How can a person look at coronavirus without seeing how much this virus has revealed about the nature of bureaucratic government and our leaders? So far in our series, looking for anything positive in a daily barrage of bad news about the pandemic, we’ve seen there are positive lessons ranging from basic principles, personal applications, and for society and more.

It’s important for Christians because we are citizens of 2 kingdoms, never more evident than when we look at government. Jesus had a lot to say about that.

Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant and whoever wants to be first must be your slave– just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28)

It’s clear that God wants us to look at government differently…
and in perspective.

Some view Dr. Anthony Fauci, infectious disease specialist advising the coronavirus task force, as being like a god in a white coat. They couldn’t be more wrong in taking his words as gospel because his story changes more than a runway model. Others view Fauci as being little short of Josef Mengele or Dr. Death for Fauci’s oversight (or lack thereof) of US funding for the now infamous lab in Wuhan for “gain-of-function” research which had been banned in the US between 2014 and 2017. (Note that gain-of-function work is on many viruses and explains why the reported $3.7 million number needs clarification. Read the comments in the linked article above and you can see people were warning about a pandemic 2 years ago from such research. In 2014 the US Government paused funding in principle for gain of function research, but in reality, grants did an end-round and new guidance was issued on Dual Use Research of Concern.)

All this to say the world’s scientists and governments have been playing with fire and Dr. Fauci’s NIH farmed out research to China which failed to have the oversight and safety procedures necessary to prevent a pandemic.

Worldwide, the coronavirus has resulted in death of people often considered to have lesser utility: the elderly, comorbid, and infirmed. Fauci is either blind, naïve, ignorant, incompetent, or downright evil, using human subjects for pandemic research as if it’s all a detached abstraction. All in the name of Science: the post-modernist’s god.

“Many scientists have criticized gain of function research which involves manipulating viruses in the lab to explore their potential for infecting humans because it creates a risk a starting a pandemic from accidental release.”—Newsweek 4/28/2020

The Gateway Pundit takes it even farther. They add greed to the mix. Which considering Fauci’s war against anecdotal treatments (like hydroxycholoquine), greed makes more sense than one really wants to contemplate. Why his ongoing insistence for a vaccine (which we don’t have one for SARS or HIV) if there are therapeutics that allow people to recover?

Therefore, wise Christians living in 2 kingdoms ask rightful questions of our government based upon what has happened scientifically/medically (before, during and after the outbreak), economically, and politically.

Learning lessons on government seems particularly timely right now:

1. God establishes governments to protect us and preserve justice.  
2. Yet governments are nothing more than a group of sinners.  It’s important to prayerfully elect those who will (a) follow God , (b) govern by His will and (c) appoint others who will do likewise.
3. Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.
4. Laws can be helpful, but not always.  We’re learning that the hard way.
5. Authoritarians make unhelpful laws that control rather than set free.  We’re seeing it in action.
6. The American system of federalism inspires freedom.
7. Americans of all ages are learning the Constitution not by rote but by realizing they still want to live by it.
8. Politics is a seductive god because we think we can control it.  We’re seeing we can’t.
9. There are positive things governments can do that individual people or small groups cannot which is why national emergencies and interstate cooperation are helpful.
10. We can safely assume our governmental leaders know things they cannot tell the public.  That’s why it’s important we elect godly leaders.
11. Representation can be good, but only as good as our representative.  Accountability is a must in a representative democracy.  It’s time.
12. Once the government wrests control of education from parents, local teachers, and administrators, curricula trends toward agenda-driven, not education-driven. Education-driven schools would be opening.
13. Once the government takes freedom or money from individuals, it’s hard to reel it back.
14. Governments don’t produce income. They reap it from elsewhere.
15. Governments cannot pay everyone without taking money from somewhere else (or someone else) to do it. 
16. Socialism and Communism do not elevate but oppress.  The lie of those systems is their reputation of being for the worker, the little people, when in fact they are for the elite and built on the backs of the workers, the little people. Many in Wuhan died nameless from coronavirus.
17. There is a way to question the actions of authorities without questioning their authority.
18. Disrespecting our elected leaders disrespects God who put them there.
19. Government is no substitute for God.  Period.
20. When a government becomes authoritarian, the rulers separate from the masses.  Once a totalitarian takes control, there is but one ruler over everyone else.
21. Globalism trends from councils to authoritarians and into totalitarianism. A “one world government” is not beneficial until Jesus returns.
22. Power and control in hands of evil people is insatiable and bad for everyone.
23. “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” (Lord Acton)
24. Free people reject bonds of tyranny.
25. The Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world will be in opposition until Christ returns.  Christians must keep their priorities straight.

