October 2015 Newsletter

This Man and His Works
“And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’” –Luke 15:2

Observe the condescension of this fact. This Man, who towers above all other men, holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners--this Man receiveth sinners. This Man, who is no other than the eternal God, before whom angels veil their faces--this Man receiveth sinners. It needs an angel's tongue to describe such a mighty stoop of love. That any of us should be willing to seek after the lost is nothing wonderful--they are of our own race; but that he, the offended God, against whom the transgression has been committed, should take upon himself the form of a servant, and bear the sin of many, and should then be willing to receive the vilest of the vile, this is marvellous.

"This Man receiveth sinners"; not, however, that they may remain sinners, but he receives them that he may pardon their sins, justify their persons, cleanse their hearts by his purifying word, preserve their souls by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, and enable them to serve him, to show forth his praise, and to have communion with him. Into his heart's love he receives sinners, takes them from the dunghill, and wears them as jewels in his crown; plucks them as brands from the burning, and preserves them as costly monuments of his mercy. None are so precious in Jesus' sight as the sinners for whom he died. When Jesus receives sinners, he has not some out-of-doors reception place, no casual ward where he charitably entertains them as men do passing beggars, but he opens the golden gates of his royal heart, and receives the sinner right into himself--yea, he admits the humble penitent into personal union and makes him a member of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. There was never such a reception as this! This fact is still most sure this evening, he is still receiving sinners: would to God sinners would receive him.

-Charles Spurgeon, This Man and His Works

Cornerstone Updates
In late September, we had the privilege of taking approximately 60 students to the fall retreat this year! We went away to our usual camp in Roechester, PA: Suncrest Camp, a Christian and Missionary Alliance Camp. Here, CCO staff worker Heather Strong Moore spoke to us on Idolatry. It was a great, and interactive, talk series that not only convicted students, but me as well. The weekend consisted of activities, games, and, of course, the ever famous Chicken Taco Rice (CTR) meal. If you don’t know what CTR is, you should probably email me right away. Even though I got little sleep (as usual), I did not feel as worn out as I usually do. It was a fantastic weekend.

Meet the Students

Meet Zack Miller, a sophomore chemical engineering major from Brecksville, OH. Zack has been part of Cornerstone since orientation week his freshmen year, and now is a sophomore Bible Study leader on Freshmen Ministry Team. Read more about him…

1. What is your favorite childhood memory? My favorite thing from my childhood was every summer when I would go to camp at Ligonier Camp and Conference Center for one week or two weeks as I got older. Ligonier was an environment where people loved me and accepted me for who I was and loved me the way God called us to love one another. My time there was never boring and I have a thousand different stories I can tell from the weeks I’ve spent there.

2. What has been your involvement in Cornerstone? I knew coming into college that I wanted to be involved in a campus ministry and Cornerstone was that home for me. Right away I got involved in Bellefield by helping out with greeting on Sundays and assisting with their High School Youth group. As time has gone on, I have joined the leadership program by serving on the freshmen ministry team and assisting with the planning team’s area of mission as much as possible. I have yet to miss a Wednesday Cornerstone since starting at Pitt.

3. How has Cornerstone helped you during your years at Pitt? One thing I’ve learned growing up is that it is very important to find a good and God-centered community. The people at Cornerstone love me and I love them. Starting at college was hard at first because I was unaccustomed to the self-centered atmosphere that looms over almost any campus, but getting lunch with different members taught me how to overcome that and encouraged me to continue to focus on God despite all the distractions that college has to offer.

Financial Update

We took a little dip this month, but are still doing well! AS you can see from the chart, we made $3,176 which is 81% of where we need to be. All of your donations have been very helpful as we are working towards our raise. If you too would like to help this ministry, we are always looking for new supporters. This is what helps makes ministry possible by helping me get out on campus. Now that I have gotten a raise, this is more important than ever! If God leads you to do so, we would love for you to be a part of this ministry through gift and/or prayer. I am asking that my current supporters give an extra 10% on top of their usual giving. This will help to make up the difference from what I currently make and from my goal. Remember that any gift is a good gift. Please be in prayer that God will continue to build our support team and that we would be faithful in doing our part.

Moore News

It’s official: we now have three boys in school. Somewhat surprisingly, Asher did really well in his first week of school. There were a few tears from him…and me. When I asked if his teacher helped him quit crying, he replied, “No, I did. I had to stop myself.” That’s good, I guess. As I said in the previous newsletter that Asher is a social butterfly, and loves to talk. Luckily, he knows when to be quiet and we have received a good report from his teacher every single day! Ben and Josh seem to be doing really well also. It is fun for them to catch up with some friends they haven’t seen all summer.

Asher and Ben also celebrated birthdays in the past two months. Benjamin turned nine, and Asher turned six. I’ve always heard the cliché of how difficult it is to watch your kid’s grow older. It is only now that I am finding how true that is. It seems that in the blink of an eye, I was holding them as babies, and now they are nine and six! Don’t get me wrong, it has been an awesome experience, but just a tad too fast.

