Latest Breaking News From California! ~ Churches Open Or Closed? This seems to be the latest update on the tug-a-war
between Nancy Pelosi's nephew by marriage, Gavin Newsom, and
President Donald Trump - with some interference from the
infamous left-leaning 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals. My personal opinion (which with $2
will get me a cup of coffee in California, if we ever open our
businesses) - is that we need to weigh all aspects in this time
of uncertainty.
We know there is a LOT of politics involved in our current crisis. But I personally believe that God's hand is also moving across America and around the world. In Scripture He tells us to: "Go, Make disciples, Baptize them, TEACH them. . . Be His witnesses in all the world" (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8, Mark 16:15).
In past years when we read that from Scripture, we often asked, "How can we possibly effectively share the Gospel in all the world?" Well, my Friends, we now have the technology to do that - using current social media technology we can send powerful short Gospel messages around the world via the internet. During this period of isolation and lock down, I have been sending out YouTube videos from four pastors whom I personally know. Those videos range from 15 minutes to almost 2 hours. Since it is my conviction that God's Plan for this current situation is for the non-believers and unchurched of the world to hear the Gospel - which do you believe will be most effective in reaching those two groups?
I have noticed as I watch many ministries and pastors posting videos on the internet - many tend to want to "do business as usual." What do I mean by that? Glad you asked. In the past, when we have met in our local churches for worship and fellowship, our services may go on for hours - because we love to worship the Lord, we love to sing and praise Him, and we love to enjoy fellowship with our Christian brethren. But I am personally convinced that shorter, more to the point, videos sharing the Gospel are more effective in reaching the unchurched and non-believers of the world, and it is my belief that those are who the Great Commission would have us reach during this unusual period of isolation.
I am reminded of a trip I took to Seattle years ago. My company had a new computer product I wanted to introduce to my contacts at Boeing. So I scheduled meetings with key individuals in different Boeing facilities, with the last one being across from SeaTac Airport. I was on a tight schedule and gave myself an hour to present our new product to each individual or group. Everything went smoothly until my last appointment. When I met with this individual, he was so excited about his new project that he had to tell me all about it - and he went on and on for 45 minutes telling me all the details. That left me only 15 minutes to tell him all the wonderful features of my new product.
I used that 15 minutes to give the best summary I could, then dashed across to the airport for my flight home. A couple of weeks later, another friend at Boeing told me, "John Smith (obviously not his real name) is so excited about your new product. He told me you gave the best product presentation he has ever been given." Go figure, I was limited to 15 minutes - so I covered the important points and won him as a convert. Could I have done that with a one or two hour presentation? I will leave that for your consideration.
While I agree with my Christian brethren across America that we must lean, first, on God and not man. However, let us not be like Christian Science believers who do not "believe" in doctors - and will allow loved ones to die or be seriously harmed - feeling it is showing lack of faith to call in the medical doctor. Nor should we be like the Jehovah's Witnesses who teach a doctrine that refuses blood transfusions, claiming that life is a gift from God - we must not try to sustain life by taking in blood, even in an emergency.
Yes, God gives us life. But God also gives us the gift of common sense and His blessings on the medical community. Just as God most often uses we believers as His feet on the street to share the Gospel with non-believers - He also uses those in the medical fields to accomplish His healings.
And I personally believe this period we are going through may well be God's plan for us to "Be His witnesses in all the world" - instead of just "preaching to the choir" in our local congregations and fellowships. In other words, God has given us the opportunity, the means (social media/internet), and the knowledge to take His Gospel to all the world. If we start clustering again in our own little church families and stop utilizing social media for sharing - will we accomplish His plan?
That said, this is the latest news from the governor of California on houses of worship resuming on-site services:
Let us have two goals in mind now. One, to be able to resume our worship services as before, and, two, to not forsake this new gift He has given us for taking His Gospel to "all the world" via social media, streaming, and YouTube videos.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
We know there is a LOT of politics involved in our current crisis. But I personally believe that God's hand is also moving across America and around the world. In Scripture He tells us to: "Go, Make disciples, Baptize them, TEACH them. . . Be His witnesses in all the world" (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8, Mark 16:15).
