“These are the times that try men’s souls…” the well-known words of poet Thomas Paine came to mind as I drove to the grocery store yesterday in my fearless quest to acquire the rare jewel of toilet paper. Never in my short lifetime has the world faced such so much uncertainty. The hopelessness, despair, and…
In “What’s War? The Existential Question of Spiritual Warfare,” pastor Matt Walker introduced the subject of spiritual warfare. In today’s piece he describes an approach to the topic which all Christians ought to reject. We offer it today as something of a respite to the “all virus all the time” coverage we are getting on…
advice for the small church in a challenging time What are we to do in a time when government in its wisdom dictates that we curtail all public meetings for reasons of public health? How can the church function as a body of believers in circumstances like this? One solution already in place for many…
The outbreak of the coronavirus disease called COVID-19 has surprised many of us. Yet infectious outbreaks and pandemics are nothing new. They’ve occurred throughout history and the Bible mentions them a lot, especially in the Old Testament (OT). So, what does the Bible say about pandemics? Pestilence English Bible translations frequently translate a related Hebrew…
We are all televangelists now! What a Sunday. We had everything ready to go to live stream some sort of semblance of a worship service and our Youtube livestream crashed—along with thousands of other churches nationwide. I hear Facebook’s livestreams still worked, which is just the opposite of what we thought would happen. Most pastors…
Dear FBFI Family, Because of the present health crisis, we are canceling our Annual Fellowship in Indianapolis this year. We hope that life will return to normal by mid-June but we realize that even if that happens, it will not be in sufficient time for attendees to make appropriate travel plans. We also understand that…
On January 26, 2020, our world reeled, hearing of the tragic death of Kobe Bryant. He was just 41 years old. Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna died in the crash. Our hearts sink just thinking about the family members still alive who bear the burden of this news. I was personally moved, because I can understand…
I (like you, no doubt) am tired of thinking about COVID-19 already, though my browsing history might betray me. I’ll abstain from taking a side on whether COVID-19 merits the panic it has created or not—the question belongs to epidemiologists for now, handed off to historians soon after. Of greater interest to me has been…
Acts 11:19-30 How would you respond if you knew that a disaster would happen soon? Or just for the sake of discussion, let’s say you could be certain that a disaster would occur within eighteen months. What would you do? How would you prepare? What if you did not have all the resources you have…
These days, the paramount thing on everyone’s mind is the Corona Virus pandemic. Schools are closing or shifting to “online only” formats. Churches wrestle with how and when to meet, if at all. Stores grapple with panic buying (even hoarding) of staple items. Headlines are apocalyptic – you only need turn to any one of…