Author: Editor

During our COVID-19 shutdown, Pastor Zekveld plans to provide a personal reflection from Tuesday through Friday.

Making it through the Maze

One of the things we have to navigate in this virus crisis is a cyberspace teeming with science, data, information, theories, models, and opinions.

Plus changing science, revised data, adjusted models, and misinformation.  One day we’re told that 1-2 million Americans will die, and the next day maybe only 50,000. 

Plus constantly changing and conflicting guidelines. Masks are essential, and masks don’t help. Social distancing is required; social distancing doesn’t make a difference. The virus can linger on a surface for as long as 3 hours, or as long as 3 days. Transmission requires contact; or the virus can be transmitted through the air.

And on and on.

The pandemic has produced a confusing infodemic of facts and figures, hoaxes and conspiracy theories, honest misunderstandings and conflicting solutions. It’s a maze to maneuver if you’re paying attention.

So how should we handle this? Whom should we listen to? A few days ago I mentioned the George Webb conspiracy theory that the virus crisis is a conspiracy of the Benassi family to spread the virus over the world. People believe this stuff.

Then there’s ‘Pastor Jonathan,’ self-identified as God’s prophet, who claims that the coronavirus is just our bodies reacting to 5G technology (the non-ionising radiation of radio and microwaves). The virus story is really technology giants covering up their plot to take over the world and insert Artificial Intelligence microchips into your body through vaccines. This will pave the way for the coming of the Antichrist. One of the masterminds behind this take-over plot through vaccines is Bill Gates. (see Incontext International, “COVID-19 and 5G: Biggest cover-up in history? True or False?” April 2 and 22, 2020) People believe this stuff too.

Whenever you read of ‘organized plots’ and ‘cover-up’ theories, tread very carefully. These are usually ‘Da Vinci Code’ category fantasies of twisted imaginations.

Then there are other reasonable, though often conflicting, medical and scientific opinions featured on news sources and Youtube that end up on your Facebook page or on Twitter. One says lockdown is essential to stop the spread. Another says that unless you’re in the vulnerable sector, business as usual is much healthier and will save more lives in the long run. Some views get censored, while others get centre stage; then the tides change and the censored view gets centre-stage.

So what do we do? Here are a few thoughts as to how we as Christians can keep our heads as we move through the maze of this infodemic:

1. Be thankful for medical and scientific experts, and for the freedom they still have in our society to discuss and disagree (see Albert Mohler, The Briefing, May 6, 2020). Although they have their own biases, they are skilled specialists in understanding health and sickness. We do well to listen and weigh and learn, and not dismiss them out of hand, even though their understanding has limits.

2. Respect the limitations of the experts as well. We should not bow down to science and data as the source of ultimate truth and the giver of health and safety. Nor should we fall apart when they’re predictions don’t come to pass.

Whatever information you read, realize that science is not absolute truth. That attribute is reserved for the Word of God alone. When experts censor all information that disagree with them, and when their followers do the same, they have made science a god requiring complete loyalty. Maybe God will use Covid to remind our idolatrous world that science is not God. May He humble our society to see that only the Word of our God is unchanging and endures forever.

3. Let’s be reminded again to be wary of conspiracy theories. If we have an anti-vaccine or anti-pharmaceutical or anti-government or anti-science bent we are especially prone to follow idle tales.

4.   Plant some radishes in your garden. And garlic. And beans. Get way from the TV and off the internet so that you’re not constantly connected to the information maze. Don’t let it become an obsession that consumes you. Some folks live on the Covid News roller coaster and become paranoid. But there’s much more to life, many gifts of God to enjoy inside and outside. Breathe in the depth and breadth of life in God’s green world as much as you can.

5. To keep your head on straight, spend much time in the Bible. God’s Word is Good News. It’s hope. It’s proper perspective. The Law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. (Psalm 19:7) It helps us see that any crisis that strikes us here on earth is a small blip on the screen of eternity. Jesus died and rose again, and in His victory over sin, suffering and death, we are more than conquerors over whatever may come our way in this life.

If you put your trust in Him, you have a life that is far bigger than any news cycle and an eternal kingdom that will outlast and outshine any kingdom here on earth.

During our COVID-19 shutdown, Pastor Zekveld plans to provide a personal reflection from Tuesday through Friday.

My God

I heard a meditation today on Philippians 4:19, “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” I was immediately struck by how Paul referred to God as “My God.”

What a beautiful way to speak of God!

1. It expresses love and devotion for God; it is a term of endearment. “God, you are mine. My God.” This is how David expresses his love for God in Psalm 18. He keeps calling Him “Mine.” I love You, O Lord, my strength…my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my rock…my shield…my salvation, my stronghold. (Psalm 18:1-2)

This is the God who has done so much for me. He loved me when I was lost in my sin, sent His Son to rescue me from the pit of destruction, and lifted me high on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. This is my God!

