COVID-19: Two Truths, One Caution, One Challenge

COVID-19: Two Truths, One Caution, One Challenge - By Joe Southerland - https://www.raptureready.com/2020/04/01/covid-19-two-truths-one-caution-one-challenge-by-joe-southerland/

 

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9; scriptures KJV).

 

"Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure" (Isaiah 46:10).

 

In my first message on COVID-19, I stated the obvious; we are in a pestilence of global proportions. Then, I further stated that there is no doubt in light of Matthew 24:3-8. We are indeed living through one of the birth-pain sorrows prophesied by Jesus Christ, which will occur before His second coming.

 

I also stated that while we CAN KNOW the Biblical prophetic timeline which God has provided in His Word, the LORD GOD has and will intentionally veil the details of prophetic events from Mankind.

 

Then, I cautioned Believers to be on guard, warning them that we must know the difference between people's speculation, illumination, inspiration, and revelation. Since these are very different ways of hearing from God, we must demand of preachers and teachers clarity on what they are proclaiming.

 

Lastly, we MUST arm ourselves with the knowledge of God, God's Divine Word, so we may rightly judge truth in this time of global turmoil.

 

Delving into the Truth Behind COVID-19

 

As a lifetime Prophecy Watcher and student of God's Word, and a Bible Teacher, like many of you, I keep my finger on the End-Times' pulse.

 

Now, more than I have ever, I have seen a tremendous amount of speculation out there in the secular world, as well as in prophetic circles. Is the COVID-19 virus the result of:

 

- eating wild exotic animals which contained the virus?

- a Chinese biological weapon lab experiment gone bad?

- an intentional release by Communist China in order to reduce their aging population and/or attack or weaken the West?

- the US Army generating a bio-engineered virus to thwart the inevitable rise of the great People's Republic of China?

- Bill Gates creating a "eugenics" virus to kill off the world population to a sustainable level and implant a vaccine with a personal marker within the COVID-19 survivors?

- the "Illuminati" releasing a bio-engineered virus to collapse world governments and economies to bring in the New World Order...and the Antichrist's rise?

 

I WILL NOT and CANNOT address the validity of any of the current speculations and theories out there... and believe me, these are just a sampling. Undoubtedly, there will be many more theories, conspiracies, and speculations coming from the secular world, from Satan and his deceivers, and from fellow Believers.

 

As Believers we must apply the gifts we have been given by God to judge what is truth. God has given us: His Holy Word, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, rational and logical minds, and fellow Bible Believers to consult and commune with (using prescribed social distancing, of course). Thusly armed, Believers can discern the difference between true teachers/preachers and false teachers/preachers, and their speculations, illuminations, inspirations, and revelations. For we must become End of the Church Age Bereans (Acts 17:11) for those around us.

 

And always remember...TRUTH is NOT about what or how you feel; it is about what the WORD OF GOD SAYS!

 

Truth Behind COVID-19 - Number One

 

Regardless of which COVID-19 speculation/theory/conspiracy you may be judging on validity, know that whether or not any may be true...there is but one root cause... SIN!*

 

For SIN is the source of all destructive acts of nature: earthquakes, volcanoes, asteroid strikes, tsunamis, floods, tornadoes, mudslides, firestorms - and yes, this includes plagues, pestilence and pandemics. That goes for whether COVID-19 is man-made or Satan-made or not. For every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, depravity, envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossip, slander, lying, insolence, arrogance, boastfulness, disobeying of parents, and faithlessness... and all heartlessness, ruthlessness, rape, incest, anger, theft, covetousness, sexual immorality, idolatry, adultery, homosexuality, drunkenness, and swindling are the result of sin; and the source of all death, decay, illness, disease, and sickness.

 

Scriptural Proof behind SINs reign on earth

 

"And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" (Genesis 3:17-19; emphasis mine).

 

"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Romans 5:12).

 

If you do not know what occurred in Genesis Chapter 3, you will never make any sense of the world we live in!

 

A CAUTION: I am compelled to provide this CAUTION because there is a huge misperception that I have seen among Believers in the internet/blogosphere, and it goes like this:

 

"COVID-19 came from the LORD GOD."

 

We must be very careful what we lay at the feet of the LORD GOD; blessed be His name! And that goes for any type of natural or man-made disaster... for there is a huge, Biblical difference between these two statements...

 

"COVID-19 came from the LORD GOD" and

 

"COVID-19 is being allowed by the LORD GOD."

 

There are two types of disasters which come upon the earth: one is "God initiated" and the other, as we just discussed, is loosed due to the fallen nature of our world because of sin.

 

God's initiated disasters are specific judgments directly generated by Him for specific purposes. The next specific plagues and pestilences found in the Bible are found in Revelation Chapter 6 and onward in the seal, and bowl, and trumpet judgments. We are not there yet, even though we are experiencing COVID-19 as a major birth pain.

