Learning to think "Christianly" about the Pandemic

Here is an important conversation helping us as Christ-followers to form a Christian and scientific understanding of the pandemic in which we find ourselves.

Timothy J. Keller was the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, and the author of The New York Times bestselling books The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith (2008), Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God (2014), and The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism (2008).

Francis Collins started out as a worship pastor, went on to become a medical doctor and researcher, and headed the Human Genome Project, and now is Director of the NIH, National Institutes of Health.

Beginning at minute 26 there is an important conversation about conspiracy theories -- please listen!

Important study on facemasks show they reduce spread by at least 30%

August 11, 2020

Perhaps most important study to date is a study of all studies, called a "meta-analysis," by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

The IHME, a research center that has provided projections on hospitalizations and deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic, performed a meta-analysis earlier this summer of mask studies from the United States, China and Germany that confirmed what most medical experts have advocated for months:

If 95 percent of people wear cloth masks when within 6 feet of other people in public, it will reduce COVID-19 transmission by at least 30 percent. So if every infected person transmits the virus to 30 percent fewer people, it improves the chances of subduing COVID-19’s spread in the United States. The results ranged from 30 to 60% reduction in spread.

So, where's the good news in this? Wearing a mask can save lives and reduce the likelihood of another lockdown. It is an easy way to show others you care.

Masks work. The meta-analysis assumed all masks in public use are cloth, not the even more effective N95 respirators worn by healthcare professionals.

Here is a more detailed look at this study:

Mask Mandate until September 28

I hate wearing a face-mask! But...

In light of the continued spread of the pandemic in our state, the Governor has issued a face-mask mandate. In light of this and scripture, we ask that if you are in the building for any reason while others are present, wear a face-mask. Believe me, I get it! Masks suck! But they help reduce the spread. And so, because I'm a Christ-follower, it's not about me, it's about what is the best for the other person -- and so I mask-up.

Not only that, but Romans 13:1-2 makes it pretty simple: Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. The "judgment" in this case is a continued and intensified spread. Pretty simple: mask-up!

Love your neighbor, wear a mask.

Here is the actual mandate: https://evers.wi.gov/Documents/COVID19/EmO01-FaceCoverings.pdf

Coronavirus Plan shared

This Sunday Pastor Dennis shared what it looks like to be "incarnational" in our community in light of the ongoing coronavirus/Covid-19 pandemic.

"Being vigilant to protect the most vulnerable in our community" is what it is all about. He asked us to consider:

• Watching the service online if you suspect you have been exposed to the flu or coronavirus, and especially if you have a fever

• Washing hands frequently.

• Wiping down all "touch-surfaces" in the church building.

• Having a full service cafe instead of self-service in order to minimize transmission.

• Checking in on our older and more vulnerable and doing grocery shopping for them.

• Using the video chat services to keep those who are sick connected

• And, he said, the list goes on.

While it might seem like over-kill in our small-town church, it only takes one contact. One day after sharing this message, a church in D.C. was asked to voluntarily quarantine after their pastor was diagnosed with Covid-19 -- 500 people exposed. We just don't know. So during this season remember this truth:

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

After leaving the River Hills building early Sunday morning, the Guatemalan Mission Team made it safely to Guatemala Sunday evening. The team is hard at work building a modest house for a mom and her kids, as well as cutting hair for the Kairos Christian School. As the school's director said: "Un salón improvisado! Gracias Gina Hees y Margaret Maggie Kraus... y gracias a Aniu Salon y River Hills por prestásnolas esta semana."