With a new warning from the CDC against mass gatherings or events of 50 or more people over the next eight weeks, many churches are unprepared to provide online alternatives amid the new coronavirus pandemic, a recent study shows.

“Large events and mass gatherings can contribute to the spread of COVID-19 in the United States via travelers who attend these events and introduce the virus to new communities. Examples of large events and mass gatherings include conferences, festivals, parades, concerts, sporting events, weddings, and other types of assemblies. These events can be planned not only by organizations and communities but also by individuals,” the CDC said Sunday in their announcement about gatherings including church services.

“Therefore, CDC, in accordance with its guidance for large events and mass gatherings, recommends that for the next 8 weeks, organizers (whether groups or individuals) cancel or postpone in-person events that consist of 50 people or more throughout the United States,” the CDC added.

The CDC encouraged event organizers to shift to virtual meetings when possible to help protect vulnerable populations such as older adults and those with compromised immune systems. Many churches have been responding by moving church services online.

Research from the Nashville-based LifeWay Research conducted last fall found that just 22% of pastors livestream their entire service while about 10% livestream their sermon only. Some 41% of pastors admitted that they don’t post any portion of their church service online, while about 52% say they post the sermon online after the church service is complete.

Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research, said in a release to The Christian Post that churches with weekly attendance of more than 250, tend to be most prepared to offer services online but they are in the minority.

“If they need to, almost a third of churches can gather virtually this week using technology and processes they already have in place,” McConnell said.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Leonardo Blair

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This is Daniel Whyte III president of Gospel Light Society International with The Scripture & the Sense Podcast #447, where I read the Word of God and give the sense of it based on an authoritative commentary source such as the Bible Knowledge Commentary or Matthew Henry Commentary. This podcast is based upon Nehemiah 8:8 where it says Ezra and the Levites “read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.” The aim of this podcast is that through the simple reading of the Word of God and the giving of the sense of it, the church would be revived and the world would be awakened.

Today we are reading Amos 4:13.

13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The Lord, The God of hosts, is his name.

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That was Amos 4:13. Now here is the sense of it.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary reads:

Amos likened God’s terrifying approach in judgment to the darkening of a storm. The One who formed the mountains and created the wind now covered those high places with churning clouds. The early dawn turned back to eerie darkness as black swells unfolded to shroud the earth. The flash of lightning and the reverberation of thunder marked God’s ominous “tread” from one hilltop to another as He approached the Northern capital. God had revealed His thoughts to man; His intent to judge had been made known. Now, as the Lord God Almighty, Commander of all forces in heaven and earth, advanced against them. Their judgment was inescapable.

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Thank you for listening to the Scripture & The Sense Podcast. Remember to read the Word of God each and every day and pray without ceasing to God for wisdom to understand it and apply it to your life. Most importantly, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Please stay tuned for a complete presentation of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ so that you can get your soul saved from Hell to that wonderful place called Heaven when you die. May God bless you and keep you is my prayer.

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The Pope Did Say One Good Thing: ‘Don’t Waste These Difficult Days, Reconnect With Your Family’

“During these difficult days we can find small, concrete gestures expressing closeness and concreteness towards the people closest to us, a caress for our grandparents, a kiss for our children, for the people we love. These are important, decisive gestures. If we live these days like this, they won’t be wasted.”

Pope Francis spends his days in the Vatican following closely the news on the coronavirus emergency. Two days ago he went to Santa Maria Maggiore and to the church of San Marcello al Corso to pray. He tells la Repubblica what these days are teaching him.

Holy Father, what did you ask for when you prayed in the two Roman churches?
“I asked the Lord to stop the epidemic: Lord, stop it with your hand. That’s what I prayed for.”

How can one live these days so that they are not wasted?
“We must rediscover the concreteness of little things, small gestures of attention we can offer those close to us, our family, our friends. We must understand that in small things lies our treasure. These gestures of tenderness, affection, compassion, are minimal and tend to be lost in the anonymity of everyday life, but they are nonetheless decisive, important. For example, a hot meal, a caress, a hug, a phone call… They are familiar gestures of attention to the details of everyday life that make life meaningful and that create communion and communication amongst us”.