I hope all is well! Thanks and God bless!

In Christ,
Andy Moore

August 2015 Newsletter

Essay on Forgiveness
We say a great many things in church (and out of church too) without thinking of what we are saying. For instance, we say in the Creed “I believe in the forgiveness of sins.” I had been saying it for several years before I asked myself why it was in the Creed. At first sight it seems hardly worth putting in. “If one is a Christian,” I thought, “of course one believes in the forgiveness of sins. It goes without saying.” But the people who compiled the Creed apparently thought that this was a part of our belief which we needed to be reminded of every time we went to church. And I have begun to see that, as far as I am concerned, they were right. To believe in the forgiveness of sins is not nearly so easy as I thought. Real belief in it is the sort of thing that very easily slips away if we don’t keep on polishing it up.

We believe that God forgives us our sins; but also that He will not do so unless we forgive other people their sins against us. There is no doubt about the second part of this statement. It is in the Lord’s Prayer; was emphatically stated by our Lord. If you don’t forgive you will not be forgiven. No part of His teaching is clearer, and there are no exceptions to it. He doesn’t say that we are to forgive other people’s sins provided they are not too frightful, or provided there are extenuating circumstances, or anything of that sort. We are to forgive them all, however spiteful, however mean, however often they are repeated. If we don’t, we shall be forgiven none of our own.

-C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

Meet the Students

Meet Will Rabuse, a sophomore Biology major from Chesapeake, VA. Will, the son of a retired Navy Captain, and has made a home here in Pittsburgh. When you are around him, you can’t help but feel encouraged by his warm, caring personality. Read more about him…

1. What is your favorite childhood memory? My favorite childhood memory is relaxing on the beach and watching the jets fly over. I would also always love playing in the water with my brother, and sitting in the hot sand eating chips and cold PB&J’s.

2. What has been your involvement in Cornerstone? In Cornerstone, I was introduced to freshman bible study during the fall of my 1st year. After enjoying the bible study, and meeting many great people, I decided to start going to regular Cornerstone meetings on Wednesday nights. Here I got to know older students and started to become a part of the community. Following my familiarization with how Cornerstone worked, I volunteered to put my percussion skills to use and play drums in the worship band on Wednesday nights. I have now become part of the freshman ministry team and am preparing to work with fellow Cornerstone friends and welcome freshman to college and share/live the gospel with them.

3. How has Cornerstone helped you during your years at Pitt? Coming to PITT was different for me, because I was the only one here from my High School in Chesapeake, Virginia, and I also had no idea where to look to be involved in a community or place of worship together with others. It was an answered prayer from God that I looked across Fifth Avenue one day and saw a big “CORNERSTONE COLLEGE MINISTRY” sign at a Presbyterian church. This is the exact thing that I had prayed to find. It took me a while to adjust to the new environment of Pittsburgh, eight hours away from home, but I met some wonderful people who were just as interested in seeking the Lord and living like Jesus, just as much as I was. It also brought me to a realization that even in a secular place like college, there is still a way to be devoted to God and bring the joy of Jesus Christ to those that you meet and commune with.

Financial Update

It was a good month financially for us! Thank you all so much! AS you can see from the chart, we made $3,471 which is 89% of where we need to be. We thank you for upping your donations, new donors, and those who are praying for the ministry. This has all been very helpful as we are working towards our raise. If you too would like to help this ministry, we are always looking for new supporters. This is what helps makes ministry possible. Now that I have gotten a raise, this is more important than ever! If God leads you to do so, we would love for you to be a part of this ministry through gift and/or prayer. I am asking that my current supporters give an extra 10% on top of their usual giving. This will help to make up the difference from what I currently make and from my goal. Remember that any gift is a good gift. Please be in prayer that God will continue to build our support team and that we would be faithful in doing our part.

Moore News

With the start of the school year very rapidly approaching, it means things will be busier than ever. We will get to meet hundreds of new freshmen and their families, as well as welcome the veteran Cornerstone students back. It also means that my work week hours will double…for a week at least. Sometimes it’s hard to let summer go, but I am honestly excited for what is to come.

With a new college school year also come a new school year for my kids. Benjamin will be going into the third grade, Joshua will be going into the 2nd grade, and Asher will be (gasp) going into Kindergarten. Both Ben and Josh are excited to get back to school (as I am sure Emily is as well), and Asher is thrilled to be joining his big brothers at Fulton Academy. I asked him if he was afraid at all, and he responded, “A little bit. I’m afraid of not being with Mommy and you.” Asher is such a social butterfly that I am sure he will forget about us within a matter of minutes. We just pray that he will be able to not talk through all his classes.

Emily is preparing to be an “empty nester.” I’m sure it will be a hard adjustment for her, but a welcome one. She has done a great job preparing the boys for school that they all seem to have adjusted and excelled. Now she will be looking for part time work, which could also be another big adjustment. So please be in prayer for her with all of this transition.