In past years when we read that from Scripture, we often asked, "How can we possibly effectively share the Gospel in all the world?" Well, my Friends, we now have the technology to do that - using current social media technology we can send powerful short Gospel messages around the world via the internet. During this period of isolation and lock down, I have been sending out YouTube videos from four pastors whom I personally know. Those videos range from 15 minutes to almost 2 hours. Since it is my conviction that God's Plan for this current situation is for the non-believers and unchurched of the world to hear the Gospel - which do you believe will be most effective in reaching those two groups?
I have noticed as I watch many ministries and pastors posting videos on the internet - many tend to want to "do business as usual." What do I mean by that? Glad you asked. In the past, when we have met in our local churches for worship and fellowship, our services may go on for hours - because we love to worship the Lord, we love to sing and praise Him, and we love to enjoy fellowship with our Christian brethren. But I am personally convinced that shorter, more to the point, videos sharing the Gospel are more effective in reaching the unchurched and non-believers of the world, and it is my belief that those are who the Great Commission would have us reach during this unusual period of isolation.
I am reminded of a trip I took to Seattle years ago. My company had a new computer product I wanted to introduce to my contacts at Boeing. So I scheduled meetings with key individuals in different Boeing facilities, with the last one being across from SeaTac Airport. I was on a tight schedule and gave myself an hour to present our new product to each individual or group. Everything went smoothly until my last appointment. When I met with this individual, he was so excited about his new project that he had to tell me all about it - and he went on and on for 45 minutes telling me all the details. That left me only 15 minutes to tell him all the wonderful features of my new product.
I used that 15 minutes to give the best summary I could, then dashed across to the airport for my flight home. A couple of weeks later, another friend at Boeing told me, "John Smith (obviously not his real name) is so excited about your new product. He told me you gave the best product presentation he has ever been given." Go figure, I was limited to 15 minutes - so I covered the important points and won him as a convert. Could I have done that with a one or two hour presentation? I will leave that for your consideration.
While I agree with my Christian brethren across America that we must lean, first, on God and not man. However, let us not be like Christian Science believers who do not "believe" in doctors - and will allow loved ones to die or be seriously harmed - feeling it is showing lack of faith to call in the medical doctor. Nor should we be like the Jehovah's Witnesses who teach a doctrine that refuses blood transfusions, claiming that life is a gift from God - we must not try to sustain life by taking in blood, even in an emergency.
Yes, God gives us life. But God also gives us the gift of common sense and His blessings on the medical community. Just as God most often uses we believers as His feet on the street to share the Gospel with non-believers - He also uses those in the medical fields to accomplish His healings.
And I personally believe this period we are going through may well be God's plan for us to "Be His witnesses in all the world" - instead of just "preaching to the choir" in our local congregations and fellowships. In other words, God has given us the opportunity, the means (social media/internet), and the knowledge to take His Gospel to all the world. If we start clustering again in our own little church families and stop utilizing social media for sharing - will we accomplish His plan?
That said, this is the latest news from the governor of California on houses of worship resuming on-site services:
NEWSOM: CALIFORNIA PLACES OF WORSHIP CAN REOPEN WITH LIMITED CAPACITY
The Mercury News | Bay Area News Group
By Maggie Angst | May 25, 2020 At 1:17 P.M.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/05/25/newsom-california-places-of-worship-can-reopen-with-limited-capacity/
The governor’s new guidelines will depend on approval from county public health officials. Amid mounting pressure from protestors and President Donald Trump, Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled plans on Monday for reopening California churches and allowing in-person religious services. But religious leaders in the Bay Area will have to wait. Under the governor’s new guidelines, places of worship could reopen, pending approval from their county public health officials, on the condition that they limit attendance to 25% of the building capacity or a maximum of 100 attendees — whichever is lower.