2. It shows belonging. When you believe in Jesus Christ, He brings you to God. God becomes your Father, and you, His child. You belong to Him by covenant. He says, “I am your God; you are my people.” He has embraced you as His dearly loved friend and committed Himself to you in an everlasting relationship.

3. It shows trust and dependence. Paul is commending his God who supplied all his needs to the Philippian Christians as their God who will supply all their needs. He is my God in whom I trust. (Psalm 91:2)

After he survived a night in a den of hungry lions, Daniel said to the Persian King Darius, “My God sent his angel and shut the lion‘s mouths and they have not harmed me.” (Daniel 6.22)

4. It shows a personal relationship with God through personally experienced mercies. A Christian does not just know about God. He knows God through personal experience of God’s grace, protection, patience, power, and kindness. God has come to Paul through Jesus and forgiven all his many sins, accepted and adopted him as His child, strengthened him in every task, and stood with him through every trial. This is my God!

How important at all times, and also at such a time as this, to know God as “my God.“ As much as I like to think that we’re coming out of the COVID woods and can soon leave this thing behind, I know that it is far from true. It is a tornado cutting a wide swath of trouble through our lives and livelihood, our work and worship, our fellowship and freedom. It demands so much of our energy, attention and time. It creates so much fear, blame-shifting and political conflict. It blinds us with endless facts and figures from experts. It hurts churches and missions, and places heavy financial strain on Christian organizations.

It is a consuming cultural and global crisis.

I know there are blessings in it too. The Lord is working out His glorious purposes. He is destroying our idols. He is summoning the world to bow before Him and be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. He is calling us to account for our arrogance: spitting in His face, defying His laws, killing millions of unborn babies every year around the world, and all the while thinking that God does not see or know, and, if He does, He has no right to invade our space.

Well, He has invaded our space! Because this is His space. He calls us to honor Him and give Him thanks.

But the most blessed and wonderful thing for us at this time is to know Him as my God. In the midst of all the turmoil that surrounds me, I have God. And God is infinitely more than all that is around me. He is infinitely greater than all the troubles of this world, infinitely richer than all the wealth of this world, infinitely wiser than all the wisdom of this world, and infinitely more loving than any love in this world.

To know Him is eternal life!

Do you know this God? Can you say of Him, “My God?” Do you love Him? Do you trust Him?

He is not an idea. He is a Personal, Living, Divine Being. He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

“My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

During our COVID-19 shutdown, Pastor Zekveld plans to provide a personal reflection from Tuesday through Friday.

A Tough Journey but a Worthwhile Trip

We’re coming close to completing a marathon in our family devotions – reading through the book of Job. “Long, windy speeches,” I remember my uncle saying to describe this book.

And that’s the way it feels after you go through round 1, round 2, and then still a 3rd round of arguments between Job and his 3 ‘friends.’

That’s followed by 6 chapters of response by Job, then 6 chapters of rebuke by Elihu, followed by 4 chapters of questions from God, and then a final chapter of resolution. It’s easy to lose your way in the book of Job!

Its elevated poetry, ancient imagery, fiery emotion, and deep theology can be overwhelming. We read it after mealtimes, one chapter per sitting, with each family member having a Bible and taking turns reading verses until the chapter was done.

Usually we highlight one verse in our reading to ask, “What in the world does that mean?” If someone in your family has a Study Bible, you can take a minute or two to discuss one of the verses you just read.

By the way, I recommend the podcast, “Christopher Ash on Job,” a conversation of Nancy Guthrie with Bible scholar and teacher Christopher Ash. It will help you in your Job marathon at the family table.

Job is a very important book because it helps us see that God is upright and good even when He allows righteous Christians to suffer. It’s really all about God, and helps us know and trust Him more.

Job is a picture of Jesus, the Ultimate Sinless Sufferer, whose horrible suffering God used to destroy Satan’s kingdom and to set up His eternal kingdom. As a servant of Jesus, God also used Job’s suffering to prove Satan wrong and to show God’s greatness and goodness.

This is where Job’s three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar are completely unhelpful, and worse, dangerously wrong, in their ‘ministry’ to grieving Job. Job calls them ‘worthless physicians,’ and ‘miserable comforters’ (Job 13:4, 16:2) because they have a wrong view of God.

They begin well enough. They come and visit him, weep with him, and sit with him for 7 days without saying a word. They’re just there. We can learn from that! Often when people get hit with trouble, we’re afraid. What are we going to say? What if we mess up? We stay away. We’re not there.

But as soon as the 3 friends open their mouths to ‘comfort’ him, things go badly. The problem is not that they speak, but what they say. Their theology of suffering is wrong. It’s superficial and graceless. They assume only bad people suffer; therefore Job must be bad. If he was good, all good things would happen to him.