I pray that this letter finds you well. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” –Philippians 4:7

In Christ,
Andy Moore

July 2015 Newsletter

Love Fulfills
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” –Galatians 5:22-23

We fulfill the Law through love; this is the sum and substance of the whole Law. And love is the very thing the Spirit creates in the life of the believer and in the believing community. Love is the chief of the Spirit’s fruits. We see love mentioned first in the list of the fruit of the Spirit. That’s not only to give love pride of place as the most important fruit but also to suggest that love itself is the summation of all the other fruit. Love contains the whole of all that God desires and require of us.

This is why Paul can say so confidently about the fruit of the Spirit, “Against such things there is no law.” The Law is not against the fruit of the Spirit; indeed, the fruit of the Spirit - love - is the very thing for which the Law itself calls. Thus the leading of the Spirit produces the fruit of the Spirit, which is the fulfillment of the Law and thus avoids its curses.

Love, then, ought to mark our lives as Christians. Indeed, love ought to be the hallmark of the Christian. We ought to be known by how we love one another – and the world. In fact, our love for one another is an indication of whether we are walking by the Spirit.

Love ought to mark the church as well. The church ought to be filled with the fruit of the Spirit. We ought to be like a garden, the garden of God, embodying the presence of the Spirit, recapturing the love that was present originally in the garden of Eden. And this garden-church ought to be filled with fruit, new creation fruit born of the Spirit of God within the lives of his people. Thus the church ought to be an oasis in the midst of a barren wasteland, a place of nourishment and rest and healing and life smack dab in the middle of this present evil age.

-Todd Wilson, Galatians: Gospel-Rooted Living

Meet the Students

Meet Zak Wool, a senior bioengineering major from Newark, Delaware. Zak had been in the ministry from his very first weeks at Pitt, and has been quite an asset ever since. One thing you need to know about Zak is that he is a great cook. Read more about him…

1. What is your favorite movie, book, and band/music? This question is hard to answer. Top movies would have to include the Lord of the Rings, The Dark Knight, and Sunshine. Books would also include the Lord of the Rings along with The Things They Carried, and the Hyperion Cantos. Most folk and classic rock appeals to my tastes.

2. What has been your involvement in Cornerstone? I got involved in Cornerstone the first month of my freshmen year when an awkward conversation with Andy at Bellefield brought me to the orientation week cookout. After attending freshmen bible study, I continued on to help lead it the following year. The past year and a half I've been co-leading Cornerstone's planning team which oversees the administrative aspects of Cornerstone's meetings and events.

3. How has Cornerstone helped you during your years at Pitt? Cornerstone was originally, like most freshmen, a place for me to meet others who shared my beliefs. Those initial relationships have been allowed to flourish and become some of the best friendships I’ve made. Such a community has allowed to me to grow into who I am compared to who I was out of high school. Learning to love myself and identify who I was in Christ has helped me mature not so much into a different person but into who I really was beneath the high walls I had put up.

Financial Update

Raising support for a pay raise has been slow but steady. We have taken a slight dip from the previous months support, however. You may have seen from the chart that our monthly is at $3096, 79% of where we need to be. Though there has been a dip, I am not discouraged, because I know that God provides. I am very thankful for that provision. I am also very thankful for all of you! It is because of all of you, I have been raising this support so I can minister to students like Zak, and see how God has worked in his life during his years at Pitt. It has been amazing watching Zak grow since our first “awkward conversation.” A large part of being able to do what I do has been through gracious supporters. If you would like to help this ministry, we are always looking for new supporters. This is what makes ministry possible. Now that I have gotten a raise, this is more important than ever! If God leads you to do so, we would love for you to be a part of this ministry through gift and/or prayer. I am asking that my current supporters give an extra 10% on top of their usual giving. This will help to make up the difference from what I currently make and from my goal. We trust for you and for us that God will provide. He always has, and He always will. Remember that any gift is a good gift. Please be in prayer that God will continue to build our support team and that we would be faithful in doing our part.

Moore News

Summer is quickly winding down. What was once a relaxing filled few months is becoming increasingly busy. This past month Benjamin and Joshua (Asher still isn’t old enough) got their first taste of camp when they visited Beulah Beach, a Christian and Missionary Alliance Camp in Vermilion, Ohio. Ben and Josh did the Explore Camp part of Beulah Beach, designed specifically for younger kids to have their first overnight camp experience. The camp provides activities, games, music and also provided an opportunity for Ben and Josh to explore the active, relational, and spiritual value of being at a Christian camp away from parents. They had an absolute blast. In fact, the first thing Benjamin said to me when we went to pick him up was, “Can we stay?”

Those three days of camp where not their only days of camp, however. A week later, the whole family (including my parents, sister, brother-in-law, and four nephews) went back to Beulah Beach for family camp. We had time, both as a family and in specific age groups, to learn more about God and enjoy the area around Lake Erie. It was a wonderful (and tiring) five days that our whole family not only enjoyed, but bonded over. It looks like this might become our new family vacation.

