Sometimes you see people do and hear them say the most ignorant things. In this ‘bonus blog’ there is a warning as to how we read the Scripture. In this case, people die.

          I have put out a prayer request for Edilia, an 84 year old lady in South Florida whose grandson died in a diving accident a week and a half ago. Edilia contracted COVID, apparently at the grandson’s funeral. The day after the diagnosis, she died. So, first we had prayer for the family concerning the grandson. Then, prayer for Edilia as she had just been diagnosed. And then for the family on her death. Such a sad, sad story of a family that is buried in grief.

          However, as Paul Harvey would say, stay tuned for the rest of the story.

          Let me say, if you are opposed to being vaccinated, that is your business. Our government has no business telling you what to do. Remember, this is the government that is allowing hundreds and hundreds of people to die in Afghanistan even as you read this, so when they tell us we need to be vaccinated and we need to wear masks, it is easy to disbelieve what they say. Maybe you are opposed to the vaccination because you don’t know what is in it. (You have been eating hotdogs and bologna for decades and you don’t know what is in that stuff, either. Besides, the ingredients for the vaccines are out there.) Maybe you don’t want to take the vaccine because you don’t think it has been tested enough. Perfectly valid. Maybe you have some other reason for skipping the vaccine. Your choice. But please, do not bring God into it.

          I find out a little more every day about Edilia’s death. I already knew that she had not taken the vaccine. But last night I was told that a close relative (either her brother or a nephew, not sure which) is telling the family not to take the vaccine because the Bible instructs us not to do so. I had heard this before, but I brushed it off thinking anyone who reads and studies the Bible knows better and those who don’t read the Bible will scoff at those silly Christians. But with this new news on Edilia’s death, I had to look this up.

          I don’t know how wide spread the thinking is for each one of these, but the idea that God tells us not to take the vaccine falls into three categories. Take your pick.

          First, we have the offshoot of the health and wealth gospel. This is the idea that if you believe in it strong enough and have enough faith, you will receive that which you pray for. It could be health or wealth. The Lord wants us to have it all. This idea comes from Matthew 21:22---And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith. That is pretty powerful stuff. It is also a single verse taken out of a passage with no context with it. This is exactly why I am always telling you folks to not let your devotionals be your only reading of the Word. That devotion al writer is going to take no more than a handful of verses and then tell you what to think. The above verse is in the passage where Jesus punishes the fig tree for not bearing fruit. The disciples are amazed at how quickly the tree withers. What is interesting is verse 21, which immediately proceeds. ---And Jesus answered them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith, and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say unto this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. Jesus is saying you have to have enough faith and no doubt, you can move that mountain or you receive whatever you ask for. Those who teach and preach the health and wealth gospel leave out the mountain thing, because that is the key to the rest of it happening. They can’t move the mountain, they can’t pray and receive. And the mountain is not an abstract. He says this mountain. He is indicating, maybe even pointing,

 to a particular mountain. He means a real, honest to goodness mountain.

          The health and wealth gospel is so easy to take apart, but there are those out there saying if you have faith enough COVID will not, cannot, touch you.

          The second argument that Christians should not fear COVID and get the vaccine comes from the idea that humans used to live a very, very long time. I read some years back, a well known doctor from the Cleveland Clinic said that with the absence of detrimental external elements, the human body should be able to continually replicate itself. In the days before Abraham, people lived for hundreds of years. Therefore, if we eat as they did and live our lives as they did, we will also live a long time. Disease will have no effect on us. This sounds really good and has sold a lot of recipe books. The only problem is that diet is just a small part of it. Before the Flood, the Bible describes a completely different environment. The weather was different, the air was different, the land was different. The Flood changed that. Of a necessity, human kind became omnivores. Disease became more common. Life spans began to shorten. People still lived natural lives and ate good food, but by the time of Jesus, a man could expect to live to 55 years old, if he stayed healthy. The fact is, disease came into the world because of sin. Disease is like rain; it affects everyone in its path.

          The third argument is one I had not known of and it is one that would give me pause on the vaccine. There are many vaccines out there for many different diseases. More, in fact, than we realize. From my reading (which is certainly not inclusive) I found that there are 23 different vaccines that were created using fetal tissue during the research and development stage. Human tissue was needed and there was an abundance of fetal tissue. However, in almost all cases the tissue was taken from infants that were still born. Actually, most of these vaccines, such as polio, were developed before abortions became legal. After the vaccine became viable and there was no longer a need for research, they no longer needed the human tissue. In any case, the COVID vaccines did not use fetal tissue.

          Conclusion: If you hear someone saying that if you believe hard enough, you won’t get COVID, ask that dude to move Pike’s Peak and bring it here. Indiana could use a nice mountain. If you hear someone saying that if we just eat what they did in the Bible, we would have no worries, ask them why people live longer now than they did in Jesus’ day. And if you hear someone say that the COVID vaccines were developed using fetal tissue, ask for his data.

          I know of a family in South Florida who were devastated by an accidental death and now are doubly devastated by a foolish and almost criminal death. No need for it.

          If you don’t want the vaccine, fine. Just don’t blame God when sickness comes.