(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on April 27, 2014) When you are learning Greek, the place in the bible that you often get asked to translate first is the letter we call 1 John. This is because it is sort of like the Dr. …
Read MoreEaster Deepening
(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on April 20, 2014) There are lots of metaphors and pictures and images that describe Jesus and the victory of Easter. Lion. Lamb. Warrior on a white horse. But there’s one I don’t think of often, but that surprisingly …
Read MoreSteps to the Cross
(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on April 13, 2014) Psalm 31:9-16 (TNIV) Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief. My life is consumed by anguish and my years by …
Read MoreCloud of Witnesses: Thomas the Disciple
Vincent Kaminski now teaches business at Rice University, but he once served as managing director of research for Enron…the Enron that spectacularly crashed in bankruptcy in 2001. Before the crash, Enron had grown exceedingly quickly. They got to that place with smoke and mirrors, using …
Read MoreCloud of Witnesses: Daniel
(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: 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 MoreCloud of Witnesses: John the Baptist
(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on December 15, 2013) Today our witness in the cloud of witnesses is John the Baptist. And I know what some of you are thinking. You already are wondering why I am such a scrooge, why in the Christmas …
Read More