What Message?

Even though we may find ourselves beset by negativity and fear, yet believers in Christ can be devoted to relating God's story of redemption and peace through Him. Titus 2 states:
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,
13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ...

Rejoice!  The grace of God is here, and Christ has come with salvation for everyone!  What an incredible message that we have been entrusted to share.  In a world that communicates to us fear and death, we can reach out in faith to our Lord and recognize the hope and clarity that He gives. We can also look for ways we can communicate that message of restoration and reconciliation to others.  Because Jesus has come, those who come to Him can find salvation and the healing of our relationship with God.

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We can have hope in the Lord, and our words and the way we live should display the hope that we have through salvation. 1st Peter 1 encourages us to adopt this posture:
17 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear;

18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,
19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

One of the more popular videos on the Faith Radio YouTube channel is a conversation with John Lennox and Kevin Sorbo, who teamed up to make the movie, Against the Tide, which is now available through AgainstTheTide.movie.  It's a movie centered around an ardent defender of truth, Oxford professor John Lennox and the narrator and interviewer in the film, actor Kevin Sorbo.

Kevin and wife Sam have acquired a reputation as communicators of God's truth.  And, a recent Christian Post article opens up this way:

Actors Kevin and Sam Sorbo say the media played a "pivotal role" in helping to get abortion legalized nationwide in 1973 and encouraged Christians to use new media to combat the lies and censorship of today's mainstream press and big tech.

The couple was interviewed at a premiere of the Roe vs. Wade movie, and Sam is quoted as saying, "Media tells the story and stories are compelling and they're convicting. But they're also very convincing,” adding, “You'll see in the movie, the media played the pivotal role in this whole saga, telling a lie, a story about a young woman that was an outright lie. Then perpetuating this myth that it's not a human being, that it's a clump of cells, that the young woman will never have to think about it again. All of these other stories that they tell, and none of which are true.”

Kevin, who has found himself banned from Facebook, offers encouragement in fighting media censorship and misinformation, saying: "We got to fight back...," even though people have the opinion that "media owns everything" and respond with apathy.  Sorbo adds, "I think we just got to raise our voice and be a little more strong...We have to have the same passion...without the hate and anger and divisiveness. We just have to have the same strong passion.”

So, he, like his wife, Sam, and his friend, Professor Lennox, is devoted to speaking truth.  And, so should we, in the way that God directs.  The Sorbos also do that through movies.  Kevin, in fact, is featured in a new film called, The Girl Who Believes in Miracles, which is described by ChristianHeadlines.com:

...telling the story of a young girl in a small town who hears her pastor preach about faith and begins praying for miracles – both big and small. God heals multiple people, sparking attention from both the community and the media.

Kevin Sorbo, who plays the role of a doctor in the film, states, "I think what this movie shows is that we need the faith of a child. We need that innocence," adding, "Because as we get older ... I think a lot of people just become jaded, and they just sort of give up and don't pay attention. I think miracles happen every day. Just because you're not walking in water, it can still be a miracle. How many times have you read stories about doctors saying, 'It's a miracle. I don't know how they survived; they should have died'?"

Sorbo says that he thinks more movies with a "positive message" should be made, and relates, "I like movies that deal with redemption," adding, "I think that that's the biggest thing we need in the world right now, more than anything else. People with all their anger and hate – I think a lot of it comes from the fact that they feel lost and have nowhere to turn to. Redemption is a great message out there for people, and this movie offers it."

There are several considerations as we think on what the Sorbos are saying about the messages that are being disseminated.  First of all, we can reflect on what we are doing to communicate the accurate message of the gospel.  That's why personal study and exposure to strong Bible teaching are important, so that we might be built up in our walk with God.

Our walk should be characterized by faith and hope rather than fear and despair.  We should be joyful in our demeanor and reflect a love for Christ and for others.  We will encounter suffering in our life, but we can reach out to God in order that we might experience His joy in the midst of it. 

We can also consider whether or not our demeanor causes people to want to know our Savior. We are called and empowered to reflect His light, and the presence of Jesus through us can be used by Him to draw people to Him.  We can be cognizant of the power and opportunity to communicate His truth with compassion and conviction.

After the Pandemic

The apostle Paul had been informed about the expression of the love of Christ through the people of the church of Colosse, and this motivated him to pray in this way...
9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God...

