A Pastor in The Northwest

For the ancient Hebrew calendar, presented in Leviticus 23, everything started with 52 holidays, as it were, of sabbath all-day rests. These days meant 'no ordinary work'. In Hebrew, sabbath means to cease and desist. Traditionally, this was for a 24-hour period from sundown on Fridays to sundown on Saturdays (so, the whole Saturday or the 7th day). How are your days of no ordinary work going for you? May I encourage this practice in you and your family's life as a regular, creation-like rhythm! That said, I was thinking today about the many times we read of Jesus doing miraculous healings on the sabbath day. Even though that often frustrated the Jewish leadership of His day, I think He actually did honor the 'no ordinary work' of the Mosaic (Torah) Law. How? Well, divine miracles by the hand of God Himself are simply NO ORDINARY thing, right? Certainly no ordinary work! Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman w...

Right now, I feel like everyone can't stop thinking and talking about artificial intelligence and how quickly it is advancing into new territory.  Some want to be afraid, some want to let it run wild, and some want to ignore it.  For me, the question remains: what is the proper posture for followers and Jesus who make up His church? I believe followers of Jesus need to have a healthy understanding of what it is and reflect on how best to utilize it as a tool. I don't think it helps to be afraid nor to ignore it.  At the end of the day, however, the church can remain, through any technology or issue of the modern world, a beacon of real relationships, support, and authentic human fellowship. No machine can replace that! Fiercly human, local, real people in authentic relationships! Photo by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash

My wife Jackie and I recently joined many hundreds of people at Bridgetown Church in Portland this past week to do a prayer meditation experience alongside a book launch by John Mark Comer.  Although the material presented was nothing new for us, we really appreciated being together yet in silence, solitude, and reflection.  So much of church life on Sundays is programmed, and we found this gathering refreshing in its simplicity. One of the big takeaways for me was a video showing a 1993 interview of Fred Rogers (the famous Mr. Rogers!), and he spoke of the gift of solitude and silence we could give to each other.  In almost a prophetic moment, he said these words in that interview with Charlie Rose: "I fear today in our world that people are more interested in information than wonder." Wow. Lord, restore wonder in us, we pray! Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

There is an odd movie that I love that came out in 2007.  In fact, I still think about it often.  The movie is Mr. Magorium's Magic Emporium, and it stars some pretty great actors, including Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, and Jason Bateman (one of my favorites!).   There's a line that captured my heart and imagination from the first time I heard Dustin Hoffman's character say it.  Here's the quote: "Your life is an occasion.  Rise to it!" Oh man.  Our lives have a moment in time - a space on the main stage.  We can rise to that moment!   It makes me think of Queen Esther (Hadassah) in the Hebrew Scriptures.  Her uncle challenges her to use her position and status to save her people, the Jewish exiles in Babylon.  She had a choice, so, here's the big moment: 13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep sil...