The travel restrictions may have been hasty but that has no relevance to this discussion. What does is why we are dealing with the new strain. The nature of a virus is to replicate and mutate. As long as there are new places for it to spread, the more variants you can expect. The problem in places like South Africa is the lack of vaccines which has left the populace exposed to COVID. As long as we have greed deciding who gets the vaccines, we will always be facing strains. That is not an indictment of the vaccines - it is an endorsement of them! If this country ever wants to achieve herd immunity, we will need people like Gary Curtis to shut up and stop spreading disinformation.
"Claiming God's Precious Promises - We live in a fallen world and our bodies are subject to many morbidities, including those known to co-exist with viral infections such as hypertension, COPD, diabetes and "cardio-cerebrovascular diseases." During this pandemic, it seems more may have died with COVID than actually from COVID." - Gary Curtis
Let's first deal with the blithely oblivious statement regarding co-morbidities. Yes, it is true that many COVID deaths resulted from the COVID exposing underlying medical conditions. To pretend somehow that the person did not die from the virus is so medically stupid it is insulting. If Curtis knew this then shame on him and if he was really confused then he should never have written this article. So, imagine someone suffers from asthma and then contracts COVID. The COVID triggers the asthma and in the end the person dies. If the person never contracted the virus they never would haver died but Gary Curtis thinks it is somehow not a COVID related death? How insulting to the dead to parse their lives out in such a way. Do not minimize the disease this way Gary. It is despicable.
'Meanwhile, believers should be encouraged by the promises of temporal healing and immunity, which God gave to Moses and the traveling families of the tribe of Israel as they fled Egypt and its attacking Pharaoh: "If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you" (Exod. 15:26, NKJV). These desert wanderers may have received many healings and multiple miracles but they all eventually died. It was another generation that entered the Promised Land where they too died. Our Ultimate Healing - The rapid development of the current vaccines and medical treatments need to be acknowledged as unprecedented gifts of God's grace. But our ultimate healing may be through the "valley of the shadow of death," as we journey to our eternal home, prepared for us in heaven, by Jesus Himself (John 14:1-3). He urges us to be spiritually alert and prepared for this heavenly hope (Matt. 24:42-44). However, as long as God continues to give us breath in this life experience, we should gratefully claim His healing power and precious promises each day, for He is "the Lord, who heals you.' - Gary Curtis
It is always revealing and heartbreaking to watch compromised Christians trying to defend the indefensible by mangling the bible. So, we ought to be encouraged by God's promises of healing and not get vaccinated? Why? Because the Israelites died in the wilderness due to their own disobedience? That doesn't even make logical sense let alone biblical sense. As for the conclusion I am unclear what Gary Curtis is advocating for? Are we supposed to not get vaccinated and catch this lethal virus because God can heal us? And if He chooses not to in His sovereignty then oh well at least we have the eternal home in heaven waiting? Is that the Christian message now? Should Christian parents refuse to vaccinate their kids from polio, measles and mumps? Just leave it all to God? Wait a minute, Curtis just said that the vaccines need to be correctly attributed to the grace of God and then out of the other side of his mouth he fights for you to not get them and just accept the afterlife if you die? No beloved. Please, it is time for Christians to stop being the stupid people. We have a role in this world and a responsibility to those who are on the outside of salvation looking in. Look at where you are getting your information from. Back away from YouTube, Facebook and random forum posters.
Be safe in the name of Jesus.
Reverend Anthony Wade - December 10, 2021
