President Trump suggests the high goal of reopening the county on Easter Sunday–April 12th.
woke up extra early this morning and was unable to fall back to sleep. I had on my mind what President Trump was hoping for: that we could reopen the United States by Easter. That after so much suffering and lock-downs and being isolated from the world due to the Coronavirus, that we could, very soon, by Easter reopen our country. Here are three quotes from him that I read in my Newspaper this morning. He said,
I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter.
Wouldn’t it be great to have all of the churches full?
You’ll have packed churches all over our country.
It does seem a little early for that to happen. But President Trump seems confident that it could happen, at least in most of the country. And what I have been thinking is, why don’t we make it a prayer! As long as the President is thinking that way, why don’t we as Christians get behind him with our prayers. What have we got to lose? Let’s make it a matter of prayer with faith—a prayer focus. Let’s pray every day until Easter that God would heal our land and open up our schools and churches and our work places and meeting places. Like the President has said, “It will be a great celebration on that day.” And all believers will give thanks to the Lord.
There are many cries these days about our rights. Some say that every person has a right to free health care. Some of these same people have been saying for years that every woman has a right over her own body, and that she has a right to choose whether she wants an abortion or not. Well, this is a topic that we all would do well to seek God’s will on—to seek the Scriptures. With some help from an internet source (listed below), I have come up with the following biblical directives.
According to The Bible, What Rights Do We as Humans Have?
1.Since we all are created in God’s image (Gen. 1:27), we have a certain dignity, and thus, we have a right to be treated with dignity.
2.God has said to us that we should not murder (Gen. 7:6), that we should treat everyone humanely. Thus, all humans have a right to be treated humanely, especially a right not to be murdered.
3. The Ten Commandments gives prohibitions against murder, theft, coveting, adultery, and bearing false witness. Thus, we have a right not to be wrongly treated with any of these violations.
4. Immigrants have a right to be treated well (Exod. 22:21).
5. The poor have a right to be treated well (Prov. 14:31).
6. We all have a right not to be discriminated against in any way (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:11; Ja. 2:1-4).
According to the Bible, What Rights Do We Not Have?
1.I do not have a right to sin against my own body, especially as a Christian, since my body is the Lord’s (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
2.No person has a right to sin against another person because he is a creation of God (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
According to the Bible, What Are a Woman’s Rights?
1.A woman has a right to be treated as a woman the way God designed her (Gen. 2:18; 1 Pt. 3:7).
2. A woman does not have a right to go against her natural, God given sexual desires (Rom. 1:26). This is also true for a man.
3. A woman has the right to protect her own baby inside of her, but she does not have a right to force her babies death, because God forms the baby inside of her and because the baby, in whatever stage of grows he or she is in, is a creation of God (Ps. 139:13).
4. A woman has a right to be treated well just as a man has a right to be treated well, because she is created in His image (Gen. 1:26).
Okay, my first thought is this: If we compare this virus to the flu, it really seems like the flu is much deadlier. Last year there were34,157 flu related deaths. And no one hardly said anything. Am I missing something?
Also, what about abortion? In 2016, 623,471 deaths came as the result of abortions. And nobody has been saying anything. Or what about suicide? In 2017, 47,173 deaths from suicide occurred. And where was all the concern for that?
Oh, here’s a real winner. Everybody’s so concerned about our troops in Afghanistan. So many of our men are being killed over there. Well in the total war, 1,833 of our troops have been killed; that’s an average of about 96 deaths per year. If you compare that number to the flu last year, the flu has been 356 times deadlier that the Afghanistan war.
I’m just trying to put some perspective on this. Can anyone tell me why this coronavirus is so concerning—more than other things like I have mentioned? I mean I know it’s a big deal, but I’m just wandering why we seem to be so much more upset about this virus than other viruses, and about abortion and suicide (not to mention so many other diseases).
And here are some questions I have:
Should the government be spending so much money on this coronavirus? If God has allowed this virus to happen maybe we should just take it as His way of disciplining us. Does this make any sense to anyone? I mean, everyone will die at some time in their life.
