Why You Should Look Forward to This Saturday

 

I cannot wait for Saturday. At 9 a.m. (cdt), Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry will be hosting the Trumpet Daily Radio Show live. I need this. You need this. Your family and friends need this. Humanity needs this.

I’m not sure about you, but I have never been more wary (and weary) of “experts.” I’m tired of hearing from who Director General Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus and Dr. Anthony Fauci. I chortle with disbelief when I hear a world leader other than United States President Donald Trump talk about the coronavirus. I treat with extreme skepticism the orations of esteemed professors from the world’s most venerable educational institutions. And I cringe at the monologues from the talking heads of cnn and bbc and the micro-sermons delivered on Twitter. All of these people, our leaders, have an unlimited supply of opinions and answers, which they communicate with unqualified resolve and confidence.

Sadly, I struggle to trust almost everything these people say. I have little confidence in their solutions and policies. Perhaps I’m the only one who has an intensifying skepticism and faithlessness in our leaders. Maybe I’m alone in my growing contempt for the opinions of smart people, the “experts.” But I suspect not.

Neil Ferguson, Britain’s leading epidemiologist, a professor at Imperial College, London’s most prestigious university, and one of the government’s key medical advisers, is one of those “experts.” On Monday, March 16, Ferguson warned that the “herd immunity” strategy that the government had implemented to combat coronavirus would result in 260,000 deaths. In the best-case scenario, 20,000 were guaranteed to perish. Ferguson warned that even more strict and dramatic measures would need to be taken to limit the spread of the virus and that these would have to be in place for 12 to 18 months.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson responded like a chastened puppy. On March 20, pubs, cafes and restaurants were ordered to shut down. But a lot of people rejected the government diktats and spent the weekend out and about, enjoying the magnificent weather. So the government got tougher. By Tuesday, March 24, all nonessential businesses were closed and gatherings of more than two people were banned.

Mr. Johnson wasn’t the only one to fall for Ferguson’s fallacious folly. The Imperial College report, which warned that 2.2 million Americans could die from coronavirus, prompted President Trump to advise Americans to avoid gatherings of 10 or more people, to stop nonessential travel, and to avoid bars and restaurants.

Then yesterday, with America and Britain on the edge of economic collapse, Ferguson stated, “Fatalities are unlikely to exceed 20,000,” more than 50 percent of whom would have died this year anyway. He added that it could be “substantially lower than that” (emphasis added). Ferguson also said that he expected the virus to peak within two to three weeks and then tail off as the temperatures rose. (Unsurprisingly, he credited the positive developments to the draconian measures taken by the government. In fact, lockdowns take at least two weeks to work; Britain’s lockdown began Tuesday.)

Do you trust Neil Ferguson? Can we trust the many politicians, journalists and celebrities who implicitly believed Ferguson’s original outlook and shared it with the world? Can we trust the extreme policies imposed on Britain that were created as a result of Ferguson’s defective computations?

Do you trust the decision of governments the world over to confine healthy people to their homes, inflicting inestimable economic, social and psychological damage on their nations and the world at large?

Do you trust cnn and the bbc when they report on the coronavirus?

Surely this will be one of the greatest impacts of the coronavirus crisis: It will destroy trust and confidence in leaders, experts and authorities.

To be sure, there were major trust issues with the media and politicians before this crisis. But the coronavirus crisis is taking this crisis of credibility to a whole new level! Across the world, and especially in America and Britain, it is enlarging the gap between politicians and the people, between the “intelligent” and the “unintelligent,” between the “experts” and the amateurs.

This bankruptcy of trust is not a minor issue. Like a family, a healthy, stable society is built on trust and confidence, and respect for law and authority.

Each one of us lives in a society and system, and under laws and policies, created and maintained by those who lead us, most especially our political leaders. We trust these people to create laws rationally, using accurate facts and evidence, and to implement policies and decisions that serve the interests of individuals and the public at large.

We trust journalists to collect knowledge and to share it with us. We use that knowledge to make decisions and to form opinions and views that determine our behavior. We trust Twitter and Facebook, not to mention our banks, to not disclose our information or use this information against us.

We trust teachers to educate our children; we trust professors to educate our young adults. We trust bankers with our money. We trust corporations to produce our food and to make sure the shelves are stocked. We trust that the police will enforce the law and keep us safe. We trust scientists to produce our medicines and to help produce our food. We trust pharmacists to get our prescriptions correct. We trust doctors to make accurate diagnoses and perform surgeries on our bodies.

Trust is the glue that binds our nations together. And we especially need to be able to trust those in positions of influence and authority—the “experts.” The coronavirus crisis is fast destroying this trust!

Who can we trust if we cannot trust people like Professor Ferguson or Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, or Boris Johnson, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and New York governor Andrew Cuomo? Who in the media can we trust to give us the truth, and to explain what is happening in our world, if we cannot trust the bbc, cnn or Fox News?

For me, there is only one answer. “We have also a more sure word of prophecy,” stated the Apostle Peter (2 Peter 1:19). In Revelation 19:10, John tells us that “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” The only way to understand this mad world is to study the Bible and trust God!

Is your confidence in the authorities wavering? Has the radical response to coronavirus shaken your trust in the government? Are you angry at the media’s rank sensationalism and outright rejection of facts? You should be experiencing all of these emotions—and it should be arousing some important questions.

“It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man,” King David wrote. In Psalm 115, God says that to those who fear Him and trust Him, “he is their help and their shield” (verses 9-11). We are living in times that ought to shake our confidence in man, and build our trust and confidence in God!

This brings us back to Saturday, and the special live presentation from Gerald Flurry. This is a message that you and I need. Why? Because this message will come directly from the Bible and from the mind of God. I don’t know what the message will be about, but I know it will be special and important. I know, too, that it will be inspiring and filled with hope.

Most importantly, it will be a message crafted especially for you from God—the ultimate expert and the only Being you can truly trust.