Unfortunately, it’s been quite a while since I’ve been able to get back here. This isn’t so much about theology, but more about some current things with the church. As most know, the “Corona virus” or Covid-19 dominates most news today. Here in the state of Wisconsin, we’re also under an order from the Governor to cease all unnecessary travel. In addition, any gatherings in buildings must be limited to 10 or less.

Many regular church-goers will struggle with not being able to attend and I have to admit that I would much rather be in personal attendance than teaching or watching through audio or video. As I recently chatted with a member during a call to affirm their welfare, I was gently reminded that teaching through video is still ministry. While it may not be “normal” for me (and certainly outside of my comfort zone), the possibility of video reaching even more people is a remarkable probability.

I am certainly not technologically savvy, so setting up and teaching through video last Sunday was certainly a challenge! Praise the Lord, it all seemed to go rather well for the first time. The comments I received or that were relayed to me were all positive, in my opinion. There was some constructive criticism thrown in there, but that should only serve to improve the next opportunity this coming Sunday and necessary subsequent Sundays.

If you missed the video/sermon last Sunday and would like to see it again, you can find it on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/bbcneillsville.org/videos/2581376482184374/. Please watch if you get a chance and offer your own constructive criticism. Hopefully we can make it better for you.

With the current order from Governor Evers in place, which forbids unnecessary travel, my plan is to conduct the Facebook Live Sermons at 1:00 PM, Central Daylight Time (CDT) every Sunday until we can once again meet in the building. Hopefully, beginning next week, I’ll be able to do a similar Wednesday Evening Bible Study, which will be planned for 7:00 PM, CDT.

There is a considerable collection of audio recordings available, if you’re interested. I’ll need an address and I can send them by CD or by e-mail.

Just because we can’t meet at the church building as we’re used to doesn’t mean that we can’t encourage each other, study together and mutually build each other up in the Lord. Please stay in contact with me and with each other. My e-mail address is: josephlmatthews@gmail.com. I can be reached by phone at 608-487-0186.

We are still the church. We know that God is in control and one day, hopefully soon, we’ll be back together, worshipping, learning, encouraging and fellowshipping together in the same building.

It’s more than the recent news headlines, which have been sensationalized by many news outlets that these observations are shared. As a nation, we have more than slid into the ditch morally and in so many other ways. No, we haven’t simply “slid into the ditch” as I just mentioned, we’ve jumped off the cliff after flirting with the crumbling edge for so many years.

Before I go any further, every death, especially of those who do not know Jesus Christ as Savior is tragic. The recent “mass shootings” are absolutely tragic, but for too many people who have been watching the moral fabric of our nation shredded over the last 40 years and more could have and should have warned that this is coming. I read an article this morning, esssentially warning that, no matter what we do at this point, it’s not going to get any better anytime soon. https://www.wnd.com/2019/08/why-the-mass-shootings-will-continue/

Just to get a better idea of some of the things going on in our nation today, though the statistics are as recent as I could find, I did just a little bit of digging. I’m essentially a nobody on anyone’s radar and whether I have a small or large audience matters little to me. With that being said, I’m simply echoing what many have already said over and over, yet no one listens because for too many people, their minds are already made up and “confusing them with the truth,” simply isn’t helpful and certainly not desireable. America does not “have a gun problem.” America does, very much “have a sin problem.”

A firearm is an inanimate object. Fully loaded, regardless of its size, appearance, round capacity, caliber or any other characteristic it does not “kill people” unless it is acted upon by some outside force. I have considerable experience with firearms of all types, though that is not the point of my comments. As I stated earlier, I did a little bit of research to get just a sliver of the picture of many of the problems that contribute to the overall sin problem in our nation today. The statistics all come from a single source to eliminate any possible bias. My source of information is the Centers for Disease Control website. All figures include the latest data available from the website, which may not all be from the same year, but all the most recent available.

According to the CDC, there were 14,542 firearm homicides in the United States in 2017, which translates to nearly 40 per day. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/homicide.htm Taking into consideration ALL firearm related deaths, accidents and suicides, that number jumps to 28,663 for the year 2000 or about 79 per day. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5214a2.htm

Alcohol usage in America has directly led to even greater problems in our country, but there is no public forum anywhere calling for a ban on alcohol. According to the CDC, ” Drinking too much can harm your health. Excessive alcohol use led to approximately 88,000 deaths and 2.5 million years of potential life lost (YPLL) each year in the United States from 2006 – 2010, shortening the lives of those who died by an average of 30 years.^1,2 Further, excessive drinking was responsible for 1 in 10 deaths among working-age adults aged 20-64 years. The economic costs of excessive alcohol consumption in 2010 were estimated at $249 billion, or $2.05 a drink.³” https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/alcohol-use.htm . Alcohol related deaths are at 88,000 deaths annually or an average of just over 241 per day.

Where firearm control or an outright ban is the ideal of many, and unrestricted access is the other side of the coin, the same can be said about abortion. According to the CDC, there have were 638,169 “legal abortions” performed in 2015 or over 1,748 per day. https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/data_stats/abortion.htm.

These statistics do not even take into account other actions that the Bible calls sin. There are things that we have turned a blind eye to as a church, collectively and as a nation. Regardless of garbage “revisionist history,” the truth is that our nation was indeed founded on morality and religion. For the most part, based on our own founding documents and the writings of our own founding fathers, we were established on a Judeo-Christian foundation. The first article that was referenced is profound and, I believe, right on target, unfortunately.

Let me sum up my thoughts here by some succinct comparisons of three of the statistics offered. Go search it yourself, by the way. The links are there. For the years available for the most current results there were 14,542 firearm homicides or nearly 40 per day in 2017. Alcohol use gives us 88,000 deaths on average or just over 241 per day. Abortion accounted for 638,169 innocent deaths or over 1,748 per day in 2015. Just a little more perspective here: for every single firearm homicide in the statistics available from the CDC, there were almost 44 innocent babies slaughtered per day.

Firearms, alcohol, abortion and more. America has a sin problem. To be continued…

Pastor Joe