Thanks from LAAN
Dec 5, 2011 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
One of the great honors we have as a church is to work with the Lansing Area AIDS Network. They are doing an invaluable service for those suffering with HIV/AIDS in our community. The woman who coordinates our efforts with them wrote a great thank you note to those who helped this year and I wanted to share it with all of you.
Dear Friends,
You are part of a very special team – a team that provided celebration feasts for 130 LAAN families this Thanksgiving! Whether you donated groceries, organized a portion of the drive process, boxed up groceries in the Riv lobby, drove grocery-laden clients home from LAAN, made lunch for volunteers on distribution day, loaded boxes into a truck at 7:30 am, or did something else equally important – we needed you to make this happen! You all sacrificed money, time and energy, which God used to impact hundreds of people during this special holiday season!
In amazement, we watched the outpouring of love shown by our Riv family for this event. Not only did we meet our goals – we exceeded them! I met so many shining examples of cheerful givers in our body, who were a spiritual encouragement to me personally. And I know the LAAN staff and clients felt the same. Here’s a clip from a recent thank-you from LAAN:
“There are not many people or organizations that always go the extra mile to provide what you need, but that is exactly what the people at Riverview Church do for LAAN every day… (because of Riverview) LAAN has been able to provide turkeys and boxes of food for clients at Thanksgiving, backpacks full of school supplies for LAAN school children, warm coats, scarves and hats for our clients at wintertime, and many, many other types of supplies that are desperately needed. The love and caring behind every donated item is very evident to all of us at LAAN. Thank you so much…. everyone at Riverview for your compassion, your caring and the amazing generosity that you continue to give to LAAN every day.”
We are building bridges between the body of Christ and people who desperately need to experience the transforming power of His goodness. Praise God!
I pray He blesses you and your family with a beautiful Christmas season,
Ann Duchene
For more information on how you or your Life Group can serve at the Lansing Area Aids Network email Ann....@RivChurch.com
Tags: AIDS, compassion, HIV, Lansing
Love Lansing Art Show
Nov 8, 2011 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
This just might be my favorite Corridor Art Gallery concept we have had yet at Riv. And by “we,” I mean Kristie, our esteemed Creative Director. Of course, I have to say “we” because it makes me feel like I was a part of this.
#LoveLansing
10 Reasons to Love Lansing
Aug 19, 2010 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
Recently, Kiplinger rated Lansing as one of the Top 10 Great Cities for Young Adults. This put us in the same category as Chicago, New York City, Portland, and Washington DC. For a lot of people, this was kinda a shocker.
“Seriously, Lansing?” was what I heard over and over when I told people about the article.
But even as someone who grew up here and wanted to get away as soon as I could, I am growing to love this city. I asked people on Twitter and Facebook to tell me why Lansing is great and here are their top ten responses (in no order with a little commentary from me).
Integrated
I actually hear this one quite a bit from people who move in from other cities. While there are definitely neighborhoods with different feels, there’s quite a bit of integration. In most parts of town, there are nice houses and not so nice houses, a broad range of races, people of different economic status all kind of on top of each other. Even where I live in Holt, you are always within a few minutes from some huge houses and some trailer parks. This sounds weird to some people, but it creates an integrated living experience. I’m also noticing a lot more bi-racial marriages, but maybe that’s just because I tend to notice that particular thing.
Affordable
The cost of living is cheap here, period. Your money can go a lot longer than in most other places. You can live better on less (remember that when hunting for jobs).
Friendly
I just got back from Seattle where I tried to smile at people while walking down the street. Nobody would make eye contact with me. The people in Lansing are a lot more friendly to strangers. They smile, nod, and every once in awhile hold doors for people. My sons and I are on a mission to make the last one something we’re known for.
Easy to Get Around
You can pretty much get anywhere in town in under 25 minutes.
Festivals
For a smallish city, we have a lot of festivals. Off the top of my head, I can think of the Silver Bells Festival, Moonlight Film Festival, East Lansing Arts Festival, Common Ground Music Festival, Lansing JazzFest. I’m sure there are more.
Churches
There are a lot of different styles of churches around town. Granted, I would like to see more and hope to start more, but there are some really great faith communities in town, including a dozen or so new churches in the last 5 years.
Higher Education
Lansing has 5 medical schools, 2 law schools (including the country’s largest), a community college and MSU. Add to that extension universities for Davenport, CMU, WMU, and others and you have a lot of education options.
Shopping
Little places like the Lansing City Market, the Holt Farmer’s Market, Lamb’s Gate Antiques, and Elderly Instruments make our city unique. You can find these shops all over town.