A week after family camp, we celebrated my mom’s 60th birthday in Pittsburgh. We had an absolute blast celebrating with our entire family. She’s a very special lady whom I am extremely proud of and thankful for.

I pray that this letter find you well, and that God is doing amazing things through you!

In Christ,
Andy Moore

June 2015 Newsletter

Creative Service
“And why are you anxious about clothing? 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.” –Matthew 6:28-29

Jesus commands us not to be anxious about our needs, so then why do we toil? Merely to tend our bodies, or also to shape our souls? In giving us work, God invites us to blend the creativity of our minds with the labor of our bodies, and then to share the products of this work with one another in free exchange —to make real our communal nature, our gift nature, through our personal callings. We must never see our work as simply a way to gain. We must never see our labor as an impersonal force of efficiency. We must never see our work merely as a mechanism we might control with levers and switches of power.

In all our work together, what we call the economy, that’s not a machine either. Work is always personal, because work is always relational. Whether you’re a janitor, a CEO, or a programmer, work is a creative service. So let us cherish our work as the glorious gift it is: the opportunity to join with others - literally millions of others - in a divine project of vast creativity, vast abundance, for the meeting of needs, for the flourishing of cities, for the life of the world.

Let us see every product, every purchase for what it is: a touch point, a nexus of millions of relationships. At every moment you are surrounded with the fruit of a great and gracious collaboration. At every moment you are being reminded that you are not alone…and you were never meant to be.

-Evan Koons, For the Life of the World

Cornerstone Update
It is the end of another school year. This means that things slow down quite a bit for me. There are less students hanging out at the church, which makes things much more quiet, and my workload becomes much easier. The church, during the weekdays, becomes a bit of a Ghost Town.

It is not all relaxation time, however. During the summer, as you may remember, we have our weekly meeting called Common Ground. Common Ground is a large group fellowship where students from various Pittsburgh campuses and Christian student groups merge for a summer ministry sponsored by the CCO. This year we are meeting at Bellefield, and doing a video series called For the Life of the World. For the Life of the World (see “Creative Service” above) is an entertaining film series that explores the deeper meaning of Salvation. It should be a great time.

Elsewhere, in Erie, PA, we have four students involved in the Ocean City Beach Project (OCBP). I know what you are thinking, “Shouldn’t they be in Ocean City?” They should, but due to unforeseen, and quick, circumstances, they had to relocate to Erie. So now I guess you could call it the, LELP (Lake Erie Lake Project). Anyways, OCBP is a summer-long community living opportunity for Christian college students to develop further as campus leaders. The Project provides the opportunity for students to grow personally in faith and to develop a deeper vision for life. The students going are Jeff Schallick, Katie McNeily, Nicole Russo, and Heather Day. Please be in prayer for them.

Meet the Students

Meet Sarah Lewkowicz, a student of the Cornerstone ministry and native of Pittsburgh. Sarah has been a staple within Cornerstone for a few years, and has a wonderful, warming personality. Read more about her:

1. What is your favorite movie, book, and band/music? My favorite movie is The Secret Garden, and has been since childhood. My favorite book would have to be either Wicked or The Scarlet Letter. And my favorite band currently is Florence and the Machine, though depending on the day I could switch to any of the 70 different CDs in my car.

2. What has been your involvement in Cornerstone? I have been involved in Cornerstone since my "freshman" year, or my one semester of college in the fall of 2011. After getting talked into going to FMT (Freshman Ministry Team) towards the end of the semester, I finally felt loved and appreciated, and wanted to give back to the community. I was on FMT the next year, and then one of the worship leaders two years later. I am currently one of the Planning Team leaders for Cornerstone.

3. How has Cornerstone helped you during your college years? In the past four years, Cornerstone has given me so much. The community helped pull me out of a deep depression my freshman year, teaching me about God's love and grace, which allowed me to believe that I could be a better self. The biggest, and most recent, moment that Cornerstone has allowed me to experience was my decision to move to Arizona. Every year, Cornerstone sends a mission team to an emergency Foster Care home on the Navajo reservation out west. After four years of spending a week there, God spoke to me while at Jubilee Conference with Cornerstone, kicking me in the pants and encouraging me to follow my call to work at NAOMI house full time. I can only hope to share the love that has been shown to me from the students and the staff of Cornerstone.

Financial Update

You may have seen from the chart that our monthly is at $3346, 85% of where we need to be. There has been so much to be thankful for. I thank God for his love and provision. I thank every single one of you for reflecting those Christ-like qualities. It is because of all of you, I have been raising this support so I can minister to students like Sarah, and see how God has worked in her life during his years at Pitt. Working with College students, and seeing God transform them, is a true blessing and I thank God every day for this opportunity. If you would like to help this ministry, we are always looking for new supporters. This is what makes ministry possible. Now that I have gotten a raise, this is more important than ever! If God leads you to do so, we would love for you to be a part of this ministry through gift and/or prayer. I am asking that my current supporters give an extra 10% on top of their usual giving. This will help to make up the difference from what I currently make and from my goal. We trust for you and for us that God will provide. He always has, and He always will. Remember that any gift is a good gift. We thank you, and may God bless you richly because you have given to advance His kingdom! Please be in prayer that God will continue to build our support team and that we would be faithful in doing our part.

