Author: Editor

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

Hope is a ‘Now’ Thing

Many view Christian hope as “pie in the sky when you die.” (Joe Hill, “The Preacher and the Slave”) It does nothing for you now. It’s disconnected from today’s problems. It’s useless for this life. It holds value only for you later – if it’s real.

But true hope doesn’t work that way. Christian hope is a present power that comes from having a glorious future.

On the one hand, our hope is right now “laid up in heaven.” (Colossians 1:6)  Hope is a Person named  Jesus Christ. He has a wonderful inheritance reserved in heaven for us. Our hope is as real as Jesus Himself who died for us, rose for us, and is now reigning on heaven’s throne for us.

That hope is there already now, waiting for us. It is untouched by the problems and pains of this world. It can’t lose its beauty or value. It can’t “perish, spoil or fade away.“ (I Peter 1:4)  

At the same time, hope in the Bible is something that lives not only above us in heaven, but also in us. “May you abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13) The hope that lives in us comes from trusting in and looking up to the Hope that lives in heaven.  

This hope we have as Christian believers is not only something that makes a difference in our lives when we die. Hope in Jesus is a present hope that powerfully helps us right now.

In his book, Coronavirus and Christ (Crossway Books: 2020), John Piper describes the power that Christian hope gives to everyone who believes in Jesus Christ.

Hope is power. Present power. Hope keeps people from killing themselves—now. It helps people get out of bed and go to work—now. It gives meaning to daily life, even locked-down, quarantined, stay-at-home life—now. It liberates us from the selfishness of fear and greed—now. It empowers love and risk-taking and sacrifice—now.

So be careful before you belittle the by-and-by. It just may be that when your by-and-by is beautiful and sure, your here and now will be sweet and fruitful. (pp. 15-16)

John Piper

The “sweet by and by” is not “pie in the sky;” it is power for living day-by-day. It makes a difference every moment as we face the struggles of sickness and poverty, of marriage and raising children, of sin and temptation.

It doesn’t make us immune to the problems but gives us strength to travel through them.

So let this hope go to work for you during these times. Let me offer 4 ways hope is a ‘now’ thing:

1. It brings joy now. Paul says: In the midst of suffering “rejoice in the hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:2) Hope provides proper perspective on our suffering. Hope says, “This suffering is not all there is. It will not have the last word. It is light and momentary compared to the weight of glory that’s coming.”  (see 2 Corinthians 4:17)
2. Hope gives patience now. In the Bible, hoping and waiting go together. Psalm 130 says: “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His word I hope.” (Psalm 130:5; see also Psalms 33:20-22, 62:5)  In hope you trust that the Lord is using this trouble to advance you and all His people to their heavenly goal. So rather than lose heart and do rash things that dishonor God and trample on other people, hope helps you take God’s hand and walk with Him through trouble as His faithful follower.
3. Hope gives freedom now to serve the Lord. Because our hope is not set on this life in this world, it sets us free from our love affair with earthly wealth and amusements. We are free to live and die for Jesus. Hope frees us to work in the hospital or nursing home, to give generously to mission and charity. It frees us to work through the problems rather than try to escape them. Hope sets us free to love God and our neighbour because it frees us from self-love.
4. Hope purifies us now. The Bible says that because we eagerly wait for Jesus to return and make us perfect and bring us to our perfect eternal home with Him, this hope purifies us as Jesus is pure. (I John 3:3) Because perfect holiness is hope’s goal, it is also hope’s desire now as we get ready for that day. In every trouble we face, hope prays and strives for holiness.

Hope is a ‘now’ thing. In this current crisis, dear Christian, may you abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)  May the Spirit use your hope to work joy, patience, freedom, and holiness in you right now so that you may become more like Jesus Christ.

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

“The Gospel can’t be Quarantined”

People can be quarantined, but the Gospel can’t. It seems like the whole world is housebound right now, but the Gospel can’t be tied down to our homes. The Word of God is living, powerful and always free.

The apostle Paul was thrown into prison in Rome for his faith. Because he was preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, he was chained to a wall and guarded by soldiers. He was definitely tied down!

As much as he hated the chains that bound him, he was not discouraged. Paul knew that God’s message of Jesus Christ crucified and raised from the dead for sinners was not tied down with him. Amazingly, God was using his chains to advance the Gospel!

The whole imperial guard got to hear the Gospel from him! He was given special opportunity to testify before kings and governors and preach Christ to them.  And, what’s more, other Christians were encouraged by Paul’s boldness as a prisoner and it motivated them to spread the word of God.

