Global Partners Emphasis is one of my favorite seasons in the life of Greater Portland Bible Church. It provides us an opportunity to reflect on God’s faithfulness, to celebrate how He is currently moving among our city and the nations, and it inspires faith for the future of His Kingdom...
I had finally made it to Portland. My friend, Kristin, and I rolled into town the evening of February 18, 2020, only a day later than planned due to an interstate closure in Wyoming. Kristin was able to take off work to accompany me on our trek across the country that started in Kentucky. We got...
Our church’s purpose statement (which, if you are part of our church family, I hope you can quote without looking) is “…helping people follow Jesus together.” It’s our version of Jesus’ command to his church to “go and make disciples.” And when he...
It is said that the Bible references “joy” 430 times, while “happiness” is referenced only ten times. Not only are joy and happiness not the same, but there are people who apparently count this sort of thing! Happiness is a human emotion to a happy circumstance while joy...
It has been almost two years since I’ve had the opportunity to share things on my heart that the Lord has placed there. As many of you know, I have been leading a men’s Bible study on Wednesday mornings with a group on men who are mostly members or regular attendees of Greater...
On Tuesday morning this week an inch of snow appeared in our yard, and it was such a surprise! As my husband, Doug, and I were having breakfast, we noticed a father walking his two boys (maybe age 8 and 6) to the bus stop. The oldest was holding his father’s hand, and lagging about twenty...
“Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul.” Psalm 66:16 I read a book years ago called Almost Christian by Kenda Creasy Dean that made me realize something: We have been quickly losing the ability and skill of articulating our story with...
Recently I’ve noticed that I’ve been in a rut. Ruts of doing the same things day in and day out. Everyone looks the same, and I have a hard time sometimes differentiating one week from another. When someone asks you what you did yesterday or last week, and you can’t honestly...
A few weeks ago, I was privileged to preach on the idea of spiritual formation through the lens of Mary, the mother of Jesus. We spoke about her remarkable first line of “may it be”; her consent to the things of God and the faith that would have required. We looked at her story and...
Merry Christmas, GPBC! Tis the season to celebrate that Jesus has come! (Well, all seasons are that season, but you get what I mean) Advent always takes me back to that Garden of Eden moment in Genesis where the great chasm in our relationship with God began because of our sin. Advent draws...