Moore News

Well, our Little League season if officially over, and we had quite a run in the playoffs. After having a pretty rough year, we went into the playoffs as the 4 seed in our division. That sounds good off the bat (pun intended), but there are only five teams in our division. The first game we played was against the fifth seed Angels, whom we had beat twice this year already. After a hard fought game, we eventually prevailed. Next we had to play the one seed Indians who destroyed us this year. Everything that could have gone right went right in that game, and we mercy ruled them 11-1 advancing to the semifinals. Benjamin and Joshua both had phenomenal years and were some of the best players on the team…which made it really hard when we (our family) couldn’t make it to the semifinals due to vacation. The Mariners went on to lose 9-7 in the semifinals in a hard fought game. Benjamin finished the year with a team high .895 batting average and totaled 51 hits in 57 at bats, and got an All-Star nod. Josh did really well for the year batting .684 and leading the team in doubles. I couldn’t be more proud of them, or this team.

As you may have read in paragraph above, we did go on a very short vacation to Colorado. We usually spend a few weeks out there, but this time we only spent five days. Nine if you include driving days. The boys got to spend time with Grandpa on the farm, and Emily got to spend a lot of time with her sisters. We even got to go to the Wild Animal Sanctuary and the Denver Museum as well. My only complaint is that it wasn’t long enough.

We pray that God is using you for the expansion of his kingdom, and that you are growing in him daily! God Bless!

In Christ,
Andy Moore

May 2015 Newsletter

The Heart
“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.” –Exodus 20:4

Children often have a tendency to emulate traits or mannerisms of their parents. My sons have picked up one of my traits that I can’t stand, and that I wish they hadn’t: obsession. I, like so many people, suffer from obsession. I easily fixate on things, and it often takes over part (or a good majority of) my life. My kids obsess as well.

The other day I was talking to my boys about obsession, and the problems it holds. I quoted Blaise Pascal’s famous quote to them, “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.” I explained that trying to fill this God shaped hole with things other than God was like trying to fit a square block into a round hole; you might be able to cram it into there, but it does not belong.

John Calvin once said that our heart was a “perpetual factory of idols.” The more I have examined my own heart, and seen my personality reflected in my kids, the more I realize just how right Calvin is. We were all made to worship God weather we realize it or not. I believe it is engrained in us since birth. The problem is that we have been filling that God shaped vacuum with things that do not belong there. We cram idols into that hole again and again and again. We all worship something.

You can probably guess that when I was talking to my kids, I was actually talking to myself. That is why the Gospel is so important to hear, even if you have heard it a million times. Hearing the words of Christ’s death and resurrection refocuses our heart and helps us do some “spring cleaning,” preparing our hearts for the only one is truly worthy of worship.

Meet the Students

Meet Julianna “Jules” Saviola, a Junior Industrial Engineering student from Olney, MD. Jules is one of the prayer team leaders whom I oversee. Her energy and organizational skills bring a lot to the team. Read more about her:

1. What is your favorite movie, book, and band/music? Some of my favorite movies are You've Got Mail, Pride and Prejudice, The Bourne Trilogy, and the Underworld series; which seems like a weird list but they're my favorite in their different genres. One of my favorite books is The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli. My favorite band is The Fray, but I also like most types of music.

2. What has been your involvement in Cornerstone? So my freshman year I didn't go too often to Cornerstone in the fall because of a night class recitation I had, but I went to Freshman Bible study. In the spring I started going more and participated in a Bible study. I wasn't on leadership for the first half of my sophomore year, but now I'm on Prayer Team, co-leading with Nick Lotz.

3. How has Cornerstone helped you during your years at Pitt? Being a part of the Cornerstone community has really been helpful with my mindset throughout the school year and how I have prioritized my life. Consistently being with other Christians at least three times a week: Sunday Church, Cornerstone, and Bible studies help me to constantly refocus towards God more and pull me out of the 'school is only thing that I can give time to' idea. It also has shown, with the help of older friends of mine, that in my college experience yes, sometimes you will hate almost everything and will feel burnt out but you're allowed to feel that way if are also willing to acknowledge that these waves of loathing school and doubting everything are temporary. That God has lead you, or in some cases dragged you like a child throwing a tantrum, to this point and will keep making sure you will end up where you're supposed to be.

Financial Update

For the past four months, we have included a financial ask letter to go along with our newsletter where we asked you to “tithe your tax return.” We thank everyone who responded, going above and beyond anything what you may have felt comfortable doing. We are so overwhelmed at your kindness, selflessness and generosity that we are at a loss for words. It seems that all too often that we step out in faith financially, and (admittedly) expect little in return. I am glad that I am wrong! Thank you all for making everything possible!

