A pastor in the State of Louisiana (USA) is defying his state's Coronavirus social distancing guidelines and holding Sunday church services attended by as many as a thousand people. The church is even bussing in people from other parishes. He says asking churches to close down while essential businesses like grocery stores may remain open is offensive. I think he is offended to be told that church services are not essential gatherings. I think he is totally missing the point. This is not persecution of the church, it is a major health crisis and he is probably endangering members of his flock by having them gather together in such large groups.
I am not going to trash the man because I believe he is sincere. I just think he is wrong. Knowing what Jesus and Paul said on the subject I believe that the proper understanding is this: we are to respect and cooperate with the government even if we do not personally approve of the government. All leaders are in place only by the permission of God. Their duties are two-fold: to protect the people and to punish the evildoers. I believe that in the current pandemic situation the world's leaders are being forced to perform the first function.
There are ways for us to get around the forced separation under which we are currently living. This Sunday morning, the Sunday School class I attend met and discussed Acts 9 even though we were all in our own homes. We used the Zoom app.
Let me say that I have no connection to the Zoom company and receive no financial compensation from them.What we used was the basic (and free) software which allows up to 100 people to become a video group for 40 minute session. Everyone can see everyone else and everyone can hear each other talk. The company has other software for sale which can accommodate longer sessions and up to 1000 people. The software only costs about $20.00 per month, which most churches should be able to afford. Where the Church is gathered, the Spirit is there. The Bible does not say the Church must be gathered in the same room or even the same building.
This situation may even be an opportunity once the pandemic is resolved. If a member, or several members of a class,are physically unable to attend class meetings, they may still be included by using the application.
Zoom is just one of the companies offering services like this.
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Sunday, March 8, 2020
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Coronavirus COVID-19: Edited 22 March 2020
This post may seem to be off subject but it is not. If Jesus is Lord of everything then He is the Lord of public health and our personal health. The current world-wide spread of the COViD-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019) virus in its original form and in a possible second mutated form are surely cause for vigilance and concern but not for panic and misinformation. Updates are in BOLD type.
The CoVid-19 virus is essentially an influenza virus so the following comments make good sense regardless of whether the disease to be avoided is SARS, MERS, CoViD-19, "the flu", or the common cold.
1. The "corona" in the name is Latin meaning "crown" or "halo" and is descriptive. Under two dimesional electron microscopy, the viral particles appear to be covered with club-shaped spikes.
2. The current virus is not "Coronavirus." It is one of a group of viruses known as coronaviruses. Corona in Latin means "crown." The group includes the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome virus (MERS-CoV) and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome virus (SARS-Cov). The viruses in this group are RNA (ribonucleic acid) viruses with a viral envelope as their outer layer. Many of these viruses produce flu-like symptoms and in severe cases do have the capacity to be fatal.
3. The presence of a second mutated form of the virus is to be expected. Viruses commonly mutate into new varieties.
4. The United States Centers for Disease Control says that there is no need for healthy individuals to wear face masks.
5. Cover your face, mouth, and nose if you sneeze. The primary infection route is on respiratory moisture droplets from sneezes or coughs. The second most likely infection route is fingers: touching a contaminated surface and then touching your own mouth, nose, or eyes.
6. If possible, stay about six to 10 feet away from people with obvious flu-like symptoms (fever, cough, and shortness of breath). It is silly and racist to avoid any particular ethnic group. Viruses do not care about your ethnic background.
6. Wash your hands frequently with soap and water and use any hand sanitizers which are provided by stores, churches, physicians, etc. Grocery stores often provide sanitizing wipes for use on grocery cart handles; always use them because the grocery cart handles are touched by hundreds of people a day. All of the items listed here are touched by many random people each day: door knobs and handles, elevator buttons, public telephones, shared computer keyboards, coins and paper money, and any number of other public things. You probably use your cell phone all day long; anything you have touched with with your bare hands will be on your phone. Don't forget about your automobile;s steering wheel, radio buttons, light switches, and door handles. Wash, wash, wash; wipe, wipe, wipe. The main route of transmission of viruses such as CoVid-19 is your hands. Keep your fingers away from your mouth, your nose, and your eyes. Do not chew on rubber pencil erasers!
