What if you spent an entire year living as Jesus did? Chances are you would like a lot like the person on your right. He is Dr. Ed Dobson, retired pastor of Calvary Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and author of the new book, The Year of Living like Jesus (Zondervan).

The self-confessed lover of bacon describes in vivid detail the agony of keeping kosher, a feat especially troublesome when eating out. Dobson encountered circumstances that were not only challenging but also surprising. A non-drinker, Dobson sometimes found himself in a bar consuming alcohol, discussing spiritual matters. “When you’re sipping a beer, it’s disarming,” he muses. After all, Jesus did consume alcohol. (read more)

This Spring semester is full of some awesome events! Learn the full scoop at our first Monday Fellowship Meeting on January 25th, Kimmel 905 @ 5:30-7pm.

A video slideshow to highlight the fun, learning and fellowship we had at our NYU Seed Fall Retreat on Oct 9-10th, 2009. Thank you, Lord, for blessing our retreat. Please use us as your instruments and prayer servants for NYU campus ministry!

What are they sorry for? Corporate fraud? The bad economy? Subway fare hikes? High tuition costs?

These placard-toting do-gooders in Washington Square Park are continually asked, “What are you sorry for?” In response, passers-by are quietly handed a card that reads, “Have you ever felt pushed away or like you didn’t fit in at church? As Christians, we are sorry. That was people, not Jesus.”

It’s an effective message that has touched many. About once a month, members of the The Awakening Church (www.theawakeningnyc.com) appear in the park to tell members of the community — atheists, agnostics, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Christians, old, young, every race, every class, those with tattoos and those without, essentially EVERYONE — that they are sorry if anyone has ever felt pushed away from the church.

And the members of the church do not claim to be morally superior or have all of the answers. “The Awakening Church is in the heart of The Village brining spiritual Truth through cultural relevance,” the card reads. “Jesus never candy-coated life and neither do we. We are spiritually messy people following a perfect Savior.”

No hidden messages — just a simple “We are sorry.”

The long-awaited PDF download of our Fall 2008 issue of Seed is now available!