(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 MoreCloud of Witnesses: Micah (Plus some additional thoughts)
Before I post what I shared today in worship, I’d like to take a little time to say a few things. I’m a theme and big picture person, and have to work hard to give concrete examples of the things I am talking about. In …
Read MoreCloud of Witnesses
(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 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 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 MoreInternal Conflict
(Message given 1/6/13 at Newberg Friends, from Mark 10:17-31) Read Mark 10:17-31 Just to reassure you, we aren’t talking about money today. We’re talking about something harder to find, peace. 🙂 This man-whom Jesus loved, it says-speaks what ought to be the universal question: how …
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