The live streaming worship services that I have partaken in lately have been a blessing upon a blessing. I didn't have to share in the small talk before and after the services....there was no rush to get dressed and out of the house....and it was much easier to just let my eyes wander in the distance as I contemplated something said from the pastor....whereas normally I would let the heavenly concept pass....and possibly forget it later....as I did due diligence and paid attention to the next words our of the pastor's mouth.....if that makes sense?
As for the small talk....I've always found it out of place before a worship service....and more so afterwards. This is eternal life.....listening to God's Word preached! Oh I join in the small talk.....to be polite....and maybe not to become a pariah....but always feel that I diminished what was happening that day. I doubt if many or any agree with me on this.....but that's me.
It's disturbing what I see all around me in reaction to the slow opening up of the country during this coronavirus emergency. I witnessed one shouting match today.....heard of another....and read of another....and watched a video where two men my age were throwing paint on each other over a social distancing issue.
Where are we going with this? President Trump has used the word 'warriors' a number of times in the past few weeks. Talk radio does nothing but foment anger. The other side is no better. What will happen if this virus reignites? What will happen if it doesn't?
As for the churches....we are looking at this as if our freedom to worship is being taken away. It hasn't been a long time....the situation is in flux....and the stakes are high. As I watch this debate I'm seeing politics and not Christianity. I don't see people wanting desperately to worship their Savior....I see them desperately wanting their life back. A petition was supposedly signed by 1200 California pastors saying that they will have in-church services this weekend in defiance of their governor's order to remain closed. This isn't obeying God over man....this is politics. They are also making matters worse. This isn't Bonhoffer warning of the idolatry towards Hitler....or forming a Confessing Church. This is MAGA agenda stuff.
There probably will be a day when we are forced to worship secluded somewhere.....maybe out in the woods as John Bunyan was....and possibly soon....but we're not there yet....and we may be hastening it....herded as it were....rather than following a path. What we might do is warn of the idolatry in which we ourselves are involved.
Note: It's about a half hour video. I still have the VHS....and the television to view it....and I have many times over the past thirty or so years. In the video Bunyan preaches in the forest....barred from the pulpit....because of what he would preach if in the pulpit ....and therein is the
Key! You can watch it also if you like by Googling.....John Bunyan, The Preacher, YouTube.
As for the small talk....I've always found it out of place before a worship service....and more so afterwards. This is eternal life.....listening to God's Word preached! Oh I join in the small talk.....to be polite....and maybe not to become a pariah....but always feel that I diminished what was happening that day. I doubt if many or any agree with me on this.....but that's me.
It's disturbing what I see all around me in reaction to the slow opening up of the country during this coronavirus emergency. I witnessed one shouting match today.....heard of another....and read of another....and watched a video where two men my age were throwing paint on each other over a social distancing issue.
Where are we going with this? President Trump has used the word 'warriors' a number of times in the past few weeks. Talk radio does nothing but foment anger. The other side is no better. What will happen if this virus reignites? What will happen if it doesn't?
As for the churches....we are looking at this as if our freedom to worship is being taken away. It hasn't been a long time....the situation is in flux....and the stakes are high. As I watch this debate I'm seeing politics and not Christianity. I don't see people wanting desperately to worship their Savior....I see them desperately wanting their life back. A petition was supposedly signed by 1200 California pastors saying that they will have in-church services this weekend in defiance of their governor's order to remain closed. This isn't obeying God over man....this is politics. They are also making matters worse. This isn't Bonhoffer warning of the idolatry towards Hitler....or forming a Confessing Church. This is MAGA agenda stuff.
There probably will be a day when we are forced to worship secluded somewhere.....maybe out in the woods as John Bunyan was....and possibly soon....but we're not there yet....and we may be hastening it....herded as it were....rather than following a path. What we might do is warn of the idolatry in which we ourselves are involved.
Note: It's about a half hour video. I still have the VHS....and the television to view it....and I have many times over the past thirty or so years. In the video Bunyan preaches in the forest....barred from the pulpit....because of what he would preach if in the pulpit ....and therein is the
Key! You can watch it also if you like by Googling.....John Bunyan, The Preacher, YouTube.