 

Believers CANNOT presume to know which events, like COVID-19, can be laid directly at the feet of the LORD. Therefore, we should be very cautious attributing these calamities to anything other than the result of the post-Adam fallen nature of the world. We know from Job that God hedges Satan's actions, and He may have done just that by allowing these things, which were once held back, to come forth. Mere mortals can but speculate.

 

The Truth Behind COVID-19 - Number Two

 

Events like COVID-19 always leads to the question, "Why does God allow such horrendous things, like COVID-19, to happen?"

 

To answer that timeless question, we are going to turn to Acts 17:26-27, where the Holy Spirit gave the Apostle Paul the answer we seek while he addressed the Athenians on Mars Hill.

 

Scriptural Proof for "Why God Allows Disaster?"

 

Acts 17:26 "And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation:"

 

Notice here the underlined bounds of their habitation. God has set forth many bounds/boundary-lines within Mankind's habitation**, and loosed within Mankind's habitation are disasters, like pestilence and plague we are living through. As previously stated, these are historically part of the fallen world which Mankind has inherited as children of Adam.

 

So why does God allow these disasters according to the scripture?

 

Acts 17:27 "That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him (grope/search), and find him, though he be not far from every one of us."

 

The Greek word here, "feeling after," implies much more...as a person groping around in the darkness, reaching out desperately for the light.

 

Here is the answer we seek. So that in these times of turmoil and strife, caused by the boundaries within our habitation, Mankind will reach out and seek their LORD GOD Creator.

 

Why is that necessary? Because God knows the fallen, sinful, self-centered nature that Mankind inherited from Adam. God knows in times of good health and plenty that Mankind believes their conditions are the result of their works and wisdom. It is often only when the predictable and controllable are shaken that many people will seek spiritual answers to explain their changing, tumultuous new reality.

 

But why does God include Christians?

 

Invariably this leads to a question I get from Believers: "But why does God include Believers in these tribulations?"

 

Scriptural Proof for Believers Facing Tribulation

 

"That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matthew 5:45).

 

These disasters occur to all Mankind because we all share the same habitation, Christians included. Christians are in this world, but not of this world. God never declared Christians a safe physical harbor, but a secured spiritual one in heaven. Our earthly bodies can die and our souls can be attacked even though they will live eternally. However, our quickened spirits are sealed for eternity.

 

We, children of our Father, are here for a purpose. God allows Christians to go through trials not only to refine us, but because...

 

We are Christ's light in this world.

 

We are Christ's salt of this world.

 

We are Christ's sons and daughters of grace and love unbounded in this world.

 

For who better than God's children to help this fallen world deal with this situation.

 

Mankind needs Christ to shine through His children now more than ever! So shine forth with the truth, light, passion, mercy, grace, and love of GOD! Leverage the gifts God has given you. Therefore, work in the unique and specific field which God specifically has planted you for this season. I pray that God may richly bless you for the works he has planned for you in advance.

 

Time is short! The harvest fields are ripe! Come, Lord Jesus, come!

 

 

For A Glimpse Into Your Dystopian Police State Future, Just Visit Walmart - By Michael Snyder/End of the American Dream - https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=3956

 

Things are really starting to get crazy out there. All over the country, "non-essential" businesses have been forced to shut down, but because Walmart sells food and other basic supplies it gets to be one of the "essential" businesses that stays open.

 

However, a trip to your local Walmart now will be far different from what you remember previously. When you arrive, you will find that a very narrow entry corridor has been taped off with yellow security tape, and only a very limited number of shoppers are being allowed in at any one time. And once you get inside, you will discover that there are very strict limits on what you are permitted to purchase.

I know that all of this sounds incredibly bizarre, but it is really happening. The following is what one of my contacts reported when she visited her local Walmart...

 

Wow, so we just got back from walmart in Pine Bluff, AR....they herded us in, like cattle...I kid you not....we had to go through a taped-off line and they had only one door open instead of the two they normally have. They have a 5 person limit in Magnolia, AR.....and security guards at the door as well...armed security guards.

 

You can only buy one loaf of bread and the store closed at 7PM...normally open 24 hours. It is CRAZY....someone opened a side door by accident and alarms started going off. I joked to the lady next to me "Oh crap, someone must have taken more than a dozen eggs!"

 

And it is also being reported that very creepy social distancing instructions are being repeatedly broadcast over the speakers as shoppers circulate through the stores.

 

Just days ago, Walmart stores all over the nation were operating normally. But then on Friday, draconian new restrictions were suddenly announced...

 

Starting Saturday, we will limit the number of customers who can be in a store at once. Stores will now allow no more than five customers for each 1,000 square feet at a given time, roughly 20 percent of a store's capacity.

 

To manage this restriction, the associates at a store will mark a queue at a single-entry door (in most cases the Grocery entrance) and direct arriving customers there, where they will be admitted one-by-one and counted. Associates and signage will remind customers of the importance of social distancing while they're waiting to enter a store - especially before it opens in the morning.

