(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on November 17, 2013) Two things kept poking the back of my mind while we were going through the series on identity. A firm foundation for our identity is best built on the never-changing truth that God’s love for …
Read More#tbt Why I identify as a Christ-centered Quaker
(Throwback Thursday or #tbt has become a social media convention for posting old pictures. For the next few weeks, I want to use it to re-post some old pieces of writing from my blog that stand out to me as some of the best of …
Read MoreIdentity Killers
(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on Nov. 10, 2013) Colossians 3:12-13 You are God’s chosen people. You are holy and dearly loved. So put on tender mercy and kindness as if they were your clothes. Don’t be proud. Be gentle and patient. Put up …
Read MoreWho are we…to exclude?
(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on October 20, 2013) What if… …what if all of this stuff we’ve looked at over the last four weeks is true? What if our value is not in what we do or how we look or what others …
Read MoreReading resources
I’ve read a lot of different things over the last few weeks, preparing for the last two messages. I thought it might be helpful to post links to several of them, in case others are interested in exploring. I don’t agree with everything written in …
Read MoreWho Are We…As Sexual Beings (Part 2)
(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on Oct. 13, 2013) Last week we looked at Tamar and Judah in Genesis 38, drawing out the way Judah refused to see Tamar as a whole person with value and deserving of respect. But we all, women and …
Read MoreWho Are We…As Sexual Beings? (Part 1)
I’ve been trying to make the case over the last couple of weeks that our identity does not rest in what we do or how we look or how popular we are. We find a stable foundation for who we are when we root our …
Read MoreWho Are We…Beyond What We Do?
(Message given at Newberg Friends on September 29, 2013, from Matthew 20:1-16) Ok, I know we are supposed to listen and respond to all of the bible, not just the parts we like. And that’s what I try to do. But…if we were to give …
Read MoreWho Are We?
(Message given 9/22/13 at Newberg Friends Church) Today we’re beginning a series I’m calling, “Who Are We?” Not because I’m worried we’re a bunch of amnesiacs. No, I think our identity…how we see ourselves, what we choose to evaluate ourselves by…I think our identity is …
Read MoreFinding Papa (1)
They build roads straight in the midwest. Very straight. So the towns don’t sneak up on you at all. Rolling across the vast flatness, you can see them coming for miles, these little collections of humanity habitat. First you see the heartland skyscrapers: the skyline …
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