Wisdom in the time of the Coronavirus

Luke 20:22
Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no? 23 But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me? 24 Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Caesar’s. 25 And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s.

Romans 13:1-8
¶ Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: 4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. 5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. 6 For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. 7 ¶ Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. 8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another; for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

1stThesasolonians 5:15
See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.

In times like these, it’s good to study these and other scriptures and take them to heart. In this time and age when we are experiencing a pandemic of the COVID-19 Coronavirus, there are times we as Christians need to really know our Bibles and exactly what the Word of God actually says.

This pestilence we are all facing under the watchful eyes of God, is something that only God understands truly why this may be happening. Realize that God has all things in control and knows all things that are to happen and things happen in life by the will of God. It is God’s will anything happens and it’s for God’s master plan overall.

God’s plan is clearly laid out already in the pages of the Holy Bible.

As Bible believing Christians, we accept that master plan, even as uncomfortable it may be at times we know that there is light at the end of the journey. We know there is hope in the darkness, and the final end is worth the tribulations we may experience, or are now enduring. We who read closely our Bible expect the situation to get only worse long before it gets better.

We are likely living now in those prophesied times of “sorrows” Jesus our Lord spoke of to his disciples.

Matthew 24: 3-8
And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? 4 ¶ And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

“All these things must come to pass”, Jesus said. “But the end” of the world is not yet.

Surely, and sadly, we will see thousands, if not hundreds of thousands die from this virus, but there is unhappily my friends much more misery to come to the world before Jesus returns. And we know Jesus is one day returning.

With that said, we have to make the most of it and overcome the tribulation of this world.

While we are people of great faith in God, we don’t always know what God’s plan has instore for us or the world while we are alive on this earth.

James 4:13-15
Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

Therefore, to survive a virus pandemic outbreak, we need to use not only our faith and what God has given us, but we should use some common sense and wisdom toward our survival of this world wide pestilence.

All over the world, the nations have told their citizens to shelter in place and stay at home. They have been told to refrain from going outside their homes to avoid as much as possible physical contact with other people who may have contracted the COVID-19 Coronavirus which can be moved from one person to another via talking, shouting, coughing, sneezing and touching.

The main reason for staying home, is to try and attempt to limit the number of persons from catching this virus, so that hospitals and doctors and medical institutions and their staff will not be overwhelmed by the influx of patients coming into hospitals with serious coronavirus symptoms. After all, these hospitals have limited resources and personnel.

This makes perfect sense, therefore, to stay at home and obey the local, national, federal rules and guidelines of the government regardless of which county you happen to live that is dealing with the COVID-19 Coronavirus—is good advice. There is wisdom in listening to and following such advice.

Unfortunately, there are some who don’t get it, nor understand the wisdom and some of these are also Christians --who should know better.

For instance, a pastor of megachurch in Florida was holding services in violation of the local orders against mass gatherings and was arrested by the local authorities. Later this pastor reportedly received death threats afterword because of his defiance of the laws.

One so named ‘Christian televangelist’ in Pennsylvania rushed to the defense of the Florida megachurch pastor arrested and suggested that the use of hand sanitizer somehow betrayed a lack of manliness. He said “If you’re putting out pamphlets and telling everybody to use Purell before they come into the sanctuary … you should just turn in your ministry credentials and burn your church down.” he said. “You’re a loser. Bunch of pansies. No balls. Got neutered somewhere along the line and don’t even realize it.” The same televangelist then announced his own plans to host a large Woodstock-like “Easter blowout service.”

"I’m gonna announce it. … We’re gonna hold an outdoor Easter blowout service. Not online. A national gathering. You come from all over, like Woodstock. And we’re gonna gather and lift up Jesus Christ," he said.

According to another newspaper this very same ‘Evangelist’ announced recently that the United States would be minimally affected by the COVID-19 Coronavirus because the United States president “Trump honors Israel.”

In Texas, a pastor defied the Texas statewide stay at home orders and joined three other Houston –area pastors in a petition filed with the Texas Supreme court alleging that the order by the state was a constitutional violation of his first amendment rights.

In Baltimore, a defiant pastor was interrupted by police when he ran a service at his Baptist church.

In Louisiana a pastor received a summons by local authorities for holding a service with 1,200 people.

“Never been more proud to be persecuted for the faith like my savior,” the pastor told the local newspaper.

In Alabama, the Former chief justice and sex scandal-ridden Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore is reportedly representing the same Louisiana pastor. Moore told the Republican leaning conservative Fox News program that he was glad to help the pastor “in his fight to preserve our religious liberty” and said the pastor “is a man of courage and conviction and knows, as I do, that government cannot interfere with our acknowledgment of the sovereign God.”

