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"More than 1,000 women were murdered in 2019, up from 912 the prior year and 426 in 2015."
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Did you know that, even though they don’t believe in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, scholars who are not Christians do agree with believers on some matters concerning Jesus? Surprisingly, there’s a lot upon which everyone can agree. When surveying historical scholarship, Christians, agnostics, and skeptics have no other option but to affirm certain truths […]The post Even Non-Believers Can Agree on Facts Concerning Jesus: An Interview with Justin W. Bass appeared first on Bible Gateway Blog.
- 47 mins ago 31 Mar 20, 9:19am -

If you had to select 33 objects throughout history to represent the birth, growth, and effectiveness of Christianity, what would you choose to best reflect God’s enduring grace through the centuries? And what narrative would you write that would weave them all together in telling the story of what God is accomplishing in the world? […]The post Christian History Told Through 33 Objects: An Interview with Tim Challies appeared first on Bible Gateway Blog.
- 1 hour ago 31 Mar 20, 8:54am -

New to Bible Gateway Plus? $3.99 a month puts a library of commentaries, study notes, and Greek & Hebrew language tools right in your pocket. It’s the easiest way for Bible Gateway lovers to simplify and deepen their personal or group study of the Bible! And we’ve just added a new feature that will change […]The post New Feature for Bible Gateway Plus Members: Reverse Interlinear appeared first on Bible Gateway Blog.
- 15 hours ago 30 Mar 20, 7:06pm -

By Ann Spangler People’s names in the ancient world did more than simply distinguish one person from another. They often conveyed the essential nature and character of a person. This is especially true when it comes to the names of God recorded in the Bible. The book Praying the Names of God: A Daily Guide […]The post Praying the Names of God: Hope of Israel appeared first on Bible Gateway Blog.
- 21 hours ago 30 Mar 20, 1:21pm -

The season of Lent invites us to return to God with our whole heart. It’s a theme that runs throughout Scripture and God’s relationship with his people. Throughout this Bible study, which you can read on your own or in a group setting, you’ll find links to Bible Gateway with notes that open automatically on […]The post Walking with Christ to the Cross, Week 5 appeared first on Bible Gateway Blog.
- 4 days ago 27 Mar 20, 10:12am -

Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne, leader of Revival International Ministries and The River at Tampa Bay Church in Tampa, Florida, was arrested Monday for what officials say was the violation of a "safer-at-home" order, which prohibits large worship services during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
- 18 hours ago 30 Mar 20, 3:54pm -

The coronavirus stimulus package signed into law last week not only serves to bolster individuals, families and for-profit companies impacted by the ongoing pandemic but also offers relief to churches and ministry staff as well.
- 20 hours ago 30 Mar 20, 2:33pm -

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins slammed churches that have continued to gather as the coronavirus pandemic explodes across the county, calling their action a “defiance of common sense.”
- 20 hours ago 30 Mar 20, 2:11pm -

Nearly one in five United States adults who consider themselves religious are still attending worship services amid concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, according to a newly released poll.
- 24 hours ago 30 Mar 20, 10:36am -

Influential pastor Tony Evans warned that “our anxiety, worry, and fear is outpacing the problem of the virus.”
- 1 day ago 30 Mar 20, 8:49am -

