Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Nothing else makes any sense for me

Pastor James West of Atonement Lutheran Church

James West: “God wants us in heaven, although he does give people the option to get the hell out. I believe there are people who can’t stand everything being okay.”
James West: “God wants us in heaven, although he does give people the option to get the hell out. I believe there are people who can’t stand everything being okay.”
Place

Atonement Lutheran Church

7250 Eckstrom Avenue, San Diego

Membership: 45 (regular attendance)

Pastor: James West

Age: 57

Born: Bismarck, ND

Formation: Northwestern University, Evansville, IL; Lutheran Seminary, St. Paul, MN

Years Ordained: 32

San Diego Reader: How long do you spend writing your sermon?

Pastor James West: Usually, I get a good kernel of an idea by Wednesday and flesh it out by Friday. I let it germinate for a little bit and do my best to preach it extemporaneously on Sunday. I try to make it as close to a narrative as possible, either doing my best to bring the congregation into that 1st-century world of the early church or finding ways to bring that 1st-century world into the 21st-Century.

SDR: What is your favorite subject on which to preach?

Sponsored
Sponsored

PW: The love, the grace, and the forgiveness of God. People have such a hard time believing it to be true. We speak of God’s unconditional love and so much of our life is conditional. ‘I’ll do this for you if you do this for me.’ It’s hard to comprehend that God says, “No. Here. Look. Life. No strings attached.”

SDR: Why did you become a minister?

PW: It was one of those things I couldn’t say no to — I tried. In fact, I sometimes still try. It keeps coming back. “Preach!” Nothing else makes any sense for me. It’s there. It came very early in my life. I almost in a sense grew up with a Bible in my hands.

SDR: What is the mission of your church?

PW: To make sure people are hearing the gospel and realize that it is for them. Despite all the sin that’s in the world, and our human condition, God has taken care of our salvation so that we might take care of the things that need to be taken care of on a day-to-day basis.

SDR: Where is the strangest place you found God?

PW: As a chaplain in the U.S. Navy [1992–2013], once I was celebrating holy communion in Afghanistan. I expected God to be there, but what surprised me was the fact that we were on a side of a hill which was more like a sand dune — the quiet and beauty of it. The surprising thing was that we were surprised to be there, because the Navy and the Marines don’t go inland and we were some of the first folks there in 2001. God is there and I was able see the beautiful sky and nothing but desert — I can see how God reaches people in the desert.

SDR: Where do you go when you die?

PW: “Be of good cheer! Your sins are forgiven you.” We find ways of saying that over and over again. It’s news too good to be true. So we doubt. But, no, this is it — salvation. Believe it. And for crying out loud, accept for once that everything is going to be okay. The difference is between that which is healthy and that which is destructive. So stop living in hell and accept this gift which is yours in Christ Jesus. What I don’t understand is why people do that which is harmful. God wants us in heaven, although he does give people the option to get the hell out. I believe there are people who can’t stand everything being okay.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Not enough Readers in Mission Beach

Mayor Todd Gloria's skin color
Next Article

Hip-hop artist Don Elway makes movies for his music

Not Ordinary EP tells a story of life on the streets
James West: “God wants us in heaven, although he does give people the option to get the hell out. I believe there are people who can’t stand everything being okay.”
James West: “God wants us in heaven, although he does give people the option to get the hell out. I believe there are people who can’t stand everything being okay.”
Place

Atonement Lutheran Church

7250 Eckstrom Avenue, San Diego

Membership: 45 (regular attendance)

Pastor: James West

Age: 57

Born: Bismarck, ND

Formation: Northwestern University, Evansville, IL; Lutheran Seminary, St. Paul, MN

Years Ordained: 32

San Diego Reader: How long do you spend writing your sermon?

Pastor James West: Usually, I get a good kernel of an idea by Wednesday and flesh it out by Friday. I let it germinate for a little bit and do my best to preach it extemporaneously on Sunday. I try to make it as close to a narrative as possible, either doing my best to bring the congregation into that 1st-century world of the early church or finding ways to bring that 1st-century world into the 21st-Century.

SDR: What is your favorite subject on which to preach?

Sponsored
Sponsored

PW: The love, the grace, and the forgiveness of God. People have such a hard time believing it to be true. We speak of God’s unconditional love and so much of our life is conditional. ‘I’ll do this for you if you do this for me.’ It’s hard to comprehend that God says, “No. Here. Look. Life. No strings attached.”

SDR: Why did you become a minister?

PW: It was one of those things I couldn’t say no to — I tried. In fact, I sometimes still try. It keeps coming back. “Preach!” Nothing else makes any sense for me. It’s there. It came very early in my life. I almost in a sense grew up with a Bible in my hands.

SDR: What is the mission of your church?

PW: To make sure people are hearing the gospel and realize that it is for them. Despite all the sin that’s in the world, and our human condition, God has taken care of our salvation so that we might take care of the things that need to be taken care of on a day-to-day basis.

SDR: Where is the strangest place you found God?

PW: As a chaplain in the U.S. Navy [1992–2013], once I was celebrating holy communion in Afghanistan. I expected God to be there, but what surprised me was the fact that we were on a side of a hill which was more like a sand dune — the quiet and beauty of it. The surprising thing was that we were surprised to be there, because the Navy and the Marines don’t go inland and we were some of the first folks there in 2001. God is there and I was able see the beautiful sky and nothing but desert — I can see how God reaches people in the desert.

SDR: Where do you go when you die?

PW: “Be of good cheer! Your sins are forgiven you.” We find ways of saying that over and over again. It’s news too good to be true. So we doubt. But, no, this is it — salvation. Believe it. And for crying out loud, accept for once that everything is going to be okay. The difference is between that which is healthy and that which is destructive. So stop living in hell and accept this gift which is yours in Christ Jesus. What I don’t understand is why people do that which is harmful. God wants us in heaven, although he does give people the option to get the hell out. I believe there are people who can’t stand everything being okay.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Will L.A. Times crowd out San Diego U-T at Riverside printing plant?

Will Toni Atkins stand back from anti-SDG&E initiative?
Next Article

Dating Sites For Little People: Best Platforms & Tips

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.