Our financial journey is not over, however. For the first time in approximately four years, we are receiving a raise of an extra $300 a month. It is hard receiving a raise, mainly because the burden of raising the extra money falls on us asking you all for more help. We are stepping out in faith again, and knowing the God will provide financially. We could always use financial help, and if you are interested in supporting this ministry (or giving extra), I would love to meet with you. Please contact me using the information on the front of this newsletter or email me at amoore@ccojubilee.org.

Moore News

Baseball season is in full swing (pun intended), as I continue to be the assistant coach for Ben and Josh’s team. After some early struggles, mainly with fielding, our team is finally coming around. Benjamin has been our team MVP. His fielding is outstanding, but his batting is even better as he is hitting close to .900. That’s right, .900! What Benjamin lacks in athleticism, he makes up for with intelligence. He knows how to choose pitches, and where to place himself in the field. Joshua is just a pure athlete. He struggled getting used to a different pace of baseball, but now has adapted very nicely. He is batting .750 (remember that this is coach pitch), and has become quite the fielder. His arm is a force to be reckoned with, and when he gets hold of a ball it soars. Of course I say all of these things as a doting and biased father. I can’t wait to teach Asher all of these things!

While baseball has been all that Josh and Ben have been up to, Asher has been busy with soccer. Asher is way more of a homebody than the other two, so it’s good to see him get out of the house and do something athletically. It’s hard to gauge how good he is, because it just depends on his motivation for the day. He seems to have an interest in both soccer and baseball, so I can’t wait to see him really get into them.

Emily is preparing for the transition with all three boys back at home as the school year starts to come to a close. She is still continuing to work for AYPT (Auctions Your Possessions Today) as well as manage our household. Both of us participated in the Pittsburgh Marathon relay earlier in the month. She ran 6.4 miles, and I ran 6.2. It was a really fun activity that we got to participate in together. She has been a great equalizer for me, and I am very thankful for her.

We pray that this Newsletter finds you well! God Bless!

In Christ,
Andy Moore

April 2015 Newsletter

The Challenge of Narcissism
The New Age Movement calls us to look inside ourselves, to explore ourselves, for the solution to our problem is within. We do not need a savior to come to us from somewhere else; we can be our own savior. Unfortunately, some of this teaching has permeated the church, with some Christians urging that we must not only love God and our neighbor, but we must also love ourselves. But no, this is surely a mistake for three reasons. First, Jesus spoke of “the first and great commandment” and of “the second,” but did not mention a third. Second, self-love is one of the signs of the last days (2 Timothy 3:2). Third, the meaning of agape love is the sacrifice of oneself in the service of others. Sacrificing oneself in the service of oneself is clearly nonsense.

What then should our attitude be to ourselves? It is a combination of self-affirmation and self-denial – affirming everything in us that comes to us from our creation and redemption, and denying everything that can be traced to the Fall.

It is a great relief to turn away from an unhealthy preoccupation with oneself to the healthy commandments of God (united and reinforced by Jesus), to love God with our whole being and to love our neighbor as ourselves. For God intends his church to be a community of love, a worshipping and serving community.

Everybody knows that love is the greatest thing in the world, and Christians know why. It is because God is love. The thirteenth-century Spanish courtier Raymond Lull wrote that “he who loves not, lives not.” For living is loving, and without love the human personality disintegrates. That is why everybody is looking for the authentic relationships of love.

-John Stott, The Radical Disciple

Cornerstone Update
It is here: the last month of the school year. That’s right; graduation is in a few weeks (April 26th). To be cliché, it has flown by. I shouldn’t be surprised at how fast the semester has gone, yet I always am. As soon as spring break ends…BOOM…it’s finals week. That means that the last Cornerstone will be “Senior Share,” a special Cornerstone in which the seniors share memories and give advice. That means that Pancake Study Break is coming up, an event in which we hand out all-you-can-eat, free pancakes for students who need a break from studying. That means that our annual kickball cookout is coming up, where we dine on the best hot dogs you will ever eat and play a rousing game of kickball. That means that the senior breakfast is coming up, where we get to dine with seniors and their families. That means graduation, which always brings large changes in our ministry. We prepare and mourn as Seniors graduate, and prepare and celebrate as we receive new freshmen into our ministry. It is the cyclical life of being a campus minister; a roller coaster of emotions. And I would not trade it for anything. I have been doing this job for eight(!) years, and I still fall in love with what God has called me to each and every year. For that, and for the students God has put me in contact with, I am truly blessed.

Meet the Students

Meet Steph Diewald, a sophomore, Communication Science and Disorders major from Downingtown, PA. Steph has been a part of Cornerstone since her first week at Pitt. Read more about her:

1. What is your favorite movie, book, and band/music? My favorite movies of all time are really The Little Rascals and High School Musical, but when I’m in mature company, I say When Harry Met Sally so as to not have the movie taste of a six year old. My favorite book is The Fault in Our Stars. (Fun fact: I got to be an extra in the movie, and made the cut for about 0.2 seconds as I walk across the screen holding a cup of coffee!!) My favorite music is 90’s rock, specifically Matchbox Twenty and The Goo Goo Dolls. Anything with an acoustic guitar is always good. Also Taylor Swift.