How does a God-fearing, gun-friendly church recover from a horrific mass shooting? Long after the camera crews departed, a Texas journalist stuck around to find out.Frank Pomeroy, pastor at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, was away for the weekend when he received a text message alerting him that a gunman had just attacked the church during Sunday worship. Among the dead was his own daughter, Annabelle.“By noon,” as Texas journalist Joe Holley writes in his new book recounting the massacre and its aftermath, “Frank was in his truck barreling down I-35, every mile a rolling kaleidoscope of memories … [He] began to separate out the feelings of pain and desperation that threatened him from the practical steps he knew he had to take in the next few hours, the next several days.”Holley, columnist for the Houston Chronicle and a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his columns on Texas gun culture, was at a book signing when he learned about the shooting. Driving home afterwards, he heard all the terrible details on the radio: “A Baptist church. Multiple deaths. Sutherland Springs.”Soon enough, a clearer picture of the carnage—and an outline of the trials to come—was emerging: “Twenty-five friends and loved ones had lost their lives … A pastor who knew and cared about those broken people needed to preach their funerals. Twenty of their friends and loved ones were in area hospitals, some still fighting for their lives; they needed visiting and their families needed consoling.”When Holley saw the exit for I-35 he began driving toward the small town. He would spend the next year of his life there, remaining long after most reporters had left. The resulting book, Sutherland Springs: God, Guns, and Hope in a Texas Town, paints a picture of tragedy, despair, faith, and resilience. But Holley also shows the systemic ...Continue reading...
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Jesus' love knows no borders.For today’s musical pairing, listen to “S.T.A.Y.” from Hanz Zimmer’s “Interstellar” soundtrack. Note that all the songs for this series have been gathered into a Spotify playlist here. See video below.“The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’”Romans 8:15“Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”Revelation 22:20Day 9. 775,306 confirmed cases, 37,083 deaths globally.My youngest daughter was born on the other side of the world to a family I never met. Since her heart had not formed properly, she was left in a baby safe-house outside an orphanage and eventually found her way to people who produced the funding needed for life-saving surgery. Americans and Chinese, most of them followers of Jesus, helped her heal and grow.She was three years old when her picture appeared on our Facebook feed. She needed a home and a “forever family.” My wife and I did not need to make a decision. We simply recognized our daughter.Adoption is a mysterious thing. It’s not a resolution to form something new. It’s a realization that something beautiful was already formed, and we are only now beginning to realize it. My wife fought like a lioness to bring her home. “My child is stuck in another country,” she said. Our little girl called me Baba (“daddy”) when we spoke across computer screens. Although we started on opposite sides of the planet, separated by oceans and borders and languages and cultures, somehow she was a part of our family from the very beginning.So we made our way around the world and ...Continue reading...
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The new stimulus bill includes churches and has implication for church staff. Please learn more before making any staff decisions. We’ve added a brand new podcast with Harold Loftin, legal counsel at Guidestone Financial Services. You can find it here at our podcast page. It contains important information for you and your church about the CARES Act.We are in unprecedented times, and (for most of us) the health crisis is just weeks away. However, for all of us, the financial crisis is here.There are roughly 350,000 churches in the United States. Most are small and have a single (often part time) staff member. Some employ hundreds. However, Warren Bird of the Evangelical Council of Financial Accountability estimates that there are 1 million people on the payroll of US churches, the majority of whom are part-time, often working other jobs.Thus, the Congress and the President included them in the most recent stimulus bill, The CARES Act (and the Paycheck Protection Program, which is part of that act), as part of a plan to avoid sudden and vast amounts of unemployment.While this is a fluid situation, we are committed to learning more about the CARES Act in the hours and days to come.As such, you should expect this page to be updated.An Overview You Need to KnowWe turned to trusted voices to get the best imformation we would. One particular trusted resource that we want to note is Richard Hammar’s overview posted at Church Law and Tax (also a part of Christianity Today).Hammar notes the following about the PPP (Paycheck Protection Program): The Act establishes a new US Small Business Administration loan program called the Paycheck Protection Program for small employers (including nonprofits and churches) with 500 or fewer employees to help prevent workers from losing their jobs and small businesses from failing due to economic losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.Continue reading...
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Misdemeanor charges against Rodney Howard-Browne set up legal battle over right to worship in a pandemic.Florida officials have arrested a megachurch pastor who allegedly held two Sunday services with hundreds of people in violation of a safer-at-home order in place to limit the spread of the new coronavirus.Rodney Howard-Browne turned himself in to authorities in Hernando County where he lives on Monday afternoon, according to jail records. He was charged with unlawful assembly and violation of a public health emergency order. The two misdemeanors carry a possible maximum sentence of 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said his command staff met with leaders of The River at Tampa Bay Church about the danger they are putting themselves—and their congregation—in by not maintaining appropriate social distancing. The sheriff's office also placed a digital sign on the road near the church driveway that said “practice social distancing.” But Howard-Browne held the services anyway, according to detectives.“Shame on this pastor, their legal staff, and the leaders of this staff for forcing us to do our job. That's not what we wanted to do during a declared state of emergency,” Chronister said. “We are hopeful that this will be a wakeup call.”Several churches across the country have boldly violated gathering restrictions and stay-at-home orders to continue in-person worship, but Howard-Browne at The River is the first to face punishment for doing so.Recent research shows 1 in 10 Americans say their house of worship is continuing to gather in person, according to data reported last weekend by Deseret News.The church has said it sanitized the building, and the pastor said on Twitter that the church is an essential business. ...Continue reading...
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Two weeks ago, the question, “How are you doing?” was a passing gesture that meant relatively little. Things have changed. For some of us, it’s hard to think about mission right now.This sentiment is surely understandable—pastors and church leaders are scrambling to discern the best path forward to love and lead the sheep entrusted to their care. This work, combined with genuine personal anxiety about the coming crisis, sickness, and death, leaves many with little mental or emotional margin to consider how best to care for those outside of the flock.Yet such efforts are needed, perhaps now more than ever. Our last decade stands as a condemning witness to almost every tribe for the lack of prioritization in disciple-making. Many have authored compelling articles which included undeniable stats of languishing evangelism numbers.The calls for increased efforts in evangelism often elicit resounding “amens” from pews to tribal leaders alike. Yet even with all the hearty ‘amens’, the numbers suggest that we’ve failed to make progress. Could it be that this moment of global crisis comes with a Sovereign reawakening from our complacent self-fascination to a renewed commitment our King’s commission?There seems to be three means of gospel engagement that never change. Disciples of Jesus are always positioned with these three tools in their missionary arsenal: what we say, what we do, and how we respond. Let’s think about each in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic and how we might effectively lean into each for missionary engagement.What We SayThe gospel is multifaceted. This is the brilliance of God’s plan. God’s redemptive work is impossible to contain in one image or concept, so the biblical writers use many different pictures to convey the glory of what God has done for us in Christ. ...Continue reading...
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If you know anything about how newsrooms work, then you know — as your GetReligionistas often stress — that reporters do not write the headlines that top their stories.Now, add to that fact another sad reality: Many readers never make it past the headline when they are scanning a newspaper. Then there are readers who struggle to make sense of a story that — in their eyes — seems to clash with the contents of the headline.All of this underlines the importance of copy-desk pros writing good headlines.This brings me to a recent story here in East Tennessee that ticked off a GetReligion reader. I mention this topic because the “mistake” made in this case is one that readers ask me about rather frequently. At the heart of this issue is a simple fact: When most Americans (and some journalists fall into this category) see the word “priest,” they automatically assume that this is a reference to a Roman Catholic priest.In this case, the headline pointed toward events that could have painful and even fatal consequences. Thus, the stakes were high in this particular headline, which stated: Infected Chattanooga priest may have exposed others to coronavirus, church saysNow, if you read the actual Knoxville News Sentinel story, the confusion was cleared up quickly — by the second paragraph. A Chattanooga priest who has tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, may have inadvertently exposed others when he officiated a wedding, served communion and led a staff meeting, his church announced. … Father Brad Whitaker, rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Chattanooga, fell ill shortly after returning from a conference held by the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes, the church said in a statement. At least six people who attended the conference, which ran from Feb. 19-22 in Louisville, Kentucky, have since tested positive for COVID-19, according to the consortium.So the basic question is this: How many people read that headline and assumed this was a Catholic priest?
- 13 days ago 18 Mar 20, 5:30pm -

