Last week, I wrote that I hoped that we would not return to “normal” as we transition out of this COVID19 pandemic.
This week, you may have heard a news story on Kinship Christian Radio that about two-thirds of American Christians believe that God is using this situation to tell people to change how they live.
Salem Radio News reported that a recent poll by the University of Chicago Divinity School and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research “found that 31% of Americans who believe in God feel strongly that the virus is a sign of God telling humanity to change, with the same number feeling that somewhat.”
Well, HALLELUJAH!
Digging a little deeper on the AP-NORC website, the poll also found that among those with a religious affiliation, 61% are now doing things like looking after their neighbors versus 39% who were doing those things prior to pandemic.
So, not only do Christians believe God is telling them that they should change how they live, they are actually putting that belief into action and doing so!
Again, HALLELUJAH!
In yet another corner of the internet, I found another group called The Joshua Fund that conducted a similar poll and reported “A stunning 44.3% of poll respondents said they believe the coronavirus and resulting economic meltdown is a “wake up call for us to turn back to faith in God,” signs of “coming judgment,” or both.”
The same group also says, “Fully one-in-five non-Christians (21.5%) polled said the crisis is causing them to start reading the Bible and listen to Bible teaching and Christian sermons online even though they usually don’t, search online to learn more about Bible prophecy and God’s plan for the future of mankind, and have more spiritual conversations with family and friends.”
While we are all familiar with various media reports of how Christianity is shrinking in the United States, what’s buried in the statistics is that while somewhere around 25% (polls vary) of Americans say they have “no religious affiliation” (the “Nones” as they are called) in 2017 Pew Research found that 72% of the “Nones” believe in God, a higher power, or spiritual force.
It’s not that the “Nones” are atheists who flatly deny the existence of God. Pew found only 3.1% of Americans claim to be actual atheists. (2014 study) No, the “Nones” are, by and large, people who are still open to the possibility of God but have not yet fully found Him in all His glory.
And THAT’s where you and Kinship Christian Radio come in. Now is the time to engage friends, relatives, coworkers and any human being with a soul in genuine, heartfelt, loving conversations about Jesus Christ.
Please understand that I am not talking about standing in a shopping mall and handing out tracts. I’m talking about praying that the Holy Spirit would open doors for those conversations through genuine, natural, caring acts of love and compassion.
There are a lot of people out there who need the love of Jesus Christ more than ever. There are people who work with the public every day and live in fear of catching the virus. There are people who don’t know how they are going to make it through this. There are people isolated and lonely. There are people so in need of a friend, of some form of human interaction, they are suffering with physical symptoms. There are people who need a miracle.
There are people in need of you.
It’s time for an outpouring of love, support, encouragement, and joy in realizing the blessings we do have. It’s time to be willing to give that cool cup of water, to feed and clothe the poor and the widows and orphans, to wash the feet of sinners.
It time for the Church to truly be the body, the hands and feet, of Jesus Christ.
It’s time to rejoice that God has awakened people and given us all the opportunity for repentance and revival.
HALLELUJAH!
Today’s Praise
For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation. 2 Corinthians 6:2 (NLT)