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The Walk: Steps for New and Renewed Followers of Jesus Christ (Step 1)

 A few years ago I had the privilege of writing a book with the help of several friends at our New Life church. My goal was to produce a manual for disciples that was essentially a “discipleship for ‘dummies’.” We started out using that as a title but quickly realized that the owners of the ‘dummies’ franchise would not let us get far, so instead the publishers (P&R Publishing) decided on the name, The Walk—Steps for New and Renewed Followers

The Gospel: Christ’s Death and Resurrection

One of the most unforgettable experiences that Sandy and I have had in our travels is watching the “processions” during Holy Week (Semana Santa) in Spain. These are ancient processions that take place all during Holy Week and move from local parish churches to the main cathedral in the larger cities. They are long parades of young people, women in lovely costumes, hooded penitents (who look like the prototype for the old Ku Klux Klan), bands playing dirges, and in

My Revival

“We welcome another challenge from Clair Davis, who is a scholar on revivals but is also very concerned about his own personal revival.”                                                                                                 Steve Smallman I want to write a book on revival,

Sex & Sexuality A Church-wide Discussion

Life is full, isn’t it?  Often, in a good way.  It’s good to work hard, it’s good to occupy your time and energy with family life, to volunteer hours in the community, to maintain the home God’s given you.  But that leaves many of us sleep-deprived and a little the worse for wear.  And here’s another side effect of our busy-ness:  sometimes we have very little time or mental space to think, to have substantive conversations about important things, to

A Few Thoughts from Sean and Claire Transitioning-Part 2

Today we continue our reflections on transitioning and are excited to introduce you to our new home. As we’ve thought about leaving New Life, one of the things that is deeply meaningful to us is knowing that we go with your prayers. Our hope is that those prayers might extend beyond us to become prayers for the city of Portland, its surrounding region, and for Christ the Redeemer Presbyterian Church (CTR). When we think of our leaving, we see it

A Few Thoughts from Sean & Claire Transitioning – Part 1

It is hard to believe that it was almost four weeks ago now that we were sitting at home on Saturday doing what we always do when we don’t know what to do –Google.  We knew that the next day we would have to tell you, those who have been the flesh and bone of our “family” life, that God was calling us to a new horizon of ministry in Portland, ME.  So there we sat Google-ing: “how do we

Paul Miller’s, A Loving Life – A Must Read

Greetings from sunny Florida (it actually rained all day yesterday, but compared to Philly weather I can’t complain). Once we settled in for a few weeks break, one of my first projects was to read Paul Miller’s latest book, A Loving Life-In a World of Broken Relationships. I confess I did this out of personal loyalty to Paul and appreciation for his ministry, but what I encountered was a powerful and penetrating study of love that affected me deeply. The

Doing Church, Part 2: The Word

Some years back I remember Tim Stiemann, now a pastor in Houston, teaching our kids a song:  “I am the church, you are the church; we are the church together.”  This is pretty advanced theology.  “The church is not a building,” the song says.  It’s not an institution, either, and it does not consist in a short list of leaders.  It really is all of us, every one, those who feel important and those who don’t.  Kids and teenagers too:

Repent Right Now

“We are very pleased to be able to pass along this challenging word from Dr. D. Clair Davis. Dr. Davis is Emeritus Professor of Church History at Westminster Seminary (and the father of our own Marc and Erik Davis). He was part of New Life from its earliest days and will be the preacher for our Missions Sunday on March 16. We welcome his wisdom and will welcome his word from our pulpit.”  – Steve Smallman Isn’t it wonderful to have your own