(I am writing this as a private citizen to share my perspective and thoughts around the Newberg School Board over the last several years. These are my personal thoughts, not in any way an aspect of my job.) With the exception of one meeting during …
Read MoreCarol of the Bells—and the winner is…
A 12 seed goes all the way! Congrats to VasilisV! Sorry I dropped out there for a few days…a bit crushed with busyness. But now a bit of breathing space, and I’ll be working on the “O Little Town of Bethlehem” bracket (which means you …
Read MoreCarol of the Bells—Finals
So much has changed in my life since I began this Advent Caroling Madness 8 years ago, but one thing remains the same—you people vote weird. We’re down to the last two. Get your votes in by Tuesday at 9 pm PST, and give me …
Read MoreCarol of the Bells—Round 3
We are down to four, after a round with convincing victories in every matchup…including #12 seed VasilisV! (And, my top 3 seeds, so basically after years of you all complaining about my seeding, now we just should honor my excellence.) Get your votes in by …
Read MoreCarol of the Bells—Round 2
We’ve advanced through the first round, with only one upset: #12 VasilisV over #5 Vitamin String Quartet. Barlow Girl baaaaaaarrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllyyyyyyyy advanced, although according to one of the Perez family, they totally dominated the “On-hold music” category. So here’s the bracket: We seem to be struggling …
Read MoreCarol of the Bells—Round 1
Well, we are off on another Advent Caroling Madness adventure! Thanks for the many submissions, with lots of variety. I didn’t have enough room to include every entry by everyone, but I was able to make sure everyone who submitted got at least one entry …
Read MoreAdvent Caroling Madness IX
After a brainstorm in the car 8 years ago, I started an Advent tradition of asking you all to help me discover the best version of a particular Christmas song. Little did I know that: A) it would start massive yelling fits in ALL CAPS; …
Read MoreImagination
(Message given at Wayside Friends Church on October 24, 2021) I’m Gregg Koskela; my pronouns are he/him. Today’s scripture is Acts 3:1-10 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer–at three in the afternoon. Now a man …
Read MoreSeeing Oppression
Imagine you are a Christian living in a fictitious Islamic country*. “Arabia” is a democracy, with remarkable freedoms—everyone has equal protection under the law, including you, as a religious minority. But you feel each day how you aren’t equal. You’re an accountant, with an impeccable …
Read MoreFully Human
(Message given at Wayside Friends Church on Feb. 28, 2021) What are you known for? One of the things I’m known for is popping off in the chat of video calls, so feel free to use the chat to hijack everyone’s attention from this message …
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