Fear, Faith, and Coronavirus
Photo: Yahoo! News Singapore (LightRocket via Getty Images)
There is a state of fear in people of many countries – countries which are far from the epicentre of the 2019-nCoV epidemic (also known as Coronavirus Disease 2019 or COVID-19) in Wuhan and Hubei Province, China. People scan the news media frequently (sometimes every few minutes) to see the latest tally of infected cases and death – as though one was following the Olympics medals tally. Fear is visceral and irrational, and some would rather believe the latest rumours or fake news than follow reputable websites or official announcements. Fear leads to mass hysteria, like hoarding of food and even toilet papers!
To deal with our fear of the outbreak, let us ask ourselves a few questions.
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To read the entire article by Dr Alex Tang, EAST Adjunct Faculty, click here. Thank you.
God is Our Deliverer
A song based on Psalm 91 to remind us TODAY that the Lord is our only refuge, our tower of strength, and our safety amidst this challenging season.
To hear the song, click the picture below.
Design by Blessed Ong.
What is Love?
There’s a lot of confusion about the meaning of love these days. In some recent weddings, I’ve heard couples close their vows with the phrase, “as long as we both shall love.” That’s quite a shift from “as long as we both shall live.” Such a change moves marital commitments away from decisions of the will to decisions of the heart.
By defining love in almost exclusively emotional terms, popular culture has tended to ignore or even exclude any elements of truth, righteousness, and volition. This is dangerous for many reasons, first and foremost, because according to 1 John 4:8, God’s very essence is love. To misunderstand love, then, is to misunderstand God.
God’s Faithfulness and Protection
“But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.” ~ 2 Thessalonians 3:3 (NIV)
The Lord will never let us down! His love surrounds and overshadows us in this challenging season. He is faithful in protecting us against our enemies.
Design by Blessed Ong.
Coronavirus and Chinese New Year
Man with mask and murals in Singapore’s Chinatown. Photo: AFP/SCMP
On 23 January 2020, Singapore health ministry confirmed its first coronavirus case with a 66-year-old man from Wuhan, China, who arrived in Singapore with his family on Monday, 20th. By 1 February, there were 18 cases, all imported. The Ministry of Health subsequently and swiftly prohibited visitors from Hubei Province (29 January) and Mainland China (1 February).
During this Chinese New Year season, please do pray for wisdom and speed as the authorities discover the cases, does the contact tracing, and track/isolate those that are closely connected with existing cases. Pray too for all residents to maintain good hygiene to prevent local transmissions from happening.
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