Zest Test

Washington Cathedral is an amazing church!!- - -

Because God has found for himself some amazing people!!!

Jesus said in Matthew 5, “- - you are here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth!!!”

It’s happening!! Maybe I’m in a position ‘coming late to the party’ to see and (yes) taste the God-
flavors of this church right now!

Each week we are experiencing, encouraging, healing, energizing worship- - - - - I love Saturday evening at what we call Boulder Creek Church in Spirit Falls Sanctuary!- - - And Sunday 9am has its own ‘flavor’ and wow! Worship at 11am in Mountainside Sanctuary is a sweet time.

Esperanza at 12 o’clock was a happy, joyful experience- - - and Sunday at 5 in Spirit Falls is what I like to call our little “Quaker” church- - - soft and powerful!

And there were 96 in our special Pastors Brunch- - - the food was fantastic- - - thanks to the
Catering Company and Bea and Marty- - - this is what I call a spiritual gift- - - great food provided by generous hearts!!!

And Wednesdays- - - in our new fast-moving Discipleship programs- - - notice it’s plural- - - most of us eat together at 6pm then eventually we spread all over the campus!!!

In Matthew 5:14 the Message Bible- - - Jesus is saying to us, “You’re here to be light bringing out the God-colors in the world- - - SHINE!!!”

(Forgive my excessive exclamation marks but the facts demand them.)

Caleb

"Greetings from Honduras!"

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Galatians 5:22-23

A minute before nap time I thought to throw meat in the crock-pot to give it theallotted time to cook. But time is measured differently when there is a toddler onthe premises. It started with a simple bottle of soy sauce, strangely misplaced, andteetering precariously on the counter. As I reached for the balsamic vinaigrette with one eye on Elijah, suddenly the glass bottle was tumbling to the floor. CRASH! Glass and soy sauce everywhere. Naturally, “someone” wanted to come to me through this new, glittery black path. A sideways chair served as a barrier as Ibegan to sweep and mop up the damage. Then stopped. Wherever did Elijah find matches when I can never locate them? “No!” was explained, a couple of tears wiped, and then he was sitting on the couch, innocently enough. I thought it safe to throw the raw beef in the crock-pot. I was wrong.

Bump..bump..bump…I glanced his direction again. Elijah had the miniature arm of our tiny Honduran kitten in a vice-link grip and was using it as a lever to hit the furry little head against the wall. “Nooooo!” In one bound I was over the chair-barrier, prying Elijah away from the kitten with raw meat all over my hands. Wailing ensured, and continued until I turned on the facet and allowed him to “play” in the water to wash away raw meat…perhaps glass and soy sauce?...and kitten fur. The kitten nursed his wounds quietly in a corner. Will he survive a tremendoustoddler? Finally it was time for a nap. This is how the struggle went down: I turned off thewater. The toddler got a crazed look in his eye, lifted his stool above his head, and ranscreaming as if into battle. I waited quietly in his room for the spirit to pass.

Suddenly he appeared with a big smile on his face. “Ball-ball” he said sweetly. (He thinks it’s hilarious to call me “ball” instead of Mama, and Rey’s encouraging it). Soon all was forgotten as tiny arms griped my neck, and his eyes sparkled as he planted slopping kisses all over my face. As I laid him down to sleep, I noticed small shards of glass sticking out of my feet and blood running down my legs.

Pastor Elise Diaz
Tegucigalpa, Honduras

"Just a Look!"

And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. John 3:14-15

To me, this has always been one of the strangest passages in Scripture. Yes, when you spend your life studying the Bible there are some passages that just keep tumbling around in your soul, never quite making the sense you want it to and you have this deep sense that there is much more to be learned from your questions about this passage. John 3:14-15 has been one of those passages for me. Last week I had lunch with one of my mentors, Dr. Fulton Buntain. As we sat talking about all our memories over the last 25 years, Fulton asked me about this passage in John. He too has spent his life troubled by this passage. But he shared that God had shown him something about it just that week.

The passage is referring to a time when the nation of Israel was traveling through the wilderness and they were being bit by poisonous snakes and dying from those bites. And so God told Moses to make an image of a snake and hold it up for people to look at. Fulton told me that he was sure that part of what was going on was that the people needed to look beyond the poisonous snakes—they needed to look away from all their fears crawling around near their feet. Fulton went on to sharethat we have to look away from yesterday and ahead to today and tomorrow. And an important part of becoming a Christian is just to look- - - it’s not as much of a theological struggle as people might suspect. No one completely understands the meaning of a Savior crucified on the cross, but ifpeople will just take one look they may find their lives transformed forever as they meet the eyes of Jesus.

What poisonous challenges do you need to look away from? And what would life be like if we could keep eye contact with the Savior on the cross? One look at Jackie Svangren when I was 16 years old and my life was changed. One look at our newborn babies started an adventure (that we still are in the middle of today). One look at the dream of building a great caring network together with the good people of Washington Cathedral, and our lives were marked forever. One look at the Savior really does a lot. It is so simple and yet inexhaustibly profound.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

"Thank You!!!"

“For what has been
Thank You!”

“For what can be
- - - YES!!”

“For the chance to
bet the rest of
my life on a
great dream!”

YES! YES! YES!

It was a fabulous celebration of 25 years living out the adventure that we call Washington Cathedral! Thank you, thank you, thank you to our HeavenlyFather and to all my brothers and sisters who have shared it with me!

Now it is our greatest privilege to plunge into the next 25 years and watch God perform his miracles in us and through us! How many 3rd world dumps will be transformed? How many “meta” churches will we become? ? ? ?

I invite you to join me October 14th at the first of a weekly DiscipleshipForum- - - dinner at 6pm- - - everybody at “power-time” 7pm then small group huddles!!! Yes, it will put a peak in your week and equip you for your own unique ministry- - - I dare you- - give it a try!!!

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White