Should Christians Be Anxious About the Coronavirus? - Todd Wagner - https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/christians-anxious-coronavirus/
With the increasing coronavirus cases outside of China, many believers across the United States wonder how to respond to the increasing alarm. What would God have us do in the face of a growing international health crisis? Should our churches close their doors for fear of spreading illness? Should I take my kids out of school? Cancel travel plans?
How should we help a panicked world?
Remember What We Know
First, it's important to be reminded about what we already know. Worry is not our friend, and panic is not our way. Solomon reminds us, "If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small" (Prov. 24:10). May it never be said that God's people are governed more by fear than faith.
Corrie ten Boom, along with other faithful from among the nations, led courageously in the face of the Nazi fascism-a different form of deadly virus. And she reminds us, "Worry doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrows, it empties today of its strength."
In times of crisis, the world needs steady people who are strengthened by God's grace and selfless by God's power. Worry accomplishes nothing except weakness of heart and head. It's been said that 90 percent of the things we worry or become panicked about never happen, and the other 10 percent are outside our control.
While we remain on alert against viruses of doctrine or disease, worrying won't change our circumstances or lower our chance of infection. It won't help us fight off illness or move us to action. Worrying about COVID-19 (or anything else) will only increase trouble. Rather than worrying and being anxious, Jesus calls us to respond with prayer and faith in him (Matt. 6:33-34; Phil. 4:6). We need not worry ultimately because we know the One who has defeated sin and death (1 Cor. 15:55-57).
Remind yourself continually: it takes the same amount of energy to worry as to pray. One leads to peace, the other to panic. Choose wisely.
Love Well and Trust Him
If God calls us to worry about anything, it's how to love people well. The psalmist encourages us, "Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness" (Ps. 37:3). Peter reminds us to press on in the midst of every evil. Whether persecutions or pandemics, we can trust in the Lord, knowing, "It is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil" (1 Pet. 3:17).
Worry is common to man. But God has called us to face troubles and threats with courage, leaning our weight on him.
Throughout history, Christians have often stood out because they were willing to help the sick even during plagues, pandemics, and persecutions. They loved people and weren't afraid of death because they understood that "to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Phil. 1:21). By stepping into the mess of sickness and disease, they were able to demonstrate their faith to a watching world. So, rather than just asking "How do I stay healthy?" perhaps we should be also ask "How can I help the sick?" Let's be quick to help and slow to hide in basements.
Prayer-infused confidence, compassion, and selflessness should mark how we talk about the coronavirus. Why? Because our Savior put on flesh (John 1:14) and stepped into our sickness, sin, and death. He healed the sick and cared for the hurting. We must do likewise.
We Can Be Careful, Too
None of this means we should be reckless. Neither Christ's love nor God's Word encourages careless risks, but both promote obedience. Loving the sick doesn't mean we intentionally infect ourselves (Prov. 22:3). If infection becomes a legitimate risk (at the moment, the Center for Disease Control says the virus isn't communally spreading in the United States, and the health risk is low), responding to the coronavirus likely means taking small practical steps like washing our hands and staying home if we're sick.
Before you think of canceling church services, ask, "How can we care for those at risk?" As others get sick, care for them. Are most of you still healthy? That's a great reason to gather for thanksgiving and prayer. Seek appropriate medical care as symptoms arise and don't forsake caring for one another.
Follow the example of those who've acted faithfully in the past. In 19th-century England, when thousands were dying of cholera, Charles Spurgeon visited homes to care for people. The church of Jesus in Wuhan China, the virus's epicenter, is faithfully leading even today.
Finally, as you watch the world react to this crisis-itself a stark reminder of our mortality-don't neglect to share the hope you have in Jesus (1 Pet. 3:15). Share how he rescued you from the universal epidemic of sin and the penalty of death. Share that your hope is not found in remaining healthy this side of heaven.
We'll all face death eventually. Thanks to Jesus, we can come to that day with confidence. Like Paul, we can remember that to live is Christ, but to die is gain (Phil. 1:21). We truly have nothing ultimate to fear-not from the coronavirus, the Ebola virus, natural disasters, or anything else.