===
There are many positive lessons if only we look for them.
To be continued….

Continuing in our series on 100+ positive lessons from coronavirus, today we’ll look at society and community…how we live among each other in light of the virus. God’s people must live faithfully in the world, but not of it.

When we’re talking about social implications, it’s important to recognize that coronavirus has an origin. We don’t know for certain yet who “Patient 0” was but we do know that coronavirus originated in Communist China and from there, it spread. To be fair in discussing this, it’s REALLY important to draw distinctions.

The ethnic Chinese of Hong Kong and Taiwan are not Communists. They live under different systems of government and are always under threat from the mainland.

There are people living in mainland China who are ethnically Chinese, but they are not free. Of the 1.4 billion people living in China, most are subjugated slaves of the Communist Chinese Party which is an elite group of around 90.59 million people.

To say that coronavirus originated in Communist China, it’s not a xenophobic statement. It’s reality. It’s not the fault of those Chinese who are enslaved, living under an authoritarian regime, but the Communist government (CCP) is expected to truthfully account for what happened to its own people and then to the world with coronavirus. That’s what China agreed to in membership of the World Health Organization. Of course, that implies their system of beliefs promotes transparency and honesty. Communist China is a self-proclaimed atheistic society, therefore their view of social responsibility is different and their WHO activities reflect that.

According to the Council on Foreign Relations,
“Overall, “religious groups have been swept up in a broader tightening of CCP control over civil society [PDF] and an increasingly anti-Western ideological bent under Xi Jinping,” writes Freedom House. China is home to one of the largest populations of religious prisoners, likely numbering in the tens of thousands; while in custody, some are tortured or killed, rights groups say. 

No Christian should ever embrace Communism or Socialism because there is no concept of “Two Kingdoms in cooperation” in such a system. Do not conform, but be transformed…

How now shall we live as societies and communities during the pandemic while living also as citizens of 2 Kingdoms?

For citizens of 2 Kingdoms, on a societal/community level:

1. I am my brother’s keeper.
2. Looking out to the interests of others glorifies God.
3. Everyone’s work is essential to them.  Be gracious and patient with those needing to return to work.
4. Understand the reason for peaceful protests to reopen the economy.
5. Everyone’s safety is a priority. We care for each other. Safety is harder with so many unknowns.
6. Understand the reason for the initial lockdown in most major world economies because even today, the virus is not a known entity. 
7. It’s okay to be America first (and peacefully expect every other nation can/will do the same).
8. Love others as Christ has loved us.
9. Sacrificing what one can voluntarily (for the benefit of others) is better than forced compliance.
10. God gives us leaders throughout families/society and our choice is binary: obey or disobey (which can be civil disobedience or rebellion).
11. Social architecture is complex and interactive. We are all connected.
12. Because of that connection, societies are like organisms where rhythms develop.  These rhythms are threatened when changes in one area impact another.
13. Not all societies value people equally.
14. Not all societies welcome religious affiliation or diversity.
15. Not all societies want to peacefully coexist. Some want world domination with all other countries as tributary states.
16. Nations in a global world are always on an unequal playing field.
17. The true American spirit works hard, cares deeply, assists others, and loves freedom.
18. The spirit of the American revolution is alive in the hearts of patriotic Americans who persevere, standing our ground, to remain free.
19. For my Christian readers in other countries, the same Holy Spirit lives in you as in your Christian brothers and sisters in America.
20. It’s not wrong to point out evil in society. In fact, Scripture tells us “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” Ephesians 5:11
21. It’s not wrong to take our stand against evil. “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”  Ephesians 6:13
22. We are called to distinguish between people and their governments, mindful that the redeemed in Christ include those from every tribe and language and people and nation.

The first 20 (of this non-exhaustive list) are outlined at http://seminarygal.com/100-positive-lessons-of-coronavirus-for-citizens-of-2-kingdoms/ , the next 27 on personal applications are at http://seminarygal.com/more-positive-lessons-from-coronavirus-getting-personal/

To be continued….

The coronavirus has been teaching us many positive concepts. In the last installment, we began seeing lessons for those desiring to live as God’s people in a free society. Two kingdoms, both of which matter.

Today we’ll get personal, asking “How now shall I live?” and seeing its application for each man or woman personally. Not in a selfish way. Just a personal application.

