Show Notes
2020 has been a year that has impacted every person on earth, presenting challenges never before faced. We asked some people how they will be different moving forward. A few of our past hosts weighed in with their thoughts as well. A relevant episode for this challenging and uncertain time.
Show Transcript
male: All right, Tim. Give me a check.
Tim Bisagno: Check one, check, check.
male: All right, that sounds good.
Tim: Okay.
male: We have our distancing now.
Tim: Okay, so it’s safe to take this off?
male: Yeah.
male: How can I be in a room filled with people, filled to the brim, and still feel alone?
female: I was obsessed.
River: We all feel alone sometimes. We’re here for you. This is why we’re doing this.
male: We’ve made it really easy for you to talk to someone anonymously.
Kelly Kopp: He is the Creator of the universe and he has your best interests in mind.
male: If you keep God the Father first, whoo.
male: Let’s stay connected on social media.
male: To be able to forgive somebody of something that they don’t deserve to be forgiven of.
female: From that moment on, I began an uphill journey to recovery.
female: I am who the Great I Am says I am. That needs to be enough for me, too.
female: With the support of a diverse range of individuals who are struggling or addicted to pornography, don’t leave it. Chat now.
male: What they were telling me is what I needed to hear.
River: You can feel it right now, if you wanna pray with me.
female: I felt it in my heart.
Tim: Pandemic. Sounds horrifying. Just the word exudes stress and fear before you even leave the house. Buzzwords like, “stay at home order,” “social distancing,” “PPEs,” “COVID-19,” “self-isolation,” “panic scrolling,” and “global timeout.” Doesn’t exactly drum up feelings of pleasantness, do they? Coronavirus and COVID-19, gotta be the most talked-about words of 2020. Here at MXTV we’ve always said we’re a voice for you, for this generation. So this episode, coronavirus, virtual town hall, is for you, from you, and in your voice.
Tim: At the time of this shoot, right now, coronavirus is living large. Since it’s affecting you and your life, we’ve thrown some questions out there and you’ve responded. I’ve also contacted some of our other hosts to hear their views. This is gonna be good.
Tim: Here’s our first question: The coronavirus has affected everyone across the entire globe in some way or another. Have you felt fear in the midst of this pandemic?
female: I’ve been fearful a lot of times during this pandemic. It’s easy to when looking on the news, seeing how many people are getting sick every day.
female: I haven’t really felt fearful but I have no idea what to expect. Like, this could go on for five more months or just two more months and life will never really go back to normal. So it’s just kind of all confusing.
male: I personally haven’t felt much fear about contracting the virus myself because I’ve been undergoing proper quarantine and have been around people who are also doing the same.
female: I would have to say that, yes, I have had fear but not in the ways that you would initially think. Not fear of me contracting the disease or of a family member but fear in how we as American people have responded, how our government has responded, and how political leaders have responded.
Sarah Ross: “This is my command: be strong and courageous. Do not be fearful or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” That’s Joshua 1:9. I think sometimes fear can be something that we don’t wanna admit that we feel, especially in a time like we’ve been in recently, just such uncertainty and things don’t really make a lot of sense and it’s hard to grasp onto anything that feels peaceful. It feels fearful, it feels confusing, it’s easy to be discouraged. I think in those times, it’s why God gave us this Scripture, to basically say don’t feel those ways because I am with you. You can feel peace in the midst of this fear. I don’t believe that it means that if we do feel fearful that that’s bad. I think that that is a completely valid feeling. I know for myself, I’ve had some moments of fear in the midst of all of this, just not really knowing where we’re gonna go from here and what it’s gonna look like and that is an okay thing. If you are feeling fear during this time, that is okay. I would just encourage you to go to God with it, to be honest with those feelings, to not think that, “Oh well, I feel this thing and I can’t say it because I’m just supposed to, you know, just always believe that everything is good and God is good, so why would I be afraid?” But it is okay to be afraid, to take that to the Lord, to take it to people that you know who love you well, to be honest with those feelings and also to know that we are not to be fearful and discouraged but to know that God is with us always. And that is a beautiful thing. That is something we can hold onto, that we can feel encouraged by, feel peace in the midst of that fear that you might have going on, and that is okay.
female: So I’ve actually been very fearful during this pandemic and had a lot of anxiety. I have a lot of anxiousness. I wanna make sure my grandmother has groceries and she’s going at an hour that’s gonna be okay for her.
female: Personally, I’ve really reflected over this time period of realizing that we have no reason to fear because, truth be told, we never know what’s going to happen tomorrow. female: With the pandemic, I haven’t really been fearful or scared or anything, just more, like, sad and annoyed because I’m a senior and this is all, like, all the end-of-the-year stuff is getting taken away.
