People Of Faith Rising Above Covid 19

The circumstances surrounding COVID-19 brought about an unprecedented change in people’s lives on a scale as never before, at least in modern history. Lockdown, protection of the vulnerable, protection of self, poor and mixed government advice and evaluation, vested interests – all are part of the picture that has enveloped us and we have become since early 2020. This book is not the place to get into the rights and wrongs of government, corporate or global management of the crisis. But it is the place to go into how people of many faiths, and none, have responded to the crisis with the goodness of their hearts, inspired by their different spiritual awareness – and by doing so, rising above the crisis to make something positive from it. As The European Times News put it: "It is the most comprehensive and well illustrated, yet brief collection of evidenced facts of what People of Faith DO in times of need".

"In our lifetime, we have never experienced a disaster with effects as widespread as the COVID-19 pandemic. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 certainly caused upheaval, but they didn't force people to shelter at home or cause churches to stop meeting. As we slowly work back to our normal lives-or a new normal-we must recognize this will not be the last major disaster we will ever have to face. But what does that mean for the Church, especially the local congregation?"--

The COVID-19 pandemic changed life as we know it. What began as temporary limitations to restrict the virus's spread turned into a year-long struggle to fight the disease. Health leaders and public officials imposed restrictions that impacted nearly every aspect of life. These restrictions included canceling in-person activities, working from home, completing school online, and losing livelihood through massive unemployment and businesses closing. The Church was not exempt from the impact of COVID-19 either. In many places, in-person gatherings were prohibited or severely limited. Pastors and church leaders learned new skills in providing online worship services and discipleship programs. Likely the most significant impact was the challenge to faith as people wrestled with facing life and death issues due to a microscopic organism. What people needed during this time was the wisdom and experience of a veteran follower of God. Someone who learned how to walk by faith during the most challenging seasons of life. That veteran of faith was David, the shepherd-king of ancient Israel. In Living the Psalms 23 Faith in a COVID-19 World, pastor Michael Black shares a series of messages from Psalms 23 that draw from King David's wisdom. David describes how his faith in God as his Divine Shepherd empowered him to face circumstances just as destructive as the pandemic. Take a journey with David through this familiar Psalm and learn from his wisdom. He will be our mentor-guide, modeling for us what it means to live a Psalms 23 faith even in the most dire circumstances we might face. Michael Black is a semi-retired pastor, teacher, husband, and father of three daughters who are married and grandfather to four grandchildren. His hobbies include writing, walking, woodworking, outdoor activities, and mystery movies. Mike has earned degrees from Indiana Wesleyan Seminary, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and Asbury Theological Seminary. Mike and his wife Ruth live in Williamston, Michigan. You can contact mike via email at [email protected].

We are all guilty of it. We call people terrible names in conversation or online. We vilify those with whom we disagree, and make bolder claims than we could defend. We want to be seen as taking the moral high ground not just to make a point, or move a debate forward, but to look a certain way--incensed, or compassionate, or committed to a cause. We exaggerate. In other words, we grandstand. Nowhere is this more evident than in public discourse today, and especially as it plays out across the internet. To philosophers Justin Tosi and Brandon Warmke, who have written extensively about moral grandstanding, such one-upmanship is not just annoying, but dangerous. As politics gets more and more polarized, people on both sides of the spectrum move further and further apart when they let grandstanding get in the way of engaging one another. The pollution of our most urgent conversations with self-interest damages the very causes they are meant to forward. Drawing from work in psychology, economics, and political science, and along with contemporary examples spanning the political spectrum, the authors dive deeply into why and how we grandstand. Using the analytic tools of psychology and moral philosophy, they explain what drives us to behave in this way, and what we stand to lose by taking it too far. Most importantly, they show how, by avoiding grandstanding, we can re-build a public square worth participating in.