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” (Galatians 5:13-14)

Storms of life turn our thoughts inward and we discover who we are and who God is. In Mark 4:35-41 Jesus sends the disciples into the storm. They just didn’t know it. Just as Jesus knew He could calm the storm, He knew precisely what He was sending the disciples into and He knew why. We see that same situation in Matthew 14:22-33. Jesus made them get into the boat so that after they were rescued, they’d have a more defined view of God and comfort in future storms.

Do you see Jesus in the storm or in the pandemic?

Many of these personal lessons remind us that we can live as free people,
but to love our neighbors as ourselves.

On a personal level:

1. Saving money for a rainy day is good self-preservation and wise stewardship.
2. Routine preparation with supplies is helpful to avoid panic-hoarding in an emergency.
3. Storing treasure in heaven is more reliable than storing anything up on earth.
4. I can depend on things or on God who provides the things I need.
5. I can buy only what I need for now. Hoarding is not a trait of faithful people and deprives others of what they need. 
6. Jesus sends us into the very storms that He controls to grow/purify our faith and teach us humility. 
7. I can learn to ask for and receive help from those who are wanting to help.
8. God has responsibility but so do we.  Our responsibility is to look to Him and not at the storm.
9. For one’s own sanity, it’s helpful to maintain as normal a life as possible, in spite of executive orders.
10. Freedom from tyranny is very important, but it’s balanced by using my/our freedom for good.
11. Fear crouches at my/your door.  I/we must master it. Perfect love drives out fear.
12. Love God, love family, love others…and love self.  In that order.
13. Going negative in one’s speech reaps bitter fruit.  Being an optimist or encourager never leaves one looking mean, rude, or ungrateful.
14. We can be part of the solution or dwell in the problem.  It starts with the man in the mirror.  What will I do?
15. There are things about this virus we don’t know and if it were known, perhaps I’d be more understanding and patient.
16. I can be thankful for people whose work is often underappreciated.  Health care professionals, truckers, farmers, people who stock shelves, etc.
17. This time of quarantine has been bad on many levels, but it has reminded me of the value and love of work.
18. It has deprived me of interaction with some people, teaching me the value of partnership and how to creatively maintain those relationships.
19. It has provided valuable extra time with other people. It’s time to cherish because we’ll never get it back.
20. The family—a God-given institution–is instrumental in setting forth values that last a lifetime.
21. Having children at home also reminds us that public education is a great convenience for parents, particularly working parents.  We can be thankful for our teachers.
22. Public education on values, however, is only as good as the godliness of individual teachers.
23. Teachers don’t want to be responsible for raising anyone’s children as de facto parents.  They want to educate… face-to-face. The virus has reminded me of both.
24. Train a child in the way he/she should go is good advice for parents.  How a parent lives will be mirrored in the lives of one’s children.
25. The minds of children are precious and never return to blank slates.
26. I want to remember the lessons of preventing the spread of any germ.
27. Once this is over and everything is back to normal, my tendency will be to forget the lessons.  I can find ways to memorialize this. I must remember lessons learned.

Saint Augustine of Hippo is reported to have said, “Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.” It sums up personal lessons of coronavirus. Join me next time for coronavirus lessons for society, living in community.

The first 20 (of this non-exhaustive list) are outlined at http://seminarygal.com/100-positive-lessons-of-coronavirus-for-citizens-of-2-kingdoms/
To be continued….

Are you sick of the negativity? I sure am.
How now shall we live?
Let’s try to find life in light of the many positive lessons to learn from the horrible coronavirus pandemic.

For starters, let’s just acknowledge that God could have stopped the coronavirus from ever infecting anyone. But He didn’t. The real amazing part will be…. why?

“You intended to harm me,
but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done,
the saving of many lives.”
(Genesis 50:20)

I have no idea how this will all work out.
But one thing I do know: God is in the redemption business.
He redeems bad things for eternally good outcomes.
The coronavirus, or rather its function as domestic terrorism, is no exception.

Plenty of people want to minimize the coronavirus to no worse than a seasonal flu and in doing so, unintentionally promote a false sense of security. Others want to maximize it to the end of the world as we know it to instill panic. Both are extremes failing to align with reality.

MAKE NO MISTAKE: It is serious. Reality is coronavirus was an uncontained pathogen that has claimed more human lives than 9/11 (2977), more than the total casualties of Pearl Harbor (2500), and the atom bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima (105,000) combined. At the time of this writing, the worldwide death count is 265,366 and the American death count is 74,809.

If this virus had been a bomb, it would have been the mother of all bombs,
dropped in an unprovoked surprise attack, an act of war on the entire world.

While we still don’t know if the Communist Chinese intended to inflict harm, engaged in clandestine self-preservation, or it was merely a terrible accident that spun out of control and in a shame based culture, the Communist Chinese leadership didn’t want to admit it, what our adversary Satan would desire is to steal, kill, and destroy…everyone!