Press on, friends. Pray for the sick. Walk in God's strength. Love the brotherhood. Do good to all men. Use your health to serve, not to hide. Jesus is sovereign over it all. And we are immortal until God's work for us to do is finished.
Coronavirus: Curse or blessing? - By Terry James -
American stock-market gurus are astonished and baffled. The Dow and other financial/economic averages have plunged in unprecedented fashion. It is not a crash, as in the 1929 stock-market crash. But it has never gone from an unprecedented high to a 10 percent loss in such short order.
The stock market has since somewhat rallied, but still is tremendously down.
It is all, of course, because of a panicked selloff by those whose whole reason for being revolves around making money, the love of which, God's Word says, is "the root of all kinds of evil."
At the core of the panic is the coronavirus. The spreading disease-of which little is known as far as its cause and ultimate effects-is feared to eventually bring to a standfill the consumption of products around the world.
It is thought that factories will be unable to produce goods and parts to sell to other manufacturing entities, because workers either won't, due to illness, be able to attend work, or because workers are afraid to be around other people. This, it is feared, will ultimately bring on a major depression-or something even worse.
The hyperbole is rampant. At the heart of it all are the Democrat Party leaders, the mainstream news media, and the Trump haters, all of whom see in the hyperbole political advantage as the US presidential election date comes into view.
Leaders of that party weighed in almost immediately, accusing President Donald Trump of being inadequate to handle the crisis. They charged that he is doing too little, and compared the coronavirus to Hurricane Katrina of the George W. Bush era. A number of mainstream broadcast networks and cable channels saw their program hosts join in with their Democrat guests. The tenor and tone of their analyses seemed to be that this disease will be Trump's Katrina.
This refers to the charge made against President Bush that he was inadequate to handle that crisis, so many people died and great dangers existed that wouldn't have if a Democrat had been in office.
One host urged her guests to just start calling it the "Trump Virus."
It remains to be seen, of course, just where this outbreak will end. The stock market has fallen, as stated above, and, indeed, unless things turn around and there is a bounce-back of the bottom of the fall, things could severely damage an economy that has been perceived as booming.
My own take has been, as most who read these commentaries know, that the Rapture will occur at a time of economic uptick, not during a global fiscal disaster.
My belief hasn't changed. I still contend that the Lord Jesus prophesied it will be business as usual, or even better than usual, when He next catastrophically breaks in on the affairs of mankind.
It will be catastrophic for those left behind. But it will be glorious beyond imagination for those who go to be with their Lord in that electrifying instant of Rapture.
All the experts I've heard lately say that America isn't in real danger of the outbreak at the moment, but things could change. They expect measures taken by this administration to keep the coronavirus from becoming pandemic within the borders of the United States.
The experts also say almost as one that it will take many months, perhaps even years, to develop a vaccine that is highly effective against the disease. This is quite troubling to consider.
God has His mighty hand on it all, and that is the spiritual prompting upon which I base my optimism that the resolution to the problem will be forthcoming sooner rather than later.
The following news item speaks to that internal, spiritual prompting I sense.
Israeli scientists are on the cusp of developing the first vaccine against the novel coronavirus, according to Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis. If all goes as planned, the vaccine could be ready within a few weeks and available in 90 days, according to a release.
"Congratulations to MIGAL [the Galilee Research Institute] on this exciting breakthrough," Akunis said. "I am confident there will be further rapid progress, enabling us to provide a needed response to the grave global COVID-19 threat," Akunis said, referring to the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
For the past four years, a team of MIGAL scientists has been developing a vaccine against infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), which causes a bronchial disease affecting poultry. The effectiveness of the vaccine has been proven in preclinical trials carried out at the Veterinary Institute. (Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman, "Israeli Scientists: 'In a few weeks, we will have coronavirus vaccine.'" Jerusalem Post, February 20, 2020, https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Israeli-scientists-In-three-weeks-we-will-have-coronavirus-vaccine-619101)
It is within prophetic purview to conjecture whether the Lord might be about to bring forth evidence of why Israel is His chosen people. It will be fascinating to watch developments.
