Pastor – Coach – Reader – Cook
"Yeah, but Dave, what do you believe is the right answer?" One evening during our recent Spring Break trip I was sitting at dinner with two member of our team. The student who asked this question is Heather. Heather has been a member of CSF for over three years. In that time I have…
Continue reading ➞ Why I Don’t Give a Straight Answer to Every Question
Estimates are that between 100,000 and 300,000 girls are enslaved and sold for sex in the United States every year. Millions more are sold for sex worldwide. Those who sell them make billions of dollars. The average age for entry into prostitution is twelve years old. This means that even most women who are…
Over the holidays I took an unintentional break from blogging. I had been spending December blogging through Advent, until my own holidays got quite busy. My last post on advent was December 19th. Oh well, such is life. With a new year here I have been thinking about why I blog and what I ought…
Last night on campus we talked about God and government, politics and presidential elections. This semester at CSF our theme for Bible study is the story of scripture. My hope is that the students will understand the grand, over-arching narrative of the Bible. Back in early September we began with creation and fall. Then we…
Continue reading ➞ Kings, Presidents and God (On Campus at PSU Berks)
Last evening on campus CSF had a "Spiritual Discussion Forum." It is a place where students can come and present questions about anything related to faith, religion, Christianity and Jesus. We had about 15 students attend, all of whom would identify as Christians of one variety or another: Catholic, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, etc. My hope would…
Continue reading ➞ An Evening Filled with Questions about God
Every semester in campus ministry is a new adventure. Students from the previous year have moved on, either graduating or transferring to University Park. A new influx of students comes in. The community that forms in CSF and on campus looks and feels different. It is always a bit exciting and a bit nerve-racking going…
Continue reading ➞ The Numbers Game and Investing in One Life
Every year I invite local churches to donate gift bags for students at Penn State Berks. These bags are filled with snacks, drinks (Pepsi products, no Coke allowed as per PSU's contract with Pepsi), school supplies and any encouragement notes, Bibles or Christian books they want to include. The bags are dropped off at Kissinger's…
The last few days Penn State Berks has been host to the "Mandala Sand Painting Exhibition" by Tibetan Monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery. I did not see a write up about it on the PSU Berks site, but you can check out the monks' site here. I heard a lot of students saying how…