We are living in surreal times.The world as we knew it just over a week ago has been brought to a halt by the COVID-19 pandemic. After the virus devastated China’s Wuhan province, it spread to Europe and now the rest of the world. Our daily lives have been disrupted in a way never seen in our lifetimes.I have for weeks been concerned about the virus. Most of my family lives in Italy, a nation hard hit by it. My many uncles and aunts — all 65 and older and therefore more at-risk of dying — have not left their homes after the government imposed a national lockdown. What has happened in Italy and now the rest of Europe could certainly happen in the United States.There has been some very good journalism being done. My go-to sources for news have been The Associated Press and The New York Times. For broader context and commentary have been valuable resources such as The Atlantic and The Economist. We must give these journalists praise and thanks for the long hours they have been putting in to inform us all. In a time where misinformation can lead to death, the press should be largely lauded for their efforts. I can tell you, as someone who covered a massive event like the Sept. 11 attacks and its aftermath, that newsrooms are in overdrive at this moment and will be for months.While the aforementioned four media outlets — and the countless others — have done an exceptional job covering the pandemic, so have Catholic news organizations. For those across the Catholic doctrinal spectrum, the religious press has also done a wonderful job covering COVID-19 from a faith perspective. EWTN, with its TV and radio broadcasts as well as digital media, has done a wonderful job.In particular, Catholic News Agency has updated readers with a constant stream of stories over the past few weeks.The mainstream press, other than focusing on churches going remote during this time of social distancing (and the usual questions about Holy Communion from a “common cup”), hasn’t bothered much with the religion angle.
- 13 days ago 18 Mar 20, 1:00pm -

Ever since the Last Supper, Catholics have pondered what happens during the Mass when they believe the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus."Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering … it has always been the conviction of the Church … that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood," proclaimed the Council of Trent, after the Protestant Reformation."This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation. The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist."Believers approach this mystery with the greatest care and respect. This may be hard for children to grasp as they prepare for First Communion.Now imagine trying to teach this core Catholic doctrine to persons -- young and old -- who have mental and physical disabilities that make it hard, or impossible, for them to acknowledge what is happening in the Mass."Because we believe Holy Communion is the Body and Blood or our Lord, we want to be very careful about this," said Father Matthew Schneider, who is known to his Twitter followers as @AutisticPriest."This isn't a theology test. No one needs a theology degree to take Holy Communion. We simply need to make sure that they know this is an act in a church rite -- that they are not eating ordinary food like at home. We're trying to find out if they have a basic understanding of what's happening."Under Catholic canon law, children can be given Holy Communion "if they can distinguish the body of Christ from ordinary food and receive communion reverently."
- 14 days ago 17 Mar 20, 6:33pm -

ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that does investigative journalism, isn’t known for religion coverage. Why, I have no idea, as the field is indeed rich.But earlier this month, it published a piece on Iraqi Christians that calls out the duplicity of the Donald Trump Administration for calling Iraq too dangerous for Christians on one hand, while deporting hapless Iraqis from the United States whenever it can.It’s one of the few pieces of reporting out there this year on how Iraq continues to be a huge mess. Even as U.S. immigration officials have pushed to deport hundreds of Iraqi Christians over the last few years, asserting in court that they are unlikely to be targeted in their homeland, another arm of the Trump administration has insisted just the opposite, saying that Christians in Iraq face terror and extortion. Last September, a senior Trump appointee at the U.S. Agency for International Development told a government commission that in the part of northern Iraq where many Christians live, militias aligned with Iran “terrorize those families brave enough to have returned, extort local businesses and openly pledge allegiance to Iran.”Meanwhile: The administration has sought to deport hundreds of Iraqis, many of them Christians, who immigrated to the U.S. years ago. To stay in the U.S., many of the Iraqis have to prove that if they are deported, they are most likely to be tortured by, or with the tacit permission of, the Iraqi government — a higher standard than what is used in typical asylum cases. That gives DHS a strong incentive to emphasize Iraq’s progress and portray the country’s government as competent and willing to protect all its people.
- 14 days ago 17 Mar 20, 1:00pm -

To state the matter bluntly, the question of the day is: Who went to church-temple-mosque this past weekend and who did not?The related question: “Why?” Why did believers make the decisions that they made?This is one of those cases in which it is impossible to write a story that captures the whole picture, since we are talking about one of the ultimate local, regional, state, national and international stories of our news lifetimes.Journalists can try to produce a news-you-can-use list that hints at the whole. Check out this Religion News Service feature: “Coronavirus shutdowns disrupt America’s soul, closing houses of worship.” That list of bullets is so limited, because producing a representative national list would be impossible.Thus, others will focus on the larger story by looking at the symbolic details. With the resources of The New York Times, that looks like this: “A Sunday Without Church: In Crisis, a Nation Asks, ‘What is Community?’ “ This is a fine story, although, yes, its anecdotes and examples seem mainline and limited. But, again, the true picture is too big to capture.Journalists do what they can do. Here is the thesis statement, in magisterial Times voice, free of attributions: This week, as the coronavirus has spread, one American ritual after another has vanished. March Madness is gone. No more morning gym workouts or lunches with co-workers. No more visits to grandparents in nursing homes. The Boston Marathon, held through war and weather since 1897, was postponed. And now it was a Sunday without church. Governors from Kentucky to Maryland to North Carolina moved to shut down services, hoping to slow the disease’s spread. Catholic dioceses stopped public Mass, and some parishes limited attendance at funerals and weddings to immediate family. On Sunday morning the Vatican closed the coming Holy Week services to the public. The number of Americans who regularly attend a church service has been steadily declining in recent years. Many have left the traditions of their childhood, finding solace and identity in new ways. But for the one in three adults who attend religious services weekly, the cancellations have meant a life rhythm disrupted. And for the broader country, canceled services were another symbol of a lost chance to be still, to breathe and to gather together in one of the oldest ways humans know, just when such things were needed most.For a similar take from a smaller newsroom, consult this multi-source National Catholic Reporter piece: “Worshippers go online, those at services keep a distance.”My friend Rod “Benedict Option” Dreher stayed home (as I did) and watched a live stream of the Divine Liturgy from his Orthodox Church in America parish in urban Baton Rouge, La. In other words, one computer screen stands for legions of screens elsewhere. See: “View From Your Pandemic Online Church.”But I was haunted by one passage in one story — another example of how The Age of Donald Trump has infected everything, when it comes to news. The fact that the story was valid only made it worse.
- 15 days ago 16 Mar 20, 4:30pm -

The lead pastor of Calvary Church of Naperville—a megachurch in the Chicago suburbs with an attendance around 6,000— this week told his staff to keep secret news that an assistant pastor had tested positive for COVID-19. Calvary Lead Pastor Martyn Sloan also instructed his staff not to tell anyone that the assistant pastor’s wife and son, who’s also … Pastor of Chicago Megachurch Tells Staff to Keep an Outbreak of COVID-19 Among Pastors & Staff Secret Read More »The post Pastor of Chicago Megachurch Tells Staff to Keep an Outbreak of COVID-19 Among Pastors & Staff Secret appeared first on Julie Roys.
- 3 days ago 28 Mar 20, 8:16pm -

