The Blessings of Our Churches

We are extremely thankful for our churches.

Here in Oregon/Washington we go to the Village. There are a lot of reasons that we love Village. One is the amazing multi-cultural body represented in the congregation. We also have enormous respect for the pastoral staff. Pastor John Johnson brings amazing messages from the word every week, and the worship pastor, Dean Christensen, has deep convictions about worship and he leads us well. We are amazed by the continual commitment of this church to reach their community, and it's a place that we feel very comfortable bringing our friends and family to.

In California we have NorthCreek church, another amazing church with pastoral staff that we respect and have learned a lot from over the years. Dr. Jon McNeff has taught us a lot from the word, and Hal Kemp continues to minister to us and share wisdom as the missions pastor. I have a lot of great history with some of the other staff, including Tony "The Polar Bear" Aria.

These churches have really been places of refreshment and spiritual growth for both of us. I wanted to share this publically this week. I don't have a lot of patience for people who stand outside the church and throw sticks and stones at the pastoral staff. It's a ridiculous and disrespectful action.

Especially after living for three years in a country where people are glad just to be able to get in the same room and worship Jesus, we are so thankful to be part of two churches which are seeking to follow Christ and be a reflection of him to the world.