Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Milestones of 2008

On December 7, Nicholas Miguel Torrejón came into the world to join his sister Sophia and his mom and dad, Kristina and José. We welcome this 8 lb. 3 oz. beautiful baby boy as our second grandchild. He is healthy; his mother is doing fine; and we thank God for this little bundle of joy!

Eric (19) graduated from high school this year. He is working at Barnes & Noble as a bookseller. He took a quick trip to Europe in October and is planning to go to college in the spring.

Michelle left to go back to Central Asia in April, then made an unexpected return trip home a month later when a health concern arose. After three weeks she was given a clean bill of health and is back and very busy in her multi-faceted work as deputy director of a relief agency there.

Besides adding another member to their family, Kristina and José moved to West New York, NJ. They both still work in Manhattan: Kristina at APA International and José at J. Crew. Sophia is an adorable 2½-year-old who makes “Ama” and “Papa” feel very special.

Charlotte completed her third year as head nurse in Dr. Ellen Gendler’s dermatology office. While not always an assignment, God has given Charlotte incredible favor and little by little the impact of her life is bearing fruit. Charlotte has been busy throughout the year meeting and discipling women through Trinity Grace Church where we attend. This coming year she will be giving leadership to the women’s ministry. Of course, she treasures her Fridays, the day she gets to spend with Sophia.

Gary reached the five-year milestone with Barnes & Noble in November. He has worked as a merchandise manager the past two years. It has been a valuable experience.

Seven years ago we sensed very strongly that God was calling us to Manhattan. We arrived here in July 2002, and over the past six and a half years we have had to put our trust in God that He knew what He was doing when He called us here. Almost two years ago we began attending Trinity Grace Church (then called Origins). Immediately we sensed we had found a home and a place where we could participate in building God’s Kingdom. We have both become active in loving, leading and nurturing the people who have gathered in this faith community. Celebrating three years of existence this coming April, TGC is now a growing community of 700 people. And now the next chapter of our lives: Trinity Grace Church has asked Gary to come on staff as Pastor of Justice and Care. Beginning in January Gary will be responsible initially to give direction and raise up lay ministers who will provide pastoral care throughout the city. Also Gary will be working to put feet to our faith as we tackle in Jesus’ name issues such as hunger, poverty, homelessness, prejudice, and other justice issues.

As a family we are blessed, we are thrilled with the privilege of ministering in this amazing city during one of its most challenging times.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

The Undecided Have to Decide

Decision 2008 is upon us. There are only 17 days left before we go to the polls to elect the electors who will elect the next president. Can I just say that there is something strange and wrong about the electoral college? But that wasn't my point...the point is that there are only 17 days and a brief moment in the voter's booth left to make a decision to help determine who will lead the country for the next four years.

I have been reading over a period of months "Red Letter Christians" by Tony Campolo. The premise is that we shouldn't vote in a bloc, but examine each issue and determine where the major candidates stand and then vote accordingly. Our voting should measure up with the teachings of Jesus found in the New Testament. The problem is we can't mix and match to create a candidate that fulfills that criteria on every issue.

As I read, study and pray I find myself only 17 days away from pulling the lever...

Monday, September 8, 2008

Same event brings new perspective

Last September I wrote about a significant event that took place on September 8, 2007. The morning of that day God communicated to my heart in a powerful way that I was right where He wanted me to be...that He had plans for Charlotte and me and that we could rest in Him and His will for us. That happened on the second day of a leadership retreat through our church.

This past weekend we participated in another leadership retreat twelve months and many incredible kingdom building, community building experiences later. What I realized is that the significance of September 8, 2007, made another date very significant in my walk with God: July 5, 2002. That was the day that Charlotte, Eric and I arrived in Manhattan with dear friends from Central Wesleyan Church in Holland, MI, who came out with two pickups and two U-haul trailers to bring us to our new home.

For several years I had looked back on that date and wondered if I had somehow missed a signal. Was living in Manhattan really God's first and best plan for our lives? As I sat in a small circle in a pole barn in Pennsylvania last weekend during the retreat God's purpose became all the more clear.

I came to Manhattan with a lot more to learn about God, me and this city than I ever dreamed or realized. On July 5, 2002, I arrived physically, but the spiritual, emotional, psychological, and relational components were underdeveloped and needed testing, seasoning and developing.

Now for a guy who's almost 52 (on Saturday), that's not always easy. I look back and stand amazed (and sometimes bow in amazement) at the mercy and grace of God. What an awesome and glorious Father who loves me, continually manifests His patience, and is willing to use me to make a difference in His world. All glory belongs to Him!

Saturday, September 6, 2008

The Incredible Month of August is now over




The absolute highlight of the month of August for Charlotte and me was our week away to celebrate our 30th anniversary (August 26th). We drove five hours away from the city to the Finger Lakes region of New York state. What a beautiful area and what glorious weather we enjoyed.