Paul wrote:

“Even though I am being chained like a criminal, God’s Word is not chained.”

2 Timothy 2:9

This is a good reminder for all of us during this ‘house arrest’ of so many people around the world. I don’t mean to suggest we’re being persecuted like Paul or unfairly treated in any way. We accept these public emergency measures sadly, yet gladly, in order to protect our neighbour from illness and prevent the spread of the epidemic.

But our being home-bound doesn’t mean God’s Word is homebound. And shutting church buildings doesn’t mean Christ is shut down.

• Consider how the Lord’s word continues to go out via livestreamed services all over the world.
• Consider how organizations like Ligonier Ministries have opened up their treasures of biblical and theological studies to the public for free.
• Consider how households have more time to spend around the family table to open up the Word of God together.
• Consider how people are using social media to study the Bible, talk and pray together for mutual encouragement and for evangelism in ways we did not consider 1 month ago.
• Consider how many new opportunities for personal Christian witness God has opened up as a result of COVID-19.
• And who knows how many hopeless people around the world are using their free time to tap into the Christian message on the world wide web in search of hope.

Christians may be quarantined, but the Gospel is not.  If you are reading this and are without God and without hope, I urge you to hear Christ calling you to come to Him for eternal peace and safety. He promises you that if you entrust your needy life to Him in faith, He will love you and take excellent care of you. He will forgive all your sins and give you eternal life. You will never perish.

So how can we use our current ‘house arrest’ to advance the Word of God in our lives and neighborhoods? Consider the following possibilities:

This can be a time for a richer devotional life and ministry to our families. There’s more time to read the Bible, talk about it, pray, and even do special studies together without having to rush off to a meeting or game. What a rich gift to have the Gospel unleashed in our own homes!

What about finding a powerful, self-abasing, God-glorifying testimony of Christian faith, or preparing your own, or finding a simple message of Christian hope and sharing that testimony or message on your Facebook page in the prayer that God will use it to reach many who need hope today.

If you live in a town or city, have you noticed how many people are out for walks in this beautiful Spring weather? Though people keep their distance on the sidewalk, they seem more ready to talk. Who knows what kind of conversation a simple “Hello” could lead to?  And you may get to know some neighbours you’ve never seen before.

Or we could simply contact a friend or acquaintance, a neighbour who doesn’t know the Lord, and ask them if they would like us to pray for them, and how.

“Bloom where you’re quarantined,” someone wrote. (Clarissa Moll, Christianity Today, April 1, 2020)

“The Gospel can’t be quarantined,” wrote Paul Worcester. (“10 Simple Ways to Evangelize During a Pandemic,” The Gospel Coalition, April 6, 2020)  

How true! Are you making use of every opportunity?

God’s Word which created the world cannot be shut down by an epidemic. It cannot be shut up in prison or locked down in chains or tied down to the housebound. It is the word of life, the seed of the kingdom, the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes!

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

Earth is Groaning – Can You Hear It?

Can you hear the patient gasping for her next breath? Can you hear the sobbing of the grieving widow, the cries of children who lost their Dad? And what about the sounds of hospitals pleading for more masks? Can you hear creation groaning in the gasps on Wall Street and the groans at the Chicago Board of Trade? In the Mom struggling to help her child do his on-line schooling? In the grocery store employee reminding customers to keep their distance?

The sounds of COVID-19 are the sounds of what the Bible describes as “creation in bondage to decay.” Romans 8:22 says, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.“

The story of the virus goes back to the early days of the human race in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve had been warned by God that if they disobeyed Him and ate of the forbidden fruit, they would surely die. (Genesis 2:17)

When that liar and murderer, Satan, came along and tempted them to eat, they ate. At that moment, a death sentence came upon the human race, and the whole creation was placed under a curse. God kept His word.

The coronavirus is yet another powerful reminder that this world is not Paradise anymore. We may try hard to reverse the curse and restore paradise through social, genetic, political and economic engineering, but “for all our technological advance and economic development, the world remains cursed by a plague that originates in sin.” (Richard D. Phillips, “Does Christianity have an Answer,” Reformation21)

We’re not saying that COVID-19 is God’s judgment on someone’s specific sin, or on a specific nation for its sin. But we know that when the human race sinned in our first parents, Adam and Eve, we chose the misery that sin brings with it, including a whole creation that groans with sickness, disaster and death.

Can you hear the groaning?