“We are extremely concerned,” said Anna Kurian, spokesperson for North Texas Food Bank. “There are actually 800,000 food-insecure people across north Texas. When a disaster happens, people turn to food banks for support.” As most U.S. states close schools and hospitals prepare for the worst, the global coronavirus crisis has drastically changed daily life. Measures are intended … Local Food Banks Face Shortages of Food & Manpower, But Some Churches are Filling the Gap Read More »The post Local Food Banks Face Shortages of Food & Manpower, But Some Churches are Filling the Gap appeared first on Julie Roys.
- 5 days ago 26 Mar 20, 8:21pm -

The Shepherds’ Conference—a pastors’ conference in early March hosted by Pastor John MacArthur‘s church—today confirmed that a 90-year-old pastor who had attended the conference passed away from COVID-19.  In an email sent to the approximately 5,000 conference guests, which was then forwarded to me, the Shepherd’s Conference team wrote: “Our pastor and the conference team … Shepherds’ Conference Confirms Conference Guest Died of COVID-19 Read More »The post Shepherds’ Conference Confirms Conference Guest Died of COVID-19 appeared first on Julie Roys.
- 8 days ago 23 Mar 20, 5:02pm -

An elderly man who attended John MacArthur’s Shepherds’ Conference earlier this month has passed away due to a”highly suspected case” of coronavirus, according to multiple Facebook posts. Yet someone who attended the conference, which gathered about 5,000 people at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, says attendees still have not been informed of their … Pastor Who Attended John MacArthur’s Shepherds’ Conference Dies From Suspected Case of Coronavirus; Attenders Not Notified Read More »The post Pastor Who Attended John MacArthur’s Shepherds’ Conference Dies From Suspected Case of Coronavirus; Attenders Not Notified appeared first on Julie Roys.
- 10 days ago 21 Mar 20, 5:46pm -

Samaritan’s Purse, today airlifted a 68-bed emergency field hospital to Milan, Italy, to help with the coronavirus outbreak there. A DC-8 owned by the  humanitarian aid organization left from North Carolina this morning, carrying 20 tons of medical equipment, including a respiratory care unit developed specifically for this response. Also on the flight were 32 … Samaritan’s Purse Airlifts Supplies & Doctors to Italy Read More »The post Samaritan’s Purse Airlifts Supplies & Doctors to Italy appeared first on Julie Roys.
- 13 days ago 18 Mar 20, 7:49pm -

The CARES Act made its way to the oval office Friday afternoon, where President Donald Trump signed the Covid-19 economic stimulus package, dispensing $2.2 trillion of relief to businesses, nonprofits, workers and families across the country. 
- 20 hours ago 30 Mar 20, 1:42pm -

Covid Responses for Ministry Leaders, Israel Tourism, Funerals Delayed, and Worship in a Snowstorm
- 4 days ago 27 Mar 20, 2:54pm -

On today’s program, more stories about the consequences of the COVID-19 virus outbreak, including how churches and Christian ministries are responding.  Also on today’s program:  A Christian group that ministers to the children of military personnel. We begin today with news that Congress has passed a $2-trillion stimulus package that will include money for churches.  […]
- 4 days ago 27 Mar 20, 1:29am -

Every week, some 2,300 middle school and high school students attend Club Beyond gatherings at 27 Army and Air Force sites around the globe, including larger U.S. bases (Fort Benning in Georgia, Fort Hood in Texas, and Fort Jackson in South Carolina) and international installations (Ramstein Air Base in Germany and Camp Humphreys in South Korea). A Club Beyond has been meeting at West Point since 1997.
- 5 days ago 26 Mar 20, 2:05pm -

Churches will be able to apply for aid as part of the small business provision in the government’s $2 trillion coronavirus-related stimulus package—and not everyone thinks it’s a good idea.American Atheists, a political advocacy group, pushed back on the measure after Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), chairman of the Senate Small Business Committee, assured pastors that small business provisions would be open to churches.
- 6 days ago 25 Mar 20, 3:48pm -

The Rev. Joseph Lowery, a United Methodist pastor who walked with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., died at his home in Atlanta on March 27.
- 15 hours ago 30 Mar 20, 6:55pm -

A Q&A with United Methodist pastor and civil rights icon, the Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, from 2011. The Rev. Lowery passed away March 27, 2020.
- 20 hours ago 30 Mar 20, 2:36pm -

Finance leaders decided they had no choice but to extend the 2016 General Conference’s budget directives. But they also recognize the financial challenges caused by COVID-19.
- 4 days ago 27 Mar 20, 8:11pm -

Podcasts have grown in popularity for years, and some United Methodists find them an ideal way to minister when meeting in person isn’t an option.
- 4 days ago 27 Mar 20, 4:56pm -

United Methodist funerals, memorial services, weddings are getting postponed or downsized in emergency period.
- 5 days ago 26 Mar 20, 3:17pm -

Healthcare providers across the country have postponed elective surgeries during the COVID-19 outbreak, but a federal judge ruled on Monday that the state of Texas cannot require abortionists to do the same. U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel issued a temporary restraining order to protect abortionists from criminal charges should they violate Gov. Greg Abbott’s March 22 order halting all nonessential medical services, including those provided by abortion businesses.What was his reasoning? Yeakel said Abbott’s order violated the due process clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which involves the “right to privacy” the U.S. Supreme Court created to justify the legalization of abortion in its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Only the Supreme Court could decide whether a national health emergency could temporarily suspend that right, the judge said.Dig deeper: Read Leah Hickman’s report in Vitals about how states are regulating abortion facilities during the pandemic.Image: Category: Pro-LifeArticle Title: Judge says abortions must go onKeywords: AbortionCourtsCoronavirusHealthMedicineLifeAuthor: Lynde Langdon
- 11 hours ago 30 Mar 20, 11:08pm -

