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This was sent to me this morning. It was written by a COG Pastor.A Bold move on his part. Hope he does not get arrested or fined.----------------------------Faith versus fear- how will you live and what choice will you make?For the Christian, the real Christian, now is a time of choosing. Will you and your family live by faith or will you give into fear?The federal government, the state government, the county government and even some church leaders are telling everyone to stay at home And do not shop, do not go out to eat, And do not go to church - because we are to avoid large crowds.I want to remind everyone that reads this that the early church suffered greatly from the persecution of the Roman government and at the hands of opposing religions.Christians died because of war, famine, and pestilence - But even through all of that - they stood strong in their faith, they prayed, they worshiped together, they sang spiritual songs and read the scripture.Now we are being told that the world faces a viral pandemic. Whether this is true or not we cannot be certain. We cannot trust the government, the deep state, or the global news media. Truly we are living in times of great distress and trouble. I personally believe that we are seeing the beginning of the times of trouble, the beginning of the birth pains that Jesus Christ spoke of in the Gospel of Matthew and in the Gospel of Luke.Real Christians will know how to handle this. They will go to church and worship the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. They will sing hymns and spiritual songs. They will pray, fast, and share their faith with unbelievers.They will teach Sunday school, they will preach sermons and they will continue to conduct Bible study groups. Again, faith over fear says that we Christians will stand strong and not give in to the world - and we will attend worship services no matter what the government says or what the world around us believes.Christians are being called to be the salt of the earth - so let us preserve our faith, the church, and our witness to the world around us.Christians are called to be a light in dark places- so let us shine with the righteousness and glory of the Lord to lead the lost and dying world to Jesus Christ.Christians are being called to lead their families in discipleship and set the example Of standing on the Rock Christ Jesus.So that is why I encourage every Christian to attend your midweek worship service, to attend your small group Bible study, to attend your church's worship services every Sunday morning and every Sunday night and be faithful to God that has called you.

How does this approach harmonize with 1 Pet 2:13-18?Thanks

1) We need to stop being adversaries with each other. Every context is unique. Do what works in your context. If you are completely insolated and isolated from this, fine, meet. We are jealous that you can. We are not and can't.2) Mike Tyson said Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.I have a church member who's son is now a confirmed COVID case. I have a second member who was swabbed today and told we will know in 3-4 days if she has it. I and others are now on quarantine because we had direct contact. My wife and children had direct contact.I am 100% calm and feel fine but you now think think that I need to flex my faith right now by possibly exposing the 34% of our congregation that is 65 and older and many with underlying health issues?3) I agree that the whole world is watching us. They will make judgment calls about us on how we handled ourselves and even them during this pandemic and the resulting global economic tsunami and storm surge. We aren't being asked to bow to Nebuchadnezzar's idol. We are being asked by our president to take 15 days to try and slow down the spread to give our hospitals enough time to get ahead of the fact that we don't have enough hospital beds to handle the numbers we are about to see. It isn't 6,000+ that have it. That's just the number that has been tested and confirmed. It is much more likely that it is in the 100,000s+ that are carrying it now. No fear here. I'm saved! But look at the 1918 Spanish Flu, the only time we've ever cancelled a General Assembly in COG history. Baltimore and Philadelphia did nothing to try and limit the contagion and passing it around and 675,000 Americans died, including two of my great, great aunts. We can spare 675,000 plus Americans, right?All good until it is your son, your daughter, your mom, your dad, your church member.....STOP making this about ignorance and faith, wisdom and fear.Pray for each other. Pastor, do the best you can. You aren't Jesus but you represent Him. He's the One we will answer to. Not some zealot spewing garbage about people doing something different than he/she is, and especially when you are trying to do in a short term (13 days now) what the president and all of his top advisors are recommending us to do Proverbs 3:5-6; John 13:34-35; Acts 1:8

Re: COG Pastor FB Post going Viral - Makes Bold Statement About Faith over Fear

Re: COG Pastor FB Post going Viral - Makes Bold Statement About Faith over Fear

If Christians follow the advice shared in the original post, the world will see many of them as bodies in caskets.

I think we all understand the THOUGHT PROCESS after all we do believe in divine healing. We believe that God protects us. But as my dad said once, God will protect you! Just don't step out in front of a train to see if he will stop the train.Since I was a kid, COG preachers preached and believed in divine healing, at the same time suggested if you have a bad cold it would be better to stay home from church instead of spreading it around.There are a lot of contradictions in our religions. Calling off a healing service because of a spreading disease is one of them. That does sound a littl hollow! Some facts but mostly just my [email protected]/

When I was WOF I listened to a TON of sermons from WOF luminaries, and even the majority of them would preach against tempting God by doing dumb things in relation to sickness, etc. I am trying my best to view this as a Romans 14issue and as Brandon said, stop being adversaries with each other. But guys. Hebrews 10:25is not the only verse in your Bible. Use wisdom and be informed by the whole counsel of God's word. Romans 13:1-7. 1 Peter 2:13-18