Guatemala and Paradise Bound

We’re putting a team together right now for the 2008 Paradise Bound Mission Trip.  This summer we hope to travel to Guatemala and assist Paradise Bound Ministries with building homes and holding mountain village medical clinics.  These outreaches to the people of Guatemala have made an eternal difference in the lives of children and families in this underdeveloped and beautiful part of the world.  We preach the gospel through our actions, and the words of Hermano Jesus the local preacher.

Get the idea what its all about, or remind yourself what it was like by watching this video of the 2006 trip.  Sign ups are ongoing, and our first team meeting will be held on September 6th.

See You At the Pole Sept 26th at 7AM

One of the first big events of our season is the See You At the Pole Prayer Rally.  We meet at 7AM at the Middle and School and at the High School for student-led prayer rallies.  The morning includes corporate (all together) prayer time for our world, our nation, our community, our school, and then small group prayer time for praying for and with our friends.  It’s a great way to get the School started in the right direction with prayer.  Watch this video ad, one of several, that tells about the theme for this year’s See You at the Pole.  Don’t miss out, each year includes donuts, juice and usually Chocolate Milk.  See you on the 26th at 7AM.

Back to School Fair – Not Fair

The girls rode the horses today at the back to school fair.  It was a great turn out but terribly overwhelming.  There were children everywhere, sugar at every table, dripping melty ice cream and all kinds of distractions.  This year they also had horses led by the Ottawa County Sherriff’s Department.  I feel terrible about one thing though.

One of the officers came to us and said he wanted us to be the last one’s in line.  Would we tell everyone that came there would be no more after us.  A mother and young girl approached.  They were very nice, and just wanted a ride on the ponies.  I was torn.  I didn’t feel like I had a choice to say something.  The officer that had spoken to us was not around.  I thought he might be coming back and I could let him do his own dirty work.  I should have.  I tried to communicate to the woman who I believe spoke mostly spanish, that the man had said no more. 

She asked me who, I said the officer.  Of course there was no officer to be seen except those leading the horses.  The woman and her little girl just quietly walked away.  I watched them go.  I felt terrible.  The little girl did not even cry, she just followed her mommy away.  I was furious with the officer for telling to do his dirty work.  I am mad at myself for complying.  What a terrible thing to do. 

What made it worse, was that as we got closer and I focused on getting the girls on a horse, more people came and I was now not going to say anything.  Both because I was so bothered by doing it the first time, and because I was too busy helping my girls.  So if the woman came by later, she probably thought I was racist or something because I did not let her in line, but allowed these other people.

Mostly, I would like to get a piece of the Ottawa County Sherriff Deputy who put me in that position.  I am so frustrated by that.

PS.  The pictures were taken into the setting sun, I didn’t notice when I snapped them.  Trust me, it’s my kids on the horses.

Authentic Worship 8-25-07

Here is the first of several videos we will be posting to the website at church and here on the blog and perhaps other places.  It features the song Everlasting God sung by the Authentic Praise Team.  Hope you enjoy it.  Look for more videos including opening night hi-lites and sermon hi-lites. 

This is the blondest moment I have ever witnessed

I saw this on the home page at wordpress when I logged in.  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.  I am not a blond joke person most of the time, but this girl really gives the haircolor stereotypes a reason to keep going.  I feel bad for her embarassment, at the same time, isn’t poise under pressure one of the things they judge in the contest?

I will let you judge for yourself.

Grandma Sloterbeek

Some of you know my grandma has been in the hospital since Thursday morning.  Last night, she finally got on the schedule for surgery.  I thought I would sneak up there around 11:00 and see her come out and let her see a familiar face when she woke up.  Instead, I ended up hanging out at the hospital until 3:30AM.  I was glad I had done so, because grandma did come up awake and alert and was glad to see me, the surgery had gone well.  She had a complete replacement of her left shoulder.  We are grateful for the results so far.

Enjoying the Carnival

This is just another video of Lauren’s fun-filled ride on the trucks.  She had a ball.

Cheerleaders in our midst

I took my three daughters to a football game on Friday night.  It turned out to be a great game, lots of suspense and a surprise ending.  I was disappointed with the outcome, because I know most of the players on the team.  In fact, I was shocked knowing how much talent they had and still lost.  But anyway, this video is from my girls.  They are very competitive themselves, but when it comes to watching others compete, they are much more egalitarian.  They didn’t like the idea that we had to choose one team to root for.  In protest, Erica made up her own cheer.  The video comes in after she had been doing this a lot for much of the 3rd Quarter of the game.  When I finally get my camera phone on her, she knows she’s being filmed.  So does Lauren and Sam.  But I think you can get the idea.  She says:  Go Teams Go!

Sermon Afterthoughts

I am my own worst critic, so I often spend a lot of time second guessing my presentation and content.  So I thought I might share a little bit of my afterthoughts here.

I preached last night, at authentic, on not loving the world.  I used the illustration of the Prodigal son, and a text from 1 John 2:15-17.  I may not have been as clear as I wanted to be about what I was saying.  So, let me try again.

Love of the world, is something we all struggle with.  It can be terrible life-ruining trap in which we end up literally feeding with the pigs, oro it can be that our life goals are so messed up that we don’t fufill the purpose for which God has made us or intended.  In the case of the prodigal, his life is a mess.  Often times, the other, is more difficult to notice.  How can you tell when you have fallen in love with the World, when you life is not as bad as the prodigal’s? 

John Piper recounts the story of a couple who retire early in their fifties and spend their time playing softball, cruising the bay in a 30′ trawler, and collecting shells.  I can tell you unequivocally that this is not what God has intended for his creatures.  From the very beginning we were charged with caring for our environment, stewarding our resources, and creating just like our creative God.  There is nothing about this story that reflects our creator God.  Our very purpose on this earth is to glorify, that is to make much of, God.  Not to make him much, but to make much of him.  To show hom for who he really is.  That is why sin, which means to miss the mark, is so sad.  We really cast a poor light on our creator when we fail to live up to his Holiness. 

