How He Loves

I am a David Crowder Band fan...and I am really excited for their new album, Church Music. I've been listening to "How He Loves", and it has been a great blessing so I though I'd share it with you all.

This is probably my last blog of the summer. Looking forward to welcoming you to Calvin. Blessings!!!

change lives...

"If anyone is poor among your people in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need." Deuteronomy 15:8

What if you could make a difference in someone's life by lending them as little as $25? Who would you lend to? How would you find this person? Would you want to know what they did for a living? And what they would do with the money?

Kiva "lets you loan to the working poor, connecting people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty."

Become a lender and change lives...it may just change you...

I am a lender, will you join me today in changing lives?

Firsthand Faith

"The way to life - to God - is vigorous and requires total attention." (Matthew 7:14 MSG)

Often I have settled for someone else's description of God...looked for shortcuts to God...and my deficient view of God has often left me stranded, especially in times of crisis.

Glenn Packiam's book, Secondhand Jesus, has spoken to me this summer and challenged me in "trading rumors of God for a firsthand faith."

"God wants you to know Him, deeply and personally. But there are no shortcuts to God.

So often we too easily settle for someone else’s descriptions, the CliffsNotes from another’s spiritual journey. We are content to let “God experts” do the heavy lifting and then give us the bottom line. And after enough times through the grapevine, the truth about God deteriorates until crumbs and rumors are all that remain.

But when life derails, when things don’t go as we planned, our thinview of God is challenged. In those critical moments, we can choose to walkaway from God … or let our questions lead us home. When you decide to wrestle with God, to engage Him for yourself, you—like Jacob and Job and David and Glenn—will see rumors die and revelation come alive.

It’s time to hear the magnificent divine invitation. It’s time to take God up on His offer and embrace the mystery and majesty of knowing Him for yourself." - http://www.glennpackiam.com/books.jsp

As you begin your journey at Calvin, I hope that you will yearn for a firsthand faith. Add Secondhand Jesus to your reading list this fall and engage God for yourself.

Paddles, Portages, and Pals

Tater, the seagull, may be gone, but he will live in my memory forever--as will the 10 students who ventured to Algonquin Canada for Wilderness Orientation. Between carrying canoes on our heads, peeling off leeches, fishing for clams, murdering mosquitoes, cheering on Savannah (the amateur cliff jumper) and laughing over sticks of sausage and melted cheese, we bonded to create a meaningful experience (and stronger biceps).

I wish I could spend everyday in the wilderness, sleeping under the stars, chatting around campfires, and perpetually smelling like camp smoke and sweat. (Although I would avoid the bugs and waves if possible!) What a great time in the backcountry-Eh!