Hope Force International is coming to State College.  Hope Force International is a Christian non-profit that prepares people to serve others in times of disaster and crisis.  When crisis such as the recent fires in LA take place Hope Force is on the scene using trained volunteers to help others.  Hope Force operates around the world, but in order to serve with them you must be trained by them.This is a great opportunity for anyone at Calvary, but especially for those already involved in medical or emergency service fields.

On October 15-17, Hope Force will be in State College training a new group of reservists.  This is a great opportunity to be trained for significant missions opportunities.

For more information on the organization click HOPE FORCE.

For more information on the local training event, see the video below.

If you would like to register for this training opportunity, please let me know.

There is a story told about three women who followed Jesus.  It was early Sunday morning, after Jesus had been crucified and laid in a tomb (a grave cave).  Mary, Joanna and Mary Magdalene sadly, slowly make their way through the deserted cemetary.  Jesus was their friend, their leader, their hero.  Now they have come to prepare his body for an eternity in a tomb –they are first century amateur morticians.  They speak quietly amongst  themselves as they wind their way around one hill and then another till they come to the tomb.  Empty tomb — Jesus wasn’t there.  Totally unexpected, world-changing, heart-shaping, paradigm breaking stuff — resurrection had taken place.

But God did not leave them in this confusion state.  He sent an angel to ask them a question.  (I’m thinking it would have been better to send an angel to give them an answer.  But God loves to ask us questions.)  The angel (which literally means messenger) asked, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”  Why are you looking for Jesus in a cemetery?  Which by the way, I don’t know if you ever noticed it but Jesus has this way of messing up cemeteries.

What an incredible question, don’t you think?  It was incredible Read more…

t happened in Washington D.C. but don’t be fooled, it could have happened anywhere.  Beautiful music was played and no one listened.  A young man walked into the Metro station, long-sleeved t-shirt, Washington Nationals baseball cap.  He pulled a violin out of his case and began to play.  He started with Bach’s “Chaconne” then moved to Schubert’s “Ave Maria.”  He played six pieces total — ending with a reprise of “Chaconne” one of the greatest classical pieces of all time.  He played exactly 43 minutes.

In 43 minutes exactly 1097 people passed by the musician with his violin.  It took 3 minutes and 63 people before someone actually looked at the violinist.  He didn’t stop to listen, but he did look.  30 seconds later, someone dropped a buck in the open violin case.  It took 6 minutes before someone actually stopped, stood against the wall and listened.  In 43 minutes, only 7 people stopped for at least a minute.  27 people gave money totaling $32 and change.

Do the math, 1,070 people hurried by without listening, oblivious that three feet away from them Joshua Bell — one of the world’s greatest violinists — was playing some of the most Read more…

Ran across a great blog post from Tony Wood about the Stradivarius.  There Did you know that there are only about 700 Stradivarius violins left in the whole world — recent sales have gone for over 3 million dollars.  Each one was made by Antonio Stradivari between 1644 and 1737. 

I have an old fiddle from my great uncle Oscar.  I don’t think it’s worth much and no one has ever tried to copy it.  But did you know that thousands of hours and millions of dollars have been spent trying to replicate the tonal quality of the Strad.  Historians have searched for secret formulas.  Private companies have employed scientists.  But nobody has been able to crack the code.  No violins come close.  Some people suggest that the unique climate 300 years ago affected the quality of the wood Antonio used.  Others believe that he perfected a special varnish formula the shaped the tone.   With all the effort that has been put into replicating the Stradivarius sound — it hasn’t been done.

I love what Tony Wood has to say about this, Read more…

Umuryango means “family” in Kinyarwanda and umuryango is what this group of young men and boys have become to us at Calvary.  They started as street children, orphaned by the genocide, aids, and the economy of Rwanda and through the vision, passion and God-sized dreaming of Jean Paul and Yohani these children are finding family.

Calvary has helped to build them build a home, start a dairy farm, and love on the kids.  Many from our church family have made journey to hang out with that family and many more will go in the future, because to change the life of a child is to shape a generation for God.

If you would like to know more about Umuryango, come to Calvary (1250 University Drive) on Friday night, October 2nd at 8pm.  The premier of a locally inspired documentary will be shown.  Get a taste from the trailer below.

Seth Godin’s blog got me thinking about this topic today.  Here is what he had to say…

Jon Ortberg tells about a woman in Atlanta, the friend of a friend.   All her life, she had been a Christian, grew up in church, but at some point she felt like too much of her life revolved around what she did at church.   She was feeling isolated from people outside the church.  She was feeling a little too religious.  So she decided to get a degree in counseling.  She started a psychology degree at a secular university.

In one of her classes, the students were given the assignment:  “Go and hang out with people whom you fear the most.”  Now, if you were given that assignment, who would come to your mind, what group would you choose?  For her, the answer was people who are gay.  That was the group that made her feel anxious, the most uncomfortable and she realized, “I can’t bless people if I’m afraid of them, so I need to go and spend time with folks who are gay.”  Probably a good thing for many Christians to do — not fear gays, but build some relationships with people you fear.

I’m not really sure who I would choose — maybe mimes, I have to be honest they kind of unnerve me. Sorry if you are a mime, maybe we could have lunch.  :)  Anyway here is the part that struck my heart like a hammer.  In that psychology class, the Number One answer to the question, “What group of people do you fear most?” was Christians.  Forty percent of the students in that class, when asked,  Who are you most afraid to hang around with? said,  “People who are Christians.”