This is the model, a picture painted by Paul, of what the Christian life ideally should be.  We have the capacity to be "fully pleasing Him," which involves being fruitful - that comes as we abide in Christ and allow Him to produce fruit through us to the glory of God.  Even in affliction - and the Church has certainly had its share in the past year - we can recognize that God has been and is still moving and desires to show Himself faithful to and through His people.

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In the book of 2nd Peter, chapter 3, the writer encourages believers to be steadfast in the Lord and devoted to growing spiritually. Peter writes:
(15) ...consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation--as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,
16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked;
18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

Even though there is great optimism that the end of the coronavirus is approaching, still there will be months until we reach the point of normalcy or a new normalcy.  And, what will the Church look like at that time?

I remembered my conversation with Arnie Cole last year about that topic. He is the CEO of Back to the Bible and Director of Research for the Center for Bible Engagement.  In a press release issued last May, there were the three main areas listed that his organization anticipated that churches would face:

(1) a dip in weekly worship attendance among regular weekly attenders, (2) an increase in online attendance when the pandemic ends, and (3) an increase in traffic from occasional attenders.

The release gives this background on those three projections:

Cole has learned from earlier congregation studies that 60 to 80% of the people sitting in the pews on a given Sunday are people who attend every week. The remaining 20 to 40% do so at most once or twice a month. "With this in mind we anticipate that many churches will see a dip in weekly worship attendance, post-pandemic, and those with the highest concentrations of regular weekly attenders will see the largest decreases," he explains. "But on the positive side, churches can expect to see a portion of their occasional attenders more often."

The report included a number of statistics; for instance, it states: 

Cole reports that 68% are participating in online worship services during the lock down period. Most (77%) anticipate that their church attendance will be the same after the pandemic. A minority (16%) expect to attend more often and 7% anticipate attending less. Considering the data for both regular and occasional attenders, most churches can expect a decrease in attendance and a high percentage of people who used to attend only occasionally.

One of the key points: "Among those who attended church in person before, 21 to 44% expect to watch more online when the pandemic ends."

Again, this is a projection.  I acknowledge that conditions have perhaps changed since this survey last year. And, while these may contribute to the formation of a model for anticipating what could occur, our churches have strategic decisions that they will have to make.  Surviving COVID is one thing, but how to move forward is something else entirely, and our church leaders need prayer and the direction of the Holy Spirit. 

But, there is certainly ministry opportunity here - one of the interesting points of Cole's research is that there is the anticipation that the more infrequent worship attendees may come back to a stronger degree.  That being said, then it's important to establish communication in order to move them from infrequent to frequent.  That's really a challenge for all churches, isn't it?  The church certainly grows by adding members through conversion, but involving members in greater levels of participation and discipleship becomes a challenge.  

Personally, we can also consider how we move forward and grow in our Christian life.  None of us should be standing still - otherwise, as it's been pointed out, the currents of this world will cause us to drift backward.  We can increase our participation in the things of God, exhibiting spiritual growth, and if we have lost ground during the pandemic, it's a good time to reclaim our position and grow deeper.

Freedom and Retaliation

Human beings have been given incredible opportunities and choices - God Himself has granted us a free will and He does not coerce us to follow Jesus. But, He has certainly offered us the opportunity to do so, and it is absolutely the best way to live! 2nd Corinthians 3 says:
16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

We have freedom in Jesus Christ: we have been set free from the power of sin and have been brought under the power of God's Spirit, enabling us to walk in righteousness.  Because we know Christ, we can be known for our devotion to upholding the dignity of the individual, supporting the right to life and being purveyors of Biblical justice.  We should place the needs of others above ourselves, but not to support wrong choices - we can lovingly show the mercy of Christ to those who choose not to follow Him.

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We can be vigorous defenders of religious liberty, as defined by the Scriptures, and be bold in speaking out. Galatians 5 tells us:
13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!

By now you've probably heard about the story that has shaken the sports world and revealed an uncomfortable intersection of sports and politics.  Georgia lawmakers, like legislators in other states, passed a bill that, as Governor Kemp said makes it "easier to vote and harder to cheat."  Georgia is one of the so-called battleground states in which allegations of improprieties in the 2020 election were circulated.  This new law includes a voter ID provision.

