The Book Matrix: Transcript - The good that came from Coronavirus

Author: The Book Matrix
Title: The Good that Came from Coronavirus
Plot: A review of all the good things that have happened due to Coronavirus

Listen to "The Good that came from the Coronavirus [14 Mins]" on Spreaker.

Full Transcript
Hey, welcome back!

My job has me talking to people from all over the world. And so I notice that some people are trying to take this Coronavirus situation as positively as possible, while it's wearing others down. You can hear it in their voices and it's showing up in their attitudes. And so I thought I would take a moment to consider all the good that has come from this. I know it's hard to believe, but quite a bit of good has come from this situation.

So let's dive in!

The Coronavirus has brought families closer together. Some families have literally moved in with each other and they're eating more meals at home together and discovering they didn't know each other as well as they thought they did. In the digital world in which we live it has become easier than ever to lead double-lives, but with stores closed, sporting events and concerts canceled, suddenly families are acting like families again.

In some cases, people are just now discovering what their kids were learning in school and in some cases that's good, but other folks are alarmed. Particularly because some parents have decided to teach their kids and are confused and questioning the materials. And so this presented an opportunity for parents to not only discover what their kids are learning, but in some cases to challenge it. And that has been... eye opening. I think this will lead to more home-schooling and I think that would be a big blessing on this nation. One could argue that the reason things have gotten darker in the world is because families have been ripped apart. It has become possible for six or seven people to live in the same house and ignore each other completely watching their own TV shows, snap chatting, instagramming and Facebooking their lives away with their friends and even online strangers, while ignoring their family completely.

The food supply was tested and for the most part, even with the extreme world wide demand that we have. We discovered that we can meet that need. And I call that good news! Now I might be speaking just for America on this one, but I haven't heard my friends from other countries complaining that they couldn't find the things they needed so long as they were willing to try two or three different stores.

I actually think it's good and even healthy for people to get away from their churches for a month or two. Because after moving several times I have discovered that the best way to know if you were in a good one is to leave it. We miss the good ones after leaving them, but the bad ones have a way of making us wonder what it was that kept us going there. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say, and you often don't get it until after you walk away from something.

And so in the midst of the peace and quiet, our mind starts revealing the things we ignored for the sake of habit and repetition. If, after being away from your church for two months you find yourself going back, odds are good it was a good one. However, I think there will be more than a few folks who decide maybe it's time to look around for a new church. They discovered they like doing their own personal study, they like teaching and having church in their own home. And so instead of being spoon fed by pastors and bishops, they get to experience the joy of seeking and finding for themselves. I view that as incredibly healthy. And there are more than a few resources on this channel that should help you in that regard.

If you've been missing church, and you haven't been having it because it's closed. You could call your family together and play one of these podcasts. And in an effort to not be self serving I could make recommendations for others: Greg Laurie, Dr. Tony Evans and Joel Osteen all do a great job. You'll of course find links to their websites in the Full Transcript for this message.

Greg Laurie is an evangelist who focuses on leading young people to Christ and so he teaches those who are new or young in the faith, and he's funny.
Dr. Tony Evans is more of a teacher going deeper into the knowledge of the faith, and he's also got a great sense of humor.
And Joel Osteen is an encourager. During difficult times, I find myself listening to his messages and even re-playing them back to back in the same day.

Whenever you find something uplifting there is nothing wrong with listening to it over and over again. I'd rather do that than roll the dice. Sometimes we can try something new and being disappointed. While if we go back to the thing we know to be good, we can listen to that two or three times and strengthen our faith, and it often reveals points that we missed the first time.

And this leads me to another good thing that has happened due to the Coronavirus situation: due to the fear of death people are questioning what is really important in life. They are taking the longer term view of things and asking questions:

Do I need to repent?
Perhaps I might consider improving my relationship with God.
And what areas of my life need work?

And so I would recommend you consider reading the Bible, or playing it on audio. After all, it says faith comes from hearing. So listening isn't cheating. You could trigger an audio Bible and clean your house. It's okay if your mind drifts a little, while you do it. Your mind drifts when you read, too. I actually think that's healthy. Allowing your mind to drift while you read the Bible enables the Holy Spirit to have one conversation with you while you're reading another. For example, I often have sometimes unpleasant flashbacks to a sin I've committed and so I realize that God is reminding me I never confessed it or repented for it. I then take a moment to confess the sin and repent and it puts a permanent end to the flashbacks. So if you're haunted by flashbacks I've just explained how to end them. Take a leap of faith, confess them as a sin, commit to not repeating them, and you'll notice that they don't come back. At least not that one. This is particularly true of the flashbacks that torment us. Usually those mean we need to forgive someone so we can forgive and forget.