In Kentucky, some churches including Southern Baptist congregations said they have no plans to shutter amid the new coronavirus epidemic despite a request from the Governor who urged houses of worship to close temporarily to help prevent the spread of the Coronavirus.

The sad truth is that in California, Sacramento County public health experts said that about a third of the 300-plus positive cases of the Coronavirus there were in fact linked to religious gatherings.

And all these stories, are I’m sure, just the tip of the iceberg.

What don’t all these Christian pastors, preachers, or televangelists all understand?

No one is persecuting their faith! Although we may have faith, we should not tempt God.

Matthew 4:7
Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Everyone is being told to stay at home, and all mass gatherings are thereby forced closed --that includes even churches.

A church building is not exclusively only where God comes to commune with his worshipers. No! It’s a building and nothing more. A church is simply a place where people meet to worship God and learn what God wants them to do.

The CHURCH is the body of baptized believers in Jesus the Christ!

The Holy Ghost is not confined to a house, a church, nor even a temple. The Holy Spirit can meet you and God can meet you wherever you are, and where two or three are gathered in my name, said Jesus “there am I.”

Matthew 18:20
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

If God can reach into any home, and anywhere, then God can reach you right now as you sit there reading this article.

So there comes a time when it’s ok to “render unto Caesar”, and this is such a time when the governments of the world are asking everyone to shelter in place and stay at home. They are not telling you to stay at home for no good reason --it’s for your own safety!

This virus is very contagious and what’s worse, is that some carriers even do not have any symptoms and can infect many people in a room standing three to six feet away if someone coughs, or even shouts loudly, forcing micro particles all about the room or immediate area.
These micro particles can linger in the air in a closed environment, with no open windows, for more than 20 minutes! This virus lingers much, much (for days) longer on surfaces (metal, plastic, cardboard, and wood) you may touch. This is why we are told to wash our hands and keep them away from our face.

This is why people are told to wear masks and distance themselves away six feet or more from other people, as anyone can have this virus. They call this “social distancing.”

When I first published my first article on the Coronavirus, there were only more than 4,600 people worldwide dead. There are now, some three weeks later, 60,000 dead according to John Hopkins University. In the United States there are more than 30,000 cases infected by the virus, and 8,300 have died as I write this article.

Do not say or think “I’m so holy that it won’t get me.” There have been many Christian church pastors, and bishops, and church members who have recently died already by the coronavirus.

This virus affects everyone--the faithful and the faithless, rich, poor, in the cities, suburbs, and the rural areas, Republican, Democrat, and all races, all ages.

Not all are affected the same way, but all can contract it as there is no immunity to this strain of virus. Those hit the hardest, are those who have existing medical conditions and low immune systems.

The virus affects the young, and the middle aged, and particularly the elderly people. In some cases it seems to affect those of a certain blood type more than others, as well as those populations living packed close together in cities. It is particularly cruel to the poorer communities of blacks and other minorities who may lack health care insurance.

Now is not a time to be zealous for the Lord by attending a church service with many people, for that would be unwise. Instead now is a time to reflect on God in the safety of your home and go into your closet and pray to God in secret, as Jesus taught.

Matthew 6:6
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

I am grateful for the opportunity to reach you through the technology of this internet. For years I have cast my net in faith, in the hope, that God would send someone (a fish) to read my website, my ministry, my labor in the Lord. Not so much for my glory, for all the glory goes to God, but for your edification and your education of the holy scriptures of the Holy Bible and the Gospel message—the good news of Jesus the Christ!

Use this time to get close to God, and learn what it is God wants you to do in this trying time. We all have a ministry, a part to play for Jesus while we are on this earth.

We don’t need physical church services to do this work, we have many tools at our disposal which God has given us at this time to use to get the Gospel message out to many people.

Prayer alone is the most powerful tool, and you don’t need technology to make a prayer.

James 5:16
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

So use your tools, God has given you: prayer, love, compassion, charity, and edification of others who are dealing with fear, uncertainty, anxiety, isolation, and or loss of friends, family and loved ones.

Follow good wisdom and stay safe, stay home. If you need to go out, wear a mask and gloves and wash your hands after you have touched anything outside your home. Don’t touch your face.

The best wisdom I can give one is Seek ye first the kingdom of God!

Romans 14:8
For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.

Do You Know Jesus?

Do you know God?

Do you know what God can do for you, and has done already for you?

All you need to do is believe in to Him and follow his words of wisdom.

If you think you know Jesus, then I ask, have you been washed in the blood of the lamb?

Learn now what you shall do to see the salvation of God.

For those Christians who believe in the Word of God and believe in Jesus I leave you with this scripture.

Luke 21:28
And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.