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As you may have heard, this will be my final report to you as president of Northwest University. After 18 years in the job, I remain very excited about the future of the university and its role in preparing Christian leaders for the churches and other institutions of our region and for the world, but…

The CMN Launch is coming to Oregon on June 16-18, at Life Church PDX (Aloha). This is the first time Launch has been held in Oregon. If you have previously attended a Launch, you can register at the team member pricing of $119 per person. If you have not previously attended, the cost is $599,…

Leading people is hard. A wise pastor once told me that “Ministry will always be messy because people are messy. If it ever stops being messy, you might need to reevaluate whether you are still engaging with the people.” Raising up teams and shepherding people is no different. But, you can do it, and do…

I’m excited about and anticipate great things happening during our 2025 Summit, which will be held at Peoples Church in Salem on April 28-29, 2025. I hope to see you there. On Monday morning, during our business session, we will hear encouraging reports about what the LORD is doing across Oregon, and we will have…

Having led people for more than four decades, I have learned some things that I wish I had known earlier in life. And if I could go back and tell my younger self three things about leading, they would be. 1) One, do not keep score. Life does not always play out how you think…

CMN Launch is a training event designed for church planters. An experienced team of dynamic presenters will cover topics such as how nurture a healthy marriage and family, effective marketing strategies, developing a budget, designing a ministry plan and strategy, the power of prayer in ministry and much more. You will learn alongside other church…

I once heard two deacons at the First Assembly of God church argue about which one knew the most about the Bible. One of the men said, “I bet you ten dollars you can’t even say the Lord’s Prayer.” The other responded, “Now I lay me down to sleep; I pray the Lord my soul…

There is a familiar description in the context of clothing – ‘one size fits all.’ The basic idea behind this expression is that there is product or approach that is intended to be suitable for everyone or every purpose. While this may be true in a few cases, generally it often means ‘one size fits…

As I spoke with a friend about trying to negotiate and acknowledge my feelings, joys, and how I chose to numb the pain, a friend invited me to start reading The Holy Longing: The Search for a Christian Spirituality by Ronald Rolheiser. He was hooked based on the quote by Henri Nouwen in the introduction:  …

In our neighborhood, the new year begins with exciting celebrations featuring explosions and fireworks and sometimes loud gatherings.  But after the sun rises, the decibels in life tend to remain at that same level – loud, distracting, and taking over the space that I need to be filled with the peace of God.  To counteract…