Leaders in the political, corporate, and sports worlds were quick to criticize the bill, and Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred announced that the 2021 All-Star Game scheduled for Atlanta would be moved.  This is ironic because some of the more visible critics of the bill have now brought economic retribution on themselves and their state.  Self-inflicted punishment.

It's been speculated that all this hullabaloo has been perpetrated in order to gin up support for HR1, the so-called "For the People Act," which would essentially federalize the U.S. election system.  

But, Cobb County, Georgia, where the site of the game was to be, anticipates it could lose $100 million in revenue as the result. So, there are real negative consequences.

So, is there a faith angle here - absolutely, when you consider the hypocrisy that has been pointed out - it is no secret that American sports leagues, such as the NBA and MLB, are intent on expanding their footprint to Communist China.  You may remember that back in 2019, when an NBA team executive spoke out in favor of Hong Kong's moves toward democracy, the Chinese government retaliated against the Association. 

The government of China has certainly shown their disdain for Christians and others, such as the Muslim, Uyghurs, who dare to embrace a worldview that is different than the state-sanctioned one.  But, punishing an American state, with the blessing of the President, seems to be more important than trying to get China to change its position on human rights, with real people facing persecution for their faith.

A Washington Examiner piece summarizes the situation well:

China, after unleashing a global pandemic, carrying out a genocide, and rendering Hong Kong voters' voices meaningless? They don't really seem to care.

It adds that the President has "led the way" on the All-Star Game situation, and states, "Apparently, expanding voting opportunities in Georgia is boycott-worthy, but China’s genocide against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang is not such a big deal. China hosts the 2022 Winter Olympics, and Biden remains unable even to threaten a boycott over human rights."

And, FoxNews.com highlighted the hypocrisy, amplified by a case of bad timing:

Major League Baseball is protesting a democratically passed Georgia voting law while bolstering ties with a Communist Party-backed Chinese company that cracked down on an NBA executive who supported the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.

Senator Marco Rubio tweeted out in response:

"@MLB caves to pressure & moves draft & #AllStarGame out of Georgia on the same week they announce a deal with a company backed by the genocidal Communist Party of #China," he tweeted. "Why are we still listening to these woke corporate hypocrites on taxes, regulations & anti-trust?"

John Stonestreet pointed out in a Breakpoint commentary last year:

Beijing’s treatment of the Uighur minority in Xinjiang Province qualifies, in every way, as genocide. Writing in Newsweek, Israeli Human Rights Lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky didn’t hesitate to call the Communist Party’s actions “genocide,” pointing especially to the “forced sterilizations, abortions and intrusive birth prevention.” These actions alone meet the requirement for genocide and have led to “the population growth rates in the two largest Uyghur prefectures [to fall] by 84% between 2015 and 2018.”

But there’s more.

According to the State Department, “Over a million Uighurs have now been detained by China in camps, where they are starved, abused, tortured, electrocuted, raped and even killed.” Recent video footage showed “Uighurs, with heads shaven, being blindfolded, shackled and herded onto trains, headed for these camps.”

Unfortunately, criticism of the Chinese government may be on its way to becoming unacceptable speech - in light of reported violence against Asian-Americans, and judging from the harsh response against former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee for a tweet last weekend pointing out MLB's and other corporations' hypocrisy concerning China, will it eventually be regarded as racist to be critical of China?  

And, for those concerned with religious freedom, consider how the current Administration is now pulling back on the worldwide religious freedom principles put in place by the previous Administration, essentially equating religious freedom with so-called "reproductive freedom," which offers no rights to the unborn baby?  I guess you could laud China for its devotion to this type of "freedom," considering its one-child policy that was in place for many years?

Faithwire reports:

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will restructure America’s top priorities around the globe in order to focus on more progressive and liberal pet issues, such as abortion and LGBTQ activism.

Friendly descriptions of the shift in focus can be found throughout the media, such as characterizing issues conservatives champion (like religious freedom) as opposed to human rights.

And, two U.S. representatives from a religious freedom body were sanctioned recently from traveling to China, Hong Kong, and Macao, according to CNBC.com:

The Chinese sanctions target the chair and vice chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Gayle Manchin and Tony Perkins. The USCIRF has condemned China’s treatment of the Uyghur Muslim population in Xinjiang and endorsed recent U.S. sanctions against Chinese officials.