2. What has been your involvement in Cornerstone? I started actively coming to Cornerstone events at the very beginning of my freshman year, and was given the opportunity to be on the Freshman Ministry Team starting in the spring of freshman year. Now I co-lead a small group bible study, which was slightly intimidating at first, but is now a really beautiful opportunity for me each week to be in smaller community with about 12 other girls, where we’ve been going through the book of Galatians and just talking about our lives (with the occasional trek to SkyZone or the Milkshake Factory).

3. How has Cornerstone helped you during your years at Pitt? It overwhelms me in the coolest way to think about the impact my experience in Cornerstone has had on my life and my relationship with God. To find such a close-knit, delightfully weird, and loving community at a critical time in my life has been the biggest blessing by providing me with an outlet for all of my faith questions, as well as peers and mentors who both encourage and challenge me as I discover more and more my need for a Savior. I find myself increasingly in awe of God’s gift of grace as my understanding of God’s greatness grows and I come to realize my own shortcomings. It has been especially neat for me to be able to seek out ways to glorify God through Speech Pathology and my passion for language in general. As I go to my classes, I am constantly finding all sorts of ways that God is working in my field to care for His people. The intricate system that allows humans to communicate is so complex that we can’t even fully understand it yet. Communication is such a precious blessing that God has given many of us to allow us to support, learn, and be united with one another, and I am so grateful to have my Cornerstone community to urge me to find the ways that I can serve God in all aspects of my life and not just a designated, separate sphere of it.

Financial Update
Please read the following new pledge letter. Click on the link for the full picture, or on the picture itself. If you would like to donate, please use the information on the navigation bar or email me at amoore@ccojubilee.org.

Financial Pledge Full (Link)

Moore News

It is my favorite time of year: baseball season. Yes, I love watching the Pirates, but now that I am a father of older boys, I get to participate again! Luckily I’m blessed with three boys that have taken an interest in baseball and two of them (Benjamin and Joshua) are playing…and I get to help coach them. Both Ben and Josh are playing on the same team Benjamin played for last year (The Mariners), and both are doing really well. Granted, Joshua took a little bit more to adapt to a league higher than his previous league, but it did not take long. Both Ben and Josh are natural baseball players, and take instruction very well. It has been awesome watching them grow in my favorite sport!

Asher, we felt, was still a bit young to join a team, so he has joined soccer again. I was playing both soccer and baseball with him in the backyard, and was stunned at how much he has improved in both. He had some great foot skills and soccer, and was hitting everything in baseball!

Emily is adjusting to sport’s life again, but seems to love watching the boys play. She manages to juggle the three boys, work around my crazy schedule, stay active in the church, and manage a household all at once! No idea how she does it, but she is surely appreciated.

In Christ,
Andy Moore

March 2015 Newsletter

Jubilee Testimony

Meet Kati Lynn Davis, a junior English writing major from Oxford, PA. Kati Lynn transferred this year from Deleware County Community College and has been a part of Cornerstone since her first day’s at Pitt. Read about her experience at the Jubilee conference…

I joined Cornerstone when I transferred to Pitt this fall, and I can honestly say not a week went by that I didn’t hear the word “Jubilee” at least once. Everyone I know has been talking about this thing since I got here and raving about how amazing it is, how it helped them reconnect with God, how it changed their lives, etc. I wanted to be as excited about it as they were, but to be honest, I had my doubts about going. I was afraid that I would get my expectations up for Jubilee just to be let down; that I would maybe experience the spiritual high during the conference, but then come back to campus and go through the spiritual crash and burn afterwards. I found myself thinking “What if I come back from this conference and my life is exactly the same? What if I don’t have that moment where God speaks to my heart and suddenly I transform into a whole new person? What if ‘this changes everything’ isn’t true for me?”

I’d like to say I did experience one of those big, mind-blowing God moments while I was there, but it wasn’t quite like that. It was more of a series of small moments that God used to chip away at my doubtful heart: moments that occurred during the worship and the large gatherings and the breakout sessions and even the time with friends in between. One moment in particular occurred during a session I attended Saturday morning called “Vocation and Creatives: A Call for Culture Shapers,” led by Bill Denzel. As an English Writing major who dreams of writing and publishing my own books, I’ve always struggled with the idea of glorifying God with my stories. I felt like being a Christian writer meant having to be the next Karen Kingsbury or Josh McDowell; in other words, I believed that I had to write specifically “Christian books” in order for God to be pleased with my work. I also felt that my dream of being a full-time writer was somewhat selfish because it’s not a service job (like a doctor or a teacher) where I would obviously be making a difference in people’s lives.