So, are groaning, decay and death all there is to look forward to? Is there no hope? There is hope. Real hope. The Bible says that the whole creation is groaning in the pains of childbirth. After the pains comes the baby! After the groaning of this creation God will bring about a new creation! Paradise will be restored. It’s on the way.

But who will bring Paradise back to us? What doctor? Which leader? What nation? Which thinktank? None of the above. Jesus is the gate to Paradise. When He rose from the grave on Easter morning, He became the seed of a whole new creation, a world where there’s no pain, sickness, tears, or death. No groaning.

Everyone who commits his life to Jesus in faith and becomes His follower will enter that perfect place. Jesus will bring Paradise back to earth on the last day when He returns to judge the living and the dead.

Through the blessing of technological advances, God gives some relief to a groaning world. These are gifts of God’s mercy to a weary world. We thank God for those who serve the human race in this way and praise Him for the discoveries they make and solutions they bring.

But these technologies do not carry the power of Paradise. Only Jesus does. They cannot heal the creation’s groaning. Only Jesus can.

Dr. Gregory Poland is a vaccinologist and Director of Vaccine Research at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota. He and his team have now put in 13 weeks of 16 hour days developing a vaccine for this novel coronavirus. Dr. Poland is a Christian. He is thankful for the developments that he and many other researchers have made in seeking a remedy.

He is also thankful to be able to share God’s message of hope with his fellow team members and with COVID-19 patients. “Our hope is not in what we see today; our hope is the faith we possess about tomorrow. The most important tool is not a vaccine, but hope, and spreading that hope, and not a virus.” (“Christian Reflections on COVID-19,” Ligonier Ministries, March 31, 2020)

What an important message in our age of advanced technology! For all technology can do – and it’s a blessing from God to be used and enjoyed with thanksgiving – it can’t create Paradise. It can’t stop the world’s groaning. It can’t reverse the curse. And it can’t save the human race.

May God remind us all over again that hope lies in His Son. Jesus is this world’s hope. What peace and freedom this gives to Dr. Poland as he directs his research with vigour. He knows that he is not the key to solving the world’s problems. That burden lies on Jesus, and Jesus has empowered Dr. Poland to do his research in true hope.

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

A Tale of Two Crowns

It’s a tale of two crowns. That expression comes from an interview Colin Hansen did with John Lennox on his forthcoming book, “Where is God during COVID-19?”

The name COVID-19 stands for Corona Virus Disease 2019 – because that’s the year this particular version of the coronavirus first appeared.

As you likely know, corona is the Latin word for ‘crown.’ It’s called the coronavirus because under a microscope its surface is shaped like a crown.

But the fact that this virus is shaped like a crown makes it no prettier. It’s ugly, it’s nasty, it’s an enemy, and joins a long list of global epidemics that have brought suffering and upheaval to society. We see people isolated, sick and dying. We see markets plunging, businesses closing, and workers losing their jobs. We meet fear and discouragement.

Satan wants this corona to rule our lives and make us its subjects and its prisoners. 

But there’s another crown, a far more powerful one to remember today and everyday. It’s the crown of King Jesus. This Sunday we join many churches around the world to celebrate Palm Sunday, the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem and was publicly acclaimed and announced as the King.

As Christians we celebrate His coronation, His corona, His crown. Jesus is our King forever!

And what a great King He is! – not a disease, but our Deliverer. Not a virus, but our Victor. Not a sickness, but our Saviour. Many kings, like a virus, are out to oppress, exploit and trample their people in pursuit of their own glory, wealth and power. But this King is altogether different.

On Palm Sunday about 2,000 years ago He chose to come riding into Jerusalem not on a proud white horse, but on the colt of a donkey, a beast of burden. Jesus is a humble king. His heart is kind; His hand is compassionate. He came to help the poor and needy, to heal the diseased and blind, to raise the dead. He came to forgive sin. He came that we might have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)

As a King, He came not to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45)

The crown He bore was a crown of thorns and the throne He mounted was a cross. He did this all for us. We deserve eternal suffering, curse and death for our sins against God. But He sent His Son to earth to be our King and rescue us. As our King, Jesus took our place in the agonies of hell in order to lift us up to the glories of heaven. His kingdom is out of this world!

Now that Jesus has rescued us, dressed in His thorn-crown and hanging from His cross-throne, He has been taken up to heaven where He our all-powerful King, continues to hear our prayers, help us, sympathize with us in our sufferings, and strengthen us through life’s journey until we reach our final destination – victory and joy forever and ever with Jesus in God’s heavenly kingdom!