The Lord has said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:1-3)
Israeli scientists: 'In a few weeks, we will have coronavirus vaccine' - Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman - https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Israeli-scientists-In-three-weeks-we-will-have-coronavirus-vaccine-619101
Israeli scientists are on the cusp of developing the first vaccine against the novel coronavirus, according to Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis. If all goes as planned, the vaccine could be ready within a few weeks and available in 90 days, according to a release.
"Congratulations to MIGAL [The Galilee Research Institute] on this exciting breakthrough," Akunis said. "I am confident there will be further rapid progress, enabling us to provide a needed response to the grave global COVID-19 threat," Akunis said, referring to the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
For the past four years, a team of MIGAL scientists has been developing a vaccine against infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), which causes a bronchial disease affecting poultry. The effectiveness of the vaccine has been proven in preclinical trials carried out at the Veterinary Institute.
MIGAL is located in the Galilee.
"Our basic concept was to develop the technology and not specifically a vaccine for this kind or that kind of virus," said Dr. Chen Katz, MIGAL's biotechnology group leader. "The scientific framework for the vaccine is based on a new protein expression vector, which forms and secretes a chimeric soluble protein that delivers the viral antigen into mucosal tissues by self-activated endocytosis, causing the body to form antibodies against the virus."
Endocytosis is a cellular process in which substances are brought into a cell by surrounding the material with cell membrane, forming a vesicle containing the ingested material.
In preclinical trials, the team demonstrated that the oral vaccination induces high levels of specific anti-IBV antibodies, Katz said.
"Let's call it pure luck," he said. "We decided to choose coronavirus as a model for our system just as a proof of concept for our technology."
But after scientists sequenced the DNA of the novel coronavirus causing the current worldwide outbreak, the MIGAL researchers examined it and found that the poultry coronavirus has high genetic similarity to the human one, and that it uses the same infection mechanism, which increases the likelihood of achieving an effective human vaccine in a very short period of time, Katz said.
"All we need to do is adjust the system to the new sequence," he said. "We are in the middle of this process, and hopefully in a few weeks we will have the vaccine in our hands. Yes, in a few weeks, if it all works, we would have a vaccine to prevent coronavirus."
MIGAL would be responsible for developing the new vaccine, but it would then have to go through a regulatory process, including clinical trials and large-scale production, Katz said.
Akunis said he has instructed his ministry's director-general to fast-track all approval processes with the goal of bringing the human vaccine to market as quickly as possible.
"Given the urgent global need for a human coronavirus vaccine, we are doing everything we can to accelerate development," MIGAL CEO David Zigdon said. The vaccine could "achieve safety approval in 90 days," he said.
It will be an oral vaccine, making it particularly accessible to the general public, Zigdon said.
"We are currently in intensive discussions with potential partners that can help accelerate the in-human trials phase and expedite completion of final-product development and regulatory activities," he said.
The false prophets of Coronavirus - Bill Wilson -
Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden and a host of others in the Democratic Party stable are trying to make the case that Donald Trump is at fault for spreading coronavirus in the United States and around the world. Biden said on Monday's MSNBC's "The Last Word," "The whole question on crises is how much credibility a president has...No matter who the president is, [he] speaks for the nation, and gives great concern to and/or brings some solace to the rest of the world. And this president has--this is not a political comment. It's a literal comment--He has no credibility on this issue." Other Democratic presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Michael Bloomberg and the media say the same.
They are repeating that President Trump has called the current flu scare a hoax (not true), and that he has no plan on how to prevent spread of the virus in the US. They are calling it "Trumpvirus" in a New York Times editorial, and are spreading fear across the nation with their comments. Let's look at the facts so far provided by the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and other organizations. There are 91,320 confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide. There have been 3,118 deaths reported (a little over 3%). 48,155 have recovered. China, with 80,151 cases, leads the world with South Korea, Italy, and Iran each having over 1,500 cases. The US has 105 confirmed cases and six deaths.
