Christian Space 360

(Jerusalem, Israel) — With the coronavirus pandemic worsening, the death toll climbing, and more than half the world in lockdown, even those in the secular media are writing about how Americans are viewing the crisis in spiritual terms, and whether any of this has to do with Bible prophecy.

I’ve been encouraged that in the last few days, a number of major media outlets — in the U.S. and here in Israel — have covered the poll that The Joshua Fund commissioned.

It’s too soon, in my view, to know whether a spiritual awakening is coming. But clearly, tens of millions of Americans are asking questions and searching the Bible and Christian teaching for answers and this is a dramatic and important development.

Please take some time to read these articles and share them with family and friends on social media. (see below for links to the full post on The Joshua Fund’s website)  

• The Apocalypse as an ‘Unveiling’: What religion teaches us about the End Times (New York Times)
• Millions of Americans say coronavirus a ‘wake up call’ from GodL A stunning 44% of Americans polled said they “see the global coronavirus and economic meltdown” as “a wake up call for us to turn back to faith in God,” as “signs of coming judgment.” (an column I wrote for The Jerusalem Post)
• Poll: 29% see Biblical ‘last days,’ 44% say virus is God’s ‘wake-up call’ (Washington Examiner)
• Study: Droves of Americans are turning to prayer in the face of COVID-19 fear and uncertainty (The Blaze)
• Exclusive new poll shows COVID-19 creating enormous spiritual interest (Religion News Service)

As I noted earlier this week, these are no ordinary times. Americans in near full lockdown are anxious, and understandably so. Yet millions are turning to God, the Bible and Christian sermons for answers, some of them for the first time. That may be the most important silver lining in this crisis so far.

In response to these results, The Joshua Fund has published “What Does The Bible Teach About Pestilence, Plagues & Global Pandemics?”, a 12-page fact sheet derived from insight from a number of senior pastors, theologians and seminary professors. It can be found at http://www.joshuafund.com.

The full survey is also posted on The Joshua Fund website at https://www.joshuafund.com/. 

I hope that you and your family will gather together daily to pray for God to have mercy on us all.

“Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by.” (Isaiah 26:20)

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• Would you like to make a secure, tax deductible donation to The Joshua Fund (www.joshuafund.net)? At this unprecedented moment of crisis, would you help us bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus, strengthen the Church in the Epicenter, care for the poor and needy and those unemployed and shut-in’s in Israel (both Jews and Arabs) with food and other humanitarian relief, teach the Word of God, answer spiritual questions, educate the Church about the importance of Bible prophecy and strengthen struggling congregations and ministries in the Epicenter? The Joshua Fund is a member in good standing of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. Please click here to learn more. Thanks.

The post Is a spiritual awakening coming? New York Times, Jerusalem Post and other media cover Joshua Fund poll showing 44% of Americans see virus as “wake up call” to turn back to God and the Bible. appeared first on Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog.

(Jerusalem, Israel) — The White House issued a chilling warning on Tuesday: the “best case scenario” now is for upwards of 100,000 to 240,000Americans to die as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

If proper social distancing measures aren’t followed, the numbers could spike beyond 1.5 million deaths, the experts said.

“This could be a hell of a bad two weeks,” the President said, in his most sobering comments of the crisis, thus far.

The country will remain in near lockdown mode through April, at least, at devastating economic cost. But what other choice is there?

It is little wonder, then, that nearly half of Americans (44%) say they believe that the coronavirus and resulting economic meltdown is a “wake-up call for us to turn back to faith in God,” and/or “signs of coming judgment,” according to a new poll commissioned by The Joshua Fund.

“This survey provides a fascinating window into how Americans see the COVID-19 pandemic and how it is dramatically increasing their interest in spiritual matters,” I noted in a press release that went out yesterday. “The results are clear: this unprecedented global crisis is causing Americans to start reading the Bible and listen to Bible teaching and Christian sermons online, even though they usually don’t; search online for teaching on Bible prophecy and God’s future for mankind; and/or engage in more spiritual conversations with family and friends.”

The breakdown of those who believe this crisis

is a “wake-up call” back to faith in God includes:

• 25% of self-identified “secular” Americans;
• 42% of Jewish Americans;
• 58% of Republicans; and
• 41% of Democrats, including 34% of liberal Democrats and 47% of moderate Democrats.

Additionally, 22% of self-identified non-Christian respondents and 40% of Christian respondents indicate the global coronavirus pandemic and economic chaos have resulted in more interest in God and spiritual matters.

These are no ordinary times. Americans in near full lockdown are anxious, and understandably so. Yet millions are turning to God, the Bible and Christian sermons for answers, some of them for the first time. That may be the most important silver lining in this crisis so far.

In response to these results, The Joshua Fund has published “What Does The Bible Teach About Pestilence, Plagues & Global Pandemics?”, a 12-page fact sheet derived from insight from a number of senior pastors, theologians and seminary professors. It can be found at http://www.joshuafund.com.

The full survey is also posted on The Joshua Fund website at https://www.joshuafund.com/.

The crisis is worsening here in Israel and throughout the Middle East, as well. More than 5,300 cases and at least 20 deaths, so far, and this is expected to spike up sharply. Plus, nearly 1/3 of the labor force out of work.

I’ll report more on this on this blog in the days to come, and on Twitter more frequently.

For now, I hope that you and your family will gather together daily to pray for God to have mercy on us all.

“Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by.” (Isaiah 26:20)

____________________

• Would you like to make a secure, tax deductible donation to The Joshua Fund (www.joshuafund.net)? Come help us educate and mobilize Christians to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus, strengthen the Church in the Epicenter, preach the Good News of God’s love, teach the Word of God, care for the poor and needy in Israel (both Jews and Arabs) with food and other humanitarian relief, care for Holocaust survivors, and care for Syrian and Iraqi refugees and others. The Joshua Fund is a member in good standing of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. Please click here to learn more. Thanks.

The post BREAKING: White House warns 240,000 Americans could die from coronavirus. Amidst chilling forecast, new poll finds 44% of Americans believe virus a “wake up call” to return to God and the Bible. Here’s the latest. appeared first on Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog.

(Jerusalem, Israel) — The Washington Examiner was the first to publish the story, “Poll: 29% see Biblical ‘last days,’ 44% say virus is God’s ‘wake-up call.'”

You can read the full results of the exclusive national poll by clicking here.

Here’s the press release that just went out:

Exclusive New Poll Shows COVID-19 Creating Enormous Spiritual Interest, Causing Americans To Read The Bible, Listen To Sermons, Some For First Time.

Results Indicate Millions See Pandemic as a “Wake-Up Call” to Return to Faith. Nearly one-in-three Americans believe we are living in the “last days.”

Media Contact:
Kristin Cole, 615-289-6701 — kristin@alarryross.com

Nearly half of Americans (44%) say they believe that the coronavirus and resulting economic meltdown is a “wake-up call for us to turn back to faith in God,” and/or “signs of coming judgment,” according to a new poll commissioned by The Joshua Fund.

The survey was conducted March 23-26, 2020, by nationally respected pollsters McLaughlin & Associates. It was commissioned by The Joshua Fund, an Evangelical non-profit educational and charitable organization founded in 2006 by Joel C. Rosenberg. Rosenberg is a New York Times best-selling author of non-fiction and fiction books. He is best known for writing about “worst-case scenarios.” He has specifically written about pandemics in his 2006 book Epicenter: Why the Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your Future, and his 2012 book, Implosion: Can America Recover from Its Economic and Spiritual Challenges in Time?

“This survey provides a fascinating window into how Americans see the COVID-19 pandemic and how it is dramatically increasing their interest in spiritual matters,” said Rosenberg. “The results are clear: this unprecedented global crisis is causing Americans to start reading the Bible and listen to Bible teaching and Christian sermons online, even though they usually don’t; search online for teaching on Bible prophecy and God’s future for mankind; and/or engage in more spiritual conversations with family and friends.”

The McLaughlin & Associates questions were asked of 1,000 likely American voters. The poll had a margin of error of +/- 3.1% at a 95% confidence interval.

The breakdown of those who believe this crisis is a “wake-up call” back to faith in God includes:

• 25% of self-identified “secular” Americans;
• 42% of Jewish Americans;
• 58% of Republicans; and
• 41% of Democrats, including 34% of liberal Democrats and 47% of moderate Democrats.

Additionally, 22% of self-identified non-Christian respondents and 40% of Christian respondents indicate the global coronavirus pandemic and economic chaos have resulted in more interest in God and spiritual matters.

“These are no ordinary times,” said Rosenberg. “Americans in near full lockdown are anxious, and understandably so. Yet millions are turning to God, the Bible and Christian sermons for answers, some of them for the first time. That may be the most important silver lining in this crisis so far.”

What’s more, nearly one-third of all Americans (29%) said they believe that this crisis indicates that “we are living in what the Bible calls the ‘last days.’” Broken down by demographic, this includes:

• Nearly 30% of Jewish Americans;
• 30% of Democrats, including 27% of liberal Democrats and 34% of moderate Democrats;
• 39% of Republicans;
• 37% of military households;
• 40% of African Americans, 50% of Hispanic Americans and 25% of White Americans; and
• Some 28% of individuals 18-29, 33% of people age 30-40, 29% of people age 41-55, 33% of those between 56-65, and some 24% of seniors over 65.

In response to these results, The Joshua Fund has published “What Does The Bible Teach About Pestilence, Plagues & Global Pandemics?”, a 12-page fact sheet derived from insight from a number of senior pastors, theologians and seminary professors. It can be found at http://www.joshuafund.com.

The full survey is also posted on The Joshua Fund website at https://www.joshuafund.com/.

NOTE: The Joshua Fund is a nonprofit, non-partisan educational and charitable organization created to mobilize Christians to “bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus” by caring for the poor and needy, strengthen the Church in the Middle East and teach the importance of the Scriptures and biblical prophecy. The purpose of the survey was to better understand Americans’ spiritual views, not advance any partisan political objectives or influence federal, state or local legislation. The organization was founded in 2006 by Joel and Lynn Rosenberg. For more information, visit https://www.joshuafund.com/.

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• Would you like to make a secure, tax deductible donation to The Joshua Fund (www.joshuafund.net)? Come help us educate and mobilize Christians to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus, strengthen the Church in the Epicenter, preach the Good News of God’s love, teach the Word of God, care for the poor and needy in Israel (both Jews and Arabs) with food and other humanitarian relief, care for Holocaust survivors, and care for Syrian and Iraqi refugees and others. The Joshua Fund is a member in good standing of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. Please click here to learn more. Thanks.

The post BREAKING: 44% of Americans say virus a “wake up call” to return to God. Nearly 1/3 believe we are living in “what the Bible calls the last days.” Fascinating if surprising results in exclusive poll released by The Joshua Fund. Full details. appeared first on Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog.