It’s Monday, April 13th, A.D. 2020. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus.
By Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
USA faces 18 months of rolling shutdowns?
On CBS’s “Face the Nation” yesterday, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said, without an effective therapy or a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, the U.S. economy could face 18 months of rolling shutdowns as the outbreak recedes and flares up again, reports Bloomberg.
KASHKATI: “We just don’t know the path of the virus. That’s going to determine how long the shutdown needs to take place, and ultimately, how many Americans lose their jobs and how quickly we can get them back to work when the economy turns back on.
“It would be wonderful if some new therapy were developed in the next couple months, that people could have confidence to go back to work if they could get treatment. Barring some healthcare miracle like that, it seems like we’re going to have various phases of rolling flare-up, different parts of the economy turning back on, maybe turning back off again. This could be a long, hard road that we have ahead of us until we get to either an effective therapy or a vaccine.”
All 50 states under disaster declaration for first time in history
All 50 states are under a major disaster declaration for the first time in U.S. history, after President Trump approved Wyoming’s declaration Saturday, reports TheHill.com.
(Within 22 days, Trump declared a major emergency in all 50 states and most territories through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The final disaster declaration occurred on the same day U.S. surpassed Italy to become the country with the most deaths from the virus.)
Louisiana pastor defends Easter Sunday in-person service of 2,000
Americans spent a glum Easter Sunday largely confined to their homes by the still-raging coronavirus pandemic as the U.S. death toll neared 23,000, with more than half a million confirmed cases nationwide, reports Reuters.
With 42 states imposing strict stay-at-home orders most churches were shuttered, although many erected crosses outside or even offered drive-through services conducted by pastors wearing latex gloves and surgical masks.
Other Americans turned to online church services to mark the holiest day in the Christian calendar.
In Louisiana, the evangelical Life Tabernacle megachurch near Baton Rouge defied local government orders to shut down and held its Easter Sunday service as planned with 2,000 people in attendance.
Reverend Tony Spell explained why his congregation wanted to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus in person.
SPELL: “They would rather come to church and worship like free people than live like prisoners in their homes for 22 days.”
Pastor Spell also said, “Our rights come from our Creator, not from a governing body.”
In some states, attempts by authorities to clamp down on Easter services have sparked legal battles over the rights of government to prevent Americans from attending church, even under pandemic conditions.
The office of Attorney General William Barr said action will be taken against officials who single out religious organizations to enforce social distancing rules, reports the Christian Post.
Philly police drag man without facial mask off public bus
Four Philadelphia policeman physically dragged a man who was not wearing a facial mask off the bus on Friday with half a dozen officers outside the bus looking on, reports ABC News.
After the video went viral, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority issued a statement on Saturday saying it will no longer make face coverings mandatory on public transit, though it still asks commuters to comply with the recommendation.
Tony Evans: Time for Christian men to repent, pray and lead
And finally, Dr. Tony Evans of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas held a Good Friday service on-line entitled “Kingdom Men Calling” in which he said God was looking for Christian men to take a stand.
EVANS: “Ezekiel Chapter 22, verse 30. God says, ‘I looked for a man so that I would not have to curse the land, but I could find none.’ In other words, it was the absenteeism of men that was leading to the decline of the culture. You see, the one thing that’s missing, the one thing that we got to get right, if we want God to intervene, on Corona, or any other issue that is infecting our land, our culture, our nation, if we want God to answer, to speak, to intervene, to reverse, then He’s got to get the attention of men. God created the man to be the foundation. The reason He made Adam first was that he was to be foundational.”
Pastor Evans didn’t pull any punches with the Christian men who tuned in on Good Friday about the need to lead.
EVANS: “Don’t tell me you don’t have time. Don’t tell me you’re too busy. Don’t tell me you can’t read the Word, drop to your knees in prayer, lead your family in devotions. Don’t tell me that. This is not a time for excuses. This is a time for men to stand up, be counted — individually and collectively — with your families, through your local churches, and, yes, publicly in society.
“9-11 is the day that will live in infamy, the day that has changed America forever. 19 men from halfway around the world invaded us and brought America to our knees. If 19 men, in the name of their faith, could come over here, invade us and shut us down, what do you think thousands of men in the name of the true God of the Bible and the Lordship of His son, the Lord Jesus Christ, can do to bring this nation back online? ‘Cause we are out of line.”
EVANS: “So, I’m asking you to join me in a sacred gathering to commit one day a week to fasting and prayer, at least one meal. And you take the time you would have spent eating to drop to your knees, and to cry out to God for yourself and repentance for your family, for your church, and for your nation.”
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Monday, April 13th in the year of our Lord 2020. Subscribe by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I’m Adam McManus. (adam@TheWorldview.com) Seize the day for Jesus Christ.