The following articles have been selected because they are informative, instructive, entertaining, or simply interesting. Articles appearing in Your Friday Five do not represent an endorsement.
Spurgeon’s ministry in a time of mass sickness is instructive.
Spurgeon and the Cholera Outbreak of 1854, Geoff Chang
I went home, and was soon called away again; that time, to see a young woman. She also was in the last extremity, but it was a fair, fair sight. She was singing, — though she knew she was dying, — and talking to those round about her, telling her brothers and sisters to follow her to Heaven, bidding goodbye to her father, and all the while smiling as if it had been her marriage day. She was happy and blessed.
Leaders who fall create collateral damage.
8 Reasons the Fall of a Church Leader Hurts so Bad, Chuck Lawless
Seldom does a week go by that I don’t learn about a church leader who has fallen. I want to be merciful toward those who fall, but we also need to know how much pain such a fall causes. Perhaps remembering these realities will help all of us fight harder for holiness. Here are eight reasons the fall of a church leader hurts so badly
Five pastors write about their difficult decisions.
5 Examples of Pastoral Letters About the Coronavirus, Jessica Mouser
Let me leave you with four things we can all do.
-Pray – for God to aid scientists in discovering a vaccine quickly. And for the witness of the church; that we will not allow the coronavirus to quarantine our faith
-Act responsibly. Wash your hands, etc.
-Respect the space of others
-Rest in God.
Be anxious for nothing.
3 Things to Remember In Times of Anxiety, Jeff Ballard
The call for us to remember what’s true is rooted in a deeper reality—God remembers. When the Bible speaks of God remembering, it highlights the reality that God has bound himself to us by a covenant, and he is always faithful to what he has promised.
Doing best in a new situation.
4 Critical Pointers for Preaching to a Camera in an Empty Room, Jesse Campbell
Everything our seminaries taught us about sermon delivery will need to be adapted for an unforeseen number of weeks while we practice “social distancing” in our churches in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
The great news is that the Word of God is just as true via video as it is in person, the Spirit of God is not bound by the drywall of your church building, and no generation of preachers has ever been better resourced than we are.