Downloadable PDF - Twin Cities Refreshed magazine

Transcription

Summer
Sounds.
Great.
2
REFRESHED | July 2014
July 2014 | REFRESHED
3
from the editor…
SCOTT NOBLE
Download a digital version
of Refreshed magazine for
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refreshedtwincities.com
What happens next?
What happens next when you literally face a life-threatening situation and
tomorrow is not promised? Not all of us
have faced this precise set of circumstances firsthand, but many of us have
faced situations where tomorrow would
be drastically different than today.
For Jeff Nielsen, he seemingly had it all. He had a highly successful corporate job, a six-figure salary, large house, company car and a loving family.
Nielsen also had one other thing: a nearly insatiable fear of failure, which
was the result of an abusive childhood home. He felt compelled to perform,
believing his worth was determined by what he accomplished.
That mindset served him well climbing the corporate ladder, but things
dramatically changed for Nielsen when he was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. The result? You’ll have to read about it in this issue.
Jonathan Friesen, popular author of middle grade and young adult fiction, faced his own struggles early in life. He began to show symptoms of
Tourette’s syndrome when he was just six years old. The neurological disorder often results in “unusual repetitive movements or unwanted sounds that
can’t be controlled (tics),” according to the Mayo Clinic.
He experienced a fairly severe seizure in junior high and spent the rest of
his school years feeling alone and somewhat stigmatized from the rest of his
classmates. He became a good storyteller in order to help deflect attention
from his Tourette’s.
But telling stories on paper was difficult for Friesen, as holding a pen or
using a typewriter were too difficult for him because of Tourette’s. Nevertheless, he persevered and somewhere along the journey, Friesen put words to
paper. Find out when and how by reading his story.
Finally, parents can attest that having answers to every one of your kids’
questions can feel like it’s part of the job description. But is it?
Read the review of the book “Answering Your Kids’ Toughest Questions:
Helping Them Understand Loss, Sin, Tragedies, and Other Hard Topics” and
discover the best ways to deal with these important questions.
VOLUME 1 | NUMBER 4
PUBLISHERS
Lamar & Theresa Keener
GENERAL MANAGER Lana Branham
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Scott Noble
PROOFREADER
Lis Trouten
CONTRIBUTORS Joanne Brokaw, Sam Helgerson,
Jim Jackson, Wendie Pett, Jason
Sharp, Colette and Jonathan Stuart,
Doug Trouten, Yia Vang, G.J. Wiese
Copyright © 2014 Selah Media Group
Refreshed is an independent, faith-based magazine
published monthly by Selah Media Group. It is distributed
in bulk, free of charge, to hundreds of locations
throughout the Twin Cities metro region.
For a 1-year mail subscription, send $24.95 to the address
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Refreshed welcomes story ideas. All unsolicited material is
subject to approval of the publishers and is not returned.
Viewpoints expressed in Refreshed are those of their
respective writers, and are not necessarily held by the
publishers.
Reasonable effort is made to screen advertisers, but no
endorsement of the publishers is implied or should be
inferred. The publishers can accept no responsibility for the
products or services offered through advertisements. The
publisher reserves the right to refuse any advertising.
ADDRESS ALL CORRESPONDENCE TO:
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sponsor, please call Lana Branham at (651) 964-2750.
4
contents
FEATURES
6 Does television rot your brain?
8 No longer invisible
A storyteller’s journey with Tourette syndrome
12 The wisdom of… Wisdom
Do our ideas about wisdom change with age?
14 Music mania
4 stages, 100 bands to stir it up at the Sonshine Festival
18 ‘Please don’t abandon me’
6
Man pleads with doctor to save his life
8
DEPARTMENTS
22
Book review
24
Sports
26
Tunes
27
Outtakes
28
Events calendar
29
Community news
14
COLUMNS
6 Doug Trouten | unplugged
30 Yia Vang | at the table
31 Sam Helgerson | leadership sense
32 Jason Sharp | sharp focus
33 Wendie Pett | here’s to good health
6
30
34 Colette & Jonathan Stuart | marriage matters
35 Jim Jackson | purposeful parenting
36 G.J. Wiese | inspired living
38 Joanne Brokaw | that’s life!
36
5
plugged in
DOUG TROUTEN
Does television rot your brain?
In the early days of TV, optimism
timism
surrounded this new communicanication tool. It was going to be a
University of the Air, bringing
g
culture—the symphony, opera
a
and theatre—to elevate the
masses. TV executives quickly learned that the masses
have no interest in being
elevated and would rather
watch car chases, adultery
and professional wrestling.
High hopes for television
were pretty much gone by 1961,
61,
when FCC chairman Newton Minnow called it a “vast wasteland.”
d.”
He described TV programming
g as “a
procession of game shows, violence,
olence,
audience participation shows,, formula
comedies about totally unbelievable
families, blood and thunder, mayhem,
violence, sadism, murder, western badmen, western good men, private eyes,
gangsters, more violence and cartoons.
And endlessly, commercials—many
screaming, cajoling and offending. And
most of all boredom. True, you will see
a few things you will enjoy. But they will
be very, very few.”
That’s certainly not true today, right?
Clearly we have fewer westerns on TV.
Plus, with about 80 percent of U.S.
households receiving cable or satellite
television, the vast wasteland has become much vaster. There’s still nothing
good on, but with 200 channels it takes
a lot longer to find that out.
Ever since the “idiot box” became our
culture’s dominant media voice, frustrated parents have warned that television will rot their children’s brains.
There’s no scientific evidence that
points to a mechanism for this—it’s not
like “TV rays” penetrate the skull and
directly kill brain cells.
But the developing science of neuroplasticity suggests that our brain chang-
6
es throughout our lives, based on what
we’re asking it to do. If you ask your
brain to do crossword puzzles or memorize Scripture, your brain will adapt to
the challenge. And if you ask your brain
to watch “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,”
it will adapt to that as well.
Most of television’s negative effects
probably come in the form of “opportunity cost,” an idea from microeconomics
that boils down to “an hour spent doing
one thing is an hour that’s not available
for something else.” Groucho Marx illustrated this concept when he said, “I find
television very educational. The minute
somebody turns it on, I go to the library
and read a good book.”
But another way television affects us
is by subtly changing our worldview. It
doesn’t happen overnight. It’s not like
you watch an episode of “Real Housewives” and decide “I should become a
shallow person with anger issues.” But
TV offers a window to the world, and
over time we can come to believe that
what we see through that window is an
accurate picture.
Communication scholar George Gerbner called this “cultivation theory,” the
idea that television portrayals can “culide
tivate”
certain attitudes in viewers. For
tiv
instance,
the more you watch TV, the
in
more
likely you are to fear becoming a
m
victim of crime—since the TV world is
packed with criminals. Heavy consumers
e of television also tend to overestimate—by
about 500 percent—the numm
ber of people involved in law enforcement
(there are lots of cops on TV to chase all of
(the
those criminals).
tho
What other false realities might we
be aabsorbing from television? Many TV
characters live in homes much nicer than
cha
their jobs can justify. They spend a lot of
the
time eating out without ever gaining a
tim
pound. And God just isn’t a part of the
lives of TV characters. A study by the Parents Television Council found that faith is
nearly absent from prime-time entertainment, with only one mention for every 1.6
hours of programming.
Lest you think that I’m some kind of
media-phobe whose secret dream is to
join an Amish community (where many
people don’t even have basic cable), let
me admit that I watch more than my fair
share of television (just ask my wife).
But I try to balance that with reading,
socializing and experiencing the real
world around me. (It’s in 3D, and the
resolution is amazing!)
I’d share more ideas for keeping TV
in check but I have to go—there’s a rerun of “Last Man Standing” calling my
name.
Doug Trouten is chair
of the Communication
Department at
the University of
Northwestern – St. Paul.
7
No longer
invisible
A storyteller’s journey with Tourette syndrome
by SCOTT NOBLE
8
E
lementary school had gone fairly well for
author Jonathan Friesen. He attended a
school near his house and since most of his
fellow students lived in the same neighborhood,
he knew almost everyone, and everyone knew
him. With that familiarity—conditioned over
several years in a web of relationships that exist
outside the classroom—comes a certain willingness to accept things about people, even things
you don’t necessarily understand.
Junior high was different, however. In fact, it
changed everything for Friesen. He was forced to
move from the smaller, neighborhood elementary school to a new and larger school, one where
the kids didn’t know him as well.
Why would that prove to be so important? Because Friesen has Tourette syndrome.
He started to show symptoms when he was
just 6 years old. With a family history of Tourette’s, he was born with a disposition toward
what the Mayo Clinic describes as “a nervous system (neurological) disorder that … involves unusual repetitive movements or unwanted sounds
that can’t be controlled (tics).” These may include repeated blinking of the eyes, shrugging of
the shoulders or jerking of the head.
In elementary school, “People noticed it, but
I was just kind of the odd kid,” Friesen recalled.
“When I moved to junior high, that’s when things
kind of changed.”
Friesen had what he calls “a big seizure” in
seventh grade—in front of kids who didn’t know
him as well as those in elementary school—and
he soon felt somewhat stigmatized.
That feeling of being the “other” not only
played a significant role in how he developed as
a young man, but it also played a major role in
how he would relate those emotions to his readers many years later.
“I was always a storyteller, Friesen said. “But
what happened was that as Tourette’s got worse,
my handwriting, which was close to perfect, just
fell off the map. It was just horrible. Because of
that, writing just as an act became a challenge.
Even though I had stories to tell and writing
maybe would have been a very natural outlet for
those stories, I lost the ability to do it.”
Friesen even went so far as to avoid pens and
pencils, believing he would not be able to control
them adequately enough to write. Typewriters
were a possibility at the time but without correction tape, they too became a hassle not worth his
time.
Being a good storyteller—or “joker” or Friesen
describes it—served him well when trying to deflect attention from his Tourette’s.
“I was good at making people laugh,” he said.
“I usually did that to kind of redirect them … from
ybe I had a big Tourette-remaybe
d movement or tic and
lated
y’d be looking at
they’d
me, and so somehow
if you could make
meone laugh and
someone
d of redirect
kind
ir attention,
their
wouldn’t
theyy
ask me about it.
I wouldn’t have
to give an answer
ut this thing
about
thatt I didn’t even
derstand myself. I
understand
rned how to tell a
learned
d story, tell a good
good
jokee to redirect people’ss attention away
m me.”
from
An early storyteller
From a young age, Friesen loved to tell stories—and even write them, at least for a time.
Despite dealing with Tourette
syndrome all his life, Jonathan Friesen
has become a successful author.
9
While the idea of being a natural storyteller was a strong influence in his life
during high school, Friesen never was
able to put those ideas on paper. Becoming a published author was possibly the
farthest thing from his mind as he entered college.
An inkling of a career
“I went to college just because that
was what I was supposed to do,” he said.
“Whether I got that from my parents—
and I think I did—that was your next life
path. You get the diploma and then you
choose which one of the colleges in your
drawer who have been sending you stuff
and who you are going to go to.”
In Friesen’s case, that meant Bethel
University in St. Paul.
DID YOU KNOW?
Tourette syndrome (also called Tourette’s
syndrome, Tourette’s disorder, Gilles de la
Tourette syndrome, GTS or, more commonly,
simply Tourette’s or TS) is an inherited
neurological disorder with onset in childhood,
characterized by the presence of multiple
physical (motor) tics and at least one vocal
(phonic) tic; these tics characteristically wax
and wane.
The exact cause of Tourette’s is unknown,
but it is well established that both genetic
and environmental factors are involved.
Genetic studies have shown that the
overwhelming majority of cases of Tourette’s
are inherited, although the exact mode of
inheritance is not yet known, and no gene has
been identified.
Tourette’s was once considered a rare
and bizarre syndrome, most often associated
with the exclamation of obscene words or
socially inappropriate and derogatory remarks
(coprolalia). However, this symptom is present
in only a small minority of people with
Tourette’s.
