It was early summer 1995. The days were growing warmer. It was a naturally happy time of the year, not the season for a crisis. I had been a pastor for a dozen years already, and was now more than three and a half years into the establishment of my first church plant. Our little [...]
Some years ago, in an afternoon class at Regent College, Vancouver, I was listening to the gracious words of James Houston. Houston is a man of genial disposition, deep spirituality, and broad Christian intellect. In all of my interactions with him he has been nothing but kind. But that day he startled me with his [...]
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. (Genesis 1:31a, NIV] The first thing we should notice about the world is not what is wrong, but what is right. From time to time I go foraging for simple antiques. I like pieces that aren’t too pretentious, things of basic value which [...]
And so we begin the season of “after Easter”. For me, this is a season of adjustment, a time when we begin to understand some of the implications of God’s creative new reality. To say “Jesus is risen” is to first note an event. That’s important, of course, but that can’t be all. We must [...]
We come now to the central moment of Christian worship. It is at Easter that we see most clearly what God has done for us, and what God intends for us. In the death and resurrection of Jesus all hope is born, and all life renewed. I invite you to join us this weekend for [...]
Holy Week begins this Sunday. This is our opportunity to pay attention to the final moments of Jesus’s life: his entrance into the city, his instructions and teachings, his last supper with the disciples, his garden wrestling and prayer, his arrest and trial, his sufferings and crucifixion, his resurrection. Many of us know the way [...]
The world’s greatest tragedy is unwantedness; the world’s greatest disease is loneliness. (Mother Theresa) One of my favorite movies in recent years is the Jack Nicholson film, What About Schmidt? Its a subtly comedic and incredibly touching story about a recently retired and widowed man who faces an unknown future. Schmidt is full of years, expected [...]
Our Westside King’s Church service times are changing. This weekend we move to 10 and 11:30 am starts in order to make room for more people, and for a potential third morning service. We are excited and encouraged by all of this, of course. But we also hold to the idea that growth at Westside [...]
This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the first day of the Lenten season. This is the day we mark the beginning of the pilgrim’s journey toward Easter, following Jesus as he goes before us, through his sorrows, and into the joy of his eternal life. Join us Wednesday evening for a 40 minute event from 6:40 [...]
I ask for permission to repeat myself. Sometimes, that is what we need to do: say the same thing over again. I wrote the following paragraph in our Westside Journal as an introduction to our just completed series, More about Sex and Money, editing it slightly for my purposes here: With all of the current [...]
Last Sunday we began our newest series, More About Sex and Money. Chris brought us an excellent exposition of Jesus’s words: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…” [Matthew 6:19-20] This is both [...]
When we think of prayer, we most commonly think of an exercise in words. But in what way should our prayer-words function? What kind of words ought we to use when we speak with God? My original source is lost to me, but I have written and taught in the past about the three languages [...]
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