An interesting quote...

"To those who have called me a coward I say that they are wrong, and that without knowing it, they are also right. They are wrong when they think that I left the war for fear of being killed. I admit that fear was there, but there was also the fear of killing innocent people, the fear of putting myself in a position where to survive means to kill, there was the fear of losing my soul in the process of saving my body, the fear of losing myself to my daughter, to the people who love me, to the man I used to be, the man I wanted to be. I was afraid of waking up one morning to realize my humanity had abandoned me."

- Sgt. Camilo Mejia, who served one year in prison for refusing to return to fight in Iraq. He was released from prison Feb. 15, 2005.

I got this from Sojourner's Magazine

A list of staff...

Accommodations
Geoff White
Jonathan Camery-Hoggat
Joy Kerr
Kari Maddox
Kendra Vaughn
Liz Heim
Matt Benton
Melissa Cooley
Rachel Schwan
Ryan Johnson
Steven Manning

Assistants In Mission
Claire Thames
Kyle Martin
Shalene Middaugh

Crestview
Shannon Roark
Christina Des Vaux
Christina McCord
Jeni Shurman
Jonathan Knapp
Michael Delpont
Sally Kappen

Events
Hunter Teets
Andrea Pierson
Tyler Davis
Sarah Fry
Carrie Halloran
Cassady Lillstrom
Steven Mason
Tammi O’Rourke
Kara Haffner
Andrew Zellman
Alec Grassel

FoodService
Rachel Graff
Alex Dakin
Bethany Lowe
Christina Conrad
Craig Chelf
Jenifer Tracy
Jessica Gawryn
Kate Moran
Katie Bolton
Kelsey Owens
Kim Anderson
Alicia Heim
Ryan Manning
Sarah Chandler
Sheila Hallstrom
Tom Bennett

HiFi
Cory Piña
Brent Melot
Ellie Line
Matt Spence

Maintenance
Ben Fife
Chris Buckhalter
Jessica Chapman
John Quaresma
Katie Bonesteel
Kendalyn Frost
Lamar Owens
Trish Savapolis

Office
Sarah Lowe
Christy Harrison
Amanda Collins
Carole Buckner
Laura Keast

OutPost
Lily Nichols
Annie Falk
Greg Spore
Matt Tucker
Tyson Witcher

Sherwood
Craig Shigyo
Jenn McCarty
Jenn LaMar
Scott Allen
Josh Kerr
Jess Black
Janice Line
Tori Hope

Listening in the midst of ...

I am brain dead, back sore, lung crudded, forehead spotted but spiritually excited. I have a feeling things are changing, don't know what that is. More than a worship service, a deep work in my spirit that I am not able but He is Able. (That is my favorite view of God - He is ABLE)

I am looking forward to the summer but even more I am looking forward to the time before that to spend some time with the coords as they put together their programs. I like these people...

The selection process is over...

Well, we spent three days processing the names of people that applied to Calvin Crest for a position to be on staff.

Very tough.

I was very impressed with the heart of the coordinators, Rachel Graff, Geoff White, Claire Thames, Shannon Roark, Sarah Lowe, Lily Nichols, Ben Fife, Craig Shigyo, Cory Pina, and Hunter Teets (who was out of the country in Central America). I was extremely impressed by them seeking His heart and will as they put together their teams, waking early to pray and seek Him trusting that He had someone when a position was yet to be filled.

I was extremely blessed to have Lyndsay Pina as a assistant who kept me up to the minute on what was going on and organizing all the apps.

I am very fortunate to be serving with wonderful people. I am saddened by those who will not be serving Christ at Calvin Crest but I am confident, as I have been doing this long enough to know, that He has a plan for each of these people if they will continue to seek and trust Him this summer.

I know some people are hurt and questioning why they were not selected. I cannot over emphasize that the coords sought out Him to put together their teams and trust Him for each person involved. That doesn't satisfy the disappointment and for that I wish there was something else to be done.

We start the process...

Today, all the coordinators are coming up to camp to put together their teams. We are starting two weeks later than normal, we lost a half a day because of school schedules and travel, don't have a coordinator, who is out of the country on a mission trip, and I am 51 years old. This will be different.

Many people anxiously awaiting phone calls on Saturday to see if they have a job. I prefer to think that God is going to do something through them and the questions is... will Calvin Crest facilitate their ministry or some other place?

Talk to you on Saturday...

I have returned...


I went back to Mac!

Thanks to Scott Falk, Cory, Melot, and mostly to Jordan Gravette and the Pasadena Apple Store. I used Macs since 1984 when they first came out, stopped for the past 6 years because everyone else at Calvin Crest was using PCs and I couldn't get on the network with a Mac. But now...


A new thing...

Two words...


Wasabi Peas

... a new treat.

What if...

What if we looked at scripture as if it was freshly written to us. Stop turning to theologians but to that which has been entrusted to us to know the way of God... His Spirit. What if we spent a long time reading it and adjusting our lives to what it says literally. Center it in our lives. Meet together because someone will be reading from it this week and we don't what to miss what it says. What if we quietly worshipped in thankfullness and awe because we have been given a letter that tells us about Him who made us, who loves us, who sent His Son, who gave us His spirit to know Him and to be Able to Please Him, who lovingly woos us to do His will but also sit in His presence...

What if...

That is what I am recommending to the elders of Sierra Vista Presbyterian Church for the former Sunday at 6 worship service. Just a group who will trust each other, care for each other, support each other as they approach some time together each week to listen, consider, repent, support, and then walk faithfully until we meet again...

During Lent...

I think during this season of Lent (and sickness) I want to focus on Christ instead of picking on "the Church." No more prodding until after Easter. Listen to His call to what He wants of me and not what I expect of Christians. Meditate on the offices as they lead me through a liturgy of His glory and not my puny views.

Peace...

A psalm from the morning...

I think I will spend more time meditating on this than on many of the things that want my attention... won't you join me?


Psalm 94 (95)
A call to worship
Come, let us rejoice in the Lord, let us acclaim God our salvation.
Let us come before him proclaiming our thanks, let us acclaim him with songs.

For the Lord is a great God, a king above all gods.
For he holds the depths of the earth in his hands, and the peaks of the mountains are his.
For the sea is his: he made it; and his hands formed the dry land.

Come, let us worship and bow down, bend the knee before the Lord who made us;
for he himself is our God and we are his flock, the sheep that follow his hand.

If only, today, you would listen to his voice: “Do not harden your hearts
as you did at Meribah, on the day of Massah in the desert, when your fathers tested me –
they put me to the test, although they had seen my works”.

“For forty years they wearied me, that generation.
I said: their hearts are wandering, they do not know my paths.
I swore in my anger: they will never enter my place of rest”.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.