Church during Social Distancing

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.

Unusual Christian Places: The Statue of the Bodhisattva Guanyin in Macau

This statue in Macau is of the Buddhist “Mercy Goddess,” Guanyin.   Not actually a goddess, she is a bodhisattva, one who has attained enlightenment but has vowed to seek the enlightenment of all sentient beings.  Many also associate this bodhisattva with the Virgin Mary. ???  The answer lies in the history of Macau and the resultant mixing of cultures and religions.

Jorge Alvares landed in China in 1513, and by 1535 trade between Portugal and China was established.   The site of Macau eventually became a Portuguese colony, administered to various degrees by Portugal from 1557 to 1999, when the rental agreement with China expired.  During this period, Roman Catholicism became a strong presence in the area, which also includes followers of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and smaller native faiths.

http://www.placesandfoods.com/2013/05/guan-yin-statue-of-macau.html

http://www.tripomatic.com/China/Macau-Special-Administrative-Region/Macau/Guan-Yin-Statue/

http://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/art-architecture/kuan-yin-of-macau-city.html

Guanyin (short for Guanshiyin, “Observing the Cries of the World”) is an immortal bodhisattva, She is rarely represented as male.  She has vowed to never rest until she has freed all sentient beings from the cycle of reincarnation.  Because of her infinite compassion, she is sometimes depicted as holding a child.

There are several streams of Buddhism, some being very strict, austere, and individually oriented.  The less strict version, Mahayana (”Greater Vehicle”) encourages everyone to become a bodhisattva (“enlightenment being”) and to work for the eventual enlightenment of every sentient being in the universe by the idea of “merit transference.”  The idea is that “merit” earned by the enlightened bodhisattva can be transferred to less advanced beings to aid in their advancement.  This Mahayana Buddhist doctrine may possibly have developed in response to  contact with Christianity.

During the Edo (Tokugawa Shogunate) Period (1603-1867) in Japan, Christianity was totally banned and was declared to be punishable by death. Christians were forced to go “underground.”  Many venerated Jesus and the Virgin Mary by disguising them as statues of Kannon (another name for Guanyin) holding a child.  Statues such as this are known as Maria Kannon.  There was often a cross hidden in an inconspicuous location on the statue. Note the similarities of the face in the image in the following link with the face of Guanyin on the statue in Macau.

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/audio-east-meets-west-virgin-and-child-ivory-carving/

An image of a Maria Kannon from Wikipedia used under the GNU Free Documentation License.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Maria_Kannon.jpg

Mainstream vs Traditional

Recently, I have spoken several times about Christians who hold to the traditional faith being thought of as outside the “mainstream.”  We are often portrayed as “odd,” “eccentric,” “wrong-headed,” “extreme,” “bigoted,” or “fringe.”  Most often the insults are subtly delivered.

Religious denominations are spoken of by the “mainstream media” as “mainstream” (meaning progressive or liberal) or “outside the mainstream.”  This places those who are “outside the mainstream” into the same general category as the numerous obscure or strange sects and cults. It is an insult and I believe that it is a form of persecution which seeks to force us to “evolve.”  This is another insult which assumes that we are “cavemen” or “neanderthals.”

Persecution is not always of the “throw them to the lions” sort.  It also exists in the sideways snicker, in the assumption that traditional Christians are “simple” or intellectually inferior, or that we are socially backward, or that we are totally outdated dinosaurs not relevant to the modern world.

AND SADLY … this patronizing and insulting (I say heretical) thought often comes from the “mainstream’ churches and from movements such as the Emerging Church.  Listen to what the Bible clearly says.

“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” Jude 1:3.  Jude was Jesus’s brother.

“Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”  Romans 12:2

“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”  Galatians 1:8.  The word which the translators have rendered as “accursed” is, in the Greek, ἀνάθεμα (anathema), from ἀνά (ana), meaning "on", and τίθημι (tithēmi), meaning "I put."  Originally this referred to a gift to God or to the pagan gods.  Echoes of the  Hebrew word "herem" (חרם) referred to something forbidden or off-limits, because it was dedicated for religious use and not useable in the common world. (Numbers 18:14; Leviticus 27:28-29); and hence the idea of “exterminating” or “dead” was connected with the word.  Various translations of the words anathema and herem have included "cursed," "disliked," "loathed," "banned," "excommunicated," "excluded," "denounced," "vehemently rejected," "off limits," and "devoted to evil."

Deuteronomy 7:26 calls a pagan idol a herem. Here it is: “Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.”

The Saints Unhindered

κηρυσσων την βασιλειαν του θεου και διδασκων τα περι του κυριου ιησου χριστου μετα πασης παρρησιας ακωλυτως. (A very literal translation of this sentence by the Google Translate tool: “preach the kingdom of God and taught the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ after all frankness unhindered access.” Acts 28:31

Saints on the Loose is not personal.  There will be very little information here about me or about my family.  The focus of the blog is about The Lord and His people and the unhindered access we have to further the Kingdom.  Despots, murderers, sarcasm, ridicule, accusations of bigotry and intellectual deficiency,and even vicious persecution with the full force of governments; none  of these have hindered the spread of the Gospel.

