I was encouraged to recently hear from my friend Daniel O’Roark, DO, FACC, on his newly co-authored book “Coronavirus and the Leadership of the Christian Church: A Sacred Trust Broken.” (Co-authors include Ernest Springer, III, and Joel E. Yeager, MD, MA.)
This is the book we’ve all been waiting for: a book calling the church — including its leadership — to repentance over the handling of the COVID-19 affair.
This could be a major seed in waking up the church. Daniel O’Roark is a Cardiologist and author of the 2-part article “A Brief COVID-19 Analysis and Its Implications for the Church.”
“Coronavirus and the Leadership of the Christian Church: A Sacred Trust Broken” is available from Lulu.
About the book:
“Coronavirus and the Leadership of the Christian Church: A Sacred Trust Broken.” What a striking if not provocative title to address a current subject that has not only gripped the heart, mind, body and soul of all members of the visible Church, but has challenged the very stability and testimony of those who profess the name of Christ.
As Jesus is our Lord and Savior and the very Word of Truth for all of Christian living, the desire of this book is to seek to present purity, faithfulness, and godliness in church polity and practice, from which only true peace and unity can ever be gained in Christ’s Church.
This is the book you have been waiting for. It will present the situation of the past seven months of the coronavirus upon society and the Church. It will lay out for the Christian the response of Church leadership as they attempted, with both compassion and good intent, to command a response by God’s people to its actions and directives.
Within the scope of the following chapters we will see how the Scripture, the Confessions, church history, medical science, and governmental influence all affect and demand a prioritized evaluation and Biblical response as to faith and life. In doing so this work will hopefully serve as a primer and guide for the future of the Christian Church as they seek to obey the Sovereign God rather than man. — Ernest Springer, Old Paths Publications
“Uncritically to yield to the decrees of the state in the matter of public worship is indefensible. ‘We must obey God…’ This book calls the hitherto compliant churches, including the most orthodox and conservative, which presently are not worshiping God, to repentance (sorrow over past disobedience) and conversion (change of behavior).” —The Rev. David J. Engelsma Emeritus Professor of Dogmatics and Old Testament Protestant Reformed Seminary in Grand Rapids, MI
“Hope for the future is not without promise. The Lord blesses His Church, and where it falters, the way forward is the way home, and the way home is the way of hope, and the way of hope is the way of confession and repentance, for it brings the Church closer to the One who is merciful, full of compassion, long-suffering and who affords forgiveness.” — Ernest Springer
About the authors
Ernest Springer, III, is a bank compliance officer and founder of Old Paths Publications. He writes this about his co-authors in the book intro:
“In writing this book, I am blessed to be joined by two other contributors. Both are accomplished men of God whose medical vocations as physicians, along with a much studied and practical understanding of the Coronavirus, remain subservient to their Savior’s calling to the Office of Believer.
“The first is Joel E. Yeager, MD, MA (counseling). He and his wife LuAnne D. Yeager, MD, founded and operate Heritage Family Health, PC, just outside Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Family Medicine and a contributor to the Second Opinion Project. He is also the author of Transforming Healthcare Together: Restoring the Covenant of Trust, published in 2018.
“The second is Daniel O’Roark, DO, FACC, of the Ballad CVA Heart Institute in Johnson City, Tennessee. He is a Diplomate of the American Osteopathic Board of Internal Medicine/Cardiology and a Diplomate of the Certification Board of Nuclear Cardiology. He is also a Diplomate of the National Board of Echocardiography and serves as a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology.
“All three writers are Presbyterians and hold to the Reformed Faith with a world and life view of God who transcends the sphere of all creation and culture. One of the writers has served as a Ruling Elder in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) and knows the challenges of shepherding the spiritual necessities of a congregation. Another has served as a Deacon in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) and is well acquainted with the temporal needs of the members of a church as well as those who are resident in nursing homes. One of them has prior experience in lay-preaching. All the writers have used their skills to teach and lecture within churches, Sunday Schools, and Bible studies. Most importantly, all three believe the Word of God is preeminent for all of life and hold forth Christ as Lord of the Church and King of this world.”
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