Covid-19 and Vaccines in Light of Hearing and Being Taught by Christ

Am I watching and praying? Am I being sober? How would you respond to these questions if they were directed to you? I have been challenged to take the scriptures that give these commands to heart.

Recently we studied Ephesians 4:17-32 in a Bible study. I find that before hearing and being taught by Christ, there are at least seven conditions that we find ourselves in.

1. Thoughts are vain
2. Understanding is darkened
3. One is separated from God
4. General problem with ignorance
5. Blind (hard) heart
6. Conscience is not sensitive
7. Given to seek after what is prohibited

Do I agree with what the Bible says about the person separated from Christ? This passage humbles me to consider that this is what I was before following Christ. As I call people to repent and to surrender to our Lord, I am less frustrated than before because I remember that this was my condition when I was walking according to my own volition. It also calls me to be more careful (watchful) about the counsel I receive and the people I choose to believe and follow. If we want to walk in the Light, we must hear and be taught by the Master.

What do these thoughts have to do with you and me? It helps us understand what is completely true and what is capable of being very dangerous.

Permit me to make a list of names. Tucker Carlson, Anthony Fauci, President Biden, Former President Trump, Kamila Harris, Dr David Martin, Judy Mikovits, Dr Tenpenny, Senator Rand Paul and since I cannot remember all the names, I will mention a few positions: US Surgeon General, President of the FDA, President of the CDC, President of the WHO. Your favorite news anchor, your favorite fact-checker editor, the editor of your local newspaper. Now I don’t know any of these folks personally, but I am quite sure that it is very likely that none of them are hearing or being taught by Christ. From the above list, God has permitted that both true information and false information has been spread to you and me. It is not as simple as the progressives and liberals are on the narrow way and the conservatives are on the broad way. We cannot forget that those who hear and are taught by Christ are on the narrow way and the rest are on the broad way. Dear fellow mortal, created in the image of God for His glory, the Bible is clearly trumpeting the counsel of wisdom, WATCH, WATCH, WATCH.

As I write and as I live, I am asking God to fill me with humility. We are on the wheel of the potter. He is using the present circumstances to form and mold us. He is giving us the opportunity to hear and be taught by Christ.

God is teaching me to accept the weakness of man in explaining and treating the many areas of suffering that seem to plague mankind. But what man calls a plague, God calls an opportunity.

I do not understand the pathophysiology behind the disease process that we are learning to recognize over the past year and a half. If we could get all of the world’s “wise-men” to come together and give us answers, it would still be the equivalent of asking a single earthworm to dig and construct the Panama canal.

Increasingly, I am aware that if God chooses to permit, I could get sick and die from the above mentioned disease process. I believe there is evidence that some variants can cause greater levels of sickness and affect various age groups more profoundly. We have sought to help both sick and very sick friends and by God’s grace, He has spared our lives. I would especially like to give a word of encouragement to those who have had Covid and have recovered and are rejoicing in the Light of the Saviour, to take the special blessing God has given you. Get into the homes of the sick. Point them to the Source of Truth. Serve them with a pot of nutritious soup. Fear is more destructive than what we realize. There is no double-blind, peer reviewed , scientific method directed study that can tell us the true effects of anxiousness and fear on our body and soul. It is enough that the Bible calls us to not fear.

One concern I have is the unity that has taken place between groups that previously were separated. Some will respond, “that is not concerning, that is encouraging.” The only unity that is of encouragement is when all sides agree to hear and be taught by Christ.

We have observed how some groups of Catholics have taken an anti-vaccine position and some evangelical Christians have joined with them in that position. On the other extreme, there are groups fully approving of the Covid shots and at the same time pushing for abortions and any number of sexual activities prohibited in the Bible, joining with conservative Christians. Most scientists who have exposed the corruption in their field, come around to presenting a “god in you”, meditation, humanistic or eastern mysticism “solution” to the global problems. Are these solutions we want to dabble in? Absolutely not!! I hope it is clear that to vaccinate or not does not suggest that one is from the broad way and the opposite is from the narrow. Is it possible that the god of this world (Satan, disguised as an angel of light, wolf in sheep’s clothing) could be directing the CNN news anchor as well as the right-wing radio host? I am sure that is the case. This general breaking down of walls of legitimate separation is dangerous.