Their theology of God is like Maria’s in ‘The Sound of Music:’ Nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could, but somewhere in my youth and childhood, I must have done something good.

They tell Job he must be harboring some secret sin in his life to deserve such suffering. He must have done something wrong. He can’t be in a right relationship with God. His faith in God must not be good to be in such trouble as this. He must be a hypocrite.

They accuse him with the worst sins imaginable without a shred of evidence to support their accusation.

But if there’s no room in God for righteous people to suffer, even suffer horribly, where does Jesus fit in? Jesus is the Ultimate Good and Holy Man, yet God brought suffering upon His Sinless Son like no one could ever experience here on earth.

Later God says to Job’s 3 friends, “My anger burns against you because you have not spoken of Me what is right.” (Job 42:7)

As you read through the ‘long, windy’ speeches of Job’s 3 friends, there are a lot of spots where you say, “You’re bang on there, Bildad!” But even their right statements are used in the service of wrong theology and therefore are worthless and graceless.

Dear Christian friend, if God has brought deep suffering into your life, don’t assume God is punishing you for some hidden evil. Don’t conclude you must be a hypocrite. True and faithful believers suffer. Righteous people suffer. They suffer as servants of Jesus to bring Satan down and exalt Christ.

God has answered your suffering in the suffering of Jesus who died to remove the punishment from your pain and then rose again to bring you to spend eternity with Him in Paradise. God brought unimaginable grief on His Sinless Son to bring unimaginable good to you!

So don’t adopt Bildad’s Bad Theology when you suffer. Trust in Jesus Christ and know that God loves you and is good to you even in your pain. Like Job, He uses your suffering to promote Jesus’ suffering. He uses your suffering to prove Satan wrong.

Look ahead to the end of the story of suffering – it leads to full glory with Jesus in Paradise.

During our COVID-19 shutdown, Pastor Zekveld plans to provide a personal reflection from Tuesday through Friday.

The Destructive Power of a False Witness

Have you ever heard of Maatje and Matthew Benassi? Neither had almost anybody else until they became the target of George Webb’s conspiracy theory in March. Theirs is a story of the destructive power of a false witness, how a false narrative made them the subjects of worldwide hatred, and ruined their quiet lives.

Maatje Benassi is a retired U.S. Army reservist. Both she and her husband, Matt, work as civilian employees with the United States’ military in Virginia.

Maatje is an accomplished cyclist and last October she travelled to Wuhan, China, to join hundreds of other military athletes at the 2019 Military World Games. She competed in the cycling competition there. In the final lap she had an accident that left her with a fractured rib and a concussion, but, despite the crash, Benassi still finished the race.

It turned out to be the start of something worse, however. For some unknown reason, Maatje Benassi was selected out of the group of athletes and interwoven into George Webb’s story line that Maatje is “Coronavirus Patient Zero.” His false claim is that COVID-19 began with her, then spread to the city of Wuhan in China, and from there it travelled across the whole world.

According to this American peddler of disinformation, Maatje Benassi is the key part of a larger plot of the Benassi family to spread the virus throughout the world. (Donie O’Sullivan, CNN Business Report, April 27, 2020)

The lies of this conspiracy theory are ludicrous. Maatje has never tested positive for COVID-19, and has never shown any symptoms for it. Yet George Webb has more than 100,000 followers on Youtube, and internet trolls have spread his poison everywhere, translated in many different languages. His videos are especially popular in China where the Chinese Community Party is using his false claims as propaganda to support its claim that American military personnel brought the virus to China.

George Webb has also advertised Matt and Maatje Benassi’s street address so they are being pummelled not only with cyberbullying, but also with snail mail and the threats of personal assault in their home. Their lives have been turned upside down by having a new, false identity imposed on them by men who bear false witness.

Conspiracy theory is an evil sport perpetrated by people who love the power of a following, and believed by people who love an intriguing narrative that makes them feel powerful and important too. They are empowered by the sense that they are raging against the machine of the mainstream media. They boast that they are not blindly following the evil media, yet blindly fall for something that’s often far more ridiculous and damaging to other people.

As Christians, though we should not blindly follow mainstream media, we also have to arm ourselves against the equally, if not more, dangerous power of a false story arising from conspiracy lovers. Especially when that false story fits the narrative of the world that lives deep within us, we are all prone to jump on the bandwagon of bearing false witness.

If we’re anti-Hilary, or anti-Trump, or anti-semitic, or anti-leftist, our commitment to the 9th commandment can quickly fall apart when we hear a story or theory that supports our cause. We spread

false testimony, and join in condemning someone rashly or without a hearing. (see Heidelberg Catechism, Question and Answer 112)

Remember, there’s always someone at the other end of the story, a Maatje Benassi whose life is being upended by the rumours. Words have power to heal and destroy.

