Church – Beth Bates

Praise Craze Part 2: Us and Them, “Love Take Me-Love Take Me Over,” Especially When Faced With A Smoking Handicap Parking Tag Fraud

So these ideas (you know, from Part 1 wherein I sang Amazing Grace with a naked stranger) began pinging around inside my head the other morning as I tooled around in my car between the bank and Target. In an effort to refocus my thoughts from Twitter, kid worries, my thesis and job woes onto Something BiggerContinue reading “Praise Craze Part 2: Us and Them, “Love Take Me-Love Take Me Over,” Especially When Faced With A Smoking Handicap Parking Tag Fraud”

Praise Craze Part 1: Singing Amazing Grace Naked In the Shower With a Naked Stranger

Certain church types are really into praise music. They engage in a practice that must strike non-churchies as silly, ridiculous, and maybe even a little embarrassing. They—okay, we—have this bizarre habit of singing at full voice, under the steeple with of all the peeple and also within the privacy of our own earbuds, songs to proclaim doctrinal tenetsContinue reading “Praise Craze Part 1: Singing Amazing Grace Naked In the Shower With a Naked Stranger”

Sanctuary in Toronto Thoughts from Therapist Friend Who’s Blind

My friend’s blog posts from his recent trip to hang out with junkies on the streets of Toronto are compelling and well written, I think, to the point that I want to share his blog. It’s beautiful. Check it out. http://cshawn.wordpress.com/2009/08/

Do Acts of Social Justice Count if They’re Compensated? Or am I just a goat?

Matthew 25:40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me. I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, Continue reading “Do Acts of Social Justice Count if They’re Compensated? Or am I just a goat?”

Jesus wasn’t in my Bible this morning (but he was on my porch)

So, like the good evangelical Christian woman I never was, I made myself go to a quiet place to exercise the spiritual disciplines of Bible study and prayer. Coffee cup in hand, I settled into the comfy brown chair on my screened porch feeling the warmth of the morning sun on my face. I swattedContinue reading “Jesus wasn’t in my Bible this morning (but he was on my porch)”