(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 …
Read MoreI need your suggestions!
Friday will be my last day in the office before I begin the wondrous gift of a sabbatical. The purpose of this time away is rest, renewal, and reflection. I will have time…something I haven’t had for awhile. Yesterday I had an idea: I would …
Read MoreCommunity and Diversity at the Origin
While Tolkien adopts and adapts the good Creator of Genesis, one way he diverges is to invent an intermediary “angelic” class of creatures that help out with creation. All begins with Ilúvatar, but creation does not happen alone. It happens in community, with the Ainur, …
Read MoreWhat questions does an origin story try to answer?
How did all this stuff come to be? What is my place in what is? How does the world we inhabit contain such exquisitely creative beauty right alongside such horrific savagery and brokenness? These questions and more drive us to understand our beginnings in ways …
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