I would imagine that social distancing has put a lid on the promiscuity in this nation. Dramatically reducing pre-marital sex and while that might not seem like a good thing for some people, I would imagine that helps our situation in the eyes of God. Meaning that for those people who experienced the fear of death, who repented for their sins, and had the help of the deterrent that comes naturally through social distancing, I suspect that this could lead to real change. And so if you'd like to understand why promiscuity is such a bad thing, then I suggest you listen to my message called the Bible on Soulmates. It makes it abundantly clear. When you understand what really happens during sex, it makes you less likely to disobey God's commands because you realize they suddenly make perfect sense. On my other channel called the Bible Why Guy you can find a message called, Why is it bad to masturbate? I know that doesn't sound particularly enjoyable as far as topics go. But if you've ever heard a message on that topic that didn't convinced you, I assure you that this one stands a very good chance of ending that practice in your life forever!

School shootings can't occur when there are no kids in school. And this leads to the re-evaluation of gun control. While I understand the noble desire to end gun ownership in the United States, I also understand that conditions change and that can change everything. Many of my friends who didn't own guns bought them because they realized that if there is a food shortage they might need to defend themselves and fists just won't due during a famine. If you want a preview into what a famine is like I suggest you listen to Part 5 and 6 of the Ecclesiastical history of the church. Famines are ugly! They lead to levels of horribleness that just to imagine can put you on the verge of vomiting. And so imagine our dismay if gun control had won the day and a famine ensued. And that's still a possibility. Due to restaurant closings around the nation and school suspensions there was an article that said one farmer left 60,000 boxes of food out in the fields because he was decimated by the fall in demand for his product. Americans also fail to consider the deterrent that guns are to foreign countries who know that even if they conquered the American military, they might afterwards have to fight every household in America to take it over. Certainly guns don't solve every problem, but the people who are anxious to give them up don't ask themselves simple questions like:

What would I do during a famine?
What would I do if America was attacked?
And what will I do when I'm ninety years old and too weak to fight with my fists and too frail to deter thieves with my appearance?

I'm not suggesting that school shootings are okay. I'm saying that before you throw away a right that other men and women bled and died for, perhaps you should consider the possibility that tomorrow may look nothing like today. And you could be made to pay for your mistakes in ways that are difficult to imagine.

Sadly, a five minute police response time is often four and a half minutes too late. Just ask the United Kingdom about that. They could speak volumes on that topic. If you think this past month was a bit of time warp, imagine how long five minutes would last if someone was relentlessly pounding on your door and your only means of saving yourself is waiting for the police to show up. And hopefully you had time and the opportunity to make that call.

Incidentally, gun sales rose 400% over the past month. And I suggest you pickup a copy of Rifleman magazine, which every month is filled with stories of people who saved their own life or the life of friends or even strangers using their guns. I know we don't hear about that on the news because that's inconsistent with their agenda. I find it fascinating that the news refuses to cover stories about suicides and streakers at ball games, because they say that such coverage leads to copycat crimes. And yet they cover stories of terrorism and especially school shootings and keep those stories running on replay night and day for weeks and months and years after it's over. Apparently they understand the attention seeking copycat rule when it comes to running naked through stadiums and people taking their own lives. So they draw the line there. But when it comes to the lives of children, they lack sense! I'm sorry, I try not to get political in this channel and I can count on two fingers the number of times that I have, this one included. But some things need to be said.

Again as a result of Coronavirus, Americans are eating more food at home and consequently it's healthier than what they would get at fast food places.

And finally, some people are rising above the doom and gloom and doing good deeds. A man in Utah walked in and donated $1,500 to a restaurant owner. Others are reconciling old damaged relationships because this situation has caused us all to ask: what is really important in life? But we're not just asking the question, we're thinking about it.

And so I suggest you take a minute and consider that: what is really important in life? Is it the number of coats and shoes that you have? the number of friends? What adjustments are you going to make after all of this weirdness ends? And so if you find that you suddenly have some free time on your hands, I suggest you use it wisely while you have it.

Because perhaps the greatest thing that came out of this Coronavirus situation is that it has inserted a crowbar into some stubborn minds and opened some eyes to the fact that tomorrow might look nothing like today. And so we should be grateful for what we have! Rather than carrying pitchforks and demanding change, maybe we should consider the possibility that what we already had was pretty amazing. I have a friend in the Philippines who tells me that because they can't work from home, most of the people in the Philippines are without income. And so therefore he's worried about what they're gonna do when they get hungry. Ladies and Gentlemen we are blessed. Particularly those who live in the United States of America. And so our desire to change what we have that was already really good, might be misplaced.

And that's all folks!

Have a brilliant week!

And y'all come back now! Ya hear?

Podcasts mentioned in this episode

Listen to "The Bible on Soulmates [31 Mins]" on Spreaker.