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Life's a risk, carnal. #NoDespair2020
Shelter-in-place order, April 14th, social distancing, self-quarantine, all that kind of stuff. I don't really know what to say in the beginning of these things anymore, but all I do want to say is I got that Trump cash.
I got that Trump cash. I got that Trump cash. I don't know, man. Socialism is feeling pretty good this morning. I'm going to turn that Trump cash into something that the government does not want me to turn into.
Maybe precious metals, maybe a firearm of some kind, whatever it is, or maybe just seeds to grow a garden. They don't even want you to have that these days. Whatever it is, though, I'm going to stick it to the man with this Trump cash.
All right, all right. Just a couple quick topics today. Lots of stuff is happening, no question about it. There's a lot of stuff happening, and I want to just respond to somebody on Twitter and also watch a video from the Presidente.
Donald Trump. So here we have J Plus Zero. He tweeted at me an article about a bishop who died of coronavirus. And he was one of these guys that was going to have church services either way, and he wanted my thoughts on that.
And I didn't really know what he was talking about. Thoughts on what? I'm sad that a guy died of coronavirus. I'm sad that a pastor died of coronavirus. I don't know. I mean, this is just kind of a weird thing to get my thoughts about.
And it certainly seems to be kind of like an I told you so kind of tweet or I got you kind of tweet. And the reality is, Jay, I understand that people die. You know what I mean? I understand that sometimes people die.
I'm starting to wonder how many of us actually believe that people died in the past. I mean, this is part of life. People live and then they get sick and then they die. That's just part of it. So I asked him, what do you want me to comment on?
And then he said, well, you know, this is not a gotcha tweet. You're one of those that said that churches should be meeting right now. And so I wanted to get your take. And so, Jay, you know, with all due respect, I'm going to respond directly to you.
You have never ever heard me say churches should be meeting right now. In fact, I've only said the opposite. Churches should make their own decisions for their own context. Context means that maybe, you know, for the love of their congregation, they shouldn't meet.
They should be OK doing that if they want to still meet based on their context. You know, depending on how many old people you have, how big your congregation is, how at risk your congregation is. All of these need to factor into your decisions.
I support churches that are meeting and I support churches that aren't meeting. My church isn't meeting. And I've said many, many times that I supported my pastor's decision, my elder's decision to not meet.
So, Jay, I don't know if you heard from somebody else that I'm one of these guys that said churches should definitely meet. Or if you just think that or assume that. I've never said that. I've never said that not one time.
I said that churches should have that decision and make that decision that makes the most sense for their particular context. The only thing I have said is that governments do not have the authority to cancel church on Sunday.
And I stand by it. I just can't imagine where they would get that authority. If the government has the authority to cancel church or not, depending on what they think is in the best interest of public health, then the church has no authority of its own because you can pretend like the church has authority, but if the government can say, well, it's too dangerous to meet, then the church has no authority at all.
None. None. And so, I don't really know what you want me to say here, Jack. I'm very sad that this guy died. Also, I didn't read the article and I'm not going to because I'm not interested in this, but it certainly seems to me like the implication is that he caught this during the church service or had it during the church service and is infecting so many others, which I don't know if it's true or not.
And I'm not really sure what you're hoping. Did he die obediently? I have no idea based on this headline. I'm willing to bet that if you read the article, you would still have no idea if he died obediently.
The other option you give me is he put his congregation and family at unnecessary risk. Well, unnecessary to who? This is the other thing, Jack. Unnecessary risk. Who gets to decide what's necessary and unnecessary?
My opinion, Jack, is that every person gets to decide that for themselves. So, in other words, if my church was having services, which they're not, and I support my pastors, if my church was having services, I would need to decide for me and my family what an unnecessary risk is.
Do I go worship God with my congregation or do I stay home because I have chronic asthma or my kid has this or that? This is what my whole point is. People make it seem like if you're against the government deciding for you about this, then you're just all about chaos, and I am not about chaos.
I am not about anarchy. What I am about, though, is people staying in their lane. Government, stay in your lane and I'll stay in mine. And I'll make that decision if it makes sense for us to go to church.
By the way, before coronavirus, we all did this all the time. For example, when my family is sick with a cold or a flu or stuff like that, guess what I did? No one needed to tell me what to do. Guess what I did when it came to be the Lord's Day?
Sometimes we wouldn't go. Sometimes I would go because I was well and my kids wouldn't go because they were sick or my wife was sick or things like that. We already make these decisions every single day before coronavirus, so why now with coronavirus do we give up our authority and say, well, daddy, daddy government, tell me what to do.
