Bob’s COVID-19 Update #3

I can't believe that a month has gone by since I sent out my last "COVID-19 Report."

So far, no one here at The Homes of Ethnos360 has contracted CV-19. Last week the staff and residents in our assisted living facility were tested. I believe that they are still waiting on the results. But to my knowledge, no one here has tested positive.

As far as those residing in our apartment complex goes, we are complying with Florida's Phase 1 Reopening. That means practicing social distancing and avoiding large group gatherings.

On a positive note, Sanford Bible Church reopened yesterday following the guidelines of Seminole County's Social Distancing Order. Considering that our congregation is older and have a higher risk of infection, we had a good turnout. I spoke on "COVID-19 and Bible Prophecy." There were a lot of positive comments after the message.

A number of friends told me that they would like to hear that message. So I posted the audio on the website of Sanford Bible Church. If you are interested, you can find it here:

http://sanfordbiblechurch.org/

Just scroll down to "Past Messages."

I ended the message with the following thought.

As we look at the world around us, it seems as if things are falling apart. But as we put things into perspective and consider God's prophetic Word, things are actually falling together. The next event on God's prophetic timetable is the rapture of the church. As we see the direct hand of God at work in history, we know that our day is a great and opportune time to be alive! There are signs of the time, which indicate that we could be near the end of the church age. Stage-setting events are casting a shadow in our day. But before the curtain rises on that period of time known as the tribulation, the church will first rise into the air at the rapture. As believers in the Lord, we are not looking for the Antichrist. We are looking for Jesus Christ. Or as Paul said: "Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13).".

Stay safe!

In Christ,

Bob

* * *

A call ... for Christian discernment must now be extended; for truly, the battle for the Gospel of the grace of God has come upon us once again. New attention must be paid on the part of individual Christians to sound doctrine and good theology. The beginning of this attention must surely be on the question "what must I do to be saved?" The resounding answer must always and ever be no more and no less than the stunning and surprisingly simple truth "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." (Acts 16:31) —Dave Breese

 

Bob’s COVID-19 Update #2

Last week Governor Ron DeSantis unveiled Florida's "phase-one" plan for relaxing mandatory workplace closures and stay-at-home orders imposed a month ago. That is certainly good news.

How does this "phase-one" plan affect us here at our retirement center? Unfortunately, things will not change very much since our elderly community is the most vulnerable to this COVID-19 virus. In fact, the leadership team here has decided not to change any of the current guidelines for our retirement center out of an abundance of caution. We have been asked to continue to "shelter in place," practice social distancing, and wear a mask outside when walking around our property.

The last trip that I made anywhere off of our property was to see the dentist on March 11^th. That was 53 days ago as of today—May 3^rd. For groceries and household items, I just order from Amazon.com or Walmart.com and they are delivered right to my apartment. One of my neighbors subscribed to Walmart's home delivery service. She has kindly allowed me to purchase perishable items by adding them to her order.

So far, no one here at our retirement center has contracted this COVID-19 virus. I have a list of people living on Mexico Court that I contact every day to see how they are doing. Everyone on my cul-de-sac are doing well.

Last week I got some new neighbors. Dan and Hannah Knox with their three small kids moved into an apartment half a block away. Dan will be helping out on maintenance here until they are approved to go to the field. Three and a half years ago, they arrived at our Missionary Training Center in Missouri as I was preparing to leave for Florida.

Stay safe!

In Christ,

Bob

* * *

Never forget ... that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. It is not at all faith in ourselves or faith in the degree our faith. It is not faith in our ability to endure, hold out, or even to be faithful. Faith in our faithfulness is a broken stick. Faith in the fidelity and the finished work of Christ on Calvary and at the empty tomb is the sole and only basis for our claim to eternal life. On that basis, our claim is sure and steadfast. —Dave Breese

 

Bob’s COVID-19 Update

I wanted to give you an update on how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting us here at the retirement center.

Florida's Governor, Ron DeSantis, issued a statewide stay-at-home order which began this morning. This order will last at least 30 days.

