Articles

In a recent meeting on strategic planning at the Division of Child Support something caught my ear. Our new 5-year strategic planning phase has begun and one of the facilitators started talking about the need for “diversity”—a term that bothers me. But, what stood out was her reason why. “our purpose is to develop a…

 I love math. I love algebra and geometry. There’s a formula. It is predictable. It is consistent. It is black or white, right or wrong. 1 + 1 = 2, always. Or, at least, that is what I thought until I picked up the gospels. Read the story in Matthew 14:14-21. Jesus feeds the five thousand and…

I had to take a car trip to Olympia by myself this past week. While driving, I listened to the audiobook, “Longing for God”, by Richard J Foster and Gayle D Beebe. In the book the authors identify what they call “Seven paths of Christian Devotion.” Each of these paths can be describe as a…

Have you ever asked yourself, what’s the point of going to church? After all, you’re probably a good person, and you believe in God…so what difference does it make if I attend all the time or just every once in a while? In order to answer that question, I need to explain what the church…

Regardless of which statistic you look at, the number of Christians is growing worldwide—and not just from population growth but from conversion. What is significant is the “where” of that growth. Christianity is growing in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and South America. These are places with religious restrictions and open persecution of…

I was summoned for jury duty this past week and was one of fifty-five individuals selected as potential jurors for a serious criminal case. It took three days to select the twelve-member jury with two alternates. On the final day of jury selection, the defense attorney had the opportunity to ask questions. Just prior to…

Followers of Jesus, Christians, are called to be like Him. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” In 1 John 2:6, John says, “Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.” Jesus, Himself, is recorded as saying “Follow Me” twenty times in the…

   I had to take a trip to Wenatchee this week and I was listening to the radio on the way. As I was scanning through the channels I heard a preacher reading Deuteronomy 6:5, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” He went on to…

Recently, I undertook a project. Unfortunately, I understimated the complexity and time commitment this project would take. I am not sure I correctly assessed my abilities. I also did not realize all that the project would entail. This created a lot of late nights, a lot of stress and anxiety, and drastically affected my moods…

Have you ever heard of an elevator speech? It’s a slang term that describes a speech that could be delivered in the time it takes to ride an elevator, 20-60 seconds. In business or politics your elevator speech is an in-person commercial on what you do—a new product or service you offer, a project or investment you’re…