What is the philosophy of this school? Simply this: too often the church is really proficient at offering answers to everything, but not always good at addressing questions real people are struggling with in the “trenches” of life. It is with those questions and in those trenches that we devote our discussions on Wednesday evenings. At Mt. Olivet, we are now taking questions!

Who is this school for? For everyone who is trying to connect their faith meaningfully to their lives! You need not be a member of Mt. Olivet to register. All in the community and beyond are invited.

More specifically, this course is for:
1) Parents with children and youth in any church program. There is nothing more important to your child’s faith development than for your child to see you develop your faith right along with him/her!
2) Curious adults at any stage of life who love to ask questions and then go on a journey to find answers.

If you have not registered yet, make sure you do so online! The link is on our website.

Don’t miss the first course that begins on September 15 with Dr. Pat Keifert who will address the question: “How can I fit God into my life?”

See you on Wednesday nights!

God’s Peace,
Pastor John
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“For those who care, and I understand if you don’t: Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out.”

She continued:

“I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being ‘Christian’ or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to ‘belong’ to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.”

A few hours later, she followed with a second post and clarified that in the name of Christ, she refuses to be anti-gay, anti-feminist, anti-artificial birth control, anti-science, anti-secular humanism, anti-life.

Rice was recently a member of the Roman Catholic Church and obviously experienced one expression of Christian community, but it’s a big one and a prevalent one. A growing percentage of Americans (churched and unchurched) perceive that Christians are defined primarily by all the things they are against (anti-this and anti-that). What comes across for too many Christians is a judgmental spirit rather than a loving spirit. A self-righteous spirit rather than a humble, grateful one.

While Jesus undoubtedly wants us to be against certain things (see the Ten Commandments!), it is nonetheless true that we – like Jesus – are called to be defined more by what we are for rather than what we are against! Stressing what we are for places our focus squarely on God and God’s promises. In other words, we are for restoration, hope and new life! Stressing what we are against places our focus on people – and decidedly at their worst! On people who are supposedly behaving badly and on one’s own self who is of course righteous and good!

I can’t say I know very much about Anne Rice, but I do believe she speaks for many. And I think we would do well in the church – at precisely the time when we are losing people – to consider how we might invite them into God’s preferred future rather than telling them how bad they are and how evil their world is!

What do you think?

God’s Peace,
Pastor John

Saturday morning we packed up, ate breakfast and headed for a much needed break at the Beach Water Park in Mason, OH. Lots of sun and water led to pretty quiet vans for the bulk of the travel back to Hammond.

Pizza greeted us at the hotel and we had a great night processing our “what’s next” part of the trip.

We look forward to seeing you all in the parking lot on Sunday around 5PM.

Don’t forget – Mission Trip Sunday is August 15 and the Shareholder dinner is August 18.

Peace and Promise,

Pete Erickson

What a unique part of the country this is! The Kentucky mountain drawl is so deep, sometimes it leaves you responding, “huh?” or “come again?” The people here have been friendly and fun to talk to. And on top of that we’ve met some of their pets, including a really cute bunny rabbit named “booger” (“because she looks like a booger!” says her owner) and a perfectly handsome dog named “Hemorrhoid.” You gotta love it!

This state is more green than Minnesota, which is no easy feat. The horse farms in the western part of the state are beautiful, and plentiful. The mountains we were in are more hills than mountains, but very steep. There is a lovely but aggressive and strangulating creeping vine that is plentiful on the countryside, often overtaking (and taking down) entire trees and even telephone poles. There are little tobacco farms everywhere. The humidity is often close to 100%. With temps in the 80′s, the sticky factor is a notch up from virtually any summer day in Minnie.

By the way, the Hatfields and McCoys were real families, and family feuds are legendary in these parts – usually involving land or mineral disputes. Or religious disputes! In Breathitt County alone, there are over 150 denominations! Granted most of them are not new age, Hindu or Muslim, but rather, Baptist or Presbyterian offshoots. This is a testament to how many disagreements these folks have ’bout religion, and how passionate they are.

As just about everyone knows, this is a depressed part of the country economically, and many people live in situations where they do not have the means to take care of essential things, like replacing stairs to their front door that are rotting away or propping up a poorly conceived foundation. Those two tasks in fact make up the majority of the work the groups have been doing. Building stairs, mounting crossbeams beneath the house and digging holes for cement pillars to reinforce a sagging home essentially built on stilts.

