join your brothers and sisters in prayer. I’ll list the times here for your reference:

Weekly

Tuesdays 6am in Mills Basement Lobby

Tuesdays 7 am in Mills Basement Lobby

Wednesdays 6:30 am in the Chapel

This week

Thursday 11:00 am (during Chapel time frame), meet in Chapel for corporate prayer.