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DULUTH, Ga. (BP) — By now there are very few places untouched by the lifestyle changes required to adjust to COVID-19. Travel restrictions and social distancing seem to be common bywords, and that affects how we think about missions in the near future.

So how does an evangelical Christian balance the call to be missional and yet maintain a social responsibility in a pandemic situation?

William Carey is called the father of the modern missions movement. When Carey first introduced his “Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens” in the late 18th century, his treatise was not given a warm reception by every single church member. In fact, some felt that living missionally through “means” was antithetical to faith in God’s sovereignty. However, the Bible and church history side with Carey to teach us that to follow Christ is to use the means He gives for the moment He allows.

When Jesus commissioned the first 120 believers of Jerusalem with the task of global mission (Matt 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; 1:15), He knew some of them would be impeded from actually getting out of town (Luke 21:12). The persecution He promised, though, would still be a part of His plan to put the Gospel in front of kings and governors. It would simply be a different means of getting His message where He wanted it go.

Paul’s missionary method sometimes involved going on trips, but sometimes it involved staying to train others (Acts 19:9-10). Moreover, Paul did missions even when his Roman imprisonment delayed him from “going” to Spain (Rom. 15:24), especially as some of the most missional epistles were written during this time. The perceived delays simply opened up a different means for the spread of the Gospel.

With current social distancing, we now meet a more formidable opponent to our usual face-to-face missional experiences. Flights are cancelled. Borders are closed. So, what should we use to continue living out the Great Commission? I’d like to propose four means:

1. Personal Technology. We now have at our disposal the technological means for communication in a way that Paul couldn’t dream. William Carey may have had no idea that the 21st century would be granted with such technological advances that we might literally reach any single lost soul in the world within minutes.

Our phones still work. We can call friends living overseas and be acquainted with their friends with similar likes or careers. We can talk to church leaders in Peru, pastors in Ecuador, or deacons in Guatemala with words of encouragement and/or training. And personally, we can find a long-distance friend with whom we can share the gospel.

Source: Baptist Press

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Though President Donald Trump has publicly identified as a Presbyterian and Protestant, and is often associated with evangelical leaders, there is a wide range of opinions among Americans about the details of his religious beliefs and practices, Pew Research Center says.

The polling agency reports that its research into Trump’s religion reveals that half of American adults say they’re either “not sure what his religion is (34 percent) or that he has no religion (16 percent),” while “just 33 percent say he’s Protestant.”

Overall, the report said, Americans “don’t think Trump is particularly religious.” Most say the president is “not too” (23 percent) or “not at all” (40 percent) religious. More than one-in-four (28 percent) say he’s “somewhat” religious, and less than one-in-ten – only 7 percent – say he’s “very religious,” according to the survey. Just more than a third (34 percent) express uncertainty about Trump’s specific religious affiliation.

The Pew report says Trump, a self-identified Presbyterian, is the ninth president to be affiliated with that Protestant faith group. A 2015 CNN report, published just over two months after Trump declared his candidacy, says that Trump attended First Presbyterian Church in the Jamaica neighborhood of New York’s Queens Borough. The report said he was confirmed there, according to a statement from the church, which was founded over 350 years ago.

Later, the report said, Trump attended Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, which was founded in 1628. Norman Vincent Peale, author of The Power of Positive Thinking, was pastor of the church for 52 years from 1932-1984. Peale died in late 1993.

Trump “had a longstanding history” with the church where “his parents were for years active members and one of his children was baptized,” according to a statement from the church quoted in the report. The statement acknowledged at the time that Trump was “not an active member.” And now, Pew says, “Trump does not regularly attend a Presbyterian church.”

He associates with leaders in a range of faith groups, Pew says, including Paula White, his spiritual adviser, who previously led a Pentecostal-leaning church. Others include Southern Baptist leader Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church, Dallas.

Despite these and other public associations, Pew says that “fewer than half of Americans associate him with Christianity or, more specifically, Protestantism.”

