1 Corinthians 7 is a chapter full of interesting principles and applications of theological truths. While Paul admits that neither marriage nor singleness is commanded or forbidden by God (v. 28), he says we all ought to think seriously about our lives, because our time is limited. We ought to live as immigrants and foreigners in this life, because the world’s system is passing away. Therefore, we shouldn’t allow our relationships to entangle us (v. 29) nor our emotions to dominate us (v. 30). We shouldn’t allow our possessions to dictate how we live (v. 30), nor should we allow our hearts to cling to this world (v. 31). The time is short: walk in wisdom and glorify God where he has placed us.

Time definitely doesn’t feel short as the days and weeks melt into months. The only change we’ve had in our city’s lockdown status is that the regional government announced two weeks ago that instead of renewing the lockdown week by week, it is now “indefinite,” and they’ll tell us when we’re allowed to emerge again. We’ll continue recording Bible studies for Sundays and Wednesdays and doing personal Bible studies on Zoom and WhatsApp (I counted eighteen Bible studies in the past month, not including our weekly Sunday and Wednesday church meetings). We are thankful for these avenues to serve the Lord in the unique situation in which he has placed us.

Joaquín, the newborn son of Andrés and Cle, had a skin irritation and serious swelling in his face and had to spend a week in the hospital. Because of all the virus precautions, they had to leave him there and couldn’t visit him. After many tests excluding several serious conditions, the doctors determined he had very sensitive skin and he was allowed to come home. God’s grace was evident in the peace he gave to the young parents and the care evidenced in our church family. We are thankful for God’s grace in the lives of our teammates.

For the first time, we are hearing the numbers of people who are dying day by day. People have been dying since Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the fruit he had forbidden them to eat, but now those numbers are highlighted each day in the news. Many of them “have not the knowledge of God” (1 Cor 15:34) and need to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Eph 5:15–16).

This is our August 2020 email update. You can sign up to receive our updates in your inbox here. You can download a printable PDF here.