Currently, Florida has confirmed just over 9,500 coronavirus cases. The state's death toll from the virus is now at 163. Miami-Dade County continues to lead the state with 3,029 cases, about 32 percent of the state's total. I live in Seminole county which has 160 confirmed cases. The city of Sanford has 26 cases as of today. So far, we have no confirmed cases here at our retirement center. We continue to do due diligence to keep our people safe. Our Assisted Living Facility continues to be on lock-down.

When possible, we work at home. For example, this morning I participated in a video conference call over the internet while working on my computer at home. We are in the process of evaluating a video security camera for our property and we spoke with representatives of the company of a camera that we are testing.

Another one of my duties during this time, is checking on my neighbors. I am the "court captain" for our cul-de-sac. I contact each one of the residents daily to see how they are doing. If they express any needs, then I report that up the chain. And I pass along to my neighbors any important information from our leadership team.

At a news conference yesterday, governor DeSantis encouraged people to get out and get exercise but not with large groups of people.

The governor said, "It's less important what you do than how you do it. If you want to go for a 10-mile run by yourself and come back, more power to you. But you wouldn't be able to do a 20-person road race in the neighborhood with 19 of your friends."

I have not attempted a 10-mile run, but I try to do a 2-mile walk by myself around the perimeter of our property each morning.

Stay safe!

In Christ,

Bob

* * *

Assurance of salvation has disappeared in the minds of many of the children of God. They daily look at their lives and wonder. They wring their hands and ask for the thousandth time the question "Am I really saved?" Having been subverted, they forget that the answer to the question "Am I really saved?" is really "Do I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that He died for my sins on Calvary's cross?" "Do I agree that the death of Jesus Christ, His burial, His resurrection is in fact the Gospel?" In the midst of today's confusions, many have ceased to believe that the death of Christ is enough to work the work for their salvation from sin's eternal penalty. —Dave Breese

 

Mitigating Risks to the Most Vulnerable

The coronavirus has certainly taken the spotlight in the news these days. Since the elderly are the most vulnerable, the Governor of Florida has implemented some new restrictions on Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities.

Governor DeSantis said, “These are important efforts to mitigate the risk to our most vulnerable population to COVID-19, which is our elderly population, particularly those with underlying medical conditions.”

By aggressively screening visitors, Florida hopes to avoid a repeat of problems in Washington state, where nursing home residents have died from the contagious respiratory disease.

“We see the tragic situation in Washington state at a nursing home there,” Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Mary Mayhew said. “The choice is clear: Florida will and must take every step to prevent real and potentially fatal threats to our elderly and senior populations and those with underlying health conditions.”

Part of The Homes of Ethnos360 includes an “Assisted Living Facility.” Some of these restrictions will apply to us here.

I mentioned previously that the staff here are stretched pretty thin in recent days. We do rely upon outside help from the community. These new restrictions could limit how much volunteer help that we can use from the outside.

We really need wisdom and grace as we navigate through this new paradigm of restrictions because of the coronavirus.

In Christ,

Bob

* * *

This is God’s universe and He does things His way. Now, you may have a better way of doing things, but you don’t have a universe.

— J. Vernon McGee

 

Quoting Shakespeare & Dickens

A line from Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet goes like this: “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” That seems to imply that the name of things does not affect what they really are. A few years ago, New Tribes Mission changed its name to Ethnos360. I still have a hard time saying that new name. Now I will have to get used to another new name: The Homes of Ethnos360. For years, many people referred the NTM Homes as simply “The Homes.” I think many of us will still opt for that shorter version.

Since I am quoting lines from literary sources, Charles Dickens’ classic A Tale of Two Cities seems quite appropriate. The novel opens with, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”

The Best of Times: Things are going well at Sanford Bible Church. This last year a new A/C system was installed, the roof was done, the soffit and facia were replaced, and the outside of the building was repainted. A few weeks ago, we received our new chairs to replace the old pews. Last week, we moved the old pews out, had the carpet cleaned and set up the new chairs.

