(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on Feb. 23, 2014) Today I would like to give you the Sparknotes version, the Reader’s Digest version of my spiritual journey from birth to age 30. Ready? Born. Rapidly conclude that if I do anything anyone thinks is …
Read MoreMillennials leaving the church is not the problem
Few things bring a bigger smile to my face than someone experiencing the rush of a surprise encounter with the Divine…when out of the mundane monotony of spiritual striving, someone drinks and breathes and comes alive, swallowed by the uncontainable power of God’s living presence. …
Read MoreCloud of Witnesses: Gregory of Nazianzus
(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on January 26, 2014) As I was thinking about this cloud of witnesses series, I wondered if some of the famous Gregorys in church history might be good ones to explore. This is me in St. Peter’s at the …
Read MoreCloud of Witnesses: Priscilla
(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on January 19, 2014) Last summer, on our huge gift of a trip to Europe, we landed in Amsterdam. We had less than 24 hours there, and were dealing with jet lag. But we made the most of it! …
Read MoreCloud of Witnesses: The Writings of J.R.R. Tolkien
(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on January 12, 2014) I want to let you in on a little bit of my strategy for today. I figure the only way I’m gonna get people to stop teasing me about my Christmas Eve Service blunders is …
Read MoreCloud of Witnesses: Barnabas
(Message given January 5, 2014 at Newberg Friends Church) We live in a world where you can attend workshops on how to “build your personal brand” on social media. Everything is ranked: there’s the Fortune 500 list, a book’s sales position on Amazon, a website’s …
Read MoreAnd the all time Christmas song winner is…
After many weeks of listening and voting and trash talking, we have named a winner! It is the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, with their version of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”. Thanks so much to all of you who joined in at some …
Read MoreFinal matchup!
Not much of a contest. The Benedictines of Mary with “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” almost got the shot out, and Amy Grant’s “Breath of Heaven” won without breaking much of a sweat. So, after a month, we come down to the final face off: …
Read MoreBattle for the Best Christmas Song!
Ok, I lost a little steam there for Advent Caroling Madness. But now we have a winner in all four brackets, and it’s time to let them go head to head and determine the winner! In the first semi-final match up, we have “O Come, …
Read MoreOriginal Christmas song finals
Our two brackets have each narrowed to a winner, and now they have to face each other. However, I detect a little bit of voter fraud, as Amy’s matchup got far more votes than the other matchup. I blame Lisby Rogers and Davida Brown. 🙂 …
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