Eating
From hole in the wall places like Sawyer’s Pancake House to upscale places like Enso’s, we have a decent selection of places to eat. You don’t have to settle for fast food.
Stuff To Do
No one ever thinks their own town has anything to do, but Lansing boasts quite a bit. We have the Wharton Center for the Performing Arts, the Lugnuts, Hawk Island Park, Burchfield Mountain Biking Trails, Impression 5 Museum, Potter Park Zoo, and many more.
Tags: Lansing
Lansing Pictures
Sep 30, 2009 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
OK…I need your help for a little art project I’m doing.
Basically, I’m looking for pictures of the Lansing area taken by Riverview people. They don’t have to be artistic, professional, or even very good, but they do need to follow these guidelines:
1) You took the picture
2) The picture was taken in the Greater-Lansing, Michigan area (if you drive to Riv for church you live in the Lansing area)
3) It somehow communicates something (good, bad, whatever) about the Lansing area
Here are a few samples (click on them to make them bigger):
If you don’t have a picture you like, just step outside of wherever you are right now (as long as it is in the Lansing area somewhere) and snap a picture with your phone. I want to see what you see when you look at Lansing.
Email your picture to N...@RivChurch.com. If you do so, you are giving me permission to use your picture as I see fit, by the way.
Thanks! Can’t wait to see how you see Lansing.
Tags: Lansing
Lansing’s Recession Impact
Jun 9, 2009 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
This past weekend at Riv, I asked the same three questions I asked on my blog a week or so ago.
1) Have you been personally impacted by the recession?
2) If yes, how?
3) On a scale of 1 (Scared out of my mind) to 10 (Incredibly hopeful), how are you feeling?
This morning the pastors and a few others prayed about the nearly 700 responses. Wow–it was powerful to read the stories of job loss, failing businesses, family struggle, etc.
But it was equally powerful to see how many people at Riv are still clinging onto hope. I’ll talk more about it this weekend, but here is a snapshot of the answers we received to the third question (by percentage):
If you missed the message, you can watch it here.
Tags: Lansing
Economy Questions
May 18, 2009 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
This week, I am going to be in Dallas connecting with some other pastors from around the country. I am certain the topic of the economy is going to come up while I am there. It’s going to be interesting to see how everyone’s churches are doing right now.
I am also working on my next series at Riv, which is going to tap a little bit on the recession and it’s impact on the Lansing area.
So, I would love your help with both of these. If you could answer a couple quick questions for me, that would be awesome. Just comment on this post with your answers.
1) Have you been personally impacted by the recession?
2) If yes, how?
3) On a scale of 1 (Scared out of my mind) to 10 (Incredibly hopeful), how are you feeling?
See, that was painless. Just 3 simple questions.
I’ll try to post as I am able this week, but of course I’ll be Twittering much more frequently.
Tags: Lansing
The Good News for Lansing
Apr 24, 2009 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
My friend JR is doing a cool project on his blog called The Good News. Basically, he asked 40 of us from around the world to write a letter as if we were writing to our local newspaper on the topic of The Good News.
Here is a copy of my letter:
I am writing this at an altitude of 37,000 feet, hurdling at 530 MPH away from my home in Lansing, Michigan. But even as I fly, I know that Michigan is coming with me. In fact, I can already hear the conversation I will have a dozen or so times over the next couple days:
“So, where are you from?”
“Lansing, Michigan.”
“Oh…wow…how are you guys holding up?”
It seems everybody has a foreboding tone when they talk about Michigan, whether they live here and have experienced the 12% unemployment rate first hand or they have read about the potential for General Motors to go “belly-up” (I can’t even tell you how many times I have heard that phrase used). It’s almost no wonder that nearly half of the graduates from Michigan State University make a beeline out of the state minutes after they graduate, taking their educations and Michigan’s hopes for renewal with them.
I recently read the words of a wise man who lived thousands of years ago. He could have been writing about Michigan when he looked at the world around him and declared, “Everything is meaningless…utterly meaningless.”
And as someone who grew up in Michigan, I can honestly say it’s felt that way here for a very long time. If there is one word I would use to describe the mood of this state, it’s “pessimistic.”
But oddly, I am optimistic. I am hopeful.
About the state of the economy? No, not really. About the future of the auto-industry? I’m on the fence on that one, too.
I have hope because something huge is planted inside my heart: eternity. The same wise man who spoke about the meaninglessness of everything wrote that part of the problem is that we are finite beings with infinite hearts. We can’t see the whole scope of all that is going on in this world from beginning to end, but we long to understand. We long for something that makes sense. We long for good news.
