If I take the Covid-19 vaccine, am I accepting the mark of the Beast mentioned in Revelation 13? Kanye West thinks so. The rapper, now an outspoken Christian, suggested in a July 2020 interview with Forbes Magazine that the Covid-19 vaccine might include the mark of the Beast referenced in Revelation 13:11-18. Whether you have read the Bible or not, you are likely familiar with the “mark of the Beast,” 666, from references in pop…
According to psychologists, more than three in five Americans report feeling lonely, and that number has been rising. Zlatin Ivanov, MD, a New York-based psychiatrist, says that, even in the best of circumstances, “Social isolation in most cases would bring the negative effect of loneliness, anxiety, and sometimes depression.” And social distancing during the pandemic has created the perfect hothouse for nurturing lonely, depressed people. And now that we have reached the holidays, it might…
On Monday, November 2, a member of our church staff began having allergy-like symptoms. No worries. She had simple seasonal respiratory issues in the past. But on Tuesday, she was worse. On Wednesday, she was suffering. And on Thursday, she tested positive for Covid-19. Her end of this story is one of isolation, frustration, and sickness. After fever, aches, nausea, alarming respiratory distress, and two trips to the ER, she is on the mend. But…
In the last few weeks, educational institutions at all levels have announced their plans for students to return, or not return, to in-person instruction, remote learning options, or some hybrid of the two. And all over America parents of school-aged kids are either cringing or celebrating. It’s the same for college students. Confused, crying, or singing. It all depends on what their institution decided to do this fall. Stay home and receive instruction remotely, come…
For all the stress and strain caused by closing schools and shifting education to the dinner table, it may have also opened the eyes of many parents. That is, there is a reason that around 4% of American parents so far have chosen homeschooling, and, even before the pandemic, the numbers continued to rise. But that doesn’t sit well with a group of secular academics with a progressive agenda. Elizabeth Bartholet, Harvard’s Wasserstein public interest…
In 2007 Halle Berry appeared on “Oprah” and candidly shared her struggles to have a child, and she reflected on her fresh interest in motherhood. She explained that while portraying a mother in the film “Things We Lost In the Fire,” she became convinced that motherhood was for her. She said the role “validated that I was meant to be a mother because every day I dealt with the character as a mother and thinking…
Mark Palenske, pastor of Greers Ferry First Assembly of God Church in Arkansas, and his wife, Dena, were sick with Covid-19 for two weeks. Dena was hospitalized for several days but is recovering at home as of March 25. Even before the virus struck him and 34 members of his congregation, Palenske took the warnings seriously and suspended services at the church. Even so, the virus spread. Tuesday, March 24, one of their beloved members,…
When the coronavirus began to spread and churches joined their communities in reluctantly “social distancing,” we all shuddered just a bit with Easter just a few weeks away. Would we be able to enter our sanctuaries again for Easter Sunday? Even President Trump acknowledged this critical benchmark. Tuesday, March 24, during a Fox News virtual townhall, Trump affirmed that he “would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter.”…
Despite government requests for churches to participate in “social distancing,” Florida Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne declined to suspend services at his church, The River. Howard-Browne encouraged his congregants to greet one another at the March 15 service. “Well I know they don’t want us to do this, but just turn around and greet two, three people,” he said. “Tell them you love them, Jesus loves them.” He asserted that he had no intention of closing his…
People panic. It’s what we do. And, well, if the Covid-19 pandemic is any indication, we’re pretty good at it. To us, every crisis seems devastating and frightening. Like a fresh wound, it’s a focused, fervent time that consumes our attention. So sometimes we forget that the first crisis happened almost as soon as the sun had risen on human history. Adam and Eve had it good. Real good. If there had been a stock…