Sadly, as Christians we are too ready to fall for a false story. We are too quick to imitate the devil who is the ultimate liar and murderer (see John 8:44), rather than God who is the Truth and Source of all truth.

It’s difficult to steer a pathway of truth through a very complicated world of journalistic bias and social media trolling, but this is our calling as God’s children. Truth is real, and our hearts and minds have to yearn for it, look for it, and avoid lying and deceit of every kind.

The key is knowing Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life (see John 14:6), and knowing His Word. Jesus is so committed to the Truth that He came into the world to perish on the other side of it – He was condemned to death and destroyed on a cross by the testimony of false witnesses and those who supported them.

Jesus did this because of His love for liars like you and me. In His death He paid the price for our lying and destroyed the power of the lie. By faith in Him we are given a new heart to know and love the truth, and to hate and avoid the lie.

So as God’s children redeemed by Jesus, let us do whatever we can in these times to promote the truth. Then we bring glory to God and we protect and advance our neighbor’s honour and reputation.

During our COVID-19 shutdown, Pastor Zekveld plans to provide a personal reflection each weekday.

Feeling Scripture

Maybe you have read the Bible, but have you ever felt it? I don’t mean ‘have you felt it’ by running your fingers over its pages, but have you felt the truth of the passage resonate deep inside your heart and mind?

That’s what Christian meditation is. It is feeling Scripture deep in your life so that you thrive like a tree by water.

Psalm 1 refers to the man whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. (Psalm 1:2)

The Hebrew word for ‘meditate’ is to moan, murmur, muse or feel something very deeply. Meditation means reading a Bible passage so deeply that in it God moves your soul, and you murmur your resonance with His truth for your life.

Christian mediation is different than – and very much at odds with – eastern meditation. Eastern, mystical meditation is about emptying your mind of all rational thought and just being open to the universe, whatever that means. (Tim Keller, “How to become Evergreen: Meditation on Psalm 1”)

Christian meditation also rejects secular meditation which is about focusing on your inner self. The aim of secular meditation is to get in touch with your own soul to release the energy within, and also to free yourself from outside pressures.

Neither of these forms of meditation can cure the soul’s true need. One is an attempt to erase the self; the other is the attempt to find the answer in the self.

But the soul’s real need is to connect with the God who made us and who alone can save us from all our sins and troubles. Only He can give us real life and joy.

The place to meet this one, true God is in His Word, the Bible. That’s God’s place of unchangeable, unbreakable Truth, where we meet God’s Light and Life.  When you meditate on His Word He will meet you, fill you, and move your soul with His life-changing presence. It does not empty you, but fills you.

Psalm 1 speaks of meditating on the Law of the LORD day and night. The word ‘law’ means ‘instruction’ and in this context refers to the whole Bible, everything that God has spoken to us.

So what does it mean to meditate?

1. It means to read the Bible. Find a passage and read it closely and carefully. Don’t run roughshod over it and trample most of it into the ground like cows in new pasture. Read a chapter or two with focus.
2. Then fix your mind on a particular verse or truth in that passage. Take a few minutes to think about it, and let it sink in. Ask God to help you understand it’s meaning accurately, and to apply it to your life honestly. Jot down a note or two of discovery.
3. Be regular in it. Not once a month. Not hit and miss. Psalm 1 says ‘day and night.’ The point is to make God’s Word the regular food and drink of your soul to guide you, challenge you, and comfort you.  
4. Delight in it. The key to delighting in Scripture is knowing Jesus. He delighted in God’s Law and kept it perfectly. (see Psalm 40:8) Without knowing Jesus, the Bible is a heavy burden. It condemns us, convicts us and crushes us. But when we see Jesus who carried the heavy burden for us, the law becomes a delight.

Because of Jesus who was condemned and crushed on the cross for our sins, the Bible now becomes for us a place of living water. There we meet Jesus telling us how He lived and died for us, and rose again. There we hear Him calling us to live our lives for Him.

So take some time at the beginning of each day to meditate on God’s Word. If you have a little more free time on your hands these days, settle in to this good, godly, and very meaningful routine.

In this way you will not just read Scripture, but feel it deeply. It becomes water that satisfies your thirst for a closer walk with God. It becomes food that feeds your hunger for a stronger walk with God.

For too many Christians, the Bible is a much-neglected book. How sad that needy souls drink so seldom, and in such small sips, from the well of living water that is right beside them. And we wonder why God seems so distant from our daily lives!

Meditate on God’s word, and let His truth sink deeply into your life, so that you feel God’s truth, are filled with God’s presence, and flourish in God’s holiness.

During our COVID-19 shutdown, Pastor Zekveld plans to provide a personal reflection each weekday.