To divide and conquer. To put this world firmly under our adversary’s evil control.

Let’s not let the accuser win. Let’s look for the lessons God might want us to learn as the down payment on His redemption of this tragic event. There are positive lessons for the world, for our nation, for communities, for churches and businesses, and for individuals.

First principles as a foundation:

1. God can take human evil and turn it for humanity’s good, if we are willing to see and learn.
2. Not all people are good people.  Some are evil.
3. Faith/trust are only as good as the person or entity in which we are placing our trust.
4. Fear is easier than faith. 
5. Emotional decisions often lead to bad places and preventing panic requires controlling fear.
6. Facts are only as good as the providers of them.
7. You are what you read.
8. Not all people prefer or speak the truth.
9. Hindsight is 20/20.  Decision-making in the unfolding timeline or fog of war is rarely clear.
10. Not all wars are fought with guns.
11. Change is always happening.
12. Life is valuable, irrespective of age or nationality.
13. People matter more than money.
14. It’s easier to give up freedom than to get it.
15. Hope looks forward.  Blame looks backward.
16. Fixing complex problems is rarely simple—it requires ongoing reassessment.
17. The impatient person rarely wins over the prudent person.
18. Proper prior planning protects against poor performance.
19. God is not confined to a building or a temple.
20. The Gospel can use modern tools without compromising the Truth.

To be continued…

It’s easy to see why God wouldn’t bless America.
But why would He give us an American dawn?

Let’s continue to explore why God might bless America, in particular the Church in America…through the coronavirus pandemic. So far, we’ve seen (1) Purification, (2) Love of Freedom, (3) Following Christ, (4) a hope we can be that City on a Hill, and today’s reason (5) Priorities of Sparrows and Pennies.

Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:1-7)

Maybe this coronavirus response–from God’s perspective–has been all about our soul-searching and rediscovering our priorities.

Maybe it’s the journey. The self-reflection.
I couldn’t say. I just don’t know.
But here are my soul-searching Questions to Think About:

1. I have wanted to be cautious, but I haven’t panicked or been afraid. Many people have. Some view the protective masks and gloves as their sole protection and a badge of good citizenship. What about you? Where does the line get drawn between caution and lack of faith? Where does God’s responsibility end and mine begin?
2. I have found I like my conveniences…maybe a little too much. What about you?
3. I have found an intimacy in worship of Jesus because I haven’t been distracted with all the hoopla. What about you?
4. I have missed being with people. What about you?
5. I have desired to speak life and hope and encouragement. But I’ve gotten discouraged. I’ve had a heavy heart on many different occasions. I’ve been grieved at how many bandwagon Christians there are, getting into mud-slinging like one who doesn’t believe Jesus. What about you?
6. What if God was using this virus to reveal the real from the pretenders? “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35) How are we doing?
7. We’re all home, each alone or with limited few. What have we been saying in secret in the inner rooms? How have we treated our family?
8. If Alexa or our home security system was hacked and broadcast our words to a listening world, what would that world hear? Words of hope? Words of life? Words of complaint? Where is my heart?
9. I’ve been thinking about how God loves the sparrows knowing they’re sold 5 for 2 pennies. He knows the numbers of hairs on your head. He values life. Do I?
10. He cares about your job and your income. He knows you need food and we live in an economic world that requires money. In the passage (above middle) He tells us who to trust and what to fear. How are we doing?
11. Living people can be rehired and economies reborn. Dead people won’t be rehired. The only way they will rise to life is through resurrection. Have I made the most of these opportunities? How is the Church doing at pointing to larger concerns of eternal significance?
12. I’ve been thinking about information and ignorance. There’s so much I don’t know. I am in awe of God who can know everything and bear it. I’m weary with just the little bit I have. What about you?

Tomorrow I’ll finish out with lessons I’ve learned from the coronavirus and the world-wide response. But for now…

Lord Jesus, fill me with Your Holy Spirit and awaken me to discipleship. May I learn from You and pass it to those who need to hear from You in these troubled times. When I fear, please comfort me. When our circumstances have us looking at our bank accounts, knowing our closed businesses mean workers without work, seeing empty streets and parking lots, sidewalks so desolate it feels like we’re the last man on Earth…when we find ourselves worrying, Lord comfort us with Your peace. Help us to have a long-range perspective and faith as small as a mustard seed. Grow our faith and fill us with Your Spirit more and more as the Day of Your Return approaches. When You return, may I be found hard at work for You, faithful to the end, persevering for Your sake, trusting You because there is no other Name in heaven or on earth by which we will be saved. May the actions I take, the thoughts I have, the words I speak be a beautiful sound in Your ears and glorify You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

It’s easy to see why God wouldn’t bless America.
But why would He give us an American dawn?