As Pete has already blogged, the work has been hard and not easy either, as you can deduce. Nor has our host organization held us by the hand in all this. The groups have been largely on their own and left to their own resourcefulness and stick-to-it-iveness. Fortunately, God has placed in our midst the raw and, in some cases, developed, skills that we need to get things done.

But he most amazing thing about this trip from my perspective is the spirit with which every one of our group has gone about their business (and their leisure time, which hasn’t been much!). I had the privilege of being able to work side by side with these brothers and sisters in Christ and to watch them in action. And I was – and am – simply in awe! This has not been an easy trip in many ways – grueling travel, tough sleeping conditions, physically demanding work, a host organization struggling to keep up with us (and struggling to keep ahead of us too) – yet the positivity and cheerfulness that the Mt. Olivet team has shown is truly remarkable. I’ve been on a lot of these types of trips before and I’ve never seen any thing like this before. The maturity and sensitivity and sheer leadership that the adults have shown. The energy, willingness to work, and respectful attitudes that the youth have shown. Every one at Mt. Olivet should be very proud of these young (and middle aged) people!

The bottom line is this, I think: our group in Kentucky is distinguished by a spirit of servanthood. They want to make a difference in the lives of some people who do not have the blessings we have. This is what it means to follow Christ, and these 55 souls are doing it superbly.

One more thing. Hats off to Pete Erickson! Pete is an unflappable leader who has seen it all and loves the roller coaster ride that is a mission trip. His experience and confidence, his organizational ability and wisdom have been instrumental in making this trip come off so well.

I will post some pictures tonight.

God’s Peace,
Pastor John

Hope you are having a great Thursday. Today started with sun and heat and ended with sun and heat. There was a lot of great work accomplished today. Some groups finished their projects and either joined other sites or started a new project where they were.

We have one more day of hard work in the sun – but the kids and adults are doing really well!

The next couple of days include some prep for our trip home (packing, cleaning vans, etc) AND a trip to a water park in Mason, OH. It should be a great chance to blow off some steam.

This trip has been quite the adventure with hard work, singing, trips to the ice cream store and even a little sleepwalking thrown in for good measure. Please ask a missionary about their experience when you see them in the next week or two.

Off to our community picnic. Have a great night.

Peace and Promise,

Pete

Today started with a nice downpour just after we left for our work sites. Overcast skies help offset the temps and humidity (but not much). It’s been a good productive day. A couple of groups are winding down their projects and looking to join another crew.

Tonight we have large group time (songs, learning, etc) at 7:30 PM. EG, as they call it, is a good centering time for us. After that the groups have some open time before quiet time at 10:30 and lights out at 11:00AM.

Pastor John left for the airport this morning. I’m sure he will fill you in on his perspective on Sunday.

God bless you all and blog with you again tomorrow!

Peace and Promise,

Pete

Greetings from Breathitt County, Kentucky. Temperature is about 90 degrees (at 7:45PM) and pretty healthy humidity.

We traveled like holy pack animals on Saturday and Sunday. The group did really well. If you think God likes a cheerful giver, the state of Illinois has learned well. Maybe we should change our offering and call it holy tolls. We hung together (unless Pete took a wrong turn with the help of Angela) well and had a RESTFUL night in Indiana.

Sunday we made our way through the state of Indiana and into Kentucky. It was good to get in, unpack and unwind. Some of us had the opportunity to visit the families at our work sites. It was a blessing to start to create those connections. I hope they feel equally blessed.

Monday was the start of work. Patience was a keyword. There were some interesting worksites and few material delays, but the kids did really well and earned a good trip to the ice cream store after our day.

Today (Tuesday) is cultural day at ASP. We work hard again all day and the leaders all felt there was more of a flow to the work. As I write this, we are in the Breathitt County Library – we heard from the county historian talk about the wonderful story of this neck of the woods – pretty fascinating. NOW – there is a great bluegrass band. Not everyday you see a quartet with a stand-up bass, mandolin, banjo and guitar – singing three part harmony. Pretty cool.

Tomorrow is already the mid-week for us. Looking forward to sharing more of our journey. One last thing – I have been giving thanks every minute of the day for the outstanding adults who are on this trip. They are not just quality leaders and workers but they are incredible models of living a faithful life. Be proud of them – the are doing really well.

Chat again soon – Peace and Promise!

Pete