Arquivos Current Events - OTPB - Ordem dos Teólogos e Pastores do Brasil

mar282020 by @prflavionunesNo Comments

The FAQs: How the Stimulus Bill Affects Churches and Individuals

ATUALIDADES

What just happened? On Friday, March 27, Congress passed and President Trump signed into law the 247-page Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. This is the third of five emergency supplemental bills that Congress has passed or is preparing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This relief bill is the biggest fiscal stimulus package in modern American history. How does this legislation affect individuals? The most noticeable effect for most Americans will be a rebate on their taxes that will come in the form of a direct payment. Individuals who earn $75,000 in adjusted gross income or less would get direct payments of $1,200 each, with married couples earning up to $150,000 receiving $2,400, and an additional $500 per each child younger than 17. The payment would s...

mar262020 by @prflavionunesNo Comments

Help! Now I’m Financially Stressed

ATUALIDADES

About a year ago, my husband started a retail business. Like most new ventures, it involved the discomfort of uncertainty, financial strain, and long hours at work. But slowly and steady, it stabilized and grew. Then the coronavirus hit. Initially, sales slowed. Then they plummeted. And when the stock market crashed, the majority of orders purchased in the previous month were returned. Now, the future of the business—and consequently, our finances—looks bleak. This global pandemic has hit many of us financially. It’s affected hourly employees whose workplaces have closed. Parents who can’t go to work because their kids are no longer in school. Those who’ve lost jobs due to rapid downsizing. And it’s affected those like us, owners of small businesses, who just weren’t ready to weat...

mar252020 by @prflavionunesNo Comments

Church Leaders: Stay Closed (For Now)

ATUALIDADES

In the coming weeks, church leaders must choose whether to hold public meetings, or continue to cancel them because of the coronavirus pandemic; to obey the scriptural command to not give up meeting together, or the government’s command to stop meeting together; to feed souls or to protect bodies. Souls and Scripture trump bodies and governments, so it would seem to be an easy choice. Indeed, Rusty Reno of First Things argues churches are wrong to close their doors. He believes that closing in time of pandemic disease is to adopt the world’s fear of death as its overriding priority, when the gospel should be about the celebration of life. First Things is a leading periodical for Christian intellectuals, and Reno’s argument will carry weight with church leaders—many of whose congr...

mar252020 by @prflavionunesNo Comments

What South Korean Christians Want You to Know About Coronavirus

ATUALIDADES

About a month after the first coronavirus case appeared in South Korea, an infected man attended Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a cult of more than 300,000 that believes Jesus was reincarnated in its leader. This man ended up infecting thousands—in fact, more than 60 percent of the nearly 8,500 cases in the country have been linked to Shincheonji. Though South Korea hasn’t required a lockdown, most churches voluntarily had closed their doors by March 1. That decision was emotional, since South Korean churches managed to keep services going even during the Korean War, said Steve Chang, a pastor in Seoul. TGC asked if he has any advice for American churches. Here’s what he said. Plan for a New Normal Think long-term, at least twice as long as you think you need. South Korea was well equipp...

mar242020 by @prflavionunesNo Comments

9 Things You Should Know About the 1918 Influenza Pandemic

ATUALIDADES

The discovery and spread of a novel coronavirus disease in 2019 and 2020 (COVID-19) has led to a plethora of comparisons to the deadly pandemic that occurred a century earlier—the 1918 influenza pandemic, known colloquially as the “Spanish flu.” Here is what you should know about the 1918 pandemic that became one of the largest public health crises in modern history. 1. This 1918 influenza pandemic, caused by the Influenza A virus subtype H1N1, produced the greatest influenza (flu) death toll in recorded history. The number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide with about 675,000 occurring in the United States (in comparison, the total number of deaths of World War I was around 20 million). From 1917 to 1920, the virus infected one-third of the Earth’s population,...

mar242020 by @prflavionunesNo Comments

Will Everything Be OK in Italy?

ATUALIDADES

Acts 29: Churches Planting Churches Here in Italy, my neighbor’s kids just left a gift for my wife and me outside our door. It’s a drawing of a rainbow with the words Tutto andrà bene!: everything’s going to be ok! This is a lovely sentiment, but Italy’s casualties from the coronavirus have recently overtaken China’s. Things don’t feel even close to being ok in Italy. As I write, hospitals are at breaking point or beyond—especially in northern Italian regions. Coffins are piling up, and many deceased are dying alone. Infections are high and show no signs of slowing. All Italy is on lockdown as soldiers are called on to ensure people respect the stringent measures. This is not merely an economic disaster; for some, their very survival is uncertain (migrants with no daily income, savings...

mar232020 by @prflavionunesNo Comments

‘Church Life Goes On’: Italian Pastor Reflects on COVID-19

ATUALIDADES

The coronavirus is still heavily hitting Italy, and the outcomes in terms of victims, losses, and long-term consequences for the economy (e.g., jobs) appear dramatic. It’s too early to grasp the lasting impact of the crisis for the church. We’ll need time to reflect on what the Lord is doing in this. Certainly, he is at work in these difficult circumstances. Discerning and understanding his extraordinary providence, especially when it comes in the form of disrupting our plans and practices, is a task that will accompany our prayers and reflections for some time. Here are some tentative, provisional, half-processed points that come to mind as we seek the “mind of Christ” in this pandemic. Church Life Goes On Until the Lord returns, church life must go on, whatever the circumstances. Thi...

mar232020 by @prflavionunesNo Comments

The Coronavirus and the Pony

ATUALIDADES, Technology

There’s something antiquated about our enforced #coronacation. Like peasants in the 14th century warding off the plague-ridden and the unclean, we have abandoned human contact. Handshakes are out; elbow bumps are in. Our cities are empty, our marketplaces abandoned, our festivals depopulated. My family has survived 9/11, the anthrax attacks, war in Afghanistan, the Beltway Sniper, Hurricanes Irene and Sandy, Snowmaggedon, and two earthquakes. Yet none of those events accomplished what the COVID-19 global pandemic has: civilization has ground to a halt. I believe there’s a blessing here, much like the little girl who, given a large pile of manure on Christmas, celebrates because a pony must be around somewhere. We’ve been given a pile of manure in the form of a global pandemic. Thousand...