Do you want this Man to be your King and His crown to rule your life? Believe in Him. He will save you from your sins and share His glorious life with you!

These days, coronavirus dominates the headlines, our governments, the markets, our thoughts, our work and conversations. Satan wants this dark and deadly crown to dominate our lives. He wants to drive us to despair.

But the victory belongs to King Jesus who destroyed this diseased crown. He carried its curse with Him to the cross, killed it in His death, buried it in His grave, and then rose again to give life to the world.

Under His crown, we are secure. In His crown, we conquer. For His crown, we live and serve. In Jesus we have a kingdom that lasts forever, even after all the kingdoms, powers and wealth of this world have been destroyed.

So let’s remember the crown of King Jesus today and everyday. No matter how deep the waters and worries all around you, let that King and that crown dominate you. He sees you and loves you right where you are. He has only good stored up for you. Following Him, you will receive a throne and a crown that will never perish.

Take a Sabbath from your worries this Lord’s Day and re-focus your life on King Jesus. Stay in His Word. Stay in contact with His people. Focus on the work He is doing through missionaries around the world. Jesus’ crown and kingdom are infinitely bigger than any other crown that’s trying to rule our world today.

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

“Where is your God?”

That’s the question opponents used to taunt the psalmist in Psalm 42. This challenge to his faith only added to his depression and sense of isolation.

“Where is your God?” When disaster strikes, whether war or tsunami or coronavirus, this is the inevitable question, “Where is your God?” Where is He now? Where is God in this?  

Some ask it as scoffers, denying the very notion that there is a God. Others as it as believers, wondering why God has allowed bad things to happen in the world He made and controls. Still, others ask it as those searching for answers to the crisis they face right now in their lives.

For all that we can say about the human and natural origins of COVID-19, and the research on this will certainly continue for a time, the natural explanations cannot satisfy the inherent sense of God that lives in our never-dying souls.

We believe that there is a God – one true God – who created the world and controls it so completely that nothing happens apart from His will.

Jesus said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. “ (Matthew 10:29-30)  If even sparrows and hairs are in His almighty hand, so are bacteria and viruses.

So why did God not stop this virus? Why has He plagued our planet with this pestilence?

It would be arrogant for us to say we know exactly what God is doing at all times and why He is doing it. The Bible says, “How unsearchable are His judgments and how unexplainable are His ways!” (Romans 11:33)  Whatever He does or allows, happens in His perfect wisdom and for His good purposes, even when that wisdom and purpose of God are hidden from us. 

He is God and we are not. Let us humble ourselves before that unalterable fact of life. He is the Potter and we are the clay. Let us fall down in reverence before the Lord of all creation.

Still, we have the question, “Where is your God?” We know this: He is right here. He is both above this epidemic ruling over it, and in it working through it. In our secular worldview which has tried to chase God out of the centre and put Man there instead, God is showing Himself to us in a powerful way.

We want a life without God. We want to be God. We want to declare Him unnecessary. But once again God is reminding us how fragile this world is, and how mortal we are. Just when we thought pandemics are a thing of the past and we have got the world under our control now, we find ourselves shockingly unprepared, frightened, and small.

Before the final judgment comes, God is at work in this disease now, calling us to repent, and to honour Him as God before it’s too late.

But God is here in this fallen, messy world in another way: He is with us in the suffering. At the centre of history and of the Christian faith stands a cross and the one who died there is God Himself. (see Colin Hansen, “John Lennox on Where to Find God During COVID-19,” The Gospel Coalition, April 2, 2020)

“Where is your God?“ He is with us. His name is Jesus. He came and joined our suffering. God loved this world so much, a world lost in sin and misery, that He sent His Son to suffer and die with us and for us. He suffered our judgment and punishment on the cross so that whoever believes in Him has a doorway of hope out of suffering and death.

But that’s not the end of the story. Jesus rose from the dead on Easter morning. That changes everything! For those who belong to Jesus, suffering doesn’t have the last word; victory does. Death is not the end of the journey; life is. By believing in Jesus we receive a life that will outlast coronavirus and every other form of suffering.

So through this terrible virus let’s learn to take God seriously. Sometimes He turns things upside down in order to put things right-side up in our lives.

“Where is your God?” He is in heaven, ruling over everything. And He is here. He is with you in your suffering when you ask Him to take your life in His hand and rescue you. Then you are not alone. As David said in Psalm 23, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.“

When God is with me, I have everything I need. He is enough.

