Presence Weekly 7/24
[Devo] Honest Reflections of A Ministry Resident
For my last hurrah, I would like to share with you all a little bit of what I have learned here in my time at Faithful Presence. I pray that something of what I have learned speaks to you.
When I first started out with Faithful Presence, about a year ago now, it was quite a culture shock for me. I had spent a significant amount of my energy in college ministering to the poor, underprivileged, and severely vulnerable. Then one day I wake up and I’m working for a ministry who ministers to some of the most powerful people in the world. I admit it, I was a little skeptical. It was easy for me to dismiss the folks working in Washington, especially the most powerful of them, to be the ones who had overlooked and neglected my vulnerable neighbors. Thus, perhaps one of the most substantial lessons I have learned here is that it is not that simple. I learned and sat with the struggles and fears that my brothers and sisters in Washington wrestle with and I saw that most of them have the best of intentions. I also saw where the Church had failed them and had left substantial and detrimental gaps in their discipleship as followers of Jesus. At the end of the day, what I learned was that these folks are exiles, like me, struggling to live out our faith in Jesus the best we can.
Perhaps the second most important lesson I learned was that God cares about vocation. In college, a lot was made of “big and little C callings.” Our “big C” calling applies to every Christian equally and is our collective call to love and serve Jesus and to carry out the Great Commission. Our “little c” callings are the vocations that each of us ends up in. And no matter what our “little c” calling ends up being, it is to work alongside our “big C” calling.
Theory and practice are two very different things…
Perhaps it is easy for an inner city teacher or the director of the local homeless shelter to feel like her job is fulfilling and honoring Jesus. But what about lobbyists, the Washington bureaucrat who does little else other than push paper, or the folks at the Pentagon who authorize destruction and death? These are real questions that our brothers and sisters are wrestling with, and the answers are not always straightforward and simple. And even still, God cares. God cares about you and about your work however complex or simple it is.
The last thing I would like to speak to is the theological conversations I have been tuned into. As it turns out, there are a number of people who really care and think deeply about the intersection of theology and economics, law, and politics. Being the theology nerd I am, I ate this stuff up, and am so very thankful for the opportunities to sit in the presence of the likes of Rev. Fleming Rutledge, Dr. Anthony Bradley, David French, and the one and only, Rev. Michael Langer. I hope to carry the crumbs of knowledge I have scavenged from them into seminary and beyond.
To God be the glory.
-Nichole Rittgers, Ministry Resident
Weekly Office - Daily Scripture
- Monday: Morning: 1 Samuel 14, II Corinthians 7, Psalms 61, 62// Evening: Nehemiah 2, John 2, Psalms 65, 67
- Tuesday: Morning: Mark 1:14-20, II Corinthians 8, Psalm 68: 1-18// Evening: Nehemiah 3, John 3: 1-21, Psalm 68: 19-36
- Wednesday: Morning: 1 Samuel 15, II Corinthians 9, Psalm 69: 1-18 // Evening: Nehemiah 4, John 3: 22-36, Psalm 69: 19-38
- Thursday: Morning: I Samuel 16, II Corinthians 10, Psalm 66// Evening: Nehemiah 5, John 4: 1-26, Psalms 70, 72
- Friday: Morning: I Samuel 17, II Corinthians 11, Psalm 71// Evening: Nehemiah 6, John 4:27-54, Psalm 73
- Saturday: Morning: I Samuel 18, II Corinthians 12: 1-13, Psalm 74// Evening: Nehemiah 8, John 5: 1-24, Psalm 77
- Sunday: Morning: 1 Samuel 19, II Corinthians 12: 14-13:14, Psalms 75, 76// Evening: Nehemiah 9, John 5: 25-47, Psalms 79,82
Faithful Prayer - Talking to Our Father
- Cabinet agency: Department of State and Secretary Antony Blinken in their mission to protect and promote U.S. security, prosperity, and democratic values and to shape an international environment in which all Americans can thrive.
- Think Tank, Lobby group, NGO: Urban Institute as they work towards their goal of opening minds, shaping decisions, and offering solutions through economic and social policy research.
- Weekly delegation: Florida State and House Delegation
- News events: For the millions impacted by the excessive heat that continues across the United States. On top of the immediate concerns for health, are the corollary impacts on infrastructure (energy grid, road repairs, and water supplies) and the financial costs associated with delivering the needed services.
- Personal requests: Michael is traveling to the Midwest for the next two weeks and asks for prayer for his dad, who is in assisted living and in the early stages of dementia and Parkinson's. He is also speaking this Sunday at the church their family planted in Iowa City.
On The Page - Articles
- This article by Robby Holt, Michael Rhodes, and Dr. Brian Fikkert on economics and idolatry.
- This essay by Dr. Diane Langberg on listening to God's voice and overcoming trauma.
- This New York Times piece by Rev. Tish Harrison Warren on the Apple TV show, Ted Lasso.
What's Happening - In Politics and Culture
- You can go see the comedic murder mystery, The Play That Goes Wrong at the Eisenhower Theatre through August 13th. Get tickets and more info here.
- On Wednesday, July 26, tune in online for a Brookings Institute event on the economics of college admissions.
Two Thumbs Up: Speak Now (Taylor's Version)
by Nichole Rittgers
For those of you who may be out of the loop with what’s going on with Taylor Swift, let me fill you in real quick. In order to reclaim her music (most of which is being held hostage by her old record label) she has been re-recording her old albums. When she releases these re-recordings, she also releases a few extra songs that she had recorded for that specific album but had cut them from the original set (these songs are called “vault songs” or “songs from the vault”). These re-released albums are called by their original names tagged in parentheses “Taylor’s Version.”
Her most recent release was Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) as of July 7th. The original album was released back in 2010. The original was released at a point of time in my life when I believed myself to be way too cool for Taylor Swift, so I never gave the album the appreciation it deserved. Needless to say, I am thankful for another opportunity to give it my proper attention.
Perhaps the thing that stands out the most about this album was the quality of the songs out of the vault. As for the vault songs for Red (Taylor’s Version) and Fearless (Taylors Version), you can kind of tell why they were cut from their original albums. But these newest songs out of the vault are absolute gold; the top four being “I Can See You,” “Foolish One,” “Timeless,” and “Electric Touch.” “Timeless” is a lyrical masterpiece, foreshadowing her later works in Folklore and Evermore. The other songs are strong lyrically but also just really fun bouncy songs that are great for singing along to in the car. Go give them a listen!
Last Things
Faithful Presence is beyond thankful for our Ministry Resident, Nichole Rittgers, who is leaving us this week to pursue seminary at the Asbury Theological Seminary campus in Tulsa. It's no surprise that God brings just the right people at just the right time and, as usual, the mutual blessing was beyond expectations.
Please keep her in your prayers as she transitions to seminary life.