Covid-19

WHY ARE YOU FOUR DAYS LATE, LORD?

(July 29, 2024) Richard Winter shares food for serious consideration…

A long time ago — that is before Amazon Prime —  people actually went to brick and mortar stores and bought the necessities and joys of life.

Amazon and Covid changed much of how we live —

  • Amazon will deliver just about anything in a day.
  • Covid stopped you from being with people.
  • We all learned to change our lives.

Covid no longer has its tentacles on our lives, but Amazon does! Amazon has increased our expectations about delivery— ordered yesterday; delivered today. And if it takes four days, most people are having a fit.

Four Days!
That can seem like a lifetime! And in fact it was for two sassy sisters… they had a brother whom they loved, as did Jesus, but he became quite sick and although Jesus had been informed He hadn’t come to see him. And now he’s dead — dead and buried!

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IRRESPONSIBLE, THOUGHTLESS AND DISRESPECTFUL!

(September 6, 2021) Maureen McQuillan shares a concern…

Not a response to a question this month, but simply my thoughts about someone overseas that we were informed made the following comment – ‘Well, I’m not getting covid-19 vaccinations! It’s all a hoax. If God wants to take me home to heaven by covid-19, then that’s okay with me.’ Straight off, I thought along these three lines…

1. How irresponsible!
That’s what I immediately thought. Would this person (Let’s call him ‘Mr X’) walk out onto a busy road without looking right or left because of an attitude of ‘Well, If God wants to take me home to heaven by a terrible car crash, then okay.’ I doubt it!

2. Thoughtlessness regarding others!
Scripture is very clear… Jesus commanded us in various passages such as Mark 12:33 to love our neighbours. Leviticus 19:16 is very strong: ‘Do not do anything that endangers your neighbour’s life. I am the Lord.’ Paul wrote in Romans13:10 ‘Love does no harm to a neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.’

But people like Mr X have no consideration for others and local government requirements! If such careless people catch covid-19 there would be concerned relatives, not to mention already overpacked hospitals and flustered, over worked medical staff. A major concern with the current Delta strain is that people in our communities (especially those who won’t wear masks) could catch this virus unknowingly and be spreading it before it’s caught on. And oh what covid-19 sick hospitalised people are suffering! No wonder we hear of many pleading from their hospital beds that we be wise and not only wear masks but get vaccinated as our governments require!

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THE ‘GIFT’ IN THIS VIRUS

(August 1, 2020) Charles Schwab challenges Christians to consider a different aspect to the Covid-19 pandemic that has affected so many lives worldwide …

The ‘Gift’ in This Virus – isn’t that an utterly crazy and irresponsible use of words?

How can the Covid-19 pandemic that has killed multiplied thousands throughout the world, disabled economies leading to job losses along with stress and strain, forced countries and regions into lockdown, thrust normal living into a mess… horrendous for many, decimated tourism and freedom of travel… causing such pain and pandemonium be considered a ‘gift’ from God?

Sounds crazy
How in the world could this idea of ‘gift’ possibly be true from a biblical perspective? Sounds like heresy, the babblings of a religious zealot, the sign of a demented mind, the ramblings of a soul in a theological desert and, at face value, devoid of any biblical warrant.

What madness is this ‘gift’ notion?  Or… could it be a surprising reality for good in the midst of horror? The phrase, ‘the gift of this virus’, came unexpectedly to mind as I emerged from sleep well before dawn… and I knew within to what this strange phrase referred.

The use of ‘gift’ in association with ‘virus’ does not appear in scripture… but I suggest that the idea and its potential are biblical. While illness, fear, death and economic disaster are widespread and accompany this awful Covid-19 virus, God is giving us – Christians and churches – the ‘gift’ of opportunity.

The real ‘gift’
This ‘gift’ of opportunity is one to carefully and prayerfully…

  • Reconsider some things
  • Keep some things
  • Axe some things
  • Discover some new things or new ways that will be effective now and into the future.

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CORONAVIRUS AND FALSE TEACHERS

(April 26, 2020) Dr Jim McClure, straight shooting theologian, shares a warning…

I have been reflecting in recent days on the worldwide distress being caused by the Coronavirus (Covid-19), I’ve read so many articles and watched so many YouTube videos in which some preachers have strongly stated that God has clearly promised protection for his people in the midst of plagues and diseases.

Dissonance…
Christians should not be concerned or stressed by current events because we live in the assurances  of God’s promises found in various verses in the Bible – particularly Psalm 91 which is frequently mishandled – but it is crucially important to understand what those verses are actually promising!  (See my March article Link: Is Divine Protection Guaranteed?)

I have watched well-known preachers on video as, with great passion and animation, they loudly remind the virus that it has no claim over Christians. And yet a large number of Christians worldwide have been victims of the pandemic and many have died – including many who had boldly declared that such a thing could not happen to God’s people!

There is a dissonance between the declaration that God will save his people from plaques and illnesses and the reality of what is actually happening in the world.

This links with two important questions – Can we trust the Bible?  Can we truly believe the promises God makes in his word?

So what are we to believe?
My answer is that… (more…)