Raise the Roof!

Raise the Roof!

Raise the Roof! Phase one classroom construction begins! We have great news! We are close to completing Phase One of our Mustard Seed Village construction! This weekend we will take the first step in putting a roof on our classroom in the Mustard Seed Village. A team of seven construction workers has volunteered their time to bolt 8x32 foot beams to ...

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Igniting the Divine Spark – part 2

Igniting the Divine Spark - part 2

-- by Cindy Todd -- I’ve been slow to write up a debrief, report, summary of the “Igniting the Divine Spark” workshop that I facilitated at Mustard Seed House on March 16. So here goes. The intent and the vision of the workshop was to help followers of Christ to recognize the divine light that lives within each of us: the light ...

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The question for this week: what are your creative ideas for making a little difference in your community 2013 to 2018?

The question for this week: what are your creative ideas for making a little difference in your community 2013 to 2018?

-- by Tom Sine -- I want you to take you back to 1970 one more time to meet a mentor and friend…Frank Herbert, author of Dune and a host of other compelling books. Dune was widely used as an environmental study book when it came out in the early 70s at the very beginning of that first environmental movement. What arrested our ...

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Companions in the Neighborhood

Companions in the Neighborhood

– by Andy Wade – What does it mean to become a companion in the neighborhood? Many of you know that I'm an avid gardener. You probably also know by now that the garden is one of my favorite places to talk with God. It's probably no surprise that, while sitting around tables at a gathering in southeast Portland a few ...

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Sustaining Life, Sustaining Faith for the Future

Sustaining Life, Sustaining Faith for the Future

May Newsletter - 2013 I am currently in New Haven Connecticut at the Overseas Ministry Study Center teaching a course on spiritual renewal. This yearly seminar is one of the most enriching and challenging I facilitate. Students come from across the globe. Methodist ministers from Myanmar and Korea sit together with Anglicans from Kenya and Ghana. Catholic sisters from the Philippines rub shoulders ...

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Wild Camano Tour!

Wild Camano Tour!

-- by Christine Sine -- The Wild Camano tour is over. On Saturday a small group of us gathered on the future site of the Mustard Seed Village on Camano island to tour the land, identify edible species and plant a beginning garden. It was an amazing experience. With the help of Nancy and Greg from Shambala Farms and Nursery we identified and ...

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Simplicity isn’t Simple.

Simplicity isn't Simple.

-- by Christine Sine -- For the last five year’s my husband, Tom and I have taken what we call the $2 challenge during the season of Lent. For at least one week of the season we restrict our food budget to $2 per person per day. It reminds us that half the world’s population still lives on less than $2 per ...

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At the Crossroads of Imagination and Global Need

April 16, 2013
David Begbie, Crossroads International

– by Andy Wade – Looking for innovative ways to help the world? This TEDx talk from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology will definitely push your imagination into high gear! David Begbie will stretch your vision of what’s possible – and just might inspire you to move beyond your current expectations. My wife, [...]

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Life after Resurrection…What does Jesus’ mustard seed empire look like?

April 16, 2013
Thumbnail image for Life after Resurrection…What does Jesus’ mustard seed empire look like?

– by Tom Sine – Our last post we asked “Life after Resurrection… What are God’s purposes for a people and a world?”  We answered by painting a very different biblical vision for a people and a world than getting our souls rescued for the clouds.  This week we are asking what does Jesus mustard [...]

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50 Challenging Days

April 12, 2013
Water Pump

– by Andy Wade – During Lent we posted several articles about The Overflow Project, ending with a call to join “The 50-Day Challenge”. At Mustard Seed Associates, we didn’t want to just post about good things that are happening, we want to participate in them! That’s why we personally took up the challenge. Periodically [...]

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Missing Resurrection – reprise

April 9, 2013
Bee on dandilion

– by Andy Wade – 4/28/2012 (revision 4/5/2013) God smacked me upside the head with an amazing double rainbow the other day. The colors were so intense in one of the arcs that I could easily distinguish the many bands of color painted across the sky. I had to stop. I had to just stand [...]

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Life after Resurrection…What are God’s purposes for a people and a world?

April 6, 2013
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- by Tom Sine – So what does it mean for you to follow the Jesus after the resurrection?  My Australian friends ask the same question in a very fresh way.  “What is God on about?”  Translation….what are God’s purposes for a people and a world? As a young convert I was nurtured in a [...]

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Entering the Work God is Already Doing

April 5, 2013
Christine Sine

Church Next recently interviewed Christine Sine – “Entering the Work God’s Already Doing”   In order to enter into God’s work, we need to first listen to God. This, of course, is really the theme of her latest book, “Return to Our Senses: Reimagining How We Pray“. Part of the problem is that we need [...]

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Practicing Resurrection – April MSA Imaginings

April 3, 2013
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Alleluia, Christ is risen, A new world has come. May we breathe its air, May we learn its language, May we practice its ways, Let us go out, And live God’s resurrection life today. Easter Sunday is over and many of us are grappling with how to live out our faith in the days that [...]

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Being Radical, Good Friday

March 29, 2013
The Overflow Project

– by Brian “Wolt” Wolters – Over the past several weeks I have found myself coming up with excuses to drive to work instead of ride my bike.  Even before I get in my truck I tell myself, “Oh, one more day of driving and then I’ll start riding my bike,” or even on a sunny [...]

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How do you plan to celebrate life after Easter 2013?

March 28, 2013
Thumbnail image for How do you plan to celebrate life after Easter 2013?

Christine and I had a stimulating conversation on Monday with a great group of 11 George Fox University  students and a couple of staff.   This is the first time we have used our great new classroom in the Mustard Seed Village as you can see in the picture.  This first day of holy week has [...]

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Don’t be Intimidated, be Inspired!

March 25, 2013
Love Bombs

– by Andy Wade – That’s right, Don’t be intimidated, be inspired! Those are the words I’m hearing right now and I want to share with you. Often times we hear about all the amazing things people are doing and, because we’re just getting started, we feel intimidated, overwhelmed, and stuck. But it doesn’t have [...]

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