This past weekend we had a great church yard sale. That might not sound like a big thing but it was pretty amazing. When you start planning a yard sale, you never know how it will turn out. How much stuff will be donated? How many people would show up on the day of the yard sale? And this was not just a yard sale. This was also a bake sale! We had quite a bit made for the bake sale. Would it all sell? It ended up that some great stuff that was donated. And there were lots of people who came to the church for the sale. And they bought lots of stuff! Why is a yard sale good news? Because our con ..read more

John 20:24-29 Introduction Did you or do you have a nickname that has been given to you by others? There are families that give everyone among them nickname, never calling them by their legal names. Sometimes nicknames are imposed in school, sometimes within a work setting, sometimes by friends and sometimes by enemies. You may be either proud of or embarrassed by your nickname. The word “nickname” comes from the Middle English eke-name, meaning also-name. It was just an additional name that did not require either a positive or negative meaning. For example, one of my favourite authors is C.S ..read more

From time to time, there is still debate over the value of the Billy Graham rule. If you are not familiar with it, it comes from Billy Graham’s policy of not being alone with a woman outside of his family. Many pastors have adopted this rule and will refuse to meet with a woman unless someone else is present, preferably another woman. There has been some pushback against the Billy Graham rule. One is that assumes that the pastor is a male, although it does not have to. Some female pastors work hard not to be alone in a room with a man. But the main concern seems to be that it assumes that if ..read more

When I saw the ads for the television series, 3 Body Problem, my first thought was that this would be really bad or really good. I will tell you which one in a moment. But I do need to state that I have neither read the novel or seen the Chinese version of the series. I will get right to the bottom line and say that I really liked the series. Human contact with aliens has been done hundreds if not thousands of times. It is hard to do this in a fresh and interesting way. 3 Body Problem does manage to do that. Part of it is because we never actually see the aliens and have no concept of what th ..read more

Have you considered attending seminary? But what if you are not sure if you want to be a pastor? In this video I chat about why it is good to consider seminary and how it can be part of the discernment process. Support me through ⁠Patreon⁠. The post Should You Go to Seminary? appeared first on Stephen J Bedard ..read more

I can understand that based on what I blog and what I share on social media that it might be difficult to determine whether I am a liberal or a conservative Christian. Although a recent Twitter (X) poll suggested that more people see me as a liberal Christian: So in preparation for my blog post on the type of Christian I am, what do you think? Am I a liberal or a conservative Christian? Interpret this as theological and/or political as you wish. I purposely am only giving two options. — Stephen Bedard (@SJBedard) April 5, 2024 I will confess that this was not a very fair question as those ..read more

I have a great love for movies on the Second World War and I had noticed that there was movie that came out some time ago called Overlord. Overlord is the name of the military operation more commonly called D-Day. When I watch one of these movies, I normally blog about them on my Military History Blog. But this is not exactly military history. One of the reasons that I did not run out to watch this movie was that I was aware that it was mixing it with science fiction, specifically zombies. You don’t have to be a military historian to realize that zombies were not a part of D-Day. I assumed th ..read more

Some conservative Christians recently expressed outrage that President Biden proclaimed a Trans Day of Visibility to coincide with Easter. For some, this felt like a direct attack on Christianity. But was it? It is important to note that the Trans Day of Visibility has existed on March 31 since 2009 and was not created by Biden or his administration. So what did Biden do? What the President did was to issue a proclamation acknowledging the existing Trans Day of Visibility. You can read an article on Biden’s actions here. So what is the connection to Easter? Is the Trans Day of Visibility desig ..read more

I generally enjoy Easter, although there have been a few Easters that were not so great. However, this Easter was very nice. On Good Friday, we had a combined service with Lifepoint Church, Wittenburg Baptist Church, and Brookfield Baptist Church. We always enjoy gathering together and Amanda and I look forward to working with our colleague. On Easter Sunday, our church had a delicious Easter breakfast followed by a wonderful service. Amanda brought the message that was really good, and I don’t just say that as her husband. Her illustration really made the point and stuck with the congregation ..read more

One of the issues that I have with Evangelicalism is the attitudes toward LGBTQ people. It is far more than an assertion that sex is limited to a marriage between a man and a woman. In many corners of Evangelicalism is there is actual hate toward gay people. I address that in this video.  Support me at ⁠Patreon⁠. The post Evangelicalism Issues: Homophobia appeared first on Stephen J Bedard ..read more