The Worst of Times: For some time, the staff at “The Homes” have been stretched thin. Many have been doing double duty trying to fill in the gaps of people who have left. Just recently two key men have taken a medical leave of absence because of serious health issues. The head of Food Services and the head of Maintenance/Construction have both been diagnosed with serious cancer issues. They and their families could sure use your prayers. Since our staff are pretty much running on fumes, they all need your prayers. And please pray that the Lord would fill the needs of our staff. The specific areas of need are: Administration, Food Service, Maintenance and Construction, as well as Housekeeping. These needs are critical at this time.

If you know of anyone who might be able to help out on a volunteer basis or as an associate member of Ethnos360 please let them know of these needs. More information can be found at our website at https://ethnos360.org/go#volunteer. They can be a part of the church planting team by helping right here in the USA.

In Christ,

Bob

* * *

Grace is the very opposite of merit. Grace is not only undeserved favor, but it is favor shown to the one who has deserved the very opposite.

- Harry Ironside

Count Your Blessings

The hymn Count Your Blessings was written by Johnson Oatman Jr. in 1897. Oatman looked up to his father dearly. It was said that his father had the best singing voice in town. As Oatman grew, he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and to bless others with his musical abilities. However, he did not possess the vocal talents of his father. It wasn’t until he was much older that he realized where his musical abilities were. At 36, he came to understand that he did indeed have a talent for music. He could write songs for other Christians to sing. Johnson Oatman wrote an average of over two hundred gospel songs and hymns a year for over a period of twenty-five years. He wrote over five thousand hymns and songs in his lifetime. Although he was not a great singer or preacher, he expressed his own unique talent in writing hymns. Through his sermons in songs, Johnson Oatman has reached millions of people that he could never have reached from the pulpit.

God truly gives us so many blessings each and every single day. The timeless hymn, Count Your Blessings, reminds us to stop and give thanks for all God has done in our lives. Count Your Blessings is a wonderful song to sing any day of the year as a reminder of the many blessings of God, even during hardships. It is especially appropriate, as we reflect upon our Heavenly Father’s many blessings during this Thanksgiving season.

On September 20^th I flew to Missouri to help with the Culture/Language Acquisition Practicum at the Missionary Training Center. I was there for 7 weeks and had a great time reconnecting with friends and meeting some of the new students. I returned November 8^th and have been playing “catch up” ever since. When I got back, a lot of people said that they missed me. I really think that it was my computer skills that they missed the most. J

In Christ,

Bob

Hurricane Preparation

I wanted to give you a quick update before we lose power here in Florida. If you have not already heard, there is a Cat 5 hurricane headed toward Florida. When hurricane Irma passed through Florida 2 years ago, we were without power for 3.5 days.

As far as hurricanes go, Sanford is in an ideal location if you have to live in hurricane territory. We are far enough inland that hurricanes lose much of their strength before they get here.

The experts are now saying that Dorian might stay in the Atlantic rather than come ashore in Florida. But hurricanes are quite unpredictable. We are hoping that the talking heads are correct, but we are preparing for the worst.

The current projected path of the eye has Dorian skirting Florida.

 

While the eye is the most dangerous part, the effects stretch for hundreds of miles on both sides. Even if Dorian stays in the Atlantic, we will definitely have tropical force winds here in Central Florida. But Lord willing, we won’t have as much damage as we could have.

In Christ,

Bob

* * *

Can You Sleep When the Wind Blows?

Years ago, a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops. As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals.

Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. “Are you a good farm hand?” the farmer asked him. “Well, I can sleep when the wind blows,” answered the little man.

Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him. The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man’s work. Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand’s sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, “Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!” The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, “No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows.”

Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down.

Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.

Moral: When you’re prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically, you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life? The hired hand in the story was able to sleep because he had secured the farm against the storm. We secure ourselves against the storms of life by grounding ourselves in the Word of God. We don’t need to understand, we just need to hold His hand to have peace in the middle of storms.