Signing Russell Wilson

Written by Pastor Tim White

Timothy, my son, here are my instructions for you, based on the prophetic words spoken about you earlier. May they help you fight well in the Lord’s battles. 1 Timothy 1:18

Every Seahawks fan is rooting for the day we sign quarterback Russell Wilson to a new contract. We can feel blessed that he is a good role model for our young people, and that he is an incredible quarterback -all 5’10 ½ of him. We look forward to Super Bowl games yet to come, if we can sign Russell Wilson.

Washington Cathedral has signed our Russell Wilson in pastor Rex Hamilton. Not only is he a graduate of Northwest University and a college basketball player but he is a disciple of pastor Fulton Buntain at Life Center who has been one of the greatest mentors in my life. The DNA of Life Center is very close to the DNA of Washington Cathedral.

Pastor Rex will be serving as an executive pastor here. We are so excited to welcome his wife Christalle and his four children Cade age 11, Mason age 9, Taylor age 6, and Brooklyn age 3.

He will be taking over Pastor Rey Diaz's job as executive pastor, coaching the staff of Washington Cathedral and working directly under Pastor Tim as the second in command. Pastor Rey is going to assume the position of global outreach pastor at Washington Cathedral as he leads our ministry around the world. He will be stationed at Dallas, Texas and working as an employee of Orphan Outreach. He will return and join us at least twice a year to preach at Washington Cathedral.

Pastor Rex will join the preaching team to help us provide a great smorgasbord of fine biblical preaching every week at this great caring network. He will be directly responsible for small groups and the conception of the contemporary service at 11 aimed at reaching young families. It is going to be a great year to reach young families at Washington Cathedral!

At the same time the parents of Middle Schoolers have moved to pay Josh Zappone part time to be our Middle School pastor. Josh just graduated from Northwest University this Spring and has been working along with pastor Ben McCary who works with High School students – together they are building an amazing cutting edge youth ministry.

Bringing on Rex Hamilton and Josh Zappone is our very own exciting addition to the championship team at Washington Cathedral team!

Today is still Easter

Jesus realized they wanted to ask him about it, so he said, “Are you asking yourselves what I meant? I said in a little while you won’t see me, but a little while after that you will see me again. I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy. It will be like a woman suffering the pains of labor. When her child is born, her anguish brought a new baby into the world.John 16:19-20-21 (NLT)

Written by Pastor Tim White

I love Easter. We had such a blessed time at Washington Cathedral this year. A turnaround church is a miracle and Easter marked the breaking of the barrier – building the core, envisioning the spiritual growth that we can all experience through the risen Lord.

Today is still Easter; not the holiday we celebrate once a year based on its relationship with Passover, but Christ the Lord is risen! He is indeed. Everyday!

As Jackie and I enjoyed our Easter family dinner and egg hunt with our precious little grandkids, who will be committed world changers, we basked in the chaos. They are all so cute! We love our extended family and in-laws so much. We could not help but dream in such a joy-filled setting.

That night I was reminded again of the gift of joy when I was watching an interview with John Travolta, one of my favorite actors, where he was defending the church of Scientology. He said, “Find me any other religion that has one of its main tenants as joy.” I yelled at the TV, “Following Jesus Christ! ‘Joy to the world’, ‘Rejoice in the Lord always’, ‘Joy at the resurrection’, ‘Joy as a fruit of real spirituality’.” Of course it was a one way conversation but the sentiment rings true, especially as we celebrate Easter.

Now is the time to live with a new sense of joy and power from Easter. Joy to tackle each of our problems from the foundation of a loving grace-filled community of friends like Washington Cathedral.

I was reminded again of this community at Washington Cathedral when Jackie came and read to me from the hundreds of contact cards that had been filled out from this weekend’s services. Some said, “Where has this church been? I’ve been looking for a community like this.” Cards from many people in our church said, “I love my church family at Washington Cathedral.” As we read all the encouraging notes we both said, “It’s going to be fun to see what God has for us and those we love in the near future.” What we didn’t say aloud but felt deeply was that every day is Easter because Jesus is still risen – still alive and still being a revolution of love in this world.

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Easter Message by Pastor Tim White: Why do you look for the living among the dead?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feZ7SpOw11o

Photo Credit

If Only

Written by Pastor Tim White  Statisticians say that the average 80 year has said “if only” an average of 24.7 times a day their lifetime. That’s a lot of wasted time.   A famous statistician once said, that it is proven that 87.8% of all statistics quoted are made up on the spot.

Ba dum dum tisk!

That would be my way of telling a joke. The point is that when we study Samson’s life in Judges 13-16, you can’t help but think ‘wow he had so much potential but he kept making the same stupid mistakes over and over again.’ His whole life was an “if only.”

But there was another judge in Scripture that pastor Ben McCary is preaching on this week. His name is Samuel and he lived his entire life with integrity. At the end of his life he stood before the nation and asked, “Does anyone have anything they can say negatively about me?” The people, many of whom Samuel had rebuked for their actions, had to admit that there was nothing in his life where he had stepped out of integrity.

