Baltimore Pastor Defies Government Order Against In-Person Church Service

A pastor in Baltimore tore up a cease and desist letter the church received for holding in-person services as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The church was threatened with a $5,000 fine.  The pastor cited Hebrews 10:25 as his reasoning for defying the order.

“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

https://www.newsmax.com/us/baltimore-pastor-stay-at-home-church/2020/05/21/id/968353/

Now I don’t care that he wants to defy a government order.  That’s fine with me and I think he’s likely on good legal ground, although it may not sit as well with the community there regarding the church’s testimony.  That’s for him and the church to decide.  But I do object to misinterpreting and misapplying biblical passages.  Here’s my beef with using that verse the way he does. 

  1. The context of that passage is not a formal church service.  It’s provoking one another to love and good works and exhorting (coming alongside) each other in support.  This does not require a church service.  I would argue that this, very often, is best done outside of a formal service.
  2. The “assembling” simply means a gathering together in one place.  It does not refer to a specific number or percentage of people.  It’s just Christians getting together in any context which supports provoking to love and good works which should prevent God’s punishment for those who otherwise could fall into sin.  (Heb. 10:29)
  3. If he really believes that “so much the more” refers to church services, then I would ask him when he is adding more regular church services to the weekly church schedule.  The fact that he doesn’t proves my point.

My interpretation and application of that verse is that Christians should gravitate towards one another for support as our world approaches the end.  There are a few other details involved, but that’s the basic idea.  It has nothing to do with a church service.  As a matter of fact, the Bible does not specify what day or time that a local church should meet (contrary to popular opinion). 

In my reading of this passage, if Christians gather informally in a home, workplace, or at a restaurant for mutual exhortation, they likely are fulfilling Hebrews 10:25. 

Is Immigration a Biblical Issue?

First of all, this is not an endorsement or condemnation of Donald Trump or the U.S. government’s immigration policies in general.  This article is simply addressing biblical interpretation errors and other fallacies in a Washington Post article written by a Yale Divinity School professor which takes issue with Franklin Graham’s insistence that immigration is not a Bible issue.  Here is the article:
 
 
This is not the first article I have read this week on this subject.  All of them have a common theme: Christians should let anyone immigrate to the United States because of how “strangers” are treated in the Bible.  Here’s my take:

Continue reading

Doing What’s Right in the Eyes of God

Often it seems as though few in our culture know right from wrong anymore.  I’m not speaking of knowing what is legal, but rather abiding by an absolute moral code, specifically the Bible.

When the United States was founded, the Bible was revered, church-going was normative, and nearly all of the people (including the vast majority of the founders) were Christian.  It is no wonder that many of our founding documents contain principles from the Scriptures.  Even those who would debate these facts would have to admit that the founding generation would be shocked at some of the behavior that is tolerated today.  To them, most of us would be rude, crude, and socially unacceptable.  We’re not totally devoid of our morals, but we are far from where we should be.  Without a moral code, a people will drift aimlessly as the Jews did in the book of Judges.

Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. Continue reading

Who Do We Trust?

Jeremiah 17:5-10

5Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. 6For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.  7Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.  8For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.  9The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?  10I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

As we enter into this election year, the words of this passage of Scripture should give us perspective.  Politicians of all kinds make promises and sound as though they can solve every problem each one of us has.  However, most of their rhetoric is just that.  It is rare that any government official lives up to his or her promises. Continue reading