Let us be more watchful. The people instructing us about world events (the community newspaper included) are not hearing or being taught by Christ. All that news has a huge influence in how we interpret events and ultimately, affects our spirit. For me, this is shocking to consider.

Am I suggesting that we should just refuse all types of news? No. But if I am given to fear, frustration, discouragement, confusion as to who to believe, probably it is just best to shut it all off and give an intentional effort to growing in the knowledge of Christ.

Both of these groups speak great swelling words laden with pride. There is also an abundance of profanity. This cannot meet the criteria necessary for a sound truthful message. Recently I received an email that was titled, “Another Right-Wing Radio Host Who Mocked COVID Dies.” Later in the comments it said, “Maybe this is FAKE news? (smile with dark-tinted glasses) You decide!”

Sorry, that is making light of someone’s suffering. I am not opposed to a clean joke, but remember, the Bible calls us to be sober. I confess that I have been sarcastic when it was not appropriate and I seek to be taught by Christ in this area.

I want to share a few thoughts from Matthew 24. The outstanding warning in that passage is, “Take heed that no man deceive you.” Very few professing Christians consider this to be a real danger. If we did, we would be making other choices. We would be much more patient before being sucked into a progressive thought process. We would take more time to seek God’s face before coming to conclusions. We would not be so sure of ourselves.

In verse six, Jesus commands us to not be troubled. This is an area in which I am seeking to be taught of Christ. What does this mean? Jesus was in anguish before going to the cross. Was He troubled? I am sure He was not. I believe “troubled” refers to fear and lack of acceptance that God is in control. Being troubled can include an outcry of desperation (lack of hope). Many of us are tempted to fear because we cannot continue as we did before. It is possible that God does not want us to continue as we did before. We need to look to the scriptures to see what God asks of us. Verse six says “these things must come to pass.” If these things must come to pass, who are we to fight against God? Later I would like to clarify that this does not mean we blindly submit to whatever is asked of us by the authorities. We need to be willing to suffer if this is what God allows.

Verse nine speaks of a time when the Christian will be hated of all nations for Christ’s name sake. I believe this will someday happen. My question for you is, do you believe the same? Do I believe this has anything to do with resisting the Covid shot? I cannot say for sure, but I do believe we should do some serious watching. I believe that since Satan is the accuser of the brethren, there will come a day where those who hear and are taught of Christ, will be accused of being the cause of the world’s suffering. Please understand, I am not suggesting we look for all the ways we can be obstinate, but shouldn’t we take notice if ungodly people love/approve of the decision we are making? Shouldn’t that be a sign that something could be wrong?

In verse ten we read that many will be offended and shall betray one another. In other passages, Jesus warns about times where family members will betray each other. Are we at that time? For some, this may appear to be a subject too big to open up. Let me clarify that I do not know if we are coming to that point, but when we find warnings in scriptures that have points in common with what we are facing, dear friend, we need to be watchful. All of what we have looked at in Matthew will come to pass. I am unsure if we are at the point of fulfillment of these passages, but let us not just close our eyes and then when we are part of what is popular and highly esteemed by the world, think that we are going to be able to quickly return to what is approved of by God. Deception leads to blindness and it is deadly.

A common interpretation of verse fourteen has been to believe that we need to share the good news with the “Jesus Film” to as many of the corners of the earth as possible to usher in the second coming of Christ. If we read verse fourteen in the context of being hated of all nations, the testimony of the gospel may be presented in a much different way than what we previously thought. Could it be that the gospel will be preached the way Stephen preached it when he was stoned in Acts? I will quickly admit that I do not know, but I believe it is highly probable that this gospel will be preached in the testimony, bloodshed and martyrdom of those who chose to hear and be taught of Christ.

I would have liked to organize the remainder of what I wanted to share in an orderly complete way, but do not have time to dedicate to this effort. I will share it in point form and those who wish to can consider and help me if I have strayed from the truth.

