Monthly Archives: April 2020

Love Deeply from the Heart, April 27, 2020

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

Like most of the world, I’ve been reading different stories about the current crisis. Various news outlets and social media present very different views of happenings. What I know is things are not the same as they were a few months ago. We don’t really know what the future holds. All we know is it won’t be the same.

Some discuss the fact that we have 30,000 – 40,000 deaths a year from the flu, and no one talks about it. And yes, we’ve only had 50,000 COVID 19 deaths…so far…in seven weeks. But we are far from over before COVID 19 decides to quit finding its victims in this first wave. This novel coronavirus is not typical flu. We will lose a lot more people around the world, no matter what we do.

The news about our economy is also real, though. The longer we keep our businesses closed, the more desperate we will become. Job loss. Government debt stacking up to recession and possibly depression levels. Fear and anxiety are growing with every passing day.

How do we handle it all? Let me share some words Peter wrote in a letter to new Christians facing the wrath of the Roman emperor looking to extinguish any religion that did not recognize him as part of its pantheon of gods.

If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.

He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God. Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God. (1 Peter 1:17-23 NIV)

This new Christian faith faced the possibility of extinction. The Roman government saw mystic religions as a threat to their authority. They deemed Christianity, Judaism, and many other religions of the day as mystics and wanted them out of the way. We see a glimpse of the Roman brutality from the crucifixion, the games in the Colosseum, the blood lust that permeated the nation. And that blood lust pointed to these new Christian believers.

The early church by this time began to meet privately in homes, caves, catacombs, out of the way places to avoid the eyes of the Roman army. The church grew under heavy persecution. But as you can imagine, the growth came at a price. The church felt grief at the loss of some of its members. And the deaths occurred quickly and brutally—torturous deaths as spectacles for the pagan Roman authorities.

Families mourned the deaths, but often could not be present, and many could not bury their loved ones properly, or they would suffer the same fate. The church gathered in small groups to encourage each other, but they could not meet openly, for fear of discovery, and summary execution.

It reminds me a lot of what is happening today. We don’t have the persecution in this country that the early Christians had. But we find ourselves isolated from each other. Some of our friends, neighbors, and family members find themselves alone in hospitals fighting a disease about which we know very little.

We hide behind closed doors and separate ourselves to avoid the reach of the disease as much as the early Christians hid themselves to avoid the Roman soldiers. We don’t have answers for the reason this plague has come upon the world, but we see the suffering that so many must endure.

Death touches so many households, and when it does, the victims face it alone. Those left behind then grieve alone. The comfort we usually find in the relationships we build in our lifetime are not there to wrap arms around us. It seems we must suffer alone.

Yet we don’t. We are fortunate to live in an age in which technology joins us. We can reach out and engage others through social media that can also be such a detriment in our lives if we do not use it carefully. Churches and individuals are finding new ways to use the media plagued by bullies, disreputable characters, child molesters, pornography, the list is endless. But that same media can be used by God for good. We can turn it around and spread the message of Jesus to those who might never come through the door of a church. But they will listen to an interesting discussion or podcast. They will spend time exploring ideas that will help them through life’s journey. People will cling to rays of hope in times like these that appear hopeless on the outside.

The church will not be the same when this is over. Already, church leaders discuss what the next generation of church will look. Many will be afraid to come indoors and sit shoulder to shoulder as we have in the past. The risk of spreading an uncontained virus is too high. Limiting attendance, seating by families and spreading them out, conducting multiple services to accommodate the number of people desiring to come, escorts from the entrance to seats to the exit, monitors to ensure separation safety. We don’t know what church will look like in the next months, but it will not be what it was in January and February.

It’s an excellent time to think about what church means and the mission of the church. What did Peter tell the church in his letter? Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. I think that means more than lip service. It’s more than words. It means letting God use our hands and feet to demonstrate his love to a community desperate for hope in these trying times. Now is the best time to exercise that love. Show someone you really care about them – today.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible-based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

Scriptures marked NIV are taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV): Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™. Used by permission of Zondervan

A Pandemic of Love and Grace, April 20, 2020

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Today’s Podcast

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

We have a phenomenon going on across the country and around the world that baffles me in some ways. I’m sure it depends partly on how much you trust the news, social media, and other sources of information. It also depends on where you live and how this pandemic touches people you might know. But there is a significant segment of the population that thinks the novel coronavirus is no big deal. They wonder why we are disrupting our lives so much and taking such extraordinary measures for something that so far in this country seems like a nasty flu epidemic.

