The entire world is shut down in various forms. Never since Noah’s flood has the whole globe at one time endured the same catastrophe. So, publishers are seeing a spike in sales of books about the end times. And people are asking: Does COVID-19 signal the end is near? As it turns out, before all eyes turned to Wuhan, LifeWay Research already had questions in mind about the last days. So, they surveyed 1,000 people from two groups: evangelical pastors and historically Black denominational pastors. Between January 24 and February 11, 2020, Lifeway asked some questions about these pastors’ perceptions. And the results revealed that even before everyone’s least favorite pandemic, a lot of pastors in the USA felt that current events indicate Jesus’s return is imminent. 88 percent saw at least some current events matching those Jesus said would occur shortly before He returns 70 percent saw the modern…
Read the headlines or browse news stories these days and you’ll find all sorts of medically related topics. Cloning. Infertility. Test tube babies. Euthanasia. Stem cell research. Embryo adoption. Surrogacy. These are just a sampling, right? My journey through infertility and pregnancy loss has given me a front-row seat in some of the bioethics conversations—a seat I never would have pursued had my situation not demanded answers. I served on the board of an international consumer group for infertility patients, and I wrestled my way through “Why does God allow such suffering?” That journey led me to coauthor books on bioethical topics in partnership with a theologically-trained medical doctor and the Christian Medical Association. We also contributed chapters in some books and coauthored a related column for ten months. How do you and I navigate our way through complex medical issues? How do we process these topics through the grid of a truly Christian worldview (not to be confused with a political party’s)? Knowing that good men and women arrive at differing conclusions, what principles should guide our thinking? Hopefully you will find answers to some of those questions here.