Today I am changing the name of this daily update. It started as a rather obvious direct tribute to Love in the Time of Cholera (El amor en los tiempos del cólera), the 1985 novel by Colombian Nobel prize winner Gabriel García Márquez. But it is really about how we do Church in these ‘interesting’ times.

Yesterday my Canadian friend and ‘tent’ theologian, Stephen Backhouse, posted a reminder on FaceBook that, on at least 13 occasions in the New Testament, church was something that was happening either ‘house to house’ or it was ‘the church in ***’s house.’ 
 
We have been so used to church in a big purpose-built (or at least re-purposed) building that it is easy to forget that the most basic ‘unit of ecclesia’ is a house. Real church can just as well happen at home! Big gatherings are great, but, for now, we do all have to adapt to a new situation. We are being forced along a ‘narrow way’ into a confined and narrow place, but, as we place our confidence, trust, and hope in Christ, my prayer is that we find not just personal peace and safety but, also, that troubled times would bring us into a ‘broad place.’ 
 
In a small way, it already has. Here’s one example. Emmaus Road in Guildford was one of many churches in the UK to go online for the first time yesterday and, for the first time, friends, family, and strangers as far away as Macedonia and Australia were able to join us.

Here is what David had to say when he was confined by his troubled situation. This is 2 Samuel 22:1-4, and 17-20:
 
The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,
    my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation,
    my stronghold and my refuge,
    my saviour; you save me from violence.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
    and I am saved from my enemies. …
 
He reached from on high, he took me,
    he drew me out of mighty waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
    from those who hated me;
    for they were too mighty for me.
They came upon me in the day of my calamity,
    but the Lord was my stay.
He brought me out into a broad place;
    he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

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Chris Denne