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The Love Shared Podcast - Episode 009: “The One About Discipleship” with Dr. Mike Johnson

Date: 09/04/15

The Show that explores how God is moving in the community of The River Church in Redlands, CA

*Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. @TheRiverCRC

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The Love Shared Podcast - Episode 008: “The One About Overcoming Adversity”

Date: 05/28/15

The Show that explores how God is moving in the community of The River Church in Redlands, CA

*Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. @TheRiverCRC 

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The Love Shared Podcast - Episode 007: “The One About Young Life”

Date: 04/22/15

The Show that explores how God is moving in the community of The River Church in Redlands, CA

*Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. @TheRiverCRC

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The Love Shared Podcast - Episode 006: “The One About Rehoboth”

Date: 03/19/15

The Show that explores how God is moving in the community of The River Church in Redlands, CA

*Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. @TheRiverCRC

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The Love Shared Podcast - Episode 005: "The One About Worship"

Date: 02/19/15

The Show that explores how God is moving in the community of The River Church in Redlands, CA

Visit www.therivercrcblog.tumblr.com to hear more stories from The River Church Family.

"Is It Too Loud? Worship Accompaniment Vs. Worship Immersion Culture" article by Dan Wilt

http://www.danwilt.com/is-it-too-loud-worship-accompaniment-vs-worship-immersion-culture/

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. @TheRiverCRC

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The Love Shared Podcast - Episode 004

"The One About Diversity In The Church"

Date: 01/22/14

The Show that explores how God is moving in the community of The River Church in Redlands, CA

Visit www.therivercrcblog.tumblr.com to hear more stories from The River Church Family.

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Pastor John Gonzales - “With A Grateful Heart” 

Pastor John tells his story of hope and a grateful heart. As his health deteriorates because of exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam war this veteran and pastor of over 30 years to the spanish community recalls the ways in which God has blessed him and strengthened him in the midst of these difficult times.

Cinematography: Gerrit Wagner and Ben Lee Post Production: Teri Heemstra Music: Bethel Church This is a product of The River CRC and should not be used without permission

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The Love Shared Podcast - Episode 003

"The One About The Lunch Bunch"

Date: 11/20/14

The Show that explores how God is moving in the community of The River Church in Redlands, CA

Visit www.therivercrcblog.tumblr.com to hear more stories from The River Church Family.

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A Life Well Lived by Colleen Chao

A Life Well Lived

By Colleen Chao

For years I had very few opportunities to rub shoulders with wrinkled wise ones... till God moved us to a church wealthy in age. Now I'm looking for any excuse I can find to spend time with folks over eighty. 

  Sitting down and listening to Henry Stuursma tell the story of his life slowed my own life down, gave me much-needed perspective, and made me worship a God who masterfully pens our days....

  It was the year Winston Churchill became British minister, Albert Einstein unveiled his theory of relativity, and Babe Ruth made homerun history. And while it didn’t make any news headlines, the birth of Henry Stuursma was no less extraordinary. Humbly begun in a small town of Iowa on April 25, 1921, Henry’s life would be shaped by constant change, courage, sorrows, and joys—and these in turn would forge a legacy of love. 

The Early Years 

Henry was the youngest of seven children, and when he was just 18 months old, his mother died suddenly, leaving his sisters to raise him. Several years later, his father’s chronic asthma drove the family to seek a better climate in Denver, Colorado. There his father met and married his second wife—providing little Henry with a much-needed mother. 

Two of Henry’s brothers were twins, one of whom had Down syndrome. In the 20’s, very little was understood about the syndrome and his brother was labeled a Mongloid. Doctors counseled his parents to institutionalize their son, but they refused. So Jake remained an integral, beloved part of the family, and Henry learned to love and value a sibling with special needs. 

When his asthma didn’t improve, Henry’s father loaded up his wife and three children (the oldest four remained in Iowa) and set off for what he’d heard was “the land of milk and honey”—California. It was 1929, and it took two weeks to drive the 800 miles from Denver to Mentone. Henry recalls the trip with fondness even though his seat was the tailgate of the truck, where he shivered through rain and snow. Every time they encountered a hill, they drove up backwards; it was the only way the gasoline could reach the engine. In retrospect, Henry recognizes the strength of his mother, caring for three children in these less-than-favorable conditions:

“Mom would get up early and make breakfast. Then she’d make sandwiches for coffee time. Then she’d make lunch. And then she’d make some more for afternoon teatime. And then [she and Dad would] try early enough to find cabins and go to a grocery store because there was no McDonald’s back then. We were chasing around, causing trouble. She was busy cooking and fixing things for supper. She must have worked her head off. And she was a city girl too. In fact, she came out of Holland. Her dad was a professor at University of Leiden. And she came here and married in Denver, and that guy died, and then she married Dad. And she came out here to work at a chicken farm.”