Even this was a bridge too far for Secretary of State Blinken.  The CNBC reports said:

The U.S. condemned the sanctions in a late Saturday statement released by the State Department, calling the measures “baseless.”

It's a crazy world in which we live in which the First Amendment principle of religious freedom is considered equal to the mythical woman's right to take the life of a baby.  Or to engage in the sinful behavior of homosexuality.  The tendency is to lash out in anger or retaliation, which is counterproductive; but, we can and should express our convictions when freedom is under assault and "rights" are being turned upside down.

Fact is, we should always find ourselves on the side of being a champion for true human rights - when defined in the right way as determined by the Scripture.  We should be in favor of racial harmony and Biblical justice, but we should not be involved in assigning racial motives when none exist. To require an ID in order to vote is not a racist act, and recent polling data shows Americans of a variety of races support it.  Untruths should not be cloaked under a false racial curtain.  The Washington Examiner reports that: "New polling shows that a large majority supports voter ID laws that require individuals to show a photo identification before voting, including almost 70% of black voters." In mid-March, the website reported:

The poll, released on Wednesday by Rasmussen Reports, found that 75% believe photo identification should be presented before voting and that 69% of black voters support voter ID laws.

We should be concerned about preserving the right to vote and upholding election integrity. We should be concerned about the right to life of an unborn baby to. And, we can defend the right to religious liberty: for people to practice their faith without fear of persecution. 

Directed and Empowered

After His resurrection, Jesus promised the power of the Holy Spirit to be made available to those who would believe in Him - but this was not a new concept; in fact, in John 14, He said:
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--
17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

We have a mighty Helper who goes with us, but the pull of the flesh is strong, attempting to lure us to reject that help and to try to navigate this life on our own.  He has given us His Spirit to empower and equip us to walk in His way, a way that is shown to us by the "Spirit of truth."  So, the Holy Spirit directs us and He gives us the ability to fulfill what He has directed.  We can be bold and brave because Christ lives in us by His Spirit.

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It was highlighted recently on The Meeting House that the same power that resurrected the Lord Jesus 
dwells in the hearts of those who believe in Him. In the face of opposition, we can allow the Spirit to govern our responses...Romans 8 says:
11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors--not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

The tension over COVID restrictions on churches in Canada, specifically the province of Alberta, has had several flashpoints.  Just this past weekend, authorities entered the Street Church in Calgary, and according to the Christian Post website, "Pastor Artur Pawłowski...shared a video of an encounter he had with local police and government officials who entered the church during a Passover celebration on Saturday."

According to the article:

Pawlowski told the officials that he would refuse to speak with them “until you came back with a warrant.” He called them “Nazis,” repeatedly telling them, “Gestapo is not allowed here.” When they refused to leave the church, he asked them, “Do you understand English?”

Other instances of Canadian enforcement of coronavirus rules on churches were outlined in the article, which stated: 

A church in the eastern province of Ontario was fined $83,000 for holding a worship service with more than 10 people.

Canadian Pastor James Coates of Edmonton, Alberta, was arrested in February for holding worship services in violation of his province’s public health guidelines. He spent about a month in jail before his release last month. He is currently awaiting his trial set to begin in May.

This incident prompted Franklin Graham to write on his Facebook page, "...I appreciate his boldness and tenacity in standing up for the rights of his church when police showed up without a search warrant...This is a reminder that, if we’re not careful, the coronavirus pandemic could turn the entire world into a police state. I am not saying that we should break the law, but I am saying that we must be careful to defend our rights and our freedoms—or we will lose them. We have seen this happen throughout history, so let’s be on guard against it happening to us."

Pastor James Coates of GraceLife Church in Edmonton, spent a month in prison for his church's COVID violations and awaits a May trial - his wife, Erin, went on Tucker Carlson's show on Fox News, and the FoxNews.com website quoted her:

"This is definitely not the nation that I grew up in," she told "Tucker Carlson Tonight" Thursday. "For a while, I think our freedoms have just been slowly stripped from us, and so slowly over time that we didn’t even realize it."

