I have been wanting to write this article for a number of weeks and decided now is the time. I am writing this from a Christian perspective and wish all people will read.
We are in the middle of a worldwide pandemic called Covid-19. Yes, we will get through this. We are all being affected by this virus—some fighting the disease and some home-bound. We feel the effects mentally, spiritually, financially, and more. Talk about panic taking over the world and our country—here are the headlines we see every day:
Run on food, toilet paper, wipes, etc.
Surge in gun and ammo sales
Price gouging
Stimulus check scams
Economic fallout
Mental health services required due to fear
Will lawlessness and anarchy appear
Am I going to get the virus
Is abortion an essential service
And many more!
Regarding pandemics—as Joe Friday of the Dragnet tv series always said “Just the facts, ma’am”. Pandemics go back B.C., before Christ. But here are some recent ones:
Russian flu, 1889-1890, 1 million died
Spanish flu, 1918-1920, 50 million died
Asian flu, 1957-1958, 1.1 million died
AIDS, 1981-present, 35 million have died
H1N1 swine flu, 2009-2010, 575,000 died
Regarding the Covid-19 virus as of March 29, 2020, there have been almost 2500 deaths in the United States and almost 34,000 deaths in the world. These numbers will continue to grow in the coming weeks.
As a reminder 56 million people died worldwide in 2017. Heart disease, cancer, respiratory disease and infection made up 33.9 million of that total number.
I have to mention abortions here in the United States. Since 1973 we have murdered 62 million babies. In 1990 1.61 million babies were murdered and that figure was 862,000 in 2018.
I have a friend of many years who has always told me to be prepared for a major pandemic that will encompass the whole world. The Covid-19 pandemic has done that. I believe we will overcome this pandemic soon and then add this to the list mentioned above.
But is God talking to us as a world, as a nation, and individually? Is He using this present pandemic to get our attention? Yes, He is! God has a plan for this earth that He put into motion over 6000 years ago. In the end our earth will experience famines, plagues, horrific weather patterns, earthquakes, volcano eruptions, 1000-pound hailstones and the earth shifting on its axis. Jesus tells us in
Luke 21:11 “there shall be pestilences”.
Also check Matthew 24:7 and Mark 13:8.
The Bible tells us that these things will happen and will be far worse than the Covid-19 pandemic that we are experiencing. I believe time is short and that within 2 to 6 decades we will see the Rapture of believers and the Second Coming of Christ. Signs are converging rapidly for this to happen. I understand and acknowledge that we cannot set any dates because only God knows the timing.
We know that Satan with his limited power is running loose on the earth today. The world is falling apart around us. God will change this soon as He defeats Satan and throws Satan into the Lake of Fire. God’s Son, Jesus, will rule for 1000 years in Jerusalem and then all believers will live with God for eternity in the New Heaven and New Earth.
I want you to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Your sins were covered when Jesus died on the Cross of Calvary. Do you sense God knocking on your door? Accept Him into your heart. When you make a sincere decision the Holy Spirit comes to live within you. You become a new person. I want you to participate in the Rapture and not be a part of the seven-year Tribulation. God is waking us up with the Covid-19 pandemic and making us reevaluate our lives.
I close with these final thoughts. A pastor friend of mine shared his thoughts with me regarding the pandemic. He believes that God is speaking to him in regard to reevaluating the different aspects of ministry to his local church. One concern he shared was reaching out to his congregation personally, knowing each one of the people and helping them with their needs. May God bless his ministry as it grows. I believe that many churches are in a sad state of affairs and may be challenged because of this pandemic.
Here is a list of concerns that I have:
Apostacy
Preaching the Word of God
Provide evangelism
Provide discipleship
Do not become entertainment based
Are people being saved through the ministry
Teach prophecy—it is over one-fourth of Bible
God has our attention—give Him some time!
