Conspire with Sojourn

conspire!!!

Sojourn is undertaking a major project city wide this month. Two weeks ago we began to brainstorm ideas for Advent Conspiracy (thinking about alternative ways to celebrate Christmas by worshipping fully, giving more, spending less, and loving all: advent conspiracy).

The result of that brainstorm has led us to partner with Adoption and Foster Care Mentoring, an organization we appreciate and have relational ties to (CJ, one of their directors is a good friend).

AFC has been named one of Boston’s Outstanding Non-Profits of 2010 and will be honored in a ceremony at the Prudential Center (a major downtown Boston locale) on December 7th. Sojourn is joining with AFC to create a Christmas experience for the mentors and mentees that they will never forget.

Obviously, this is a great opportunity for us to bless this organization that is doing some amazing work with kids in our city (the need for foster care mentoring is staggering! check out their page). Moreover, this is a galvanizing moment for us as we get to conspire, dream, and tell a better story this Christmas season.

We’d also like to invite you guys in to the story as well. We have created a facebook cause page which you can find here: http://www.causes.com/causes/548375). The best way to participate is to (a) join the cause and show your support of our students, (b) make a small donation to the cause (i would suggest $5-$20…a few less trips to starbucks or one less meal out in the next two weeks can make a huge difference). Donations all go straight to our project budget…the money will be spent on food for the event and gifts for the mentors and mentees (Celtics tickets!).

So, join the cause, spread the word, participate in the story, and help Sojourn Conspire for the Kingdom this Advent.

week of october 28th

SAT TUTORING MEETING THIS WEEK AT 1 PM (WEDNESDAY) IN CC 3115!!!!!!!!

semester reading

not that you don’t have plenty to read already but this book comes highly recommended for two reasons:

1) this is an issue we should all know and care about

2) sojourn at umass has a project in the works to raise awareness for women’s global health issues and this book helps shape that conversation and provide the background for why we care about this.

check it out at amazon here

Welcome Week

Good to be back on campus.  Thanks to those who came and stopped by, and to the 30 who signed up for more info on Sojourn!  Enjoy these pics, and hopefully we’ll see you tomorrow in the campus center (room 3115) from 1-2:30 to kick off the year.

back to school…

it’s that time of the year again…summer is winding down and we start thinking about a new semester. we buy some new notebooks, battle the text-book lines, finalize our class list, and dust off our fleeces and coats.

sojourn @ umass begins a new chapter this fall.  this is our first full semester on campus as a student organization!  here are some things to look forward to:

1) weekly conversations: we will be meeting in u03-3115 on wednesdays and thursdays from 1-2 pm. we’ll be looking at the narrative of scripture: the story that God tells and how our story fits within it. this will also be a great time to connect with people, make some friends, and learn more about sojourn.

2) tables: we will be “tabling” at the campus center on september 8th and 9th for most of the day.  come by and say hi and grab some info.

3) sat tutoring: our tutoring program will begin training and planning for a january launch.  we’re really excited to serve the neighborhood around the campus…this will be a great opportunity to do so! we’ll also be exploring and dreaming of other ways to do this as well.

may thoughts…

no mark, but good time hanging out and catching up last night.

link of the week

mark 2:23-mark3:6

we continue…Jesus confronts legalism, silly rules about the sabbath, the religious authorities of the day…sparks fly and the plot to kill Jesus begins to unfold (yes, already, this early on).

questions: why are the Pharisees watching Jesus walk through a grainfield?  what is the big deal with the sabbath?

who are the herodians?

why does Jesus ask such an obvious/black-and-white question: is it better to do good or evil on the sabbath?

what has Jesus done so far that is so offensive that people already want to kill him?  (also, how will he manage to stay alive for 10-11 more chapters).

and the million dollar question: why is legalism so appealing?  why do humans fall in to it so easily?  how have Christians, who are supposed to be following Jesus’ teachings, been so susceptible to legalism?

we end with this…Jesus hated legalism because it depersonalized people.  legalism is anti-relationship and the kingdom of God is a kingdom of right relationships.

read.retreat.serve.

some pics from our read.retreat.serve. event this weekend.  took place at st. mary’s who we are partnering with to start this SAT tutoring program in the fall.

mark 2:12-22

this week Jesus hangs out with some notorious sinners and then tells his first parable (wine skins) of the book of mark.  here’s the text.

questions: what exactly makes one a notorious sinner? (while we are at it is there a connection between healthy and sick and new and old?)

what’s up with the bridegroom metaphor? why is fasting such a big deal?

how would the pharisees and teachers of the law been taking this?  why does Jesus seem to be so hard on them? don’t they need Jesus too?

two conclusions: first, Jesus is here, now (no need for the pharisees to fast to hear from God, they just need to listen to Jesus). which means, this is a party! and everyone, yes everyone, is invited. two, Jesus is doing something completely new.  the old way is turned upside down and rendered (ripped?) useless by this new way of living.

mark 2:1-12

in the movie version of mark we’ve had the dramatic-pre-credits opening scene (the baptism), followed by the opening-credits-music-montage (last week) of a variety of scenes of Jesus doing crazy things like healing people and casting out demons.  now all the intro stuff is done and we finally hone in on a longer, more developed scene:

the questions: why is this the first detailed scene?

what is up with Jesus’ question to the teachers of the law (who are those guys anyway)?  why do the teachers of the law care so much?

why does Jesus tell the guys his sins are forgiven?  could Jesus read minds?  why is forgiveness the first move?

why is Jesus so hard on the teachers of the law (is it ok to be a critical thinker)?

what does “Son of Man” mean…why call himself that?

we ended with this: authority still seems to be a major issue…Jesus is continuing to establish his authority…not just as a good person/teacher but as something else all together.

meanwhile, we like to think of faith as an individual pursuit…this is between me and Jesus.  yet, after these guys rip the roof off so their friend can meet Jesus, it says that Jesus was moved by their faith.  hmmm…so it seems that faith isn’t just about me and Jesus after all.  In fact, it is clear that something redemptive and beautiful happens when we work to help each other get closer to Jesus.