Each year the leaders of our congregation spend a weekend in retreat to consider the health, needs and direction of the congregation, and to pray and plan for the coming year. Last Friday afternoon the elders and Darren and I met at the Christian Renewal Center near Silver Falls State Park for this retreat. We spent […]
After the High School Senior graduation barbecue on June 7, I and the six graduates and three chaperones headed to the coast for a one night camp out at South Beach State park. The purpose was to celebrate graduation and have some fun, but it was also designed to have some time for serious reflection […]
A couple of weeks ago I preached for the congregation on the transition of our children “leaving the nest” and beginning to establish themselves as fully functioning faithful adults. At the end of the sermon I had our middle school students hand out cards inviting the whole congregation to pray frequently for our own high […]
We are taking a few weeks at the Keizer church to think and wrestle with transitions in life and how our faith impacts them. This past Sunday, Howard movingly spoke about the transition out of the house and that important step in life. This coming week, we will look at a transition that comes later […]
This past Saturday, May 16th our congregation hosted the Annual Willamette Valley Men’s Day and Golf Scramble and it was a great day together. There were 60 fellas here from nine different congregation spanning the entire length of the valley from Portland to Eugene. We had an excellent pancake breakfast thanks to Tim Haines, Jim […]
The last three and a half months have been a whirlwind for our family and I thought I should take a minute and catch everyone up to speed on our move to Keizer. Several things have slowly, but methodically come together since January and we are very thankful to God and his people for their […]
Last week during the Wednesday night class on Christian Leadership, Marshall Zoerner brought up a critical point about the task of leadership. This point is simple, yet profound: good leaders not only perform needed tasks and get others involved but they also equip others to lead. During the discussion I remembered a painting by the […]
Well, we are finally there. This Sunday is our final day of reading through The Story. We began this journey back in September 2014 with Genesis and now we are ending in May 2015 in Revelation. I thought I’d reflect for a little this week on what I see as the benefits of The Story […]
This past Sunday morning a large, and noticeably absent group of our congregation was in Richland, WA for the annual Leadership Training for Christ conference. During the conference children from many churches of Christ in the northwest present a wide range of projects they have diligently prepared in advance. There are singing groups, plays and skits, artwork, puppet shows, Bible lessons, the list […]
Do you remember the 80s television show, the “A-Team”? Well, I realized as soon as I wrote that line that many of you don’t remember it because you weren’t out of diapers yet when it was running. But, due to the extensive reach of pop culture, you probably remember a few of the memorable lines […]