A person with Tourette’s has about a 50%
chance of passing the gene(s) to one of his or
her children.
Source: disabled-world.com
10
during his teaching caAdmittedly, Friesen
reer. “That was a mistake,
didn’t do well in colI think, because it got publege.
lished. [I] wrote an article,
“I was a social novsent it out, a $500 check
ice,” he recalled. “I kind
came back and I thought,
of just flew under the ra‘Well, this is easy.’ Then I
dar at Bethel, not knowquit teaching because it’s
ing what I was doing. Just
easy.”
kind of floating around
ost recent
m
s
Maybe that was the
wondering why I was even
n’
se
ie
Fr
Jonathan
released in
as
w
’
y,
catalyst
into life as an
in college. I didn’t beda
ay
‘M
,
book
author.
long there. At the time, I
April.
Friesen does recall, however, a
was just wasting my folks’
point during his teaching career when he
money.”
decided that he wanted to write a book.
Eventually, he gathered enough courIt was late in his teaching tenure, and
age to approach his adviser and ask what
this random thought emerged.
degree fit him best.
“It wasn’t based on any skill or any“Ironically, it was an elementary eduthing,” he said. “I wanted to try to write
cation degree,” Friesen said. “My folks
a book.”
were educators. That was kind of the one
After the idea formed in his mind, he
thing I didn’t want to be but if I could get
asked his wife what she thought about
out of college [with it], I’d do it. So I behim becoming a writer.
came a teacher.”
“Are we going to eat?” she replied.
Even though the career, in a sense,
“I don’t know,” he said.
kind of chose him, Friesen excelled in it
That was all he needed.
and enjoyed teaching.
Armed with a newly published article
He went into special education after
and an agreed-upon vocation as a writer,
college and believed it was a good fit.
Friesen quit teaching the next year, and
“They are people who are kind of …
the family struggled through several
their life had gone a different direction
lean years.
than they probably would have wanted
His wife was homeschooling their
it, just kind of like mine did,” he said. “I
kids, so Friesen was the only income.
kind of felt like I was at home there.”
“In retrospect, that’s not the way
At home he was. More than a dozen
to do it,” he said. “But I think God was
years later, Friesen was still teaching.
faithful.”
Success wasn’t easy or quick.
Trying his hand at writing
Years went by, and publication eluded
Nearly 15 years into a teaching career,
him. Their savings account was slowly
Friesen still had not considered writing a
shrinking.
book. For successful authors, no matter
the genre, the typical career path follows
years of struggle and desire and heartThe story finally comes
ache. Friesen had yet to put his thoughts
Despite those being lean years finandown, yet to feel the nearly insatiable
cially, Friesen received some vital mendesire to tell a story.
toring during this time from two ChrisThat would soon change.
tian authors—Lauraine Snelling and
“I wrote one article,” Friesen recalled
Cecil Murphey—and that helped turn the
Friesen’s experience as a young boy with
Tourette’s gave him a particular insight into
what he calls a “universal human need.” The
desire to be noticed and affirmed.
friends when they were little. That’s how
tide.
I see things. That colors everything. So
Friesen’s first book—“Jerk California,”
it’s really an unlearning. When I write a
a book written for teens—was developed
character, I have to unlearn what I know
while mowing the lawn.
about the world and say, ‘OK, had I been
Nothing he had been working on had
a socialite, had everybody in the school
worked up to this point, and he thought,
loved me, had none of the situations
What do I know about that nobody
that I’ve had happened,
knows about the way I know
then what would I have
about it?
thought now?’ That’s a
“I was thinking that as I
harder thing for me.”
was trying to start the lawn
But that challenge
mower,” he said. “I was
hasn’t been too diffitwitching like crazy and
cult to overcome. Since
jerking and then, ‘What
“Jerk California,” Frido I know about?’ I kind of
esen has written several
paused for a minute and
others, including his latwent, ‘Well, Tourette’s.’
est, “Both of Me,” which
I was living in Maple
comes out this DecemGrove at the time and by
ber. All of his books, to a
the time I got done with
certain degree, touch on
our little, tiny 45-minsimilar themes.
ute mow, I had the whole
Jonathan Freisen’s ne
“The books that I feel
story—start to finish. I
xt release,
‘Both of Me,’ is schedule
the
most comfortable
had the title. I came in,
d to be
released in Decembe
r.
writing and have felt the
I wrote the story. Two
most comfortable writing
weeks later, it sold.”
are books that are coming of age types of
The award-winning book tells the
novels with characters who have signifistory of a young boy with Tourette’s who
cant points of pain that separate them
embarks on a journey to discover more
from the world around them,” he said.
about himself and his father.
“Jerk California” was a deeply personal book for Friesen.
Being visible
“The first [book where] I knew every
Friesen’s experience as a young boy
feeling, I knew every emotion that that
with Tourette’s gave him a particular incharacter would have in all his situations
sight into what he calls a “universal huhe went through and everything after
man need.” The desire to be noticed and
that,” he said.
affirmed.
Since that first book, Friesen has had
“I sometimes got the ‘I see you’ but I
to learn—or unlearn as he calls it—how
didn’t get the ‘I like what I see,’” he said.
to get inside the head of each character,
“As I was writing, I always thought that
something that was particularly easy
was my little need. But the more characwith “Jerk California.”
ters I wrote, the more people I met and
“I keep assuming that everybody sees
the more people I speak to, I kind of realthe world like I do,” he said. “I think evized that was not my little need; that’s
erybody must see it through the lens
our collective universal human need.
of a boy who was sick and spent all his
I kind of stumbled onto something, I
time in his room and didn’t have many
thought, which was very simple actu-
Tourette’s: Who else has it?
Tim Howard, who plays for the
English club Everton, is the goalkeeper for the United States national team playing in the 2014 World
Cup. For him Tourette’s has been an
everyday battle that he has managed
to keep under control, especially
when he is catching and blocking
65 mph curve soccer balls from the
best players in the world. Tim says
it’s just a battle of the will; by constantly fighting what his mind tells
his body to do, he has been capable
of shutting out Tourette’s.
MOISES CASTILLO/AP FILE PHOTO
Other famous people with
Tourette syndrome
• Jim Eisenreich - Major League
Baseball Player
• James Durbin - American Idol
Star
• Jamie Grace - Christian
recording artist
• Eric Bernotas - US Olympic
Bobsledder
ally but kind of profound in that every
character I ever write is going to be asking those two questions: ‘Does anyone
see me’ and ‘Does anyone like what they
see?’” ■
Learn more at www.jonathanfriesen.com
and find him on Facebook, where he will be
giving away copies of “Both of Me.”
11
The wisdom of...
Do our ideas about wisdom change with age?
by SCOTT NOBLE
“Listen to good music to
try to focus on God, not
girls and stuff like that.”
Nathaniel, 11
“…you should read the
Bible a lot and obey your
parents, even if it’s hard. “
Hannah, 10
12
W
isdom. It’s a word we hear a
lot in our constantly changing
technological age. “It would be
wise of you to ….” Or, “As you grow older,
you will become wiser.”
The pursuit of wisdom has been discussed, debated and rebuffed for thousands of years.
Ancient philosophers like Socrates
told us, “The only true wisdom is in
knowing you know nothing,” while Aristotle took a slightly different take and
said, “Knowing yourself is the beginning
of all wisdom.”
The Bible, the ideal reservoir for those
interested in attaining wisdom, encourages people to ask God for it and to pursue it, giving the impression that wisdom is a gift but also something gained
thro
through effort and experiences.
P
Pop
culture stars, famous athletes,
succ
successful writers and societal leaders
are also in the business of dispensing
wisd
wisdom.
W
Writer
Ralph Waldo Emerson directed
us no
not to go “where the path may lead, go
inste
instead where there is no path and leave
a tra
trail.”
Basketball star Michael Jordan proB
vide
vided a key piece of wisdom for those
facin
facing obstacles. “If you’re trying to
achi
achieve, there will be roadblocks,” he
said
said. “I’ve had them; everybody has
had them. But obstacles don’t have
tto stop you. If you run into a wall,
d
don’t turn around and give up.
Figure out how to climb it, go
through it or work around it.”
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr., a man who could have
easily let hate overcome him but
instead rose above it, said, “Let no man
pull you low enough to hate him.”
Age and wisdom
Wisdom comes in a variety of forms.
It might be something as simple as
learning not to touch a hot stove or understanding the consequences of telling
a lie. It can also be something that is difficult to define or relate in a few words.
As we grow older, we have a general
perception that we become wiser—our
life experiences giving us a different
perspective on how we think, live with
one another and pursue life goals. Many
times our mistakes and utter failures
provide us with the most decisive fodder
for developing wisdom.
We assume that we are wiser at 72
years of age than we were at 41 or 27—or
certainly 9.
For those in their retirement years,
they have lived through countless experiences people younger than them have
yet to encounter. It’s from that perspective they can look to younger generations and offer a bit of wise counsel. Not
so much the idea of This is how you do
it, but rather a general sense of Here is
what I have learned from my life, and it
may help you in some way.
C.R. is a Twin Cities’ resident and
retired. He has always kept the words a
pastor spoke about wisdom close to his
heart. The pastor had said, “Wisdom is
God’s Word wrapped around our experiences.” It’s a compelling concept, and
one C.R. believes helps inform our life
from the perspective of God.
With this point of view in mind, C.R.
believes we can turn our experiences
into good, especially those that are less
than positive. Those bad decisions, those
discouraging outcomes, those utter failures … wisdom is taking those life episodes and using them to better inform
our present and direct our future.
For Joan, another retiree, the challenge to understanding wisdom is rooted
in knowing and reading God’s Word. Our
ability to make wise decisions—or to
pursue common sense—is developed by
how informed we are by the Bible.
Second, Joan believes another key
piece of wisdom useful for younger generations is being willing and ready to admit fault and ask for forgiveness.
“Whenever I am challenged—either
by the Holy Spirit or by another person—
of having said or done something that
offended another person, that I quickly
admit it and apologize,” she said. “Letting things fester is never good. Whether
or not the apology is accepted is not my
responsibility, but to express the sincere
apology is my responsibility.”
Developing a humble and pliable
heart is a key step in a life informed by
biblical wisdom.
Wisdom from a kid’s perspective
While those in their retirement years
have sound advice and pieces of wisdom to pass on to those in their younger
years, kids have also learned lessons in
their relatively brief lives. They most
likely have not experienced the types of
loss and failure as those several decades
older; however, in their few short years,
they have developed their own sense of
wisdom.
When asked what piece of advice or
wisdom he would pass on to other kids,
Nathaniel, age 11, said to “listen to good
music to try to focus on God, not girls
and stuff like that.”
Nathaniel wasn’t done. He had more
wise counsel: “Have someone pray for
you in tough times; it helps me,” and
“When you feel like you don’t have anything to do, read the Bible because you
can’t remember it all.”
While Nathaniel’s counsel is not necessarily based upon decades of life experience, it’s sound, biblical and helpful. What
person—age 10 or 40 or 80—couldn’t benefit from his prescriptions on wisdom?
Hannah, 10, had similar advice for other
kids: “To be fruitful you should read the
Bible a lot and obey your parents, even if
it’s hard. Don’t listen to your friends if they
suggest that you do something bad. Going
outside in nature can connect you with
God, because it’s quiet and it gives you
time to think about God.”
Several other pieces of sound advice
for those of any age.
Jordan, 9, took the same lead about
obeying parents, saying, “Obey your
mom and dad so you won’t get in trouble,
and you will have a better life.”
Wisdom … young and old
All of these pieces of wisdom and advice—whether they are based on decades
of life experiences or developed through
a relatively short period of time—serve
as critical pieces in our life journeys.
Perhaps the key challenge, however, is
not so much knowing pieces of wisdom
that guide us in our life, but being able to
adopt those key pieces of wisdom during
critical times. ■
“Wisdom is God’s Word
wrapped around our
experiences.”
C.R, retired, quoting his pastor
“Letting things fester is
never good.”
