Well, today's video was precipitated by a call that I received from a dear Singaporean friend named Elijah Wajaya.

Before I get to that, I want to give some perspective because his call was really a call about the coronavirus COVID-19.

And in essence, his call was a call to action for the body of Christ.

But before I get into that, let me give you some perspective. In terms of world

history, the novel coronavirus pales by comparison to pandemics of the past. Think, for example,

smallpox. During the 18th century, smallpox took the lives of some 400,000 Europeans each and every year.

In fact, smallpox accounted for a third of all blindness.

And in the 20th century, smallpox was responsible for a staggering 300 to 500 million deaths.

As recently as 1967, some 15 million people contracted smallpox and 2 million of them died.

It wasn't until December of 1979 that the World Health Organization finally certified its eradication.

Of course, many more examples could be given. I think of the Black Death, 200 million people died.

And then 100 years ago, the Spanish flu that took the lives of 50 millions of

people. And as of this video, the coronavirus has taken the lives of some 20,000 worldwide,

including between 6 and 700 in the United States of America.

Now, I'm rattling off these statistics for one very significant reason. And that is to provide you with some perspective, because as serious as the

present pandemic is, we desperately need perspective. When you're in the middle of something,

it's hard to gain perspective. And not only so, but while trillions of government assistance may well be needed,

what is far more acutely needed is for you and I to turn our hearts and our hopes toward God.

Because ultimately, it is God not government that holds the answer to our futures not only in this life, but in the life that is to come.

And as I said, all of this is but prologue to an important call I received yesterday morning.

The call again was from Elijah Wajaya. He's the very person to whom I dedicated my book,

Truth Matters, Life Matters More, the unexpected beauty of an authentic Christian life. In fact, it was Elijah who first put this title into my heart and into my mind.

...