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

A Tribute to Nurses

Let’s pause today to thank God for our nurses and all others at the frontlines of the ‘war’ effort against the COVID-19 pandemic: doctors, PSW’s, medical researchers, and all who are putting themselves in harm’s way at hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, and pharmacies.

Jenna Meloche, a registered nurse from Windsor, Ontario, knows what it’s like to do double duty by functioning as a close family member to her COVID-19 patients. Jenna stated, “A family member said to me ‘I want you to go into my husband’s room and I want you to say in his ear that we love him and we miss him and just be strong.”

After taking precautions during long shifts at work, Jenna comes home to the same thing. To protect her parents she changes in the garage, uses a separate bathroom, and wears protective gear when in common areas of the house. She says: “My nose is raw from wearing a mask every waking hour – first at work and then again at home….We’re fighting a war.”  (CBC News, March 28, 2020)

Mary Lyn, a nurse in our local nursing home, was giving care to an elderly man who hadn’t been able to see his family in weeks since lockdown. Seeing a Bible at his bedside she had compassion on him and sat down with him. She opened his Bible, and finding his bookmark at Psalm 47 where his wife had last read to him, read the Word of God with him. Then she grabbed a couple of Kleenexes from his table to wipe the tears streaming down his face.

The stories of Jenna and Mary Lyn are repeated in millions of places around the globe right now. In addition to increasing demands and risks of health care, they offer special acts of kindness by functioning as family members, friends and pastors on behalf of those who cannot reach the sick and dying.

Last week in Quebec an emotional Premier Legault was deeply grateful for the outpouring of response from nurses across his province. Fears of an overwhelmed health-care system led Quebec to invite retired doctors and nurses and anyone with health care experience who wished to help with COVID-19 to contact them. Within just a few days 10,000 people had sent in resumes to help out.

Nursing students at McMaster University are the latest health-care students to ask for early certification so they can join the fight against the coronavirus and ease the burden on the health-care system. (Global News, March 28)

Nurses across the province of Ontario have been put on notice that they may be called on to leave their home and workplace to be deployed to other areas of the country where there’s greater need.

Our greatest tribute, of course, goes to medical workers who have already lost their lives in the line of duty fighting COVID-19. We thank the Lord for His good gift of health care and of those who are willing to dedicate their skills and their lives in this important calling.

So how do we appreciate them? There are many ways, but let me suggest 3:

• First, take the epidemic seriously. Hear the warnings of our doctors and nurses to take proper precautions. Scott Laughton first served as a soldier in Iraq in the 1990s, then for 25 years as a police officer, and now as a registered nurse in New Jersey. Last week he suddenly found the hospital unit where he works transformed into a COVID-19 ward. He says, “Many are not careful. They don’t understand the devastation that this can cause. Not only to the people themselves but to the families and to the health care workers that are actually in there holding their loved one’s hands when they’re going through this.” (Julia Musto, Fox News, April 1, 2020)
• Secondly, take time to pray and appreciate them, especially the ones you know in your own church and neighbourhood. Help them with your prayers. It takes new courage, compassion and strength each day. Send a text, email or card expressing your gratitude for their sacrifice. Even if they’re not working directly with COVID-19 patients, they’re all dealing with the stress of the lockdown, staffing shortages, and virus precautions.
• Thirdly, thank God for His gift of health care. When Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” He told us He cares about all our physical needs too. One of the ways He answers this prayer is by raising up doctors and nurses who have a passion to study medicine, research diseases, care for the sick, and are willing to risk themselves each day by coming into contact with infectious diseases.

Through them God shows His care for us. He shows that our sicknesses matter to Him. He cares about our sicknesses so much that He sent Jesus to carry not only our sins but also our sicknesses and diseases with Him to the cross. (Isaiah 53:4, Matthew 8:17)

In our health care workers we get a taste of Jesus’ real TLC; we get a taste of what Jesus came to do for us forever. Through faith in Jesus who died and rose again, you get healing for both soul and body. He heals you of both sin and sickness! Even though we will die some day in some way, full healing is on the way when we belong to Jesus. That’s the eternal health care God provides for everyone who believes in Jesus, including doctors and nurses.

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

The Fearless Pharisee

As a Christian, I know that Jesus has made it totally safe for me to live and die. I know that no matter what happens, Jesus has me in His grip and will not let me go. He makes me unsnatchable.

Neither troubles, nor abuse, nor sickness nor death can take me away from Him. Even if I die, I still have life with Him in heaven. My soul will go immediately to be with Jesus. And one day He will raise my body too, and body-and-soul I will live with Jesus and with all His family in a new creation, heaven-on-earth.