Joan, retired
13
Nikita Odnoralov, lead
singer of Everfound, a band
comprised of four Russianborn brothers, at Sonshine
Festival in 2013.
Music mania
4 stages, 100 bands
to stir it up at the
Sonshine Festival
by SCOTT NOBLE
PHOTO BY LEHMAN_11 (HTTP://TINYURL.COM/L5Z6QLH), FLICKER.
I
n the early 1980s, Bob Poe was a
youth pastor in Willmar. As it goes
for many youth pastors, Poe wondered about organizing a midsummer
event for area kids—kind of a way to give
kids something to look forward to and
something to entertain them.
Poe wanted to pull in some area youth
pastors and some churches and gather
around the theme of music. So he did.
The first organized event saw 1,800
people in attendance.
“In 1982, that was a huge crowd,” said
Poe, who is now festival director for the
annual Sonshine Festival. “We were pretty excited about that. Everybody showed
up that we wanted. We had good local involvement. Year two, it doubled in size.
Then it kind of turned into something
more than just a local event. Within a few
years, we were at 12,000, 13,000 people.”
More than 30 years later, Poe said he
had no inkling the event would grow to
become what it is today.
14
…more music in four days than
(you) can get in four years at
regular concerts.
“My focus and the focus of the folks
who were doing it was a local focus,” he
said. “But sometimes God surprises you,
and you kind of keep your hand to the
plow and you look back and say, ‘Look
what grew back there.’”
A true ‘music festival’
During the four-day event, July 16
– 19, Sonshine Festival will utilize four
music stages: Main, Fringe, Debut and
Indoor.
“We have a main stage that runs daytime and evening,” Poe said. “We have a
fringe stage that runs daytime. We have
our debut stage that runs daytime. We
have an indoor stage that runs daytime
and evening. The indoor stage houses
some different things during the daytime—hip hop being one of the big items.
Then at nighttime, starting at about 5:30
p.m., it converts to the HM stage, the
Harder Music, and runs to about midnight or 12:30 p.m.”
This year’s lineup runs the gamut of
Christian music: from Britt Nicole to Jeff
Deyo, Colton Dixon, Newsboys, Manic
Drive, Switchfoot, Kari Jobe, Lil Prophet,
Tru Serva and many others.
The debut stage gives new and emerging artists exposure and a chance to grow
a following.
“We started [the debut stage] years
and years ago to allow some local and
regional bands a chance to play at Sonshine,” Poe said. “The plan is if your
band is going to be at Sonshine and you
want to play, meet us at 9:00 at the debut
stage. We’ll throw band names in a hat,
and we’ll pick the order of the stage for
the day. It’s fun.”
Sonshine Festival is nearly a
12-months-a-year endeavor. Planning
for the next year starts almost immediately after the current one finishes.
“We talk about who we’d like to bring
back, first of all, and then we’ll look at any
IF YOU GO
WHAT:
WHEN:
WHERE:
ARTISTS:
Sonshine Festival
July 16-19
Willmar, MN
More than 100 bands on four
stages, including Newsboys,
Family Force 5, Colton Dixon,
NeedToBreathe, Jamie Grace,
Switchfoot, Kari Jobe
SPEAKERS: Bob Poe, Harry Thomas, Preston
Centuolo, Nick Hall, Christine
Caine and more
KIDS:
Kids area features clowns,
juggling, bubble time, games,
balloon sculptures, music, crafts,
painting and more
CAMPING: More than 50 acres of grass for
free camping at the Willmar
Civic Center
TICKETS: www.sonshinefestival.com
new bands out there,” Poe said. “Some
of the things we look at are their touring schedule. Are they out there where
the people are? Are they selling tickets?
What size are their concerts? Then we’ll
look at radio play. [We] try and find the
bands that folks are listening to and going to see. That kind of becomes our festival start.”
Many bands have received big breaks
or gotten a boost in their young careers
by performing at Sonshine.
Poe says powerhouse groups like
Newsboys, Skillet and Switchfoot found
a home at Sonshine before they became
popular nationally.
“A lot of these bands develop their career with us in the mix,” he said.
Poe particularly remembers the story
of Family Force 5, a group that has become very popular recently. Poe said the
group was playing at Sonshine more than
a decade ago when they were known as
The Brothers.
“They were little guys getting start-
ed,” he said. “Their dad … was [touring]
them around the country.”
Sonshine experience
Over the three decades of music, the
festival has moved a couple of times
in order to accommodate the growing
crowds and the camping experience that
now is a major part of Sonshine.
For the first several years, the event
was held at Willmar Community College, now named Ridgewater College.
Then Sonshine moved near the Willmar
Civic Center and was able to use the facility and grounds there. Shortly after,
Willmar High School built a new facility,
which was better able to accommodate
the growing needs of the festival.
Several years after the first Sonshine,
people began to ask about extending the
event to two, three or four days, believing
the one-day schedule was not enough.
After the decision was made to extend
the festival beyond one day, camping facilities became a necessity.
With the addition of camping, Sonshine now offers a full-rounded experience at one of the region’s best music
festivals.
“We’ve got a number of things on site
they can do,” Poe said. “Of course we’ve
got music starting at 10:00 in the morning until midnight every day. We stuck to
being a music festival. We have a speaker
or two each day, but we haven’t done the
seminars or the conferences. We’re a music festival. So most of the people who
come here, that’s what they want to do.”
They also have inflatables and games
for kids and also a children’s stage and
craft area for younger kids.
Poe said many people spend time
swimming or fishing or wake surfing at
area lakes during the festival as well.
It’s about the stories
As with any event that has lasted for
15
more than 30 years, Poe is encouraged
by the stories he hears from people who
have attended Sonshine over the years.
Poe recently received a call from a
woman who said her daughter attended
Sonshine several years ago. She had met
her future husband at the music festival
and now the couple has three kids.
Another guy called Poe and said, “You
know, Bob, I grew up a little more conservative in the Christian world. When I
attended Sonshine, I raised my hands in
worship for the very first time.”
The gentleman told Poe that attending Sonshine was “one of the top three
experiences of my lifetime.”
16
Thousands of Sonshine Festival music fans camp out during the four-day festival.
In the end, Sonshine is about music and offering praise to the Son and a
chance for people to be introduced to
Christ.
“Every night [at the] main stage we
make sure that … we have an evening
speaker, and the challenge for that person is not to just encourage believers but
to call people to become believers,” Poe
said.
What would he tell people who are
considering attending Sonshine for the
first time?
“Well, if they are music lovers, they’ll
get more music in four days than they
can get in four years at regular concerts,”
he said. “The other side of it is meeting
some new people, making some new
friends, great worship experiences, probably walk away with something similar
from when most of us were at youth
camps, and we had a great week at youth
camp and came home and it was about
all we could talk about for a while.” ■
4
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17
Jeff Nielsen spent a lot of time in the pre-Op unit at U of M hospital getting tested and
treated for his illness leading up to the eventual surgery that took place in September, 2012.
‘Please don’t abandon me’
Man pleads with
doctor to save his life
by SCOTT NOBLE
J
eff Nielsen had it all. He was a highly
paid executive who enjoyed large
monetary bonuses, drove a company
car, had a six-figure salary and lived in
a large house. His marriage to his wife,
Tami, was solid, and their family life was
rounded out by kids.
But something had always gnawed at
his core. It might not have been visible
to those who passed him on the street
or knew him only as an acquaintance;
however, that “something” would literally control the way Nielsen approached
his work—and possibly even threaten his
life.
That something was a deeply rooted
18
and nearly inescapable fear of failure.
Trying to perform
Nielsen spent his early years in St.
Paul, moving to Forest Lake in the seventh grade.
“Growing up, I was in a very abusive
environment,” he recalled. “My dad was
an alcoholic. My mom was very abusive
toward me. I was the black sheep. I was
called out. That’s just the way life was. I
didn’t know any better.”
Those years were difficult. Nielsen
often slept at wayside rests in order to
avoid the potentially volatile situation
at home.
“It just really was a difficult time,” he
said. “I knew that if I didn’t get out of
here, I probably wouldn’t live. I kept on
saying when I was growing up, ‘I hope I
make it to 12, I hope I live to 8, I hope I
make it to 16.’”
Fortunately, he did make it to those
ages, but those early family experiences
left him with a burden that would shadow him for the rest of his life.
“Love at home was performance,” he
recalled. “If I did really good chores or
housework—whatever I had to do to earn
acceptance—that was what I did. That’s
why I was really good in Track [and
Field]. That carried me into the business
world because by performance, I got acceptance: promotions, raises, stock options. That was a fuel that kept me going.
It was also a liability. I really didn’t understand that until I got sick.”
Nielsen left home after high school and
joined the Air Force, where he eventually
met Tami. The couple was ready to make
a life for themselves, but the liability that
took the form of a fear of failure was still
present, ready to make its appearance
throughout the next many years.
New faith, new life
While the couple settled in Baltimore,
they attended Rock Church, where they
were baptized together.
“We accepted Christ as our Lord and
Savior,” he said. “That just launched my
whole commitment to Christ.”
Growing up, Nielsen and his family
attended church infrequently—maybe
on Easter and Christmas. He had a deep
belief that God existed but at the time,
his faith didn’t extend any further.
Now Nielsen had a new and deep relationship with Christ and was ready to
enter the corporate world.
Early in his career, Nielsen became
known as a turnaround specialist. He
would go in, work hard and get the job
done.
“Here I am in corporate America,
and I’m just tearing it up,” he remembered. “I’m getting all kinds of letters
of recommendation, I’m getting great
reviews, people are just building me up,
and people are demanding my time. It’s
just really rewarding. All that hard work
is paying off.”
But the demands of the job were beginning to take their toll. Working 70-80
hours a week, traveling more than half
the year and striving in a stressful environment—those were the markers of
Nielsen’s successful corporate life.
“Something isn’t right,” Nielsen re-
Jeff and Tami Nielsen snap a selfie at the Joyful Noise festival last month.
members feeling during this time. He
prayed that God would show him what
he was supposed to be doing. One image
came to mind during this time: an image
of him dying as a lonely man—with all
the toys but alone.
“[In spite of all the success], it has taken its toll, because I know I’m not having
healthy balance,” Nielsen recalled. “I’m a
workaholic.”
In retrospect, Nielsen believes that
workaholic approach to life was “my way
to gain acceptance because I never had
that growing up. Performance constituted acceptance.”
Change of attitude, same temptations
Coming to that realization, Jeff told
Tami that he was going to resign from
his corporate job. He believed he was
going down the wrong path and needed
to break the chains of this addiction to
performance.
When he told Tami of his decision,
she said, “Wow, you finally see it.”
He replied, “I was doing it for you.”
“No, you weren’t doing it for me,”
Tami responded. “I don’t need all this.
You need it.”
So with that conversation, the couple
decided to give it all up: the large house,
company car, six figure salary … everything that was a result of his corporate
standard of living.
“We radically changed our lifestyle,”
Nielsen said.
Even with the change of lifestyle,
Nielsen still couldn’t help but feel like he
had failed somehow; the feelings of guilt
would not go away.
Nevertheless, the couple’s lifestyle
did change—for a while.
It wasn’t long, however, before
Nielsen had an opportunity to move back
into corporate America. He received a job
offer from a company in Illinois. Nielsen
still wanted that balance in his life and
was unsure about moving back into the
corporate world, a place where he was
tempted to fall back into the familiar
patterns of a workaholic.
After much prayer and discussion, the
couple made the move to Illinois, where
Nielsen began work as a contract administrator for a large company.
“Two promotions within a couple of
years, and I’m back on top again,” he
said.
19
…it’s easy to say God is in control
when you live in a big house and
enjoy a corporate salary.
The same patterns were beginning to
emerge.
The vice president of the company
pulled Nielsen aside one day and said,
“Jeff, I love what you’re doing. You’re
the right guy … but you’ve got to get balance.”
That elusive balance was again
threatening to unravel his life.
During times like this, Tami said she
had to rely on prayer to get her through.