 

Once a store reaches its capacity, customers will be admitted inside on a "1-out-1-in" basis.

 

Once shoppers do get inside, they will find that their choices have been significantly narrowed.

 

In fact, in some Walmart stores entire aisles have been completely sealed off...

 

Walmart stores in New England are sealing off entire aisles with products deemed "unnecessary" in attempts to combat the scourge of shoppers wandering around to relieve coronavirus quarantine fatigue.

 

According to CBS Boston, Walmart in addition to Home Depot and BJ's Wholesale stores in the town of Chicopee, Massachusetts, worked with the city health department to "reduce unnecessary roaming around aisles and putting others at risk."

 

Unfortunately, in some stores garden seeds have actually been deemed "non-essential", and so many that were hoping to grow their own food during this time will be out of luck.

 

Hopefully once this pandemic is behind us we will see these ridiculous restrictions at Walmart locations go away.

 

But as we have seen during other moments of crisis in the past, once "emergency measures" get implemented they have a way of sticking around.

 

And right now many Americans seem to be in the mood to sacrifice their liberties and freedoms for an illusion of safety. If you can believe it, one recent survey actually found that 67 percent of us actually want restrictions put on interstate travel...

 

Although America has a reputation for being rather libertarian with regards to personal rights and one's freedom of movement, a new opinion poll by Rasmussen Reports shows that Americans are turning hardline in the face of the new and deadly Chinese coronavirus. Two out of three want to ban interstate travel and fine those who violate social distancing guidelines.

 

To be precise, 67% of likely U.S. voters say they want to ban all out-of-state travelers from entering their state -- except for emergencies. A mere 21% are opposed, 12% are undecided. As for fining those who break social distancing guidelines: 68% support such a measure, while 20% oppose it and, again, 12% are not sure.

 

Yes, we should all work together to defeat this virus, but once we lose our most cherished liberties and freedoms they will be exceedingly difficult to get back.

 

So we should definitely take common sense precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but we must also diligently guard our rights wherever they are threatened.

 

As this pandemic stretches on, people all over the world are going to be clamoring for a "solution", and without a doubt the elite will gladly give us one once it is ready.

 

We are being told that life will not get back to "normal" until a vaccine arrives, and we are also being told that the elite are feverishly working toward that goal.

 

In fact, it is being reported that Bill Gates is spending billions of dollars building seven different vaccine factories...

 

Bill Gates is plugging money into building factories for seven promising coronavirus vaccine candidates, even though it will mean wasting billions of dollars.

 

On Thursday's episode of "The Daily Show," the Microsoft billionaire told the host Trevor Noah that his philanthropic organization, the Gates Foundation, could mobilize faster than governments to fight the coronavirus outbreak. Gates also suggested that mass gatherings might not return until we get coronavirus vaccine.

 

Our society is being transformed at a pace that is absolutely breathtaking, and life as you have known it will never be the same again.

 

These are perilous times, and things are only going to get stranger from this point forward.

 

So work hard, pray hard and hold on tight, because the road ahead is going to be really bumpy.

 

 

Time for Prayer, Faith and Trust - By Daymond Duck - https://www.raptureready.com/2020/04/05/time-for-prayer-faith-and-trust-by-daymond-duck/

 

Some of my thoughts on the Coronavirus Crisis:

 

If this is a birth pain (and I believe it is), then it is the hardest birth pain (one-third of the world is in lockdown) the world has experienced, and there are more birth pains to come (Matt. 24:3-8; Rev. 6:5-8).

 

Jesus said, "in this world you will have tribulation" (Jn. 16:33), and we are having it, but this is not the Tribulation Period (it is a mild glimpse of what the world will be like after the Rapture).

 

This came upon the world with startling speed, but the Rapture and the "sudden destruction" of the Tribulation Period will come upon the world even faster (Luke 21:35; I Cor. 15:52; I Thess. 5:3).

 

Some possible reasons why God is allowing the Coronavirus Crisis:

 

He wants revival in the Church before the Rapture (II Chron. 7:13-14).

 

He wants a harvest of the lost before the Rapture (Matt. 9:37-38).

 

He is reminding the world that Jesus said false Christs, wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes will precede His coming, and they will be the "beginnings of sorrows" ( 24:5-8; the beginning of greater disasters).

 

He is showing the world that borders are a good thing, and erasing borders to create a one-world government is a bad thing (Rev. 13:4-8).

 

He is showing the world that globalization is a bad thing when essential products are not produced at home (Rev. 13:14-18).

 

He is reminding the world that the age of grace is almost over and the end of the age is close (Matt. 24:33).

 

Some speculation on why New York now has more cases than any other nation:

 

God may be attacking the economic center of the world (New York; Wall Street), and the home of the wannabe world government (the UN) as a warning that He set Israel's borders and world leaders should leave them alone.

