Breaking the Chains of Untruth

By Pastor Linda Skinner

“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32

Untruths are prevalent in all of our lives. I grew up thinking that if I went swimming too soon after eating, I could get horrible cramps and drown. That dogs could only see in black and white and shades of grey and they couldn’t see what was on TV. That you should never wake up a sleepwalker, or you would damage their brain. That I could improve my vision by eating carrots (being a person who is severely near-sighted, I ate a lot of carrots to improve my vision!) Now I find out that those are all untruths. I feel like poor Columbus who was told the world was flat and couldn’t find the edge.

Most of these untruths are not really damaging. But how about those lies that shape our perceptions of ourselves. Things like “you were an accident; your parents didn’t really want another child.” Or, “you won’t live to be any older than 55, everyone in our family dies young.” Or, “you’ll never amount to anything, because you don’t know how to behave.” Or, “you might as well give up now, you don’t have what it takes to be a success.” On and on, what lies have you been believing about yourself?

A person who was very dear to me, struggled his entire life with self-esteem issues. He was a kind-hearted, generous person, but could seem gruff and rigid at times. One day he shared with me that he knew from the time he was a little boy that he was an accident. When I asked him why he thought that he told me that he had been told many times by his parents that he was an accident and they never planned to have children. He was told that he came along and changed their lives forever and not for the good. That was deep in his heart and no matter how many times we told him how special he was, he struggled shaking the label “an accident.”

Another dear friend, who struggled with depression and anxiety her entire life, shared that she had been told that God would never accept her. She had done too many bad things in her life and God could not love her. She was one of the few that God was turning his back on and she could not be His child.

Maybe you can relate to these stories. Well, we have some good news for you. None of it is true. The truth is “not one person is ever an accident.” The truth is found in Psalm 139:13-14 (NIV) “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

The truth is there is nothing that can separate us from the God’s love. Romans 8:37-39 (NLT) “No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is our through Christ, who loves us. And I am convinced that nothing can every separate us God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the below – indeed, nothing in all creation will ever separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Join us for worship this week. Dr. Marty Folsom will be continuing in our series “The Battle for Your Mind” as he helps us sort through the “untruths” in our lives. Please join us at 10:30 am Sunday in Spirit Falls Sanctuary or Online through Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Wacathedral App or www.wacathedral.org.

Wishing you truth and blessings this week.

Pastor Linda

PS We apologize to our online congregation for our technical difficulties last Sunday. We think we have it all fixed, so please be patient with us as we learn to navigate the perils of technology.

A Time for Renewal - By Pastor Tim White

Isn’t summer just great? I hope you enjoyed the July 4th weekend. The weather was great. And the church picnic was fun. What a great experience just to hang out with good friends. You could hear lots of laughter around the church. I think times like this restore our minds and heart from all the isolation we have had to endure.

Summer is a season to renew our hearts and minds and we are encouraging this by starting on a series of messages “On the Battle for the Mind.” It’s inspired by a book of the same title from Craig Groeschel who built a church named Life Church which has multiple campuses in multiple cities with up to 85,000 members.

This series of messages will focus on changing our lives through Jesus Christ by changing our minds. We are pointed towards becoming healthier and more encouraged by paying attention to what is going on in our minds. Please join us as Pastor Linda kicks off the series this Sunday in our In-Person service. I will be leading the online service. But both will be the inspiration that you need this summer.

Join us online via Facebook Live, You Tube or the church Apps. Of course, we would love to see you in person at 10:30am on Sunday. Either way, you will be blessed and encouraged.

Your friend for the rest of our lives.

Pastor Tim White

Can't We Just Get Along?

By Pastor Tim White

Can you imagine yourself or your friends in a Worship service celebrating the Declaration of Independence this Sunday July 4th, 2021? What a great way to be inspired. To be in front of a waterfall with a cool breeze from the air conditioning refreshing and restoring you. Just the sense of love and friendship from good people sitting around you will be worth it. The music will really be special this weekend. This 4th of July Sunday we will declare a better future for our country and our world. There will be people from many backgrounds and differing political views joining together to seek a better America.