Source: Christian Headlines

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During this unprecedented time in the world, it is vitally important that the people of God continue to raise one voice of praise even when we cannot join together in person. We are excited to invite you to a unique online night of worship and encouragement that you can experience from your own home.

Please join us for Generate Nation’s streaming event, The Power of Perspective: Lost and Found, hosted by Tony and Lois Evans’ four adult children as they carry God’s Word forward to the next generation.

Anthony Evans will lead us in worship. Anthony was featured on NBC’s The Voice and now leads thousands in worship as a solo artist and as a worship leader for churches and conferences around the world.

Following worship, we will be encouraged by a discussion between Anthony Evans, Jonathan Evans, Chrystal Hurst, and Priscilla Shirer. Jonathan is a sought-after speaker and teacher and serves as the chaplain for the Dallas Cowboys. Chrystal follows her mother’s legacy leading the Pastors’ Wives Ministry at The Urban Alternative. Priscilla is a nationally recognized speaker and author and leads Going Beyond Ministries.

This is a streaming event you won’t want to miss, so please register today and join us at 7:00 p.m. CT on March 28.

SOURCE: The Urban Alternative

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Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is pleading with Liberty University’s president to reconsider a move reopening the campus during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying it’s risking lives and sending students the wrong message.

Liberty University President Jerry Falwell, Jr. said this week the campus would reopen for students and employees, although classes would continue to be given online.

As of Thursday, 460 people statewide had tested positive for the coronavirus and 13 had died.

“We have heard too many mixed messages around the country about COVID-19, and this is yet another example,” Northam said at a press conference. “Our message has been clear and it will continue to be clear: Stay home unless you have to leave for essential reasons. We appreciate our colleges and universities making accommodation for students with special cases. But that is very different from inviting students to leave their homes and come back to campus.”

Northam also quoted Scripture.

“As we are told in First Corinthians, ‘It is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful,’” he said, referencing 1 Corinthians 4:2. “Proving faithful means providing clear and consistent guidance. And it means respecting the duty that Liberty University has to its students, its staff, the Lynchburg community in which it is located, and our commonwealth.”

Source: Christian Headlines

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In a message on Sunday, Pastor David Jeremiah questioned the biblical implications of COVID-19 as a sign of biblical prophecy.

“Is there a connection between COVID-19 and the End Times?” Jeremiah, pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California, asked in his Sunday sermon, according to The Christian Post.

“Are we living in the last days before the return of Jesus Christ?” he questioned.

“Is all that is happening to us at this moment a sign that the world is coming to an end? How do we know if the coronavirus is a sign?”

The founder of Turning Point Radio and Television Ministries defined a “biblical sign” as an “event or a symbol or an object or a place, or a person whose existence indicates something important on God’s plan for the future.”

While he affirmed Jesus’ words of future signs, Jeremiah also acknowledged that Jesus said no one knows the “day or hour” of His return.

“If someone tells you they know when Jesus is coming back,” he said, “you can tell them absolutely that’s not possible.”

Jeremiah then points to six signs indicated by Jesus to determine “if we’re in that time.”

The signs include deception by false Christs, disputes and warfare among nations, deliverance of believers to tribulation, the defection of false believers and the declaration of the Gospel to the whole world.

“Is this a sign of the Second Coming of Christ? I cannot say with any sense of certainty that it is. But neither can I say with any certainty that it is not. It could be the early evidence of number three on Jesus’ sign list, the coming of pestilence,” Jeremiah urged.

Jesus refers to what will happen at the end of the age as a “pestilence” (Luke 21:11).

According to Merriam Webster, pestilence is defined as a “contagion or infectious epidemic that is virulent and devastating.”

“That’s a pretty good description of what’s going on right now,” Jeremiah said.

“Jesus said this pestilence would arrive like ‘birth pains,’” he continued. “This means that it will increase in frequency and intensity in the time leading up to His return.”

He added that increased future outbreaks will “impact more people, and be more deadly. This is what the coronavirus threatens to do.”

Source: Christian Headlines

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