 

Some suggestions:

 

Do all you can to protect your family and yourself from the Coronavirus, and leave the rest up to God (I Tim. 5:8).

 

Pray that you will be accounted worthy to escape all of the things that are coming to pass (Psa. 20; Psa. 91; Luke 21:36).

 

Support Israel. God will bless those that do (Gen. 12:1-3).

 

Understand that physical survival is important, but spiritual survival is more important (Rom. 3:23; Jn. 3:16, 14:6; Matt. 10:32-33; Eph. 2:8-9).

 

Oppose mandatory vaccinations that contain chips. Know that there is a proposal to track those that are vaccinated for the Coronavirus (when a vaccine is developed) that will permit people to leave their homes to work, buy, sell, etc., and forbid (fine, jail) those that refuse to be vaccinated permission to leave their homes to work, buy, sell, etc. Know that the recent stimulus package contained $500 million for public health data surveillance and analytics infrastructure modernization. New Yorkers should be aware that their state cancelled religious exemptions for mandatory vaccinations on June 13, 2019. See Rev. 13:14-18.

 

Prophecy Related Events:

 

One, concerning persecution: on Mar. 27, 2020, an article in the New York Times blamed the Coronavirus on Evangelical Christians and other religious Americans that supported Pres. Trump.

 

Two, concerning a global economic collapse: on Mar. 23, 2020, one-third of the world was on lockdown (Rev. 8:1-13, 9:15).

 

On Mar. 27, 2020, Pres. Trump signed into law a $2.2 trillion economic stimulus package, and it allows the government to get another $4.5 trillion.

 

On Mar. 27, 2020, several states in the U.S. were under, or considering, "stay at home" orders.

 

If this lasts for weeks or months, the global economy could collapse (that will happen in the Tribulation Period; Rev. 6:5-6).

 

Three, concerning wars and rumors of wars: fighting in the Middle East and Africa has destroyed factories, hospitals, clinics and equipment; killed medical staff; and left millions without supplies and trained people to deal with the Coronavirus.

 

On Mar. 26, 2020, an Iranian proxy fired rockets at a U.S. base in Iraq.

 

At the time of this writing, there are reports that the U.S. and Israel could be planning an attack on Iran inside Iran's borders (implications for Gog and Magog).

 

Four, concerning the cashless society: in early March, the World Health Organization said cash could be spreading the coronavirus; So. Korea stopped the use of cash for 2 weeks; the Federal Reserve started looking at ways to replace the dollar; and several major banks in England and Europe started studying the possibility of using some form of digital money.

 

Five, concerning tracking all buying and selling: the push to track the movement of people, keep data bases on people, and share that data has been speeded up all over the world.

 

Six, concerning wickedness on earth: on Mar. 23, 2020, U.S. Sec. of State Mike Pompeo said Iranian officials have used more than one billion dollars of EU aid that was given to help victims of the Coronavirus crisis to enrich themselves.

 

They bought masks, gloves and medical supplies, sold them on the black market and kept the profits.

 

Seven, concerning famine: on Mar. 24, 2020, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said the locust plague in the Horn of Africa represents an unprecedented threat to the food supply of millions of people.

 

Eight, Israel has a new "emergency" unity government.

 

Following the collapse of Prime Min. Netanyahu's government, Israel held three elections and the government was still stalemated.

 

On Mar. 26, 2020, it was reported that Prime Min. Netanyahu and his closest challenger, Benny Gantz, met with Israel's Pres. Rivlin and they agreed to create a unity government.

 

Netanyahu will serve as Prime Min. for 18 more months, and Gantz will serve as Foreign Min. during that time.

 

Then, Gantz will become Prime Min.

 

Some believe this "emergency" unity government came into being because Iran is becoming more aggressive.

 

Nine, on Mar. 29, 2020, a great Bible prophecy teacher, J.D. Farag, said, "I truly believe that this (Coronavirus Crisis) may, in fact, be that which ultimately leads to the Rapture of the Church, the Antichrist's revelation, and the seven-year Tribulation, in that order. I submit that what's happening now may, in fact, be creating the perfect storm for one-world government, a one-world economy, and a one-world religion."

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G76nB6THoYc

 

Finally, on Mar. 23, 2020, Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of Billy Graham, said God may be using the coronavirus "to get our attention."

 

She said, "It's time to pray . . . and turn to God in faith and trust."

 

Prophecy Plus Ministries, Inc.

Daymond & Rachel Duck

 

 

Coronavirus: China's Great Cover-up - by Giulio Meotti -

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15844/coronavirus-china-cover-up

 

We have been paying dearly for China's lies.

 

"This is one of the worst cover-ups in human history, and now the world is facing a global pandemic," said Rep. Michael T. McCaul, the ranking Republican member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, before the US intelligence community concluded, in a classified report to the White House, that China has concealed the origin and extent of the catastrophic global coronavirus outbreak.

