Several weeks ago, a member of our church wrote a letter to the editor of the Sonoma Index Tribune requesting a Day of Prayer in light of COVID19. One local resident was critical of the idea, claiming that the community should be focused on action, not prayer, which he claimed is ineffective. https://www.sonomanews.com/opinion/letters/10915623-181/letters-to-the-editor-april See my response below. An April 24th Letter…
Holy Saturday. If you grew up like me, you thought of this day as a kind of interim period after Good Friday and before Easter. Preparation for Sunday was a big component, especially in the evening. There was admittedly little reflection on the meaning of the 30-something hours when Jesus’ body lay in the grave. What after all, was there to think…
“For none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”—Romans 14:7–8 The Novel Coronavirus may be novel to 21st century Westerners, but plagues of various kinds were the norm…
“Because you made the LORD your dwelling place–the Most High, who is my refuge–no evil shall befall you, no plague come near your tent.”—Psalm 91:9–10 If you do a Google search and type the word “Psalm,” Psalm 91 likely appears—algorithmic evidence that it is the most popular chapter in the Psalter. And why not? This passage speaks of Yahweh being a “refuge”…