Henry’s father had his heart set on working a dairy farm in Mentone, but when that fell through, he started a chicken farm instead. Henry remembers the Flood of 1938, when the streets were submerged and “rocks as big as a VW” were loosed from the mountains and rolled down, causing the ground to quake. The storm knocked out the gas supply, which was the heat source for the farm’s chicks. Henry’s family had just purchased 2,000 chicks, so they brought them all inside the house, spread out newspapers, and kept them warm by the stove. “We had a noisy couple of nights,” he says with twinkles in his eyes. 

Henry speaks of many close-knit relationships, of Redlands Christian School days (he was in the first ninth-grade graduating class), and of the church on Clay Street, filled with young people who loved choir performances and “stupid plays” that would turn out huge crowds.

In Love and War  

Henry’s personal relationship with God grew under the influence of the Southern California Young People’s Group. The new association drew participants from as far away as Los Angeles, a city that he says was “just starting; roads weren’t that good; [it was a] long haul to L.A.” It was at a Young People’s summer camp at Forest Home in 1940 that Henry met “an amazing woman” named Betty. It was love at first sight.

Betty lived in L.A., so Henry scraped together gas money from his weekly salary of $10 to go visit her and take her on dates. Then news came that postponed any hopes they had of marriage. At a Young People’s gathering he and his friends “heard war was declared, and we looked at each other and said, ‘Our days of freedom are over with; we’ll be called.’ Sure enough, it wasn’t long. I could have been exempted [because of the family business], but I felt like I should go.”

Henry was stationed in Alaska, and he and Betty exchanged love letters. When he was reassigned to San Francisco to work in embarkation/debarkation, Henry was finally free to marry Betty. It was 1945, and the war had made it difficult to find a place to live in the city, so the newlyweds shared an apartment with another couple. He happily recalls meeting “a lot of interesting people” during that time. 

Making a Home

When the war was over, he and Betty returned to Mentone where they started both a new chicken farm and, more importantly, a family. They bought a tiny house with knotty pine walls and a huge yard, added 6 children and 30,000 chickens, and called it home.

“When I look back I see how my planning was so poor, but the Lord always provided and we never went hungry. We had some rough times and almost lost the business. We built it up from practically nothing. But He supplied our needs.”

All six of his kids worked the farm. “Back then they belly-ached, but they say now it’s the best thing that ever happened to them. They all learned how to work; they all learned how to do anything.”

Henry’s love for his kids (and his 18 grandkids and 18 great-grandkids) is contagious. “They are just tops,” he beams and points to their pictures all over the walls. But parenting had its sorrows too. Henry and Betty discovered their eldest son had Huntington’s disease. The effects of the disease were cruel and cost the son both his marriage and an influential job at a hospital in Colorado. He died at the age of 50. Henry explains that the worst part of it was the fact that his grandson also inherited the disease, and passed away at age 30, just two years ago.  

Henry and Betty cared for their son until his death. Betty also took on the full-time care of Jake (Henry’s brother with Down syndrome) till he passed away at 64 years old. 

Lifelong Love 

“She was an amazing woman. Never had an argument. She wouldn’t argue. Nope, if we disagreed: ‘Okay,’ she’d say. ‘You have it your way,’ and she’d go on. And next time I’d have a Bible verse laying on my desk or somewhere.”

Henry chokes back tears as he talks about his bride of 69 years. Just two months ago, and just shy of their seventieth wedding anniversary, Betty went home to be with Jesus. Henry still speaks in terms of “we” and “us,” as if Betty might walk into the room and sit beside him at any moment. 

But while her presence is still keenly felt, her absence is what Henry describes as “terrible.”

“Right now I feel like someone dumped me in the water and I don’t know which way to swim. It’s terrible. But the Lord gives you strength, and I’m so glad she didn’t suffer. But it’s awful lonesome bad.” His voice breaks with emotion. 

“Next month would have been seventy years. And the secret—and I didn’t know it, and I’m finding out now—she had drawers. Every drawer in the house was stuffed full. And I says, ‘Honey, what are you doing with all that?! How come you’re using every drawer in the house?! I knew she was scribbling, and I thought she was writing her own personal diaries, but… It’s prayers!! She’s got books of prayers for every birthday the kids had. Every event. I didn’t know that. I’d be at the table asking, ‘Honey, do you want to pray?’ ‘No, you do it better than I do,’ she’d say. But here I find books of her prayers. What a woman. What a woman. Here she was a city girl, and I took her to the farm. And we didn’t have it easy. And she never complained.”

Henry sits across from me at his turquoise-colored kitchen table, and as twilight settles upon us through the big picture window, I’m teary-eyed. This house that once burst at the seams with busy love is now remarkably quiet. Henry would say it is too quiet.

But if walls could speak, this house would dance. Here is a legacy of love—a story worth telling.

for the original post please visit http://becomingchao.blogspot.com/2014/10/a-life-well-lived.html

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Episode 002: "The One About Cancer"

Series: Love Shared Podcast Date: 10/09/14 With special guest Russ DeKock

Visit www.therivercrcblog.tumblr.com to hear more stories from The River Church Family.

