Westboro Baptist Church At It Again

Westboro Baptist Church, a church far from the Baptist tradition I know and farther from any version of Christianity that I recognize, is at again.  Now they are planning to picket the funeral of rocker Ronnie James Dio.  You can read the story here.  What is the point of this?  You do not have to like the music or even agree with the message.  Picketing the funeral of a man and making life harder for his grieving relatives is hardly the Christ way.  Here is an idea: why not pray for the family!  That might do a whole lot more good than this foolish plan.

These Old Dry Bones

Last Sunday we continued our series on Genesis to Revelation by looking at the story of the dry bones from Ezekiel 37.  In the passage, Ezekiel encounters a valley of dry bones.  God commands Ezekiel to prophesy over the bones.  The bones join together, are covered with sinew and flesh and receive life through the breath/Spirit of God.  God reveals that this is an image of what he will do with Israel.

There are some important principles here for us.  First of all, are we an Ezekiel or are we a pile of bones.  If we are Ezekiel we must proclaim God's Word, trusting that it can bring life.  What is interesting is that God invites Ezekiel to participate but the life comes only by the power of God's Spirit.  If we are the bones, we must hear God's Word and embrace the Spirit.  The message of Ezekiel 37: There is hope!

She Did It!

I am so very proud of Amanda.  She shaved her head as part of a Cops for Cancer event.  In the process, Amanda raised over $1000.  I also thinks Amanda looks quite beautiful as a baldie.  Love you Amanda!

J.R.R. Tolkien

One of my favorite authors is J.R.R. Tolkien.  His writing holds me as few others do.  Yet, I just learned something new about Tolkien.  Tolkien was actually involved in the Jerusalem Bible translation.  You can read about it here.  This is the best both of worlds: Tolkien and the Bible.  Love learning new things.

Internet Updates

I have made a few updates in my presence on the web.  First of all, I have completely reworked my web page www.stephenjbedard.com.  It is simpler and more streamlined.  It includes links to all my blogs and a link to my sermon podcasts.  Speaking of podcasts, I am in the process of turning my sermons into a podcast, starting with our series 'Genesis to Revelation.'  You can find these at stephenjbedard.podbean.com.  Feel free to check it out.

What Makes People Happy?

CNN has a link to a collection of well known faith leaders as to what makes people happy.  You can find their opinions here.  What do you think makes people happy?  I think happiness, and by that I mean more joy than the euphoria that comes with positive situations, comes from being in right relationships with God through Jesus Christ and with other people.

Bonhoeffer, Peace and Assassinations

I am currently listening to Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Cost of Discipleship on audio book.  It is very good and very challenging as he presents the vision of radical discipleship.  However, there is some confusion.  In chapter six where he looks at the Beatitudes, Bonhoeffer says this:

"His disciples keep the peace by choosing to endure suffering themselves rather than inflict it on others.  They maintain fellowship where others would break it off.  They renounce all self-assertion, and quietly suffer in the face of hatred and wrong.  In so doing they overcome evil with good, and establish the peace of God in the midst of a world of war and hate."

That sounds great, except Dietrich Bonhoeffer later went on to become involved in an assassination plot against Adolph Hitler.  While I would not have grieved Hitler's earlier death, I am not sure how that fits with Bonhoeffer's teaching here.  Any Bonhoeffer scholars out there who can shed some light on this?

Preaching the Prophets

We have now begun the section of our Genesis to Revelation series on the prophets.  Two weeks ago we looked at Isaiah, specifically the first chapter.  It is a surprising chapter in some ways.  God, through Isaiah, speaks of the worship of the Jews in terms of hate and disgust.  The only problem is that the Jews were worshipping God and they were doing it according to the biblical rules.  The problem was that they were doing all the right rituals and were forgetting about justice.  If we want proper worship for God, we must avoid injustice and actively seek justice for the vulnerable.

Last Sunday, we looked at Jeremiah 23.  Jeremiah preached a rather pessimistic message of defeat for Jerusalem.  He suggested that they surrender and submit to the Babylonians.  Accept exile and do not seek to return at this time.  However, this message was balanced with an optimistic message of restoration and return.  The key was in God's sending of the righteous branch of David.  As Christians, we know that this was Jesus Christ.  Hope comes not from a generic belief that there is a Jesus out there, but an acceptance of Jesus as the King and Lord of our lives.  When we do this, we can experience hope beyond hope.

The text and audio of these messages can be found for the next few weeks at www.meafordbaptist.ca.

Happy Birthday Emma!

Today is Emma's third birthday. She is such a sweet little girl. But do not be fooled by her cuteness, she is a little girl with attitude. She regularly tells me to stop singing but then the next thing I know she is cuddled up on my lap, holding her blanket and sucking her thumb. Sometimes I wonder if she has turned three or thirteen! She always makes us laugh, moving from pretending to be a monster to pretending to be 'baby Jesus.' We are taking advantage of her birthday by starting potty training. She has already today pooped on the toilet for the first time (it was poop the size of a pea but it was poop!). We love her so much! Happy birthday Emma! We are so proud of you.

A Pleasant Surprise!

