#47 At Issue: Church Closings by Government

3/23/20
According to Jason J. McGuire, New Yorkers For Constitutional Freedom, Gov. Cuomo has NOT ordered the cancellation of church meetings that would contain 50 or less people. At the same time he highly recommends using computer programs to “meet” while people stay home. Granted, most church services would have more than 50 attendees, but this order is not singling out the Christian faith but rather pertains to ALL groups.

Some Christians are encouraging others to defy the order and attend church services. They claim that it would be a sign that they have faith rather than fear. Would this attitude be similar to “putting the Lord to a foolish test” as was the temptation flung at Jesus by Satan while in the wilderness? There are some cults that go out of their way to allow themselves to handle or be bitten by poisonous snakes in order to show their faith. But even though St. Paul shook off a poisonous snake while on an island and had no ill effects, he did not GO OUT OF HIS WAY to get bit.

One major criticism of Christianity over the years is that believers ignore or have disdain for science, and by defying orders to not assemble for a while will underscore this attitude. Can you imagine what many would think if Christians who met in masse began to spread this virus to others?

If our government made a law that forbade our gathering together in any way, that would be unconstitutional. If our government eroded into communism and passed this restriction, I assume we would still meet like the underground churches do in other countries. Jesus said the “gates of Hades will not prevail against His Church.”

Romans Chapter 13 tells us to obey the government. This assumes it’s not telling us to sin. In our current case, our government is trying to protect all people, not stamp out Christianity. I know some will say, “Yes, but this how how suppression begins…and then begins the slippery slope downward.” I am fully aware of this form of deception genesis, but I do not see that spirit operating here with this issue of health safety. For those defiant believers: Do you also not wash your hands or cover your sneezes because you have faith that God will protect you and others? Are they also always protected by God to not catch a highly contagious disease? We cannot return to the horrible feudal days where sanitation methods were not yet developed and millions died via plagues that could have been prevented.

So I think that we Christians need to allow the Holy Spirit to probe our motivations that dictate our stances and convictions. Allowing this probe, however, is difficult to do properly when emotion runs strong. So unless we empty ourselves (opinions/thoughts/biases) totally before the Almighty, it is difficult to hear His Spirit speak.

The Root of Mankind’s Problems is Deeper Than Most Think

By Dave Scheer, 7/5/19

The moment I surrendered my whole life to Jesus Christ in 1970 is when many lights suddenly turned on. One of them was the answer to “Why is there war?” Soon after I knew why there is so much evil in this world and is conducted by the most intelligent life form on earth. There’s a paradox for the intelligent ones. Humanism asserts that “God” is irrelevant and man can fix his problems through education and some sort of enlightenment. But where has this gotten us so far? Knowledge has increased dramatically just as the Old Testament Daniel prophesied in Chapter 12:4. If humanism is true, we should be getting better and creating a safer world for human habitation…but the opposite is happening.

We can get further revelation from Psalms 9:15 which states, “The nations have sunk down in the pit which they have made, in the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.” Verse 17 says, “The wicked will return to Sheol (nether world) even all nations who forget God.” Then in verses 19 & 20 King David prays, “Arise O Lord, do not let man prevail…Let the nations know that they are but men.” Finally Proverbs 14:12 sums up our problem by declaring, “There is a way which seems right to a man but its end is the way of death.” 

So the root of mankind’s problem is runs deeper than most think. We have rejected God and His Word in the very beginning of history and have “inherited” the same problem. That is, in our inner (and often times “buried”) rebellion against a Holy Creator, we try to live apart from Him. In our dark blindness we feel no need for Him leaving our only alternative, that is, to strive to get better on our OWN. But we have not been designed this way. The real tragedy is that God, in His love for us, provided the way back to Him by demonstrating the greatest love in and beyond the universe, and many are those who reject or ignore this. He Himself came as a human, left all His power and glory behind, suffered and atoned for all our sin on the Cross and then rose from the dead to prove His authority over death. WHAT OTHER HUMAN HAS EVER DONE ALL THIS? If we pray and acknowledge our sinful state and surrender all to Him, He is faithful to forgive and give us eternal life beyond the grave. This is NOT about religion and being “religious” (trying to obey rules). This is about restoring a lost relationship. And BTW, this is why we all physically die. Sin got us, but His unfailing love conquers all our imperfections…if we surrender…. Why this extreme surrender? Because we do not need tweaking, we need a heart transplant, and only Jesus has the authority to give it. -John 3:16; 14:6. WE MUST TELL MANY OTHERS ABOUT WHAT GOD HAS DONE THROUGH JESUS.