If you love kids—and we do here at Chapel Hill—I have some exciting and important news to share with you. First, I am delighted to announce that our new Director of Children’s Ministries, Paul Hargreaves, has arrived! He and his wife Gina (who is teaching in our Chapel Hill Preschool) bring LOADS of experience and […]
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Dog with a bone
We raised German Shepherd puppies on our little three-acre alfalfa farm in Yakima. My grandpa was a butcher and he used to bring bones for them. If you’ve ever watched a German Shepherd gnawing on a cow’s knee joint, you understand the saying, “Like a dog with a bone.” They will work and gnaw and […]
Can you hear me now?
I once had an alarm that would sneak up on me. When it first turned on, it was very quiet. Then, it would grow slowly louder and louder. In those wee hours, I would have dreams that included a faint beeping sound in the background until, suddenly, I realized that the beeping was my alarm […]
I’m in!
It wasn’t on our tour itinerary. I don’t recall the first time I even heard it was possible, but when I found out—I jumped at the chance. It’s called the “Wall Walk.” You climb up steep stairs in an ancient tower near Jaffa Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem, and you can walk half […]
A sabbatical announcement
My dear Chapel Hill family:‚Ä®‚Ä® I have often been asked by pastoral colleagues how it was possible for me to have remained in one church for more than 30 years. Of course, my first response is always, “They are a Sweetheart Church.” A close second is, “Have you ever BEEN to Gig Harbor?” But here’s […]
Old news—new news—and Seahawk news
Last weekend we launched a sermon series on Nehemiah called For the City. (What a blast it was!) We are spending the next few weeks asking, “What would it look like for the people of Chapel Hill to REALLY be for the city? To not just live here; but to champion the place in which […]
What does it mean to be “for the city”?
I’ve got to tell you, there are few things more encouraging (or slightly suffocating) than receiving a bear hug from a joyful big guy who has been baptized! We just celebrated Baptism Weekend and I had the privilege of introducing eight new folks into God’s family through baptism. And some of them were “surprises”; only […]
Take the plunge
In the ancient city of Ephesus, one of my favorite places in the world, you will find the Basilica of St. John. Here the “beloved apostle” John, the author of his eponymous gospel, is buried. One of the highlights of that historical site is the baptistery. As you can see from the picture, it is […]
Yearning for the one who heals
You would think, on the face of it, that a sermon series on healing might be met with a collective shrug. We live in an age where mortality rates are plummeting lower and lower and life expectancy climbs higher and higher as medicine advances. And those medical advances can be astounding, verging on the miraculous. […]
The power of persistent prayer
In our journey through the Gospel of Mark, we’ve become familiar with a certain adverb: immediately. The word is used about 40 times in the shortest gospel. There is a sense of urgency and action as we watch Jesus and his disciples move throughout the region. Immediately they went here, immediately they went there, immediately […]