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The Coronavirus: For Such a Time as This

It can be truly said that people are freaking out.

The Coronavirus

Because of the rapid spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), yesterday West Chester University was the next college to announce that it would be shutting down for the remainder of the semester. Classes will be held online, and the dorms will be closed. I’m sure more universities across the nation will follow suit in the coming days.

This is the next domino to topple over in a long line of dominos to come that could be extremely problematic. What’s going to happen to all the international students who can’t go home? What happens to the students who live off campus but work on campus as a way of earning income to pay for their tuition? Will the universities that close pay back the students who don’t have a place to live or a reliable internet connection for “attending classes” through the end of spring?

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Erin’s Battle with Stage Four Cancer

On Tuesday, January 21, 2020 Erin Selcher was admitted to Chester County hospital after experiencing severe abdominal pain. Initial scans showed that there were spots and a possible mass on Erin’s liver and pancreas. Further testing on January 24 confirmed the devastating diagnosis of Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer.

Erin Selcher with her 5 kids

Erin is married to Steve, and they have 5 children: Cambre, Lane, Jesse, Mac, and Torren John (“TJ”). She is currently undergoing stage three of her fight, with her third round of chemotherapy. The treatment happens every 2 weeks for a total of 12 weeks. The family continues to process this news and have been amazing at letting the community we’re a part of know as often as possible what they need to help them navigate the upcoming months as Erin fights this horrific disease.

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Red Flags in the Spiritual Deconstruction of My Old Friends Rhett and Link: UPDATED

We’re going into the entertainment industry. That’s what my friend Link Neal said to me on the phone in late summer/early fall of 2006. During the call, we were supposed to talk about our previous time together in the spring of ‘06, and how that was going to be a launching point for me to work intentionally with Rhett and Link the next year at a spring break evangelism conference Cru puts on called Big Break. I was (and still am) a full-time missionary with Cru, and so were they at the time.

Rhett and Link on Good Mythical Morning

But during my call with Link, all of the plans changed.

Rhett and Link left Cru staff that year and went on to become YouTube’s most famous comedy duo on the internet. They created a daily show called Good Mythical Morning that currently boasts 16.2 million subscribers. If you haven’t heard of them, chances are someone you know probably watches their show online multiple times per week.

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The Death of Death

Did you know that death is not at all natural? Even though every person dies, death itself was not a part of God’s original plan—death entered the world as a consequence of sin.

Photo: Unsplash

There is a reason we instinctively abhor death and the fact that it eventually swallows everyone we know and love. We as human beings are made in the image of God, and God is the Author of life.

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He Pursues Us

Have you ever walked into someone’s house and immediately realized they were cooking or baking something delicious?

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The wonderful smells of chocolate chip cookies, bacon, fresh bread, homemade pasta sauce, or cinnamon rolls all have the ability to saturate the entirety of a home, and fill it with the mouth-watering aroma of tasty food.

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Too Far Gone

Have you ever thought about someone you consider to be beyond the reach of God and said, “That person will never become a Christian”? Well, God’s life-changing love isn’t just for the people you happen to think are “somewhat good.”

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The Bible gives us a vivid example of someone who considered himself the least qualified and most undeserving recipient of God’s mercy and love—the Apostle Paul. The book of Acts tells us that Paul (formerly called Saul) was at one point an enemy of Jesus Christ, and devout persecutor of the Christian faith. He was known for ravaging the church, entering house after house and dragging off believing men and women and throwing them in prison (Acts 8:3).

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The Infamous Enneagram 8

“You’re intimidating.”

This is a sentence I’ve heard uttered to me many times in my adult life. And early on as a young single man in my twenties, I’d often retort with, “I’m five-foot-six when I’m wearing shoes—I am not intimidating!”

Photo: Unsplash

But after getting married and continually being told that I’m intimidating by the people in my circle of influence, along with my actual wife admitting the same, I started to wonder, “Maybe I am intimidating to other people…but why?”

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Is it the Man or Woman’s Job to Prevent a Workplace Affair?

Let’s start with the Mike Pence rule, an interesting approach married men have taken to prevent the workplace affair. Basically, these men and their wives have decided that the husband isn’t allowed to spend one-on-one time with another woman. Even in the office. Other popular names who have ascribed to this rule in the past were Christian giant Billy Graham and Bill Bright, founder of Cru.

Photo: Unsplash

This strict boundary avoids the appearance of evil and nips any kind of temptation in the bud before it has an opportunity to wreak havoc in a marriage. But it brings to light an interesting dialogue that has been circulating lately about the topic of purity and the workplace affair.

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Showing Our Kids How to Love in a Culture of Hate

A quick glimpse of the news or your social media feed shows why our culture is deemed a hate culture. From the small issues in a hometown all the way up to the political scene in Washington, D.C., most of America seems angry for one reason or another.

Photo: Unsplash

And to an even more complex degree, Christians are often characterized and stereotyped as the most hateful of all. The culture says Christians are close-minded, unaccepting, and judgmental toward anyone who doesn’t share our standard of biblical morality. Many in our society are comfortable pointing the finger at Christians. They label us as the most hateful people of all in a world fighting for love to win.

This is obviously problematic. This accusation requires Christians to navigate our culture with great sensitivity and shrewdness. We have to figure out a way to live in the world but not ascribe to its anti-biblical ways.

Showing love and care for others while standing up for biblical principles isn’t easy. Christians often fail by leaning too far in one direction or the other. Turning them into people of worldly acceptance or religious legalism. To be in the world but not of it can be difficult indeed.