And it will make a difference as God works his common miracle of unity and teamwork. I am inspired by a statement from Rodney King, a drunk driver who sped to escape the police. His car was stopped, and a few police officer beat him with their batons. After he went to jail the LA riots began. He issued a short statement to the rioters and the police, “Can’t we all just get along?” It was so simple it was almost funny. Even though our nation is very separated after the death of George Floyd, the summer riots, and the divisive election, we can still, as Christians, declare together peace and progress. After all it was Jesus who called us Peacemakers. This Sunday a great pain in your heart will be relieved and your burden will be lightened as we experience God’s miracle of declaring something which does not exist to be our goal. And it will be contagious. We need your help to start a Revolution of Love and Faith. Some call it a revival - I just call it worship.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim

PS. Jackie is preparing a picnic that will be refreshing and befriending. The Church Championship Tournament of Corn Holes, other games, and a Jackie White’ delicious chicken dinner with Pastor David’s amazing barbecue beans. Only $5 each person. Held right after the 10:30am In Person service in our beautiful, air-conditioner sanctuary. Or you can watch the service On Line – Facebook Live, YouTube or the church Apps, the beans won’t taste the same but the worship will be good.

Freedom

by Pastor Tim White

Independence Day is on Sunday July 4th 

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.” Galatians 5:13 NIV

When I was a kid the Fourth of July was something really special. We had a Worship service which was a big event. This was an event where people from all different backgrounds purposely came together.  Protestant and Catholic, Christian and Agnostic, and various religions came together to celebrate the commonalities that held us together as a nation.  Hippies and Hard Hats played softball together. Old and young would gather at the river and swim together. Hot dogs, apple pie, and baked beans were passed around the table. We all had different ideas, but we prayed together.  Water fights, flags flying, great conversations between races and fireworks made us laugh together.  Kids would sleep over in the backyards of their neighbors and wish that summer would last forever.

On Sunday July 4th we celebrate the freedoms we have enjoyed. No one thinks our nation is perfect and we don’t agree on everything. But we can be thankful for neighborhood friends, people who have served as medical professionals, teachers, police officers and firefighters and, of course, those who have served in the military.

On Sunday, July 4th we are going to have a big family picnic with yard games, good food and rewarding conversations. We will laugh together and play together. We’ll make new friends and in a world where everyone seems to be complaining about someone else - we can be thankful.

Don’t you and your family need that type of Independence Day picnic? Please join us on July the 4th, 2021, at 10:30am for our In-Person service or Online services followed by a great Church Family Picnic.

Your friend 

Pastor Tim White

PS: I hope to see you this Sunday, June 27th, at 10:30am In-Person or Online as I conclude the series Yes to Life from the conclusion of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 7 - “On Solid Ground.” You can join us at 10:30 am In-Person at Spirit Falls Air-Conditioned Sanctuary or Online via Facebook Live, YouTube Live , through our Wacathedral App or at www.wacathedral.org.

When Life Changes

By Pastor Tim

A Note to Washington Cathedral from Pastor Jared:

The word “transition” speaks to a lot happening this year. Many conversations seem to revolve around our lives changing in new ways. 

This year has brought transition for me too. In 2020 I moved back to America and found an amazing church here at Washington Cathedral. Transition continues as I have decided to step down from the youth pastor position here at Washington Cathedral. My time here has been wonderful, and I can’t wait to see what is in store next!  

Pastor Jared

We serve a God who transcends transitions.  Throughout the Scriptures we see the story of a God who can be trusted even amid huge transitions in life. There is the story of Adam and Eve transitioning from the Garden of Eden to harsh realities of life in all of its difficulties. One of their sons kills their other son and even in the midst of the shock of that horrible event God promises to help them and he does. From a flood to a new world God still works with his people through this cataclysmic change.  When his people move from freedom in the promised land to slavery in Egypt, God is still with them. From the terror of moving from slavery to the complications and conflict of freedom and moving from Moses’ leadership to retaking the promised land God is still with them. And again, through changes from a government with theocratic anarchy to leadership by fallible kings. The destruction of their society to being moved into a foreign dispersal, but God is still God. Through the birth of Jesus to his life, death and resurrection God proves to be trustworthy. Through the Pentecost to persecutions and the spread of the Gospel, God still loves and helps his people to love even their enemies. He prophesies of coming troubles and challenges but proclaims that he will work through all things for the good of those he loves. 

I have grown to love Jared and Rihanna in fact I am their friend for the rest of their lives. Not because I want to but because I can’t help it. That is who God created us to be. God will bless this amazing young couple and this church because we need not fear change. God is greater than change and the best is yet to come.

