Change is Here

I've been talking about change for awhile now.  And here it is.  Other than the look, you may be wondering what's different.  Indeed, if you've not been here before right now, it doesn't even look any different.  But the differences are, as they ought to be, deeper than the skin.

I'm an impulsive blogger.  Sometimes, at least.  I've had this Thursday posting appointment for quite awhile now, and it's gone well, and I certainly feel like it's something I need for self expression.  Maybe this will all change when/if I get married, because I'll have someone to tell everything to without writing it all out.  But until that happens, well, here I am.

This tendency has led to all sorts of self-serving posts.

Right now, right here, I'm turning from that style of writing. 

With this blog, this internet-journal if you will, I plan to explore my own life in ministry for the benefit of my readers.  Part of this is, indeed, driven by my service with InterVarsity and will work as a way to keep people more in the loop than the more standard monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly prayer letter.  Indeed, I imagine I'll probably post at least once a week.

This does not mean that the former style of semi-artistic non-fictional semi-prose is going away.  It will be around, maybe kind of, but the overall point of this, which I'll refer to as IPK for the time being, is shifting from inward, self-serving, to outward, God-loving, keeping people supporting my ministry, as it gets underway at Hillsdale this summer/fall, abreast of what's going on with me and the chapter.  It's going to be fun, it's going to be an adventure, and I want you to be a part of God's great work alongside me...hopefully this will make that possible beyond prayer and financial support (although both of those are far more important than your reading of this). 

Will this lead to self-censorship?  Maybe, but I hope not.  This is going to be a lot more public now...more people will at least know about it, although there will be no guarantee of any sort of readership, by any means.  But I do plan to tell people about it and put the address with things I send, just like a company website or something like that.  It might be a bit rough in the beginning because there's a divide between the old posts and the new, but you've got to start somewhere....and I don't exactly have the biggest support team at the moment anyway.

To be quite honest, I don't quite know what all of this means quite yet, or what it's going to look like.  I'm going to try to figure it out, and really, as readers, you're going to have a part in that too.  It will, largely, be shaped by the people reading and (hopefully) commenting.  It would be really cool if the comments formed a sort of forum for discussion, but that's both unlikely and probably more unfavorable than I think right now.  

Speaking of comments, I realized today that I had it set so that only registered users could comment.  That's been changed now, if you want to post a comment and don't have an account, you can now.  You should get an account though.....a google (gmail) account works, and the utility of Google docs, calendar, and gmail is mind-bogglingly high.  I highly recommend it.

Okay, that's the sort of business end of the blog's new look and hopefully developing feel.  

So where am I now?  

Physically, the McCreight Lab in the basement of the Gault Library, in Wooster.  I installed the computers here, so I feel like I have a bit of a tie to them.  It's usually really full at night, so I don't get to use the lab too often...but Thursday mornings are pretty quiet around here, and it's a nice lab for what I do Thursday mornings (which is, of course, this, right now, writing).  

Otherwise, I feel like something big is going to happen in my life soon.  I don't know what.  I just know I woke up with a sense of eager expectation that can only come from God, and I can't quite figure out for what... but I know I'm excited and I know something is afoot, as they say.  

I'm in the beginning stages of fund development right now.  Fund development might sound like a fancy way to say fund raising, but they are actually different.  Fund raising is more of a one time thing, for a specific, terminal goal.  Fund development is the long-term process of developing relationships for financial support in an ongoing ministry or mission.  I'm working on sorting out potential donors and writing letters right now.  Hopefully, next week, I can send out the first wave.  You might get one, depending on who you are.  Well, you probably won't get one next week, because the first wave will be churches, I think.  In any event, that's where that is.  It's a bit scary, feeling like I have to ask for my salary, essentially.  But that's not really how it works.  I'm raising support for the ministry of InterVarsity, and I work for InterVarsity, getting paid by them for what I do.  The money I raise, while it does end up in an account earmarked for me, is raised around the core commitments and mission of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and I'm asking people to partner with that mission as it is being played out at Hillsdale College.  Maybe that sounds semantic.  Maybe, just maybe, it is a bit semantic.  But in any event, the work of the Lord is a worthy cause on college campuses because, while it may sound cliched, college campuses are the locations through which the future leaders of the world and the Church pass, and ongoing ministry in that arena is key for the future and present spread of the gospel through the world and locally.  Developing Christian leadership, one of InterVarsity's biggest goals is key for the future relevance of the faith in society.  

And Hillsdale, where I'll be, is key in its own particular way.  God has a specific mission for the people that go through Hillsdale.  That's true of everywhere, but Hillsdale is unique because it is not uncommon for the graduates of Hillsdale to go on to important jobs in politics and leadership in the country.  Having the privilege to work with students that will become graduates and eventually shape world politics and policy is exciting.  It's really not about me though; God's vision is larger than my abilities, and he would work and move in a place as multiplicatively strategic as Hillsdale with or without me.  I stand in awe of his blessing to let me be even a small part in his work at so important a place.

-Zack

"Here it comes, a beautiful collision"

-David Crowder