1. I see inconsistency and evidence of deception when simple, safe and easily applied suggestions for the treatment of Covid are censored. This simply is illogical. I could do very quick Google searches for the most perverse, destructive, suicidal ideas, you name it and I doubt it is censored. That in itself should tell us very much. In a very short time, we can remember horrible things in our small town that have occurred as a consequence of the use of alcohol. Advertisement of alcohol is not censored, it is completely up to the user if he will use it or not. Deaths and accidents from the use of alcohol are 100% preventable and nothing is done about it. You may say that I am comparing apples with planets. I would simply say that inconsistency in policy leads to distrust by the public. Evil is not censored but simple remedies for illness, that do not appear to be dangerous for our souls, are censored.
2. Do not be confused into thinking that the scientific method or double-blind peer reviewed studies are the gold standard. Many believe that since these approaches were applied, we have arrived at the truth. Let me say briefly that these methods are not immune to deception.
3. When pondering information that we are presented with, ask ourselves, “What does this person represent?” We should look into what they support and who they “run” with. We should look at their past history, do they have serious problems that have not been resolved? If so, let’s be careful with what they suggest.
4. There is too much information supporting the idea that corona viruses were patented almost 20 years ago. It is against the law to patent nature. It is also logical that nature not be patented. Who would think of applying for a patent on something God created? In my perspective, if something is created by God, it belongs to Him and someone trying to patent such a thing is looking for a way to fill his pockets. On the other side of things, if the virus was tampered with and therefore patented because it was “man made”, we should be suspect of anything offered by those same people in the treatment of that patented virus.
5. Ever since Satan was cast out of heaven he has been conspiring against God, His creation and His people. This is not a theory, it is reality. People who follow doctrines of devils are participating in this same plan of conspiracy. The Bible says that in the last days, “doctrines of devils” will be common. Why are Christians so opposed to consider a conspiracy or that someone wants to deceive us? This life is so full of traps that it is impossible to count them. These traps are going to be especially hard to stay out of if we are in big business.
6. It is my opinion that we would be wise to downsize as fast as possible. The entanglements of wealth are going to get increasingly “sticky” and are going to make it more and more difficult to hear and be taught by Christ. “Go to now ye rich men weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.” James 5:1
7. As a practical suggestion, one of the biggest things we can learn is that society needs to lose weight and stop eating unhealthy foods. It is clear that we are eating ourselves to death. It is wrong to think that since we are 50 to 100 lbs overweight, we need to get the Covid shot because obese folks are more likely to die of Covid. That is poor logic. I would suggest just starting with losing weight.
8. God has given authority to the State, the Home and to the Church. We will get into trouble when those different levels of authority, established by God, try to control each other.
9. If the only danger from the Covid shot was physical, that would be one consideration. It is my firm belief that Satan does not want to simply kill by body, he wants me to die without faith, he wants me in hell. That is why I believe there is a possibility that there could be something mood or mind altering with this Covid shot in the future. For some, I have now lost all credibility. I am not saying this will happen immediately. However, with time, I believe this technology could be used in a way that we do not understand, to control behavior and thinking. Some will argue that God would not permit us to be put to the test with something that could ultimately affect our soul. I beg to disagree. Many believers have and are using psychotropic drugs that do affect the way we think and feel and ultimately I believe can influence our faith. Why did Jesus plead with us, “take heed, take heed, take heed…?”
10. Finally, I want to encourage us to quickly wake up when something we are observing only remotely has some similarities to prophesies in the scriptures. Too many have scoffed at the idea of the Covid shot having anything to do with the mark of the beast. I will quickly say that I do not believe this shot is that mark. However, I am hearing that if I do not receive the shot, I may not be able to travel, my choices for purchases may be limited and in general I will not have the same liberty I once had. I believe it is wise to lift up our heads and watch. I want to be careful not to do lots of predicting and remember that Jesus is asking me to watch. It is completely unacceptable to be sleeping.

In Christian Love,
Jonathan Kropf