We spent two days in Seneca Falls, home to the National Women's Rights Museum. It was there in 1848 that delegates met in the Wesleyan Chapel for the first convention on women's rights. Seneca Falls is also believed to be the place that inspired Frank Capra when he made my favorite all-time movie "It's a Wonderful Life" starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed.

Other stops included Auburn, Skaneatles, Ithaca, Highland, and New Paltz. Restaurant highlights included Simply Red Bistro and The Would Restaurant. We also found some might fine bed and breakfast inns. It was just the sort of trip that suited us and one we will remember for a long time.

Thirty years!

Monday, August 18, 2008

An Incredible Month...and it's not over yet!

I knew the month of August was going to be significant because it marks 30 years that I have been married to the beautiful and amazing Charlotte, but little did I know how much would be packed into this month...and it's not over yet!

Sunday, August 2, Charlotte and I took part in the Upper West Side weekend gathering as we have done on other occasions. We had lunch with Cece and Regina at the Key West Diner and then went to our Upper Manhattan Missional Community. What a rich time we experienced as we entered into a profound conversation on what it means to live missionally. We had been asked to participate in the weekend gathering in Chelsea at 7:00 p.m. and so we took the downtown "A" train to the beautiful St. Paul's German Lutheran church where Origins meets in the evening. It seemed a bit strange that Charlotte and I were asked to give the benediction together, but we did, and then the announcement was made that we were celebrating our 30th anniversary, effectively making us old enough to be the parents of 97% of the congregation present! We were led downstairs to the fellowship hall. There our missional community had planned and prepared an amazing reception, complete with food, balloons, flowers, candles, pictures, a wedding cake decorated like the original, and a sea of the most amazing people in Manhattan, including two of our children. How blessed we are, not only to celebrate 30 years, but do it in the community called Origins!

The next weekend we were able to spend a day with Charlotte's parents and then attend a family wedding on my side. We brought my folks back to Manhattan with us and they were able to attend our church, experience our Life Group and understand a little better why we are committed to living and serving God in this city.

This past weekend was a little more low key, but maybe even more significant--living in community--seeing how that really looks: caring, sharing, celebrating, cleaning, surrounding a hurting member, eating, praying, giving God the glory for the gift of His dear Son who makes all this possible. As we heard Sunday, we are God's glorious inheritance. Wow! I am speechless!

Next weekend...another wedding...can't wait to celebrate with Josh and Jess! And then Charlotte and I are going to do some celebrating of our own--a week away during the actual date of our anniversary!

It's been an incredible month...and it's not over yet! Dog days of August? I don't think so!

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Thoughts on the Second Half of the Year

Yesterday was the first day of the second half of the year. Six months down and six months to go. We still have Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Election Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas to look forward to. But there are many more ordinary days to come as well before the end of 2008. How will I live out those "ordinary" days?

Each of those days can slip by unless I approach them with intentionality, with purpose, recognizing that each one is a gift to be savored and treasured, one that will not pass by again. How will I spend today? How have I already spent the first four waking hours of this day? I believe that time spent with God is time well invested, but even that time is squandered if the following hours are wasted or misappropriated. I am heading out to have brunch with my wife and daughter who just flew in for a doctor's appointment. Even that reminds me of the fragility of life and the importance of seeing every day, every hour as precious. Then I go to work...especially difficult after having three days off, but even there I need to be purposeful and see it as more than just a job, a way to earn a living. How can today be significant?

I have a notion that if I treat each hour, each day as significant, especially making time with God the foundation of each day, the next six months will be the most significant time in my life...to quote my high school pastor and mentor Carles Fletcher.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Thoughts in a Natural Sanctuary

The beauty of God's creation surrounds me visually and in stereo. Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan has been transformed by spring into one of the most beautiful places I can imagine. Even an airplane flying up the Hudson River to avoid Manhattan airspace and a police siren down on the Henry Hudson highway cannot rob me of this sanctuary. A little squirrel moves trustingly past me. In this moment all seems right with the world.

Yet I know that such is not the case. I am becoming more aware of injustice and inequality, of suffering and starvation, of disease and cruelty. Whether it be the Holocaust of the last century or its latest manifestation in Darfur--all creation groans--the cyclone killing 10,000 in Myanmar this weekend another grim reminder.

The suffering comes close to home even as a relative deals with a family member going through the degenerative stages of dementia, going from a stately, dignified proper person to a pathetic shadow of their former self.

Even as I exult in the beauty of the glorious hues of the springtime flowers and innocent fragility of the leaves on the trees, I know that when I return in July, and in October, and again in January, that beauty will mature, then age, and then disappear altogether.

I am reminded of words that Jesus spoke once as he gazed at the intricacies of nature: "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?" (Matthew 6:28b-30, ESV).