Police in Hillsborough County, Fla., did not like what they saw on Sunday on The River church’s worship service livestream: a sanctuary full of congregants. On Monday, they arrested Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne for repeatedly violating an order to limit gatherings to 10 people because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said law enforcement officials spoke with the church’s legal team and also tried to talk to Howard-Browne, but he refused to meet with them over the weekend. On Monday, he turned himself in and was released on bond less than an hour later.Why did he hold services? On Facebook, the church described its work as “essential” and said people needed its doors to remain open for comfort. “His reckless disregard for human life put hundreds of people in his congregation at risk and thousands of residents who may interact with them in danger,” Chronister said.Dig deeper: Read Steve West’s report in Liberties about how the coronavirus pandemic affects freedom of worship.Image: Category: Faith & ReligionArticle Title: Florida pastor charged with unlawful gatheringKeywords: CoronavirusReligionChurchesCrimeReligious LibertyHealthPublic HealthAuthor: Harvest Prude
- 12 hours ago 30 Mar 20, 9:39pm -

Help in the COVID-19 epicenterCoronavirusDisaster reliefHealthNew YorkSamaritan’s Purse brings its emergency hospital to an unusual spot: the middle of ManhattanHealthEmily BelzOn Sunday morning, tents for a field hospital went up in Manhattan’s cold, windy, and muddy Central Park. At the request of the state of New York and of the Mt. Sinai Hospital system, the Christian humanitarian organization Samaritan’s Purse rushed an emergency field hospital to the city that is now the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak.Dr. Elliott Tenpenny, a doctor with Samaritan’s Purse who has fought Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, now heads this Central Park field hospital. He stood in the mud as the wind whipped the tents going up and shook his head. “The most improbable thing,” he said about being in New York. New York Police Department officers set a large perimeter around the new hospital site with barricades. From a distance, New Yorkers stopped to look at the mysterious white tents going up in what is normally a field filled with picnickers and sunbathers, just a few blocks north of the Guggenheim Museum. “We’re going to be using every place we need to use to help people,” said New York Mayor Bill de Blasio about the new hospital. About two dozen volunteers from local churches—Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Church of the City, and Emmanuel Anglican, among others—showed up in the morning to help build the hospital. One of the volunteers was Pastor David Beidel, whom I met in 2012 when his and other churches on Staten Island were helping with his neighborhood’s recovery from Superstorm Sandy.“Our Sandy crew is back!” he said to me through an N-95 mask. “We’re still in the middle of a Hurricane Sandy right now. It’s not like, ‘Yesterday was Hurricane Sandy: Let’s get to work.’ We haven’t even hit the peak yet.” New York has about half the cases of COVID-19 in the country. The latest numbers Monday showed 66,497 New Yorkers have confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 1,218 have died, most of those in New York City. The city has about 20,000 hospital beds and estimates that it will need 60,000 by the beginning of May.  Emily Belz A volunteer helps set up a field hospital in Central Park Sunday. After 48 hours of nonstop construction, the Central Park hospital will be operational on Tuesday morning. It will have 68 beds, only for COVID-19 patients, whom doctors will transfer there from Mt. Sinai’s eight hospitals. Tenpenny expects the hospital to be full on the first day, as happened with a field hospital that Samaritan’s Purse built in Italy. The Central Park hospital is small compared to the thousands of beds the Army Corps of Engineers set up in the Javits Convention Center, as well as the 1,000-bed hospital ship that just arrived in New York, the USNS Comfort. But the Javits field hospital and the hospital ship will serve patients who don’t have COVID-19, trying to offload cases from overwhelmed hospitals. The Samaritan’s Purse hospital has about 70 medical staff. It includes an intensive care unit, male and female wards, and a sick bay for staff. There is a sleeping area for staff on call, a pharmacy, a lab with an X-ray machine, a supply tent, and a morgue. It covers about 50,000 square feet on Central Park’s East Meadow. The large, heavy-duty tents are built to withstand the elements. The hospital will have electricity, which the local utility company Con Edison was wiring as the tents were going up. Will King, Samaritan’s Purse’s point of contact with the city, laughed about the terrible weather as they were setting up: “The mayor’s office even apologized for it.” Emily Belz The Samaritan’s Purse field hospital will have 68 beds. The Central Park hospital came about when Samaritan’s Purse offered its services to federal and state authorities. The Federal Emergency Management Agency connected the group with Mt. Sinai, and on Saturday Tenpenny and others met with Mt. Sinai administrators. Together they drove around the city looking for the best spot for a hospital, then settled on the Central Park spot across from one Mt. Sinai hospital. The city quickly came through with permits to make it happen. “The city has fast-tracked every approval process,” said Tenpenny. Other departments pitched in: The Central Park Conservancy had staff and a tractor out moving pallets of supplies, and city workers were busy setting up barricades. One city worker hauling metal barriers had a cigar clamped between his teeth, gritting against the cold, wet wind. “We’ve never faced anything like this,” said Beidel. “We’re all a little bit paralyzed … but we have to work together to be the hands and feet of Christ in New York City.” CoronavirusFeaturesDateline: in New York
- 13 hours ago 30 Mar 20, 9:30pm -

