This last week my friend Stuart McAllister, of Ravi Zacharias Ministries, has been in Gig Harbor for a well-earned mini-sabbatical. I invited Stuart to meet with our leadership team on Tuesday morning, and as he shared with us he mentioned something that I found very disturbing… and too true. Stuart quoted someone who said that […]
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Ten years ago, we had an idea. Actually, Shari Monson, our Director of Missions, and new member Laurie Dawson hatched an idea. Since we were supporting the mission of Dave and Karen Eubank to the displaced people groups of Burma… who were being persecuted and killed by their country’s own military. And since these people […]
On September 13, 1987, my first Sunday at Chapel Hill, the choir director asked me to sing a duet with a young Chapel Hill woman. Her name was Kathy Alvestad. I agreed, and it was the beginning of a long and wonderful partnership. In addition to having an angelic voice, it quickly became clear that […]
Nearly every university today offers a class on “gender studies” which tries to make the case that gender is a “social construct.” In other words, any so-called differences that exist between the male and the female of our species, other than the obvious physiological ones, are a product of our culture. We might shake our […]
In this year of Jubilee—when we are talking about liberty, hope and our future as a church—no topic is more critical to our congregation and our culture than marriage. Marriage, the core institution of humanity, is in trouble and, as I mentioned to the students in last week’s sermon, we are listening to the wrong […]
During our Christmas break in Salt Lake City, my daughter Rachel came downstairs to find me engaged in an activity she had never witnessed me doing before: “Daddy… I didn’t know you did jigsaw puzzles!” I don’t, often. But I do enjoy them. The challenge of piling up edges, corners and colors and beginning to […]
Jubilee! Last Sunday we learned about God’s gracious plan for restoring his people to the life and legacy he intended. Every 50 years was the Year of Jubilee. Land was allowed to lie fallow and heal itself, slaves were set free, property was restored to its original owners and debts were cancelled. Every 50 years […]
Well, 2012 is in the can. As I have mentioned repeatedly, I believe last year will go down as one of the most important in our history as a church. But 2013 ain’t going to be bad, either! On November 17, 1963, the Reverend Paul Neel led 96 charter members to establish Chapel Hill Presbyterian […]
I almost could not get through it. Last Sunday during the first service, I was scheduled to pray. With the Newtown tragedy still very fresh, that privilege and responsibility seemed particularly heavy upon me. Then, just before I stood to pray, we sang, “Away in a Manger.” The third stanza did me in: “Bless all […]