Looking forward to the Resurrection: Valleys, Shadows and More Death during Holy Week

April 8, 2020.Reading time 6 minutes.

Psalm 23 is a favorite of believer and non- believer alike. It is the most familiar, most often quoted selection of the Old Testament hymnbook. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” It is perhaps not easier said or believed as we enter another week of hunkering down and hoarding of the essentials. […]

A Service of Lament: When God leaves you hanging

March 28, 2020.Reading time 9 minutes.

Welcome| “Has anyone seen God?” Jill. M. Hudson writes in Congregational Trauma: caring, coping and learning, Trauma can strike anywhere any time and the church is generally ill- prepared to respond.” Many of us were taught that God is omnipresent, that the Divine was always around here somewhere, that God would come from up there […]

Coronavirus Sunday: The doors of Bedside Baptist Church are open

March 21, 2020.Reading time 4 minutes.

“For such a time as this…” This scripture from the fourth chapter of the book of Esther has been used to encourage and imply that one is equipped for the moment, that she and he was made for this hour. But, is the Church in North America really ready for COVID-19? With the cancellation of […]

Gimme that online religion: The Coronavirus is challenging churches to sing a different tune

March 14, 2020.Reading time 5 minutes.

In light of the Coronavirus pandemic, persons of faith and no faith in a public deity are discovering the challenges and invitations of silence and solitude, of family and face-to- face time, of community and solidarity. With the call to not gather in large groups, the closure of public schools and cancellation of sporting events, […]

Hitching a ride to Calvary: Going Jesus’ way?

March 11, 2020.Reading time 9 minutes.

“Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they […]

Where do I plant my feet when the ground is shaky?

March 9, 2020.Reading time 3 minutes.

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, holy partners in a heavenly calling, consider that Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses also “was faithful in all God’s house.” 3Yet Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house […]

Lost during Lent: When you feel like the Lord is not your shepherd

March 5, 2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

Psalm 23 is quite possibly the most popular song in the entire Old Testament hymnal. It is the most requested at funerals, the most recited in times of despair and in thanksgiving. Children and elders alike know it by heart: “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.” Even non- Christians and unbelievers are […]