Aimate: Faith Series

Today, the Animate DVD came in. Thus, I have popped it into the computer and am listening to it as I write this article and do an ad for the study. We are going to use the study for our Thursday morning study at the Campus Religious Center on the campus of Southwest Minnesota State University. Our ministry: Element 26 (Lutheran Campus Ministry) will be meeting for breakfast and then watching and discussing the series.

Here is the study:

January 23 - God | Faith is a Quest | Brian McLaren                                         

How can we chart a course through the often-murky waters of Christian tradition and find our way to God?

January 30 - Religion | Spirituality Is Not Enough | Lillian Daniel            

In this age of religious pluralism, is it possible or even desirable to stick with our age-old traditions?

February 6 - Jesus | The Revolution Of Love | Mark Scandrette                     

What does it mean to walk in the way of Jesus?

February 13 - Salvation | Abundant Life Now | Shane Hipps                          

The cross of Christ stands as a symbol of God’s saving work. But what, exactly, does it mean to be saved?

February 20 - Cross | Where God Is | Nadia Bolz-Weber                                                     

Our theories about the cross tell us as much about ourselves and our view of God as they do about Jesus and salvation.

February 27 - Bible | A Book Like No Other| Lauren Winner                         

Why read the Bible?

March 6 - Church| An Imperfect Family | Bruce Reyes-Chow                          

What does it mean to commit ourselves to the church family, for better or for worse?

Winter Jam 2013: Omaha

This weekend, we took a 28 hour road trip to Omaha for Winter Jam.

SMSU - Lutheran Campus Ministry left on noon on Friday and drove to Omaha. We checked into our hotel (Comfort Inn) and decided to go fast food before we headed to the concert. Runza was close to our hotel and no one had ever been there before so we decided to be daring and try it out. I will NEVER eat there again - YUCK.

After dinner, we battled 5:30 traffic and headed through the city. I dropped everyone off at the auditorium because of the traffic and crowd. I then and went to find a parking spot. After awhile, I found a place - albeit having to parallel park the 12 passenger fan. I then joined the crew - last row on the top-side. It was a capacity crowd. I am glad that they went in 5 minutes after the doors opened.

Overall, the concert was very good. Here was my quick fb status:

About the concert tonight: Best set from start to finish: SideWalk Prophets. Best transitions: Matthew West and his story videos that inspired the songs. Best song of night: Tony, Steal the Show. Artist Gaining Respect : Amy's Grace. Disappointment of night: Red (which stunk BC I was looking fwd to them).

We got back to the hotel a little after midnight and decided to get pizzas. The Sports Bar was a little rambunctious;  so we got them to go and hate them in the hotel room.

In the morning, we had breakfast at the hotel, did an early lunch at Noodles & Company. I had the BBQ pork sandwich - EXCELLENT. We then made the 4 1/2 hour drive back to Marshall.

2014, we will return - next time - a different city. Not because Omaha was bad, but let's road trip it.

Hearty Taco Soup

On January 21st, 2013, we had Hearty Taco Soup for Lutheran Campus Ministry Dinner & Discussion. The picture above is the soup cooking. Below is the recipe that I created and used. Feel free to use/share. If you do not mind, I would appreciate you citing the recipie.

The base:

29 oz Tomato Sause
29 oz Tex-Mex Diced Tomatoes
14.5 oz diced size tomatoes w/ green chilies
14.5 oz Chili Beans with Cumin/Cayne sause
14.5 oz of black beans (drained)
14.5 oz of dark red beans (drained)
14.5 oz Black Eyed Peas (drained)
14.5 oz of Mexican corn (drained)
14.5 oz Hoppin John (Blackeyed Peas, tomato, onions, and jalepenos)
1 package of spicy ranch

Then for the meat:

3 separate 1 lb of ground beef and 4 oz of season blend cooked

- one w/ original
- one with cheese
- one with hot

The three meats added to the base.

Served over corn chips and topped with a 4 cheese blend and sour cream