Do you hear that?  If our mission is to show people the heart of God, Read more…

I’ve been thinking about branding the last few days.  Wikipedia’s opening line equates a brand with the name or trademark connected with a product or producer.   But what I’ve been thinking about is less the naming or trademarking part of branding and more what some would call the “brand experience.”  In other words we understand that the Nike swoosh stands for something more than just athletic shoes…it stands for getting off your behind and getting it done.  “Just Do It.”

Branding is not just about a creative logo or tagline, it’s more about our culture, our ethos, who we are and how we hope to be known.  At Calvary, our brand has something to do with building a church without walls and living life without walls, and I’m always thinking, what does that mean, how does that look — who are we and how do we want to be known.

I’ve been thinking about branding because I’m starting to work on a teaching series that will start in October.  I will be using the book unChristian as a framework and the life of Jesus as a foundation for the series.  It’s going to be called unChristian: confessions of a recovering church. The authors of the book describe what the next generation thinks about the church — in other words, Read more…

You may have heard that President Obama is going to talk to students next week, which to no surprise started a controversy.   Apparently Education Secretary Arne Duncan sent a letter to principals urging schools to tune in.  That got the other side going, words like indoctrination are being thrown about with great grandeur.  Districts in states including Texas, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Virginia and Wisconsin have decided not to show the speech to students. Others are still thinking it over or are letting parents have their kids opt out.

I’ll be honest.  I’m tired of watching Fox News and I quit watching CNN some time ago.  (Yes the order could give you some sense of my political heritage.)  It seems like it’s just so hard to find someone(s) who are able to discuss passionate issues with respectful humility.  I know they are out there, but they are not nearly as well heard as they should be.   Everyone is so passionately sure that they are right, and that being right matters so much, that the ends (name calling, anger, personal attacks, using smudged truth to uphold issues) justify the means.  And the reality is that this stuff comes from BOTH sides.  Neither party can hold onto righteous indignation long without looking ludicrous.

I think the thing that kills me the most is that followers of Jesus are caught up in the same stuff.

But I understand why this is happening — or at least Read more…

Yep, that’s me, walking a lonely North Carolina backroad in search of gas-salvation.  I did it again.  I ran out.  This time it happened on the way home from vacation.  I mean usually we go on vacation because we have run out of gas (metaphorically speaking), but I can run out of gas (literally speaking) almost anytime.  I have done it in many places over the course of my life.  It’s happened at home, blocks from home and states from home.  One time I had to coast down Pine Grove Mountain to get gas at the station at the intersection in Pine Grove Mills.   You might have passed me by when I ran out of gas in the turning lane on Atherton St. between Facia Luna and the Unimart.  This isn’t a new addiction — I’ve struggled with it since my youth.  I suspect that someday when I’m 80 you might find me walking down a country road with a cane in one hand and a gas can in the other.

The most recent point of gas failure took place on a road in North Carolina.  I knew we were low.  I could tell because the little pointer thing had been on “e” for about a half hour.  I had passed by at least 2 or 3 gas stations while it was on “e” and as I passed one of them, Lynn asked me when I was going to get gas.

But I waited.  I thought I could make it to the next major intersection, “the gas will be cheaper there I told myself.”  Almost made it too — six miles short.  I felt it before I heard it — that sputtering feeling that indicates the car no longer has what it needs to keep going.  “Oh crud,” I thought.  “What?”  Lynn said.  “Oops” I thought “did I say that outloud?”  Lynn pulled out the triple aaa card.  We got it because of my gas addiction.  We’ve used it more than once.

We were on an interstate but happened to coast to a stop quite near a road that had 3 or 4 North Carolina houses on it.  So I went over the fence to see if I could get gas faster than aaa had promised.   That’s me walking down the road.  Nobody was home.  We waited about 90 minutes for our gas, which put us in the D.C/Baltimore area at rush hour.  I figure my gas indiscretion cost us about 3 hours.

So I know what you’re thinking.  That is so dumb.  Why in the world would you test the limits of the gas tank to that extent?  Why not just make a commitment to get gas when the little pointy thing says something 1/8 full?  At some point you have to stop anyway why not stop when you choose rather than when it is forced upon you?  You save time when you refuel regularly.  I know that’s what Lynn was thinking.  :)  (Though she was so gracious she didn’t say most of what she was thinking.)

Why do I do it?  I can’t blame it on my youth, I grew up with plenty of gas.  My father was not a gas miser.  I know that when the gas is gone, the machine quits.  Maybe there is just something in me that likes to test the limits, be in total control of my going and coming.  Maybe I’m just a bit foolish when it comes to refueling.

And most of you are probably thinking, “I would never run out of gas like that.”  But here’s what I’m thinking.  We do it all the time.  That’s why God invented the sabaath.  Because we have a lousy theology of limits.  We think we can do it all and refuel when we want, on our terms, when we have time.  And what happens is that we run our souls on empty too long.  We run our relationships on empty too long.  We run our dreams on empty for too long.

I can’t promise you that you will never see my jeep parked along the road, with me holding a gas can.  But now every time I get low on gas, I’m going to think about God’s sabaath rules.  Refuel regularly and consistently.  It makes the journey that much more enjoyable.