 

The Chinese Communist Party's "failure has unleashed a global contagion killing thousands", wrote Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, president of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences, on April 1. "As we survey the damage done to lives around the world, we must ask who is responsible?"

 

"... there is one government that has primary responsibility for what it has done and what it has failed to do, and that is the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] regime in Beijing. Let me be clear - it is the CCP that has been responsible, not the people of China... Lies and propaganda have put millions of lives around the world in danger... In recent years, we have seen an intense crackdown on freedom of expression in China. Lawyers, bloggers, dissidents and civil society activists have been rounded up and have disappeared."

 

One more person has just disappeared: Ai Fen, a Chinese physician who was head of the emergency department at Wuhan Central Hospital, had worked with the late Dr. Li Wenliang. Ai, who claimed that her bosses silenced her early warnings about coronavirus, appears to have vanished. Her whereabouts, according to 60 Minutes Australia, are unknown. The journalists who saw what happened inside Wuhan have also disappeared. Caixin Global reported that the laboratories which sequenced the coronavirus in December were ordered by Chinese officials to hand over or destroy the samples and not release their findings. "If I had known what was to happen, I would not have cared about the reprimand, I would have fucking talked about it to whoever, where ever I could", Ai Fen said in an interview in March. Those were her last recorded words.

 

There is no record at all, however, about how this pandemic began. Wet market? A cave full of bats? Pangolins? Or a bio-weapons laboratory? No foreign doctors, journalists, analysts or international observers are present in Wuhan. Why, if the virus came out of a wet market or a cave, did China suppress inquiries to such an extent? Why, in December, did Beijing order Chinese scientists to destroy proof about the virus? Why did Chinese officials claim that US soldiers brought the virus to Wuhan? Why should it be scandalous that a US President calls a virus that began in China a "Chinese virus"?

 

Who announced on January 11 that Wuhan's wet market was the origin of this epidemic? The Chinese regime. It was later discovered that the first known case of coronavirus traced back to November 17, 2019.

 

The same Chinese regime later claimed that this coronavirus "may not have originated in China". What respected scientist or institution can now trust anything that comes out of China?

 

Many leading scientists have dismissed the claim that the Covid-19 virus was an engineered pathogen. This conclusion was seemingly based on the fact that Wuhan has two major virus research labs: the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which is apparently less than a mile from the market, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) laboratory, handling the world's most deadly pathogens, located just seven miles from the market. The story was immediately and emphatically trashed as a "conspiracy theory".

 

Those scientists claim that the virus likely originated among wildlife before spreading to humans, possibly through a food market in Wuhan. They say that, through genetic sequencing, they have identified the culprit for Covid-19 as a bat coronavirus. End of story? Science, thankfully, begins by asking questions and then seeking answers.

 

Bats were not, it seems, sold at Wuhan's wet market. The Lancet noted in a January study that the first Covid-19 case in Wuhan had no connection to the market. The Lancet's paper, written by Chinese researchers from several institutions, detailed that 13 of the 41 first cases had no link to the market. "That's a big number, 13, with no link," commented Daniel Lucey, an infectious disease specialist at Georgetown University. So how did the epidemic start?

 

"Now it seems clear that [the] seafood market is not the only origin of the virus, but to be honest we still do not know where the virus came from now", notes Bin Cao, pulmonary specialist at Capital Medical University, and the corresponding author of the Lancet article.

 

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that China's Communist Party is withholding information about the coronavirus.

 

If we do not know, it is necessary be open to all possibilities.

 

"Less than 300 yards from the seafood market is the Wuhan branch of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention" wrote David Ignatius of the Washington Post.

 

"Researchers from that facility and the nearby Wuhan Institute of Virology have posted articles about collecting bat coronaviruses from around China, for study to prevent future illness. Did one of those samples leak, or was hazardous waste deposited in a place where it could spread?".

 

"Collecting viruses" presumably does not exclude the possibility of a "leaked virus". Worse, if China is not able to protect its laboratories, it needs to be held accountable and made to pay for the devastating global damage.

 

"Experts know the new coronavirus is not a bioweapon. They disagree on whether it could have leaked from a research lab", stated The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Professor Richard Ebright of Rutgers University's Waksman Institute of Microbiology, and a major biosecurity expert, agreed with the Nature Medicine authors' argument that the coronavirus was not manipulated by humans. But Ebright does think it possible that the Covid-19 started as an accidental leak from a laboratory, such as one of the two in Wuhan, which are known to have been studying bat viruses:

 

"Virus collection or animal infection with a virus having the transmission characteristics of the outbreak virus would pose substantial risk of infection of a lab worker, and from the lab worker, the public."

 

Ebright has also claimed that bat coronaviruses are studied in Wuhan at Biosafety Level 2, "which provides only minimal protection" compared with the top BSL-4.

 

"We don't know what happened, but there are a lot of reasons to believe that this indeed was a release of some sort", China expert Gordon Chang said to Die Weltwoche.