“I had to rely a lot on prayer because
my first reaction was to be angry,” she
said. “Because I felt like he didn’t care
about what he was doing to himself or
to his family. I really found myself in
prayer quite often and asking for God
to give me guidance. And then He gave
me the words to approach Jeff in a nonangry manner and just let him know how
I felt—how it made the family feel and
how it appeared to us.”
Health concerns
Over the July 4th weekend in 2011,
Nielsen was walking to a restaurant in
St. Louis when he began to feel ill. After
a visit to the doctor, Nielsen was told he
had problems with his pancreas. Further
tests revealed gallbladder issues as well.
Unfortunately, this began a yearslong succession of visits to doctors and
emergency rooms—with a condition that
would ultimately threaten his life.
During this time, he was admitted to
the hospital where he was supposed to
have surgery to remove his gallbladder,
but those temptations to work and perform still didn’t subside in spite of his
worsening health condition.
“While I’m in [the hospital], I call my
admin and I tell her to bring the computer, bring the printer, and these disks
because I’ve got some [work to do],” he
recalled. “She said, ‘I’m not going to do
that.’ I say, ‘You don’t bring them, I am
going to fire you.’”
20
At the time, the doctor told Nielsen
just how sick he was and that he needed
a healthy balance in his life—words that
Nielsen would hear many times over the
next several months and years.
Despite that warning, Nielsen’s condition slowly worsened, and he suffered
numerous attacks related to his pancreas. At one point, he had to be airlifted
from Illinois to St. Louis.
Eventually, the doctor in St. Louis told
him, “There is nothing I can do for you. I
can’t help you. We’re going to put a pick
line in you, but I’m going to send you to
the best doctor I know in the country [for
pancreas care].”
That doctor was at the University of
Minnesota.
“At that time I’m thinking, ‘Is this my
journey where I come home to die?’”
Fortunately, it was not.
Surgery and new life
Doctors treated Nielsen while he was
back in Minnesota and determined he
needed to have his pancreas partially
removed. It was a risky surgery but one
that would hopefully give Nielsen the
best chance for long-term health and recovery.
Two days before the surgery, however,
the doctor called Nielsen and told him
that the procedure was too risky; they
needed to cancel the surgery.
“Please don’t abandon me,” Nielsen
pleaded with the doctor on the phone.
“Don’t forget me.”
The doctor didn’t—and wouldn’t.
Eventually, Nielsen was healthy
enough for surgery and underwent the
12-hour procedure in September 2012 to
remove his pancreas, spleen, a large section of his small intestines and stomach.
After the surgery, Nielsen briefly returned to work. He took on a big project
and struggled with the strains of the job.
He ultimately decided to leave and un-
fortunately about this time, Tami was
laid off from her job.
Nielsen believes it’s easy to say God
is in control when you live in a big house
and enjoy a corporate salary.
“Are you willing to let go of everything, every earthly possession and leave
yourself wide open?” Nielsen said. “And
then say, ‘God, you are in control.’ Because that’s the only time He is in control.”
Nielsen says he will never be able to
go back to the executive-type jobs he
once held. While his health has remained
steady, he tires easily and doesn’t have
the stamina to hold a high-stress position any longer.
“From that part, it’s coming to peace
with realizing that what God has for
me is totally different than what I had
planned,” he said. “Your idea of what
you’re supposed to be doing is different
from … [God’s] idea, obviously. I know I
can’t go back. I know I need to serve others and honor Him through this journey.”
From their personal journey through
near death and recovery, Tami offers
encouragement to those facing similar
challenges.
“God is always there,” she said. “I felt
like when I couldn’t take anything else,
I would go out in the car and I’d scream,
‘Why are you doing this to us?’ Then I
would get this peace, and a voice would
tell me He was going to carry me.”
Even though the couple will not be
going back to the executive lifestyle they
previously enjoyed, they are excited for
what the future holds, especially in light
of Jeff’s near-death health issues.
“I am so excited about the future,”
Tami said. “At this point, I never expected Jeff to be doing as well as he is doing.
Every day is truly a miracle for us. I have
to remind myself of that every day. It’s
just been an amazing journey, and I can’t
wait for the future.” ■
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21
book review
How to answer tough
questions from your children
by SCOTT NOBLE
“Answering Your Kids’ Toughest Questions:
Helping Them Understand Loss, Sin, Tragedies,
and Other Hard Topics”
By Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson,
Bethany House Publishers, © 2014, 176 pages,
$13.99
It’s part of the job description for
parents: being able to answer your
kids’ questions—all of them. Even the
most challenging ones, such as, “Why
did grandma get sick for six months
and die?” or “Why did that tsunami kill
50,000 people?” or even “Why did those
people have to die in the Old Testament?”
The questions can be deeply philosophical—even coming from a kid—or
they can be more mundane questions
about behavior, friends and what they
saw on television. Regardless, as parents,
we feel a certain responsibility to be able
to provide adequate answers.
In “Answering Your Kids’ Toughest
Questions: Helping Them Understand
Loss, Sin, Tragedies, and Other Hard
Topics,” mother and daughter authors
Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson
provide a helpful framework for parents
to consider when faced with difficult
questions from their kids. The book is
written with kids of all ages in mind—
from preschool to teenagers.
Chapters cover such significant topics
as sin, death, divorce, difficult stories in
the Bible, natural disasters, sexual sin,
why people fight and the importance of
the gospel.
In the midst of providing a foundation for understanding and responding
to these questions, the authors also discuss how parents should be open about
not having all the answers.
“One of the primary things we want
to say in this book is that parents need
22
Elyse Fitzpatrick
Jessica Thompson
to be very upfront, really honest about
what they know, what we can know
and the fact that all of us struggle with
doubt; all of us have questions,” said
Fitzpatrick. “I think it’s perfectly fine
for us—and actually I think it’s important for us as adults—to tell children
that having questions and having doubt
and not having all the answers is just
part of what it means to be finite human beings.”
The authors write about the fear some
parents—including them—have when
they do not have an answer to every
question kids propose, especially when it
comes to faith.
As a mother, Fitzpatrick said she
struggled with the idea of not always
having the answer to every question. She
falsely assumed that if she expressed
doubt or didn’t have an adequate response that her kids would ultimately
question God.
“There are reasonable, logical answers that we can infer from Scripture,
but that doesn’t necessarily mean that
we know why everything is happening,”
she said. “I think it’s a really good idea
for parents to be able to say to their children, ‘I don’t know the answer to that,
honey, and there’s some things that we
never will know the answer to until we’re
in heaven. But I do know the one who has
the answers.’”
Thompson said perhaps the most difficult subject to address with kids is sexual sins or pornography, and that was a
complex chapter to write.
“I think the question that maybe we
try to avoid [as parents] or we try to hide
from was the sexual sins chapter,” she
said. “How do we talk to our children
about pornography or abuse? I think parents try to ignore that, maybe don’t talk
about it to their kids. But in my mind,
when we finished writing that chapter,
I had some very serious conversations
with my children that I don’t think I
would have previously even thought
about.”
Thompson also believes that if parents don’t address these difficult issues—like sexual sins, pornography and
abuse—kids will find answers elsewhere,
such as classmates, at school or online.
Ultimately, Fitzpatrick and Thompson
hope readers will not only learn practical
advice on answering difficult questions
but will see the broad narrative of Scripture behind all of life.
“The big story is creation, fall, redemption,” Fitzpatrick said. “If we can
get parents to understand and really get
a hold of the fact that the Bible isn’t just
a bunch of stories that have been sort of
slung together but is actually a narrative
…. In every one of those paradigms in
the narrative—in creation, in fall, in redemption, in consummation—when you
see that story being played out throughout the entire Scripture, then really most
of the questions that we have fall into
those categories.”
Thompson hopes parents will grow in
their confidence in God after reading the
book and that they would see that “Christianity is really important and speaks to
every part of my life” and would be compelled “to their knees in prayer for their
children.”
Learn more at www.bakerpublishing
group.com/bethanyhouse or visit a local
LifeWay Christian store.
Mn Adult & Teen Challenge
HELP WANTED
For almost 30 years, MnTC has been restoring hope
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Assertive men and women needed to supervise, provide leadership to, and develop mentoring relationships with clients in our residential program. A good
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*Rochester Center – various positions available for
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Job Readiness Coordinator
Professional individual needed to teach and facilitate
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include: superior written and verbal communication
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CD Counselor
MN Teen Challenge seeks a licensed counselor to
work in a 60-Day Life Renewal program. Individual
must be comfortable practicing within a faith based
structure, LADC Licensure is required. On-call positions currently available.
Maintenance Manage (Duluth)
Experienced professional to manage multiple projects
and work teams. In addition to strong administrative,
supervision and organizational skills, experience in
most of the following areas is required: Boilers, HVAC,
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opportunities,
visit www.mntc.org.
“Never Stop Asking Why”
Services provided solely under
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licensure to members only.
Have your questions answered or schedule a consultation by calling
651.739.1248.
23
sports
Brazilian soccer star belongs to Jesus
By ANDREW BRANCH
that uses colors to tell the gospel story.
Kaká has often proclaimed his faith at
the height of his accomplishments, even
donating the Ballon d’Or to his church.
When he won the UEFA Champions
League with AC Milan in 2007, he ripped
off his shirt. But instead of the traditional shirtless roar, he revealed an undershirt that read, “I Belong to Jesus.”
Kaká allowed I Am Second to use his
story in the World Cup campaign, accompanied by Luke 5:1-11, which tells
the story of Peter, James, and John leaving the occupation that defined their
lives—fishing on the sea of Galilee—to
follow Jesus. The soccer star dedicated
his life to becoming a professional player
at age 15 in a sports-crazed Brazilian
culture that rivals high school and college sports in the United States. Soccer is
king, if not god.
In a moment of “meditation on God’s
word,” though, he said he realized that
Jesus is the true first place. “Even though
I am playing against others, and it is important to get there and win, I believe
Jesus is much more important than all of
that,” he said.
Kaká and his wife, Caroline Celico,
PHOTO BY JOSÉ CRUZ/ABR - AGÊNCIA BRASIL, WIKIPEDIA
As his native Brazil hosts the monthlong World Cup tournament, soccer star
Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite wants
you to know that he is a Christian.
Ricardo, better known only as Kaká, is
a 32-year-old Brazilian who plays for AC
Milan in Italy. Though left off this year’s
World Cup team, Kaká has played in the
last three World Cups for Brazil, winning
it in 2002. He grew in popularity and won
FIFA’s highest honor, the Ballon d’Or, in
2007.
“I never imagined reaching the place
that I reached, conquering the things
that I conquered,” he told I Am Second,
an evangelism ministry that tells celebrity faith stories. “As a soccer player, I
won everything I could.”
A video of his interview was posted
on YouTube as part of the ministry’s
World Cup initiative. I Am Second is just
one of many international organizations
using soccer balls featuring the colors
of the wordless book, a witnessing tool
Above: Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, better
known as Kaká, with the former president of Brazil,
Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, in Brasília.
Facing page: Kaka of AC Milan in action during the
Series A match between Milan and Torino at the
Stadio Meazza on April 19, 2009 in Milan, Italy.
PHOTO BY MARCELLO CASAL JR/ABR, WIKIPEDIA
Left: Kaká, in the yellow shirt, playing for Brazil at
the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
24
International Healing & Restoration Ministries
Leadership & Healing Conference
July 10-12, 2014
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H.E. H.A.D. Faith Ministries
A non-denominational Christian Church worshiping on the
seventh day Sabbath (Saturdays)
Teaching Scripture alone, not the traditions of men.
PHOTO BY TSUTOMU TAKASU, WIKIPEDIA
Discover the biblical truth about the Sabbath, end time
events, hell, and the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.
Call 612-743-3841
|
www.godormen.com
began dating as “childhood sweethearts”
in 2002 and married in 2005. Kaká, a
kind of international Tim Tebow figure,
and Celico both say they were virgins.