Last night I went downstairs and shut the light off in the boys' room. It was 10 pm and Logan was still reading and he needed to go to sleep. As the lights went off, I heard Logan say "Daddy, turn the light back on." Why is that so strange for a nine year old boy? Logan has autism. There is a wide spectrum for autism and Logan is in the severe end and is considered non-verbal. Non-verbal does not mean he cannot say anything. Logan can repeat most words if asked and he recites long portions of movies. Non-verbal means that he cannot use language in an appropriate manner aside from the occasional one word request. So for me to hear a full, clear and appropriate sentence from Logan that was not scripted from a movie was huge. I actually thought it might have been Justus until the lights went back on and I saw Justus sound asleep. A half hour later, Logan did the same thing. This is so nice for us. Most autistic children are delayed in language and Logan is past the age when if a child is going to speak that they start. Does this mean that Logan will become verbal? Only God knows. We accept this little miracle for what it is: grace for today. Logan, we love you and are proud of you.

Teaching at Tyndale

This summer I am going to be teaching a course at Tyndale on 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians is a very important book, not just for understanding theology but for looking at practical ways that we can apply the teachings of Jesus to real life experiences. I love the format of this class: one night a week for only five weeks, perfect for a busy life! There is still room in the class if anyone else wants to sign up. You can find the syllabus here.

This course is a part of Tyndale's Degree Completion Program. Many people start taking classes and life takes over leaving people with a bunch of unused credits. You can put all that together with some modular format courses that fit a busy lifestyle and do either a B.R.E. or a B.A. To find out more about Tyndale's Degree Completion Program, go here.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is a bitter-sweet day for me. I was blessed with an incredible mother who loved me very much. Unfortunately she died just over a year ago. I miss her tremendously and Mother's Day is difficult knowing that I cannot just pick up the phone and wish her well.

On the other hand, I am thankful for Amanda as the mom to our kids. Amanda does a great job with them. Often times the dirty (sometimes literally) jobs go to Amanda and yet she does them. I appreciate Amanda so much for her hard work around our house. More than that, I appreciate the love Amanda has for all of the children. We are all blessed to have Amanda in our lives.

To my two favorite moms: Audrey Bedard and Amanda Bedard - I love you very much!

Happy Mother's Day!

The Power of Generosity

Every so often people claim that religious faith is bad and dangerous and needs to be removed from society. At best it seems irrelevant. This story from CNN paints a different picture. An inspiring story of a girl who responded to hard times with faith. Worth watching.

Heavenly Minded and Earthly Good

Last Sunday I responded to the idea that Christians are so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good. The idea is that we are either debating (or arguing) the fine points of some obscure doctrine or we are completely focused on the afterlife. Christianity seems to be completely irrelevant to the average person. Unfortunately the Church has sometimes encouraged this type of misconception. The biblical faith, however, is extremely relevant to this life. As we continued our series on Genesis to Revelation, we looked at the wisdom books of Song of Songs, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. I would encourage people to read all of these little read books. They speak to every area of life: marriage, friendships, money, time, work and so on. As we read these books, it is clear that every area of our life is of interest to God. It is interesting that the content of Jesus' preaching was the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is not just heaven but is God's reign over every area of our life. In the Gospel of John, eternal life is not what starts after our last breath but is the quality of our life right now. The Christian faith is meant to be a relevant faith, a faith that is heavenly minded and earthly good.

How the Mighty Are Fallen!

One of the greatest embarrassments of today's church is Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church. They have become notorious with their "God hates fags" campaign. Their message of hate and intolerance is completely contrary to the message of Christ. That is why I was shocked to read in this CNN story that Phelps was one an important and respected civil rights lawyer. What happened? Was Phelps insincere in his previous work or did he change that much? How much can any of us change? Sobering thoughts to reflect on.

Known By God

Last Sunday, I only preached at Woodford Baptist Church. We continued our series on Genesis to Revelation by looking at Psalm 139. This is an incredible Psalm. Relationships are about being transparent and allowing the other person to know you. The story of the fall in the garden is that of a barrier coming between us and God, a desire to hide ourselves from God's gaze. Psalm 139 reminds us that this barrier does not have to be there. God does know us, whether we like it or not. He knows what we do and what we think. There is no place that we can go where we can hide from God. God knew us in our mother's womb and crafted us for his purposes. In the midst of this beautiful imagery, the Psalmist begins to speak about how much he hates certain people. Why ruin such a beautiful Psalm? The fact is that we get hurt and feel strong feelings toward those people. We can put on a religious face toward other people, but we should never try to be religious toward God. Be honest. If you hate someone, tell God! It is the first step toward healing. Finally, the Psalmist invites God to know and search him. Why do this when the entire Psalm has been a reminder that God already knows us? This is not about giving God more information but taking our relationship with God deeper. By inviting God to search us, we are also inviting God to change us. If you feel alienated from God, I would encourage you to reflect on this Psalm. For the next few weeks, this sermon in text and audio formats will be on www.meafordbaptist.ca and will eventually be on www.stephenjbedard.com.

Happy Birthday Faith!

Yesterday was Faith's second birthday. Faith is our youngest and the latest of three siblings that we have brought into our family. Unlike Justus and Emma who came right to our home from the hospital, there was some uncertainty as to what would happen with Faith and it was a number of months later that she came to us. Faith is a wonderful little girl that we love very much. She is beautiful on the inside and the outside. She makes us laugh both with the funny things that she does and just for the sheer joy of having her in our family. Happy Birthday Faith, we love you very much! A bit of trivia: for the next two weeks we have two two-year old girls, as Emma does not turn three until May 15.