 

"No one has been able to study it. How can you say it's not a release from a lab if you can't go to the lab? Indeed, we have seen Beijing do its best to prevent virologists and epidemiologists from actually going to Wuhan. The World Health Organization team went to Wuhan for like half a day with only part of the team."

 

That is another major problem. The potential major investigator of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic's origin, the World Health Organization (WHO), is now accused of being "China's coronavirus' accomplice". As late as January 14, the WHO quoted Chinese health officials claiming there had been no human transmissions of the coronavirus within the country yet.

 

China poses a biosecurity risks for the entire planet. One year before the first coronavirus case was identified in Wuhan, US Customs and Border Protection agents at Detroit Metro Airport stopped a Chinese biologist with three vials labeled "Antibodies" in his luggage. According to an unclassified FBI tactical intelligence report obtained by Yahoo News:

 

"Inspection of the writing on the vials and the stated recipient led inspection personnel to believe the materials contained within the vials may be viable Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) materials."

 

Why is China trafficking in dangerous viruses in the first place?

 

According to Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for Global Health at the Council on Foreign Relations:

 

"A safety breach at a Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention lab is believed to have caused four suspected SARS cases, including one death, in Beijing in 2004. A similar accident caused 65 lab workers of Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute to be infected with brucellosis in December 2019. In January 2020, a renowned Chinese scientist, Li Ning, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for selling experimental animals to local markets".

 

In February, Botao Xiao and Lei Xiao, from Guangzhou's South China University of Technology, wrote in a research paper:

 

"In addition to origins of natural recombination and intermediate host the killer coronavirus probably originated from a laboratory in Wuhan. Safety level [sic] may need to be reinforced in high risk biohazardous laboratories".

 

Xiao later told the Wall Street Journal that he had withdrawn the paper because it "was not supported by direct proofs".

 

Chinese laboratory mistakes have happened before. By 2010, researchers published as fact: "The most famous case of a released laboratory strain is the re-emergent H1N1 influenza-A virus which was first observed in China in May of 1977 and in Russia shortly thereafter". The virus may have escaped from a lab attempting to prepare a vaccine in response to the U.S. swine flu pandemic alert.

 

In 1999 the most senior defector in the US from the Soviet biological warfare program, Ken Alibek, revealed that Soviet officials concluded that China had suffered a serious accident at one of its secret biological plants, causing two major epidemics of fever that had swept China in the late 1980s. "Our analysts", Alibek stated in his book, Biohazard, "concluded that they were caused by an accident in a lab where Chinese scientists were weaponizing viral diseases".

 

In 2004, the World Health Organization disclosed that the latest outbreak of "severe acute respiratory syndrome" (SARS) in China involved two researchers who were working with the virus in a Beijing research lab. The WHO denounced Chinese breaches of safety procedures, and director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Li Liming, resigned. Science magazine also stated that "for the third time in less than a year, an outbreak of SARS seems to have originated from a failure in laboratory containment".

 

Moreover, three years ago, when China opened the laboratory in Wuhan, Tim Trevan, a Maryland biosafety specialist, told Nature that he worried about the safety of the building because "structures where everyone feels free to speak up and openness of information are important." Free speech and open information: exactly what Chinese regime fought against in December and January.

 

A Chinese video about a key researcher in Wuhan, Tian Junhua, which was released a few weeks before the outbreak in Wuhan, shows Chinese researchers handling bats that contained viruses. In the video (produced by China Science Communication, run by the China Association for Science and Technology), Tian says:

 

"I am not a doctor, but I work to cure and save people... I am not a soldier, but I work to safeguard an invisible national defense line".

 

Tian is also reported as having said:

 

"I can feel the fear: the fear of infections and the fear of getting lost. Because of the fear, I take every step extremely cautiously. The more scared I feel, the more care I take in executing every detail. Because the process of you finding the viruses is also when you can be exposed to them the easiest. I do hope these virus samples will only be preserved for scientific research and will never be used in real life".

 

For a month, the Chinese Communist Party, instead of fighting the contagion, did everything possible to censor all information about the Covid-19 outbreak. After President Xi Jinping declared "a people's war" on the epidemic on January 20, Chinese security services pursued 5,111 cases of "fabricating and deliberately disseminating false and harmful information". The Chinese Human Rights Defenders documented several types of punishment, including detention, disappearance, fines, interrogations, forced confessions and "educational reprimand".

 

After that, China lied about the real number of deaths. There are photographs of long lines of stacked urns greeting family members of the dead at funeral homes in Wuhan. Outside one funeral home, trucks shipped in 2,500 urns. According to Chinese official figures, 2,548 people in Wuhan have died of the Covid-19. According to an analysis by Radio Free Asia, seven funeral homes in Wuhan were each handing out 500 funeral urns containing remains for 12 days, from March 23 to the traditional tomb-sweeping festival of April 5, a time that would indicate up to 42,000 urns, or ten times higher than the official figure.