But the couple has had some rocky moments. Celico, 26, was ordained by Brazil’s Reborn in Christ Church as a pastor.
The couple left the megachurch in 2010,
reportedly because of the way it treated
and regarded money. Celico told a Brazilian television station in 2012 that she
was somewhat dissatisfied with organized churches, saying that “our church
is our house.”
On the field, Kaká has struggled to
return to form after knee surgery. He is
“learning many things,” he said, especially about the love of God in raising his
two young children. “I’m not afraid of
anything,” he said. “I learned to live each
day waiting for God’s daily bread and by
having faith that things could change in
any given moment.”
Andrew Branch is a reporter with World
News Service.
25
tunes
Rock band drives home
anti-slavery message
Christian rock band Remedy Drive
has shifted gears in preparation for the
September release of Commodity, a new
release dedicated to highlighting the
travesty of slavery and trafficking.
Its title single from the album released in May, debuting at No. 12 and by
mid-June climbing to No. 7. Penned by
founder and frontman David Zach and
his brother, Philip, the song is a powerful declaration of war against slavery
and trafficking. Philip is producing the
album.
The four-brother band’s new mission
was inspired by David Zach’s recent trip
to Southeast Asia with The Exodus Road,
a nonprofit coalition fighting sex slavery
through covert investigation and rescue,
prompting the band to commit their music and ministry focus to help combat
human trafficking.
“Commodity,” the debut single and
title cut from Remedy Drive’s forthcoming studio recording and most important
release to date, debuted at No.12 and
Most Added on the BDS Christian Rock
chart last week.
“During this next chapter of Remedy
Drive, we are going to do everything in
our power to raise awareness and to fund
rescue,” David Zach said. “I went undercover with The Exodus Road in the red
light districts of several cities and am
going to continue to go back because I
believe freedom can only be achieved
when we ‘develop a kind of dangerous
unselfishness,’ as Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. said.
A Kickstarter campaign to complete
the Commodity project, the band’s 10th,
26
Sponsored by
ended with $27,710 in pledges, which
outpaced its goal of $20,000.
“We want to make a concept album
on liberty, to shine a light on slavery, to
protest oppression and to empower rescue,” the band founder said. “We want to
add to the soundtrack of the resistance.
My hope is that this album will sound
like a captive’s dream of liberty—a defiant reminder, against all odds, that in the
King’s Kingdom the oppressed can find
refuge, the marginalized can find hope,
the child soldier can find safety, and the
trafficked daughter in the red light district can return to her innocence again as
a princess of the Realm.”
www.remedydrive.com
Spanish album of popular
worship songs released
Phil Sillas, the Dove Award-winning
producer who has worked with Natalie
Grant, David Foster, Aaron Neville,
Jaci Velasquez and
Plus One, has released Mi Corazón
Canta, Cantos de
Alabanza Vol.2 (My
Heart Sings, Songs
of Praise, Volume
2). The album debuted at No. 1 on the
SoundScan - Spanish Christian Music
chart and No. 5 on the Billboard - Latin
Pop Album chart.
The album contains 12 songs originally written by Hillsong, Chris Tomlin
and Israel Houghton, among others. The
songs have been translated as “the official and authorized Spanish versions”
and are performed by Nic Gonzalez (Salvador), Jessica Cabral, Omar Galarza, Lily
Cruz, Aaron, Barbosa, Aaron Encinas,
Mark Gutierrez (GB5), Josh Lopez, Harry
Samuel and Alfonso Hernandez.
“Once again it is an honor to offer
these wonderful songs that have impacted so many congregations around the
world, and now in Spanish. Our desire
and goal remains the same ... to highlight the ever-growing influence of the
Hispanic church in today’s worship.”
www.tsgrecords.com
Hide the Word in song
Grammy and Dove Award-winning
CCM recording artist Steve Green has released his ninth project for children.
“Hide the Word: Bible Songs for Kids,”
is designed to make memorizing God’s
Word a part of everyday life.
Green wrote the music and adapted
the Bible verses for all 15 tracks on “Hide
the Word,” using some of the Bible’s
most familiar promises, including John
3:16-17, John 14:6 and Psalm 23:1-3
(“The Lord is my shepherd....”).
In addition to featuring Green on lead
vocals, the CD also features a children’s
choir with individual kids quoting the
verses. Green’s granddaughter, Addy,
made her recording debut on the project
as well.
“In the Scriptures, God has told us all
we need to know for life and godliness,”
he said, adding, “What’s more, the songs
are just plain fun!”
www.stevegreenministries.org.
Earth care topic of new DVD
Maranatha! Music and the global
organization, The Eden Reforestation
Projects, have teamed up to release A
Convenient Answer, an educational
DVD that promotes the protection, restoration and care of the environment.
The interactive Bible-based study
offers a solution and care strategy that
heals the environment while encouraging others to overcome poverty and oppression.
“Eden Projects employs thousands
of impoverished nationals in Ethiopia,
Madagascar and Haiti to plant million
of trees each month at only 10 cents per
tree,” said Steve Fitch, president and
founder of The Eden Projects.
“This simple cost-effective plan is
transforming the workers’ lives even as
they restore healthy forest systems,”
he said adding that the DVD provides
an honest look “at the negative consequences when we neglect creation, and
how the people of God are uniquely positioned to make the world a much better
place.”
outtakes
‘Planes: Fire & Rescue’
“Planes: Fire & Rescue,” a new Disney
comedy-adventure about second chances, featuring a dynamic crew of elite firefighting aircraft devoted to protecting
historic Piston Peak National Park from
raging wildfire, releases in 3D July 18 in
theaters nationwide.
When world-famous air racer Dusty
(voice of Dane Cook) learns that his
engine is damaged and he may never
race again, he must shift gears and is
launched into the world of aerial firefighting. Dusty joins forces with veteran
fire-and-rescue helicopter Blade Ranger
(voice of Ed Harris) and his courageous
team, including spirited air tanker Dipper (voice of Julie Bowen), heavy-lift helicopter Windlifter (voice of Wes Studi),
ex-military transport Cabbie (voice of
Captain Dale Dye) and a lively bunch of
brave all-terrain vehicles known as The
Smokejumpers.
Together, the fearless team battles a
massive wildfire and Dusty learns what it
takes to become a true hero. Directed by
Bobs Gannaway (“Secret of the Wings”)
and produced by Ferrell Barron (“The
Fox and the Hound 2”), “Planes: Fire &
Rescue” hits theaters in 3D on July 18,
2014.
Other voice stars include Curtis Armstrong, John Michael Higgins, Hal Holbrook, Brad Garrett, Teri Hatcher, Stacy
Keach, Cedric the Entertainer, Danny
Mann, Barry Corbin, Regina King, Anne
Meara, Jerry Stiller, Fred Willard, Kevin
Michael Richardson and Patrick Warburton.
www.Disney.com/planes
Political thriller could be
‘ripped from the headlines’
Politics and religious liberties are on
a crash course in the Millennium Entertainment film “Persecuted,” which releases July 18.
The film stars actor James Remar (“XMen: First Class,” “Dexter,” “Django: Unchained,” “What Lies Beneath,” “Red”) as
John Luther, a modern-day evangelist.
Luther is the last hold-out for a na-
tional endorsement to make sweeping
reform in freedom of speech that would
compel religious leaders to provide equal
time to those of other faiths as a U.S.
Senator, portrayed by Oscar-nominated
actor Bruce Davison (“X-Men,” “Lost”,
“Castle”), and his political allies create
a sinister plan of denial and scandal to
frame Luther for murder.
Suddenly his once-normal life is
turned upside down as he becomes a
fugitive vowing to expose those responsible. It is a mission that brings him
face-to-face with the coming storm of
persecution that will threaten the moral
ethics and freedoms of America.
“‘Persecuted’ is a wonderful House of
Cards-type political thriller that imagines what would happen if the country’s
most famous religious leader refused to
go along with the politicians in Washington and the mayhem that ensues,” said
Fred Thompson, a former U.S. Senator,
presidential candidate and actor who costars in the film. His former credits include “Law & Order,” “Die Hard 2,” and
“Hunt for Red October.”
The film, written and produced by
Daniel Lusko, also stars Dean Stockwell
(“Air Force One,” “The Manchurian Candidate,” “Star Trek”), Brad Stine (recognized as “God’s Comic” by The New Yorker, social commentator on Fox & Friends,
“Marriage Retreat”) Raoul Trujillo
(“Apocolypto,” “Cowboys and Aliens,”
“The New World”), Natalie Grant (fivetime Dove Award-winning singer and
songwriter) and Gretchen Carlson (Fox
News Channel).
www.persecutedmovie.com
Nashville.
The evening featured appearances
from several “Rocket Pack Jack” cast
members, including 14-year-old Steven
Dady, who stars as the story’s unlikely
hero, Truett. He is recruited to help
Rocket Pack Jack prevent Karnivor, a
group of high-tech villains and their evil
robots, from releasing a virus designed
to corrupt all the world’s documents.
The teen actor is quickly gaining notoriety as a leading young actor in Hollywood. He has already appeared in an episode of CBS’ “Criminal Minds” and will
be seen in two upcoming feature films:
“11 Seconds,” starring Casper Van Dien
and Catherine Oxenberg; and “The Secret Handshake,” with Kevin Sorbo and
Amy Grant.
The film will be available at LifeWay
retail stores beginning in August.
www.lifeway.com/rocketpackjack
‘Rocket Pack Jack’
“Rocket Pack Jack and the Babylon
Virus,’ a new faithbased
adventure
film from Seventh
Story Productions
and LifeWay Films,
drew a star-studded audience to its
recent world premier at the historic
Belcourt Theatre in
27
events calendar
JUL 1-AUG 26
JUL 14 • MONDAY
“Fiber Friends” knitting group,
opportunity to create knit blankets,
booties & hats for ‘Operation: Top
Knot’ through Soldier’s Angels
Organization. (Jr. High+), 6-7:30pm.
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church &
School, 5421 France Ave. S, Edina
• [email protected]
Information Session for Bethel
University Adult Undergraduate
& Graduate Programs, 6pm.
Alumni Lounge, Bethel University,
Brushaber Commons, 3900 Bethel
Drive • (651) 635-8000, bethel.edu/
events/camps-gs-info/
JUL 10-12 • THU-SAT
Wilderness Escape VBS (ages 3
years-5th grade), 9am. Our Savior
Lutheran Church & School, 23290
Hwy 7, Excelsior. Free • (952) 4745181, oslcs.org
“Come to the Fountain” Leadership
& Healing Conference. North
Heights Lutheran Church, 1700
West Highway 96, Arden Hills.
Various rates. By Int’l Healing &
Restoration Ministries • (763) 5447700, inthrmin.org
JUL 11 • FRIDAY
Minnesota Country Gospel Opry,
7pm. Crowne Pointe Church,
Richfield • (612) 961-8812
JUL 13-17 • SUN-THU
Vacation Bible School “Shine” by Go
Fish, 6:30pm. Hassan Elementary
School, 14055 Orchid Ave., Rogers.
$20. By Samaritans Hill Church
• (612) 964-3867, samaritanshill.com
JUL 14-18 • MON-FRI
SonTreasure Island, Vacation Bible
School (3yrs-5th, ½ day & 6yrs5th full day), 9am. Grace, 18360
Minnetonka Blvd., Deephaven.
$20/person, $50/family (1/2 day)
or $100/person, $200/family.
Bible stories, music, crafts, skits
& games. Full day includes all
morning activities, lunch &
afternoon outings • (952) 540-7747,
graceindeephaven.org
JUL 15 • TUESDAY
Twin Cities Creation Science Assoc.,
Illustra Media DVD “Flight: The
Genius of Birds,” University of
Northwestern, 3003 North Snelling,
Roseville, Totino Fine Arts Center,
Room F2128 • tccsa.tc
JUL 15-17 • TUE-THU
Gregorian Chant for High School,
intensive course in Gregorian chant
focuses on the Medieval repertory
of Western Plainsong, in the
traditional square notation of the
Middle Ages. Holy Family Academy,
5900 West Lake St., St. Louis Park.
$60, lunch provided • (952) 9290113, [email protected]
JUL 16-19 • WED-SAT
Sonshine Festival, Willmar.
