The purpose of a business, in other words, is not to make a profit, full stop. It is to make a profit so that the business can do something more or better. That “something” becomes the real justification for the business.

The pandemic has thrown into sharp relief a shift in American religious life. Growing numbers of Americans, especially under the age of 30, are not religiously affiliated or involved with spiritual or religious organizations.

What do you say to an entrepreneur who might have to lay off their entire staff? What do you do when those employees need those jobs to survive? 

In life, there are winners and losers...and it is not a static thing, but something that is constantly changing. COVID19 will certainly yield some winners and losers. My mom and seven relatives were on the Princess Cruise ship, and three of them contracted the virus, while the rest of them did not.

Venture capitalists have raised record-breaking funds in recent years, but that doesn’t always mean the money is there for them when they want it. In extreme downturns, the people and institutions that promise capital to venture capital firms, and then wire it when the VCs need it for their startups, have little choice but to answer the phone less.

From an economic perspective, the Coronavirus pandemic is both a demand-shock and a supply-shock. So, as opposed to a significant hurricane or blizzard or even the 9/11 terrorist attack, this exogenous event may not simply push back economic activity, but rather may actually destroy it.

With the increasing coronavirus cases outside of China, many believers across the United States wonder how to respond to the increasing alarm. What would God have us do in the face of a growing international health crisis? Should our churches close their doors for fear of spreading illness? Should I take my kids out of school? Cancel travel plans?

It’s now clear that COVID-19 is a deadly serious global pandemic, and all necessary precautions should be taken. Still, C. S. Lewis’s words—written 72 years ago—ring with some relevance for us. Just replace “atomic bomb” with “coronavirus.”

"Black start" is a term used in the energy industry. It refers to a situation, for example, when an entire electrical grid goes dark in a state, region or an entire country. In such scenarios, power plants are often unable to turn back on because they need electricity to start and run.

As the Bay Area wakes up to life under lockdown, and companies across the country are encouraging people to work from home encouraging “social distancing,” my thoughts flash back to lessons I learned from running a business under lockdown a decade ago. My family and I lived in Afghanistan where I helped run a media company with a Department of Defense contract, and a travel and logistics company. We lived in a shared compound of our home and the office, so we effectively “worked from home.”

It’s no secret that everyone’s day-to-day lives have been turned upside down by the coronavirus. While this particular pandemic is new, there’s much to learn from Scripture and other believers. Many difficult decisions await in the days ahead. And we should remind ourselves that as believers, “Worry is not our friend and panic is not our way.”

It’s on all of our minds. It’s the first topic of conversation and the first headline on the news. The COVID-19 coronavirus is an escalating health concern across the globe and has been officially categorized as a pandemic.