What a day that will be! What hope that gives me all the time!

Even so, though I have so much hope and safety in Jesus, I still often feel fear and anxiety. And then I need to take my fears to Jesus, and He quietens my soul. He reminds me that He died in my place and came back to life for me. He reassures me and renews my peace. He says to us:

Come to Me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28

If I did not know Jesus, I’m sure I would be a nervous wreck right about now. What if I catch the virus? What if I die? What about my family? What about my plans? What about facing God?

What I want for every person around me, and the whole world, is to have and enjoy the same peace that I do – Jesus Christ. The Bible calls this the peace of God which surpasses all understanding.  (Philippians 4:7)

But I also have another tendency – to get on my fearless kick, look at the panic and hysteria all around me, shake my head and think, “Wow, I thank God I’m not as foolish and afraid as they are. What’s their problem?! Why on earth are they behaving like that? I have no fear.”

Then I’m like the Pharisee in the parable that Jesus told. As very religious people who studied a lot about God and theology, the Pharisees used their relationship with God to look down on others who didn’t have the same knowledge they had.

In Jesus’ parable, told in Luke 18, the Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed like this:

God, I thank you that I’m not like other people-greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.

Luke 18:11-12

He didn’t realize that he was just as sinful and unworthy as everyone else and that the only way he could be saved is if God showed him extreme mercy. Rather than rely totally and humbly on God for his salvation, he believed in himself. He put his confidence in his own goodness. He was self-righteous.

But as a Christian I can think the same way about myself and about the fear I see around me:

God, I thank you that I am not like other people, scared, anxious, panicking. I thank you especially that I’m not like those crazy shoppers who hoard as if it’s their only hope. I’m not afraid. I have faith. I belong to Jesus.

When we think or talk like that, we suddenly have forgotten grace. I would be a panicky mess if Jesus had not come to me when I was lost, confused and afraid, and if He had not rescued me from judgment and made me His very own. I would still be falling apart from fear if Jesus didn’t keep comforting me and reassuring me every day.

None of my fearlessness is from myself. It’s all from Jesus. And when I see someone’s life unravelling from fear, I should see myself in that person.

I should feel the deepest empathy and compassion and do whatever I can to share with her the comfort that Jesus gives me. My only comfort is that body and soul, in life and in death, I belong to my faithful Saviour, Jesus Christ. What a mighty comfort that is, day and night, for me and my family!

As the epidemic continues to spread and the numbers jump in our part of the planet, fears are escalating. People everywhere need peace. We need hope.  We need safety for our tired, guilty, anxious lives. Jesus is the perfect place for you today, whether or not you are a Christian. He says: Come to Me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28) He will not turn away anyone who gives up on himself and gives his life to Jesus for safety – safety in body and soul, safety in life and death.

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

Unsnatchable

I’ve been delighting in Jesus’ promise in John 10:28-29: 

I give [my sheep] eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.

John 10:28-29

Nothing is secure in this world. Even the things we thought were certain are not.

• The surgery booked for next month was cancelled.
• So were your plans to go to the game or concert.
• The airline called to say your flight is cancelled and your tickets are non-refundable.
• The wedding so long in planning had to be trimmed down to 5 people.
• The nurses would not let you into the delivery room to be with your wife.
• Plans for baptism are on hold.
• You could not visit your dying loved one in the hospital.
• The plans for expanding your business are suddenly all up in the air.
• You were laid off from your job after 20 years of steady work at the same company.
• Your retirement savings just lost 30% of their value and crude oil plunged to $4.53 a barrel.

This is just the beginning of a long list of the unexpected these days. Things we have been counting on have been snatched away from us. Hopefully, we are learning that everything is up for grabs in our world.

How good it is to know that there is something that can’t be snatched away in this world – you.  If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you are unsnatchable. You are not up for grabs because He’s got you in His almighty hands. His loving grip on you cannot be broken.

What’s more, God the Father is also holding you in His hand. God the Father and the Son, who are one, share in a covenant of love to save you from damnation, to hold on to you forever, and bring you safely to Paradise. You are unsnatchable.

The reason for this absolute certainty is that there’s nothing human in it. It is made of nothing from this world – it’s all divine – divine power and love that cannot change or be broken into.  

It’s not for lack of trying! All kinds of forces are at work to sink their teeth into you to pull you away from the Shepherd’s grip.

