Coronavirus Outbreak

[Ken]

Just a thought regarding death - it has been estimated that 70,000 people die each day without ever hearing about Jesus. Why is this not a big issue to us Christians compared to concern over a virus that is killing roughly 1,000 a day and will soon become much less ? Seems an eternal perspective on life is very lacking. Yes/No ?

I seriously doubt there are anywhere near that number dying each day who have never heard of Jesus. You would be hard pressed to find any part of the world where there are large numbers of people who have never heard of Christianity or Jesus. That might be the number who have not been directly evangelized by western missionaries. But that doesn't mean they aren't aware of Christianity or haven't heard of Jesus.

[Szdfan]

Louisiana Republican Congressman-elect Luke Letlow just died from Covid. He was 41.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/29/politics ... index.html

[mike]

Reporting on testing, cases, and daily deaths are unreliable until at least next week due to the holidays. Apparently hospitalizations are the best data we have right now as to what is happening with COVID. We continue to see record highs.

[Bootstrap]

Just a thought regarding death - it has been estimated that 70,000 people die each day without ever hearing about Jesus. Why is this not a big issue to us Christians compared to concern over a virus that is killing roughly 1,000 a day and will soon become much less ? Seems an eternal perspective on life is very lacking. Yes/No ?

On average, a little north of 2,500 a day, I think. And hospitals are getting overwhelmed in some places.

Regardless, can't we care both about the majority world and the United States? Can't we give to charities that provide water and food and also want vaccines for everyone threatened by Covid-19, wherever they live? Can't we follow the medical advice given by public health authorities in order to avoid making other people sick and possibly killing someone?

To me, none of that seems opposed to an eternal perspective.

Yes, we can and should shine our lights in ways such as you described. That would be loving our neighbors as ourselves.

That's how I see it.

However, non Christians are involved in these good deeds also but what will these mean if they don't turn to Jesus for their eternal salvation ?

Seems to me when the concerns are primarily on escaping suffering in this life ànd/or doing good works without sharing the Gospel, we don't have an eternal perspective. What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world yet lose his soul ?

Like you, I would like to see more threads discussing spiritual matters, how to reach our neighbors, etc. I don't know that it helps to put these themes in opposition to public health measures. We can discuss both. I wish more this forum were focused on how we, as citizens of another kingdom, live in this world as faithful disciples. Maybe that's just hard to do in a forum?

[Sudsy]

I'm not going to push what I believe should concern a believer most about what really matters but I will point to this site for consideration and if anyone wishes to discuss this more another thread can be made.

https://joshuaproject.net/resources/art ... yone_heard

[Ken]

3903 Covid deaths today in the US.

Today was the worst day experienced by any country during the entire course of this pandemic

https://covidtracking.com/data/charts/us-daily-deaths

[mike]

3903 Covid deaths today in the US.

Today was the worst day experienced by any country during the entire course of this pandemic

https://covidtracking.com/data/charts/us-daily-deaths

Did all those deaths happen on one day, or was some catch-up reporting involved?

[Ken]

3903 Covid deaths today in the US.

Today was the worst day experienced by any country during the entire course of this pandemic

https://covidtracking.com/data/charts/us-daily-deaths

Did all those deaths happen on one day, or was some catch-up reporting involved?

No idea. Yesterday was 3283 but the weekend numbers were much lower. You can look at the data in the link and draw your own conclusions. Tuesday is usually the catch-up day for these data not Wednesday when you look back at previous weeks data.

Either way, today was far and away the worst day of the pandemic in terms of reported deaths.

[Bootstrap]

I'm not going to push what I believe should concern a believer most about what really matters but I will point to this site for consideration and if anyone wishes to discuss this more another thread can be made.

https://joshuaproject.net/resources/art ... yone_heard

Go for it!

[Sudsy]

I'm not going to push what I believe should concern a believer most about what really matters but I will point to this site for consideration and if anyone wishes to discuss this more another thread can be made.

https://joshuaproject.net/resources/art ... yone_heard

Go for it!

My experience so far in my years in a Mennonite church (possibly one of the most involved in seeking the lost outside its ethnic background) is that few faithful church goers have little concern for the millions in this world who have not heard the Gospel. Concern, meaning it is extremely high on the things they care to talk about. As is the case on this forum. Look at all the topics here and see if they show a major interest in reaching the lost. And this is not to pick on Anabaptists as having more worldly concerns than eternal ones as this seems quite common in much of Christianity today.

Regarding a new thread on whether this should be a most major discussion topic, I will leave this up to someone else as, at this point, I suspect this is considered to be just a pet topic and concern of mine and/or a way to criticize modern day Anabaptism. And if this is considered to be a bunny trail from the thread topic I can understand someone viewing it this way. So, that is all I will post here.