“COVID” vs. “China”

Since the war against the novel coronavirus began a few months ago, another war is being fought on the political propaganda front: should China be identified with the name of the virus?

Some insist on calling it the China virus. That’s where the virus started and China needs to be held accountable.

It’s alarming to see just how hard the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has worked to cover-up the outbreak. For 2 months the virus travelled around the world while the Chinese government remained silent. When Dr. Li Wenliang first sounded the alarm last December he was muzzled by government officials under China’s one-party dictatorship.  On his deathbed Dr. Li famously said that “a healthy society shouldn’t have only one voice.”  

Since then several Chinese doctors and independent voices have courageously spoken out against the CCP and have mysteriously gone missing. These heroes have called on all their fellow citizens to “rage against this injustice; let your lives burn with a flame of decency; break through the stultifying darkness and welcome the dawn.”

But the Communist party continues its cover-up by silencing dissident voices, refusing outside investigation, deleting medical records surrounding the virus, and pressuring the World Health Organization to comply with its cover-up.

Another sinister part of the story is China’s purchase of PPE – Personal Protective Equipment – like gloves and masks. While still hiding the seriousness of the outbreak from the world, it quickly went all out to purchase billions of pieces of protective equipment from all over the world at cheap prices – some countries even donated it – using its worldwide organizations (like the Canadian Alliance of Chinese Associations) as secret agents to buy and ship medical equipment for the motherland.

This left many countries, like Italy, Mexico and Canada, short of medical supplies when the pandemic hit them. But China either refused to let go of its protective equipment, or sold it back to needy countries at a very high price. Jorge Guajardo, Mexico’s former ambassador to Beijing, reported to Global News: “In March, the masks Mexico sold to China in January and February were being sold back to Mexico at 20 to 30 times the price.” (Sam Cooper, “United Front groups in Canada helped Beijing stockpile coronavirus safety supplies,” Global News: April 30, 2020)

Indeed, China does have a lot to answer for in this pandemic, and the world will do well to be less trusting of and less dependent on the services of the Chinese Communist Party. Currently 80% of the world’s active ingredients of pharmaceuticals are produced in China.

So should we speak of COVID-19 or ‘the China virus’? The danger of speaking of ‘the China virus’ is that we target the Chinese people rather than the regime that rules the people. Given the hatred that lives in the sinful human heart, we are not surprised at the surge in anti-Asian and anti-Chinese sentiments online and on the street. The pandemic has destroyed many people’s livelihoods and even lives around the world. People are angry at China.

As Christians we should in no way participate in racist thoughts, attitudes or behaviours toward our Asian neighbours, whether they live next door or in China. These men and women are our own flesh and blood, with the same sins, needs, and talents we have. We are equally in need of salvation, and equally accepted as God’s children through faith in Jesus Christ. There is no fundamental difference between us and them.

But we do need to be honest about the lies and cover-ups that have aided the pandemic and encourage our governments to face the facts. There must be genuine accountability.

Even more, we need to repent of our love of money which has propped up the Chinese economy and supported the Communist regime in exchange for cheap goods.  It will cost us to become less dependent on Chinese manufacturing and more economically self-sufficient, but these are the kinds of changes we must be willing to make.

In an Open Letter entitled, “The Communist Party’s Rule by Fear Endangers Chinese Citizens—and the World,” 100 international politicians and policy experts, including several Canadians, wrote:

We stand in solidarity with courageous and conscientious Chinese citizens…real heroes…who risk their life and liberty for a free and open China…They demand nothing less than a critical evaluation of the impact of CCP policies on the lives of Chinese citizens and citizens around the world. We urge you to join them.

Yes, let’s join them. And let’s remember especially our brothers and sisters in Christ, living in China and Hong Kong, who face the party’s brutality everyday. For years our Western governments, and Christians too, have ignored their plight in exchange for cash. May God use COVID-19 to open our ears to their cries and to support their need for freedom.

During our COVID-19 shutdown, Pastor Zekveld plans to provide a personal reflection each weekday.

Impatience

I’m getting tired of hearing, ‘We’re living in unprecedented times.’ The ‘coronavirus excitement’ has worn off for me a long time ago. I’m more than ready to move on from this.

What about you? Are you tired of doing school at home, and want to go back to school with ‘real people’ again? Have you had enough of circles and line-ups at the grocery and hardware stores?

We’re getting impatient with social isolation measures. We don’t want anybody to talk to us anymore about ‘bending the COVID curve.’

Wives are weary of their husbands hanging around home, working out of a makeshift office somewhere in a corner of the house. People are tired of live-streamed worship services and trying to sing with 2 other people who can’t hold a tune. We want real church again.

Grandparents think it’s about time they see their grandchildren again. Zoom visits are getting old. There’s the frustration of moving toward the 7^th week of nursing home lockdown.