Jesus spoke of wolves who come to snatch and scatter the sheep. (John 10:12)  They can’t succeed with those who truly believe, but they sure try! Wolves are false teachers who try to deceive you with heresies. They tell you that you are great and Jesus came to make you even better than you already are.

Jesus also said the devil comes around trying to snatch the word away from our hearts. Satan hates the word of God because it is the Truth. He tries his utmost to keep you away from the word and the word away from you. We must resist him standing firm in our faith and as we fight back, we rest in the promise that the word of God lives in us as God’s imperishable seed.

Incredibly, even we can work against our own unsnatchability! The power of sin which still lives in us fights against Jesus’ tight hold on us. We want freedom from Him to sin. Even as His sheep, we are prone to wander away from our Shepherd and look for a better life in pastures of poisonous weeds that will kill us.

• We flirt with sexual immorality.
• We drift into spiritual laziness by neglecting sincere Bible reading and prayer, and easily skipping worship services.
• We climb the pedestal of proud self-reliance and foolishly put our confidence in ourselves, weak sheep that we are.
• We oppose the Spirit of our Shepherd by giving bitterness and lovelessness more and more place in our hearts. 

But the Good Shepherd’s hold on us is far greater than our sin! He intercedes for us so that our faith will not fail so that we will return to Him who is our Safety. (see Luke 22:32)

The strong arms of Jesus: in a world of so much uncertainty, this is the blessed place to be!

Our unsnatchability has nothing to do with the character of the sheep and everything do with the character of the Shepherd. He is powerful, good and faithful. He lay down His life for you and He who paid such a price for you does not abandon you.

God is greater than all that opposes you – even when that opposition is you.

Knowing this makes all the difference in our lives. It helps us handle uncertainty, disruption, cancellations, and loss, with patience and peace. Let us show our frightened world that Jesus is truly the Man for all Seasons. He is the Place to be, now and always. He is unshakable, unbreakable, and unyielding.   

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

The Fix is in – or is it?

Governments around the world have been stepping into the COVID-19 pandemic with emergency measures. Restaurants, schools, worship services, travel, sports, entertainment, tourism and businesses have been shut down in one of the largest ever worldwide economic shutdowns.

Businesses and families are reeling from the impact. Now governments are stepping up to fund the collapsing global economy with huge injections of cash. The G20 leaders have committed to spend $7,000,000,000,000.00 ($7 trillion) on their economies.

The US government, for example, is providing a whopping $2.2 trillion for its families, businesses, and hospitals! Canada’s government is supplying $75 billion to our economy, with an allowance of up to $107 billion. This includes a guaranteed income of $2,000.00 per month for the next four months to every Canadian who lost a job due to lay-off, social isolation, or helping a sick family member.

In a recent article, Gwynne Dyer referred to Economist Milton Friedman who called this “helicopter money.” A government can reboot the economy by flying over its penniless consumers and throwing out free money. [Gwynne Dyer, “Don’t scare anyone just yet, but universal basic income is coming,” London Free Press, March 27, 2020]

This way we can avoid another great depression and soon the economy can go back to roaring. In just a few months life will be back to normal again. We can continue pursuing our dreams of cash and happiness. One man responded: “Who needs God when you’ve got the government?!”

Now, I respect the government’s responsibility to give special help to its citizens in crisis. I do not think it was wrong for Pharaoh to take special measures to protect Egypt in the 7 years of famine. I believe Joseph acted properly when he helped Pharaoh prepare and provide for Egypt’s citizens in hard times.

But as Christians, we should all be concerned about this helicopter money fix.

First, where does this money come from? It comes from the taxpayer, eventually. It’s borrowed. It’s added to our skyrocketing national debts which are now, before the stimulus, $785 billion in Canada, plus $2.28 trillion in consumer debt (mortgages included). The USA carries a national debt of $23 trillion plus personal consumer debt of $14 trillion. Eventually, we will have to pay whether through taxes or spending cuts or inflation or all of the above. But more likely we can’t pay.  

Second, it exposes a moral issue: we are living way beyond our means. Very few of us have personal savings to pay our bills for 1 month, let alone 4 months ahead. The average Canadian worker saves $850 per year for every $50,000 earned, yet carries a standing balance of $4,500 in credit card debt. When a crisis comes we think somebody else should pay if we can’t. And the government is all too happy to function as our deliverer.  

Are we willing to learn from this our responsibility to set aside 10% – 20% of our income to save for a rainy day and do our part in preparing for a crisis? He who gathers in summer is wise…and he who gathers little by little will make it grow (says Proverbs 10:5 and 13:11)

If we don’t do due diligence in saving we fall prey increasingly to a socialist mindset of expecting big government to sponsor us from womb to tomb. By taking on such huge national debt we allow our government to control our future wealth.

