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Elder Nomination
Annually, as prescribed in our church bylaws, LifeWay Church opens the opportunity to consider any new Elders that you as church members feel led to nominate. The window of opportunity to nominate new elders is now open. There will be a verbal announcement as well. This will be open for the next several weeks. We may or not receive any nominations as we are not bound to make sure we add any. However, God may be leading you to nominate…
From the Desk of Alvin
All of us are grateful to Edwin and Danielle for their ministry to the youth and children at LifeWay. I especially appreciate their simple love, and having their home always opened to our young ones. Youth and children’s ministries will obviously not look the same this fall, and I wish to take a moment to communicate what is being planned for both ministries so the whole church is informed. The plan for the children’s ministry is for LifeWay adults to…
From the Desk of Billy
This coming Sunday I have asked Chris Thomas to bring our teaching message. We had Chris as a GIC missionary guest this past fall as he is the church planter at DOPE Church in Tacoma. He also is a neighbor as he lives right down the street. But there is a deeper reason that I have asked him specifically to come teach us. We are still using Romans a great deal as we learn about the power of the Gospel…
Giving Thanks
There is nothing is quite as grand and noble in life than GIVING THANKS! Thanksgiving is such a unique and wonderful American tradition, but as we learned at our Thanksgiving service last Sunday evening, giving thanks is historically not unique to America; it comes out of the tradition that God set up with his covenant people long ago. One of the powerful theological terms that we build our faith on is the word, remember. God says over and over again,…
LifeWay’s Theology Test: The Book of Jesus
On Sunday, May 2, I preached a message that helped summarize the whole year of teaching that we have walked through together. We’ve called it, “The Book of Jesus.” I issued a challenge to our church family to test our knowledge and core understanding of what God tells us about himself, what we can know about ourselves, and most importantly, why and how Jesus plays into the whole story. Why is the Bible totally about Jesus? Why would we need…
Biblical Discernment
Discernment is a good word. Everyone admires it. Everyone desires to have it, and have more and more of it. Can one learn to have it? Where does one go to get it? But before we go further, may I ask you what is it? What is discernment? How would you answer? The dictionary says the meaning of discernment is “discrimination; acuteness of judgment and understanding.” Some say discernment is the ability to distinguish between, and recognize the moral implications…
Pursuing Justice
Justice. The term “justice” often invokes scenes from a courtroom. Judges in black robes, and prosecutors in suits ensuring criminals are “brought to justice.” Victims seeking justice. A fair and impartial jury, determining the guilt or innocence of the accused. And of course, the guilty taken away, bound, and imprisoned to serve a just sentence. Even in non-criminal cases, we often think of justice as making the wrongdoer pay their fair share. But justice is much more than a system…
We Got This!
What a world we live in! As we all know, it is summer, and it’s pretty normal for summer to feel weird and different as people are traveling and heading out on vacation. Students are generally slowing down and sleeping in and staying up late. Summer is usually filled with bike rides, hikes, video games, late nights with the bonfires, and family time. This summer is obviously different. The news of our local schools staying closed for the start of…
Adapting to the Environment
If you are like me, part of your day in lockdown is spent aimlessly browsing through thumbnail images of movies and TV series on streaming services looking for something decent to watch. On occasion, a nature show will catch my fancy and compel me to click. My memory of watching nature shows stretches quite far back to early childhood. One vivid memory I have as a five or six year old is of watching a nature film in a crowded…
Motherhood Film
In addition to the global coronavirus crisis, did you know we are also in the middle of a global fertility crisis? It is happening all over our world. Women are having fewer children, or no children at all. In 1950, women had an average of 4.7 children in their lifetime. By 2019, the fertility rate had shrunk to half. Women are having an average of 2.4 children in their lifetime. In Taiwan, where I am from, women on average are…
Easter Cookies
We made these nutty meringues with our children every Easter for years. It’s a wonderful object lesson for Easter and you get yummy cookies to boot. I wish I knew who to credit for the original recipe; it was passed to me by my Aunt Robin a very long time ago. Ingredients and Supplies: 1 C whole pecans 1 tsp vinegar 3 egg whites Pinch of salt 1 C sugar Ziploc baggie Wooden spoon Tape Bible Wax paper 1. Preheat oven…