And then Bill said something that really hit me: our dreams come from the Holy Spirit. This small statement helped me to fully grasp the truth, and the truth is that God had a vision and a purpose in giving me my passion for telling stories. Bill used the examples of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, men with Christian worldviews who didn’t necessarily write “Christian” books, but did tell stories that point people towards truth, beauty, and goodness… stories that still have an impact on people’s lives today. Christian artists are important to God’s kingdom because we are helping to create the culture around us by imitating our Creator and making things that are true, beautiful, and good. During the session, Bill used a quote by St. Catherine of Vienna that struck me: “If you are what you are meant to be, you will set the world on fire.” God has given us His light, and He wants us to burn brightly no matter where we go and what we do in this life… and this really does change everything.

Spring Break Testimony

Meet Nick Lotz, a junior chemical engineering major from Nashville, TN. I have gotten to know Nick through our work together on the prayer team, but especially on the Habitat for Humanity spring break trip. See what he has to say about the trip…

In my faith I have struggled with choosing how to act on our call to service. I'd feel anxious about whether the avenues I chose for helping others were the right ones, and whether my own actions have really made a difference. When the options for the five Cornerstone spring break trips were first presented, I spent several days wrestling with indecision. Ultimately, the realization that so many families lack a safe and stable home even in a country as wealthy as ours called me to travel and work with Habitat for Humanity in Florida.

On Saturday, March 7, twenty members of Cornerstone and Panther Habitat set out for sunny Clay County, FL. Right off the bat, I noticed incredible dedication from everyone in the organization. A local church in Charlotte provided us with meals and accommodations during our travel. Clay County Habitat board members and other members of the community donated their time and resources to make us feel welcome as we spent the week renovating and repairing homes. I met and worked with several amazing, kindhearted people with whom Habitat has served and partnered. Some of these wonderful folks include Pam, who brought us lunch on our first workday; Wanda, a school cook and grandmother; and Austin, a fourth grader who loves math and his gold Velcro sneakers. I also connected with some of the most hardworking yet fun-loving Pitt students I have ever met, and our constant laughter could be heard whether we were sweating at a build site or relaxing our sore muscles at the beach.

Like other times I've volunteered, I first wondered if I chose the right trip and if God called me to the right place. I truly believe He had. Helping others through physically building them homes was fun, fulfilling, and also sobering. The tremendous need still present in communities across the nation is enough to make one cynical and discouraged. However, Habitat is an incredible organization that provides tremendous support for those in need of a home, and those Habitat helps often reciprocate by becoming volunteers themselves. Throughout our time in Florida, our hosts continuously expressed how grateful they were for our help. Having now returned home, I likewise feel immense gratitude toward the new friends I made, and to God for helping me grow and reframe my perspective toward service. Jesus stated in Matthew 25:40 that “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters, you did for me.” What was previously a source of self-accomplishment is now a means to better serve Him through serving others. It was a trip I’ll never forget, and is one I can’t wait to make again next spring.

As you now know I took over as the advisor for the Pitt Habitat for Humanity. This role has given me the unique opportunity to meet and work with students. One such opportunity was taking part in this amazing Spring Break trip to Orange Park, Florida to help work on houses with nineteen students, including Nick. The trip costs $300 and I have raised half of that with $150. I would like for you to prayerfully consider supporting me in this endeavor, so I can raise the other $150. The expenses included transportation, housing, and food for the week. If you are able and willing, I’m asking for your support or help to cover trip expenses. I realize that some of you already support me and I am thankful. So, I am asking that you to pray about giving an extra $10-$50 on top of your usual contribution. If you would like to help support me on this trip, please make a separate check out to:

Bellefield Presbyterian Church
Attn: Habitat Trip
4001 Fifth Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pa 15213

Financial Update
Please read the following new pledge letter. Click on the link for the full picture, or on the picture itself. If you would like to donate, please use the information on the navigation bar or email me at amoore@ccojubilee.org.

Financial Pledge Full (Link)

Moore News

It seems that the family managed well without me over Spring Break. In fact, they were rather busy. Joshua and Benjamin will both be playing baseball again this year. The difference is that they will be in the same league and on the same team, The Mariners. Joshua had is evaluation (try out), and nailed it making a spectacular catch in the process. I even heard one of the coaches whisper to another coach, “Best swing yet.” Yes, I am a doting, proud father…and a really good eavesdropper. Joshua and Benjamin together should be quite the dynamic duo.

Asher remains his sweet loving self, and is quite the comedian. He constantly has us laughing, and sometimes he isn’t even trying to be funny. His personality is truly contagious…and I think he knows that. He is the perfect mixture of extravert and introvert. Needless to say, he constantly keeps us entertained. I often wonder how Emily will be when he goes off to school in the fall.

Emily has been truly busy, and has started a part time job with our neighbor Doug Graham at an auction company called AYP Today (Auction Your Possessions Today). She seems to really enjoy it so far, and has seamlessly eased her way back into the working world. I honestly don’t know how she does all that she does.

We thank you so much for your time, support, and love! We pray that you constantly look to our Lord Jesus Christ for everything!

In Christ,
Andy Moore