The issue was clothing and God's provision. My anxiety today is not about clothes for my body, but clothing for my anxious spirit in light of the realities we face. I believe I am called to do more to bring about the Kingdom of God, but I am inadequate, even naked due to fear, being overwhelmed and wondering what it is that I can really do. I am tired of giving lip service to the great causes that move God's heart. What can I do to bring God's redemptive love to a hurting world? Show me Father how to answer the call to be on the front lines of your movement so that your will is done on earth as it is in heaven.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

A Glimpse of the Father's Heart

For the past two weeks I knew that I wasn't looking forward to March 31. Last night at the airport we said good-bye to my youngest daughter as she began a three-year stretch on the other side of the world, answering God's call on her life. It isn't her first time away by any means, but this time it seems more permanent, no longer as a volunteer, but making a career choice. The tears flowed freely as I hugged her and whispered into her ear my love, my pride, and my loss.

While there were tears from her as well, she is going out with excitement and enthusiasm to do her part to make a difference in the world. All of a sudden I remembered another scenario 21 years earlier as I said my tearful good-byes to my parents in the Indianapolis airport as my family of four headed to South America for what would become a major chunk of our lives. I remember my mom saying that it was the hardest day of her life and yet how proud she was of us.

Twenty-four years earlier my parents with two small children (my sister and I) said good-bye to their parents and relatives in the Indianapolis airport as they embarked on a journey that would take them to the jungles of South America. I don't remember much that day as a six-year-old, except for my fear of the escalators. I couldn't comprehend why tears were flowing, nor that I wouldn't see my grandparents, uncles and aunts or cousins for five long years.

Thirty-three years before that my grandparents left the Midwest on a train to go to California where they would sail for Asia. I can't even imagine what that must have been like for them at that stage of history. They were leaving all that they knew without knowing if they were ever see home or family again. There my uncle and mother would be born.

Almost 80 years have passed since that first missionary journey in my family. While I am deeply thankful for the heritage that I have, and for the privilege of responding to the call personally, in the light of Easter, I am most thankful for Jesus who left His Father's house to so completely identify with us and make it possible for us to have our relationship with God restored.

"(Christ Jesus) had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death--and the worst kind of death at that--a crucifixion. Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth--even those long ago dead and buried--will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father" (Philippians 2:5-11, The Message).

Because He was willing to leave His Father, there are people here, and in places where my family has been privileged to serve that have, are, and will call out in praise to Jesus! All to the glorious honor of God the Father!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Two Books to Augment Your Easter Celebration



I just finished reading two books that made celebrating Easter even more significant. The first one is Surprised by Hope by Anglican bishop and theologian N. T. Wright. You can never look at Christ's victory at Easter the same way after reading it.

The other book, I read in one day, The Shack by William P. Young. Eugene Peterson of The Message says that it "has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan's Pilgrim Progress did for his." I was quickly drawn into the book and it is having a profound impact in my life. Check it out at http://www.theshackbook.com.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Cousins



Gary Wiley and Barack Obama--seventh cousins!

Six Degrees of Separation

I have had an interest in my family tree for more than 30 years. Early on most of my information came from older family members, family Bibles, and occasional trips to libraries with genealogical sections. Now the internet has brought a wealth of information, especially census records, to my computer screen.

A few months ago I was able to connect my Oden (mother's side) family tree with an early immigrant by the name of Mareen Duvall. Mr. Duvall was a French Huguenot who left France for England, and then settled in Maryland in 1650. Sarah Duvall, his great-great-great granddaughter married Elias B. Oden, my great-great-great grandfather. Mareen Duvall "The Emigrator" as he is known is my nine-great grandfather.

Saturday afternoon, before going into work, I was indulging in one of my weaknesses, watching coverage of the political process. I had tuned into "Ballot Bowl" on CNN and they were showing excerpts from the stump speeches of the different presidential candidates. I heard Barack Obama mention once again "his cousin Dick Cheney" and my curiosity got the best of me. I googled "Barack Obama's cousin Dick Cheney" and found the article that told about the family connection between Mr. Obama and Mr. Cheney. Their common ancestor is none other than Mareen Duvall "The Emigrator." As it turns out Barack Obama is my seventh cousin.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Why I Am in Manhattan...

It's 1:35 a.m. and I just got home from another closing shift at Barnes & Noble. The store was exceptionally busy tonight, due in part I'm sure to the lousy weather that kept people home Friday night and because Sunday night many people will be home cheering on the hometown Giants in the Super Bowl.

On my way home, waiting for the #1 train to take me 60 some blocks uptown before walking another seven blocks, I was reflecting on my day and what it means to live in this city and what it takes to live and responding in my head and heart to the question of why I live here. The answer is almost as complex as the city and as varied as the activities and involvements that each day presents.

