Any time we hear a sermon like the one I delivered last week, we (me included) are bound to hear one thing and, because we are struck by it, don’t hear the next thing. Nothing wrong with that – it’s human nature. So I thought I would reiterate a few comments from Sunday: We are […]
Christians know that the wheels of justice should not move slowly (Eccl. 8:11), and yet so often it does. Sometimes the injustices of this cursed world are not made right until the end. Yet God has appointed means for justice now – police, and judges. The court cases that the COVID lockdown orders have spawned […]
Note: After posting the article below, the Sacramento County Health Department made a comment similar in spirit to that of Sheriff Scott: “Sacramento County has continued to take an education over enforcement stance with the local public health order.” You can read that here: https://m.facebook.com/SacramentoCounty/posts/3446100245444038 In light of the Governor’s (now densely hypocritical) limiting of […]
Introduction The lack of toilet paper at Costco tells the story: we may be headed for more stringent lockdowns soon. Trials of a certain kind may return. Yes James still says, tersely, directly, in James 1: “Count it all joy.” Perhaps there’s joy to be had in a protracted lockdown after all? It Depends . […]
Greetings! I’m writing to tell you about our plan for indoor worship this Sunday. As always, the elders will review our approach on Sunday night. Please let us know if you have any feedback or suggestions. We know that there is a spectrum of opinion regarding COVID itself, and the government’s lockdown. At the same […]
It seems to me a good time to remind you or reiterate some of our thinking behind our responses to COVID and the government’s orders. From the beginning, our default approach to COVID has been to follow the County health authorities’ guidelines. At the same time, we have intentionally not made commands to the congregation, […]
Introduction It seems at every point during this COVID lockdown, we are learning something, about ourselves. As Cinderella wisely taught us in the 80’s, you don’t know what you got (till it’s gone). Or until it’s threatened: so often in Salt Lake City we heard Christians say “I’ve learned so much about the gospel since […]
Introduction For the most part, our church and the Church have been submissive and compliant regarding the government COVID lockdown. You, we, have done well, and are to be commended for our sometimes-difficult submission to the governing authorities Christ has appointed for us. And we may see restrictions further lifted soon. This is good news. […]
You may have heard that Grace Community Church (GCC), pastored by John MacArthur, has disregarded the government’s lockdown orders. And you may remember that I disagreed with one basic foundation of their decision, in my video on civil disobedience. That disagreement still stands. And yet: We can have charity with each other, to disagree while […]
Today the governor prohibited churches from meeting indoors. This is obviously not the direction we hoped for. You can pray for the elders, as we discuss our next steps. But for now, for you who have put so much time and sweat into our new facility: Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding […]