What Time Is It?

by Scott McGhee

I recently read a story about a woman named Esther. Esther was so beautiful that she was more or less entered into a beauty contest, but instead of the prize being a sash, tiara, and a bouquet of flowers, when she won, Esther became the queen. Now shortly after Esther became queen, one of her husband’s (the king’s) advisors began plotting against the Jewish people. Esther was Jewish and her cousin, Mordecai (pronounced More-deck-eye), presented her with quite the challenge.

Spirituality, Unexpectedly

by Mawi Patten

Church isn’t the only place where the holy happens. Sacred moments can occur at any moment, any place, and to anybody. Watching something get born. Making love. A high-school graduation. Somebody coming to see you when you’re sick. A meal with people you love. Looking into a stranger’s eyes and finding out he’s not a stranger. If we weren’t blind as bats, we might see that life itself is sacred. — Frederick Buechner

Finding Others

by Jeremiah Kim

A reflection on self-discovery and the discovery of others.

The opportunity for someone to “find” himself or herself is unique, and for many, college is that great opportunity. Few experiences gift an individual the time, space, and permission to begin the journey of self-discovery like the four-plus years of college. It was no different for me.

The Importance of Being Faithful, part 2

by Jeremiah Kim

A few weeks ago I wrote a post with the title “The Importance of Being Faithful, part 1” that suggested that the journey toward soul transformation is more often long and arduous than not and requires our utmost commitment. True transformation hinges not on the power of the initial encounter, but the continued steps we take in hearing and heading the call of God on our lives. Faithfulness then is the vehicle in which we are allowed to experience meaningful and lasting soul change. But, as suggested in the title, there is another part of faithfulness, a part two. Simply put, it’s important to be faithful because, not only is faithfulness required for the long journey, but as members of your community, we need you to be faithful to the process.

Into Foreign (and Familiar) Places

Our friends Kyle and Andrew are somewhere between here and Uganda for a month-long trip to Africa, splitting their time between Uganda and Malawi, two countries that our church community has invested in for the past ten years. While there, they will be building an internship program from the ground up, pursuing leads for a human rights initiative, helping distribute mosquito nets, and otherwise changing the world. Here are some of their thoughts as they prepared to leave.
For more, click their names to read the whole post at their respective blogs.

Kyle: (on his first trip to Africa) “…as the little boy sitting behind me looked out his window he kept saying ‘look mom there are so many soccer fields’… Of course a rectangleishly shaped green plot of land bordered by either roads or trees looks like a soccer field to a little boy, because that’s all he knows to associate it with. It reminded me of the idea that we only are able to think and live with what is familiar to us…As I travel to foreign places I’d like to think I am arming myself with new ways to view and think about the world, about life.”

Andrew: (on his return to Uganda) “I wish I could describe a bit better of how I feel getting ready to return. Ironically, as I left Uganda last year I asked myself if I could even return again without staying for an extended period of time. Two months was just enough to start scratching the surface of the culture, way of life, mentality, everything. I imagined a two week trip or something shorter than a few months would be a bit of a painful disappointment. But I was only setting up a wall that would surely be toppled down. I’m obviously returning to Uganda just for 2 sweet weeks and I could not be more thankful. We have a few goals and things to hopefully accomplish but more than that I cannot wait to see those that I deeply love and be apart of the beautiful work they are doing for their communities.”

Change We Can Believe In

by Jeff Murray

What if we changed how we view change?

The Challenges of a Country Club

(Ed. Note: If your college has its own pond and a boat house, you may be at a country club.)
by Yena Lee

When people ask me what going to Smith College, an all-women’s school in Northampton, Massachusetts, was like, I’m never quite sure how to respond. Those four years were so unique, with every year drastically different from the others.[1] A campus of strong-minded, independent, outspoken women from across the States and across the globe, at an institution that was founded at a time when there were very few options for women who wanted an education equal to that of men. How could it not be?

Grow Up

by Scott E. McGhee

Community is a big buzz word these days. Everywhere you go, whether religious or not, people are talking about it – building the ideal community, what community should look like, or how they do not think that something in the vein of community can ever actually be achieved. We are told that God exists in perfect community with Himself and that He desires that same kind of community with us, but with all of this talking, can community actually exist? Is it all just talk?

The Importance of Being Faithful, part 1

by Jeremiah Kim

All of us want to live meaningful lives. And my guess is that, where we given the opportunity to seal our legacy today, we would go incredible lengths, sacrificing all of the non-essentials to achieve our life goals. But what if our lives meaning look longer to find and form? What if it took a lifetime?

Characteristics of Effective Mentorship (from Randy Elrod)

The idea of mentorship as a vehicle to have a sizable impact on the communities that we’re a part of is something that I’ve been thinking a lot about in recent weeks and I thought these observations were brilliant. – Jeremiah

Click here to read “7 Characteristics of Effective Mentorship” on Randy’s Blog.