Of course, when you try to explain the properties of a pandemic and how they spread to those unbelievers, they wish it away and tell you you’re crazy. They don’t want to believe the catastrophe that is happening in New York City or Baton Rouge or Italy or Spain or many other places around the world. More than two million people have died, as of this podcast, that have been identified as coronavirus victims. Scientists tell us more died of the disease, but the dead are not tested.

The social separation states imposed works. In this country, when people work hard to enforce the rules for separation to curb the spread, it seems to be working. Cases are down. Hospital beds are available. Death rates are lower than in other places around the country and the world. Breaking the chain works. But there will continue to be those who doubt what the leaders enforced.

Our economy is in shambles right now after just a month of isolation. That shows you just how fragile this global system has become. When we close our doors for just thirty days, we fall apart as a nation. How much longer can we sustain the separation and closures to allow the virus to burn itself out in this first wave to enable us to find cures for it? I’m not sure.

We already have an increasing number of suicides, domestic violence, hungry children, and the list goes on in the most vulnerable parts of our population. Those on the fringe of society are clearly at the highest risk during pandemics, and this one appears no different.

Still, some doubt the reality of what is happening around us. The coronavirus is a hoax, they say. It’s a ploy to gain power by one political party or the other, they say. It’s a means of getting rid of a race of people I heard one doubter of the pandemic say. Some of the comments I hear and read flabbergast me. I don’t know where they get their ideas.

The doubt in the beginning, though, I understand. I think many of us thought the coronavirus was only a news item when we first heard about the epidemic in Wahun, China. Only when it reached the nursing home in Washington state did many begin to realize the jeopardy of the situation. And only when New York City’s hospitals and morgues begin to overflow did we come to understand the danger the country faced and begin to take active measures to slow the spread of the disease.

Doubt. The same doubt Thomas had when the other disciples told him Jesus appeared to them behind locked doors the night of the resurrection. We don’t understand how he suddenly appeared or what kind of physics allowed it to happen. But we know they could touch him. He could eat and drink. They could hear him speak, and he could hear them talk. But Thomas wasn’t there. He didn’t see it and wouldn’t believe it. John tells us the story.

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.”

Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” (John 20:19, 24-29 NIV)

Thomas wouldn’t believe unless he saw Jesus himself. Some don’t want to believe what is happening with the pandemic unless it happens to them or someone they know personally. We have this big issue with trust sometimes that keeps us from realizing our full potential with God and others. Faith is a crucial part of life. Without faith, we cannot survive. It allows us to walk out the door and get in our car believing we will not be hit by another motorist when we drive down the street. It allows us to go to work, believing we will be paid for our labor. It keeps us motivated to raise our children, believing they will grow to become productive adults.

Faith is critical in our everyday lives. It is also vital in our spiritual lives. Faith for Thomas, and us, means believing in the truth that Jesus is alive. He rose from the dead, not as a disembodied spirit, but as a physical, touchable, breathing person. We don’t understand the physics that let him appear and disappear as the narratives tell us. We don’t understand the physics that let him feed more than 5,000 with a boy’s lunch. We don’t understand a lot of things. But we can exercise faith and believe.

Just as we can believe the devastation that the pandemic creates around the world without being in the middle of it, if you live in a part of the country or part of the world that has so far been only mildly touched by it, we can believe Jesus rose from the dead.

It was the disciples’ witness that gave them the courage to share the message of the resurrection. But it was the faith of the hearers of the message that continues to spread the message. Like the pandemic we see in our world today, there are a couple of truths we can learn. We don’t have to catch it to know it’s real. We can see it’s evidence around us.

The same is true of God’s grace. It doesn’t take a believer to see God’s grace, but experiencing God’s grace makes so much difference and solidifies the knowledge of his grace in our lives so we can never forget it.

Second, like the social distancing in our current pandemic, if we fail to share his love with those around us, how will his love spread? But live a virus, when we touch others with his love, he has a way of sparking love in them, and then one becomes two and two becomes four, and suddenly, we can see a pandemic of his love and grace when we exercise faith and spread his grace to those around us.