Join us for Father’s Day Sunday as we celebrate the dads in our lives. We have our In Person service at 10:30am followed by a BBQ. Also, we are online with You Tube, Facebook Live and service on our church apps at 10:30am Sunday, June 20.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim

Truly I tell you they have received their reward

by Pastor Tim White

And when you pray do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray in the synagogues or standing on street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you they have received their reward in full.

Matthew 6:6

Washington Cathedral is celebrating the life of Colonel Erskine Austin United States Marine Corp. Erskine passed on to heaven Monday night while his dear wife Melinda and their three adult kids Julie, Kate and Marine Brigadier General Eric Austin were looking through Erskine’s old pictures, laughing and crying. Erskine was a Marines’ Marine. And as a Christian and Pastor he wasn’t for show he was for go.

Erskine and Melinda met in college at Oregon State University where Erskine was in the Officer Candidate School. If you look at a picture of them, they were and have always looked like a cute couple. Melinda, as you know, is one of the sweetest people on earth. Many of you may say Erskine was a sweet person but I think he would rather be remembered as a Marine. A sweet, tough Marine.

Erskine served two tours in Vietnam where he witnessed a lot of heroism which would make him tear up when he tried to talk about it. As a Major, Erskine lead the Presidential Support Detail at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, California, that hosted President Nixon when he visited the Western White House for a year. He was a squadron commander of VMO-2 based in Camp Pendleton as a Lt Col (1979-80), then the Group Commander of Marine Aircraft Group 39, the higher headquarters of VMO-2(1987-88), as a Colonel. He finished his Colonel Command Tour and was the Chief of Staff at Marine Expeditionary Force for his last job - retired in June of 1990 - missed Desert Storm by about 60 days! MEF was central to the Marine effort in Desert Storm, and it pained him to be watching it from home!

Once on returning from a vacation in Hawaii he was wearing a huge shark tooth around his neck. When I asked him about it, he told me that while he was snorkeling in the ocean a shark was trying to get some kids, so he swam out and fought the shark and brought the kids to shore safely. The Coast Guard shot the shark and gave him the necklace with a tooth. I was thinking, “Dang! Erskine has all the cool stories.” I was getting ready to share the story with the congregation when Melinda walked up and told me Erskine was just joshing me.

He accomplished so much as a Pastor on staff, in fact, it was during his time as Executive Pastor that we reached 6,000 in attendance at the Meydenbauer Center Christmas service. He took a lot of young people under his wing, and many of them are rock strong Marines today. The amount of praise that has been pointed his way since his death is overwhelming. God blessed the whole world through Erskine and his family. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

There will be a Memorial Service for Erskine at Washington Cathedral and we will let you know when we know the exact date this summer.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

YES TO LIFE!

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. John 10:10

by Pastor Tim White

I was canoeing down the Mt. Hood river rapids with two friends. David Hamlin and Dan Sanders were adventurous souls, so for some reason, we had not scouted out the rapids as we should have. We were whooping and hollering with pure joy because it was spring and the river was much more exciting than we were expected. David and I were 17 and Dan was in his 20s. We managed to survive some very tough rapids and we were very surprised. Someone in the canoe, I think it was Dan, who said, “it’s time for us to get to the shore so we can portage around these rapids they’re getting flat out dangerous.” So, we all tried as hard as we could to make it to the shore; but it was just too much of a drop and the rapids were just too fast. Every effort had to be made to keep us afloat. Canoeing is a lot tougher than rafting. We started to argue - yelling to be heard over the roar of the white rapids. Dan was a great leader, but it was no time to debate on a plan. The river quieted down as it rose up to a calm but powerful high point.

I can’t remember who was in the front of the canoe, but they said, “Oh no! were dead.” I yelled “what do you mean?” and they yelled “twelve-foot waterfall!” Then they let out an adventurous scream. The boat was destroyed as it hit the massive boulder at the bottom and the three of us were all thrown into the rapids. None of us were wearing life jackets. I was underwater unable to fight the strong current and having no idea which way to the surface. I kept slamming my head against boulders until finally I was able to fight my way to get my feet headed downstream where I had defense against rocks. But I had no breath left. It seemed like forever until I surrendered to drown in the icy rapids. That was when I bobbed up and grabbed a hold of a log stuck to a bolder still in white water. I heard the yelling of my friends calling out my name. And we were all amazed that we were alive and how far down river we had traveled. My head was bleeding from being slammed against the rocks. And my friends helped fish me out from where I was stuck. I was so thankful for life realizing that it was a gift.