Featuring Switchfoot, TFK,
Disciple, Britt Nicole, Family Force
5, Newsboys, Kari Jobe, Jamie
Grace, Colton Dixon, and many
more. 5 stages, music tournament,
inflatables, camping, kids activities,
and much more • sonshinefestival.
com
JUL 17 • THURSDAY
Gordon Mote in concert, 7pm.
Brooklyn Park EV Free Church, 7849
West Broadway, Brooklyn Park. $1727 • musicforthemaster.com
JUL 17-20 • THU-SUN
With culture growing
darker, it’s time to ask:
WHAT IF?
JUL 18-19 • FRI-SAT
WHAT IF believers
reclaimed their
voice in business,
education, media
and government?
WHAT IF we elected
godly men and
women to lead us?
We think the results would be as if the Light
was turned back on in Minnesota! (John 1:5)
mfc.org
#LightsOnMN
28
Bethel Theatre Performance “The
Spitfire Grill,” Thu.-Sat. 7:30pm
& Sun. 2:30pm. Bethel University
Theatre, 3900 Bethel Drive, St. Paul.
$10-14 • (651) 638-6333, bethel.edu/
events/arts/theatre/performances/
spitfire
NeUventure. Mpls Marriott West,
9960 Wayzata Blvd., Mpls • (952)
544-4400, nvows.com/about-u
JUL 19 • SATURDAY
Financial Workshop on budgeting.
Learn the budget method or refresh
yourself on budgeting, 9am-12noon.
Jesus is Lord Church, 2829 W. 102nd
St., Bloomington. Free, child care
provided • (952) 888-2402
Stained Glass Tour 2014 Praise Band
Service, 10am. Grace 7th Day Baptist
Church, meets at Emmaus Lutheran
Church, Youth Room, 8443 2nd Ave.
S, Bloomington • (952) 432-7490,
graceseventhdaybaptist.org
JUL 21 • MONDAY
Information Session for Bethel
University Adult Undergraduate &
Graduate Programs, 6pm. Bethel’s
Normandale Place Site, 8201
Norman Center Drive, Bloomington
• (651) 635-8000, bethel.edu/events/
camps-gs-info/
JUL 21-27 • MON-SUN
Revive Twin Cities, evangelism
and discipleship campaign •
revivetwincities.org
JUL 22-24 • TUE-THU
Kids Summer Adventure – The
Sonlight Express (ages 4-4th
grade), 6-8pm. Fairview Covenanet
Church, 1175 County 19 N,
Minnetrista • (952) 472-3128,
fairviewcovenantmn.com
JUL 24-27 • THU-SUN
Bethel Theatre Performance “The
Spitfire Grill,” Thu.-Sat. 7:30pm
& Sun. 2:30pm. Bethel University
Theatre, 3900 Bethel Drive, St. Paul.
$10-14 • (651) 638-6333, bethel.edu/
events/arts/theatre/performances/
spitfire
JUL 25-26 • FRI-SAT
Mission Possible, Friday 7-9pm,
Worship Time/Preaching &
Saturday 12noon-3pm, Teaching/
Service/Community Outreach).
Amazing Grace Assembly of God,
1237 Earl St., St. Paul • (651) 4085124, (704) 493-4171
JUL 25-28 • FRI-MON
Single Life Workshop, 9am. Living
Waters Church, Elk River. $150 •
livingwaters.mn.org/event/singlelife-workshop
JUL 26 • SATURDAY
Release the Fire, Worship Night with
Tru Serva, More than Conquerors
& Jamie Schwartz, 6pm. 1600
Gervais Ave. Ste. 3 • (763) 222-3984,
divinefireclothing.com
JUL 28-AUG 1 • MON-FRI
GoFish Gotta Move Vacation Bible
School (4 years – 8th grade), 9am.
Berea Lutheran Church, 9308 Rich
Valley Blvd., Inver Grove Heights.
Free • (651) 454-1915, bereaclc.org
JUL 29 • TUESDAY
Eric Samuel Timm in concert. Eagle
Brook Church, White Bear Lake •
(651) 429-9227, eaglebrookchurch.
com
AUG 1 • FRIDAY
Minnesota Country Gospel Opry,
7pm. Crowne Pointe Church,
Richfield • (612) 961-8812
EVENTS ONLINE
For more events and community
news, please visit www.
refreshedtwincities.com.
community news
Group to start Christian
youth leadership camp
SAINT PAUL — The Minnesota Family
Institute announced last month that it’s
organizing the Student Statesmanship
Institute (SSI) Minnesota. The camp will
be a “summer leadership youth camp,
which seeks to provide spiritual challenge, biblical worldview training and
practical hands-on experience in legislature, media, law, business and campaigns,” according to a media release
from the group.
The program will begin July 20 at
Concordia University in St. Paul.
“We’re very excited to announce the
establishment of SSI Minnesota this
summer,” said Tom Prichard, director
of Cultural Initiatives for the Minnesota
Family Institute,
via the release.
“It’s a highly
successful youth
leadership program, which has
trained up 4,000
youth
leaders in Michigan
Tom Prichard
over the past 20
years. We’re excited to bring it to Minnesota.”
The first year of the camp will include
a legislative track, where students will
learn the intricacies of legislative work.
Future years will include journalist, lawyer, business owner and campaign manager tracks.
For additional information, visit
www.mfc.org/ssimn or call (612) 7898811 ext. 207.
Potluck to highlight single
parent group gathering
RICHFIELD — The Single Parent
Christian Fellowship will hold its monthly social on Friday, July 11 at 6:30 p.m. at
Veterans Memorial Park in Richfield.
The event will include a potluck meal
as well as volleyball and other games.
Those who attend are encouraged to
bring a dish to share, paper products for
the meal and a beverage.
The group also hosts a weekly volleyball time from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Locations vary, so for more information
on the group, the monthly potluck or its
volleyball locations, call (612) 866-8970
or its hotline at (651) 649-4525.
Southern gospel group
to perform in Richfield
RICHFIELD — Jerry and Ginger Dallin, who have performed for more than
50 years, will give a concert on Friday,
July 11 at Crowne Point Church in Richfield. The concert is presented by Krystal
Clear Music and hosted by the Rev. Chet
Priewe.
Their music career was launched in
the late 1950s, and the couple has performed at churches, crusades, rallies,
county fairs and appeared many times
on television. They have recorded 33 albums.
Admission is free to the concert, but a
free-will offering will be taken.
For additional information, visit
www.krystalclearmusic.com or call (612)
961-8812.
Paul Wilbur
team For His Name’s Sake will lead the
worship event “Restore” Aug. 2-3 at
Grace Church in Eden Prairie.
According to an announcement from
organizers, the concert will “express
God’s heart for Israel and the nations
through worship and the word.”
Tickets for the two-day event are $25
in advance or $35 at the door. Family
ticket packages are also available.
For additional information, call (612)
564-9893.
Christian writers conference
coming to Woodbury
WOODBURY — American Christian
Writers will hold its mentoring retreat
in Woodbury Aug. 1-2 at the Country
Inn East. The two-day event will include
manuscript consultation, professional
editing and other evaluation opportunities for manuscripts.
Faculty include Lin Johnson, editor of “The Christian Communicator”;
Dennis E. Hensley, author of numerous
books and chair of the professional writing program at Taylor University; James
Watkins, editor at the Wesleyan Publishing House; and Reg Forder, director of
American Christian Writers.
Tuition is $499.
For more information or to register,
visit www.jameswatkins.com/acw/acw
registration.htm.
‘Restore’ concert coming
to Grace Church
EDEN PRAIRIE — Author Jonathan
Cahn, singer/songwriter Paul Wilbur, Vision for Israel Founders Barry and Batya
Segal, along with the music and dance
29
at the table
YIA VANG
What it means to be ‘at the table?’
No matter where we were or what we
were doing, we could hear the voice of
my mom, a little Hmong woman, yelling
for us to come to eat. My parents believed in eating at the table together for
dinner. It was a time to take a pause in
our lives and connect with each other.
Sometimes there wasn’t much to
talk about, and sometimes that was the
moment my father took to “address”
behavioral issues. Regardless, the table
was a big part of our family life. We
brought our concerns and questions
to the table. At the table we connected
with each other and shared a meal.
In Luke 13:29 Jesus says, “And people
will come from east and west, and from
north and south, and recline at table in
the kingdom of God.”
Jesus is speaking of the table in the
kingdom of God that His people will
gather at one day. This table will consist of God’s children from all over the
world—people who have different skin
colors, people who speak different languages, and people who come from dif-
ferent family backgrounds. They will all
sit together and feast with the King!
A few years ago, I was on staff with
a college ministry and lived in a house
with a bunch of men who loved to eat.
My favorite memories were of those
nights (or afternoons) that we would
gather around a table full of meat and
potatoes. Each of our roommates would
invite other guys from their classes or
sports teams and although many of us
would begin the evening as strangers,
we would end as friends after sitting at
the table together.
On the table would be a cornucopia
of different cuts of grilled meats, some
kind of starch dish, more than enough
grilled veggies and cups full of the
cheapest lemonade you can buy (this
was college after all). We would eat and
talk late into the night as we became
full on the bountiful food before us.
Amidst much laughter, the food on
the table would grow cold. As the night
wore on, we would begin to nibble on
the leftovers, which became known as
“second dinner” to us.
During those meals, it didn’t matter where we stood ethnically; it wasn’t
about our politics, our theological
beliefs or even which football team we
called our own. That night, we were a
group of men, at first strangers and as
the night wore on, friends. Barriers were
broken down, and we shared a night of
good food and great conversations. No
matter what type of stresses we carried,
on those nights, we ate like kings at the
table together.
Ultimately, food brings people together. Everyone is a “foodie” to some
degree or another. Some people like to
dine in lavish eateries and some like
to dine at hole-in-the-wall joints. Regardless, everyone has an opinion on
food. Everyone has a story that revolves
around food.
That is the point of this column. I
want to share my experiences in the
food world to gather people together. I
want to use food as a vehicle to examine
theological questions and issues. I want
to be able to draw from that common
interest of food and use it as the launching point to steer us toward the Gospel.
Because, although each of us are incredibly different—socio-economically,
ethnically and spiritually—at the end
of the day we are all hungry for the life
and hope that can only be found in our
Savior, and we can’t get away from the
one fact that we are all sinners in need
of grace (Romans 3:23).
Yia Vang graduated
from the University of
Wisconsin-La Crosse with
a BS in Communication
Studies. Shortly after,
he went on staff with
Cru. He is currently the
Lead Kitchen Ministry
Coordinator for Bethlehem Baptist Church in
Minneapolis.
30
leadership sense
SAM HELGERSON
Doing life well:
Working in the middle years
Last month, I started a three-part
series on leading, learning and serving
across a lifetime. This is the second installment on working in the middle years.
God, not stuff
One of the great challenges of the
middle years is the tendency to be more
grateful for the gifts of God than the “surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ my
Lord” (Philippians 3:8, ESV). It is far too
easy to become complacent and comfortable during the middle years, when your
skills, hard work and training have paid off.
Be sure that your relationship with God
is really focused on Him and not on the
good things He provides.
Incidentally, this is a challenge whether we have those comforts or not. If life is
not quite like we would like it to be, it is
easy for us to blame God and see Him as
stingy, rather than recklessly abundant.
Keeping our focus on God gives us perspective and keeps us from living lives
that are bitter and meager.
Volunteer and give back
In the middle years of life, cultivate
habits that will give you an outward focus.
We can easily become self-absorbed and
self-centered, and the best cure for this
is intentionality. Several years ago, Peter
Drucker wrote that people who do not
start volunteering and serving during their
middle years will never do so: Putting it
off until retirement, when there is more
time, is just an excuse for doing nothing.