7. Most healthy individuals are at slightly less risk. Those with the greatest risk are probably the elderly, those with compromised immune systems, and those with other serious preexisting conditions. The main causes of death from the virus are secondary pneumonia and multiple organ failure.
8. A vaccine for the virus will eventually be available but the process for developing the vaccine is not magic. It will take time.
9. Follow the instructions of your local health authorities. Cooperate with what they instruct you to do. It is their job to protect you as much as possible. Do not assume that you are immune to any disease. It is not disloyal to the Lord to temporarily avoid large gatherings of people like church services. We are instructed in scripture to be good citizens and to cooperate with our rulers in any matters which do not interfere with with our Christian faith, always putting our obedience to the Lord first.
10. Think of the "social distancing" which is being implemented as you would about the crews who fight forest fires. To fight the enormous fires, the firefighters take bulldozers and cut wide trenches into the dirt, clearing away trees, brush, and debris, When the fire reaches the trench there is nothing there for it to burn. The idea for us is we cannot infect one another if we are separated.
The CoVid-19 virus is essentially an influenza virus so the following comments make good sense regardless of whether the disease to be avoided is SARS, MERS, CoViD-19, "the flu", or the common cold.
1. The "corona" in the name is Latin meaning "crown" or "halo" and is descriptive. Under two dimesional electron microscopy, the viral particles appear to be covered with club-shaped spikes.
2. The current virus is not "Coronavirus." It is one of a group of viruses known as coronaviruses. Corona in Latin means "crown." The group includes the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome virus (MERS-CoV) and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome virus (SARS-Cov). The viruses in this group are RNA (ribonucleic acid) viruses with a viral envelope as their outer layer. Many of these viruses produce flu-like symptoms and in severe cases do have the capacity to be fatal.
3. The presence of a second mutated form of the virus is to be expected. Viruses commonly mutate into new varieties.
4. The United States Centers for Disease Control says that there is no need for healthy individuals to wear face masks.
5. Cover your face, mouth, and nose if you sneeze. The primary infection route is on respiratory moisture droplets from sneezes or coughs. The second most likely infection route is fingers: touching a contaminated surface and then touching your own mouth, nose, or eyes.
6. If possible, stay about six to 10 feet away from people with obvious flu-like symptoms (fever, cough, and shortness of breath). It is silly and racist to avoid any particular ethnic group. Viruses do not care about your ethnic background.
6. Wash your hands frequently with soap and water and use any hand sanitizers which are provided by stores, churches, physicians, etc. Grocery stores often provide sanitizing wipes for use on grocery cart handles; always use them because the grocery cart handles are touched by hundreds of people a day. All of the items listed here are touched by many random people each day: door knobs and handles, elevator buttons, public telephones, shared computer keyboards, coins and paper money, and any number of other public things. You probably use your cell phone all day long; anything you have touched with with your bare hands will be on your phone. Don't forget about your automobile;s steering wheel, radio buttons, light switches, and door handles. Wash, wash, wash; wipe, wipe, wipe. The main route of transmission of viruses such as CoVid-19 is your hands. Keep your fingers away from your mouth, your nose, and your eyes. Do not chew on rubber pencil erasers!
7. Most healthy individuals are at slightly less risk. Those with the greatest risk are probably the elderly, those with compromised immune systems, and those with other serious preexisting conditions. The main causes of death from the virus are secondary pneumonia and multiple organ failure.
8. A vaccine for the virus will eventually be available but the process for developing the vaccine is not magic. It will take time.
9. Follow the instructions of your local health authorities. Cooperate with what they instruct you to do. It is their job to protect you as much as possible. Do not assume that you are immune to any disease. It is not disloyal to the Lord to temporarily avoid large gatherings of people like church services. We are instructed in scripture to be good citizens and to cooperate with our rulers in any matters which do not interfere with with our Christian faith, always putting our obedience to the Lord first.
10. Think of the "social distancing" which is being implemented as you would about the crews who fight forest fires. To fight the enormous fires, the firefighters take bulldozers and cut wide trenches into the dirt, clearing away trees, brush, and debris, When the fire reaches the trench there is nothing there for it to burn. The idea for us is we cannot infect one another if we are separated.
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