Alger Park & The Loft

Often times we associate the presence of the Holy Spirit with feelings. Some groups of Christians go as far as to say that unless someone is dancing or speaking tongues or barking like a dog, the Spirit didn't show up. Well that is horse pucky and, by far, not scriptural at all. There are no accounts other than Acts 2 that anything like that remotely happened in the New Testament.

Regardless of the that, Jer and my worship experience this past weekend was definitely Spirit filled. The incredible thing is that our experience came within a great contrast of styles. We went to Alger Park Christian Reformed Church in the morning and The Loft at Calvin College at night. Both are completely different in their style, but quite the same in the focus. And therein lies the crux of it all.

The Holy Spirit showed up at both services. In the morning there was a wonderful sense of being part of a greater family of God. The pastor's sermon was right on. Even Jeremy commented about how awesome it was. While the style was somewhat conservative -- organ, piano and choir -- the people were pleasant and there was a real sense that God was at work there by His Spirit.

The same was true at The Loft -- a college student led service. It was very contemporary in style and participatory. We came and laid the things that seperate our nearness to God at the cross in the center of the auditorium. The auditorium was filled with about 200-300 students all praising God with a sense of passion and earnesty. Dale Cooper, the Calvin College chaplain and speaker, gave a solidly biblical message that did not mince words, wasn't fluffy, but rather deep in content. The students were clearly eating it up. It was powerful and visibly emotion-filled.

All I can say is PRAISE THE LORD for both services. It's not about style. It's about the people's obedience and openness to the Spirits moving. Once again it is an affirmation that God meets us where we are at.

Miss you all.

'til next time.

Made It Through the First Week

Whoa!
I made it through my first week at Calvin Seminary. We finally got Elise Willet's box to her. Lot's of goodies. Jer and I had considered emptying the girl scout cookie boxes first so she'd freak out when we gave them to her. We thought of leaving the cookies in the van so she wouldn't be too dismayed. But, alas, we're just too nice.

Lot's of reading; 60 pages here, 45 pages there, then a report, more 50 pages of reading.... etc. I'm glad I got those reading glasses. The courses are good though; Philosophy for understanding theology, Pastoral Care and counseling, and church history in North America. So far it looks like it will be pretty good.

I am in choir -- don't laugh. I had a chance to play with the chapel praise team this week which was cool. Some awesome musicians even though Calvin Sem is a pretty conservative group (generally speaking). I was told that a few naysayers were conspicuously missing. Oh well.

I'm still waiting for Alger Park CRChurch to get back to me about a second interview for a part-time position there. I met the pastor who said the committee is being frustratingly slow and methodical. Patience is the key here, I guess. Jer and I are going back to church there tomorrow hoping to touch base with someone from the committee to see what's happening.

I'm so excited that Freda is coming next week. Her parents are flying her out here so we can all drive to Ontario for her dad's 70th birthday. It'll be fun.

Jeremy and I are a bit bummed about not being able to see Nate's play, "West Side Story" at Mesa State. I've heard that it is really great. I'm so proud of Nate.

We miss everyone very much.

Blessings to you all this weekend.

'til next time.

Settling-In In Grand Rapids

For all our friends and family….. Jeremy and I made it to GR just fine. The weather was great and the company even better. Jeremy and I had some real heart to hearts and wonderful conversations about God’s faithfulness. I am so excited how God is working in Jer’s life after all the struggles he’s been through this past year.

We are staying with Ron and Mary Boes. They have a cozy basement apartment with a kitchenette and some shared space. It works perfect for us. The Boes are amazing people who live such a vibrant Christian life. They love the Lord and it oozes from every pore. We have great conversation and share the odd meal together. We praise God for them every day.

Jeremy and I have been spending large portions of the day at the seminary. Even though classes don’t start for me until March first, there has been plenty of paper work to fill out and things to get in order. We’re making new friends especially with the Korean students who we play foosball with. We can also access the Internet from the seminary too. That will be important for Jeremy when he starts his online high school courses. We have been exploring the city and finding the important places like the comic book store, used bookstores, the grocery store and some place with good coffee.

God has really been providing. As you can imagine, we are on a pretty tight budget, at least until the house sells. It so happened I had forgotten a pair of my jeans and some other clothing items. I prayed, “God I need the best sale around”. We walked into the mall and found an awesome store that had jeans on sale for $6.98. Whoa! Not only that, but everything in the store was that price. No joke. Shirts, pants, sweaters, coats – everything was $6.98. It’s a special store that has their brand made in India and Pakistan. They pay the people a good wage, and the savings get passed to the customers. People buy more and keep the manufacturers in business. Thanks God! I know it takes work out of the country, but, hey, some of us can’t afford it. We were in need of some more food and the seminary pantry had everything we needed for FREE.

Now our prayer is for the house to sell very soon and for Freda to join us here. We talk everyday and I can tell she is getting anxious. My prayer is that she will be here by the middle of March.

I had an interview at Alger Park Christian Reformed Church for the part-time position of Director of Adult Ministries. They are in need of someone to spearhead small groups and other ministries especially for adults ages 20-65. I am praying that I can get to the second round of interviews. I felt it went quite well. I will definitely need a part-time job while finishing seminary.

After attending a very traditional service at Alger Park CRC in the morning, we got our fix of contemporary in the evening at The Loft, a student led worship service on the Calvin College campus. It was amazing. I also got to see my niece who was visiting the campus from Ontario, Canada. Jeremy and I realized that even if I ended up getting a part-time ministry position at Alger Park, we could get our contemporary fix a The Loft.

I’m checking out the seminary choir and hope to find a place to play music and get involved in some contemporary worship music. I know I’ll just shrivel up if I can’t play and sing somewhere.

Thank you for the wonderful gift of financial support and all your prayers.

‘til next time.