Wez Hone has initiated a great presentation from Mark McCrindle. Mark is an award-winning social researcher, best-selling author, and influential thought leader, and he is regularly commissioned to deliver strategy and advice to the boards and executive committees of some of Australia’s leading organisations.
Christians should understand that God is still on the throne. What does God want to achieve with Covid19, certainly to test Christians on how they will serve their communities.
John Piper has written an excellent book, Coronavirus and Christ. The following is a few excerpts from the book. The audio book is below.
The coronavirus is God’s thunderclap call for all of us to repent and realign our lives with the infinite worth of Christ. The coronavirus is not unique as a call to repentance. In fact, all natural disasters-whether floods, famines, locusts, tsunamis, or diseases-are God’s painful and merciful summons to repent. We see this from the way Jesus responds to disaster in Luke 13:1-5: “There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
God’s message for the world in this coronavirus outbreak. He is calling the world to repentance while there’s still time.
Let’s be more specific. What does repentance mean? The word in the New Testament means a change of heart and mind. Not a superficial change of opinion, but a deep transformation so that we perceive and prize God and Jesus for who they really are. Jesus described the change like this: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (Matt. 22:37) Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. (Matt. 10:37) In other words, the most fundamental change of heart and mind that repentance calls for is to treasure God with all that you are and to treasure Jesus more than all other relations.
What God is doing in the coronavirus is showing us- graphically, painfully-that nothing in this world gives the security and satisfaction that we find in the infinite greatness and worth of Jesus. This global pandemic takes away our freedom of movement, our business activity, and our face-to-face relations. It takes away our security and our comfort. And, in the end, it may take away our lives.
The reason God exposes us to such losses is to rouse us to rely on Christ. Or to put it another way, the reason he makes calamity the occasion for offering Christ to the world is that the supreme, all-satisfying greatness of Christ shines more brightly when Christ sustains joy in suffering.
This is what it means to repent: to experience a change of heart and mind that treasures God in Christ more than life.
“Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you” (Psalm 63:3). This was Paul’s faith. It was true in life and death. In life, because Christ is the sweetness of every pleasure, and better than them all. And in death, because “in [God’s] presence there is fullness of joy; at [his] right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).
Only when Christians have unity in the Holy Spirit will we begin to function as the true Body of Christ.
We must remember the night before Jesus was crucified He prayed for the unity of all believers. John 17:11,21-23
At the first Pentecost, the disciples were in a time of united prayer when the Holy Spirit came in a mighty demonstration of power. They were all baptised with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit did not just come upon a few of them or only upon the twelve disciples. All 120 of them experienced the
same Baptism.
Let’s pray now that Pentecost 2020 being celebrated Sunday, May 31st will be a time when we ask God for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit to equip us to truly function as the Body of Christ in the unity that only the Holy Spirit can endow.
They all began to speak in languages that they had never learned. Cloven tongues of fire sat upon each one of them. The Body of Christ today must experience this unity of the Spirit. We must be baptised, once again, into one body, one mind, and one accord. We have failed to realise the tremendous power that emanates from being in unity. When we do, the world will see the greatest release of the miracle-working power of God that it has ever seen. We will be living, walking manifestations of God’s miracle-working power.
As we count down the days to Shavuot, we need to remember what God promised in Acts 2:17-18. It says, “In the last days, I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.” God wants to empower us to fulfil Jesus end times command “And this gospel will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14
Shavuot marks the time when the Lord gave instruction to His people at Mount Sinai. It was also when the Holy Spirit came in power to equip and empower us to do the work God requires us to do and to ensure that we stay aligned with Him in His Kingdom purposes.
It is time to prepare your heart for something new as Shavuot approaches. The Holy Spirit wants to do a new thing in your life. He is always doing something new, sadly, so often it is chastening. He can do so much more if we desire more of Him.
Are you ready to receive the new thing?
Let us not forget what Jesus reclaimed for us at Passover. God is ready to move us into new levels. Come receive fresh oil and new wine.
REPENT & ASK
Repentance cleanses you, prepares you to move into new levels of faith. Repent of unbelief, doubt, and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any false teachings that are operating in your life. He is your counsellor, comforter and teacher. Come into agreement with God’s Word, know He is sovereign in all things.
TRUST & OBEY
The words of the old hymn now come to mind “Trust and Obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.”