Let’s continue to explore why God might bless America, in particular the Church in America…through the coronavirus pandemic. So far, we’ve seen (1) Purification, (2) Love of Freedom, and (3) Following Christ. Today, I’d like to look at a fourth reason why God might desire to bless America: City on a Hill.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”
Matthew 5:14

Most of us see historic America as a land of opportunity, of freedom, and a refuge for those who have been persecuted, particularly in religious terms. It’s been a safe harbor for those who want to freely practice their Christian faith.

In the coronavirus pandemic, with our worshiping Christ largely behind closed doors, Americans have been blessed to see a glimpse of what the persecuted Church knows every Sunday, week in…week out. And every day in between.

Our enemy, our adversary, Satan, and all that is evil tries to bury the Church, extinguish her light, and block her ability to shine in our witness to our Savior Jesus Christ.

In the verse from the photo above, the light of witness is prominent. “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn” (Isaiah 60:1-3).

If we’re honest, America had lost her Christian witness many ways and times, even now has been such a time. On the world stage, we’ve blinked blindly in collective darkness along with the rest of the world. We’ve loved and hated but not in godly ways. We’ve loved what is self-satisfying and evil. We’ve had no shame in hating. Even in our cursing God. We’ve failed to address the evil within our midst and shielded our eyes to the evils elsewhere. We’ve exalted ourselves and cared little about others, about other nations, and we have engaged in national behavior that has not been a light of witness to God or to the reasons Jesus came, died, and rose from the dead.

Is God is using a virus to call us back to Himself
…and to usher some of us home?
Is now an American dawn and a coming revival?
Not just as Americans, but as a City on a Hill, a light of nations.

Sure, there have been daily doses of darkness, a morbid obsession with death. The death count and infected peoples are recorded, monitored, assessed, and charted. That’s the panorama of the pandemic. But look closely and maybe we see individuals coming to grips with mortality and what it means. Maybe we see individuals–all of whom matter to God–seeking the light of answers to eternal questions. We’ve had a hard reset of our priorities–who and what we worship–a re-learning sacrificial love and the joy of work and recreation in balance. We’ve rediscovered our need and love for our Savior. The light of God rising.

Questions for thinking:

1. How does death reorient our thinking from the superficial to the significant?
2. How does a worldwide threat from an invisible enemy mirror the spiritual battle going on around us and create an opportunity for the Church to share the Gospel of hope?
3. The United States–with its vast economic engine employed full-throttle to prepare for battle in producing therapeutics, ventilators and other protective equipment–isn’t producing offensive weapons, only defensive. We are making these available to other countries. In what way does this help nations to come to the light, to see the brightness of our dawn in Christ, and the hope of His gospel?
4. With online sermons/services–even those our President has highlighted–and many people stuck at home, but seeking answers and a message of hope, soon the Church will see new faces in the pews. Have we experienced enough personal renewal to welcome new people and show them the hope we know?

Lord God, Almighty Father, please help us to remember the lessons of the pandemic. Our reliance needs to be first upon You. You are our Light and salvation. You are our eternal hope because You conquered death and experienced the wrath our sins deserved. A justified wrath of God that would have been ours. Remind us not to fear what man can do but to have a holy fear of You. May that fear be respect and childlike joy that–though we are sinners–yet You would welcome us as our Father in heaven. Give us sensitive hearts to those You have newly called and delivered, to do as You have asked: make disciples. May we continue to experience purification so that we will embrace the work You have done. That we will know the joy and the responsibility when we see the secret harvest You have been doing by a Church planted underground, now visibly bearing fruit that will last. It is to Your glory that we produce much fruit. Gladly I am Your harvest worker and humble servant of Christ. I offer You praise and all glory in the mighty Name of Jesus! Amen.

It’s easy to see why God wouldn’t bless America.
But why would He give us an American dawn?

Let’s continue to explore why God might bless America, in particular the Church in America…through the coronavirus pandemic.

So far our reasons have been as ongoing purification of God’s Church and His people, and for our respecting freedom. Today, I’d like to look at a third reason for God to bless America: the open desire of many Americans to follow Christ.

I wish I could say that following Christ is easy. It’s not. I wish I could say that following Christ is simple to explain in these frightening times to those whose walk is new or marginal, troubled or tired, those afraid for their future, or who are observing from the outside. It’s hard to explain quite frankly, especially when we hardly understand it ourselves.