A New Pandemic, April 13, 2020

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Today’s Podcast

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

It seems like all we hear about these days is the coronavirus. 80% or more of the news stories talk about it. Conversations on the phone or in emails or wherever you might find yourself (at home, hopefully), continually focus on the dreaded little organism that begins to touch so many lives around the world.

Unfortunately, the crisis isn’t over by a long-shot. The scientists tell us the first wave might be slowing in some parts of the world, but there will be another wave that comes through, and in the United States, we haven’t seen the peak of our first wave yet. The numbers seem to climb relentlessly. It is the way of pandemics.

My podcast today is starting to sound like a lot of gloom and doom, I know. But there is good news ahead, I promise. We can compare this pandemic to others that have torn through the world and see that many have been far worse. The Spanish flu killed an estimated 25 million people in 1918 and 1919. The Black Plague took away about 25% of the total population. Smallpox wiped out entire tribes when introduced into communities without immunities.

We hear more about this one because of our instant global communications. And don’t get me wrong, the numbers of people affected by the current crisis are enormous, but we misuse the word unprecedented. Pandemics have happened before and on a greater scale than we’ve seen so far. Partly, because we understand the mechanisms by which viruses spread, and we are taking precautions through social distancing, wearing some protective gear, disinfecting high touchpoints, and so forth. We are battling the bug, and although it may look like we are losing in many areas, we really are doing a much better job than in decades and centuries past. Keep up the rules the CDC has given, and we will get through this.

The best news today, though, comes from the correlation I find from the pandemic and the Easter message. You see, as I mentioned before, pandemic comes from a Greek word that means all people. And that’s who Jesus came to save. Listen to a short sermon Peter gave to a group of people gathered in a Roman centurion’s house in Caesarea. It’s found in the book of Acts, Chapter 10.

Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ–he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:34-43 NIV)

The coronavirus shows no partiality. It doesn’t care what country you call home. It doesn’t care about your race or religion or socioeconomic position. You can’t buy your way away from it. You can’t wish your way out of it. Pandemics are indiscriminate in their advance through communities. Pandemics, like the word implies, affects all people.

Jesus came to change the lives of all people. In his words, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16 NIV) Whoever is all-inclusive. No one is left out.

Peter reiterates that message when he says, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” Peter’s message to Cornelius and all of us reminds us that Jesus came for all of us. He does not discriminate. Regardless of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, nationality, political party, or any other characteristic that seems to divide us, Jesus accepts everyone who believes in him for forgiveness for their sins. His redemption encompasses all believers everywhere.

I would so like to see a different pandemic in our world today, not one that causes fear and illness and death. I don’t want to experience another pandemic that takes the lives of thousands or causes us to continue our social separation. I’m not anxious to go through another crisis that causes our medical systems to collapse and panic to race through our societies.

The pandemic I’d like to experience, remember the Greek word meaning all people, is one in which we all understand Jesus is Lord, repent, and follow him. Can you imagine what kind of world that would be if it happened? No more theft. No more lying. No more deceit. The covetousness that drives people to destroy others to gain their own wealth would stop. Drug addicts would find healing because drug pushers would quit their businesses. All the illegal activities across the world would come to an end. People would care for each other and show God’s love toward each other. Can you imagine such a place? Can you imagine a pandemic like that? It’s that prayer Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” – a pandemic of God’s will here and now.

Stay safe and may God bless you richly.

Pray, Believe, Act, April 6, 2020

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Today’s Podcast

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

If you keep your eyes and ears glued to the news, things seem a little hopeless right now, don’t they? The number of people infected by SARS-CoV-2 or novel coronavirus or COVID 19 or whatever name you want to call the tiny creature that is raising havoc among the population keeps growing with seemingly no end in sight.

It gets a little scary when you have kids that depend on you for food and shelter. It gets a bit scary when you know you have comorbidities that could put you at significantly higher risk for what victims describe as a horrible time if you catch it. It shakes us a little when we hear conflicting information from our city, state, and federal officials. Then there are all the anecdotal stories on Facebook and Instagram and the rest of the social media outlets. We sometimes don’t know what to believe.