And we’re losing patience with our governments. We’ve had enough of stay-at-home orders and wonder about their wisdom and helpfulness. Governments are hesitant to re-open civic life and let us get back to work, back to shopping, and back to the park. We’re tempted to ‘serve’ our governments as armchair quarterbacks who see much more clearly than they how they should handle the virus.

Police are witnessing a marked increase in signs of social unrest.  Some officers have been overeager to enforce quarantine rules and have charged hefty fines for tiny infractions. A teenager skateboarding alone in a parking lot gets stopped by police. Patience with our authorities is wearing thin.

Public protests are mounting for workplace opening. Our society in on the verge of a pandemic of contract disputes and lawsuits. The fight against a disease is quickly turning into a fight against people.

As Christians, it’s time to put on (again) the Christian grace of patience. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (Colossians 3:12) Patience is much different than mere tolerance. Patience is pursuing God-glorifying change with trust in God and love for neighbour, and without complaining, raging and malice.

Patience wants to do the right thing at the right time in the right way for the right reason.

It is Jesus Christ’s special gift. He is the Patient One, the Longsuffering One who died for our sin of impatience and rose again to give us the new life of patience. When you entrust your life to Jesus in faith, one of the gifts He gives you is patience. He gives you this gift through His Holy Spirit.

Let me offer four ways for us to handle life patiently:

1. Patience prays. Patience prays for people. Patience prays for change. I spoke with my Member of Provincial Parliament yesterday about the government’s challenge of pushing the reset button. Our leaders grapple with a wide variety of scientific and popular views which are diametrically opposed. He asked us to pray for wisdom.
   
2. Patience waits. Patience waits for the Lord to work in you and in others. Patience waits for the Lord to make people ready. Instead of lashing out in rage, anger, brawling and slander (Ephesians 4:31) when things don’t go as quickly as you want them to, patience works and speaks, but always waits on the Lord to make things happen.
   
3. Patience gives thanks. In the press for things to change, don’t forget to thank God for the gift of government, the gift of health care, the gift of internet, the gift of Zoom, the gift of teachers who are willing to invest their time and energy into online learning, the gift of family and friends, and above all that great gift of Christian hope that lifts our hearts above the noise of this world to the sure promise of eternal life with God through Jesus Christ. Instead of grumbling and complaining, patience give thanks.
   
4. Patience forbears and forgives. After calling us to put on patience, Jesus adds: Bear with each other and if one has a complaint against another, forgive each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. (Colossians 3:13)

In the pressure cooker of the virus with all its unknowns, uncertainties, and weirdness, we have had to deal with many human weaknesses, misjudgments, failures and sins. Patience forbears with people’s weaknesses and seeks to forgive those who sinned against us.

In our patience may be Jesus Christ, who is so forbearing and forgiving with us His children, be magnified.

In the conflict and noise of re-opening civic life, the sin of impatience will tempt us. But for Christ’s glory and your neighbour’s good, clothe yourself with patience.

During our COVID-19 shutdown, Pastor Zekveld plans to provide a personal reflection each weekday.

Eager to Remember the Poor

Peter preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ primarily to the Jews, while Paul ministered mainly among the Gentiles. The danger of conflict between Jewish and Gentile Christians was real, but Peter and Paul, with their co-workers, understood that the Gospel of Jesus Christ unites all believers into one Body, whether Jew or Gentile.

Whether Jew or Gentile, all are equally sinners, all are equally saved by believing in Jesus Christ alone, and all are equally valued by God as members of Christ’s Church.

The unity of Jewish and Gentile Christians was not just a matter of talk. The early church showed its equality and fellowship in Christ In a very simple, practical and profound way. How? By remembering the poor. Peter said to Paul, All we ask is that you remember the poor, and Paul responded, That’s the very thing I was eager to do! (Galatians 2:10)

And they did. When the Jewish churches Judea suffered from severe famine, the Gentile churches in Macedonia stepped up with overwhelming generosity and gave even beyond what they could afford! (see 2 Corinthians 8:1-4)

What a powerful demonstration of the love of Christ living in His children!

This is what Jesus does to believers – he turns us from inward-focused into outward-focused people, from self-centered to generous, from unconcerned to caring about the needs of others: first of all for the needs of fellow Christians around the world, but also for the pain and poverty of all people, regardless of nationality, race, class, religion, or lifestyle.

As a society facing COVID-19, we have largely focused on our own turmoil and needs in our own country and communities. Our first-world economies have been hard-hit, but nothing like the economies of developing countries and marginalized peoples around the world.

Consider, first, that 40% of the world’s population has no access to facilities for hand-washing. Most of these people have no access to health care, and, if they do, their hospitals do not have ventilators and other necessary equipment for battling the disease. Countries like Ecuador, Bangladesh and India are left behind as first world countries rush to equip their own nations with medical equipment.

