News keeps coming in daily of the spread and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools, churches and businesses across our nation are closed for at least the near future. But not all the news is bad. In our city of Lubbock many people, organizations and businesses are stepping forward and giving and serving our community with no strings attached. I like to think this is at least partly the result of the strong influence that Christianity still exerts in our city and region. Hopefully those reading this in other parts of our nation are seeing similar generosity; perhaps some are even part of Christian churches involved in such service.
Recently my email inbox has received several offers by various organizations to help individuals, families and ministries stay focused “on things above” while the storm rages about us. While acknowledging that some of these faith groups may hold to some views I would not endorse, I do recommend considering their offers:
- Crossway.org, publisher of the ESV Bible translation and other Bible related materials, offers free online resources by clicking on this link, this link, and this link. These include downloadable books, articles, podcasts and devotionals and each link goes to different free resources.
- Redeemtv.com is a combined effort of the Christian History Institute and Vision Video. RedeemTV is in beta (meaning not being widely available yet while they work out any possible bugs) and makes available free of charge online a large number of Christian-oriented videos and shows. Only the creation of a simple login account is required to access them.
- Ligonier Ministries through Ligonier.org is offering free group Bible studies online at least for the next several months. They work for both individuals and small groups studying together. They also are offering free access to over 2,500 video lessons as well.
- Summit Ministries produces materials for youth and young adults showing how the Christian faith and worldview deserves serious consideration in our postmodern culture. They have many articles, books and videos, including some free. One video I recommend right now is this free one-hour presentation by Dr. Josh McDowell on whether the New Testament is historically reliable.
- Want a free daily Bible Verse screensaver? Try the free Windows app in the Microsoft App Store here, or download a new one daily by receiving a daily email with a new wallpaper for either Windows or Macintosh here.