And that brings me to the source of my optimism and hope: Jesus.
Nearly two millenia ago, Jesus revealed himself as the architect of the world spinning outside my airplane window and the future architect of a new world where all that has seemed meaningless will have meaning. Jesus not only has eternity in his heart, he has it in his grasp. He can see from beginning to end.
But I can’t.
Because of my rebellion against his perfect will, my view is limited and I am part of the problem—we are all part of the problem.
But this is where hope steps into the picture. Jesus lived a perfect life and yet he was brutally executed as if he was part of the problem, too. And that execution, along with his miraculous resurrection from the dead became the solution once and for all. And from the first century until today, Jesus’ people have set about to bring this good news to the world, to become part of the solution. We set about to work against the pessimistic tide of our culture. We proclaim a hope that while things may seem meaningless, it’s only because we can’t see the beginning and the end. And we know that the solution starts with acknowledging a God who has eternity in his grasp.
If you want to comment on this, I encourage you to do so over at JR’s blog. I’m going to disable comments on this post because I want the discussion to happen on his site.
Tags: Lansing
The Good News for Lansing
Apr 15, 2009 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
My friend JR is doing an interesting project on his blog called “The Good News.” Here’s a little overview:
In this blog series each of the contributors will be summarizing their understanding of the Good News in 300 to 500 words. Each author is writing their entry as if they were invited by their city newspaper to write an article on the Good News, thus you will find the name of the author’s city newspaper in each entry. This series will challenge us to grow in our ability to share the good news with a variety of people from different perspectives.
The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are at the center of the Good News. I trust that this series of posts will help you to focus on the mutually enriching and mutually challenging nature of the Good News during this Easter Season – from Easter to Pentecost. As we focus together on the Good News, may we be encouraged to be living letters to the world, until Jesus fully re-shapes our planet and our Father’s will is fully done on earth as it is in heaven. Let the wind blow and the Spirit of Pentecost come freshly upon us.
JR has asked me to participate and I have to send him my entry next week. So, here’s my question for those of you who live in the Lansing area:
What are the most pressing needs in the Lansing area right now?
Especially in light of the state of the economy, I am wondering where the itch is. That may help form the direction I take my piece. I am also working on my next series and I think I may use some of the ideas there, too.
Tags: Lansing
Work and Recession: To all of us
Feb 27, 2009 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
Today will be the shortest post in my series on work in light of the current economic crisis. This post is for all of us.
Psalm 20:7-8 Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the Lord our God. Those nations will fall down and collapse, but we will rise up and stand firm.
What do we boast about in Lansing? Our chariots (cars)? Our horses (horsepower)? Or the name of the Lord our God?
Tags: Lansing
Work and Recession: To those of us who have jobs
Feb 25, 2009 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
With the current economic crisis affecting the auto industry, it seems like more and more the spotlight is pointing to Lansing.
A pastor friend of mine in Florida shot me an email the other day. It read simply:
Every time I hear about the ‘woes of Michigan’ I say a prayer for you:) Hope all is well with the family and church.
On a daily basis I am talking about the economy with someone. And since this has been on my brain a lot lately, I thought I’d take a couple days to blog through what I have been thinking. Actually, I want to throw out some verses and with them some thoughts. I am not going to get political or take sides except God’s side. :)
Today I want to write to those of us who have jobs. Our job may be secure or it may be on the line, but for right now we are doing OK.
As employees, Scripture has a lot to teach us. I’ll just hit on two principles that I think are significant right now.
Work Your Tail Off
Colossians 3:23-24 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.
As Christ-followers, we should strive to be the best employees our companies have. It doesn’t matter if we are flipping burgers, performing heart surgery or stocking the shelves at Wal-Mart. The “Master” we are serving at our jobs is Jesus. So when we slack off on our job, when we complain about our job, when we do a half-ass job, we are doing so not just to our earthly boss but to Jesus.
Right now, job security is pretty tenuous for many people. Poor job performance should never be the reason a Christ-follower is fired.
Help Those in Need
2 Corinthians 8:14 Right now you have plenty and can help those who are in need. Later, they will have plenty and can share with you when you need it. In this way, things will be equal.
Right now those of us with jobs are faced with an awesome opportunity! We have the chance to let the Gosple pour out of our lives as we take care of those in need. If you have plenty (read: “a job”), share with those who need it (read: “those without jobs”). This isn’t socialism, it’s living the kind of life Jesus has called us to live. Even if it means sacrifice, take care of those in need.
And who knows? With this economy, Paul may be right–there may be a time soon when you need help.