Thankfully, many developing nations have not been severely impacted by the virus because of the warmer climates and young demographics. However, a much deeper and more long-term devastation is being experienced in the form of extreme poverty. Most people in the developing world live hand-to- mouth. What they make each day is barely enough to feed themselves and their families.

The result of a shutdown is immediately felt at the breakfast table. Imagine you’re the child of a Bangladeshi rickshaw driver. One study found their earnings collapsing by an average of 78%.

Think of the impact of Prime Minister Modi’s 21-day lockdown for India’s 1.3 billion population. Half of them live below the poverty level.

Eighty-four percent of Kenya’s labour force lives day-to-day and has no ability to stock up on supplies. No work means no food or education. (see Nicholas Kristof, “This Pandemic is Bringing Another With It: More Suffering is Ahead for the Developing World,” New York Times: April 22, 2020)

In countries where Christians are persecuted, this especially has an impact on our brothers and sisters in Christ who are the first to lose their jobs and livelihood.

Migrant workers are also immediately impacted. Think of the 2.3 million Filipino workers in the Middle-East. There are 1000s of Christian congregations among them. The shutdown of shops and industries, and the crisis of low oil prices, has left most of them without work, and unable to send money back to their poor families back home.

This barely scratches the surface of the global poverty pandemic resulting from COVID-19.

Estimates are that for the first time in 30 years world poverty will increase, and that by approximately 500 million people. A lockdown may seem like a good strategy to halt the spread of coronavirus but let’s remember that for millions, even billions, of people in developing countries it is simply not an option.

Paul wrote:

They asked us only to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

Galatians 2:10

For the sake of Christ, let’s be eager to remember the poor. Even though we need to take care of our own house, Christ calls us to look beyond ourselves and remember the poor who have no government, no employer, and no network to help them.

Let’s honor our Saviour by praying for and supporting in whatever way we can our brothers and sisters around the world for whom Christ died. We exalt the Gospel of Christ and honor His one Body in a profound and practical way when we are eager to remember the poor.

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the household of faith.

Galatians 6:10

During our COVID-19 shutdown, Pastor Zekveld plans to provide a personal reflection each weekday.

Out of Energy?

It takes a lot of energy to live and work for the Lord.

Whatever your calling or station in life, you need a lot of strength. Whether you are an unemployed person longing and looking for work, a teacher preparing for online classes, a mother holding the fort at home while trying to make sure the school work’s getting done, a wife trying to care for her husband who’s locked down in a nursing home, an elder or deacon trying to stay connected to his district, life takes a lot out of you.

It doesn’t just take physical energy, it takes spiritual energy. By spiritual energy I mean the energy of faith to keep pressing on in your calling; keep believing the promises of God; keep your sights set on the right, Christ-centered, God-glorifying goals; to remain confident and courageous when you face disappointments; to be patient when things aren’t going as you planned; and to keep rejoicing in the Lord whatever your circumstances. Serving the Lord faithfully takes a lot of strength.

Sometimes we feel drained with nothing left to give. Sometimes we feel we can’t face what is in front of us; the tasks for today are too much; the pressures of worry about tomorrow are paralyzing us. A difficult child, marriage struggles, a son who is wandering from the faith, troubles with the business, aging parents who need your support – these are heavy loads that require a lot of physical, emotional and spiritual strength.

And the problem is not likely going away anytime soon; you’ll wake up to it again tomorrow morning.

So where are you going to find the energy? Coffee can only take you so far! Let me encourage you with what the apostle Paul says about his energy source:

We proclaim Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, striving with all His energy that He powerfully works within me.

Colossians 1:28-29

Paul’s aim was high. He wanted to proclaim Christ so that he could present everyone mature in Christ. A good and godly goal like this is very hard work. It made Paul toil and strive. He was not adequate for this task. He did not have the strength for it. It was too much for him. He recognized that he was only a jar of clay, a weak human instrument doing Christ’s work which was too heavy for Paul to do. 

But rather than cave on his goals, he relied on an Energy Source that gave him what he needed for his important work: I toil and strive with all His energy. Christ’s energy. He knew that only Christ could do the work of Christ through him. Only Christ can do the work of Christ He gives you to do!

That energy is a specific kind of energy – the energy of Christ’s resurrection power. The power that raised Him from the dead is the power of new life that He works in you to accomplish the things you cannot do. (see Ephesians 1:19-20, Hebrews 13:20-21)

That’s why Paul could say, I can do all things – all things God calls me to do – through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)

And this Christ-energy by which Paul did his work did not operate like battery power but more like direct current. He said: I strive with all His energy which powerfully works in me. That means: Christ’s power is constantly being supplied to me so that I am dependent on His energy 100% of the time. The power of the crucified and risen Christ is an ever-present, ever-working power through His Holy Spirit.

