Dave Deckard, Author at Treasure Valley Prays

Do We Trust in God?

Post author:Dave Deckard
Post published:April 30, 2020
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Most churches have stopped in-person services during the COVD-19 pandemic. A few across the country have not. Inevitably, their explanation involves some version of, “We trust God to care for us.” If this sentiment were confined to a couple crackpot congregations, it wouldn’t be worth talking about, but it seems certain that as churches plan to re-open early, they’re going to use this explanation to justify it. Along with this justification comes an implied criticism: churches that don’t open early must not trust…

Is Virtual Worship “Real”?

Post author:Dave Deckard
Post published:April 17, 2020
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In this time of COVID-19 physical isolation, most churches are meeting virtually instead of physically, an appropriate and necessary step to protect our communities from harm. An inevitable question has accompanied this move: are virtual worship meetings “real” in the same way physical ones are?It’s time to put that to rest. They are. Or at least, they’d better be! Here are a couple of important reasons why.Saying that virtual meetings are not as valid as in-person meetings presumes that there’s a single, universal…

How Does God Show Up?

Post author:Dave Deckard
Post published:March 28, 2020
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Sometimes, when you’re isolated or fearful, it’s hard to feel connected to anything. During these times of COVID-19, many of us feel that way. We’re cut off from familiar places and people. To the extent that we derive comfort from church-based faith, we’re also cut off from the buildings and communities in which we usually experience it. This can easily lead to a feeling of being cut off from God. Churches have not always prepared us to cope with these feelings. Often they…