To view Joyce's blog go to: http://www.joycedk.blogspot.com

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“Welcome to the Love Shared Podcast the show that explores how God is moving in the community at The River Church in Redlands, CA.” Hosts: Mark Leonard, Teri Heemstra, Nick In'tHout

Subscribe to the churches podcast: CLICK HERE

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The Banks - OM Ireland

from awe|struck|editing

We want to wish The Banks well in their adventure to Ireland with Operation Mobilization - OM USA.

ie.om.org thedistantbanks.wordpress.com

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Sydnee Johnson Testimony 06-29-2014

from Benjamin Lee

Highlights from Sydnee Johnson's amazing testimony. Cant wait to see what plans God has for Sydnee and his family.

[therivercrcblog]

Profession Of Faith 2014

Students from The River tell of why they want to make profession of faith and how Christ has impacted them

[therivercrcblog]

In the Potter’s Hands

Last year was a time of change and growth for our family. It was a year when we felt the Potter’s hand reshaping us. Sometimes the shaping felt painful and discouraging, but I like the shape we’re in now.

In February 2013 I began working at The River as the Director of Children’s Ministries. Taking this position meant that our family would become part of The River after being part of another church for 8 years – the only church our 4 year old son Jonas had known. It wasn’t a simple decision to make, but God had this planned for us and it wasn’t without the Spirit’s conviction that we ended up at The River.

After struggling through a painful ectopic pregnancy between Jonas and Norah, Nate and I were content with our family of four and didn’t plan on having any other children, but God had another plan. I felt in my heart that we should reconsider having another child and before we even came to a solid decision we found out I was pregnant. We felt a little overwhelmed, but excited.

It didn’t take long for this pregnancy to challenge us in ways the others had not. I was always feeling sick for the first four months. I was exhausted and slept all the time. During that time we also ended up in the emergency room three times. The first time I woke up at 2 am to use the restroom, discovered that I was bleeding a lot, and passed out. When you’re pregnant and you see that much blood, you assume the worst. My heart was heavy as we headed to the emergency room in those early morning hours. I thought we’d be coming home with bad news, I thought we lost our baby, but God had another plan. Our baby was doing well despite the bleeding. After two more incidents of bleeding and emergency room visits, we finally figured out what was going on. I had a spot of bleeding behind the placenta that had caused the placenta to partially detach. That’s when I was placed on bed rest. And through all of this, the doctors were amazed at how well our baby was doing.

The entire pregnancy was difficult and troublesome and the last 5 months of it was spent on bed rest. Any “odd” pregnancy symptom one could experience, I experienced. Even after the bleeding stopped, the hematoma had done its damage and caused a partial placental abruption. Then I started having prodromal labor – painful, regular contractions that aren’t true labor. That lasted through the rest of the pregnancy. Then the last couple of months revealed that I had polyhydramnios – too much amniotic fluid. While this didn’t cause any immediate dangers for the baby, it did cause a lot of discomfort for me. By the end of the pregnancy I was physically and emotionally drained. 

It could have been a time of trial even greater than it was, but God provided for us in the form of The River Family. We had child care set up for Jonas and Norah, we had meals, we had people bring groceries, do laundry, trim trees, and clean the house. The Potter was using the trials and The River Family to shape us. I don’t think I could ever truly express my thanks for how The River Family took care of our family and so willing allowed God to work through them!

On March 3rd I had an appointment with my doctor and she decided that if the baby didn’t come on his own first, we would do an induction on March 5th, but God had another plan. At that same appointment my doctor discovered that I was leaking amniotic fluid and because of all the other complications I had throughout the pregnancy, she sent me to the hospital to have the baby! At 3:08 am on March 4th our miracle baby was born. Miles immediately stole my heart and after a conversation with my doctor God stole my heart (again). After delivering Miles, the doctor was able to see that the placenta had separated from my uterus even more than they were able to see on any of the many ultrasounds I’d had throughout the pregnancy. My doctor had said many times at the end of the pregnancy about how worried she was earlier in the pregnancy and how amazing our baby was. To have her visit us in the hospital to tell us that Miles was even more amazing than she first thought humbled us and made us stand in wonder at this miracle God had given us.

This past year has been an opportunity for our family to be covered in love from our family in God, to be reminded of God’s goodness and faithfulness, to grow in faith, and to wonder what God has in store for Miles and the entire Triemstra family, to allow the Potter to give us a new, better shape.

We know we may struggle at times, but God always covers us in his goodness.

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Brandon - The Power Of Prayer

from awe|struck|editing

Brandon shares his story of healing and his experience of worship through the power of prayer.

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Ted - Worship With What You've Got

from awe|struck|editing

Ted Gastra speaks about the many ways he worships and gives glory to God through crafting, fixing and collecting, showing us how God is truly in the details.