Category: worship & messages

Interesting! I wouldn’t have expected the original crooner to have so much staying power, after 67 years. But Bing Crosby prevailed by one vote over The Bills, while Colbert and Company had an easy time dispatching The Piano Guys. So now we come to it, …

(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on December 11, 2016) For several weeks, we’ve looked at God’s regular habit of not doing things like we would think God would. God shows up with the outsiders and the oppressed, and it is God showing up that …

(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on December 4, 2016) Yesterday we got our Christmas tree.  We’ve been going to the same place over in Sherwood since 2005, just a little red house with a field of trees behind it. We found it randomly, and …

(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on November 27, 2016) “I lift up my eyes to the mountains–where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”  Those words from Psalm 121 have often been an encouragement …

(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on November 13, 2016) I made a commitment long ago to be as honest and transparent as I can be as pastor of this church. Not that I had a whole lot of choice, I’m not really the best …

(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on October 30, 2016) There’s a soft place in God’s heart for the outcast and the oppressed, for the underdog and the overlooked. In one sense, this has been a revolutionary thing to my mind and heart. Over the …

I’ve been thinking of the complications around being a “one issue” voter, especially when pro-life is the issue. Several years ago, my friend Elizabeth Sherwood began a ministry called “Young Lives” at our church, a ministry with a focus on teen parents. This was a …

(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on October 9, 2016) Last week, Jesus’ words in John chapter 15 reminded us to root ourselves, draw life from, take our direction and values from Jesus. And this week, we look at Paul’s words in his letter to …

(Yesterday I sent this letter to our church here in Newberg.) To my Newberg Friends Church family, For virtually all of my adult life, you’ve been my church family. I’m grateful for all the ways you have shaped me and my family for the better. …

(Message given at Newberg Friends Church on October 2, 2016) You may or may not have noticed that things are very politically charged and volatile right now. You may or may not have noticed that issues in our church and denomination are a bit charged and …