So let us learn from this that we need the Lord’s strength to do our important daily work at home and wherever our calling takes us. And we need His strength daily, continually. This means we should be in constant prayer for His help in the work we do and the challenges we face.

Let us repent of trying to do His work in our strength. Instead, let us pray for ourselves and for one another so that God’s power may rest upon us. This brings God glory and gives us strength.

Sometimes God may even add troubles to our trials to make us still more dependent on Christ. He gave Paul a ‘thorn in the flesh,’ and wouldn’t take it away from him so that God’s power would be magnified in Paul’s weakness. (see 2 Corinthians 12:8-10) 

As David strengthened himself in the LORD his God (I Samuel 30:6), let us also learn where the Source of our energy lies. We need the Lord. Rather than compromise godly goals so that we can do our work in our own power, let us keep God’s goals and give up on our own power. We must seek Him in faith, through constant prayer.

Let us strive with all His energy which powerfully works in those who believe.

During our COVID-19 shutdown, Pastor Zekveld plans to provide a personal reflection each weekday.

Haman Hangs

Remember Esther? Though God’s name is not mentioned in this book of the Bible, the true story of Esther is full of God’s power and love for His Church.

Esther is a book of reversals. An evil man named Haman was plotting against the Church, but every wicked scheme he dreamed up came back on his own head.

Haman was the Vice-President of the Persian empire. Haman hated the Jewish people, the Church in Old Testament times.

As Vice-President, everyone had to bow before him. And he expected his enemy, Mordecai the Jew, to lead him on the King’s horse down Main Street and have everyone bow before Haman. But in the end Haman led the horse while Mordecai sat on it and received the honor.

Haman had the Emperor make a law that declared that on a certain day the Persian people could assault and kill as many Jews as they wanted. In the end that law was reversed, and the Jews were permitted to kill anybody who lifted a finger against them.

Haman built a gallows in his back yard, 75 feet high, for Mordecai to be hanged on. But in a shocking reversal, the tables were turned against Haman, and the King commanded his officials:

“Hang Haman on that!” So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai.

Esther 7:10

Though it looked like Mordecai would hang and Haman reign, in the end, Haman hangs and Mordecai reigns.

This is the reversal God promises His people. The Enemy will hang on the gallows he has prepared for God’s people. Satan’s schemes will come back on his own head.

In Psalm 7 we read:

The wicked man makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole he has made. His mischief returns upon his own head, and his violence descends on his own head.

Psalm 7:15-16; 57:6

David makes God’s promise his prayer:

And let the net that he hid ensnare him; let him fall into it—to his destruction!

Psalm 35:8

Let’s pray this same prayer in our times. There’s no doubt that Satan, the enemy of our souls and the adversary of the Church, is making every effort to use the COVID-19 shutdown to weaken the church of Jesus around the world. The devil is working hard to get the church out of his way.

There are huge personal dangers to not meeting together for such a long period of time.

We can easily become disconnected and lose our way. Our faith in God, our commitment to assembling for worship, and our love for His people can grow cold. The fires of heavenly desire, fuelled in the communion of the saints, can burn low. Spiritual laziness finds more opportunity to settle in among us.

And there are huge public dangers to not meeting together because of the shutdown.

Local and national governments around the world can use the emergency measures to limit the church’s freedoms in the long term. Opponents of the church see this as an open door to lash out against the people of God and increase surveillance on the church’s ministry. For some reason drive-thru beer is considered essential while drive-in worship is declared illegal.   

So let us pray against Satan’s schemes against the people of God. Let’s resist him, standing firm in our faith. Pray that he will fall into the pit that he has dug for us. Pray that he will hang on the gallows he has built for us.

In spite of the personal and public dangers of shutdown, God is able to make His Church flourish. He is able to make His people cherish more than before the communion of the saints. He is able to extend the reach of the Gospel through the worldwide web. He is able to promote the Christian faith through the love and compassion that people show to their neighbors. He is able to expose and bring down governments and officials who persecute His people.

Pray that God will do this.

Pray for yourself. Pray that your faith will not hang on the gallows Satan has built for your soul. Pray that God will increase your faith in Him and your love for all the saints.

Pray that the virus crisis will weaken and even topple governments that persecute Christians.

Pray that God will use the fear of millions who are lost to bring them to saving faith in Jesus Christ, and add them to His church.

Pray that Satan will hang in the gallows he has built for us!

Haman hangs and Mordecai reigns. What encouragement and motivation for the people of God! Jesus promised:

I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

Matthew 16:18

It’s not just a promise. Jesus did it! He was hanged on a cross and killed, and it looked like Satan reigned: Jesus hangs while Satan reigns. But then Jesus rose, proving Satan is the big Loser. Now Jesus reigns and Satan hangs.

Satan is chained and is headed for the eternal gallows.