Last Tuesday I got a call from my one-week-from-being-done-with-college daughter, Rachel. She said, breathlessly, “Daddy… I got into Gordon-Conwell!” G.C. is an evangelical seminary near Boston. (In fact, it is Pastor Larry and Megan’s alma mater.) Rachel is a theology major at Whitworth with a biblical languages minor. She wants to be a professor someday […]
The Awkwardness of Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love it for all kinds of reasons: It is the most unsullied religious holiday of the year. My baby comes home from college. It always lands on the same day of the week thus insuring a predictable, extra-long weekend. I like earth tone colored foods and I love leftovers…especially […]
Wow! Jubilee Indeed!
Jubilee Sunday was one of the most moving and joy-filled worship services I’ve ever been a part of! Last Sunday we celebrated our 50th year as a congregation and we packed more into that service of worship that seemed possible. Where to begin? The joy of welcoming as our guests the Neels and the Smalls, […]
Fire at Chapel Hill
I was pounding away on my Jubilee Sunday sermon when I received the following text from Pastor Megan: “There’s a fire in Memorial Chapel.” As you might imagine, that got my attention! I hustled over to find eight fire rigs surrounding that end of the church, hooked up to hydrants, fire fighters on the roof checking […]
Your Mortgage Has Been Cancelled!
Just imagine if you got this message from your bank! “I have good news for you! We have canceled your mortgage. Your debt is now paid in full and you own your home free and clear!” At first you would be suspicious. But after discovering that it was not a scam… can you imagine the […]
Burned at the Stake in Our Traffic Circle???
Eighteen months ago our church session recommended to the Chapel Hill congregation that we move into the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. This was a principled, prayerful decision born out of deep theological conviction. The congregation affirmed that decision by a vote of 92% in the affirmative. I wonder what the vote would have been if it […]
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150 Feet of God’s Faithfulness!
He went on a three -day hike to spend time alone with the Lord. On Saturday, as he was traversing a rock fall, he slipped and fell 150 feet, breaking his ankle in the process. He splinted his ankle with pieces from his back pack, gathered wood, built a fire and waited. And waited. And […]
I Want You Both to Meet Each Other!
I am rushing to put these words on my screen. Just this moment I returned from a Pastor’s Retreat over on the coast. This week, we are hosting the gathering of pastors and elders from our presbytery, a geographical area that comprises—brace yourself—all of the west coast, parts of Idaho, Hawaii and Alaska! (We do […]
Climbing Out of the Stands
Two weeks ago I preached on Psalm 122, the one where the psalmist declares, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’” I asked the question, “Are you this glad to be in the house of the Lord here on the corner of Rosedale and Skansie? […]
Your Best Ideas
On November 17 we will celebrate Jubilee Sunday. It was exactly 50 years ago, November 17, 1963—five days before JFK was assassinated—that Chapel Hill United Presbyterian Church came into existence. On Jubilee Sunday at 10:00am (one service only), we will look back over five decades of ministry as an opportunity to celebrate God’s goodness and […]