Coates said that her husband, a pastor who’s "given his life to sacrifice and love other people," being behind bars is not shocking to anyone, illustrating how Canadians are becoming desensitized to their stripped freedoms.

Faithwire shared that Pastor Coates used his prison experience as an opportunity to share the gospel; he recounted to a reporter: “Just to kind of show the affection that we had for each other, in the moment I was leaving, I turned around … and I lifted up my hand to wave,” he recalled, “and the doors of the pod began to shake as the men in their cells just banged on their doors as a sign of support, love, [and] affection.” Coates said, "I would have guys often come to my door and want to speak with me and would share difficulties in their life with me, and I would share the Gospel with them,” he said. “We’d be talking through a door to each other, but I would share the Gospel with them. That happened often, where guys would just come to me.”

The subject of restrictions during the coronavirus has certainly been a controversial one, and there are certainly concerns about authorities who are hostile to or ignorant of the practice of Christianity using their latitude to harass, persecute, and prosecute Christians.  Religious freedom and public health have to be balanced, and there is certainly the sentiment that the Church has been kept apart for far too long.  This has prompted legislation that was signed last week in North Dakota to keep that from happening, and even the Alabama Legislature has sought to limit emergency powers of the governor's office. 

We know that power corrupts, and sometimes that forces people to make poor decisions.  Mix in partisan politics and the desire to punish ideological enemies and you have the toxic situation that we find in our land today.  But, even though physical and spiritual powers are aligned against the Church, we know that we have the power of the Holy Spirit that emboldens us - the power that enables us to speak truth to power, as Pastor Pawlowski did, and to speak the gospel to prisoners, as Pastor Coates did.  Remember that God is with us, and as Pastor Randy Frazee highlighted on The Meeting House recently, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us.  We can possess a determined reliance on His mighty power!

Why I'm Here

Because Jesus is alive, and if we have accepted what He did for us through His death and resurrection, we can have a life that is full of meaning and purpose. In Ephesians 1, Paul wrote:
11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,
12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise...

Life has meaning and we can have a sense of fulfillment because Christ has fulfilled the Father's will by dying on a cross and rising from the dead. And, He gives us the power to live a renewed life, made possible by our dying to self and living unto Him.  The presence of the Holy Spirit in us equips us to live the life that God intends, to experience what He has in store for us.  Because He is alive, we are empowered to live according to His purpose! 

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The apostle Paul addressed the topic of purpose in a passage in 2nd Timothy chapter 1, reminding us 
that we serve a risen Lord who suffered for us, so that we might be brought into a relationship with Himself. We can read these verses:
8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God,
9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,
10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
11 to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.

March 25, 2021 will be a memorable day for the community of Ohatchee, Alabama, which is located in Calhoun County in the northeast part of the state, south of Gadsden and to the northwest of Anniston.  It was struck by a powerful and deadly tornado that day, in which 5 area residents lost their lives. The Montgomery Advertiser reported that:

The tornado that hit the tiny northeastern Alabama town was categorized the following day as at least a "high-end EF 2" with winds of 135 mph that stretched at least a half-mile wide and likely wider, said National Weather Service Meteorologist Chris Darden.

The Advertiser story highlighted the impact and victims of the storm, as well as their families.  Joshua Farmer's plight was included in the story.  Farmer is described as the "caretaker" of Ragan Chapel United Methodist Church.  The article states:

For over 150 years the church had withstood the test of time and the wrath of God and that's where Farmer chose to seek refuge. Though, Thursday's storm would violently end that tenure.

Farmer, who lives behind the church and had been its caretaker for several years, first sat in an interior hallway but as the world got quiet around him, he turned to a storage closet, pulled the door shut and held a pillow over his head.

Surrounded by artificial greenery and linens, he listened as the building around him began to twist and rip apart.

The story related that the roof had been torn off the building, the steeple toppled, and "the cross on top was missing." The back wall was "pulled off," but the kitchen survived. So did a portrait of the Last Supper on one of the remaining walls. Farmer said, “I thought I was going to die. Like, legitimately, I thought that was it. I thought I was finished,” adding, “But I survived it somehow and I walked out of there. I walked away untouched. Not sure why I’m here.”  Farmer is adamant that people should heed their local weather warnings.

