We have been told to expect that our province’s state of emergency will be renewed for another 28 days. That said, it’s exciting to see things begin to open up a little in Italy and other nations, so here’s hoping we aren’t too far behind!
Today’s Kindle deals include quite a few books spanning several genres.
(Yesterday on the blog: I Miss the Ordinary the Most)
When Will Our Church Buildings Reopen?
Like many others, Joe Carter has been thinking through what it may look like to reopen our church buildings. It may not be straightforward, so church leaders ought to be prepared. “While many medical experts and government officials have expressed their preferences, no authority in our country can set a definitive timeline. Yet despite this uncertainty, we can make a reasonable guess about when church buildings will reopen by weighing the relevant medical, political, and psychological elements.” (See also: Are Policy-makers “encouraging Mass Civil Disobedience”?)
Don’t Try To Put Out Every Brush Fire
H.B. Charles Jr. offers some sound counsel here, and illustrates it with a personal anecdote. “Don’t try to put out every brush fire that sparks up. Some things will put themselves out if you just leave it alone.”
5 Post-Lockdown Regrets
Peter Mead suggests we would do well to anticipate people’s regrets that may follow this lockdown. “The initial novelty of lockdown has worn off. Now people are settling into this new normal and understandably longing for it to end. Pastorally we are probably being drawn to people suffering with grief, loneliness, marital difficulties, financial hardship or mental health struggles. But even those who seem to be doing well need to be shepherded.”
8 Criteria for Deciding When It’s Right to Go to War
Bruce Ashford has been doing lots of writing about when and if it’s right to go to war. In this article he suggests eight criteria for deciding when war is justifiable. “Fortunately, for thousands of years now, the just war tradition (JWT) has been articulating, developing, and refining a set of criteria by which a nation can determine whether or not it is morally justified in waging war.”
The Handshake: a Eulogy
Could it be possible that this virus will end the handshake as a form of greeting? “Dr. Anthony Fauci pronounced the handshake gone. ‘I don’t think we should ever shake hands again,” he has said.’” I guess the bigger story is that it may be a long time before touch returns.
How the Virus Transformed the Way Americans Spend Their Money
If you’re like us, you’ve basically stopped spending altogether on much of anything but absolute essentials. The New York Times illustrates how spending patterns have changed dramatically.
When Forgiveness Is Costly
Here’s an interesting story of forgiveness offered and granted. “Charlene Delmonico, a 23-year-old flight attendant, walked up the aeroplane aisle of flight TWA85 towards the cockpit door. Behind her, the hijacker held a rifle to her back. It was the early hours of Friday 31st October 1969, and the beginning of the longest hijacking in history.”
Flashback: Help! My Kids Are Looking at Porn!
Here are some suggestions for how to respond when you learn that your children have been looking at or looking for pornography.
Upon a life I did not live, upon a death I did not die, I risk my whole eternity on the resurrection.
—Charles Spurgeon