Here is something to think about. The Centers for Disease Control estimates in its weekly Influenza Surveillance Report, "that so far this season there have been at least 32 million flue illnesses, 310,000 hospitalizations and 18,000 deaths from flu." CDC reported, "The percentage of death attributed to pneumonia and influenza is 6.9 percent, below the epidemic threshold of 7.3 percent...Key indicators that track flu activity remain high but decreased for the second week in a row. Severity indicators (hospitalizations and deaths) remain moderate to low overall, but hospitalization rates differ by age group, with high rates among children and young adults." Coronavirus in the US is far less a threat than the general flu.
Yet, the Democrats are using scare tactics and politicizing coronavirus. Biden says being presidential is to "bring some solace to the rest of the world," but he and his political buddies are doing just the opposite. The media is doing the same thing. During times of potential crisis, it is best to keep a level head and focus on the facts. Yes, the coronavirus could explode, especially with the lack of border security, which is something else the democrats are adamant about. You see, what people say and what people do contribute to all of this. Christ said in Matthew 7:15, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." We can see plainly who are the false prophets of coronavirus; their fruits are deception.
Flight-to-Safety - By Hal Lindsey - https://www.hallindsey.com/ww-3-4-2020/
The novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 scares people the world over. But it is not the only thing people are afraid of. Watching the financial markets fall last week scared nearly everyone. North Korea now seems to be returning to its old missile-launching, bomb-threatening ways. An estimated one million new refugees are fleeing war-ravaged Syria. And, with shelters already full, there seems to be no place for them.
The world economy feels fragile. Even before COVID-19, several EU countries were suffering, including Germany and France. Now it's getting worse.
In the US, financial markets are trying to recover from a week of record bad news. Volatile markets tend to send investors on a "flight-to-safety." That's a market phenomenon Investopedia defines as "investors moving their capital away from riskier investments to safer ones."
Even people who avoid the financial markets are looking for safety - some trying to build a safe haven in their own homes. Costco stocks recently surged on word that Americans are hitting that store in record numbers. News reports talk of checkout lines thirty shopping carts deep at various Costco locations. Many Americans feel a need to stock up on food staples, dry goods, and cleaning supplies (especially bleach).
Others don't want to go anywhere near a Costco or any other store. They fear that mingling with large groups increases the risk of infection. But even if you have your food delivered, you cannot know for sure that your food delivery does not also contain some form of contamination. It makes you wonder if a safe haven exists anywhere.
Near the end of the most famous sermon ever preached, Jesus talked about safety. His did not offer the superficial safety of human institutions, but a true safe haven - His word.
In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus said, "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall."
Some university campuses provide students what are called "safe spaces." But it's a promise the present world system cannot make good on. With high numbers of home invasion robberies, even homes are not entirely safe. Also, modern homes have several conduits through which toxic ideas flow into them - primarily the internet, television, radio, books, magazines, games, and sometimes even homework.
Jesus said that His word is a safe place. To build a life of godly success in an uncertain world, hear and act on the words of Jesus.
Psalm 91:1-7 says it magnificently. "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.' Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you."
A true flight to safety means going somewhere truly safe. Whether as a nation, a community, a church, a family, or an individual - run to God!
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Coronavirus: Manmade or God-Ordained and Imposed? - By Jim Towers -
Regarding the coronavirus, this is a complex situation with so many conflicting reports and speculations. What we do know for sure is that it is causing widespread panic across the globe, with some wondering if this is part of the end-times signs prophesied in the Bible.
It began in Wuhan, China. Surprisingly enough, it happened just as there were uprisings against the Chinese government. The protesters were being rounded up and imprisoned, and the news media was shut down - as well as other news organizations. But the virus infections didn't happen until it seems that things were getting out of hand. Could it be that the virus was unleashed on the protesters in an attempt to quell their protests? We all know that communist China is fully capable of killing off dissidents. If that be the case, then perhaps the government acted irrationally and without forethought - not knowing the ramifications if this untried biological weapon were used indiscriminately.
