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C-19: GOD’S GLOBAL SHAKING

C-19: GOD'S GLOBAL SHAKING

COVID-19 wreaks havoc around the globe, turning life as we know it on its head. Pain, suffering, and death fill our news each day with the devastation of the virus. We just celebrated an Easter weekend like none we have ever experienced! God is shaking our world. He did not cause the virus. Disease, war, earthquakes, tsunamis, and other calamities are the result of natural causes in a fallen world. When God pulls back his restraining hand, we experience the natural consequences of a sin-dominated world. However, God uses those natural results to shake the world like a virus filled snow globe.

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CHURCH IN A PANDEMIC

Church in a Pandemic

“It’s not a concern. The virus we believe is politically motivated,” Pastor Tony Spell proclaimed. We hold our religious rights dear, and we are going to assemble no matter what someone says.” The Life Tabernacle Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has continued to meet in defiance of orders from the governor prohibiting large gatherings. Over 1,000 people gathered for worship, trusting God to protect them from danger and heal their diseases. To Pastor Spell, it is a matter of faith.

Mark Palenske is no Tony Spell. He is the pastor at First Assembly of God church in Greers Ferry, Arkansas. The church assumed they were safe given their rural location and no government orders prohibiting them from meeting even though the authorities urged people to practice social distancing. They held a children’s ministry event at their church. Since then, 34 people who attended the event have contracted Covid-19, including the pastor and his wife. Bill Barton, a 91-year-old greeter at the church, died from the virus. Pastor Palenske writes, “Please adhere to the social instructions that you are receiving locally and nationally.”

One pastor made headlines. One pastor has regrets.


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OUT OF EGYPT: A CHRISTMAS MEDITATION

OUT OF EGYPT: A CHRISTMAS MEDITATION

At this time of year, Santa Claus is a great moral monitor, keeping children in line so they can get what they want for Christmas. Parents use the selfish desires of children to control their sinful desires. A useful exercise, perhaps, but it misses the point of Christmas entirely. The naughty and nice theme obscures the true meaning of Christmas. God is not up in heaven waiting to reward our good deeds and punish our bad deeds. We are all naughty. None of us are nice in God’s estimation. Christmas is about God intervening in a world gone rotten so that He can redeem that world from its rot. Christmas is the ultimate rescue event of all human history. The world of humans is not pretty and pleasant. It is dark and despotic. God enters the heart of evil to rescue humans from evil at Christmas.


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HELP! HOW DO I MEET ALL THE NEEDS?

HELP! HOW DO I MEET ALL THE NEEDS?“I can’t keep up now,” the pastor said, “so I certainly can’t add anything else to my schedule. I feel like I’m all alone in this ministry trying to keep all the plates spinning. How do I meet all the needs in my church?” We don’t! There is no way that the pastor can meet all the needs in any church, and the more we try, the less we accomplish. We confuse our priorities, elevating the less critical but urgent needs over the more essential but eternal goals. The reality is that trying to do it all says more about us than about the ministry.
 
Our own needs often drive our choices. Our motives get skewed. Eternal priorities are lost. I know. I’ve been there. The issue of ministry busyness cuts much deeper into our souls than we often want to admit. We think that the problem is their needs when the reality is that we scurry around like ants on an anthill to meet our needs. Ministry becomes our mistress, and we lose sight of God’s priorities in our busyness.

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WHO’S FIRST? AN EASTER REFLECTION

WHO'S FIRST? AN EASTER REFLECTION
The media recognized Jeanne Calment in 1997 as the oldest living human whose age could be verified. She died on August 4, 1997, at the age of 122 years and 164 days. On her 120th birthday, she was asked to describe her vision for the future. “Very brief,” she replied.
 
Life is brief from earth’s perspective but not from Christ’s. Paul wrote that Christ was the “firstborn out of the dead ones” (Col. 1:18). The resurrection of Christ changes everything about our future. Easter teaches us that there is hope for the future beyond the grave, and our hope is grounded in Jesus Christ.

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