Some say stay put and slow the spread so the healthcare system can keep up with the spread. Some say go back to work, so our economy doesn’t implode and drives us into a recession that makes the final outcome worse. Some say it doesn’t matter what we do because the end of the world is here, so don’t sweat it.

What are we to believe in this pandemic? What are we to do? How should we act as Christians?

The current debates between politicians, healthcare workers, economists, epidemiologists, and others remind me of what happened during Holy Week 2000 years ago in a little village called Bethany just a few miles outside of Jerusalem.

Jesus went to visit his friends Lazarus, and his sisters Mary and Martha. You’ll remember Lazarus. The guy whose corpse spent four days stinking up a tomb before Jesus raised him from the dead. Jesus and his disciples were having dinner with Lazarus and his sisters, and a crowd began to gather. John says some came to see Jesus, but some came to see Lazarus, the dead guy walking. But I want you to hear the end of that story as John describes it. It’s in chapter twelve of the story he wrote of Jesus’ life and ministry.

When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus. (John 12:9-12 NIV)

We’re in this debate about what we should do as the pandemic stretches across the country. Should we continue social separation? Should we go back to work like nothing is happening? Should we do something between the two? Should we listen to the CDC and stay home? Should we get the economy back on track before Easter? What should we do in the middle of this crisis?

I know a lot of people suffer right now. I look at the hospital census in places like New York City, San Francisco, and Detroit and see doctors having to choose between who lives and who dies because there isn’t enough equipment to take care of everyone. It was reminiscent of Italy and China just days and weeks ago.

We still have shortages, not only of vital medical equipment and supplies but of food and things those on the margins of life need for survival. How do we continue to ensure they have the necessary support when businesses close and we live in a day when so many live from paycheck to paycheck. What happens when the paychecks stop? The $1200 or $2400 that may come in the mail doesn’t go very far these days, and then what? And the small sum that is coming adds $2 trillion to our out of control national debt. That’s another $5,300 every American owes on top of the $48,000 every American already owed to pay off the mortgage Congress has given us.

The Pharisees voted to kill Jesus and Lazarus so they could keep their positions of power. The common Jews voted for Jesus so they could understand the power and authority Jesus demonstrated in his words. The Pharisees understood God as the giver of prosperity and position. Their national pride came from him. Jesus knew God as the one who calms the storm, the peacemaker, the healer, the giver of life.

I would not want to be in any of our leaders’ position today. They have no-win jobs right now. No matter what decision they make, it will be wrong for hundreds and thousands of people. Whether they choose to keep us sheltered in place or put everyone back to work, all of us will be affected in ways that are detrimental to individuals and the country. Pandemics are no-win situations; they always have been. Pandemic comes from a Greek word that means all people. It affects everyone. All of us will be touched.

So what does that mean for Christians when any decision detrimentally affects many of those around you?

First, we need to pray for our leaders. Pray for them as you have never prayed before. It doesn’t matter what side of the political spectrum you fall. It doesn’t matter who you voted for or who you like as a candidate now. No one, party, race, religion, gender, age, ethnic group, no one is exempt from what we face. The people in office must make some very tough decisions; none of us would want on our shoulders because all the decisions carry adverse outcomes. So pray for their wisdom and divine guidance.

Second, let Christ into your life and learn more about him through experience. He is our hope, our peace, our calm in the middle of this storm. Read about his life from the authors that lived with him. Read John and Luke and Mark and Matthew again and again, and understand the resurrection power Jesus wants to share with those who believe in him. He is our hope in this crisis. If you don’t know him as your savior, you can start with a simple prayer. Acknowledge your need; believe in his power to forgive your sins; declare him as Lord and Leader of your life from this point on. Mean those words, and he will enter your heart and life. He will make you into a new person.

Third, when you can do something for someone in these crisis times, no matter how small it might seem, do it. We can be a blessing to others and show Jesus’ love for us by showing his love to others.

One day all this will be in the past. Our grandchildren and their grandchildren will remember it only as a little piece of history. What we do as God’s children will make it a tale filled with heroic and loving stories or stories filled with only pain and agony. It’s our choice in how we allow God to work through us to make the difference.

Stay safe and may God bless you.