Faith, a trusting in God, is every bit as hard to do as to explain. The reasons are often confusing and don’t make sense. Trusting God might be simple given that it is more effective (that’s what Scripture says). It is far less within our control than trusting one’s own self, our own judgments, our own information, and looking for our own way through the thicket.

The coronavirus is a really big thicket and everyone has more opinion than available knowledge.

Truth be told: I challenge my heart often about my motivations for wanting the economy open ASAP

My heart WANTS to say it’s total compassion…because I’ve weighed my understanding of harm to those who might die versus the ongoing danger to those suffering deeply in economic terms and have concluded (with facts available to me) that it’s all overblown. We can do both: keep people safe and go back to normal…just like a light switch.

My mind QUESTIONS that since I have no specific word from God to rely on. He doesn’t talk about THIS plague in clear terms or tell us how it ends. All I have is incomplete information from imperfect sources and the infallible Holy Spirit to chop through the thicket on this old heart of mine so I can see the dawn when it eventually rises over the pile of dead brush.

You see, I know one person in my sphere who has succumbed in death to coronavirus. I’m confident he has entered glory. I know people whose businesses are suffering. They aren’t rich people. Many live from paycheck to paycheck. My heart breaks for both those who have lost loved ones and those whose life savings and dreams are at risk of dying on the vine.

My hands want to HELP. So, I buy things online and encourage curbside. We have essential businesses (small family businesses still working with masks and protective gear) engaged at work because they can and we’re able. Once the economy opens, I’ll be there to support those who are struggling to recover in other businesses too.

As people in the Church, we do what we can there as well. Cheerfully giving so the Church can do its job of caring for people, too.

More than anything, though, I want to follow Christ.

Yeah, that Guy who says to deny myself, pick up my cross daily, and follow Him. “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? (Mark 8:34-37).

The same One who tells me I cannot serve two masters. “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:24-27)

The same God who tells me to trust (John 14:1), to have faith (Mark 11:22), to pray for daily bread (Luke 11:3) that He will provide (Luke 12:22-31), to rest in Him (Matthew 11:28-30), to overcome (1 John 4:4-10), to persevere to the end (Matthew 24:12-14), and to learn from His example (1 Peter 2:21).

What would Jesus do?
I suspect His end goal is far beyond what’s in the news.
More than masks, ventilators, therapeutics or vaccines.
More than reopening an economy.

Questions for thought about what it means to follow Jesus:

1. Would Jesus be speaking words of life, hope, and patient endurance, or griping with words of discouragement, impatience, complaint, and accusation? What does it mean to follow Christ?
2. If Jesus were a reporter at news briefings, what kind of gotcha would He do? Don’t worry, gotcha covered with My blood? Gotcha name written on My hands? Gotcha held tight where no one can snatch you out…eternally? Gotcha protected under My wings?
   
3. If Satan were a reporter at news briefings what gotcha questions would be designed to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10 )?
4. What results from following Christ?
5. How has this pandemic highlighted the contrast of who we follow and given Christians a chance to offer His light in the world’s darkness. In the next installment, we’ll explore this more, but how can we…by following Christ…display Him to a watching world?

Dear Lord Jesus, please let me follow You in everything I do and say.  May I take to heart that I may be the only Bible some will ever read. May the words I speak be encouragement and hope, pointing always to You as the only source for all eternity. May I trust in You when the times are dire. May I trust in You when death tries to steal, kill, and destroy. May I trust that all events will work together for good (in an eternal sense) for those who love You. May Your Holy Spirit build up this nation again so we might be Your light of freedom and hope to a world in decline and despair. May many be drawn to You as they see the faith of Your people. May we devote ourselves in prayer so that we may have joy even in suffering and hold on while You advance Your kingdom. I thank You, Lord, that You are in the restoration business. You reclaim. You renew. You give new birth and new life. May Your Kingdom prosper and grow for our good and Your glory. Amen.

It’s easy to see why God wouldn’t bless America.
But why would He give us an American dawn?

Let’s continue to explore why God might bless America, in particular the Church in America…through the coronavirus pandemic.

In Part 1, we considered that God sees purification (individually and as the Church) as a good thing, but moreover, God thinks freedom is pretty important

One of the lessons I’ve really been taking to heart during the coronavirus pandemic and the worldwide response of social distancing and stay-at-home orders is that in the name of safety, we are willingly laying aside some of our freedoms… for the moment. A simple sacrifice for some, a source of deep concern for others because they fear the insidious slave masters…the ones who like freedom for themselves but really don’t like it for other people.