Take some time and get involved in
your community. Serve locally: Help out
on park clean-up days, local events, committees and organizations. If your day-today life is in a leadership role, then step in
as a follower and help do what needs to be
done. You’ll be surprised how much you
can accomplish, how many great people
you will meet and what it means to live in
community with other people.
Best of all, it’s a great way to be salt
and light and let others see what a real
Christian looks like: Serving is an excellent way to express the love of Christ to
others.
to stay learned; college students can cram
for tests and then forget it all a few days
later, but adults tend to learn best when
they can connect what they have learned
to their own interests and experiences.
Rather than settling in and being contented with where you are, take on a new
opportunity to learn. For some, this might
be a return to school for an advanced degree; for others, it might be mastering a
skill such as sewing, plumbing, woodworking and so on.
I have a friend whose hobby is learning
a language and then traveling to the part
of the world where that language is spoken to see if she has really mastered it.
God has equipped us to continue growing, learning and serving throughout life.
The middle years can be vibrant and dynamic if we take hold of those opportunities and seek to live life to glorify God and
show love to others.
Learn something new
There is a myth in our culture that
needs to go away: It’s been said that
children learn better than adults. That’s
simply not true. Children do have some
advantages when it comes to language
acquisition and memorization, but adults
still have the advantage.
When adults learn something, it tends
Sam Helgerson, PhD, is
the program director for
the Master’s program
in Organizational
Leadership and the
assistant dean of
Business and Leadership
Programs at Bethel University.
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31
sharp focus
JASON SHARP
Becoming extraordinary
Good news! It doesn’t matter who
you are, what you look like, what gifts
and abilities you think you do or do not
have or how much money you have in
your purse or bank account. God made
you, He loves you and has a radical plan
for your life!
I’ve been reading through the Old
Testament lately and have noticed that
God takes special interest in ordinary
people. People like Sarah, who was
barren but gave birth to Isaac in her
old age. Joseph was a regular teenager
with jealous brothers who sold him into
slavery. Moses was a normal Hebrew
boy God used to deliver the people
from the crushing hand of Pharaoh. Joshua was an ordinary man with
faith in God, so he led the people of
God to defeat Jericho. Rahab was a
common prostitute, yet she believed
God and saved Joshua’s spies. There are
many more examples throughout the
Bible and God used them all.
And then there was David.
First Samuel 16:7 says, “But the
Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider
his appearance or his height, for I have
rejected him. The Lord does not look at
the things people look at. People look
at the outward appearance, but the
Lord looks at the heart.’”
Israel wanted a king and scripture
tells us that God rejected Saul, who was
the reigning King of Israel, for his disobedience. You see, Samuel had given
him specific instructions from God that
Saul failed to keep, and “because you
have rejected the word of the Lord, he
has rejected you as King” (1 Samuel
15:23).
So God sent Samuel to Jesse of Bethlehem to find the next king of Israel,
and it’s a great story. Jesse brought
each of his first seven sons before Samuel to see which son would be anointed. He started with the oldest son, who
was tall and fair, and thought for sure
Samuel would select him as king.
But Samuel was reminded: “The
Lord does not look at the things people
look at. People look at the outward
appearance, but the Lord looks at the
heart.”
Jesse then paraded his next two sons
in front of Samuel, but each time God
said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this
one.”
Jesse brought four more sons forward, but none of them were chosen
either. There was one more son, but
he was the youngest and of such little
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significance that Jesse had left him out
in the field tending the sheep. Quite
ordinary, you might say.
When David was summoned, the
Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; for
this is the one.”
Can you believe it? Seven of Jesse’s
sons had passed before Samuel and all
were rejected. They were more than
qualified—extraordinary young men if
you will, but the Lord chose a shepherd
to lead Israel. From then on, God was
with David.
God often exalts those whom men
despise and can accomplish extraordinary things through ordinary people.
That makes me happy because I’m
quite ordinary.
My wife, Julie, and I have two children. Our daughter is 14 and our son
is 12. We were visiting some friends
recently and all of our children were
playing an outside game together when
I overheard my son say, “Short guys
win!”
You see, my son is the shortest kid in
his class and sometimes people remind
him of that so when he won the game,
he wanted everyone to know that God
can do extraordinary things with what
someone else might consider ordinary.
Our sight often proves untrustworthy, so don’t look in the mirror and
tell God what you are capable of. Instead, let God tell you what He wants to
accomplish through you.
People look at the outward appearance, but good news: the Lord looks at
the heart!
Jason Sharp is station
manager of 98.5 KTIS in
the Twin Cities. Follow
him on Twitter @
jasonrsharp.
here’s to good health
WENDIE PETT
Cutting to the core:
5 steps to relieve stress
Words, actions, thoughts, stress and
belief systems can cut right to the core.
Literally! Unfortunately, it probably
isn’t the kind of “cut” you’re seeking.
A person’s internal core rests in their
heart; externally, however, the core
tends to settle in our midsection.
What many people don’t realize is
that belly fat is an emotional comfort
of sorts for holding onto hurtful situations. The stress brought on by negativity causes the body to release cortisol
from the adrenal glands. Cortisol is an
essential hormone for releasing insulin
in order to maintain blood sugar levels,
regulate blood pressure, increase immune functionality and enhance glucose
metabolism and inflammatory response.
When cortisol is released in abundance into the bloodstream, it can also
trigger unhealthy eating habits and carbohydrate cravings.
If you are looking for chiseled abs,
your first course of action should be
to cut the stress! Studies indicate that
three out of four people report experiencing major stress at least twice a
month. Although not all stress is created equal, minimizing extreme negative and long-term stress can add years
to your life.
The Bible tells us in Matthew 6:34,
“Therefore do not be anxious about
tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious
for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own
trouble.”
Also, our negative stress would be
minimized if we truly believed and rested in Philippians 4:19: “And my God will
supply every need of yours according to
his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
Positive stress, however, can actually
be healthy and contribute to the cut in
the core you’re seeking. In fact, positive
stress can be a motivator for great abs.
Some people are so accustomed to living
in stress that they find it difficult to dif-
ferentiate “good” stresss from
“bad.”
For instance, a job promotion that requires learnearning new skills actually
is associated with good
d
stress, as is planning
for a big event (such as a
wedding). Bad stress is associated more with financial,
ancial,
health and relational situituations. Long-term negative
ative
stress not only affects the body
but the mind and spiritt as well.
Following these steps
ps will
help relieve stress and equip you
to conquer your mission:
n:
1. Breathe better. No need to
hold it in any longer. Stand with feet
side by side, hands at sides or placed
on your stomach. Press abdominal
muscles down with great tension while
exhaling out the mouth. While flexing
the stomach muscles, pull in with all
your strength as you forcefully inhale
through your nose. Create a strong vacuum and hold for one second. Perform
10-12 reps, breathing with great force
on both inhale and exhale.
2. Rewrite your story and pray:
Script your new life story. Ditch and
release your past and current belief systems of possible negative labels, such
as “I’m too fat, I’m too ugly, I’ll never
be good enough.” Remind yourself that
you were created in God’s image, and
you are fearfully and wonderfully made
(Psalm 139:13-14).
3. Sleep on it! Without proper sleep,
one literally breaks down by the sheer
weight of physical weariness on the
mind, body and spirit. As a result, excess fat lingers around the midsections
of those who get less than the proper
of sleep. Studies
amount o
that people who
found tha
sleep six h
hours per night
are 23 pe
percent more
likely to gain weight
than those who
sleep
between
sl
seven
and nine
s
hours.
h
4. Eat clean:
Fueling
your body
Fue
with natural, Godgiven foods
equates
f
to less stress.
Organic
s
foods are
a the way
to go, if at all possible,
sible so your body
doesn’t
have to
d
fight toxins, such
as pesticides. When you eat clean, your
body receives the proper vitamins and
minerals that it is seeking.
5. Walk or run it off: A 20 to
30-minute brisk walk or jog releases
positive endorphins, which are the
brain’s feel-good neurotransmitters,
which relieve stress naturally. Even
if you only have five to 10 minutes to
walk, it will do wonders for your attitude
and mood.
Getting cut to the core takes work,
but it’s worth every crunch, breath,
stride, vegetable, thought and shut-eye
that you take in! It’s (Ab)solutely never
too late to make healthy life choices!
Wendie Pett is a
nationally-renowned
fitness expert and coach,
mother, TV host, speaker,
author and creator of
the Visibly Fit™ exercise
program. Learn more at
www.wendiepett.com.
33
marriage matters
COLETTE & JONATHAN STUART
Dealing with what surfaces
Summertime in our family means going
to a lake or pool. Our kids are bigger now,
but we used to always have a bag of inflatable or plastic toys that we’d bring along.
Have you ever been swimming and there
is that object that always floats to the top?
Even when you try to push it down, it will
pop up somewhere in the water.
A marriage relationship is an incredible
crucible that brings things to the surface.
We might want to ignore a pattern that
comes up for us personally or an issue
between us, but it has a way of emerging
until we deal with it. Although we might
not see this as a positive thing at first, being in a relationship where we naturally
get to see what’s below the surface is a
wonderful blessing.
Often these are things we weren’t
meant to deal with alone. When issues
come up, don’t try to push them down
below the surface again. Be honest and
look for help.
Over the years, we’ve found there is
a whole host of ways we can reach out
for support to deal with various issues.
Before we started having kids, there was
a group of three other young couples
we met with regularly. We hung out together, did Bible studies and went on a
wilderness retreat. It was valuable to see
that marriage wasn’t hard only for us
and no one had a perfect relationship,
but we were all committed to investing
in the process of working things out.
The season after our second child was
born was an especially hard time for us,
between job transitions and increased parental expectations. We called around and
found a certified marriage therapist. For
the next six months, we saw him. Though
we knew others who had benefited from
this format, it wasn’t as helpful as we’d
hoped it would be for us.
A year later, we heard about an intensive
Christian marriage program called Sanctus
that included a weekend away and then six
weeks of follow-up sessions. It was like a
boot camp where we really dug into some
hard topics and then learned practical skills
in asking for and granting forgiveness.
A couple of years ago, we found a tool
called Prepare/Enrich, which includes a
marriage check-up assessment. Taking it
identified strengths and growth areas that
we could discuss with a small group of other
couples at church. Over five weeks, we went
through exercises that had been pinpointed
through our assessment results.
We’ve also benefited from the encouragement of various “third” parties. This
has included everything from going to
Grace Seventh Day Baptist Church
A Baptist Church with a Difference!
We are small but ready to grow
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34
marriage seminars put on by well-known
speakers to taking the suggestion to buy a
certain book and read it together. Nothing
is meant to be a panacea, but we think of
these as mechanical tune-ups or doctor
prescriptions for our marriage.
Another individual form of support
system has been groups of same-gender
friends we meet with. Jonathan has two
buddies who he’s met with for nearly 10
years to talk about their lives and pray
together. Colette has a group of women
who started meeting together on Saturday
mornings doing book discussions that
often deal with marriage issues. These
circles have become wonderful places to
be authentic and honest about our lives.
These examples are certainly not
meant to be an exhaustive list but a recap
of some experiences we’ve found useful.
Whatever type of support you’re receiving,
be honest in evaluating if it is working.
We’ve found there are finite periods for
many of the things that have been helpful
to us, and often what was useful at one
point may not stay that way.
In addition to spending summer at the
lake, it is also garage sale season. It’s a
good time to sift through items that have
been in the closet, a drawer or box for too
long and deal with the clutter. If there are
issues you haven’t addressed or things
that keep rising to the surface in your
marriage, make a plan today to get real
and reach out for support.
Jonathan Stuart, Ph.D.,
is a faculty member in
the Minnesota State
Colleges and Universities
(MnSCU) system. He
specializes in training
and mediation services.
Colette Campbell, M.A., is an adjunct faculty member,
speaker/consultant and coach. She offers workshops
on connecting to your calling, working with
differences, and workingbetter2gether.
purposeful parenting
JIM JACKSON
Would your teen run away?
