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Life Tabernacle Church in Louisiana has defied the government, and common sense, and decided to remain open during this pandemic. The pastor said:“This is an extreme test brought on us by the spirit of Antichrist and the mystery of lawlessness,” he told the congregation. “What good is the church in an hour of peril if the the church craters and caves in to the fears and the spirits of torment in our society?” The reason pastors, especially Pentecostal, really don't want to cancel is because they are afraid it will make them look bad in the eyes of their members. It looks like the pastor is caving to fear instead of holding to faith. Because of this spiritual pride, these pastors are putting their congregants at risk of contracting the virus. Some pastors say let the government mandate that we close, then I'll close. That gives these guys cover when they have to cancel. They will then also get to holler about government interference in local churches.

Very thoughtful and good post, IMO.I do think a lot of it comes down to education. I was watching a video from a pastor in TN (not COG) who was announcing he was continuing services. He described at length all of the things they would be doing to sanitize their facility -- the A/C units would be running all night to filter the air, the filters would be changed just before service on Sunday, the bathrooms would be disinfected before service, etc. On and on.That's all great, except it's all literally completely useless. COVID-19 survives in the air for about 3 hours. There's no reason to filter your air. All you're doing is making it so your congregation can swap COVID in very clean, filtered air.Same for the bathroom. All you're accomplishing is creating a very clean environment for COVID to be swapped once your congregation gets there.I'm sure his heart is in the right place, I have no doubt about that. But he's just not educated about the risks or the things he should be doing to mitigate them. He's doing all kinds of mitigation that is literally completely ineffective.The only way to mitigate the risk right now is to not have people gathering in large groups. That's just all there is to it. And you're right about another thing too. This pastor did say he would not be hurt if anyone chose not to come to church, but the implicit message (even unintentional) is that the people who show trust God and the people who stay don't.

One very important tidbit from an article about the church in Louisiana:

It's because they know a big percentage of people don't give if they're not there and a huge number of people don't do online giving.That's my opinion

I think you're right, whether they realize it or not.

I don't think it's a coincidence that the first person to die in Tulsa from the corona virus was a Pentecostal preacher.I just read this morning of a pastor who had 2 people attend 3 weeks ago that didn't know they were positive for the virus. Now 50 people are sick. This is how it works, folks! BE WISE More of Him...less of me.twitter.com/camiracle77www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=691241499&ref=name

One note on this case... his grieving widow and family are isolated in quarantine and are unable to receive visitors.I cannot imagine losing my spouse. I especially cannot imagine losing my spouse, and being separated from the comfort of my church family.

One note on this case... his grieving widow and family are isolated in quarantine and are unable to receive visitors.I cannot imagine losing my spouse. I especially cannot imagine losing my spouse, and being separated from the comfort of my church family.This stuff is as serious as it gets folks. After losing my job, it was really hard to be at church and just get elbow bumps! One friend said, I'm protected and hugged me. (She needed it too.) I did get a few hugs from my former coworkers at the hospital on Monday when I was there with my sister. You don't realize how much you take hugs for granted!I am sorry for this family. These are hard times, no doubt about it More of Him...less of me.twitter.com/camiracle77www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=691241499&ref=name

In our state we are limited to 100 or less. We will obey the law. We are livestreaming on 3 platforms, our giving is at record levels online with 3 platforms plus checks. But we will continue to have in person services until told not to. The op and others of you have a different opinion you are welcome to them but dont try shaming the rest of us who are doing opposite for good reasons. You might want to read this article. foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/13/christianity-epidemics-2000-years-should-i-still-go-to-church-coronavirus/?fbclid=IwAR3ix3btqWr GwWKLLwkEMAuEJKqdGIGV8cfj3Ha8kqvuMFx7v2ztWvbKxg

Respectfully disagree