The house was beautiful sitting high on the hill above Newport with a spectacular 180 degree view of the Pacific Ocean. We had lived there a year and, as we had agreed when we bought the house, we had just signed an agreement with the builder to finish the full daylight basement, add a sun room to the main floor, and in essence more than double the living space of the house. As president of the bank I had helped guide the once troubled little bank to solid growth and profitability. The town was proud of their bank, the employees … Read More

Have you ever thought or said, “I wish God would give me a call (or send me a text or email)” so you could know for sure what He wants you to do? I know I have. But as I have thought about it I am not sure it really makes a big difference. God knows human beings pretty well and has set up a good system for communicating with us. He has given us the Bible which gives both general and specific information as to what God expects from us. He encourages us to talk to Him (prayer). The … Read More

As she opened the door and looked into the distressed faces of the two men, her knees weakened and her stomach knotted. Indeed, the news was not good, her husband had just been killed in a tragic logging accident. She was a city girl who had moved to the rural foothills of the Cascades, 100 miles away from her parents, to live with her new husband. Now, after three years of marriage, this young couple in their mid 20s, was barely making ends meet on their little farm so he got a job as a logger. Now, she was alone … Read More

When hearing the name Samson, the casual observer would say his story is about strength and courage not vengeance and lust. But, after reading the story of Samson and hearing Pastor Chad talk about him, our Connect Group was so disgusted with this scoundrel that they did not even want to talk about him. Imagine, being dedicated to God, trained as a child in the ways of God, given special strength by God and a special mission to help free Israel from the oppression of the Philistines. And then, this self centered, egotistical self indulging rascal goes out of his … Read More

Yesterday was the first game of this year’s Major League Baseball World Series. One thing we know for sure already, the team wearing red will win. What we don’t know is if that is Red Sox red or Cardinal red. These are the two best teams in baseball this year, both with extremely talented players. From the power of David (Big Papi) Ortiz to the speed and cunning of Jacoby Ellsbury the players are picked for specific positions based on their talent and experience. As I think about it, I am sure glad that is NOT how God picks who … Read More

We recently spent a few days in Seaside, Oregon. Having once lived there we drove around to see what had changed. As we drove up “our” street, the houses looked familiar, most had been well maintained and there were some changes. “Our” house, which was old when we lived there, now is well over 100 years old, was still in good condition. The sun porch had been remodeled and had new windows, a good place for the children to play. Even though the beach was only about 200 feet away we were very cautious about letting them play there. That did not always deter our adventurous son

[bra_blockquote align=”]It was a little after noon on Christmas Eve 2010. We were sitting in the hospital room with our daughter who, four days before had undergone heart surgery to replace her mitral value. Just one month earlier…[/bra_blockquote][bra_dropcaps style=’dropcap1′]I[/bra_dropcaps]t was a little after noon on Christmas Eve 2010. We were sitting in the hospital room with our daughter who, four days before had undergone heart surgery to replace her mitral value. Just one month earlier our son had a cancerous tumor removed. The initial surgery did not go well so two days later they tried again and by God’s grace … Read More

 “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” – Hebrews 11:1 (NASB) Last Sunday, Pastor Chad vividly recounted the story of Noah and the Ark. I was reminded that this is not just a nice kids’ story, this was a major event in human history. God was really upset. He wished He had never created man. But then He saw Noah, a man of faith who God used to change the course of history. This thought hit me right between the eyes—what would God have done if He was looking at me rather than Noah? … Read More

As I was paging through the newspaper this morning looking for my crossword puzzle, a large picture of an older couple jumped out at me. They were sitting on a couch surrounded by paintings, castings, figurines, etc. The caption noted that these were their most prized possessions from 60 years of marriage. Immediately my mind went back to last Sunday when Pastor Chad pointed out that God calls those that trust in Him, His Treasured Possessions. While many of the items pictured were nice, nothing I saw would have made my top ten list. But, it started me thinking again … Read More

Does God see you as a robber or a faithful worshipper? I had just turned 3 years old when my father was killed in a logging accident leaving my citified mother with me and my 3 month old sister alone with no income on a little farm 100 miles from her relatives. The daughter of a preacher, she believed God would take care of her and she felt strongly that her biggest responsibility was to raise her children. So, with the farm generating just enough income to pay its expenses and a meager stipend from Social Security, she began her … Read More