But you, dear friends, must continue to build your lives on the foundation of your holy faith. And continue to pray as you are directed by the Holy Spirit.    Jude 1:20 (NLT)

Just by looking at these two Judges of Israel for many centuries ago we see the importance of moving from think “If only” to challenging ourselves with “Next Time, Boldly”. Instead of dwelling on the mistakes and being caught in the quick sand of the poison of our sinfulness, let God lift us to next time boldly.

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The God Who Sees What We Don't

The God Who Sees What We Don't

Pastor Tim continues the sermon series, Tales of Ridiculous Faith. Looking at a story about what could have been seen as a perilous time for Israel, Pastor Tim parallels Elisha's faith and trust in God to the exciting future of Washington Cathedral.

Why we are always excited to bounce back and hope for tomorrow.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML8BAPE2y9Q&w=640&h=480]

It is always a joy to follow Jesus into tomorrow:

1. From a building to a movement
2. Freedom from debt, Focus on family
3. New strides ahead as a Godly, healthy, and joyful church
4. Breakthrough to grow a better caring network

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Great Faith Requires Great Risk

Pastor Tim begins the new series about ridiculous faith, centering around Elisha. Like the prophet Elisha we all have risk in our lives.  The only way to have anything is to have risk in our lives- to live to the fullest. Risk and faith, resulting from that risk, makes life more beautiful.

““If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.”

Matthew 16:24 (NLT)

 "The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it,

but that it is too low and we reach it."

Michelangelo

Wouldn't it be nice if we could say that faith was a no risk proposition?  But life is all about taking risks; if you're afraid of taking risk, then you're afraid of life.

On our Board of Directors we have a Mathematician by trade, B.J. Eliason.  He has been an incredible blessing to our church.  He is a strong quiet man.  You might know him because he has run the math tutoring class at our church for years.  I don't know how many kids in our church have passed Calculus because of him (not to mention the adults going back to school).

His job is in actuarial mathematics.  He helps companies mathematically figure the risks of projects.  He and I were having coffee the other day and discussing the lessons that we have learned over the past several years at our church.  He told me something quite shocking.  You can never completely eliminate risk- every mathematician and businessperson probably already knows this and deals with risks on a daily basis.  You can try and predict the outcome and you can try and learn from it but eliminating risk it is impossible.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiMiKgbQOd8]

I had the chance to meet Peter Drucker, the dean of American Business, more than once and had the honor to sit under his teaching.  He had a calling to teach pastors the art and science of business, so he invested his time hanging out with the pastors of Churches Uniting In Global Mission.   Peter Drucker said, "People who do not take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year.”   That can leave us to the conclusion that we will make mistakes, no matter whether we are risk-takers or not.

Now in scripture we are taught to seek wise counsel and engage in two-way conversations with those who are mature enough to be involved in it.  It is not always so easy to find wise counsel in a world where everyone thinks they are right and just want to throw rocks.  But when you do find them it is all the more valuable.  You will benefit from reason, wise loving advice, and those willing to get involved in the process to make the best decisions.

Then there is risk. It is a part of faith.  But when your goal is so beautiful that even your failure is a success then you have a winning combination.  Risk is tough but when you are sincerely following Christ - walking with him faith still moves mountains.

“Either life is a daring adventure or nothing at all.”

Helen Keller

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The Lord's Prayer of Freedom

Pastor Tim concludes the "Can You Hear Me Now?" series, diving into prayer life and growing closer to God. He looks at the last few verses of the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6 and the importance of forgiveness from God and between ourselves and others.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLM1nZTJQ20]

Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.  As we close the series on the Lord's Prayer, it ends with the issue of forgiveness being a two way street. Resentment is a poison we drink thinking it will impact the person we are struggling against, when in reality, we are the ones to suffer.  Prayer allows us space to get away from the busyness of life and to work on giving and receiving forgiveness.  When we give up resentment that is a big step, because when we do so, we are giving up our fruitless hopes of a perfect past.  Only God can help us in this all important area. Through Jesus' teachings in Matthew 6:5-15, we are able to experience a sense of freedom.  Freedom from our past. Freedom from our mistakes. Freedom from bitterness and resentment. Freedom to joyfully let God work in mighty ways in our lives.

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From This Day Forward I will have Fun!

Pastors Tim & Linda continue into the third week of the sermon series "From This Day Forward." They looked at the importance of embracing life and the fun God gives us opportunities to enjoy even amongst the challenges.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrxbIqQp-lQ]

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From This Day Forward I will Fight Fair

Pastor Tim continues the series "From This Day Forward". He delved into Proverbs and challenged us to fight fair in all parts of our lives by avoiding the seven things that God hates.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1hB-0aljDA]

Like what you hear, but want more?

You can check get more information by checking out our website, or you can email us if you have more questions.