(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on April 12, 2015) Whenever I consciously think about it, the huge variety of ways that the bible talks about God overwhelms me. The spectrum goes from huge, cosmic God on one end…the God who creates everything, who parts seas, …
Read MoreA Wide Open Table
(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on April 5, 2015) One of the things I’ve learned over the years is that there is always a deeper layer of meaning to discover in these huge moments in Jesus’ life, these holidays that truly celebrate holy days. I …
Read MoreCourage and Confidence
(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on March 29, 2015) For those of you who’ve given up chocolate, or coffee, or Diet Coke for Lent…your long suffering is almost at an end! Today is Palm Sunday, when we remember the celebration as Jesus entered Jerusalem, before …
Read MoreLent: Christ Crucified
(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on March 22, 2015) For those of us who have been in the church and around Christians for a long time, I think we tend to forget how strange and foolish the central part of our faith sounds. This season …
Read MoreWearing the right clothes
I ran out of gas last week. As these things usually go, it was a series of wrong choices. The warning light went off on the way to the hospital, but I wanted to get there ASAP for the visit. I forgot about getting gas …
Read MoreLent: Choosing Sacrifice
(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on March 1, 2015) Mark 8:31-38. I’ve often thought of Peter rebuking Jesus as a great reminder that everyone makes mistakes. Peter has just had such a high point, being the one person who correctly identifies Jesus as the …
Read MoreLent: Facing Sin
(Message given February 22, 2015 at Newberg Friends Church) Psalm 25: 1-11 I love the fact that I’ve lived 23 out of the last 29 years in Newberg. There’s something beautiful about getting to be a part of a smaller community for that long, to …
Read MoreChrist’s Life
(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on February 15, 2015) Last Sunday after the service, I had a great and very honest conversation with someone. Talking with him cemented something in my own mind, and that’s what I want to share with you today, my …
Read MorePut Them Into Practice
(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on February 8, 2015) ‘Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds …
Read MoreIntegrity and Wholeness
(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on February 1, 2015) Do you ever look at a word, and stare at it, and then all of a sudden the letters just make no sense any more? It just looks weird and wrong? Pageant. Pageant did that …
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