After three weeks under these restrictions, the California Department of Public Health will work with county public health officials to assess the impact of in-person religious services, such as whether the number of deaths and hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients rose during that time, and provide further direction moving forward.
But even as the governor (is) granting some leeway for religious institutions, Bay Area officials — who were the first in the nation to issue shelter-in-place orders — don’t appear to have plans to fall in line with the new state guidance just yet. Under the region’s current shelter-in-place order, public and private gatherings of any number of people outside a single household, including for worship services, are prohibited. A spokesperson for the Contra Costa County Public Health Department said in an email Monday that the county will “continue to abide by the terms of its own shelter-in-place order, currently set to expire June 1.”
The new state guidance comes just three days after the president declared that he was designating places of worship as “essential” businesses, and those that were ordered closed because of the pandemic should be allowed to reopen immediately. On Friday, Trump said he would “override the governors” across the country who resist reopening religious institutions. “America, we need more prayer, not less,” he said.
When asked about Trump’s comments on Friday, Newsom said he had been talking with faith leaders statewide over the previous week to find the best approach to resuming religious services as quickly as possible, while still protecting the public health. “It’s so important that folks understand we deeply understand, admire, the faith devotion,” Newsom said, adding later, “We look forward to churches reopening in a safe and responsible manner.”
Churches and places of worship across the state have been prohibited from holding in-person services since the governor’s CoronaVirus shelter-in-place order was issued more than two months ago. Despite multiple challenges to Newsom’s ban on in-person church services up until this point, the state’s 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld his order last week in a split ruling. The justices ruled 2-1 that South Bay United Pentecostal Church in San Diego cannot reopen immediately.
“We’re dealing here with a highly contagious and often fatal disease for which there presently is no known cure." In the words of Justice Robert Jackson, "If a court does not temper its doctrinaire logic with a little practical wisdom, it will convert the constitutional Bill of Rights into a suicide pact" - the two majority justices wrote in the court decision.
Although the new California guidelines will give places of worship the opportunity to resume in-person activities, it is still “strongly recommended” that places of worship continue to offer remote services and other related activities for those who are vulnerable to COVID-19, the governor’s new guidance states.
Leaders at a handful of Bay Area churches, including Pastor Mike McClure of San Jose’s Calvary Chapel and Bishop Bob Jackson of Oakland’s Acts Full Gospel Church, have already vowed to reopen their churches — with or without approval from the state or local public health officials. But others are sticking to their remote offerings for the foreseeable future, seeing the potential of exposing their congregants to the fatal COVID-19 disease as a toll too costly.
Churches and religious gatherings have been the source of many major outbreaks across the country, including a church service in rural Arkansas where more than a third of the attendees came down with COVID-19 and a Russian language church near Sacramento where at least 70 congregants tested positive for the virus, according to the county’s public health director.
Amos Brown, the pastor at the Third Baptist Church in San Francisco and president of the city’s NAACP branch, said he will not be rushing back into a church house anytime soon. Instead, Amos is calling for more testing in the region’s African American communities and more internet access and programming for their youth. “The African American clergy have consistently been independent, critical thinkers and they’re not about to be called out in the political ploy where certain forces — mainly the right-wing evangelicals — are pimping the piety of people,” Amos said. “Putting people into life-threatening situations is not the way of Jesus.”
Places of worship are encouraged to modify certain practices that could increase the spread of COVID-19, such as hand-holding, using a common cup, and hugging or kissing. They are also being asked to consider holding services outside whenever possible, shortening services to limit the length of time congregants spend at facilities and close places of worship for visitation outside of scheduled services.
Like businesses, places of worship will be required to implement a social distancing plan, including thoroughly sanitizing their facilities, conducting health screenings on their employees, and ensuring that congregants remain six feet apart from one another during services.
To read the governor’s full set of guidelines for places of worship click here: https://covid19.ca.gov/pdf/guidance-places-of-worship.pdf
Let us have two goals in mind now. One, to be able to resume our worship services as before, and, two, to not forsake this new gift He has given us for taking His Gospel to "all the world" via social media, streaming, and YouTube videos.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
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