I am very aware of the news cycle but will not always speak on current events or controversies unless there is a Christian point to be taken from them.  Other people can and will do that.

This is not a devotional blog and will not necessarily follow the calendar of religious holidays and festivals.  The focus of the blog is intended to be intensely practical and to foster an intellectual and unapologetic presentation of the truth.

This blog is currently indexed on Baptist Top 1000, Bible Top 100, Blog Catalog, Yandex, Bing, and Google Search.  If you would like to index this blog on your search engine, feel free to do so.  Also feel free to suggest blog aggregators and search engines.  You may link to this blog.

"The New York Same-Sex Marriage Vote" Revisited #3

On 28 June 2011, I posted "The New York Same-Sex Marriage Vote" and promised, "More on tax-exempt status, homosexuality, persecution, and marriage later."  Today, persecution.

The first persecution specifically of "Christians" came under the Roman Emperor Nero in 64 AD/CE.  Claudius in 49 persecuted Christians because he thought they were Jews.  Over the years it has never really stopped, whether it has been overt or more subtle.

Persecution takes many forms; it is not always whips and chains and burnings.  Social disapproval, economic interference, litigation, and other forms of harassment can be very effective.  The world at large does not share our values.

"Martyr," from the Greek word, μάρτυρας, means "witness." Christians don't have a tradition of seeking to be martyrs.  We do have a tradition of at least some of us not flinching when called upon to witness.

The New York Same-Sex Marriage Vote

The State of New York, on Friday, 24 June 2011, became the sixth of the United States to legalize same-sex marriage.  This prompted a strong response from the Roman Catholic bishop of New York, Timothy Dolan.

“We strongly uphold the Catholic Church's clear teaching that we always treat our homosexual brothers and sisters with respect, dignity and love. But we just as strongly affirm that marriage is the joining of one man and one woman in a lifelong, loving union that is open to children, ordered for the good of those children and the spouses themselves.

“This definition cannot change, though we realize that our beliefs about the nature of marriage will continue to be ridiculed, and that some will even now attempt to enact government sanctions against churches and religious organizations that preach these timeless truths.

“We worry that both marriage and the family will be undermined by this tragic presumption of government in passing this legislation that attempts to redefine these cornerstones of civilization.

“Our society must regain what it appears to have lost - a true understanding of the meaning and the place of marriage, as revealed by God, grounded in nature, and respected by America's foundational principles.”  Timothy Dolan, Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York

I applaud Archbishop Dolan for his strong statement.  He is correct that there may be consequences for the stand.  The most obvious would be attempts to remove tax exempt status from churches which refuse to accept the legislation.  We must be willing to accept persecution for the truth without wilting.  We do not have a spirit of fear.

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More on tax-exempt status, homosexuality, persecution, and marriage later.

Film Comment: Kike Like Me

"Kike" is an ethnic slur word directed against Jews. Most dictionaries say it's origin is unknown but Leo Rosten (1908-1997) in The Joys of Yiddish (1968) says that it arose on Ellis Island among the Jewish immigrants who who were registered there. Since many of the immigrants were illiterate, when they were asked to "make their mark" during the registration process they chose to draw a circle (Yiddish "kikel") rather than an "X" because they thought the "X" looked like a cross. The term became an affectionate word among the Yiddish immigrants and only later became a slur. (Much like the evolution of "guapo" into "wop.")

The title of Kike Like Me (2007) is a play on the title of the 1964 film, Black Like Me. Director Jamie Kastner sets out to examine the question, "What does it mean to be perceived as Jewish?"

Kastner travels to a Lubavitcher seminary in Brooklyn, conducts a failed interview with Pat Buchanan, visits an ethnically "tolerant" mixed suburb of Paris, and goes to see Auschwitz. Along the way he talks to Jews and non-Jews about being Jewish.

The documentary is at the same time humorous and uncomfortable, itchy even. Kastner becomes progressively more shocked and sarcastic. He is unable to complete his tour of Auschwitz, stopping before he sees the ovens. He is sickened that it has become a tacky tourist destination. It even has a gift shop.

Kastner becomes prickly about being asked if he is Jewish. He insinuates that to ask "Are you Jewish?" is anti-Semitic. He thinks it influences how people react to and treat others. The events in the film seem to show that it does.

There have been times when being asked if you were a Christian has been a dangerous question to answer. We should all consider what our answer would be if those times were to return for us.

Persecution as Fertilizer

In 1949 there were 700,000 Christians in China. Then the atheist Red Communists took over and proceeded to squash religion except for those who recognized their authority and obeyed them. Non-registered churches were banned. As a result there are now 25-30 million Christians in China.

News: Chinese Christian Pastors Given Prison Time

In Linfen City, Shanxi Province, China, on 25 November 2009, Yang Rongli and four other house church pastors were sentenced to multiple years of prison time for "illegally occupying farming land" and "disturbing transportation order by gathering masses." Thier real crime was refusing to register their churches and accept governmental control of their worship services and other activities.