Tim: Whether you’re watching this right now in the middle of this global pandemic timeout or years later, right now might be your time. Don’t waste it. Knowing that there’s an opportunity and grabbing it are two very different things. So pray now. I’ll help you. You can say, “Dear Jesus, thank you for stepping out of heaven and into my life. I invite you to please come in and as I heard you just say in your Scripture, you will never leave me, you will never forsake me, you will never abandon me or relax your hold upon me, so I say ‘yes’ to you, come in. Have your way. I give you my life right now, in Jesus’s name. I thank you for dying on the cross for me and now offering me new life. I say, ‘Jesus, I need you,’ in Jesus’s name, amen.”
female: I’ve realized that everything can change in an instant and we shouldn’t hold on to anything and surrender everything.
Kelly: So the question is, have I felt fear during the pandemic? That’s a good question. See, here’s what I’ve learned about fear according to the words of Jesus. In Matthew 10:28, Jesus says, “Do not fear anything that can kill your body, but if you’re gonna have fear instead, fear the one who not only controls your body, but your spirit and your soul after death.” Meaning, I’m not gonna be afraid of something that can end my life on earth because this life is this long. What I’m more concerned about is eternity, everything after here. What happens then? And there’s only one person who controls that, and that is Jesus. That is God, the name above all names, Jesus Christ. So if I’m gonna fear anything, it’s gonna be the Lord. But I’m not scared of the Lord, understand? You see, fear of God means that I have such a respect and a reverence and a love for him that I wanna do anything I can to be as close to him as possible. I’m not gonna obey what God wants me to do, simply because I’m afraid of what will happen if I don’t. But I wanna run to him because he’s that good and so powerful and so loving that I wanna be close to him. I’m not afraid during the pandemic,= no, no, no, not at all. ‘Cause the Bible tells us that we’re supposed to be a light in the darkness. The world looks dark right now but guess what? That’s where light does the best work. If the world isn’t dark, how can our light shine? This is a time for those who know Jesus to do the best work that they’ve ever done. Am I afraid? Nah, not at all. Are you? You shouldn’t be. You just need to find Jesus.
Tim: Question number two. Because many of us are currently in a mandatory lockdown, this question is really important: What have you taken for granted that you won’t take for granted anymore?
male: I feel like sometimes I took for granted the relationships I had with other people and how big of a difference it can mean, even if you talk to someone for, like, five or ten minutes and just being with them. female: I was in my last semester of college and I don’t get to see most of my friends anymore. I don’t have the time with them that I wanted to have, and most of them are moving away to different parts of the country. Last week, I lost my mama to dementia, and so, I don’t have enough time with her that I wanted to have.
male: I always spent a ton of time with family and just these past few years, you know, it’s been just kind of a little bit about me, you know? And I’ve been a little bit selfish. I’ve wanted to go, you know, play video games or hang out with friends when I really should be spending time with family.
female: I’ve realized that I took for granted a lot of family time. During this quarantine, you get a lot closer to your family and I feel that that’s a blessing through all of this.
Manny Gallegos Jr.: What I took for granted is that, you know, gotta get–gotta do all these other things. Okay, let me fit this here, let me fit this here. But now, what I’m realizing is that I need to be more, even more present in my relationships with family, friends, in my community. And really not– really not take– whether it’s five minutes or five hours, just when I’m with people, just to be present in the moment with them. But before this pandemic, before this quarantine, what I took for granted is that unbothered, unbusy time sitting at God’s feet. And so now, in quarantine, I have no distractions, I’m not thinking about anything else that I’m supposed to do because I have so much extra time that my time with God is just unbothered. It is just I’m in the moment, I’m present in the moment like I have never been before and I thought that I was experiencing that prior, but the quarantine has really showed me that I wasn’t experiencing or living that out fully. I’ve learned how to just be even more present in the presence of God without thinking about the other things that I need to do or get done in my day.
male: The ability to go out and socialize with people and be with a group of people. Since I’m an introvert, it’s like, it takes away energy from me and makes me exhausted and, you know, I prefer being alone but it’s definitely something I miss and I’m missing people.
female: One thing during the pandemic that has kind of changed that I feel like I have taken for granted is being around my family more. I have a really big family and I love ’em to death but sometimes it’s nice to kind of go away, you know, have my own free time. But during this time, I’ve been a state, actually two states, away. I moved to Texas so I haven’t gotten to see my family in a while. And it just makes me wish that I could see them a little bit more during this and know that, you know, you should never take family for granted. It’s always a blessing to have that time with them.
male: In this time of reflection, one of the things I’ve realized is how many things I’ve taken for granted. From little things like going out to eat with my friends, to being able to explore the country and travel around.
male: I do miss, kind of like, the bustle of, like, you know, city areas and it’s just kind of– it’s a little bit sad that, like, everybody’s forced to stay inside. I am really looking for this quarantine time to be over so I can spend time with people and, you know, kind of feel part of society again.