If you have not already planned to celebrate Shauvot/Pentecost can I suggest you get together with a few of your trusted brothers and sisters in Christ to do so. I am confident He will launch many of you into a new level of service for Him which also means a new level of intimacy with Him.
Acts 2:17-18 says, “In the last days, I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even on my bondservants, both men and women, I will in those days pour out My Spirit and they shall prophesy.”
You are not left out, this Scripture is inclusive of all people. If you are not experiencing Acts 2 manifestations of the Holy Spirit in your life like those on the Day of Pentecost, I want to encourage you not to measure revival or your personal relationship with God strictly by visible manifestations. In fact, one of the most distinctive signatures of revival is a renewed hunger for God and a deep desire to find your identity in Him. Pursue God with all your heart and He will come in. He is always at the door.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” Revelation 3:20
Here are a few ways Kris Vallotton of https://krisvallotton.com recommends for you to experience revival and refresh your relationship with God:
In these “last days”, I believe you will experience the demonstration of God’s power in your life because, as we’ve learned, God is pouring everything out on “one generation”—all flesh; He is not withholding anything from you. As a Believer, you are a walking encounter of the living God. You are the embodiment of God’s revival.
An ancient horned Israelite altar dating back 3,000 years that was in danger of being destroyed will now be protected after having been damaged by recent building activity at the site, Makor Rishon reported.
The altar, hewn from stone, is one of only three discovered in Israel to date and the most perfect of them, according to Prof. Yoel Elitzur of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who discovered the altar 17 years ago together with attorney Doron Nir-Tzvi.
Elitzur has struggled for a year to protect the altar in the wake of construction in the area that has damaged it. At one point, a metal cable was attached to one of the horns. Also a large stone fell on it damaging two of the horns, Makor Rishon reports.
The altar is located in Givat Harel in the Binyamin region of Judea and Samaria. It has a flat surface for sacrifices and four horns, one on each corner. Its dimensions fit those mentioned in the Bible (“five amot long and five amot wide… and make horns upon it”).
Several weeks ago, the settlement of Givat Harel and the Binyamin Regional Council took an interest in the altar. The large rock that had damaged it was removed and they are developing the area as a tourist attraction.
“The discovery of the altar is profound expression of our meaningful connection to the land. It’s evidence before the whole world of our historical right to Judea and Samaria,” Binyamin Regional Council head Israel Gantz told the paper.
Also noteworthy is that the altar is located at the base of a slope and not on the hilltop as in keeping with pagan worship in which altars were place on the tops of mountains and hills.
Prof. Elitzur is also trying to save one of the other altars, the one located in the Shimson Industrial Zone. He discovered a few months ago that the altar is in danger of being lost due to the industrial development around it.
Why is this so? No doubt it is the work of Satan who has undermined Scripture in the Body of Christ. With the teaching of evolution in our schools and universities as the origin of life and the universe, Satan has destroyed the foundational book of the Bible and it has led to cultural relativism and the denial of absolute truth.
It is in Genesis where we get answers to all the big questions of life: WHY, WHEN, WHERE & HOW. Answers to; why death and suffering, life’s meaning and purpose.
Bible colleges have swallowed the lie and tried to incorporate evolution and billions of years into Scripture. Once Genesis, the foundational book of the Bible was jettisoned, other portions of Scripture have followed, to the extent that God’s commands on marriage, homosexuality and gender are no longer considered good, in fact, are considered evil. In the main, it has turned our pastors into silent, timid shepherds who are afraid to touch any question that culture has deemed “political,” which includes almost all moral questions.
It used to be that the Church was the authority on morality and ethics. Now, the clinical culture has said, these are political issues, and anyway, the Bible is full of errors, it is not the truth, so the Church has nothing to contribute.
Heresy is not only teachings that are wrong but includes deliberately omitting essential teachings. Carving out a portion of the Scripture and teaching that it does not apply and can be ignored today is a heresy. God’s Word provides the only true history of this planet. It is inerrant and the number of fulfilled prophecies demonstrate this truth. What’s going on today is just a new twist on an old practice, where people will cite a single passage of Scripture to make their case, and then ignore all the other scripture that speaks to that matter. And what some have done by fencing off a portion of the Old Testament is exactly that. And we must have the courage of our convictions to call it what it is, heresy.
