That’s right. I don’t have COVID-19. And, yes, I believe that God has protected my family and myself from it. But I am sick of a couple of other things. First, I’m sick of the news media and the Democrats blaming President Trump, Republicans, conservatives, and Christians for this disease. They have repeatedly spread fear, misinformation, outright lies, and hate. They say Trump has murdered Americans because of his response to this crisis. While they held up relief legislation for nearly two weeks to admittedly advance their agenda, cases increased from 7,800 to 121,500 and over 2,000 deaths.
As people are dying, are confused and fearful, Democrats played politics with our lives. They should be ashamed.
While I believe God has protected my family and myself from COVID-19 so far, we also have not tempted God during this pandemic. We have taken great precaution and used wisdom that we might not get this disease or spread it to others. We are careful how and when we get food. We stay to ourselves. We check up on our friends and loved ones by phone or online. We hold our church services using Zoom. In short, we are not being stupid. And, yes, we have strong faith.
As I have quoted 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
So the other thing I am sick of are those claiming to be Christians, yet do and say things that endanger lives and bring ridicule aimed at God and Christ. An example comes from a well-known televangelist and name it/claim it theologist:
He shouted on March 29, “In the name of Jesus, standing in the office of the prophet of God, I execute judgment on you, COVID-19…I call you gone…No more…And the United States of America is healed and well again…It’s dead. At exactly 12 noon on the 29th day of March. It’s over. It’s over.”
He and another preacher agreed that COVID-19 is dead, done, and has “ceased to exist.” At the risk of offending many, this is wrong in so many ways. God is the Master. We are the servants. We pray, we act. He chooses His response to our requests. Since this “office of the prophet directive,” COVID-19 has expanded in the US by the thousands. America is not healed. When Christ should be presented as the answer, hope and salvation, this invites ridicule, and endangers lives as people who believe this proclamation ignore the warnings.
Those who say people lack faith if they don’t attend church in person, or believe that God will protect them from the virus no matter what they do (and many have come down with COVID-19; some have died), or make proclamations as if they are God – they are part of the problem, not the solution. This foolishness gives people a false sense of security and they do things that jeopardize themselves, their families and the rest of us. Or it brings ridicule upon all Christians. Does this honor God? Does this bring others to the Lord in this time of need? Remember Christs’ words in Matthew 5:16,
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Pray. Act. Encourage.
The COVID-19 Propaganda Machine
It won’t be long, maybe a few days, that you will not be getting the raw, candid, unedited live version of President Trump’s COVID-19 news briefings. These are too much for the very biased news media to handle, especially when they cannot put their own spin on the President’s words. The free press is making decisions to bind up the raw material and do their own “fact checking” on everything the President says about COVID-19 recovery. When this decision is made, you will be hearing a lot more from Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden showing his brand of leadership by cowering in his home in a makeshift studio taking pot shots at everything the President says. Now that’s real news coverage, right?
At a time in our nation when good news is difficult to find, the news media wants to do its part in bringing the darkest, gloomiest account of how America is no more. The great American ideal of being able to meet any and all challenges with a spirit of hope, creative ingenuity, and undeniable courage is cast aside by a news media that wants to show all the bad things that happen because their darling socialist is not in leadership. Instead of finding the stories of victory over this virus, they brood over how any glimmer of hope is just a fleeting misfire. Instead of telling the many stories of how people of all races, ethnicities, and social strata are working together and caring for one another, they show the dark side of humanity. Oh, I guess that’s news.
Somehow the news media has determined that Trump is using the COVID-19 news briefings as campaign rallies. So they are wanting to quit covering them live and edit down the content so they can fix the Trump narrative of how America can defeat this virus. They are so bent on the idea that Trump’s actions are resulting in more deaths than necessary, that they can’t even begin to fathom that there might just be some truth in hope. I’ve watched many of these briefings, and the questions asked by these young socialists are disrespectful, sarcastic and misleading. Yet, Trump and his team have exercised great patience in answering all of them, no matter how ridiculous they are.
The news media has the chance to grill the President every day, essentially have an interview with him on a daily basis. Good journalists would thirst for such a chance. These politically intolerant, ideological bigots are so eager to hear their own opinions that they want to shut down a very rare chance to provide insight on the President’s thinking during a time of historic crisis. The media’s ignorant group think, its collective bias, laziness, and arrogance is a disservice to the First Amendment. They are a propaganda machine for ignorance, while selling themselves as enlightenment.
You will not find much truth in the media. As 1 Thessalonians 5:21 says, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” Discernment is key to your mental health and survival. Be careful what and how much news you watch. Even more careful what you believe.
Famine in the wake of the COVID-19 pestilence
As COVID-19 cases approach 150,000 in America and over 2,000 deaths, there is an eerie feeling about the future. There is much speculation about when life will get back to normal. But there is an anticipation, a hope, and an expectation that with diligence and wisdom, life will return to at least a new normal. In America, we have so far endured this pandemic with the exception of being able to find toilet paper as a result of the hoarders, and perhaps having been rationed on certain food products. There are systems in place to prevent hoarding, price gouging, and taking advantage of people during this time of need. But what if you lived in a country where a lockdown or travel ban meant you may not be able to eat?
It’s been 16 days since my son Christian and I returned from Ghana, West Africa. When we left, there were two cases of COVID-19. We got out ahead of President Trump’s travel ban. Some 12 hours after we left, Ghana closed its borders and air traffic. Now, with 152 cases, the entire country is on lockdown—schools and businesses are shut down. Police are enforcing people to stay indoors. The country is doing its part to defeat this virus. But that doesn’t account for the human factor, which is greed. Some landlords are threatening to throw people into the streets if an extra six months’ rent is not paid up front. There is hoarding and reselling. There is price gouging. Food prices have inflated 500% in some areas.
In a developing country like Ghana, there are laws against such profiteering and price gouging, but there is essentially no infrastructure to enforce them. So, unlike American’s hoarding of toilet paper, Ghanaians, especially in the poor rural areas we serve, face extraordinary greed against the background of needing to eat. Our ministry partner Pastor William Agbeti writes:
“Unfortunately, Government and its law enforcement agencies are helpless to do anything about the price hikes, even in the presence of laws against profiteering! Since last week, we had been supplying foodstuffs, hand sanitizer and small amounts of money out of our very meager resources to support some of the poorest of the poor.”
We have developed a system to get food to the poorest families in the rural areas. We have a list of families and a list of foodstuffs to buy. We have a vehicle to distribute them. In areas we cannot reach by vehicle, we can distribute funds via a phone app to our trusted representatives who will buy and distribute food. Every $50 we send will feed a family for about two weeks—which is when the lockdown is supposed to be lifted. If there is any small amount you can spare to assist with this effort, it would be greatly appreciated. A little bit goes a long way.
As is written in 1 Peter 5:2, “Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by compulsion, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind.”
Proverbs 22:9 says, “He that has a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he gives of his bread to the poor.”
Famine follows pestilence. Can we do something about it?