As the nascent coronavirus pandemic began to threaten global health, one of the world’s leading humanitarian medical groups took a stand—on abortion. In January, Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) announced its partnership with the How to Use Abortion Pill website.Through the site, MSF sponsors a “free, open-source, evidence-based online course on medication abortion,” wrote Dr. Manisha Kumar, head of the Task Force on Safe Abortion Care at the organization. In an interview with Vice, the website’s anonymous project manager claimed instructors intended the “Medication Abortion In Humanitarian Aid Settings” course to educate healthcare workers, not teach women how to manage their own abortions. But the site frequently references “your pregnancy,” and the course refers to its contents as “instructions,” which it then breaks down into detailed steps, including some second-person directives for pregnant women.“It’s incredibly concerning that Doctors Without Borders would ignore the real risks of medication abortion and push do-it-yourself abortions on women who are in medically underserved areas,” said Dr. Donna Harrison, executive director of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists.Because of COVID-19, more areas are experiencing medical scarcity than ever before. And more women are expressing interest in the abortion pill.The Human Coalition, a pregnancy helpline, saw an 18 percent increase in phone calls last week, according to its national director, Lori Szala.“Most of the women are in the early stages of their pregnancy, so the first thing they are asking is, ‘I need to get the abortion pill,’” she said.Dr. Karysse Trandem, the medical director of Save the Storks in Naples, Fla., agreed with Szala’s assessment: “My clinic is seeing more women who are asking for the abortion pill than ever before.”Against that backdrop, MSF is engaging in what Patrina Mosley, director of life, culture, and women’s advocacy at the Family Research Council, called “negligence and medical malpractice at a global level.” She noted the website not only falsely promotes the abortion pill as a safe alternative to surgical abortions, but it also encourages women and healthcare workers to operate outside of the law: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has only approved abortion pills for use through 10 weeks of pregnancy, but the MSF-sponsored course offers information on how to chemically induce abortions up to 22 weeks.Harrison pointed to studies out of Finland showing that among women who had drug-induced abortions, “1 out of 5 … had a complication, and 1 out of 20 had to have surgery afterward for hemorrhaging or retained tissue.” After 10 weeks of pregnancy, almost 1 in 3 women had to have surgery after taking the abortion pill.Some countries have far-reaching protections for unborn babies, yet other portions of the How to Use Abortion Pill website encourage women to ignore the law and tell them how to lie about their abortions if they need to seek medical assistance.“In some countries … you may need to be careful about what you say,” the site reads. “You can say things like, ‘I’m unsure what’s happening. I just started bleeding.’ ‘I'm bleeding, but it doesn’t feel like my normal period.’ ‘I just suddenly started bleeding and I’m afraid something is wrong.’”The World Health Organization approved and credentialed the website even though “not many people know who’s behind it or funding it,” Mosley said. The motivation for the partnership, she said, comes down to money. The third-world locations where MSF operates already have staff and equipment shortages, making the abortion pill an attractive alternative since it requires no doctor’s visit or surgery to abort a child. But those limits pose a danger to women who will experience complications.“There is only one person that the abortion pill is safe for and that’s the abortionist,” Harrison said. “It’s not safe for the woman who takes it and certainly not safe for the child who is killed.” Associated Press/Photo by Rogelio V. Solis (file) An exam room at an abortion facility in Jackson, Miss. Against ordersMany patients and doctors in the United States are putting off routine and elective medical appointments and procedures to conserve resources for COVID-19 patients. But some abortion businesses are still providing elective abortions, many in defiance of government orders.A majority of state governments have ordered hospitals and clinics to cease nonessential medical procedures. At least 10 states have made specific exemptions for abortion facilities, while others have specifically told abortionists to put procedures on hold.Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced last week that statewide COVID-19 restrictions ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott applied to abortion providers.“Those who violate the governor’s order will be met with the full force of the law,” Paxton said.The order effectively halted abortion in Texas while the pandemic lasts, but several pro-abortion abortion groups sued the state on Wednesday, calling abortion “an essential, time-sensitive medical service [that] cannot be delayed.”A federal judge on Monday issued a temporary restraining order on the ban while the lawsuit goes through the courts. U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel said Abbott’s order violated the due process clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which involves the “right to privacy” the U.S. Supreme Court created to justify the legalization of abortion in its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. “There can be no outright ban on such a procedure,” the judge wrote.“We are disappointed in the court’s decision,” a spokesman for Paxton said in a statement. “We’ll seek appellate review promptly.”In Ohio, some facilities boldly chose to continue providing abortions despite a state health department mandate issued on March 18 to stop all surgeries and procedures that could “be delayed without undue risk to the current or future health of a patient.” At the urging of pro-life groups, the state attorney general’s office issued on March 20 a cease-and-desist order to two Ohio abortion businesses.“There’s still no discussion of an across-the-board declaration regarding certain procedures,” said Dan Tierney, a spokesman for Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine. But, as of Friday, the Ohio Department of Health was investigating allegations on a case-by-case basis to determine whether the abortion businesses had violated the order.At a news conference on Thursday, DeWine said if the abortion “is done to save someone’s life, well obviously that’s something that needs to be done. But if it’s elective surgery, then the order says they can’t do it.” —L.H. Facebook/March for Life Canada Demonstrators at a previous March for Life Canada Change of plansOrganizers for Canada’s largest pro-life event might have to take the March for Life event scheduled for May 14 online due to concerns about the coronavirus.Ontario has banned social gatherings of more than five people for at least the next two weeks. Organizers of the Canadian March for Life have already canceled indoor activities in Ottawa, Ontario, related to the event, but they say a march will still happen—even if it has to be online.“There will be a March for Life on May 14 no matter what happens,” said Debbie Duval, the national capital organizer for the Campaign Life Coalition. “We are working on a possible online solution if the march has to be put off.” —L.H. COVID-19 in the wombResearchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine launched a study on March 23 examining the effects of the new coronavirus on pregnant mothers and their babies. Due to a lack of data, scientists have few solid answers to give women who want to know how the virus will affect them and their unborn children. The study—conducted by the Organization of Teratology Information Specialists—will seek to erase a few of those question marks by following up with and observing infected women during and after pregnancy. —L.H. Image: Deck: Groups promote chemically induced abortions during the COVID-19 outbreakCategory: Pro-LifeKeywords: AbortionCoronavirusMedicineLifeInternationalState GovernmentCanadaFamilySlug: AbortionArticle Title: Under cover of a pandemicAuthor: Leah HickmanDigital Branding: VitalsHide from Archive?: 0
- 14 hours ago 30 Mar 20, 8:21pm -

