Dreaming about what the Christian Community Could Do…(Part 2)

A couple weeks ago my wife and I sat down for a game of Settlers of Catan with my sister and brother-in-law.  It was Sunday, the end of a LONG holiday weekend in which we managed to take Junia to see all four sets of her grandparents.  We were tired and a relaxed game of [...]

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Dreaming about the the Christian Community Could Do…(Part 1)

A few days ago a student asked me if I thought the church today could be like the church in the Bible.  After dispensing my usual sarcastic response (“You mean like the church in Corinth where people have all kinds of sexual immorality and get drunk at the Lord’s Supper…yeah, we could probably do that“) [...]

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On Campus at PSU Berks – Two Kinds of Students in Campus Ministries

When I was a student at Penn State University Park there were at least fifteen evangelical Christian ministries on campus (and there may be more now).  As far as I recall, the groups got along well, recognizing they all had similar goals.  That said, some groups had more of a reputation for being intensely committed [...]

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Almost Christian 5 – Missional Imaginations: We are Not Here for Ourselves

Kenda Creasy Dean begins the fifth chapter of Almost Christian with a beautiful story from Texas. It is about a high school football coach who encouraged the fans from his wealthy district to show love and blessing to a team on their schedule made up of juvenile offenders from a local youth prison. You can [...]

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Almost Christian 4: Generative Faith

One of the central questions the NSYR gives input on is what factors in a teenager’s life put her on a path to being a committed religious adult? It would be tempting to read a book like Almost Christian looking for the “key” to making teenagers into lifelong people of faith. If that is what [...]

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On Campus at Penn State Berks – Unity!

Over my nearly six years at Penn State Berks, CSF has always had a diverse group of Christians.  We have had, and still have today, students from all kinds of backgrounds and denominations: Methodist and Mennonite, Presbyterian and Pentecostal, Catholic and Calvinist (and now I am at a loss for other doublets I can make [...]

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On Campus at PSU Berks…or should I say Off Campus?

The biggest event CSF at PSU Berks does each year is our spring break trip.  I came on staff the summer when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and because of that CSF went to that region four consecutive years (New Orleans twice, Mississippi twice).  Last year we changed it up, heading to Miami.  Each [...]

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Weekly Word – Persecution, stumbling blocks, spiritual death and us

(Every week, give or take, I send out a brief email to the students with some thoughts from Scripture and I offer it here also in case it may encourage anyone else who comes across it) Last evening we studied Matthew 18:1-14.  When Jesus tells his disciples to have faith like a child, he is [...]

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Summer in Thessalonica – How Should We Live?

5:4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are [...]

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A Summer in Thessalonica Week One

For the last few years now I have sent out what I call a “weekly word” each Friday (more or less, sometimes I just don’t). The way I see, my job is to be a spiritual adviser, a mentor, who helps Penn State Berks college students grow in their faith. A central, if not the [...]

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