Standing in the Gap for Oregon

Portland, Oregon Thus says the Lord: “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it then you will find rest for your souls..."  Jeremiah 6:16   Portland is the largest city in Oregon, and as such, many eyes are on the city. In focusing our prayers on Portland, we have previously looked at the early history and places and events that indicate a need for repentance and for spiritual cleansing of the city. The early “crimp” trade along the waterfront, the bootlegging during Prohibition and instances of corruption among early officials are all areas for repentance and healing. Many local Christians have prayed and pulled down the spiritual strongholds established in the rough-and-tumble history of Portland, and we need to continue to stand in the gap for the Metro area.   We speak of re-digging “old wells,” but Portland’s history seems more like multiple underground streams when we research the various...

  Yamhill County Therefore with joy will you draw water from the wells of salvation . Isaiah 12:3 We are taking a little detour from our review of the North Coast counties to visit one of the oldest counties in the state: Yamhill . It isn’t that much of a detour since Yamhill, when originally established in 1843, extended from the Willamette River to the Pacific Ocean and from the Columbia River to California. As other counties were created it grew smaller but remained a coast county until Tillamook County took a piece of it around 1887. The county seat originally was Lafayette , but later was moved to McMinnville, which is the largest city in the county. Second in size is Newberg, also the home of George Fox University, a school established by and for Quakers (The Religious Society of Friends) in 1891. It has over 4,000 students and is the largest private university in the state, and highly regarded. I was once accepted into a graduate program at George Fox but had to drop tha...

Columbia County Courthouse How   beautiful  upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good  things,  Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Isaiah 52:7 To give more context to the counties we explore, I have been attempting to divide the state into regions. What a challenge! Some divisions are obvious, like the east and west side of the Cascade Mountains, and the three-county Metro area, but sometimes the lines are fuzzy. The North Coast region is made up of Clatsop, Tillamook and sometimes Lincoln Counties, depending on your source of information. One state agency includes Columbia as well. While it doesn’t border the Pacific Ocean, it, along with Clatsop County, make that little bulge in the Northwest corner of the state.   Bordered on the south by Clackamas and Multnomah, it is close enough to the Metro area that some communities, notably St. Helens, are bedroom com...