'COVID-19' Tagged Posts
Remote Work and the Church
The covid-19 pandemic forced changes in where we work. Many people now tele-commute to the office from the comfort of their home through platforms like Zoom. There has been a rise of “digital nomads,” people living on the road, working wherever they want. Work has changed in the last two years. Since work has changed, how has this affected the church? Where is the church for the remote worker? Can you be a remote worker and a professing believer in…
The Existential Threat to the Church
Politicians claim the existential threat to our world is climate change. What is the existential threat to the church? I believe the existential threat to the church is failing to define herself biblically. And the pandemic has brought this threat to the surface like never before. When COVID-19 hit last March, most evangelical churches quickly moved their services online. To be sure, live streaming services existed before the pandemic, but it became mainstream during the pandemic. And live streaming has…
The Father of Lights in a Changing World
In James 1:17 a curious title is given to God. God is called “the Father of lights.” Why does James call God “the Father of lights”? James calls God “the Father of lights” because he wants to communicate that God is unchanging. But how does God as “the Father of lights” relate to him being unchanging? Since God is the creator of the lights—the sun, moon, and stars, He does not change. The creation experiences constant change. Even in the lights. The…
Government Leaders Serve God
One of the throw-away lines that often gets missed in a discussion about civil government appears in Romans 13:6: “rulers are servants of God.” This line, and the truth behind it, ought to seem radical if you know a little bit of the history of Christianity. In the history of Christianity, various positions with respect to the government have been proposed. Some have embraced a position that Christians are forbidden to serve in civil government office. Others have embraced a position that…
Civil Government Is Not a Human Creation
In Romans 13:1 Paul states: “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” At least one implication can be drawn from this verse: civil government is not fundamentally a human creation. I say this because in political theory, several theories of government origin exist, to name a few: Government exists because of the consent of the governed Government exists because of an…
Longing to Be Clothed
The changes to our lives brought about by COVID-19, one being the ability not to meet in person, has us longing to be clothed. What in the world do I mean? In 2 Corinthians 5 we read: “For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with…
How Long, O Lord?
Recently, I have been asking myself the question, as I’m sure you have too: “How long, O Lord,” will this social distancing/shelter-in-place order last? At this point, we do not know. And not knowing is driving us crazy! Of course, if you have read the last paragraph with attentiveness, and if you’re familiar with the Bible, particularly the Psalms, you know that I made an allusion to an often repeated line: “How long, O Lord” (Psalm 13:1; 79:5; 89:46). Take,…