Even for those of us who enjoy time at home, we like doing it when we want and not because we’ve been told we must. For us, it’s an issue of independence and freedom from government control. To be told we must remain inside feels like bondage. After all, even in the Passover, the Jews didn’t have to stay inside for months. They were told what to eat, but it didn’t become a permanent daily ritual. After the plague of the firstborn had passed, life returned to normal until they left Egypt and new normal emerged as those delivered from slavery.

Freedom is important enough to God to make it a running theme in the Bible from Garden to Garden, tree to tree.

In Genesis, there is a record of freedom (Genesis 2:16) to eat from trees. In the ministry of Christ (Luke 4:18) , there is freedom for the oppressed, fulfilled ultimately through the tree called the Cross. We were set free from sin and death. And another final freedom in Revelation’s tree of life (Revelation 22) and the free gift of the water of life.

If God loves freedom, why is there bondage? In Genesis we were free to eat, but a singular command, a boundary to our freedom was given. It’s a boundary we transgressed when Adam and Eve used their freedom wrongly and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It’s freedom we misused (and the consequence of death) that required the Cross to restore so that we could be “free indeed” (John 8:36) by the blood of Christ.

It is the same blood of Christ required when we misuse our liberty and turn it into license. It is the same blood of Christ when we throw away our freedom and become slaves to sin and sinners. (Hold that thought.)

Why would God like freedom and hate bondage?

God hates bondage, the loss of freedom, because of what bondage does. First and foremost, the Image of God in each of us should submit to none other than God. Ultimately, it is He whose liberty any forced bondage of mankind challenges. When we reject Him, we have rulership by another.

God’s rulership is filled with freedom–an equality of mankind from every race, tribe, and language–a kingdom of priests serving our God. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17).

Man’s rulership has a long arc always toward oppression and bondage. It divides. It conquers one another. It forces and enforces. The opposite of freedom isn’t safety. It’s power and control. Think back to when the Israelites wanted a king to rule over them instead of God, He told us what would happen. They would forsake freedom for bondage.

Questions for thought:

1. How can we submit to our rulers (as Scripture commands in Romans 13) while simultaneously resisting any efforts to make us their slaves?
2. How does submitting first to God (in whom there is freedom) give us discernment and the ability to speak the truth in love? How is submitting to God key to keep us from forsaking freedom for safety?
3. When we stay at home our mobility is limited temporarily, our rights to peacefully assemble are laid aside temporarily, but in Christ, have we lost our ability to worship…even temporarily?
4. We often read “Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790). In what way does true freedom stand in direct tension (not conflict) with safety? How does God deliver both in the eternal sense? Does He guarantee both in the earthly sense?
5. What does God value more: freedom or safety? How do life and freedom come as a boxed set with God?
6. If my freedom stands in the way of another’s safety, what does God say about that? Read Galatians 5, particularly verses 13-18 and see. (More on this tomorrow.)
7. Return to the thought of liberty and license, to freedom from slavery and sin. What do those say about bondage and sin with coronavirus, life/health, economic freedom and “house arrest” by government masters (for whatever length of time)? I don’t pretend to have an answer but to say it is genuinely complicated and requires great discernment to hold a biblical worldview.
8. Read “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13). Did Jesus lay aside His freedoms and His rights to serve us? Did He become our servant? What is the distinction between a servant (a free slave) and a slave in bondage? What is the core issue?
9. What does it mean to follow Jesus in such times?
10. How should the Church help us to understand the nuances of submission and living as citizens of two kingdoms: God’s and civil society?

To be continued…

It’s easy to see why God wouldn’t bless America.
But why would He give us an American dawn?

Hopefully, without going too political on you, in the next few posts, I’d like to explore why God might bless America, in particular the Church in America…through the coronavirus pandemic.

God sees purification as a good thing.

The Church in America has been forced away from familiar liturgies and pageantry on two of our most holy Church calendar days. It’s like that scene from How The Grinch Stole Christmas where the Whos in Whoville still gathered without all the trappings of Christmas. The Grinch, you may remember, recited that outpouring from his “puzzler”…

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

Maybe Palm Sunday is more than a familiar church pageant with Sunday school kids, dressed in their second-finest, waving palm branches, the church choir which has practiced for weeks, or the hired gun singer to sing some hymn that has become part of the Palm Sunday Triumphal Entry routine to put a bow on the photo-op Palm Sunday tradition.

