Praying the Psalms*

By Rev. James Lamkin

Psalm 122

*(The congregation is invited to read A-Psalm-A-Day during 2011. Here is today's reflection and prayer by the pastor based on a psalm from the past week.)

Whatever happened to Bible Memory Verses? I suppose they have gone the way of the wringer washing machine and the dial-up modem.

There once was a day when you couldn't walk five feet in Baptist church without stepping on a memory verse. There was a memory verse for every Sunday. There seemed to be two or three (maybe a dozen) a day during Vacation Bible School. Plus, you had to have memory verses sharpened and ready for every Sword Drill. "Attention...draw swords...charge!" Then, the winning soldier who found it first, stepped forward, gave the Bible reference, fore and aft, and then recited the verse with Sword outstretched: "Blessed are the peacemakers." On most of us, I think, the irony was lost.

Memory verses also found their way into our hymnody.

I was glad when they said unto me:

Let us go into the house of the Lord.

I was glad when they said unto me:

Let us go into the house of the Lord.

I think I've sung that a million times, usually just before the "sit-down chord" in the VBS opening assembly.

This "house of the Lord" text comes from Psalm 122. It is a psalm of ascent. During the past week we have been praying the psalms of ascent. These are pilgrim songs sung while folk trekked to Jerusalem for holy days and festivals. Jerusalem was the hub of their faith from which all things holy radiated. It also was a gravity well that drew folk in for rituals and rites of passage. No matter from which direction you approach Jerusalem, you will be going up. You will be ascending and morale might be better managed if a song accompanies the difficult steps; and yes the terrain echoes the lives of the faithful. Often life can feel like an uphill battle.

Last week's assent psalms have been a walk down (or up) memory lane for me. Verses from the Bible that I memorized as a primary or junior or intermediate (terms that also went out with the rotary dial) have followed me all the days of my life. Such as:

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,

A light unto my path.

Thy word have I hid in my heart,

That I might not sin against God.

This is the day that the Lord hath made;

Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

I don't know whatever happened to memory verses; but I am glad that a church culture from long ago planted these seeds in my soul. When I am done with each day's reading, I reflect on the old memory verses I've come across. Then, I return "the sword" to the corner of my desk, I hear the "stand-up chord" played in my memory, and then I head-out a little more ready to address the day...the day that the Lord hath made.

"Thank you God for memory verses. They are precious memories...and oh how they linger. Amen."

Technology at Northside Drive Workshop

Using the Internet, NDBC Website, Membership Database, Facebook and Twitter

Wednesdays May 4 and 18 at 7PM in the Fellowship Hall

Would you like to connect better with Northside Drive Baptist Church through technology and social media? Do you want to know how Northside Drive is connecting with our community and the world through our website, Facebook and Twitter? Would you like to know how to access your membership information on the church's membership database? If so, you should attend our first ever Technology at Northside Drive Workshop.

Bring your laptop and your inquisitiveness on May 4 and May 18 to receive one-on-one help with all of your technology questions regarding Northside Drive Baptist Church's website, social media pages, and membership database. We hope this will connect you better to Northside Drive as we hope to connect better to the world.

Mother's Day - May 8, 2011

Spring Concert

The Language of Love 

Spring quarter for LifeSpan Resources resumes at Peachtree Presbyterian Church April 7-May 26. Come participate for a variety of interesting classes, including book club reviews on May 23 and June 27 at Trinity Presbyterian Church at noon. Brochures are in the Fellowship Hall and Narthex. Any questions call LifeSpan at 404-237-7307.

NDBC Newcomer Orientation

  by

James E. Lamkin, Pastor

"Who Do We Think We Are?"

Sunday, May 15, 2011

at 9:30 AM in the Fellowship Hall

Since NDBC is a "different kind" of Baptist church, we will walk through our history, vision, and role in the life of God in the world. For regularly attending non-members and new members.

Saturday, May 21 at 5PM

in the Fellowship Hall

All Northside Drive families with children between birth and 5th grade are invited to a Children's Ministry potluck dinner and social gathering. Come and meet other Northside Drive families, eat home-cooked food, and learn about the wonderful things happening in the Northside Kids Children's Ministry. Simply bring a dish of something to share.

Childcare and dinner will be provided for all children. Please make a reservation through the church office at info@northsidedrive.org, with Renee at 404.237-8621 or Mike at mike@northsidedrive.org.

Fatal Embrace... 

Sundays in May @ 9:30 AM in Room #201

For the five Sundays in May, the Roger Williams Class invites you to join them reading Mark Braverman's book, Fatal Embrace: Christians, Jews and the Search for Peace in the Holy Land.  Braverman shows how the Jewish quest for safety and empowerment (which led Judaism to embrace Zionism's call for separation from Gentiles and a Jewish state), and the Christian endeavor to atone for centuries of anti-Semitism (which culminated in the Holocaust), have combined to suppress the conversations needed to bring about a just and lasting peace in the Holy Land. The book charts Braverman's journey as an American Jew struggling with the difficult realities of modern Israel. Books are available for $12 from Jim Barksdale.

Newcomer Eat & Greet

June 5, 2011, 3-5 PM

at the home of Susan & Hartwell Dew

"Roots and Wings: NDBC's History and Hope"

A conversation led by James E. Lamkin, Pastor

 For regularly attending non-members and new members.

Church Week

SUNDAY, May 8, 2011 - Mother's Day!

  9:30 AM - Church School

10:25 AM - Children's Choir

11:00 AM - Morning Worship

  3:00 PM - Music on the Hill Concert

  4:00 PM - Choral Guild Concert

  5:00 PM - Choral Guild Reception

  5:00 PM - Northside Drive Ringers

  6:30 PM - Beginning Handbell Class

TUESDAY, May 10, 2011

10:00 AM - Staff Meeting

WEDNESDAY, May 11, 2011

  1:00 PM - NDBC Book Club

  6:00 PM - Northside Yoga

  7:30 PM - Sanctuary Choir Rehearsal

THURSDAY, May 12, 2011

  7:00 PM - TNT

FRIDAY, May 13, 2011

10:30 AM - Preschool Graduation

FRI-SUN, May 13-15, 2011

Women's Retreat