If you have read my Newsletters in the past couple of years, you would know my kids are baseball crazy. Every morning they wake up, and it seems that the first thing that comes from their mouth is, “Did the Pirates Win? What was the score?” Crazy indeed. It has been awesome being able to be their “coach” and teach them the ins and outs of baseball. One thing that the boys love to do is hit. They are good at it too.
There are (basically) two different philosophies in baseball: the American and the Japanese. The American philosophy is all about the big hit, the homerun, or the splash play. It is about the individual player. Just take a look at ESPN’s highlights if you need further proof. The Japanese philosophy of baseball is much more noble and team based. It is about sacrifice and helping your teammate advance to win. It’s about hitting for the single. When it came to teaching the boys about baseball, I naturally gravitated toward the Japanese philosophy. I even came up with a little Q & A for the boys when they get up to bat and try to hit a homerun. It goes like this: I ask, “Why do we hit?” They respond, “To get on base or advance the runner.” I then ask, “What are homeruns?” They respond, “Just a bonus.”
I feel the same can be true of our Christian philosophy. If we asked someone, “Why are you a Christian?” I have a feeling the response of many would be, “To get to Heaven.” That is not an incorrect answer, nor a wrong answer, but I do not think that is the ultimate answer. The reason I am a Christian is not solely to get to Heaven. The reason I am a Christian is to have a relationship with my Creator that was only made possible through the relational reconciliation that came through the death and resurrection of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. After that, I want others to do likewise. Heaven is just a bonus.
Sometimes we get so focused on the end goal, the bonus, that we don’t focus on what is right in front of us. Soak in the goodness that comes through God’s redemption.
Bellefield and Cornerstone Update
Summer is quickly closing, and the Fall Semester is approaching. We have finished Common Ground, our summer bible study and program, and are now in the planning phase for the Fall Semester. To say that it is a busy time would be an understatement. Hours increase, and it feels that we are always busy doing something. Also, it is tiring. Would I trade it in a minute? Absolutely not. I love this time of year! It’s the time where I get to foster and build relationships. I absolutely thrive on meeting college students. Orientation week is my favorite week of the year! Please be in prayer for the incoming students.
Meet the Students
1. What is your favorite movie, book, and band/music? I don’t watch enough movies to know, because for some reason I believe that TV takes up less of my study time than movies (it doesn’t), but I love Arrested Development and Mad Men. My favorite books are the Harry Potter series, but I feel like I’m not allowed to say that as an adult (?). I love Crime and Punishment, and actually both of those stories played a pretty serious role in my spiritual development. For music, it varies, but there’s a steady, constant supply of Mumford and Sons.
2. What has been your involvement in Cornerstone? I started coming to Cornerstone the first week of freshman year, because I was homesick and it was across the street from my dorm, and the church has beautiful red doors. I didn’t immediately feel connected (I’m very introverted), but I just had a really intense visceral feeling that this was where I was going to belong for the next four years. I didn’t even check out any other ones. I’d had a bad relationship with the church since about age 14, but I knew I wanted Jesus and so I put in the face time knowing relationships would come. About the end of sophomore year I felt like this group was my spiritual home in a way I have never experienced. I applied for leadership the following year and I’ve been able to use my gifts in their very first roots, even when I didn’t think I was ready at all. I’ve come to adore Jesus more, and to care about people—and through them, the global church.
3. How has Cornerstone helped you during your years at Pitt? The Cornerstone staff have all provided me with space to talk. That’s a new thing for me, to feel like I can open up and not be judged, and not only that, but be asked my opinion about things. That sounds cliché, but it’s true and it’s changed my concept of myself and of “church leadership” as an institution I didn’t trust (and still struggle to trust). In the same way, the community of students is real. For example, I’ve felt my whole life that church is irredeemably sexist. But my relationships with flourishing, career-minded women who don’t compete with each other, and with caring men who treat me like an equal (what?), and listen to me speak (!?) and participate genuinely in platonic friendships, is transformative for my ability to trust. That’s just one example, but really, I would be an entirely different person had I not been part of Cornerstone for the last three years. It’s truly held me together in a rough period of life.
Financial Goal
Moore News
After that, Benjamin and Joshua start school again. Ben will be going into the second grade, and Josh will be going into first grade. Asher will not begin school this year, but we will enroll him in Kindergarten next year. It will be odd when there are no children in the house during the day.
We hope that this letter finds you well. God Bless.
In Christ,
Andy Moore
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