Well Dear Friends,

The time is drawing near for me to go to leave Chicago and onto assignments and seasons the Lord has appointed for me. I’m very thankful for the support and the excitement of many beloved friends in these past few months praying and talking about going to seminary.

While I understand that many may not be able to say parting words to me in one way or another, I wanted to provide an avenue for anyone who wants to support me and “send me off to California” in way that imparts grace to you and to me.

So, without further adieu, here’s…

How you can send Phil to California with Your Blessings

  1. Pray for me
    I admit that I sometimes carry myself as someone who is “strong” or “passionate for the Lord”, but I’ve come to see the great grace of God in me as well as my gaping weaknesses. And so I ask for prayers because I know that I am weak and that I really really covet your prayers. Here’s my three of my most pressing needs:

    Pray for Unrelenting Devotion to Jesus
    I find that people are quick to forget the important things in life, and I am no different. I am sure that there will be no shortage of opportunities to sway me from these important things. What do I consider the absolute most important thing in life?

    I am convinced in this- that the highest aim of my life is to love Jesus with everything. More than doing well at seminary, more than excelling in my assignments from the Lord, more than having an anointed ministry, more than having great gifts and skills, more than having a family- all goals fall short of this goal- loving Jesus.

    And I covet your prayers for a unrelenting passion for the man Jesus, that his love would be my heartbeat, and that every decision would flow from love from him and love for him.

    Pray for Power in Living a Righteous Life
    I am deeply fearful of living a hypocritical life. I am deeply fearful of being one man at home and another at church. I am deeply fearful of being one man at the grocery store and another in front of the sheep. I am deeply fearful of being the object of failure in regards to immorality, adultery, and finances, the big three stumbling blocks I see in ministers of the Lord.

    And these things are dealt with in my pursuit to live a righteous and blameless life before Jesus Christ.

    You think I’m weak? You bet I am…

    So please pray that I can actually be like Jesus…

    A fruitful time in Seminary
    I have very little idea about what seminary and California is going to be like. I trust that it will be great. But I also know that there lies in me the responsibility to be a good and faithful steward of this time and place that the Lord has given me.

    So…

    Please pray for good study habits, great and abiding humility in me, grace to make deep and meaningful relationships, a focused and undistracted life, and yes, the resources to be able to continue going to school and living in expensive California!

  2. Keep up with me
    In case you haven’t noticed, I keep a frequently updated online presence. I won’t be having support letters or support emails, but I will be blogging and tweeting regularly about my life.  So…

    You can find my blog at this address: at phillipchan.org (note the domain change from phillipchan1.com)
    My twitter account is phillipchan2

And so if you do these things, I will feel very blessed in this small act of “sending Phil to California”. I’ll definitely be updating frequently and informing everyone what the Lord is doing around and in me.

Thank you,

Grace to you all.

Phil, a servant of Jesus