Thirdly, my biggest concern is the fundamental belief in our secular culture; that we can fix this problem – and all problems – with money. If we can get the economy up and running again all is well. Life can continue as before. Things can go back to normal. We can all be happy again.

Is this really what we want? Don’t we hear God calling us to stop putting our trust in the economy, in the government, and in our own strength? By bringing the whole world, even its superpowers, to its knees with a virus, God is calling for a deeper fix than money. He is looking for humility, for repentance, for spiritual revival and a return to God.

He doesn’t want us to waste this crisis by taking our fallen gods and putting them back up on the wall again. He is calling us to fall down before Jesus, to plead His mercy, and to seek forgiveness for our rebellion and arrogance.

Then God will send true renewal to our lives and land. He will raise us up again in new life to devote our lives to loving God above all and our neighbour as ourselves.

In times like these we may need an injection of cash in responsible amounts to stabilize the economy. But, far more, we need to turn to Jesus Christ for forgiveness and new life. He is the true fix our whole world needs.

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

Freed from Slavery to the Fear of Death

I remember a time in my life when I was scared to death of dying. How would I die? What would happen to me after I died? Where would I spend eternity?

What about you: are you afraid to die? I have good news for you: God has a way of escape.

The Bible says that when Jesus died on the cross, He destroyed the devil who holds the power of death and freed those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. (see Hebrews 2:14-15)

The fear of death makes us slaves. All people, even the most convinced atheists, know they will one day die and have to give an account to God their Creator for all their sins.  

The fear of death makes us slaves. We can’t face death. We have to keep the thought of death away from us, so we try denial, distractions, drugs, defiance, indifference, or anything else that will keep it away. Fear of death is a prison that destroys our freedom to live authentically.

We work overtime to keep death away.

Then God comes along and gets in our way with a death scare. Cancer. Or the Coronavirus. We read death stats day after day after day. As of today, 23,647 deaths from the coronavirus and counting. Worldwide, 53,039 new cases today. How many of these will die? We don’t know but Death stalks the planet. It always does. Now a new death threat has been added and it’s in your face.

102 years ago the Spanish Flu stalked the globe.  Our best estimate is around 50 million people were killed by this Grim Reaper. 50,000 Canadians died. 675,000 Americans. Somewhere between 12 million and 17 million deaths in India from the Spanish flu.

These figures are staggering. The Spanish flu preyed especially on 20-40 year-olds. What fright gripped the globe at that time. If you weren’t dead you were mourning.  

In a way viruses are even more scary today. Viruses can get on a plane and cross the world in a day.

We can discuss causes of the disease. No one knows where the Spanish flu began, most likely not in Spain. We know the COVID-19 outbreak began in China. But, whatever human factors and errors are involved, ultimately, God is in control of all things and has a purpose for this. The Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all.  (Psalm 103:19)

One of the things God is doing with it is pushing the reality of death to the front of our consciousness. Life is terminal and we must realize it. We must deal with it. God in His great mercy is sounding the alarm so that we face death squarely, that we look for a way of escape, and find freedom from the fear of death.

But what is the way of escape? The way of escape is not escapism – hiding in refuges made of lies, like drugs, denial, distractions, defiance. The only real way of escape is Jesus Christ.

God sent His Son, Jesus, to earth and made Him a real human being just like us. Jesus became man so that He could die. Jesus stepped into our death and eternal suffering. This is God’s great gift of love: Jesus took on Himself our suffering and death to give His life to those who are headed for death.

Everyone who believes in Jesus is truly free from death. Through faith in Jesus, your death sentence was put on Him, and His life is given to you instead. Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live even though he dies. Whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. (John 11:25-26)

What freedom we have in Jesus:

First, you are set free from death. Your soul will go to Jesus immediately when you die, and one day He will raise your decomposed body too – immortal and forever strong.

Second, you are set free from the fear of death. You are free to face it, accept it, and even mourn it as the last enemy that has been defeated and destroyed by Christ Jesus for you.

Third, you are set free from slavery to the fear of death. You can leave your prison of denial or defiance. You can live in peace and hope. You can face the issues of life authentically, without pretending, and in hope, without despairing.

Jesus makes you safe. He makes life safe. He makes disaster and sickness safe. He makes death safe for you. Without Him, death is forever. But if you belong to Him, life is forever.