God has raised up ministries such as http://www.creation.com and http://www.answersingenesis.com for such a time as this. If you need answers to the big questions on how to defend your faith then don’t hesitate to go to these sites.
We need to move forward with wisdom in the power of the Holy Spirit, we must understand that “darkness is the divine setup for light. Sickness is the divine setup for healing. The current crisis is the divine setup for the church to arise and shine and make a difference. We must seize the moment so that His Kingdom might come and we bring glory to God.
I believe this word from Lance Wallnau is an authentic word for the USA and therefore for the world. What Lance says about God raising up sheep nations at this time and how God is using secular leaders such as Trump, just as He did with Nebuchadnezzar (Babylon) and Cyrus (Persia) is important. God uses these leaders to make it possible for the church to do its job of changing the world at the grass roots level. Christians loving their neighbours enough to share their worldly goods as well as the good news of Christ. God has provided the opportunity with Covid 19 will Christians rise to the challenge?
The following incident clearly demonstrates that if you share God’s truth with others in your workplace you risk losing your job. John Piper does an excellent job of unpacking “Corona virus and Christ”. You might want to consider getting his book.
Well known and respected Reformed theologian John Piper clarified his stance on whether the coronavirus is God’s judgement of sin and what the Bible says about homosexuality after a legal group called for an Army chaplain to be court- martialed just for sharing Piper’s new book, Coronavirus and Christ with 35 other chaplains.
John Piper responded to claims made by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) and its founder, Mikey Weinstein, in a letter sent to U.S. Secretary of Defence Mark Esper last month.
Weinstein claimed rightly that Piper’s new book “pushes the belief that the coronavirus is God’s judgement” and could even be judgement for homosexuality.
MRFF called for Senior Chaplain Col. Moon H. Kim, the command chaplain of U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys in South Korea, to be court-martialed for sharing a PDF copy of Piper’s new book with 35 other chaplains via email.
Piper’s book does rightly declare that Romans 5:16 states that all death is the result of God’s judgement on the human race because sin entered the world. Piper further notes that God is “sovereign over the coronavirus, and sends it and ends it when He wills.” Piper added that “homosexual intercourse is a sin” and “that the coronavirus is a call for repentance to all of us to bring our lives into alignment with the infinite worth of Jesus.”
In an interview with Christian Post, Piper was asked if he thought Weinstein and MRFF’s criticism of his new book is fair.
“Well, some of it is. I think it would be fair to say that some of my views about what the Bible teaches, even rightly understood, the author of that letter hates. He hates what I think,” Piper said.
“‘They are,’ he says, ‘incendiary,’ ‘bigoted,’ ‘vulgar’ — not just because he misunderstands, but, in part, because he does understand, and that’s how he thinks and feels about some of what the Bible teaches.”
Piper said there are three areas where Weinstein seems to misrepresent his stance in either the letter to Esper or an earlier interview with The Christian Post.
“For example, when I say that ‘some people will be infected with the coronavirus as a specific judgment from God because of their sinful attitudes and actions,’ he assumes that I know who those people are, or at least what kind of people they are,” Piper said.
“But here’s what I write on page 72. … The coronavirus is … never a clear and simple punishment on any person. The most loving, spirit-filled Christian, whose sins are forgiven through Christ, may die of the coronavirus disease. But it is fitting that every one of us search our own heart to discern if our suffering is God’s judgement on the way we live.”
Piper explained that God “does judge people with sickness.”
“That’s very clear from 1 Corinthians 11:32, and there it’s even talking about Christians,” Piper said. “But John Piper or you or anybody else can’t determine from outside who is experiencing the coronavirus as a judgement in a punitive sense, and who’s experiencing it, say, as purification or who’s experiencing it for other reasons that God may have.”
Piper said his point is that God does many things for many reasons and people should “do sober-minded self-assessment to discern” what “God’s purposes are in all that happens to us.”
Piper also underlined that he is not saying “every person who engages in homosexual acts and who gets the coronavirus is being punished by God for those acts.”
“In Romans 1:27 the Bible says that living in homosexual behavior is sometimes punished by God with a ‘due penalty,’ which could be a disease, but not always,” Piper said. “And sometimes disease comes not as punishment, but as a merciful wake-up call that results in repentance and reconciliation and hope. God’s ways are simply more complex than the letter acknowledges.”