Join me this Sunday as we study the rest of the Sermon on the Mount and we will try to understand this sermon by Jesus who is calling each of us to say Yes to Life.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

P. S. Please join us 10:30 am Sunday’s In-Person at Spirit Falls Sanctuary or Online at Facebook Live, YouTube Live, www.wacathedral.org or our Wacath App.

For Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven

by Pastor Tim White

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:10

This week we conclude our series on The Beatitudes with the Eighth Blessed.  We began the series looking at: Blessed are those who are poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  This was the first step to a changed life.  Blessed are the humble or teachable for they are the ones who will inherit the kingdom of heaven. Many of the translators have used this idea to try to understand what it means to be poor or desperate to learn.  In other words, there is no one so blind as him that refuses to see, no one so deaf as the person who will not hear.  

As we learn about these revolutionary words of Jesus, we discover that heaven is used in the present tense.  In other words, according to Jesus heaven is the already now, not yet reality. When Jesus is Lord of your life, the peace, joy, community and power of God starts right now. That is why you meet Christians who don’t just wish that they are going to heaven when they die.  In their words ‘they know that they know that they know’ because they have lived in the Kingdom of Heaven for a long time.  So, when the last blessed says: blessed are the persecuted for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, the blessed statements form a profound, complete circle. We are back to heaven again.

I hope you can join me in person this Sunday at 10:30am as we power through in our lives with this last Beatitude.  You can also join us on-line (Facebook Live, You Tube, Church App or Church Website) as God changes our lives by studying these dynamic verses.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

Peacemakers

by Pastor Tim White

Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9

Do we ever need peace makers in our world today. In the Gaza Strip and Israel, in the United States and in Washington, D.C. – we need peacemakers!

This week’s sermon on the Beatitudes is so timely for what we are living in today. I believe that we are raising up Peacemakers at Washington Cathedral. Those who are not so enthralled with peer groups opinions but who understand that God sees everything, and His view is much higher than those of us who are caught up in reacting against others. He can see the good intentions of those who are on the right and the left and where we have been misdirected. He sees the truth in those who can bring others together and where we can act on the truth that we all understand.

Join us this Sunday at 10:30am either in person or on-line to celebrate the peacemakers. Let’s explore this path that we need to follow.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

PS - For connections to online service venues Click Here.

Rockin' the Dream

by Pastor Tim White

Saturday night, May 15th, you are invited to join Jackie and I at the Rockin’ the Dream banquet in Spirit Falls Sanctuary and Patio. It is part of the plan to restart the great caring network that we have invested our lives in bringing to life. Jazz soloist/pianist Dave Irish, who is one of the legends of the Pacific Northwest, will be there to inspire us. The Taco Bar dinner is catered by Ooba Tooba Mexican Grill in Redmond.

If you are unable to attend on Saturday, then please join us for a live interactive meeting via Zoom on Monday night, May 17th, from 7:00 - 8:00 pm. Jackie and I, along with other staff members, will be with you on Zoom. We will be recording the best parts of Saturday’s event to share with you. In addition, we will have time to dream together and answer any questions you might have. This may be the most interactive event online in all of Washington, in fact in all of America, and maybe the world.

“Times like these try men’s souls.” These are the exciting words of Thomas Paine who called the colonies to form a new nation the United States of America. Today is another exciting time to try the souls of all who listen. It is not a trial that causes collapse but one which forges strength in the challenge of 2020.

Like restaurants and other small businesses, the question is: Can we survive and thrive after a pandemic, closure of commerce and the political turmoil that we have gone through as a nation?

I want to tell you from every fiber of my soul the dream of Washington Cathedral’s great caring network will emerge from the ark of last year to reinvent itself to se a whole new world.

Please join us in person or online! It is the first step to an all-new great caring network.

Your friends for the rest of our lives,

Pastors Tim & Jackie White

PS: Below is the link for the Zoom Session on Monday, 5/17, at 7:00 pm

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83295639980?pwd=STdHQmNvWjFiOXcrcUpEU25nUmthUT09

Meeting ID: 832 9563 9980
Passcode: 300208