Today for example, after sleeping in until 9:20 after another closing shift, I spent some time with God and with Charlotte (a rare commodity it seems these days). I was trying to clear my head from my nighttime dose of Nyquil (another pesky cold)! Around 12:20 I made my way up to la Iglesia Presbiteriana on 174th and Wadsworth where a program called Outreach Exodus Inner City meets six days a week. My first cousin once removed, J.J. Pickett, volunteers there on Saturdays. He invited me to meet the executive director Matthew Mahoney. Outreach Exodus provides tutoring after school for students in Washington Heights. On Saturdays they offer a Bible club among other things. Through our Upper Manhattan Missional Community (Origins Church) we are hoping to partner with Outreach Exodus perhaps as tutors, but especially as volunteers to invest in the lives of these at risk kids and by God's grace give them hope for a brighter future. I was privileged to meet some of the volunteers as well as have lunch with Matt, J.J. and Dave.

I left there encouraged and excited about the difference we can make in Jesus' name in our neighborhood as we live the teachings of Jesus in the culture and rhythm of the city. Then I headed off to work and while it seems routine and maybe mundane, that too is a place of ministry.

The air was crisp on my walk home. I saw a drug deal go down...at least that's what it appeared to be...I felt no danger because this is the city that never sleeps and there were others walking home after their long day of work. I am thankful for God's call on my life. I have some strong dreams and desires that I am asking of God, that I would love to see come to be as I live and minister in this city. But I know that all things are in His time. And I am learning to be content.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Inaugurating Missional Community

The Upper Manhattan Missional Community met for the first time last evening. What a wonderful time of experiencing God's presence in community. Twenty adults and one baby filled Melissa's apartment in Washington Heights to near capacity. The food was good, the worship was rich and the sharing was transparent and sincere.

For me it was an amazing day living in community. From worshiping on the Upper West Side and having the high honor of participating in Josh's ordination, offering up a prayer for him to trying to unclog the drain in Casey's apartment, but having failed, then enjoying a great meal with Charlotte and Casey at Dallas BBQ, to schlepping Subway sandwiches 22 blocks in our cart (that's right--cart not car!) to Missional Community and enjoying the warmth of Melissa's apartment while outside the weather was bitter cold--ahh!--life in Manhattan!

I am excited about Missional Community. We are but one of six communities flourishing to life in Manhattan through Origins Church. These communities provide a way for people to connect and interact with each other, pursue Christian discipleship, and work together to bring renewal to our city. In Upper Manhattan we believe we can have impact in our communities--building bridges across cultures and language--as we share the love of Christ with our neighbors. We are looking forward to partnering with other ministries in the community as well as offering beginner Spanish classes for English speakers to help us identify better with the majority population--following in the steps of Jesus!

Our icebreaker last evening as we broke up into two smaller groups was to state a dream, hope or wish. My dream is beginning to be fulfilled--to be part of a movement that is impacting Manhattan for Christ and bringing people together for the glory of God!

Monday, January 14, 2008

Can We Trust Emotion?

We have become very skeptical when emotions show. Mitt shed a tear when he recounted his emotion over hearing that his church had changed its official stance on African Americans several years ago. Some thought he had committed the Muskie mistake of 1972. Maybe he did. Hillary had a catch in her voice when she answered a personal question the day before the New Hampshire primary. Would it cost her votes? It appears in this case it made her seem more human and approachable. Just today T.O. (Terrell Owens) literally broke down as he defended his quarterback teammate from charges that it was his (Romo's) Mexican vacation and inattention to details that cost the Cowboys in their loss to the New York Giants. A tearful T.O. maintained that it was a team loss. Many will see it as just another of T.O.'s drama shows.

One of the books I read at the end of the year was Jim & Casper Go To Church. Jim was a pastor for many years and is a follower of Jesus, while Casper is the friendly atheist he hired to accompany him to visit a host of churches from mega church to medium-sized church to house church, all to determine if these churches were doing what Jesus intended. It is an interesting read, and Casper shows no mercy in his critique of churches and Christians in general. One of his most severe criticisms come against pastors and speakers who utilized emotion: the break in the voice, the escaped tear, the heart-wrenching story. Rather than seeing this as genuine, Casper saw it as manipulation.

Can we trust our emotions? When we tell the story that we are in...the story of what God has and is doing in our lives and in our world...what place does emotion play? Should our telling leave out emotion? What do you think?

Blogs I enjoy reading

Manhattan Diary

There are so many opportunities unfolding to partner with God in bringing in the Kingdom. I'm learning more about justice and being stretched on a regular basis. I love partnering with Charlotte to strengthen marriages and prepare couples for married life.

What I'm reading in October 2009

  • Love Is an Orientation
  • Movements that Changed the World
  • ReJesus
  • When Heaven Invades Earth

About Me

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New York, New York, United States
Seeking to live intentionally; bringing the Kingdom of God to contested space!