• Democrats along with other global elites and deep state operatives are running a child sex trafficking, Satan worshipping ring that is part of a much larger global conspiracy.
• The 9/11 terrorist attack was an inside job planned by the US and Israel to justify the invasion of Iraq in order to grab Arab oil.
• COVID is spread by 5G technology.
• COVID vaccinations contain tiny nanochips to track our movements.
• The 2020 Presidential election was stolen by big tech using rigged voting machines that switched millions of votes from Republican to Democrat.
This past year has provided pessimists with fresh reasons to describe themselves not as pessimists, but as “realists”. Over the past two decades, for the first time in American history (other than during major wars), the life expectancy of white middle-aged men has fallen. Suicides and so-called “deaths of despair” from drug overdoses and alcoholism have all dramatically risen. One theory regarding this phenomenon is that people without bachelor’s degrees have found themselves less valued by this country as they experience stagnating wages and growing income inequality.
On a fairly regular basis, someone inside or outside of Vineyard Columbus will ask me, “How are you doing, Rich? How are you doing with the upcoming transition from your role as Senior Pastor?” My simple answer, in a word, is “Great! I’m doing amazing! I have lots of reasons why I’m doing so well and why I’m so hopeful about my future and the future of Vineyard Columbus. I want to share a few of these reasons with you.
E Pluribus Unum, which is Latin for "Out of many, one", is the traditional motto of the United States before Congress adopted "In God we trust" as our official motto in 1956. The issue of creating unity out of diversity raises one of the most pressing questions facing the world today: How can we all get along? How do we in America and the West, with our histories of racial injustice and slavery bring native-born citizens together and also absorb millions of immigrants, many with cultures, customs, and languages very different from the people who historically settled our countries?
In the spring of 2019, Vineyard Columbus engaged in a capital campaign that we called “The Story Continues”. The campaign was designed to accomplish four objectives:
On the weekend of June 5, I preached a message titled "How Should the Evangelical Church Respond to the Murder of George Floyd?" If you haven’t had the opportunity to listen to my message you can find it here. The response to this message was overwhelmingly positive. I received an enormous number of texts, emails and phone calls from church members, online viewers and pastors from around our nation thanking me for the message.
No one in our Vineyard Columbus family, indeed in our country, has gone unaffected by the recent pandemic. Like virtually every other church in our country, we have been unable to meet in person for worship, prayer, teaching, communion or baptisms since mid-March. Most of our small groups have been meeting online. Our Community Center and our Early Childhood Center have been shut down.
Whenever a disaster – natural or man-made – occurs, whether hurricanes or earthquakes or terrorist attacks or pandemics, many in Christian prophetic ministries or Last Days ministries gear up their operations to announce the reason for the disaster. Almost always, their interpretation involves God’s judgment on particular groups of sinners. Hurricane Katrina was God’s judgment on sinful New Orleans! 9/11 was God’s judgment on sinful New York! The Haitian earthquake was God’s judgment on Haitian voodoo! Or these things are all signs of the imminent return of Christ.
The entire world has been plunged into uncharted waters. The most natural thing in the world for us when we face tremendous uncertainty is for us to worry. People are worried about whether they’re going to get sick or whether loved ones will get sick. For those of us nearing the age of retirement, we’re worried about our savings. People are worried about whether they’re going to have a job or be able to find a job. People are worried simply about paying their bills and about whether they are going to be evicted. The entire world is anxious. But we are mistaken about the source of our worries.
Vineyard Columbus will be meeting exclusively ONLINE for worship services this weekend. We will NOT be hosting our services at any of our physical locations. We welcome you to join us online for a fresh message of encouragement and hope from Senior Pastor Rich Nathan at www.VineyardColumbus.org. We’ll host a live stream at 6 PM on Saturday, March 14th and a recorded broadcast at 9:00 and 11:30 AM on Sunday, March 15th. Streaming service for LaVina and online resources for VC 20, VC Students and VC Kids will also be available – see www.vineyardcolumbus.org for details.