Next January when I lead my tenth group to Israel, we will visit two of my favorite and most beautiful sites. Mt. Tabor, the traditional site of the transfiguration of Jesus, features an exquisite mosaic of the Lamb of God slain for the sins of the world. We will stand under the arch of that […]
Miscellany…
Miscellany is a collection of various matters. This E-Bulletin is a miscellany… and they are all important! Josh McDowell was influential in my young life. As a college student, I devoured his book, “Evidence That Demands a Verdict,” equipping myself to better defend the reliability and the authority of the Bible. And his small book, “More […]
Go to the Movies!
Go to the Movies! I don’t often make movies recommendations, but I will today. This Friday, Son of God will open at our local Galaxy Theatre and across the country. This movie is produced by Roma Downey and Mark Burnett, committed Christians who recently produced the blockbuster TV series, The Bible. My understanding is that […]
Good News, Bad News, Good News
One of the high points of our Jubilee Celebration last November was the announcement that $1.2 million had been given and pledged to our Jubilee Debt initiative. A couple weeks ago, we cut a check to eliminate $500,000 (basically all of the cash received to date from the pledges) of that debt. Good news, indeed! […]
We’re Having A Party!
What a party it is going to be this Sunday! People showing up, dressed in team colors. A buzz in the room! Lots of preliminaries to get everyone warmed up including some very clever commercials. An epic battle between the good guys and the bad guys… with the good guys guaranteed to win. To top […]
Radical – Do I have To?
Radical. That’s the title of the sermon series I’m preaching on Galatians. You don’t have to wade very far into that letter to understand why that title is appropriate. This is Paul at his youngest and greenest as we find him in the New Testament. It is his very first letter of the 13 that […]
Going to the Chapel
About five years ago I was approached by a friend of our church, Jan Vance, with the germ of an idea. What if we had a display at the Harbor History Museum on the religious heritage of Gig Harbor? Surely, you cannot tell the story of the settlement of our community without including the role that faith […]
“You Get Me”
In the early nineties, Chapel Hill was gearing up for our first major building program since I had arrived as pastor in 1987. Although we desperately needed a larger sanctuary, the session decided to begin with classrooms and a gymnasium. In a time before the YMCA and the Boys and Girls Club, there was no […]
Happy New Year!
One of the reasons I think we like the idea of a “new year” is… it’s a do-over. A massive re-set. It feels like a chance to wipe the slate clean and start over… new exercise habits, new eating habits, new relational commitments, new financial goals. (After you pay off those credit cards from your […]
A Look Back Over Our Shoulder
It can be said of every year, “There will never be another one like that one.” But it can really be said of 2013, “There will never, ever be another one like that!” Jubilee. Fifty years of ministry. Jubilee in the Park, public baptisms at the Old Ferry Dock and, of course, our Jubilee Celebration […]