Maybe Easter, too, is more than the trumpeters, Easter egg rolls for the kids, Sunday best and Easter bonnets. Maybe it’s more than the high-pressure stakes upon pastors to cash in on the Christmas and Easter (C&E) crowd. Dump that Gospel dump truck on’em! This is one of only two chances you’ll get this year! Make the most of it! Do your best sermon ever! The pressure’s on! Inspire the crowd to want to come to church to be part of the club through small groups or dinners or Alpha, even. And if there’s an extra bit of pocket change in the offering plate, even better! Maybe that’s part of the not-so-secret motivation for having a really big show to get churchgoers to invite their friends, neighbors, family … (ouch!) … as if Jesus isn’t enough all on His own.

Through the coronavirus, God took it all away.

It came without family, neighbors, and friends. It came without fancy designer trends. It came without handshakes, greetings, and touch. It came without traditions, felt empty as such. The pageant, O’ Christian, was all stripped away. What was left at the end of the day?

The Word of God, the Gospel alone… was shared online …to each in his home. It was stripped of peer pressure resulting in dollars. It was set free from Mammon and all of its followers.

Perhaps a few pastors were exposed for their fears and the truth of their worship and what they hold dear. The business of church, had it polluted their hearts? Had they lost their first love and the joy He imparts?

Had their C&E focus meant pew goals to meet, but no more to their church than Black Friday’s receipts? To the stale and the dry, the rehashed and the dead, God allowed a virus for revival instead.

Purification

But everyone who was there…was there for the right reasons… because they wanted to be the people of God, worshiping Jesus at His triumphal entry and all week through His crucifixion and His resurrection. They wanted and needed Him to create dry land in our sea of troubles, a way through because they’d heard somewhere at some time, that He is the Way!

And God purified His Church.

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.  Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.  For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

 For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,  but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:15-25)

Questions for thought:

1. How have you worshiped when there were no others to see you but the screen of a laptop or the pages of your Bible?
2. In what ways have you been challenged to obey the truth, to have a sincere love for others, and to be the Body of Christ on a mission to share Him with others?
3. Enjoy this video of Matt Redman’s Heart of Worship. Let it speak to your heart and purify your worship of Jesus Christ.
4. How might this time of purification in your worship act as a fast as devotion to Christ?
5. How might it be preparing the world’s “heart soil” for revival?

Prayer focus: Resurrection hope

Easter greetings from your Seminary Gal! He is RISEN! He is RISEN indeed! That would be among the greetings spoken if we were all able to gather in worship at our local churches today. But for many of us, maybe even most of us, today will be Easter in seclusion due to the coronavirus. We are blessed with an Internet and better yet with a Holy Spirit who would intercede for us even if the grid went down.

Admittedly for some, the truth is that the isolation and quarantine turns to loneliness. Jesus understands. He’s been there and His Resurrection speaks to you: “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:32-33)

Many of us just hate uncertainty–we don’t know how long this will last. The Resurrection tells us not to worry about days and hours. “I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20) He says.

Others find themselves in despair, maybe because their economic circumstances have been turned upside down. The Resurrected One has proclaimed, “Your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:32-33)

Some are having anxiety over the rapid removal of their normal support systems. Assurances of love seem so far away. The Resurrection speaks to you: “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” (John 16:7) The Holy Spirit is our Advocate and praise the Lord, He is the God of all comfort.

Some have died due to this virus. The Resurrected One reminds us that the dead in Christ do not remain dead. They are just not here. “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43) “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)

And why? Because the Resurrected One paved the way, “The dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

The truth is that I’ve had a very difficult time writing this year’s devotionals. My heart and mind have been burdened by many things in addition to the virus. Understanding so little. Holding out hope for so long! Trying to remain faithful and looking beyond the darkness of the many days and the legion of evils mankind can do to each other, asking as so many prophets and men of God have done, wondering why evil prospers. It seems like bad people get away with it and good people lose. It seems like people who hurt others face no accountability and those who try to help are passed over and ridiculed. What kind of world is this we live in??? But when the dizzying pace of an anxious mind takes my breath away, I calm myself as I pray to the Resurrected One who will reign forever. He tells me to hold on. The story’s not over. It’s not history being made, it’s His Story. There is resurrection after the tomb. Life after death. Hope after the storms of life.

“For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when He comes, those who belong to Him. Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1 Corinthians 15:22-26) The Resurrection tells me death couldn’t hold Jesus and it won’t be able to hold us down either. A day is soon coming when Jesus returns for His people and we’ll see the Resurrected One who will usher in a future with no more mourning or crying or death or pain. He will be all the Love and Light we’ll need for eternity.

Hold onto your hope. He is RISEN. He is RISEN indeed!