When people steal, disobey, defy,
cheat, lash out or otherwise sin, in their
hearts they leave. They leave the safety
of trustworthy relationships. They leave
the purposes for which God created
them.
The way people are treated when
they sin determines whether or not
they’ll feel safe to return.
At the teen outreach where I served
for 12 years, the teens’ participation was
voluntary. If these kids didn’t like how
they were treated, they would literally
leave, never to be heard from again. Our
own kids may not physically leave, but
they leave relationally when they don’t
feel safe.
ence with Steve
The following experience
at the outreach center taught me
much about being safe. One day
I caught Steve stealing. It was a
n. If he
make-or-break situation.
didn’t feel safe with my response,
ely leave.
Steve would almost surely
I had every right to be angry
with Steve. But that anger
ing
wouldn’t keep him feeling
safe. So I prayed, “Lord,,
give me your grace
for Steve.” This short
prayer helped me
calm down and think
more clearly. Grace
always flows better
through a calm, clear
head.
I asked Steve to
come into my office.
Before addressing the
m,
stealing, I affirmed him,
e
saying: “Steve, you love
coming here, don’t
you? And we love having you.” I paused and
y
then gently and calmly
got to the point: “Steve,,
I’m going to have you
empty your pockets. How much money is
there?”
Steve could have fought. He could
have denied. He could have stayed silent
or run. But I believe that grace made
Steve feel safe. He knew I was for him,
not against him. He cast his gaze on the
floor and told me the amount. He emptied his pockets and handed me the exact amount he’d said. More opportunity
for grace.
“Wow,” I said curiously. “You are
right on.” Steve seemed stunned, as if
the absence of the normal response to
his deviance somehow left him off balance. I paused, wondering how to continue in grace without cheapening it.
In that moment, I considered
spoke an entirely new
and spo
thought. “Steve, it occurs
thoug
me that in the middle
to m
the bad thing you did,
of th
you demonstrated some
pretty good skills.” Steve
prett
looked confused but interested. “You had a plan
est
in mind and knew
how to get it done.
Then, you knew
to the nickel how
much money you’d
taken. You seem
to have quite a gift
for planning and for
handling money. So I
want to make you an
offer. I’m wondering
if you’re willing to try
a consequence that
puts those skills to
better use.”
Steve was all ears.
Grace opens ears.
I continued: “The
normal consequence is
no
to be suspended from
programs for a month.
pr
But if you’re willing, how about if for the
next month I teach you to run the snack
shop? I’ll teach you inventory control,
bookkeeping and banking.”
Steve was all in. Grace enlists participation.
This approach kept Steve from leaving. In spite of his sin, it wooed Steve
back into the safety of my care, and
ultimately Steve made a decision in this
context to turn to Christ for life.
Grace opens hearts.
In a day and age when kids’ hearts
are more readily wooed toward trouble
than ever before, it’s time to quit taking for granted that our kids won’t run
away. They will. If the running away is
literal, it is more dangerous than ever.
But most kids don’t pack suitcases. They
turn on their devices and are bombarded
with a myriad of sophisticated, predatory influences seeking to capture their
hearts and minds.
If we want to keep our position of
influence in their lives, we must learn to
be receivers and givers of God’s grace.
And we must do the hard work of dispensing that grace early and often, so
that our kids will run, through our persistent but imperfect efforts, right into
the arms of God’s forever grace.
Do what you can to give kids reasons to stay, not leave. Fight to embody
grace.
Postscript: Twenty years later, Steve
co-owns a cafe and has largely overcome
the deep dysfunction he grew up in.
Grace lasts!
Jim Jackson is the cofounder of Connected
Families, author, speaker
and parent mentor.
Learn more at www.
connectedfamilies.org.
35
inspired living
G. J. WIESE
Are you in need of a cyber-Sabbath?
If “God so loved the world that he
gave his only Son” (John 3:16), why did
John say, “Do not love the world” (1
John 2:15)?
Many have used the “do not love the
world or the things in the world” command to censure everything from beer
to rummy to salsa dancing. Unfortunately, honest attempts to create “don’t
lists” may miss John’s intent.
What dangerous “world” is he talking
about?
John gives us a big clue: anything
that is driven by “the desires of the
flesh and the desires of the eyes and
pride of life” (1 John 2:16). By deliberately choosing the Greek word “desire”
(epithumia), John alerts us to the threat
of “cravings that become a controlling
obsession.” So the force of the passage
is not to identify specific “worldly” behaviors, but to warn about anything that
would control us.
Is there anything controlling us nowadays? Is Satan offering a new “apple”
of sorts?
Although I never neglect it, my
iPhone’s been acting funny lately, like
it’s bored with the black cover and duckquacking ringtone. I may forget to do
dishes and feed my cat, but I seem incapable of forgetting my phone at home. I
can go to sleep without a blanket, pillow
or a cup of cold water, but I refuse to let
my husband go to sleep without knowing where my phone is.
Technology is not evil in and of
itself—and yet most people openly
confess their infatuation with digital
devices. Perhaps Charlene deGuzman’s
short film, “I Forgot My Phone” exposes
the cyber-mania that’s distracting us
to death. The clip features deGuzman
trying to survive a phone-free day.
Friends ignore her at lunch because of
their phones; people are so engrossed
with recording a concert on their smart-
36
phones that listening to the music is irrelevant; and a friend snaps a selfie with
a champagne glass in her hand rather
than sharing in a toast.
Are we missing out on life because
we’re tapping on devices? Are texting,
taking selfies, posting, pinning, tweeting, scrolling and checking emails more
tantalizing than living in the moment?
Do we become more “of the world” by
disconnecting from life “in the (real)
world” (and thereby totally mess up
John 17:14-18)?
Tim Challies asks similar questions:
“Am I giving up control of my life? Is it
possible that these
technologies are
changing me? Am I
becoming a tool of
the very tools that
are supposed to serve
me?” (“The Next
Story: Life and Faith
After the Digital Explosion”).
“More and more
of us are finding that we just can’t stop
long enough to read,” he continues. “We
can’t sustain our attention long enough
to study. Where prayer used to be the
first activity of every day, we now begin
our daily routine by checking e-mail.
Where the Bible used to be a special
book we read and studied, now it’s an ebook that competes with our voicemail,
text messages, e-mails and the everpresent lure of the Internet.”
Thankfully, John revealed the bottom
line: “The world is passing away along
with its desires (controlling obsessions),
but whoever does the will of God abides
forever” (1 John 2:17).
It’s clear. All worldly obsessions will
“pass away.” Therefore, we must not allow any device to distract us from doing
God’s will.
Want to break free? Repent and
schedule regular cyber-Sabbaths (use
real Bibles with real pages). We can ask
God to help us focus so we can learn to
hear His Spirit exegetically, as the Spirit
has spoken in Scripture.
By reorienting our eyes and ears to
the Spirit’s voice in Scripture, our heart
will be filled and our mind will be transformed. Over time, cyber-Sabbaths will
increase our sensitivity to God’s presence in the moment, so we can be free
to be more keenly aware of the people
around us. No longer will technology
Where the Bible used to be a special
book we read and studied, now it’s
an e-book that competes with our
voicemail, text messages, e-mails and
the ever-present lure of the Internet.
control and isolate us from those who
love and need us most. Why? “The love
of Christ controls us, because we have
concluded this: that one has died for all,
therefore all have died; and he died for
all, that those who live might no longer
live for themselves but for him who for
their sake died and was raised” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).
Controlled by the love of Christ!
(Isn’t that the point of John’s epistle?)
What a magnificent obsession.
G. J. Wiese is an adjunct
assistant professor of
Biblical Studies at Bethel
University. She blogs at
www.askdrglow.com.
FOUR
WAYS TO
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3. Order a mail subscription for convenient
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37
that’s life!
JOANNE BROKAW
Bats in the belfry
It’s midnight and I’m lying in bed
reading a book, when all of a sudden I
hear the pitter-patter of little feet scurrying in the ceiling above my head.
Uh-oh. Something’s in the attic.
My dog Bandit cocks his head to listen, then jumps down from the bed to
follow the sound around the room, eyes
fixed on the ceiling.
Great. It sounds like maybe two
somethings. I call to my husband, “David! Something’s in the attic!”
He’s just gotten home from a long
day at work, just taken a shower, and he
isn’t interested in whatever phantom
noise I’m shouting about. Spring usually
brings a procession of bugs and spiders
and weirdo beetles I’m always calling for
him to kill.
But this is no spider. I wait. The scurrying continues. “There’s something in
the attic!” I call again, my voice rising
with just a hint of panic. When David
comes into the room, he’s wearing an
impatient frown. And then he hears it,
too.
There’s a critter line dancing right
above our heads.
We mull over the options. What can
we even do at midnight? I make a few
suggestions. I could sleep downstairs. I
could take another Benadryl and knock
myself out.
As we talk, the scurrying picks up
intensity. When I ask David what he
thinks might be up there, he tells me it’s
probably a squirrel.
I’ve never seen a squirrel awake at
midnight, but I have seen a possum.
In our backyard. Now I’m freaked out.
“Is it actually in the attic rooms?” I ask
him. “Is it in my boxes of books and old
clothes and books?” Panic. “Is it in my
books?” He shrugs and replies, “I don’t
know.”
We stand quietly, neither of us sure
what to do next. “How about a bat?”
38
I ask.
“Could
it be a
bat?”
“A bat is a
definite posossibility,” he says.
That’s
a relief. We’re old hats at dealing with
bats. In fact, for a few years our house
was the meeting place for the neighborhood bats. They’d swoop through the
living room and bedrooms and around
the yard. Bats, I know. I can live with a
bat in the attic.
Maybe.
I go into the bathroom and the critter
follows overhead, scurrying and scuttling. “Seriously? It’s following me!” I
call out through the closed door. When
I head back to the bedroom, the critter
follows.
I stop on the way to stuff towels under the attic door, sealing off any openings to the rest of the house. Whatever
is up there, I’d like it to stay up there.
David heads downstairs and when he
returns he’s suited up with long pants
tucked into boots, a long-sleeved shirt,
gloves, a hat and goggles. He’s carrying
a tennis racket.
Darling husband is going bat hunting.
Bandit and I crawl back into bed and
cower together under the covers. I hear
David go up the attic stairs, hear him
open the crawlspace doors and check
the areas right under the eaves, and
then hear him slowly advance through
the rooms. I hear some slight thumps
as he moves boxes. The scurrying gets
louder directly over my head.
And then it’s silent. David isn’t moving and neither is the invader. Bandit
and I are snuggled together, eyes still
locked on the ceiling. Several minutes
tick by.
Then I hear loud footsteps, some-
thing
being slammed against
the wall,
th
ll more commotion.
ti
Then more silence.
Soon David comes downstairs. As he
opens the attic door and emerges from
the dark he says, “There’s good news
and bad news.”
Several scenarios run through my
head. It’s a possum and it got away into
the bedroom walls. It’s a squirrel and it
had babies and now I have more material for my column. There’s nothing there
and it’s all in my head.
“The bad news is that it’s a bat,” says
David. “The good news is that it’s dead.”
And like a trophy, he holds up a grocery
bag that holds the body. Fortunately, he
explains, there was probably only one
bat up there (as opposed to a whole nest
of squirrels). But if there’s another bat,
we can deal with it. Squirrels would have
been a major problem.
I settle back into bed while David
takes the bat corpse out to the trash.
When I look up at the ceiling again, I
see a giant spider, right over my head. I
get up and whack it with a book. Darling
husband’s done enough tonight.
Award-winning freelance
writer Joanne Brokaw
spends her days dreaming
of things she’d like to
do but probably never
will— like swimming
with dolphins, cleaning
the attic and someday overcoming the trauma
of elementary school picture day. She lives with
two dogs, a cat, six chickens and one very patient
husband. Learn more at www.joannebrokaw.com.
39
40

Downloadable PDF - Twin Cities Refreshed magazine

Transcription

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