And, the rebuilding of the church has already begun, according to Birmingham television station CBS42, which reported:

Pastor Danny Poss said the community has been instrumental in helping them move forward in the recovery process. Throughout the week, the congregation has worked to salvage what it could from the storms, including many of their prized possessions. After all they have endured, officials say the cleanup progress wouldn’t have been made possible without the community and many other churches.

The article from the station's website relates:

The church is also planning to move the steeple torn from the church to the front of the newly built church in remembrance of those lost and what the community endured. On Easter Sunday, the congregation plans to hold service on the church grounds and this will mark their first service after the storm.

The headline from the Advertiser used the words from Joshua Farmer, "Not sure why I'm here."  I think that God will use the tragedies, the crises in our lives, to bring us closer to Himself, to think about the brevity and the value of life.  Perhaps Mr. Farmer will experience a fresh consideration of his life's purpose - all of us can use those times of difficulty to evaluate how we can grow closer to God. 

For 175 years, the church in Ohatchee has "been there," too.  And, despite the heavy damage, it is determined to stay there, to rebuild its facility and it even, as the article noted, planned to meet on Easter Sunday without a building.  Because, the church is not a building - certainly a facility is great to house worship and church programs, to be a central gathering place, but at a time in which this church is needed in the community more than ever, it is a time for the people to engage in ministry to others.  We come together at our churches in order to fellowship and learn, so that we are equipped to serve - as the church - each day.

Crucified

On this Good Friday, we can reflect not only on the love of Jesus expressed through His suffering, but also on the fact that He did it for you. We can ask ourselves how the cross makes a difference for us. Galatians chapter 2 states:
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."

Jesus gave of Himself - motivated by His great love for humanity and by the necessity of a perfect sacrifice being offered to restore us to the Father.  Realizing that He died and rose again, we can think about the implications for our lives. A crucified life for the Christian believer is a new life - we lay down the ways of this world and adopt His ways, reliant on the Holy Spirit to carry them out.  Recognizing that Jesus died to forgive us of sin and rose so that we might enjoy His power over sin and death, we can put to death sinful impulses and acts, so that we may experience the fullness of His life.

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Through the cross, our old self was put to death and we can be free from it and live in the new life that Jesus purchased for us, bringing reconciliation with the Father. Colossians chapter 1 states:
19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,
20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled
22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight...

The message of Good Friday is a message that brings hope - the hope of a new life, of a transformation by the power of God, the experience of the love of God, and freedom from sin.  On this Good Friday, I wanted to share a transformation story of someone who experienced the power of the cross in her life.

She is an actress named April Hernandez Castillo. CBN.com provides some insight into her journey.  In a 2011 interview, she recounted how her successful career came to a screeching halt after her decision to follow Jesus.  The article says:

Before accepting Christ, Hernandez Castillo was living her dream in Hollywood with guest-starring roles on several hit TV series, like Law and Order and ER. But her breakout role came in 2007 when she played "Eva Benitez" in the film Freedom Writers starring Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank, Patrick Dempsey, and Scott Glenn.

But after she agreed to living a life obedient to God, she went through a "desert time" where she could not find acting jobs for three years. She told CBN that God was taking away her dreams so she could fulfill His plans for her.

She recognized his hand on her life; the actress says: "I believe that it was God. He really had to strip me of my character. He had to break everything that I had put in my mind. God said 'I can't be second, I have to be first.' And what made it so difficult was that I felt so alone like I didn't have anyone I could communicate with and have them tell me 'I know how you feel.'"

Castillo has written a book called, Embracing Me, which also includes her recollections about a particularly painful incident in her life - the CBN article relates that she told The Christian Post: "When it comes to the topic of abortion, it took me close to 20 years to feel safe to share that part of my life," and adds: "I am here to serve that woman who is terrified. I am here to serve that unborn baby," she added. "I pray that no one has to go through that."  She also says, "I want to talk about how can we prevent this moment, if possible. How can we support a woman if she does do this?"

Out of the pain of that abortion and an abusive relationship, God reached down and touched April's life, according to an earlier Christian Post article, which reported on some of her comments at a conference:

After her abortion, Hernandez-Castillo “swept it under the rug” and was a “new woman.” Her career was taking off and she was in a new relationship.

