November 27, 2019 “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High.” Psalm 92:1 Today I am thankful: * That Creator God does not change and that He does not let me make decisions that only He is capable of making. * That […]
November 22, 2019 Currently, I am reading a fun history book, Out Where the West Begins, by Philip F. Anschutz. This is Part 2 in a series that makes American history come alive in easy reading with just enough detail to keep my attention but not so much that I get lost. The first volume […]
November 14, 2019 The Book of Jeremiah makes me weary. I cannot imagine the life of this faithful prophet who spoke God’s message and was treated terribly. Then follows Lamentations, well named because Jeremiah is lamenting everything that has happened. Still God’s people lived in rebellion against Him. The story keeps getting more painful. Then […]
November 6, 2019 A squirrel that was running across power lines near our church campus stepped in the wrong place. It cost him his life and involved many human hours to get the campus back to full power. I thought about the impact of that mistake. It was not planned. We could call it innocent […]
October 30, 2019 Reprinted from October 29, 2009 While enjoying breakfast with family in the historic Multnomah Falls Lodge and admiring the waterfall on a very stormy day in October, I found myself unusually fascinated with something I have previously thought little about – falling leaves. For a short time, I entered their world and […]
October 23, 2019 Two times each year we change our clocks – back one hour in the fall and forward one hour in the spring. Foolishly, I have allowed myself to be annoyed by this interruption, and I get excited when I hear that it might end. I have taken some time to ponder why […]
October 16, 2019 In our troubled world, the idea of a mind at peace seems nearly impossible. The opposite of peace is turmoil and confusion. Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You!” There is an obvious connection between peace and trust. […]
October 9, 2019 English poet Christina Rossetti wrote: “Were there no God, we would be in this glorious world with grateful hearts; and no one to thank.” I thought about the beautiful fall colors when I read this. Each of the changing seasons offer their own kind of beauty. A covering of winter snow makes […]
October 3, 2019 I am grateful to have grown up without television. My first experience was probably during seventh grade on a black-and-white TV with a fuzzy picture and a lot of “snow.” It was not in our home, so the experience was brief. My memories of any significant amount of television are after Carol […]
September 25, 2019 Trying to relive the past is not only impossible, it can be a dangerous mental exercise. As we grow older, it is easy to fall into a routine of saying, “We used to” or, “When I was in charge” or maybe, “In the good old days.” I have never understood what that […]
September 18, 2019 I read that Alfred Henry Ackley wrote 1,500 hymns. One of them begins with this line: “You can smile when you can’t say a word.” Proverbs 17:22 says, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Years ago, a friend told me to “smile and people […]
September 11, 2019 While most of our days pass without memory, there are certain dates that we never forget. Consider birthdates, marriage, graduation – the list will be long when we take time to think about it. These memorable dates bring joy as we ponder their significance. There are certain events where we not only […]
June 3, 2020 It was perhaps 18 years ago that a couple of people suggested I should write a weekly blog. I did not know what a “blog” was, but Ponder with Pastor Bill came out of that idea. It has been good for me to have this opportunity, and I hope it has been…
May 20, 2020 It feels strange, almost wrong, for me to ask this question: How could the Creator and Controller of the universe be held in captivity by it? I hope I am not dabbling in something inappropriate, but this has been on my mind. The confinement of lockdown is a familiar situation for all…
May 13, 2020 Creator God gives us a statement of beauty and hope when He puts a silver lining around a dark cloud in the sky. He reminds us that the darkness is temporary and there is something more powerful than the cloud. It feels like our lives, our community and our world have a…
Meditación con el pastor Bill 6 de mayo de 2020 Sentado en mi silla de tratamiento esta semana frente a una ventana que me daba una vista para el Monte St. Helens, cubierto de nieve sobre un fondo azul cielo. Era una escena magnífica, y tuve mucho tiempo para disfrutarla y reflexionar sobre el significado…
May 6, 2020 My treatment chair this week faced a window that provided a frame for Mount St. Helens, covered with snow against a sky-blue background. It was a magnificent scene, and I had plenty of time to enjoy it and ponder the significance of that mountain. Prior to 1980, I called it “Mount Chrome…