Panic of the public has sent stock prices plummeting, and there are fears that commerce may soon come to a standstill. They know that with commerce coming to a standstill because of this illness that it's only a matter of time that the marketplace will falter and goods will become scarce.
Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh says,
"It looks like the coronavirus is being weaponized as yet another element to bring down Donald Trump... The drive-by media hype of this thing as a pandemic, as the Andromeda strain, as, 'Oh my God, if you get it, you're dead,' do you know what the - I think the survival rate is Ninety-eight percent. Ninety-eight percent of people who get the coronavirus survive. It's a respiratory system virus. It probably is a ChiCom laboratory experiment that is in the process of being weaponized. All superpower nations weaponize bio-weapons. They experiment with them.... Do not misunderstand. I'm not trying to get you to let your guard down... But we're not talking about something here that's gonna wipe out your town or your city if it finds its way there."
What about the SARS virus that hit from late 2002 to the summer of 2003? That was contained. The death rate was also said to be higher than what we're seeing with the coronavirus. But that virus only spread to 17 countries, whereas the coronavirus that began in December has already spread to 67 countries and territories as of early March 1. Just the night before, that number was 64. And some say the number of infections and deaths may be higher than what's being reported.
Then there's this:
CDC walks back coronavirus panic: 'US risk remains low' days after saying outbreak will happen & 'could be bad'
In a news conference on Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control warned the public that the coronavirus outbreak on American soil is inevitable. "We are asking the American public to prepare for the expectation that this might be bad," said CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Director Dr. Nancy Messonnier," as reported by the New York Times. "It's not so much of a question of if this will happen in this country anymore but a question of when this will happen." Then on Friday, just three days later, Messonnier suddenly downplayed the virus and asserted that the risk to the American public "remains low."
Which report are we to believe?
Coronavirus may be "Disease X,' World Health Organization expert warns
The deadly coronavirus is looking a lot like the theoretical "Disease X" that officials have long warned could spark a dangerous pandemic, a World Health Organization expert said. Marion Koopmans, a member of WHO's emergency committee, said the virus is the first to meet the criteria of the so-called "Disease X" - defined as a quick-spreading and unpredictable illness caused by a previously unknown pathogen, Daily Express reported.
Researchers Find 61.5% Of Coronavirus Patients with Severe Pneumonia Won't Survive
According to a study published in the Lancet on Friday, February 21, patients who are especially vulnerable to severe COVID-19 infections - a group that includes the very old, very young and those with co-occurring conditions - die at a higher rate from COVID-19 than they did from SARS and MERS.
The Coronavirus May Have Leaked from a Lab
The People's Liberation Army's top expert in biological warfare, Maj. Gen. Chen Wei, was dispatched to Wuhan at the end of January to help with the effort to contain the outbreak. According to the PLA Daily, Chen has been researching coronaviruses since the SARS outbreak of 2003, as well as Ebola and anthrax. This would not be her first trip to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, either, since it is one of only two bio-weapons research labs in all of China.
The novel coronavirus, now known as SARS-CoV-2, may have escaped from that very lab, and the deadly SARS virus has escaped - twice - from the Beijing lab where it was (and probably is) being used in experiments. Both "man-made" epidemics were quickly contained, but neither would have happened at all if proper safety precautions had been taken.
As I said, the virus is now affecting 67 countries and territories. The vast majority of infections and deaths are in China with nearly 80,000 cases and close to 2,900 deaths. You can see figures in other countries at World meters.
These are scary numbers, and they're rising hourly, but the Wuhan coronavirus is not considered a pandemic... yet. The flu is still killing more people. Thank God we have a degree of immunity in our country.
So, is this virus man-made or God-ordained and imposed?
It could be both.
Is it part of the end-times signs prophesied in the Bible?
The plagues in the book of Revelation will be worse. But the end-time signs given in the Bible have converged like never before, and appear to be a foretaste of what's coming during the last seven years before Christ's return for those who are left behind to face it.
Jesus said, "When you see these things begin to happen, look up, for your redemption draweth nigh [your redemption is coming soon]."
YBIC
Jim Towers
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