Welcome to Rocky

I’ve been noticing a change recently in the way people answer a typical question: “how are you doing?” Once upon a time, my friends would say “fine.” Now though, they usually sigh and say “busy.” It has become the standard response from most people with whom I interact. There is a sense that there’s always too much to do and there’s never enough time to do it all. There’s work, and when work is done (is work ever done) there’s hockey or soccer or football or baseball or music lessons or downhill mountain biking or dressage (that’s horse dancing)…or…or…or. There’s a supper we scarf down, sometimes together, so we have time to get across the city to the next thing.

Summer is quickly approaching. I remember being a kid (a LONG time ago) and the idea of summer was the idea of time stretching to infinity. Endless days of bike-riding and skateboard jump building, GI Joe and Transformers. Even the Beach Boys knew about the phenomenon, naming one of their albums “Endless Summer.” But the endless summer has fallen victim to the same busyness that consumes the rest of the year. Camping trips are stacked on top of each other, provided you’re able to beat the odds and get the sites you want at midnight three months before your trip is scheduled.

The big question all this should raise for us is “why?” Why are we so busy? What is driving life to be so hectic that we can’t seem to stop and even notice the roses, let alone smell them?

When I was pastoring, I remember being way too busy one week, and I read a quote that stopped me dead in my tracks: “I am busy because I am vain…I am busy because I am lazy.” I remember bristling at these words in Eugene Peterson’s The Contemplative Pastor. My initial thought was that Peterson was being unnecessarily judgmental. “You don’t know my life,” I muttered. How could he possibly understand my schedule? My wife and kids, my church, other sundry activities that sucked up all my time – these things were important. Vain? Lazy? Nonsense!

But the more I reflected the more I realized Peterson was on to something, and not just for pastors. What he was digging at was a deep problem in all of us. When we look to the things we do to define our worth, we get caught up in the trap of vanity (“look how busy I am…I must be important!”). When we allow other people and the circumstances of life to define our priorities, we get caught up in the trap of laziness (“I have so much to do because I have not asserted the priority of the most important things”). Busyness, for Peterson, becomes a form of idolatry for the Christian, because it replaces the definer of worth and the object of worship.

I am not saying we should be do-nothing sluggards, that we should not work and spend time with our families. I’m not saying we should just sit around and wait for things to happen. Those would be irresponsible reactions. Instead, what I believe Peterson is pointing us to is proper worship through the rhythm of life. Proper worship keeps things in perspective. It allows us to know where our worth resides. It allows us to properly prioritize the things that are important to us. Proper worship reminds us that God has called us to be seekers and workers for His Kingdom first. It teaches us that our worth lies in the one who made us, called us, and enlivens us. This is the only solution that makes sense of the busyness we all seem to encounter: allow God to define you and set your priorities through worship. Other fixes may “band-aid” the problem, but they will not heal the soul like our God can.

May your time be rich and full of the things of Jesus this summer, and always.

All the best,

President Rev. Dr. Mike Swalm

My time at Rocky Mountain College is filled with wonderful memories, all of which pointed me towards what I am doing now, serving God as Pastor of First Christian Reformed Church in Brandon Manitoba. But it's been a full 11 years to get here!  Just a few days after graduating from RMC in 2014 I took a trip to Australia and New Zealand with my brother, after two months of an adventure high, I came back and sat next to my future wife Rosanne at church. 

We married a year later, and after a year of living in Calgary together we headed off to Grand Rapids, to Calvin Theological Seminary. God kept opening up doors to this call to ministry, from our house in Grand Rapids, to thriving in seminary, and even doing well with Greek and Hebrew!

Through a number of internships and four years of seminary I graduated in the spring of 2020. Right in the beginning of COVID.

We all have our experiences of that time, but that is the space where I entered my first church in Essex Ontario. It was a hard 4 years there, but God taught me a lot about life, ministry and his faithfulness. Along the way my wife and I were blessed by two kids, Brayden and Leah, now 3 and 21 months.

This last summer, we moved to Manitoba and to a small church with a huge heart. So if you are driving across the country, look us up here in the middle of Canada, Brandon Manitoba. Many RMC folks will be happy to know I am in a choir once again. Prairie Blend. Look that up too! May the Lord bless us as we follow his path which he sets before us.

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Terri is graduating from The Coalition program and will continue with RMC to complete a BA in Leadership Development (Youth Leadership major). Listen to her share her experience and where her journey has taken her!

We have many programs for those who sense God's call to ministry and have a wide range of choices to suit your needs. Click below to check them out!

• Pray for a restful summer for students and staff (even though we’re online 24/7)

• Pray for the Rocky Board as we make plans for the progress of RMC

• Pray that God would bring financial stability to enable RMC to deliver the best of the best