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(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on October 18, 2015) Last month, when we had our picnic on the lawn, Elaine and I shared a table with some new students at George Fox. All of them are part of the Honors Program, a unique way of …

(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on October 4, 2015) Today we continue our journey through the book of James by finishing chapter 2. It’s a good opportunity to share with each other, to teach each other. Hopefully you’ve been reading James over the last …

19 years ago this past summer, I was recorded as a minister in our Northwest Yearly Meeting. For us, recording means that the community of the Yearly Meeting recognizes and “records” when a person has been gifted and called by God to publicly serve in …

(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on September 20, 2015.) It’s our second week looking at James chapter 1. You’ll get a chance before we are done today to share some things you notice in this chapter. I’m drawn to focus on four verses that …

(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on September 13, 2015) If you google, “What happened to sin?”…you discover that lots of people have written about that question. One piece I found was written by Philip Yancey in March of 2014, titled “Whatever Happened to the …

(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on September 6, 2015) One of the greatest critiques of religion is hypocrisy– when someone doesn’t act in line with what they believe and teach. I think the reason hypocrisy drives us all crazy is that we want faith …

(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on August 23, 2015) If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (Romans 12:18) I’m not an organized person by nature, but the requirements of life force me to try and …

(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on August 16, 2015) So yesterday as I was preparing for worship by preparing this message I want to say today, I got to thinking: I wonder if there are some people who think it’s the pastors’ job to …

(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on August 2, 2015) This week we chose to set aside our original plan for worship.  The new title for today is “When We Hurt.” When we hurt is now. I am sure that every single Sunday, we have …

(This is the announcement I gave in our worship services at Newberg Friends on August 2, 2015) We felt the need today to take some time in our worship service to talk and pray about a situation that is likely on many of your minds. …