POWER, PASSION, AND PRAYERS DURING THE PANDEMIC


Book Description

The world, as we know it, has drastically changed since mid-March 2020 when the coronavirus was declared a public health emergency and was spreading around the world. Like so many schools, businesses, and sports associations, millions of churches and houses of worship were temporarily closed to prevent the spread of the virus. What was the church to do? They were used to gathering in person, with faces and feet; however, with the present climate and to protect human life, the church moved to a virtual setting. The well-respected leadership of this church took the seriousness of the pandemic from the very beginning, and as of March 17, they were forced to close and shut the doors. “The church doors may be closed, but the church is still open,” stated the pastor as he started the Glad Tidings International Church of God in Christ Zoom prayer line. As online attendance grew by leaps and bounds, the saints began calling it a lifeline—because of the lives that were being sustained during the pandemic in prayer. Power, Passion, and Prayers during the Pandemic reveals what a local church did to survive the first year of this global crisis. The auspicious leaders, Bishop J.W. Macklin and Lady Vanessa Macklin, declared confidently that “we still believe God,” which became the theme of GTI as everyone endeavored to cope with the uncertainty and anxiety of the pandemic. Praying daily gave us the strength we needed to trust that God is with us at every moment and is beside us every step of the way. The author was inspired to write this book based on the faithfulness, commitment, and testimonies of those who were fighting to replace their pain with prayer and power. She witnessed God’s people take the church out into the community, feed the hungry, love the unchurched, offer health services, and make disciples as the church continued to advance the Kingdom of God. COVID-19 didn’t stop them, not at all. The members of Glad Tidings International and other believers around the world experienced some gain and some losses, but they kept on going. The pandemic empowered them, impassioned them, and encouraged both the young and old to forge ahead for Christ. “The church may have been shut down, but we will not shut up.”




Praying Our Experiences


Book Description

God wants us to share our lives and our hearts with him. In this updated and expanded edition of a spiritual classic, Christian Brother Joseph Schmidt gently leads us to recognize that honest reflection before God on the ordinary experiences of our lives is the very means of our spiritual growth. As we speak to God about our personal story, we can explore the significance of our unrest, our joys, our fears, and our hopes. Then the Holy Spirit will lead us to self-knowledge and the freedom to accept and appreciate ourselves and our lives as they are. This book goes beyond any specific way of praying to the very heart of prayer: intimacy with God. - Valuable for any Christian, no matter where they are in their faith journey. - Helps readers view distractions in prayer as opportunities to draw closer to God. - Makes a thoughtful gift.




Wash and Pray: African Theological Discourse on COVID-19


Book Description

In the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Africa faced a unique set of challenges that sparked a profound spiritual response among its people. Wash and Pray: African Theological Discourse on COVID-19 delves into the heart of this response, exploring the intersections of faith, culture, history, and the pandemic that gripped the world from 2019 to 2022. The book demonstrates that for many Africans, the pandemic was not just a medical crisis but also a spiritual battle. As such, the book invites the reader to witness the historicising of the pandemic in Africa through this landmark resource for current and future generations, ensuring that the narratives of African Christianity in the face of COVID-19 and other pandemics are not lost. The chapter contributions offer diverse perspectives from Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, and the UK, each contextualising the African Christian response to the pandemic. In essence, this monograph paints a rich tapestry of African theological discourse during a global crisis, ultimately affirming that faith and science, when harmonised, can lead to a resilient and thriving community.




The Spirit and the Common Good


Book Description

A fresh vision of the common good through pnumatological lenses Daniela C. Augustine, a brilliant emerging scholar, offers a theological ethic for the common good. Augustine develops a public theology from a theological vision of creation as the household of the Triune God, bearing the image of God in a mutual sharing of divine love and justice, and as a sacrament of the divine presence. The Spirit and the Common Good expounds upon the application of this vision not only within the life of the church but also to the realm of politics, economics, and care for creation. The church serves a priestly and prophetic function for society, indeed for all of creation. This renewed vision becomes the foundation for constructing a theological ethic of planetary flourishing in and through commitment to a sustainable communal praxis of a shared future with the other and the different. While emphatically theological in its approach, The Spirit and the Common Good engages readers with insights from political philosophy, sociology of religion, economics, and ecology, as well as forgiveness/reconciliation and peacebuilding studies.