Isn’t it how we always live?
“Sometimes, we only experience a virtual form of communication with one another. Instead, we should discover a new closeness. More concrete relationships made of attention and patience. In their homes, families often eat together in great silence, but not as a result of listening to each other, rather because the parents watch television while they eat, and children are on their mobile phones. They look like monks, all isolated from each other. Here there is no communication, whereas listening to each other is important because that’s how we can understand the needs, efforts, desires of the other. This language made of concrete gestures must be safeguarded. In my opinion, the pain of these days should open us up to this concreteness”.

SOURCE: Repubblica, Paolo Rodari

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Some Evangelical leaders think the LGBTQ community is somehow linked to COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

On Wednesday, the Rev. Steven Andrew named March “Repent of LGBT Sin Month.”

“God’s love shows it is urgent to repent, because the Bible teaches homosexuals lose their souls and God destroys LGBT societies,” he said in a press release.

“Obeying God protects the USA from diseases, such as the Coronavirus,” said the anti-LGBTQ preacher, who has been nicknamed “Pastor Jazz Hands” for his somewhat theatrical way of speaking, as well as his pronounced lisp.

As pastor of USA Christian Church, Andrew is “focused on pastoring the nation to reaffirm covenant that the USA serves the Lord, with pastors nationwide,” according to a description on his website.

“Our safety is at stake, since national disobedience of God’s laws brings danger and diseases, such as coronavirus, but obeying God brings covenant protection (Exodus 15:26),” Andrew said. “God protects the USA from danger as the country repents of LGBT, false gods, abortion and other sins.”

According to the Right Wing Watch, fellow right-wing pastor, E.W. Jackson, said on his radio show earlier this week that the “homovirus” is devastating the American family and society.

SOURCE: New York Daily News, Muri Assunção

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An Orthodox Israeli rabbi has claimed the spread of the deadly coronavirus in Israel and around the world is divine retribution for gay pride parades.

The remarks by Rabbi Meir Mazuz, reported by the Israel Hayom daily on Sunday, drew condemnation from rights groups, including the Anti-Defamation League, which urged him to apologize.

An influential Sephardic rabbi, Mazuz is the former spiritual leader of the defunct ultra-nationalist and homophobic Yachad party, and is head of the Kiseh Rahamim yeshiva in Bnei Brak.

On Saturday night he gave a talk at the yeshiva, during which, according to the report, he said a pride parade is “a parade against nature, and when someone goes against nature, the one who created nature takes revenge on him.”

Mazuz said that countries all over the world are being called to account because of their gay pride events, “except for the Arab countries that don’t have this evil inclination.” That was why, he claimed — falsely suggesting there has only been one case of infection in the Arab world — they have not seen a spread of coronavirus.

The outbreak in Iran, one of the most serious in any country, he explained as being due to the wicked ways of Iranians and “their hatred of Israel.”

According to the newspaper, Mazuz had earlier claimed Israel would be protected from the coronavirus.

“It is regrettable that in times like these when the whole world comes together to eradicate coronavirus, Rabbi Mazuz finds it appropriate to blame the virus’s outbreak on the LGBTQ community. We harshly condemn his statements and urge him to apologize,” the ADL’s Israel branch said in a statement.

The modern Orthodox Ne’emanei Torah Va’Avodah group also condemned Mazuz’s remarks.

“Using this time of need to incite against the LGBT community is unacceptable. Trying to get people to return to religion cannot come at the price of harming others,” it said in a statement.

Israel has thus far had 39 cases of coronavirus, including 14 new cases announced on Sunday night, but no deaths.

Mazuz is no stranger to controversy or hateful rhetoric. In November 2015 he claimed gay pride parades and other forms of “sinful behavior” were the reason terrorists murdered Eitam and Naama Henkin on October 1, 2015.

At a memorial event for the Henkins, Mazuz said that their shooting death at the hands of Palestinian terrorists had been a form of divine retribution.

In 2016 Mazuz attributed the collapse of a Tel Aviv parking garage that killed six people and an explosion that destroyed the Amos-6 satellite to Shabbat desecration.

Israel has two major gay pride parades each year, one in Tel Aviv and another in the capital, Jerusalem, which is billed as promoting tolerance.

Source: The Times of Israel

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