A Pastor in The Northwest

  What do you hope today? Or, I could ask it another way like what do you hope for today? Hope is a powerful word isn't it? We sometimes use it at a more surface level like, "I hope it rains" or, well, maybe today, "I hope it stops raining!", etc. Other times hope runs deeper for us - like our hope in eternity. Hope was the final thing left in Pandora's box of Greek mythology. Likely most of us have heard the phrase, "hope springs eternal!" The Apostle Paul wrote that hope is one of three key theological virtues in his first letter to the Corinthian church. Hope is powerful. It can help us endure difficulties. It comforts us to know that God is in control and one day we will be ushered into new heavens and new earth in God's glorious kingdom. If you need a bit more hope today, let me pray the words of 1 Corinthians 15:3 over all of us today: Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in him, so that you may abound in

Recently I got to go out and fish for tuna off the Oregon coast and it was incredible. The weather was perfect, the ocean was calm (even glassy at times) and of course, reeling in those albacore tuna was a blast! Every time I've been on the ocean and it's been calm and glassy, I always marvel at the beauty of the water reflecting the sky and the clouds. When it is choppy out there, you can't see much reflection at all. I read a devotional that spoke of this idea of calm waters reflecting beauty. Here is an excerpt: WAITING upon God is necessary in order to see Him, to have a vision of Him. The time element in vision is essential. Our hearts are like a sensitive photographer’s plate; and in order to have God revealed there, we must sit at His feet a long time. The troubled surface of a lake will not reflect an object. Our lives must be quiet and restful if we would see God. There is power in the sight of some things to affect one’s life. A quiet sunset will bring peace to

Yesterday was 9/11 - a day when all the media outlets replay the tragedy of the brutal attack on the United States.  For the first time in years, I didn't watch any of it. Instead, I reflected on the yearning of all creation for God to bring things to right soon.  I also wrote this: My heart is heavy for those who suffer today - suffer from the loss of friends and family to human-caused tragedies such as the attacks of 9/11 and natural disasters like those in Morocco. You know what? Sometimes there are simply no words. In Romans 8, the Apostle Paul writes of the reality of us and actually ALL creation in distress with a longing for redemption. As NT Wright's translation renders it: 22 Let me explain. We know that the entire creation is groaning together, and going through labour pains together, up until the present time. 23 Not only so: we too, we who have the first fruits of the spirit’s life within us, are groaning within ourselves, as we eagerly await our adoption, the redem

Veraison...it's happening. What is that you ask?  Good question. Right now all around me here in the Willamette Valley, wine grapes such as Pinot Noir are changing from green to dark purple. This is something that happens each year around late August and early September. What does that mean? It's a special moment when the grapes stop growing and start ripening - developing great flavors and sugar (called 'brix). In fact, according to Wikipedia (must be true...it's on the Internet...):   Fête de la Véraison is a medieval festival held in the famous winemaking village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Every year at this time it makes me think of changes in us - as we grow and mature in Christ and bear fruit to bless the world.  Jesus told His followers that connection to Him as the vine allows the fruit to flow from us: 4 ‘Remain in me, and I will remain in you! The branch can’t bear fruit by itself, but only if it remains in the vine. In the same way, you can’t bear fruit unless y