Promised Land Pastor header_large

 

The falling interest in missions

Here's an image that is sobering for me:

                   Chart showing the search volume for Christian missions (as a percent of peak) since 2004

As you can see, it looks like a pretty steady decline by 80% of the search volume for Christian missions! I am not certain what the cause for this is, but it distresses me a little since missionary work is where I feel my strongest calling. Perhaps we can do something to turn things around and bring those numbers back up.

What are your thoughts on why these numbers might be falling?

A Walk in the Woods (Sorry, Bill Brison!)

I had an interesting assignment for class today. We were supposed to meet up with a classmate and spend 1 hour discussing how we've seen God active in our lives: guidance, answers to prayers, feeling connected during devotional time, etc.

I didn't know how to feel about the assignment at first because it struck me as sort of a strange thing to prescribe. I can't have special spiritual encounters with God on a deadline...that's sort of up to God, you know? But we decided since it is a GLORIOUS 80 degree day here in Berrien Center, MI, we would go for a walk at Love Creek Park since it's just a 5 minute walk from our house.

The fall colors are nearing their peak right now, and the paths through the woods were carpeted in golden yellow and royal crimson leaves: just gorgeous. There was a distinct smell of leaf mold lingering in the air that reminded me of being a kid and rolling in raked up leaves. I promise, I'm going to start bringing a camera with me everywhere I go, but we don't have anything pro-grade so even digital photos are going to fall short of properly conveying the beauty of life.

As we started talking, it felt like the perfect setting for talking about God...His goodness, His promises, His action in our lives. Both my friend and I felt God was clearly calling us into specific ministry. Derek--my friend--is going into children's ministry which is awesome. He's got such a big heart and I know he'll be perfect for youth ministry. He was lamenting that we are 10 years behind, as a church, in children's ministry, and that his vision is to start a youth camp up in the mountains of his native British Columbia, Canada. I hope with all my heart that he succeeds. Go Derek!

For my part, I feel drawn to Amazing Discoveries for a number of reasons. First and foremost, part of my conversion from atheism to Christianity was due to the ministry of Dr. Walter Veith whose lectures are available free of charge at their website. But more than this, they have active evangelistic outreaches and missionary work throughout the world and also host educational lecture series in British Columbia. I've dreamed of teaching, but do not want to give up on missionary work. Is God calling me somewhere I can do both? I'm excited by the possibilities!

David

Great new recipe for dinner (and vegan, too!)

Pretty dreary day here in Berrien Springs, MI, but the wife and I took the day to a new, higher level tonight by making our very own custom vegan CRUNCH WRAP SUPREMES! Yup, it's a modification of a recipe from http://busymamabird.blogspot.com/2012/04/yummy-crunchwrap-supremes.html that we made vegan. We used some leftover vegan chili that the wifeykins made yesterday evening in lieu of meat. We used vegan sour cream instead of the real stuff from the cow. We used this recipe for vegan queso and it turned out fantastically delicious! One thing to note, instead of it being yellow like this:

                          It looks like mustard. I love mustard, but NOT on Mexican food! D:


it turned out orange and spicy-looking like this:

                           Ok, so my webcam stinks. Those chunks are real tomatoes, my friend.
                                          Real, delicious, basil & oregano spiced tomatoes.
                                                                        Yummmmmmmm!



When full assembled, the end product looked a little something like this:

                            Om nom nom. Delicious homemade vegan crunch wrap supremes!
                                                         Try them,try them, Sam I am!

Sadly, we were dumb and hungry, so it was only AFTER we had consumed them and done the dishes that we thought 'Huh...should've taken a photo of ours for the blog!' Such is life.

We actually put taco sauce right inside the wraps and then sealed them up and cooked them until they were browned-shut. I can't say that it would win awards for the most fantabulously healthy meal in the world, but one serving was most satiating, and there's plenty of stuff left over for leftovers. In moderately related news, Leah and I are going on a retreat soon to build spirituality and get closer to God. We'll be bringing some delicious vegan crunch wrap supremes with us to munch on Sabbath! Yum! :) Today has been lovely. I hope you've all had a splendid day as well. David

Worked on my singing voice a little bit today. I don't think I'll ever be great, but when I start missionary work after graduating, I want to be able at least to sing passably well so I can teach songs to the people with whom I work! We were practicing "All Things Bright and Beautiful" but not in the traditional hymnal arrangement. It was the arrangement by Ray Robinson. I can't find a good recording of it, sadly, but it was copyrighted back in 1983 so that may be why.

We also sang for the first time a really cool new piece called "With Peace and Joy." There are actually two songs in this set, and the one we practiced was called "Call to Praise" (low fidelity recording, but I can't find anything better!).

I'm HOPING that we can get some video equipment and record our group singing this song. I will be talking with the choir director, Dr. James North, Jr. about this very thing shortly.

New software package

I'm excited! I just found out yesterday that the university offers a software bundle for $10 for students that includes all of Microsoft Office. To go along with this, I am also checking out OpenSong which apparently is a databasing and presentation program that will compile a list of all your song slides and make it so you can simply pull out the slides you want, throw them into an active presentation, and voila! I work with the audio/visual team for the chapel services for the Tuesday mid-week worship services, and it is a perennially frustrating experience because I am forever making new slides every time a different group does the music because we keep changing songs. I'm hoping we will be able to find a pre-generated list of lyrics somewhere and draw off of that. Less time spent on the PowerPoint for chapel = more free time to study = exponentially more sanity for me! :)

I'm worried. This is day 2 of the fundraiser campaign and still not a dime. However, I have seen some people checking the blog! I am encouraged. Would you readers mind leaving a comment letting me know what more you'd like to see on the blog. Are you interested to know what I'm learning in classes at Andrews? My thoughts on God? Is there a discussion you'd like to have? Let me know and I'll start a post for it!

David