Courtney Courdes: Something that I’m truly grateful for in this season and wanna continue to not take for granted, it’s really simple and basic, but it’s honest and from my heart, and it’s God. Because not being able to be around people for these weeks has been really difficult, but something that has rang true with me is no matter how distanced we are from people or from what’s normal to us, what’s comfortable to us, God is always close and he doesn’t separate himself. He doesn’t leave us, he doesn’t forsake us or forget about us. He doesn’t social distance from us. He is so near and I’ve been so grateful for this in the quarantine season because I am a true people person and not being around people is really difficult for me. And so, I’ve been in this sweet season even though it’s been hard, where I’ve had to press in to what God is saying to me and what he wants to speak to my heart instead of just running to people, which is so easy to do and I’m so grateful that God is always near. He never leaves and I can always run to him, no matter what is happening in the world.
Tim: Our final question: As you think about your life post-pandemic, how will you be different as a person?
female: During this pandemic I’ve realized how important authentic, deep relationships are. That it’s important to check up on your friends. We need to talk about the good things that happened in a day, the bad things that happened in the day, talk about all the things. And I think it goes deeper than just a text or an Instagram message. I’m not gonna take my relationships for granted and the relationships that I do have I wanna continue to strengthen them and to talk about deeper things.
male: I think that this whole pandemic has taught me that you really need to just kind of open your eyes a little bit, take your eyes off the screen, and just kind of look around, like, at what God’s created and look at the beauty of it.
male: I won’t take things for granted like I used to. I won’t treat my parents like I used to. I was not using my time wisely with school. I was coming home late. I was just being lazy, and I feel like that this time has really shown me that things like that in life really matter and that everything that I was doing was not the way I was supposed to be living. And that my family means a lot to me and that I’ve been spending a lot of time with them and that I need to keep doing that. I wasn’t before. Everything that we take for granted in life on an everyday basis has been snatched away from us, and I really notice those things once this is all over.
female: I’ll be more intentional with my neighbors on a daily basis. I’ll be quick to share my contact information, ask them intentional questions, check in with them often, so I won’t wait for another worldwide crisis to do that.
River: So, I am a very extroverted person. I get a lot of my energy from being around other people. And having to constantly stay at home all day and not being able to see others has kind of taken its toll on me. I haven’t been thinking as clearly. I haven’t been feeling as motivated to get things done. And I’ve just been feeling weighed down by the whole thing. So looking past this pandemic and trying to see what my life might be like after it’s over, I hope that I’m less reliant on the energy that I get from other people. I think that this current situation literally shows that people may not always be around me. People are going to hurt me at times, they’re gonna mistreat me, they just may straight up not wanna hang out with me too. So I think God has kind of given me this time to deal with those things, to kind of wrestle with those things. He highlighted this verse, Isaiah 41:10, and it says: “So do not fear for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” So, that is literally God promising to me and to you that he is always gonna be with us, that he is always going to restore us and uplift us and strengthen us. And I think that going into my life post-pandemic, I hope that I focus more so on God’s ability to fully restore me and the fact that he is always there with me.
female: All of a sudden we have, like, miles of time on our hands and it’s bizarre. And it’s already going by really quickly, like, the days are pretty slow but then when you look back at last week it’s like, “That was yesterday.” That’s so weird. It’s bizarre. And I don’t want this time to slip through my fingers, you know? I’m just praying that God shows me what he wants me to do with this time and the things that he wants me to develop in myself and the things he wants me to make. And I had plans but they’re gone now.
male: During the time I’ve been inside, I was able to teach myself certain things that I used to have to ask other people for help with. So moving forward, I definitely think I’ll be a bit more independent than I was before all this. female: During this pandemic, I learned about the power of distraction and how much our everyday lives can distract us so post-pandemic, I want to be more intentional with the time that I have in my day and to spend time with the Lord and find him in the little things. female: During this pandemic I learned that God is in the small things in life, whether that be taking a walk in nature or seeing a sunset. And after this pandemic, I just want to be more aware of his presence in– with me every day in the little things and just soaking up that time with him.
female: I’ve realized that everything can change in an instant and we shouldn’t hold on to anything and surrender everything.
