“I’ve Been on the Mountain!”

“Then Moses led the people out of a camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.”

“The Lord descended to the top of Mt Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up.”

Boeing didn’t invent mid-air refueling… and God did not design us to fly on empty hearts! Neither did God design us to be puppets or perpetual motion machines. Actually we are more like “seven day clocks” because we need fresh energy at least every seven days in order to love, and laugh, and be fully alive!

Worship

Worship is a lot of things like praise, fellowship, etc. But it is probably worse than nothing if you don’t meet with God in a special mountain top experience.

Sure God is everywhere but it was His plan to have a special place to meet with us. Jesus said “My house shall be called a house of prayer”, so we build sanctuaries… places of special prayer where we can listen and experience the very real presence of God.

At least one day out of seven I need to “go up on the mountain” then I am ready to take life head on in whatever valley He has assigned for me.

Make regular worship one of the highest priorities of your life!

Dr. Dale Caleb White

"Trust Him!!!"

“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace ecause you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope hrough the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 15:13

Did you ever get a great big dose of hope? A moment when you felt loved by God, supported by your friends and family and you stepped out witht the faith tthat the possibilities in your life were unlimited? That is the beginning of a very human adventure!

These kind of adventures remind me of when I got on a plane for Jerusalem and headed to graduate school, or moved with Jackie and our tiny children to start a church we thought had the possibility of becoming the greatest caring network the world had ever seen, or my younger years in track leaning forward in the the starting blocks as I heard, "Ready, Set, Bang, Go!!!"

I have a very important question for you. What is life - if it is not an adventure? It is a bore – atorture test, a waste of good time and great opportunities. Therefore I pray that God, who is the source of hope will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust Him. That is the foundation for the overflowing confident hope talked about in the next sentences. Trust Him - Trust that God is not through with you yet. Get comfortable in your skin – deal with the realism that you are who you are and in the future the sky is the limit with God at the helm of your life. Honest growth, real change, new opportunities, exciting intervention by God’s love, all working through you. Trust Him - He knows what is going on in the financial world. Trust Him – He can handle your deepest insecurities. Trust Him - He can take a rag-tag group and make them into a group of winners, overflowing with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

In many different faiths they pray in public several times a day. I challenge you to look towards the sunrise, the Cascade mountains and say out loud like you mean it. “I trust you God! My life will be a great adventure!!!” Do this three times and if you don’t feel better… call a Pastor...

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

"Hope!"

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

What is your life verse? If you were to tell your family and friends that one verse summed up your life’s highest aim what would it be? Of course you probably know that our churches verse is Isaiah 61. You have heard the story of how we received that verse and the adventure of following that aim. But my personal life verse chosen by me is Proverbs 3:3-4. “Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your heart. Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation.” Proverbs 3:3-4.

One day, in 1980, I had the chance to hear famed theologian Carl F. H. Henry who started Christianity Today. He had been a close friend of Billy Graham and in his day, was one of the greatest thinkers in Christian circles. After hearing him speak, I went up and asked for his autograph. During a brief conversation, he asked me about my dreams. I told him about my vision of Washington Cathedral. He proceeded to sign my journal and wrote “Romans 15:13.” He said that this was my life’s verse. I told him I already had a life verse, but he didn’t care and he gave me a new one. This many years later, Romans 15:13 is still a challenge for me to live. The God of hope is so important to me. In fact, Washington Cathedral’s new identifying statement is - - - “Join us as we learn the conversation of hope.” Our world desperately needs hope and it is going to take someone with a deep positive faith in Jesus Christ to share it. Especially in our fearful world today. I desire to be filled with joy and peace because of this hope as I learn to trust him. I have to tell you that I still have a long way to go to learn to trust him at that level. But I am absolutely committed to make such advancement in this area that my family, my friends, my church and my community will be shocked – impressed by what Jesus is doing in my life as I overflow with hope by the power of the Spirit. This is going to be the best autumn of my life. I am so thankful for the gift of life and the opportunity to grow right before your eyes.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

"Just Say YES!"

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

It was two years ago on a hot Labor Day Weekend that we gathered together and watched as Pastor Tim jumped up on a big backhoe and took the first scoop of dirt celebrating the ground breaking for the Randy and Rod Halvorson ReCreation Center. That was my first celebration as part of this Washington Cathedral family and it was a very exciting time for me and everyone in attendance. Think about it, just two years later and we are getting ready to celebrate the completion of that portion of our dream -- a beautiful building full of miraculous possibilities.

On Friday night, September 12 we have an amazing opportunity to show this incredible building to our community at the gala event we have called the “YES Auction”. It will be the first big celebration we are able to have in our new building and it will be a great time for all of us to get together for an evening of fun and fellowship.