 

In February, it was reported that Wuhan crematoriums were working around the clock to cope with the massive influx of infected bodies. Wuhan's officials are apparently pushing relatives of the victims to bury the dead "quickly and quietly".

 

"Natural virus" does not exclude its fallout from a laboratory where pathogens are collected and studied. The Nature Medicine authors "leave us where we were before: with a basis to rule out [a coronavirus from] a lab construct, but no basis to rule out a lab accident", Professor Ebright commented.

 

"Debate may rage over which center it is, but at this point it seems undeniable that a center has been directly involved with research on viruses, although not necessarily on the creation of a virus" wrote Father Renzo Milanese, a longtime Catholic missionary in Hong Kong.

 

"In other words, the virus passed from a research center in Wuhan early on. More importantly there is also no question that the authorities were aware of the dangerousness of the virus, that they did not inform anyone and that they tried to keep the facts hidden".

 

US Senator Josh Hawley has introduced a resolution calling for an international investigation into China's handling of the spread of the virus. According to Hawley:

 

"The Chinese Communist Party was aware of the reality of the virus as early as December but ordered laboratories to destroy samples and forced doctors to keep silent. It is time for an international investigation into the role their cover-up played in the spread of this devastating pandemic".

 

Admitting a fault, as the Japanese did after the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, might be one way for a country to be accepted again by the international community. Censoring, denying and covering up, as China is doing, will not.

 

"China claims that the deadly virus did not escape from its biolab," said a China specialist with the Population Research Institute, Steven W. Mosher. "Fine. Prove it by releasing the research records of the Wuhan lab".

 

 7 COVID-19 Myths Busted by an M.D. Mom

 

I am a doctor and a mother of four. I am on the frontlines, caring for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic as a cardiac anesthesiologist in a hospital.
As both a leader of a healthcare team and as a parent, I am facing many unknowns as we navigate the rapidly-changing response to the COVID-19 virus.
I assume you, like myself, are experiencing fear, anxiety, and perhaps grief during this time. As a medical professional and a believer in Jesus Christ, I am doing my best to educate people on what we know is true about COVID-19, and to encourage those in my community during this time.
As Christians, I think we bear a certain responsibility during this pandemic. 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind. We are not to instill fear or incite panic, but to calmly and confidently walk in His authority, loving and comforting those He puts in our path.
We have a responsibility to be alert and educated, to be prepared, and to be examples for our loved ones.
As the virus continues to spread, let�s do our part to make sure we�re spreading truth and love, not fear and uncertainty. Here are some facts you can use to combat the fiction you encounter about COVID-19:

Myth #1: News and social media outlets are the best sources of information on COVID-19.

Reality: Doctors and local public health officials are the best sources of information and care the most about your wellbeing.

There is a lot of information coming out every day; so much good (and bad) information is available on social media and in the news.

But the best thing that you can do is to listen to the doctors and your local public health officials. Social media is full of armchair experts and well-meaning people who share articles from unreliable sources.
Things are rapidly changing. Your doctors know the most, and care the most about one singular thing: your personal health and wellbeing. If you have questions, call your clinic.

Myth #2: You should only practice social distancing if you�re exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms or not feeling well. 

Reality: Social distancing matters�for everyone.
As believers, we have a duty to care for �the least of these.� As a doctor, to me the �least of these� are the people most at risk: the sick, the immunocompromised, the elderly, the smallest in our care.
We can all do our part by staying home. This is especially important because of how it can take up to two weeks to show symptoms--meaning people can be spreading the virus without even knowing they have it. Staying home is how we will decrease the spread of the virus so that we don�t overwhelm our hospitals, and so that hospital staff can care for the sickest.
Please, please, please: let�s do our part and stay home.

Myth #3: It�s time to stockpile�every man for himself.

Reality: We�re all in this together--take care of your neighbors and elderly by checking in.
Let�s remember them during this time.
It is crucial for us not to expose them to COVID-19, which means that checking in is best done from a 6-foot minimum distance.
Healthy adults may be asymptomatic and unknown carriers of the virus. We can drop off groceries on the porches of those who can�t (and shouldn�t!) get out.
We can call, text, or video chat with them to check in. We can truly live the scripture James 1:27.


Photo Credit: �GettyImages/Daisy-Daisy

Myth #4: It�s up to us to bring an end to this pandemic.

Reality: God is still in control, and prayer can and will make a difference.
Pray without ceasing. Especially for your local healthcare workers, who are putting their lives at risk every day.
Many of them have families and children at home who they are worried about exposing the virus to and are struggling to balance work and home life right now with their own wellbeing.
Pray for all of those who are working on the frontlines�from grocery store clerks to pharmacists to law enforcement and other public servants.There are so many people continuing to go to work every day in order to care for the sick and keep those of us who are well safe.
Pray for those who are battling the virus, that they would be healed. Pray for our nation�s leaders and other government officials, that they would be wise in their decision-making.
Pray for those who have lost a loved one to this virus, that they would be comforted by God�s love and given peace.
Pray for our nation�for the heart and salvation of every single American.