Coronavirus the Pandemic of the Century and the Wrath of God


Book Description

Towards the end of 2019, I started to feel that the Lord, our God, had had enough of the stubborn and stiff necked people as their wickedness, rebellion, and disobedience continued against him and his son. These actions were a resemblance of the days of Noah, Sodom, Gomorrah, and Nineveh. I felt that Jesus, the son of God, no longer had a home here on Earth. There was no place for him in homes, playgrounds, workplaces, and sadly, no home in the churches that worshipped his holy name. I witnessed the wrath of God against Satan, beginning with the apocalyptic fires in Australia that killed millions of animals and destroyed the beautiful land. I began to warn the world through my posts starting on January 5, 2020. I knew his wrath would continue, this time by way of an apocalyptic pandemic that would kill thousands of people. I began to dream about the looming crisis and started to share with the world through my social media. I decided to write my first post on January 30, 2020 relating to the pandemic, calling for a worldwide chain of prayer. I knew the Coronavirus pandemic could not be treated and that many casualties could be expected. I could feel that God was angry while Satan was elated at the state of our world. Following my posts in January of 2020, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic began evolving. I continued to cry out to the world, but was attacked, mocked, and threatened as people accused me of spreading rumors. I was told to stop, as people said, “This virus is nothing. It’s just another flu.” Others said, “You’re supposed to be a scientist and should know that the seasonal flu takes the lives of thousands every year. This Coronavirus is no threat.” I wished that they all would see what I see and hear what I hear, but few did. I decided to record all of my thoughts, dreams, nightmares, prayers, reflections, and predictions about this dangerous and lethal pandemic that the world was trying to dismiss. This book consists of 73 chapters across under ten sections, contain all of my posts in the order that they were written as well as my notes regarding what I have seen beginning in January 2020 until now, including my thoughts on the post-pandemic era. Some of my predictions have already occurred while others have yet to be seen. I believe that the message we should receive from all of this is that the world must look to our God, the almighty, and his son, Jesus, our Savior. The son shall return and God will lift his wrath as we all go through our journey of repentance here on earth for our salvation lies with the blood of Jesus. Only recently I have started to receive calls in which the people that doubted me have apologized that they did not listen sooner. They have seen that I knew what was coming and tried to warn them. While the Coronavirus pandemic continues, I pray that the Lord will have mercy upon our people and upon the face of the earth.




God's Strategy for the Bird Flu Pandemic


Book Description

God's protection, for those who found it in 1918 during the Spanish Flu Pandemic, is still available to Christians today. This book's message has the potential for preparing readers for the coming Bird Flu Pandemic invasion both offensively and defensively. (Social Issues)




Lord Help Me


Book Description

The everyday power of prayer comes to life in this inspirational picture book written by twelve-year-old budding singer Emme Muñiz. We all have moments every day where we can use a little help. Some are small, like waking up for school or getting along with a sibling. Others are big, like helping to save the planet and all its creatures—especially sloths! But asking God for help always brings us the strength to get through anything. Emme Muñiz shares her own daily prayers to offer families a way to embrace the peace and power of everyday faith.




Risk and Crisis Communication During the COVID-19 Pandemic


Book Description

This book examines the challenges of communicating risk and crisis messages during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide recommendations for managing future global health crises. Given that outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics are global crises that require global solutions, the book suggests that the world community needs to build resilient crisis management institutions and message management systems. Through international case studies, in-depth interviews, textual, content, narrative and document analysis, the book provides comprehensive accounts of how normative risk communication strategies were invoked, applied, disrupted, questioned, and changed during the COVID- 19 pandemic. It explores themes including crisis preparedness, outbreak communication, lockdown messages, communication uncertainty, risk message strategies and the challenges of information disorders to show that trust in supranational and national institutions is crucial for the effective management of future global public health crises. A thorough assessment of the multiple challenges faced by public health authorities and audiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, this book will be of interest to researchers, practitioners, and students in the field of Risk, Crisis and Health Communication and Public Health and Disaster Management.




Avoiding Harm


Book Description

Research scholars have lamented the fact that most of the extant studies on religious responses to the COVID-19 pandemic focus on a particular religious group, typically Christian. This book fills this lacuna by providing some useful insights into how one Muslim religious institution responded to the pandemic. It portrays the sermons, advice, and guidance provided to the Claremont Main Road Mosque (CMRM) congregation in Cape Town, South Africa, by its Imams and elected board of governors during the course of the pandemic. The book carries a concluding chapter by Professor R. Scott Appleby, an expert in the study of lived religion, who critically reflects on this collection of sermons and the response of the mosque by providing some independent ruminations on the themes of religion, science, and the human person.




Essential Healing Prayers


Book Description

The Gospels tell us that Jesus healed everyone who had faith. It’s easy to think of the healing accounts in Scripture as something long ago and far away. But Jesus wants to bring healing to all those who approach him in prayer, including you and your loved ones! Written in a spirit of deep faith, this inspiring collection of prayers will help you ask for Jesus’ healing graces and experience his saving power.