Seeing Up Close

My sweet sister sent me a new lens for my birthday.  Nikon AF Micro Nikkor 60mm.  Fun, fun.   It’ll take me a while to figure it out, but I love the possibilities.  Just a few shots from around the house…
Thanks, Jody…

Sunday Birthday

49 years old now, and everyone should have the privilege of being an interim preacher preaching on a Birthday Sunday. First service they sang Happy Birthday, second service they sang Happy Birthday (especially cool because the children brought balloons to me and led the singing), my life group sang Happy Birthday, and finally, the [...]

Community Service

Ann McMurray dumping weeds, working hard.
I spent the morning working at Kellogg Middle School in Shoreline. Mostly weeding, shoveling bark, talking theology with new and old friends, and shooting some photography of the event as we went. I was a little surprised by how fun it was to simply be out in the [...]

Quiet

Not many people came to the Taize service, but those who did got the rare treat of sitting quietly, the rushing world having stopped for a while. Candles, simple music, simple scripture, an old, old prayer, and then silence. During the spot labeled “long silence” in the program, I’d hoped to go as [...]

Day of Prayer

So today the nation prays. May 1, the National Day of Prayer, according to some. We are joining in at Northwest, though I’m sure our prayer time will be somewhat different than most. We’re doing another Taize service, as we did on Good Friday. Quiet, dark, candles, repetitive, meditative music, and [...]

Values

I’ve got words all over my room, my thoughts about values plastered here and there, asking in the deep-gut way what kinds of qualities in life are most important to me.  We are so bombarded with messages telling us what we should value.  Sometimes the shoulds ride on top in our consciousness so that we [...]

People

A couple that moves across country with two children to a small apartment in a world where they know no one, admitting that loneliness kills. A different young couple in the first month of their marriage, checking out a church because they saw a sign on the road. A third young couple, unmarried, [...]

Badge of Shame

I went to my usual coffee shop this morning for the latte and orange-cranberry scone and I noticed the barista taking my order, a young woman who’s been working there for several years as she completes her university education, was wearing something unusual around her neck.  I had to look more closely.  It was a [...]

Inspiration, Work, and The Spirit

I told the assembly yesterday that in spite of my best efforts last week, I couldn’t really get my sermon to work. I knew what I wanted to say, and I knew where the text sort of needed to go, but I couldn’t put it into words. They were gracious as I stumbled [...]

Jim and Caspar Go To Church

If you haven’t read it, and you’re interested in the conversation going on among evangelicals who are tired of “doing church” the same old way, this is a great book to check out. It’s a fast read and one that will make you think differently about what happens on a Sunday morning.
Long story short, [...]