Hasn’t it been exciting to watch the progress? First the big hole for the foundation, then the massive steel structure looking like a life-size erector set, next the walls began taking shape, the cross was lifted up to the sky (what a moment that was), the wall, the elevator, the windows, the carpet, the stage, the pool – the list goes on and on. And through it all, we have had hope for the lives that will be changed, renewed, restored, and encouraged in those walls. Hope that teens on the brink of making wrong choices in their lives will have a positive place to hang out.
So, this Friday, September 12th the doors to the new building will be open at 5 pm for the “Yes” Auction. We will have the opportunity to walk into the building for the first time, experience our first major event together, and help change our community at the same time. In Ecclesiastes 3 we are told there is a time to every season-a time for every activity under Heaven. This is a time to celebrate and share the joy with each other as we experience the thrill of being together in our new building. What better way than to celebrate with great food, family and friends and continue to finish the funding making strides toward changing our world forever! You will be able to share in the fun of bidding on trips to Hawaii, a day of golf, vacations in Cannon Beach, helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon and don’t forget the desserts! Your table will have the opportunity to bid on dessert!

Don’t miss out! See you there!!!!

Hooray for Chaos!”

There has never been the slightest doubt that the God who started this great work in you wouldkeep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears. (Philippians 1:6 The Message)

Sometimes I have no choice but to drive slowly – or even stop - on my way to church during the week. Traffic control flaggers along Redmond-Woodinville Road are making sure that safety precautions are in place during the construction of the new access road being built on our property. That has given me an opportunity to take a lengthy look at the huge dirt rearrangement that is going on along that hillside.

This took me by surprise. I’d seen road construction before but this looked like the sort of construction necessary to build an underground railway system or cut through a mountain. Surely this was overkill, I thought to myself.

Then I remembered that we were building for many generations to come. It was important that what we create here be constructed with an eye to the future. The infrastructure must be done carefully and with quality materials. It must stand the test of countless numbers of vehicles carrying precious humans onto a property totally dedicated to whatever use the Creator has in mind.

I read Pastor Naomi and Sara Clark’s Radiance article about how “green” our new building is and was reminded again of all the thought and attention to detail that has gone into this project.

The job isn’t finished yet and it is still a bit of an eyesore. But I’ve seen the landscaping plans for the future and they are beautiful!

I believe God has been working on all of us at Washington Cathedral in much the same way. Our initial experience of changing and becoming can look pretty chaotic. There’s always more fixing up to be done, but once the infrastructure is in place, the fruit of the spirit becomes apparent and very appealing. God has a plan for every person who comes on this property – and it’s beautiful!

Hooray for chaos! Good work is in progress!

Pastor Sally Jo Holmes

A Remarkable Legacy

As part of a recent series on heroes, Pastor Tim interviewed Judy Willman about her Dad, a modern-day hero. Judy eloquently described his troubled childhood and how his determination ultimately gained him a seat on the UW crew that won the 1936 Olympic Gold Medal.

I came away from that service knowing that there was so much more to this hero than what Judy or Pastor Tim could convey in the time allowed, so I boldly asked for an up close and personal interview, which Judy graciously set up with me.

Our conversation lasted more than two hours! As we talked, I became increasingly aware that the story of this man and why God placed him in the circumstances at the exact time He did needs to be told in a book. Judy assured me that she had already consulted with a published author and he has agreed to mentor just such a book with her. Judy is a gifted writer herself. The eulogy she wrote on the occasion of her Mom’s passing is a beautifully crafted piece from her heart.

My question as a student of human behavior is always, “What makes this person the unique creation of God he/she so apparently is?” There are as many answers as there are people, I suspect.

As an after thought, Judy flagged me down at church the other day and offered some random thoughts about her Dad. She said she had actually seen him sit for a very long time in a bed of clover, waiting to spy the acclaimed four-leafed variety. He never failed to find it. Apparently, two of his unique qualities were focus and determination. But there was something more: his belief that it was there somewhere and he knew he could find it if he just concentrated. That speaks to me of a very patient and confident man.

Perhaps that is why, in spite of repeated losses and abandonment, he just kept looking, believing that someone was going to show up in his life that would hang around for the long haul. And he found her - his beloved Joyce! They were a committed team from the day they met in high school until her death (which preceded his death by five years.) Her reluctance to die, in spite of excruciating pain, was because of her concern for Joe. It was only when Judy promised to care for Joe after she was gone that Joyce could leave in peace. Joe died in 2007 at the age of 93, a much beloved and well-tended father.

The other tidbit Judy wanted me to know about her Dad had to do with his allegiance to the UW crew after his freshman year and his position on the crew was pretty likely. She asked him one day why he felt the need to continue this very demanding and grueling sport when he was working a variety of on-campus jobs and carrying a full load of classes which would eventually earn him a degree in Chemical Engineering. It boiled down to “community.” This man, after all the years of enforced loneliness, having to problem-solve and somehow scrape together a survival all by himself as a very young child, had found a camaraderie and friendships in the other oarsmen that he had never experienced before in his life.

Joe Rantz has left Judy and her family a remarkable legacy and thanks to Judy, we can all learn something about what makes a hero by being inspired by one who lived his life so well. She said her Dad loved to teach. I think,because of her devotion and honor to Joe, he is still teaching and inspiring us to live our lives well, using all the gifts God has given us. I can hardly wait for the book!

Pastor Sally Jo Holmes