A Pastor in The Northwest

How the outside smells after a good rain. Playing my guitar with brand new strings. When my wife Jackie reaches for my hand to hold. The first sip of a great Oregon Pinot Noir. When I hear my grandson Elias laugh. The tug of my heart when I see someone care for someone else. Walking through falling cherry blossoms. Letting the river move me while I'm on a paddleboard. Insight from a passage of the Bible I'd never noticed before. The sound of Pacific Ocean waves hitting the sand. Photo by Alexas_Fotos on Unsplash

Lately I have been paying attention to the trend of younger people using AI as a companion. The numbers are staggeringly high - over 70%! Teenagers are turning to machines for friendship instead of their peers. Whoa. A whole generation choosing the artificial over the real. As one TED talk I watched pointed out, we would be wise to protect human connection - even when it is messy. Resistance literacy - the act of showing up and being human in a world telling us not to be - is crucial. I think this is where a healthy church family can be an antidote for our modern, AI addicted world. We can walk together in this life alive and vibrant and messy and disappointing, but as a family, loving one another. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. -Romans 12:10 NIV Link to that TED talk by Bryony Cole Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

I was thinking today about the beginning of what we refer to as "The Lord's Prayer" as recorded by Matthew in the famous sermon on the mount.  It begins like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed by your name... To pray like this, then, we acknowledge that we are part of a family and a community of followers and we are God's children.  Not only this, but as His children, we honor and lift up His name and order our lives to bring Him honor. He is sovereign over all things yet loves us like the best of earthly fathers might! We want to be a people devoted to praying to God Our Father; we also want to honor Him by how we live, right? Let us pray to and live for Our Father who is in the heavenly realms, ruling over all, and bring Him honor today!  Photo by Derek Thomson on Unsplash