Inside the outbreak: Scarry times in scary times, Chapter 8CoronavirusHealthFamilyPublic HealthWhat do people do all day—in social isolation?HealthCharissa KohHannah HarrisHere’s the eighth edition of What Do Socially Isolated People Do All Day! Send your own socially isolated happenings to editor@wng.org.Some people are running out of things to do during their time at home, but in Austin, Texas, Cindy Seaton is staying busy. She writes: “My husband and I work from home—he is an Oracle Cloud Training Manager and I’m a 1031 tax-deferred exchange coordinator. We’re guiding our 16-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter through homeschooling without the resources of a co-op and dual credit classes at the community college. My parents are healthy, but we’re helping them around the house cleaning and running errands. For our neighbors, we’re delivering water or supplies to friends who need them and shipping toilet paper to colleagues in other states.”Lee Pitts teaches journalism at Dordt University in Sioux Center, Iowa, and is the associate dean of the World Journalism Institute. “Launching my first online college class session, I did not know what to expect,” he said. “Would students be ready to learn after a two-week break? Would everyone be able to log-in from time zones all around the nation? Would they even care about learning at this moment? But student after student popped into my Zoom meeting. Near perfect attendance. They smiled at each other, waved, and gave tours of their bedrooms. New students even joined the class: Gibby and Leon. Two cats. As the students peeked at one another’s pets and posters, I realized they weren’t giddy about my upcoming lecture. They were just happy to see each other. A campus community broken, now reunited.”Chapter 7, from Thursday, March 26, 2020Today’s edition of What Do Socially Isolated People Do All Day? features two examples from outside the United States. If you are stuck in social isolation, we’d love to hear how you’re using the time: Email 100 words of description to editor@wng.org. Prema Sunder and her husband, Sam, live in India. Prema writes: “The deadly virus is very much here in Chennai. They call it the ‘imported virus,’ as it was first found in people returning from other countries. Most of those who had it were elite and middle-class people who could isolate themselves. But now cases are appearing among those who haven’t traveled overseas, and it is spreading to the community. Our people in villages are very poor in hygiene and most are day laborers. How are they going to survive this lockdown? Already we hear of people going without food. Sam and I do not go anywhere. All the ministry centers are closed. We organize fasting prayers within our homes and have virtual worship in most churches. We thank God for it!”Michael Kearney is a Ph.D. student at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland. He writes: “Europe shut down during my semester abroad, so I’m riding out the virus in a dorm room in Poland till June—feeling sometimes like an inmate, sometimes like a patient, sometimes like a monk. The monkish times are the best. Silence is important; breaking the silence is also important. I read out loud. I pray out loud. I sing a bit before bed. I dictate essays to myself. I listen to the church bells. I curl up in the afternoon sun and take a nap. I fret over the day’s international headlines and their implications. I sing a bit more.”Chapter 6, from Thursday, March 26, 2020How are kids handling social isolation? For What Do Socially Isolated People Do All Day, Chapter 6, three kids tell us what’s keeping them busy. If your kids would like to write about their social isolation activities, send their descriptions to editor@wng.org.Desarose Stewart, 12, lives 40 miles above the Arctic Circle in the Inupiat village of Kobuk, Alaska. Here’s her take: “Hours after Kobuk’s social isolation rule was announced, men snowmobiled onto the ice-locked river hunting caribou for Kobuk. The hunters dropped off one or two of these reindeer-like animals to every household. For 10 hours my family cut stew meat, ground some into sausage, and deboned our two caribou. We’ve also streamed Adventures in Odyssey, dog mushed, and wiggled through 5-foot deep snow. Mom has us outside for six to eight hours daily to maintain healthy bodies.  My friend flew home from boarding school and we ‘air-hugged’ from 12 feet apart. So far, social isolation is not too bad.”Lydia and Guelah Branham are sisters. Their dad, Josh, works for a company that collects and shreds trash from hospitals, nursing homes, and banks. Lydia Branham, (almost) 10 years old: “When my dad comes home from work, the day is almost over, and we don’t have to be concerned with the chores, schooling, and busy schedule of our household. But even at the end of the day, there are hints that the virus is still out there. Dad goes up to change his germy clothes so he won’t give the virus to us, and then greets us. “My dad thinks keeping in touch is important, so we’re doing a lot of video-chatting. When we use Zoom, Skype, or FaceTime, the picture is normally fuzzy and everybody talks over each other.  But even so, we get to catch up with our friends. Since we can’t go to the library, my mom unpacked a whole wall of books from storage. I entertain myself with an old, battered copy of The Lord of the Rings and pray for better times.”Guelah Branham, 8 years old: “Life hasn’t changed, not too much. Daddy has to get the groceries; he doesn’t want us to get the coronavirus. He doesn’t stop going to work because his job shreds hospitals’ trash. We’re homeschooled, so there’s no big change in schooling. Whenever we switch on the news, they are talking about the coronavirus. They talk about social distancing, so we don’t give the virus to someone older or who is already sick and could easily die. Church is closed, so on Sunday we watched part of a sermon at home. We can still play outside, although we aren’t lately because of the bad weather. We’re doing a lot of FaceTime and cards to keep in touch.”Chapter 5, from Wednesday, March 25, 2020In honor of children’s illustrator Richard Scarry, here’s the fifth installment of What Do Socially Isolated People Do All Day. If you are stuck in social isolation, we’d love to hear how you’re using the time! Please send your 100 words of description to editor@wng.org. Natalie Boltz is a stay-at-home mom to three kids under 4 years old. She’s working to keep them entertained: “We are having fun in the kitchen making carrot applesauce cake, homemade whole wheat bread, strawberry yogurt popsicles, and pancakes. The kids drag their chairs up to the counter and help with mixing and adding ingredients. The 4-year-old can even measure some of the ingredients. We’re grateful to spend time outside in the sunshine and brighten our home with bouquets of the yellow wildflowers overtaking our backyard.”Speaking of yellow flowers, Amy Boyd and her family came up with an idea to bless their neighbors. She wrote: “We’re a homeschooling family with eight children. The social isolation has been a relatively easy adjustment for us, but we knew many of our neighbors in Buford, Ga., were struggling. We set up a flower stand and gave away free daffodils from our garden to anyone who walked by. Chairs were a careful 6 feet away from the table. We plan to continue the ‘Free Flowers’ stand every spring, Coronavirus or not.”Chapter 4, from Tuesday, March 24, 2020In honor of children’s illustrator Richard Scarry, here’s What Do Socially Isolated People Do All Day, Chapter 4. If you’re hunkered down, let us know how you’ve been spending your days. Please send 100 words of description to editor@wng.org.Katie Winkler: “I am quarantined in Romania after a mad dash through Eastern Europe to reach safety. After my school plans fell through at home, I planned to spend a month in Eastern Europe and a month in Ireland exploring what God had for me next. I’m still exploring that, just in a totally different way than I expected. As I prayed and walked the driveway loop yesterday (19 times makes 2 miles), I asked, ‘What did Paul do in prison?’ I think he steeped himself in scripture and the Lord’s presence until epistles poured out. So I pray, study, and memorize Scripture, invite the Lord’s presence into my day, and read John Bunyan’s The Holy War.”Christianna Kinney: “The coronavirus has brought home all five of our children (ages 4 to 11). Instead of hurrying to get them dressed and out the door each morning, we eat breakfast together and learn around our table. Our afternoons are busy playing games and building forts instead of driving to dance lessons and basketball practice. During our late-night talks my husband and I talk about what the kids said that gave us hope. Our kids are oblivious to the world's chaos and fears. Our 6-year-old said, ‘Mommy, can I keep homeschooling until I’m 14?”Kim Downs is an artist who has read WORLD for more than 15 years. She shared how her family is dealing with social isolation: “We’re a family of five with little boys ages 5, 4, and 1. I’m spending days with them like always, except stuck mostly at home, but with the bonus of my husband working (plus playing and disciplining) at home with us. We've had picnics, walks, and lots of yard time. Yesterday we watched our church music leader and his kids livestream scripture songs, and tonight my ladies small group Bible study discussed Philippians 2 virtually. My husband took our boys to watch the sunset with my parents.  COVID-19 is pressing us into contentment in simplicity and treasuring community.” Tamara Shoemaker said: “It’s no secret that I’ve lived in Facebook-land since schools let out and the coronavirus became the only topic of discussion, ever. My job at a local elementary school was put on hold, my graduate classes all moved online, and I began to homeschool my three children. I watched my Facebook newsfeed in horror as shortages, especially medical shortages, cropped up everywhere. When a call for fabric masks from a local medical center appeared, I jumped in with both feet. I have a sewing machine and basic sewing skills: I could volunteer! The next day, a worker at the center had picked out fabric, elastic, and thread for me, delivered it, and I set to work. They were easy to make, and I felt better, knowing I was doing something to help.”Chapter 3, from Saturday, March 21, 2020In honor of children’s illustrator Richard Scarry, here’s What Do Socially Isolated People Do All Day, Chapter 3. I’m now turning this feature over to WORLD reporters Hannah Harris and Charissa Koh, so please send your 100 words of description to editor@wng.org. If any children want to draw pictures of what they imagine John Erickson and Hank the Cowdog look like, please email them to that address as well.   John Erickson, the author of 74 beloved Hank the Cowdog books, lives on a Texas panhandle ranch with no neighbors for miles around. He writes, “You might say that Kris and I have been quarantined for decades. Over 53 years of marriage we have learned to cope with isolation and even to enjoy it. We play instruments and sing together. We share a glass of wine in the evenings and talk to each other. We watch old movies on DVD, the most recent being the Marx Brothers. We also have our own interests. Kris enjoys cooking and quilting. I am interested in Texas Panhandle archaeology. But we also enjoy singing in our church choir and being part of a worship community. We will miss that for a while.”World Radio features editor Paul Butler writes about a meeting in LaMoille, Ill.—population 725—of three local pastors with the mayor, school superintendent, and two concerned community members: “Within hours we’d initialized a pay-as-you-go cell phone as a community hotline, designed postcards to go to every mailing address in the area, and published a flyer for the post office. The first call came from an octogenarian needing a few things from the store, and someone to pick up her mail. I bought the apples and evaporated milk. When I dropped them off, I passed the young man delivering her mail. Before this crisis, we’d never met. Who knew isolation could actually bring people together?”—Marvin OlaskyChapter 2, from Friday, March 20, 2020I received two more stories for our Richard Scarry-influenced collection, What Do People Do All Day in Social Isolation (see below). The first is from historian Allen Guelzo, author of excellent books about the Civil War and director of the Initiative in Politics and Statesmanship at Princeton University's James Madison Institute: “As I face self-quarantining, I step back a short distance in time. First, I read. Second, I read aloud, which is what families in the 19th century did around parlor tables. Third, I look for sets of liturgical prayers (more reading aloud). I recommend Edmund Grindal’s ‘Meditation’ at the time of plague in 1563, which you can Google from The Remains of Edmund Grindal (1843). As St. Jerome said, in prayer we are never less alone than when alone. Truth is, I'm enjoying so much connection with these agendas, I might not want to go back to the future.”Our second Scarry story is from Matt Brownfield, a partner at the Murphy Nasica political consulting firm: “Political consultants are not social animals. Like betta fish, we fight when placed in a shared aquarium. Our quarantine might be good for everyone. And not just during the outbreak of the Chinese Virus (can you tell which party I work for?). What is a typical day in isolation? Well, first off, I scheme. After that, I plot. Then, I take a brief nature walk with the kids. Finally, it’s time to conspire—via the internet. I end my day by yelling at the TV, like my uncle used to do. Is it less crazy to yell at the TV if you know the people on it? My kids say ‘no.’”If you are socially isolated and have tales to tell, please email 100 words of good description to editor@wng.org.—Marvin OlaskyChapter 1, from Thursday, March 19, 2020One of my literary heroes is Richard Scarry (1919–1994), author and illustrator of the great children’s book What Do People Do All Day? I asked two Californian friends about how their families are handling social isolation.Lynn Vincent, bestselling author and former WORLD features editor, said: “We inventoried our paper towels: 20 mega-rolls. Delivered some paper towels to neighbors after Amazon scotched their order. Checked in with our church to see who might need immediate help buying groceries. (Cool thing is, we weren’t the only ones, and this surreal series of world events is giving our small church another avenue for sharing God’s love through ‘Matthew 25-ing.’) Meanwhile, my husband began telecommuting, and it is a delight having him here. We’re calling it ‘retirement practice.’ (On the other hand, we are diligently not looking at the plummeting balances in our retirement accounts.)”David Bahnsen, a chief investment officer who manages active and retirement accounts, said, “Right now I am doing very little but working, holed up in my home study with multiple monitors open, working for my clients and handling the daily grind of markets. But our family is united, loving each other through this uncertainty, and thinking about life after this passes. I will be disappointed if I don’t use this time to put a lot of books away in my library that I have failed to handle for months. And I have a lot of Bible reading to do. A lot.”If you are socially isolated and have tales to tell, please email 100 words of good description to editor@wng.org.—Marvin OlaskyHealthFeatures
- 14 hours ago 30 Mar 20, 7:56pm -