“I suspect though, that this clarification won’t even come close to satisfying the author of this letter since he considers it drivel and vulgar to even suggest that God controls this disease and would judge anyone with it,” Piper added.
Weinstein told CP that MRFF and the 22 Christian clients it’s representing in the chaplain case do not have a misunderstanding of Piper’s book. Weinstein doubled down on his disdain for Piper’s Christian views.
“Piper’s despicable assertion of ‘misunderstanding’ is a wretched insult to those 22 Christian armed forces chaplains who desperately came to MRFF for civil rights advocacy help to engage this superior military officer,” Weinstein added in an emailed response to Christian Post.
“As for ‘not liking’ Piper’s declaration that the coronavirus is God’s judgment on sinners, and particularly for the ‘sin’ of ‘homosexual intercourse,’ [darn] right MRFF doesn’t like it! Nor should ANY thinking, compassionate and caring human being ‘like’ such blatant and brazen prejudice, bigotry and bullying!”
In the interview, Piper also responded to Weinstein’s claim in the letter that there is no “pastoral care and comfort” in Piper’s beliefs about the coronavirus.
“My response is Sir, no. You are profoundly wrong. We have the best news in the world for the hardest moments in the world — the best care, the best comfort,” Piper said. “The very heart of Christianity is that, through Christ, God rescues guilty sinners. That’s me and you and all of us. Through Christ, God rescues guilty sinners from his own wrath.”
Piper then cited Romans 5:9: “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by [Christ’s] blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”
“That’s what God sent Christ to do: rescue us from his own righteous punishment,” Piper added.
Read this great testimony by Nathaniel Oliveri—Founder and CEO, The Normal Christian Life. It will encourage and challenge you at the same time. It certainly did me. The testimony is based on this amazing Scripture.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”—Ephesians 2:8-10
“I just love how this Scripture builds to a climactic cliffhanger, as though heaven is awaiting our response. After establishing that we’re saved by grace and not by works—but that we are created for good works, it builds this profound picture of God preparing works beforehand.
Think about it: the God of heaven literally preparing hearts, events and situations before we even walk into the room or pass that by person or make that phone call. Then the Scripture peaks with this profound statement: “that we should walk in them.” Walk in what? The works! Which works? The works He has already prepared for us!
You mean, we have a choice? Yes! It doesn’t say, “you will walk in them.” It says “you should.”
The stage has been set by Heaven, prepared beforehand. And now we have a choice to partner with God Almighty. So, what does that look like? I’m glad you asked.
I am, of course, growing in this myself and I haven’t yet arrived, but here is an example from my life in the last week that encouraged me, and I pray it will encourage you too.
So, last week I was picking up some carpet squares from a church that was moving location and selling many items. As I was putting the carpet squares in the car, a lady walked past with someone from the church. She had seen some items on the internet and didn’t even know this was a church. She asked me about the carpet squares and I sensed she may not be a Christian so I asked her a simple question. Are you from this church? She said “no”. So I said, ”Well then, I get an opportunity to tell you that Jesus loves you!”
The church staff member looked surprised that I even mentioned the ‘J’ word to a stranger. But, at that moment her eyes shot open. “My ten year old son just said while we were driving here, “Mum, do you think Jesus is real?” I then prodded cheekily, “And do you?”
“Well, I’m not sure,” she replied. I went on, “Well, what do you think the chances are of me telling you about Jesus just moments later?” To this she agreed that the timing couldn’t be a coincidence, and this in turn led to her inviting me to share the Gospel and pray for her and her son. They were deeply impacted, and I gave them some video links from our YouTube channel The Normal Christian Life.
The kid was excited because he was meeting a “YouTuber” in his words, and seemed keen to watch the videos. Now, they didn’t give their lives to Jesus there and then, but I know seeds were planted. But what struck me was how God had prepared their hearts just moments before I shared with them, even allowing her boy to ask such a specific question about Jesus, just before they arrived.
I wonder how many amazing works God has prepared beforehand for you today. What a blessing to be able to partner with Heaven and respond with our free will and walk in them.
Prayer
Lord, today, help me to draw close to you in my prayer life and in my day-to-day life. Help me to be sensitive to your prompting, and help me to walk in the works you’ve prepared for me. Lord, thank you that you love me and value me enough to make me a part of Your story. Show me today the people you want me to reach. Prepare their hearts and help me to be bold and obedient. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
