Tan Jenkins’ memorial service on January 4 was one of the largest we have ever hosted. We don’t often have to ask folks at a funeral to scoot in; we did with Tan’s. In part, this was because of the remarkable, courageous, radiant person Tan was. Her unconquerable smile and unquenchable joy, regardless of her […]
Happy New Decade!
Ten years ago, most of us didn’t have a smart phone, the iPad still hadn’t been introduced, the majority of visual entertainment was consumed through live TV (unless you had a TiVo—anyone remember those?), cash was a necessity, watches couldn’t tell us how many steps we had taken, Facebook was mainly for young people, and […]
How was my sabbatical?
There’s no way being given two months away from the responsibilities and pressures of ministry for two months isn’t an incredible gift. It’s an amazing privilege that I’m aware few people ever receive the benefit of in a lifetime, even amongst ministers. Megan has already said it, but it’s bears some repeating: we are so […]
Christmas Eve and the best neighbor ever
For the last few months, we’ve been unpacking what Jesus called the “Greatest Commandment” of all: love God with all you have and love your neighbor as much as you love yourself. That second part—love your neighbor as much as you love yourself—has been our particular focus. What if we took Jesus seriously…literally…and REALLY loved, […]
Preparing your heart for Christmas
You all have been graciously asking, “How was Sabbatical?” And we keep responding, “Sabbatical is going well! Six more days—four more days—” And now—we’re back, and we are working on our new response. Larry and I will be excited to share with you the gift that the last two months has been for us and […]
Introduce someone to the GLOW of Jesus
These last few weekends in worship, we’ve been in a series called “I ≠ Him.” Simply put, we are not equal to Jesus. We have learned that we are not the light; Jesus is the light! We are not the first; Jesus is first! We aren’t meant to take on all the pressures and all […]
It’s all about the waiting
It’s always nice when the rhythms of the day-to-day align with the rhythms of the church calendar. Such is the case with Advent. Eight years ago, I was due to have a baby around Christmas. I felt for Mary riding that donkey to Bethlehem more than ever that year! This year, my daily rhythm once […]
‘Tis the season!
Believe it or not, the holiday season is upon us! The radio stations are starting to change to Christmas tunes. The Christmas décor is available wherever decorations are sold. And now that we have finished stuffing ourselves with turkey and all the trimmings, the holiday season has officially begun! In light of this, we are […]
One unexpected way to connect with your neighbors
A few years ago we were living in a rural part of Gig Harbor, and we didn’t really know our neighbors, because well, they were so far away. We could see their house but to get there, we either had to climb a fence and walk through a drainage ditch, or we had to walk […]
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Loving God and loving our neighbors
In the last weeks, we have been talking about what it means to be for our city and for our neighbors. It has been so encouraging to hear stories of people from our church as they notice their city and get to know their neighbors. It may seem like a small thing, but being for […]