This is not complicated, guys. This is not complicated. Who gets to decide whether a risk is unnecessary? Look, everything we do every single day is a cost-benefit analysis. We balance the benefits of doing something against the risk of doing something.
The last time you walked up the stairs, the last time you walked up the stairs, gentlemen, you balance the risk of falling down the stairs and breaking your neck against the benefit of going up the stairs to do whatever it is you were going to do.
I would be willing to bet that most of us would say, the chances of me falling down the stairs are pretty low. If you're a healthy person, young person, the chances of me falling down the stairs are pretty low, so if I want to get a snack, it's worth the risk of falling down the stairs and breaking my neck to go get that snack.
However, that calculus would change if you were older, maybe you had some balance problems, maybe you were sick, and all of a sudden, that calculus is different, so it's like, okay, I'm hungry for some pork rinds.
Do I walk up the stairs to get the pork rinds or not? Well, if I'm older, I might say, I don't know, it might not be worth the risk to go get some pork rinds because I have a tendency to fall down, and if I fall, it could be a serious problem for me.
I could break my hip or this or that. This is why older people install chair lifts and stuff, and this is why older people move from their houses to go to a single-level house, because to them, it's worth the cost of buying a new house so that they don't have to walk up and down the stairs all day.
We do this every single day, and so Jack, when you say he puts his congregation and family at unnecessary risk, well, who gets to decide that, Jack? You or him? Is it your responsibility or his responsibility to take care of his family?
Again, we do this all the time on Sundays. Sometimes my kids are sick, and I have a very old congregation, and I love my old people in my congregation. I love them so much, and they're great. They're a benefit to me.
I care about them. The Lord cares about them, so I care about them, and guess what I do when my kids are sick, or maybe two of my kids are sick, and me, and I'm not sick, and maybe one of my kids is not sick.
Guess what? The kids that aren't sick come to church with daddy, and the kids that are sick stay home with mommy. We do this stuff all the time. Why is this? It's just amazing to me that this coronavirus thing has made people lose their minds.
We don't have to change that. Listen, I have chronic asthma. If I thought that this was a real risk for me with chronic asthma, I might alter my behavior. In fact, I already have altered my behavior because I don't want to get the rona, because if I get the rona, I'm going to probably have complications.
It's just that simple. Jack, I know that you think this is a gotcha. You think this is a good question. This is not a good question. All this shows is that there's a fear in you that robs you of your intelligence, because in a normal circumstance, you would know the answer to this.
You don't get to decide for Bishop Gerald Glenn if it's an unnecessary risk or not. You decide for yourself and your family. You don't get to tell me what to do, what's an unnecessary risk or not. Someone might say, well, hey, Adam, you know, you're driving on the highway at $65 an hour with your family.
It's an unnecessary risk. And I'm like, who gets? I get to decide that. Why don't you mind your own business? Thank you very much. Number three says, perhaps people who want to gather should first see if they are healthy enough, etc.
Yeah, that's the answer. Everyone stay in their lane. Government, you stay in your lane. Church, you stay in your lane, and I'll stay in my lane. God has certain authorities over my family that he does not give to you, Jack, or my pastors, or the government.
And I'm happy to continue doing that. That's just how it is. So I'm sorry if this is like snarky or if I'm making you feel stupid or stuff like that, but these are really actually quite simple questions.
They're very simple. All of a sudden, all these non-theonomists are quoting Leviticus. Oh, the quarantine laws. Oh, the quarantine laws. You don't understand the quarantine laws if you think that the biblical method of quarantine is to make sure that people that are healthy can't leave their houses.
That's not what the law says. That's not what the general equity of the law says. My goodness gracious, people have lost their minds. Why are people losing their minds? That's what I'd like to know. Why are people losing their minds?
It's a very simple thing. Jack, you want my thoughts? My thoughts are this. I'm sad that this man died. I'm sad that this man died. It has nothing to do with whether or not the government has the right to cancel church.
People die. People die every year. People die every flu season. People die when it's not flu season. All that stuff. The government does not have the right just because people might die to cancel church.
It's a simple statement. It's a very soft statement either. I'm not saying that people should have church or should not have church. A lot of people are making them. Oh, AD wants people dead. No, I don't.
I want people making the decisions that God has given them to make for themselves. God did not give the government the right to cancel church. That does not mean you necessarily have to have church. What it does mean though is that the churches should decide for themselves.
This is true biblically and this is also true constitutionally. Any way you slice it, this is true. That's that. That's my whole opinion. Anyway, I hope you found this video helpful. God bless.