Myth #5: Modern medicine and social distancing are our only hopes for ending the pandemic

Reality: Our hope is in Christ, who equips those of us in medicine to help our communities.
As a Christian and a physician, I am confident in the knowledge that we have in medicine, and the faith we have in Christ.
These are the things that help maintain my mental wellbeing and get me through each day.
I know we are well trained to care for the rapidly evolving illness, and I have faith knowing that we will survive this.
We have a peace that passes understanding, and right now, when there are so many things we cannot predict, He is a great comfort.

Myth #6: My family and I are young and healthy, so we won�t be affected by COVID-19. 

Reality: This crisis will affect all of us.
The reality is, if we don�t already, most of us will know someone in our community who will lose their life to this illness.
We�ll know someone who�s lost a job, lost their business; who can�t afford to feed their family. There will be many hurting and experiencing loss.
As Christians, we should seek out those who are hurting and be prepared to comfort them. We have an abundance of love to give to our friends and family, to strangers even�and grace to comfort those hurting emotionally or financially during these times.

Myth #7: Staying on social media 24/7 is the best way to stay up to date on what�s happening with COVID-19.

Reality: Sometimes it�s better to put the phone down.
Social media, while it can be used for good, can also be a breeding ground of false truths and fear.
Let�s use it for good�for sharing Scripture, encouraging notes, factual information from solid sources.
And if scrolling through your feed is causing more anxiety than peace, put the phone down. Go outside. Open your Bible. Spend time with your Creator, who is the God of all comfort.

as we go through this trying time, we can all do our part. We can stick to the facts, listen to our doctors and experts, maintain peace, and be an example to our neighbors and friends.
We can stay home, do our best to support our local businesses that may be hurting, and check in to make sure those in our community feel supported and cared for.
We can be the examples to the world during this time. We can be lights in this darkness by remaining calm, being educated, and staying home.
As a doctor, I can tell you the two things that I focus on are 1) my hope in Christ, and 2) the kindness that I see every day in my fellow healthcare workers and neighbors.
Despite what you may be hearing in the news and on social media, there are good, kind people in this world taking care of each other.
So many of my friends continue to pray for me, and it helps me stay focused, and thus safe, during the day when I am at work.
Thank you, from this physician. Keep up the good fight. Be encouraged and take heart: He is good, all the time.

 Doers of the word are saving lives during COVID-19 - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com

 

Against the backdrop of Democrats, the news media, and Hollywood entertainers adding nothing to improve the COVID-19 situation in America or abroad, The Daily Jot and our ministry partners led by Pastor William Agbeti are hard at work buying and distributing foodstuffs to underserved and impoverished families in Ghana, West Africa. The country has done a good job containing the deadly virus to date, but the extreme measures of enforcing a lockdown of the major cities has had an extraordinary impact on those dependent on the food that comes from the daily markets in those cities and small villages under lockdown. Pastor Agbeti has been receiving distress calls from families desperately in need of food.

 

Pastor Agbeti reports: "Our second distribution of critical help for another set of 57 distressed families (over 200 fathers, mothers, and children) impacted by COVID-19 kicked off today, and continues tomorrow, God willing. Armed with an official pass, I set off on my watch to the epicenter of the COVID-19 lockdown zone in Accra. I first dropped off three Physician Assistants who have been called by the Ministry of Health for short training and deployment. After, I visited four families to deliver little amounts of financial assistance to enable them purchase food items on their own, for at least one week. The whole exercise took some four hours in between, including travel time.

 

 

"Even though I felt like a big shot, being waved to pass at various check points manned by heavily armed military personnel, I did not let that fool me. After serving the last family, I quickly headed straight home, still observing all protocols with a mask on, and hand sanitizer in the vehicle. Meanwhile, I had two other teams elsewhere in other zones, also putting their lives on the line to serve distressed families and the country. These keep sending me live reports directly from the field by WhatsApp. I'm deeply humbled by the selflessness, dedication to duty and the love of God by those out there helping out, who include three of my own children. Please continue to pray for us all."

 

Instead of pointing fingers, playing politics and criticizing others for the current situation, Pastor Agbeti and his team of courageous volunteers, are boots on the ground, doing the work of the Lord by providing food for the most needy affected by this pandemic. They are doing what they can with a smile on their face and a song in their heart. They couldn't do it without you. Your support powers the engine of food distribution to areas unreached by the government or other organizations. This is real James 1:22 effort: "But be you doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." No deception here. Your support and prayers are saving lives on the front lines of this pandemic. You and the Ghana team are truly doers of the word! It's an honor to report to you and to serve them. Thank you.