Pedro LaTorre: One of the things I’ve learned is that I’m far more like a bicycle than I ever really imagined. Yeah, a bicycle. And it sounds crazy but I’ve always thought, “Man, isn’t it weird that bicycles have all of this weight, I mean, there’s metal and tires and all of this weight and it’s able to be held up by this little thing called a kickstand. The kickstand perfectly positioned can hold up the bike. You see, I think as human beings we are wired and created not to be able to hold ourselves up. We need something to hold us up when life is hard, when life is uncertain, when life is not peaceful. And I think we all need to choose our kickstand well. Now, for me, I’ve found that Christ is that kickstand and it says in the Bible that his power is made perfect in weakness. Well, I’m thankful because I feel weak these days, if I’m being honest with you guys. Feel like I can’t leave my family. I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing. I feel like I’ve lost a lot of money. I feel weak but maybe, just maybe, he’s a kickstand that can hold me up and give me the peace I’m really longing for. I think we’ve got to be careful to choose the right kickstand.
Tim: It’s so great to hear so many positive things that have come to you guys during this time as you have navigated your life during these unprecedented times. You’re inspiring. Such an amazing generation. But guess what? A lot of us, through this quarantine time, are finding ourself not so much in a battle with COVID-19 as we are in a battle with ourself and our thoughts. This extra self-reflection time showed us some things that were previously easy to ignore until now. Unfortunately for many, suicide and depression, anxiety, and addictions have increased. I’ve got good news, bad news, and really great news. The good news is that this unseen enemy, coronavirus, that’s trying to kill us, it’s gonna go away. And still we have another enemy that remains. Though 50% of this world’s population might get infected by COVID-19, 100% of us have been already infected by sin. Sin is those wrong things that we’ve done against God, and we’ve all sinned. Sin separates us from God, but God doesn’t just go away. He sent his Son Jesus. Jesus is the cure given to us by what he did for us on the cross. He died for our sins, he carried our weight because he knew that we could never do that. We were never designed to be our cure. Jesus is our cure. The great news is, is that he comes to us and invites us to be whole, to be filled, to find life and he gives it to us fully. If you think that you’re ready to say, “Jesus, I need you,” then you’re ready to start believing the truth. And the truth is this: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope,'” Jeremiah 29:11. This hope is not a wish. It’s a confident assurance. “You can be assured,” says the Scripture in Hebrews 13, “he will never leave you. He has said, ‘I will never under any circumstances desert you, nor give you up, nor leave you without support. I will not, I will not, I will not,'” he says three times, “‘in any degree leave you without support. I will not in any degree leave you helpless, nor forsake you, nor let you down or relax my hold upon you. Assuredly, not.'” So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently say, “The Lord is my helper in time of need. I will not be afraid.”
Tim: Whether you’re watching this right now in the middle of this global pandemic timeout or years later, right now might be your time. Don’t waste it. Knowing that there’s an opportunity
and grabbing it are two very different things. So pray now. I’ll help you. You can say, “Dear Jesus, thank you for stepping out of heaven and into my life. I invite you to please come in and as I heard you just say in your Scripture, you will never leave me, you will never forsake me, you will never abandon me or relax your hold upon me, so I say ‘yes’ to you, come in. Have your way. I give you my life right now, in Jesus’s name. I thank you for dying on the cross for me and now offering me new life. I say, ‘Jesus, I need you,’ in Jesus’s name, amen.”
Tim: I’m so excited for you. Your life has changed forever, forever. I’m–I just can’t tell you how your life is different now and you can find out by reading God’s Word, by spending time around some other believers as well. It’s very important. If you prayed with us right now, I wanna tell you that– give you some information right here on the screen. You can email us at IPRAYED@MXTV.ORG and I will answer and talk with you personally. I’m so excited for you. Also, if you’re still struggling, what you can do is go to, MXTV.ORG/CHAT and upon that you can text or chat with someone who understands because we care. We’re here for you 24/7/365 always. We want to be involved in your life. We want to help you. That’s why we’re here. We’re so excited for you. Thank you for letting me share this time of telling you the truth about yourself and the truth about how God loves you. We love you. We hope to see you again. Please also check out so you can continue growing in Christ MXTV.SHOW/CHURCH to find a local body of believers. Very important. And MXTV.SHOW/WHATS-NEXT so you can continue to grow in Christ.
We love you, in Jesus’s name, amen. Tim: If you’re watching this episode and you’re still right in the middle of this pandemic, please know that you’re not alone.
Remember the Scripture that I just read to you in Hebrews 13:5-6 and it says that, “he has not left you. He will never leave you without support.” We love you and know that that is the truth that you can base your life on. We trust in God’s Word and may you continue to trust in God’s Word in your life, in Jesus’s name, amen.