Is this coronavirus a harbinger of things to come? If so, how can we prepare for it? How can we let this virus prepare us for things to come? What does the bible say about future viruses? Or future disasters that will cause deaths? Should we try to control them or just be ready to face them?
Will this coronavirus in some way work together for our good? Maybe God has allowed it to benefit us in some way, to draw us to Him for His help. I have heard that there are bipartisan efforts gong on. There is some unity happening. Sometimes I guess it takes a disaster like this to bring us together. Maybe God is in it all. What do you think?
I just want to say that I am super proud of President Trump and the whole Trump team the way they have responded to this virus. I think President Trump has been especially resilient the way he has faced the press. He has a great, positive attitude, and just because of that I know we will come out of this much better than anyone ever thought. I just feel that he was made for this kind of disaster. No one could handle it better.
My sources: All the data was gathered from reliable government websites.
When I was about 14 years old I was sexually abused. I won’t go into it, but it happened 3 or 4 times and it has had a very disturbing and harmful effect on my life. I know that many have been abused (and raped) much more than me, and my devastation is small compared to theirs. I can imagine the pain and bitterness and anger they feel, and how they have cried out to God and found no help. I know that there are many young girls and boys who have gone through much—much more than me. And we should pray for a them that God will hear their cries.
The Outcry to the Lord against Sodom and Gomorrah
When Abraham was called by the Lord to go into the land of Israel, he brought with him Sarah his wife and his nephew Lot. And, as it happened, Lot settled in the beautiful valley of the Jordan near the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. And the men there were wicked and sinned greatly against the Lord (Gen. 13:13). Well, the bible tells us that the outcry to the Lord against Sodom and Gomorrah was so great that He decided to destroy the cities (and the people) by fire (Gen. 18:20; 19:13).
I’m not sure if we know for sure who was crying out to the Lord. At first I assumed it was all the people in the cities who were being sexually abused. Then I thought that since the wicked abusers also suffer a penalty for their perversion (Rom. 1:27), they may also be crying out. I also have considered that it could be angels who have witnesses the evil doings and have cried out. I’m not sure if we can know for certain; but certainly, it would come from the innocent young people.
Nonetheless, if you read the account of the evil there (from Gen. 18:20-19:29), it will make you sick to read just how lustful and perverted the men of Sodom were—both young and old, and how they came at Lot and his two guests (angels who looked like men) in order to have sex with them. Those cities were undeniably wicked; and by the description, the people had given themselves over to unnatural lusts and homosexual perversion. Thus, God had no option but to destroy them all, except Lot and his two daughters; they were spared.
God Will Hear Our Cries and Bring Justice
Let the people cry out, and God will hear them. It may take a while, but He will hear us and He will bring justice and vengeance to our enemies. In the book of Revelation (Rev. 6:10-11), during the Tribulation, many will be martyred for their faith, and from heaven they will cry out to God to avenge their blood. It says.
And they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, should be completed also.
In this passage we see that justice is so important. That God will not let the guilty go unpunished. He will hear the cries of those who have been sinned against, and He will judge the guilty.
God’s Commandment to Us Regarding Homosexuality
We have already seen (in Genesis) how God treated the people who were inflicted with that sin. It became so bad that He had to destroy them all. Eventually God rose up a people who would follow Him and be His own. Through them he would show the world His will. It was through His servant Moses that He gave this commandment to all men: “Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.”
The Progression of Sin Leading to And Beyond Homosexuality
In Romans 1:18-32, Paul shows us the progression of sin, and through it all how His wrath is revealed against the sinner. Note how the sin of unnatural affection, or homosexuality, comes about through man’s own choices. Here is the passage followed by the 7-point progression.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32 and, although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
They suppressed the truth by their wickedness. The truth about God was plain to them, but they chose not to believe it.
Their foolish heart was darkened. They became blind to the truth.
They became idol worshippers. They chose to worship other things instead of God.
God gave them up to their sinful desires. They chose sexual impurity with one another.
God gave them over to shameful and unnatural lusts and unnatural relations. Men had sexual relations with men and women with women.
They received the due penalty in themselves for their perversion. We are not told what this is, but we may assume it is guilt, sorrow and disease.
God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they would do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, etc. (from vv. 29-32).
Stephen Nielsen 