However, we can glorify God through our weaknesses by pointing to the cross.  If not for the cross of Christ, it would be impossible for us to glorify God.  Nothing we do would have accurately reflected Him.  But with Christ, now all things are possible, including glorifying God.  We can now reflect him in what we do, glorify him through what he has done for us, and what he has given us.

In the case of the prodigal, the father was completely forgiving of his son.  The father is glorified, that is made to look good, by the acceptance and love he shows his son.  We need to tell more people that story. 

The true inspiration for this message came listening to another sermon the radio.  It was the idea of condemnation verses conviction.  Someone said to me after my authentic message last spring, that they were tired of the cendemning message of the church.  As a result, they were on a journey to find something more open minded.  Open minded to me, is a code word for empty-headed.  Our minds should be filled with Christ.  There is nothing open about that.  It is finished, were the famous words on the cross.  The case is closed.  What case?  What is finished?

The very condemnation this person hated in the church (and I don’t doubt she felt it from churches who do not preach Christ), is the very thing Jesus closed the subject on.  There could be no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).  Jesus came to forgive all your sins, past, present and future.  God loves you so much, he sacrificed His only son, so you would no longer feel condemned.  So what is it you feel when you are sitting in church and the preacher tells you, “Do not love the world, crave sinful desires, lust with your eyes, and boast about what you have and do”.  This is not condemnation.  This is conviction.  It can feel condemning, if you allow yourself to be told, by others, or by yourself, that you can’t or won’t measure up.  Satan plays these games.  But conviction is different because it breeds dependence.

Dependence means you trust God.  The Holy Spirit is your comforter and guide.  But he is also your convicting conscience.  he tells you areas where God would like to shape you into something more like himself.  That is for the Glory of God and to bring you more joy in life and greater freedom.  Conviction leads to repentence and dependence on God.  So next time you feel condemned from the pulpit, check to see if this is an area of your life God could be bringing about growth.  Reject the idea of your condemnation, that can only come from the evil one.  Instead turn to God and pray.

That is all I can think of right now.  More later perhaps.

New college ministry kicks off with outreach – GR PRESS 8-25-07

Saturday, August 25, 2007By Matt Vande Bunte

The Grand Rapids Press

ALLENDALE TOWNSHIP — In a minivan with a cross dangling from the rear-view mirror, three men in black cruise slowly through one of the latest additions to the student housing boom near Grand Valley State University.

Coming upon a stocked car and the loaded back of a pickup, the trio hopped out to lend a hand. Bob and Durene Worth were eager to accept the assistance, making their daughter’s move into her off-campus townhome easy.

“You guys are unreal. You guys are a blessing,” Bob Worth said as he was handed a bottle of water while the leaders of a new college-age ministry lugged a television, grill and other necessities of student life, including the game Twister, into one of the units at Meadows Crossing Townhomes.

“This outreach is great,” Worth said later. “It just shows the community of the church. It shows they’re willing to step out and go above and beyond.”

It shows, in the words of Jason Hoppa, the desire of Lighthouse Community Church to be the real hands and feet of Jesus to a growing population in need of spiritual guidance, yet often neglected by the church.

“(Jesus) didn’t come to be served, but to serve,” said Hoppa, a 28-year-old GVSU alum and pastor of discipleship for Lighthouse’s new college ministry. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to plant a seed.

“This age right now is very influential for the rest of their lives. They’ve got to make huge decisions.”

Hoppa, along with Chad Demers and Brandon Sloterbeek, have been handing out water and helping students move in this month as they promote “authentic,” a new Saturday night worship service geared toward people age 18 to 24. Devised in a deer blind last fall and launched last spring with a pair of trial runs, the service starts a weekly schedule 6 p.m. today at Lighthouse, 5947 Lake Michigan Dr. NW.

“If there’s an ulterior motive, it’s to make connections with the kids,” said Sloterbeek, 32. “There’s been a desire in our church to reach the whole community of Allendale, and obviously the campus is a big part of that.”

Churches now are taking more notice of the growing GVSU population, which has swelled since 2001 as the number of on-campus student beds has increased by about 50 percent, to nearly 5,000. That number does not include the surge of off-campus complexes such as Meadows Crossing, which has 189 two- and four-bedroom units.

Looking to serve GVSU students and faculty, the Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids this spring announced plans to add its first new parish in nearly 30 years. An installation of priests for St. Luke’s University Parish is planned next month, and a church could be built kitty-corner to Lighthouse on 16 acres at Lake Michigan Drive and 60th Avenue.

In the meantime, on-campus Mass is scheduled at 4:30 p.m. Sundays in the Cook-DeWitt Chapel.

In addition to “authentic,” Lighthouse aspires to play an on-campus role by conducting outdoor worship at some of those apartment complexes and organizing morning Bible studies. A live worship CD recorded last weekend will be distributed next month at a GVSU campus fair.

The effort “is about tearing down walls that were built” in order to “raise up a new generation of leaders” in the church, said Demers, worship leader at Lighthouse.

“This is the age when they’re really looking for truth,” he said, explaining the design of their black-and-white shirts. “The church isn’t a building. The church is the foundation, the rock, Jesus Christ. Worship isn’t just a Sunday morning thing.”

Jamie Worth, 20, said “quite a few” fellow Grand Valley students are involved in a church, and that “youth groups are big.” She has taken part in worship at Mars Hill Bible Church on occasion, and a couple times went to an on-campus service.

After watching the Lighthouse group move her belongings, she said the help makes her interested to check out “authentic.”