In 2008, her boyfriend began attending church and convinced her to go. She was still angry at God so she went to church with red lipstick, black sunglasses and sat in the back with her arms crossed (“because we always assume that the Holy Spirit won’t reach us in the back”).

As the pastor spoke about forgiveness, her body started reacting.

The article goes on to say: “I remember reaching my hand up into the sky as if to rip Heaven apart and just pull it open and bring God down because I was desperate to be forgiven," adding that she was overcome by the power of God and relates that she heard God say to her, "My daughter, I forgive you. I love you. But I need you to forgive yourself."

The cross reminds us that God has forgiven us through the sacrifice of our Savior - but we have to take hold of that forgiveness, to receive it into our lives and to walk in it.  Because unforgiveness is a cancer and will paralyze us - even the inability to receive God's forgiveness for ourselves.  That's the message that God has given to April Hernandez-Castillo...and to us!

This Friday is called "Good," but it's actually a day of pain and suffering - an innocent man brutally murdered.  But it's good because of what that means for us.  Our great and loving Savior loved us so much that He was willing to die, to pay a heavy penalty that we could never pay and by so doing, to bring us into a relationship with our Heavenly Father.  We are forgiven because of Jesus, and because He lives in us, we can forgive others and point people to a loving Savior, who gave His life so that we, by laying down our lives, might truly know His freedom.

Connect

Even though many churches have experienced physical separation over the past year, action has certainly been taken to keep us connected. We reflect Christ as we seek to function together in Him, according to Colossians 3:

15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Even when we are separated, we can have a sense of being one in Christ.  That involves seeking God in prayer and praying for one another, staying in communication with fellow believers, and using technology such as social media and streamed services to worship.  And, Faith Radio can keep you connected with the head of the body, keeping you strong so that the local church is built up and so that Christ is exalted.
 

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The Lord has called us to be part of an incredible community, the body of Christ - and even though the coronavirus has resulted in our being apart physically, I would say there is great anticipation about what will occur as we continue to come back together. Hebrews 10 states:
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,
25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

The process will likely not be complete this weekend, but the level of confidence for church attendees returning to regular worship services has increased, according to Pew Research, which reports that, in a summary of a recent survey:

Three-quarters of U.S. adults who normally attend religious services now say they are “very” or “somewhat” confident they can do so safely, without spreading or catching the coronavirus – up 12 percentage points from when this question was last asked in July 2020. Over that period, there also has been a considerable drop in the share who say they think their congregation should be closed to help stop the spread of the virus.

And, regarding Easter this year, 39% of Christians say they will be at an in-person service this year; by contrast, 62% say they would typically be at church on Easter Sunday.  52% of Evangelical Protestants say they'll be there vs. 70% who usually attend.

Here's another tidbit for you: "Most people who say they generally attend religious services at least once or twice a month (58%) say they have not attended during the past month."

The survey also indicated whether their churches were opened or closed, with 12% of those who attend a religious service once or twice a month saying their church was open "as normal" - that's double the percentage from last July.  But, combine that with the 64% who say that their church is open, but "with COVID-19 restrictions," and you get three-quarters of Americans who attend church regularly who say their churches are open to some degree.  Still 17% of respondents say their church is closed; that's down from a third last July. 

But, there is alternative programming widely available for those who choose to stay home, with 8 out of 10 "U.S. religious attenders" saying their church offers some sort of way for congregants to watch online or on TV.

The statistics indicate that people are coming back to church and their level of confidence of attending church without risking catching coronavirus is up.  A big question has to do with what church is looking like when they return; for instance, over 50% of survey respondents said their church was requiring social distancing and a 50-50 split said that masks were required.  This is likely to decline in most areas over the next few months, if current trends continue, but I would project that the experience with COVID will result in some permanent changes in the way we do "church."  I plan to talk about that next week here on The Meeting House.

The virus has not only caused great illness and death, but there has been a general sense of instability and isolation.  We have suffered greatly - but we can know that Christ is with us in our suffering. He suffered to the point of death, and so He is not unacquainted with what we are going through. As we commemorate His death and resurrection, we can grow more reliant on Him and allow Him to restore what the enemy has wrought through the pandemic.  There has been much spiritual fruit even in the midst of this season, and we can trust Him to do great and mighty things as the Church returns more to a sense of normalcy.