We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God. The world is crowded with God. God walks everywhere incognito. And the incognito is not always hard to penetrate. The real labor is to rem… — C.S. Lewis
We interrupt the weekly "Signs of the Times" posting schedule for an important note
from Gerald, guardian angel of prayer&politiks and scribe for the
heavenly host’s synod overseeing this site’s vision and mission.
I hope (after you read this note) you’ll listen to Ken Sehested’s granddaughter reading The Beatitudes on All Saints Day.
There’s more to this request than grandfatherly pride—or even the sheer cuteness of an articulate, confident seven-year 
old reading Scripture in public.
5 November 2015 • No. 45
¶ Invocation. “How Can I Keep From Singing?” performed by Enya.
¶ “Sing lustily and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half-dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with 
strength. Be no more afraid of your voice, nor more ashamed of its being heard.” —John Wesley
by Ken Sehested
Joy to the World
Joy to the world! Salvation comes. Let earth rise up in praise
Let every heart prepare Christ’s Way
And heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven and nature sing.
by Ken Sehested
Open your mouths, oh people of praise. Unchain your lungs and unleash your lips.
Let joyful noise erupt from every muted tongue, thankful hymns from every muffled mouth.
by Ken Sehested
Zechariah’s question to the angel: “How will I know that this is so?
For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.”
—Luke 1:18
Mary’s question to the angel:
“How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
—Luke 1:34
28 October 2015 • No. 44
¶ Invocation. Malawian home-made instruments and home-grown gospel music. (Thanks, Phillip.)
¶ Call to worship. “We are a people acquainted with grief. In the bonds of this Body none need be embarrassed at the sound 
of sobbing, of the soul’s aching groan. Here the tear is neither uncommon nor unwelcomed. Here the strong confess their doubts, the fluent run out of words.” —Continue reading Ken Sehested’s “Acquainted with grief,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 42.
by Nancy Hastings Sehested
As people of God we are called to a journey. Sometimes we are pilgrims. Sometimes we are refugees. For the pilgrim, there is a choice. For the refugee, there is no choice. For the pilgrim, there is freedom. For the refugee, there is no freedom. The biblical story offers us Ruth, the pilgrim and Naomi, the refugee. Both step into an uncertain future.
In the days when the Judges ruled, chaos reigned. The times were severe. Famine devastated the land. Bethlehem, the 
name that means “house of bread,” had become an empty house. Elimelech and Naomi became refugees. They left their homeland of Bethlehem with their two sons. They found a way to survive in the foreign land of Moab.
by Ken Sehested
You likely heard recently that former hedge fund manager-turned-entreperneur Martin Shkreli’s company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, bought the patent to a drug treating toxoplasmosis, a potentially deadly parasite disease, increasing the per pill cost from $13.50 to $750. (Before being sold several previous times, the Daraorun medication per pill cost was $1.00.)
Now San Diego-based Imprimis Pharmaceuticals has announced it would manufacture customized versions of the drug for less than $1.00 (though the Federal Drug Administration has yet to sanction the new drug).
Read more ›A statement of resolve unanimously approved by participants in the
28-30 March 2008 Alliance of Baptists Convocation, New Orleans
(a similar resolution was approved in June 2008 by the United Church of Christ Southern Conference)
Written and submitted by Ken Sehested
Beware, God warns, lest you say in your heart,
“My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.”
—Deuteronomy 8:11-17
by Ken Sehested
"Why are you cast down,
O my soul,
and why are you
disquieted within me?" (Psalm 42:5a)
We are a people acquainted with grief.
In the bonds of this Body none need be embarrassed
at the sound of sobbing, of the soul’s aching groan.
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