The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Psalm 14:1)
The original location where the iron cross was found.
For Muslims, atheists and humanists the cross is an offense since it is to them the stench of death. But to us who believe it is the symbol of redemption and new and eternal life in Christ. If they were not pricked in their hearts when they see the cross they would not be offended.
Christ died on the cross at Ground Zero.
We have only one risen hero.
But the fools reject grace,
stay condemned, cannot face
The truth in The Cross at Ground Zero.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (St. John 3:16-17)
An intermediate location for the cross
The final place for the Iron cross near the 9/11 museum.
In 2015, the guest host on OAN shared these thoughts on Aug 28, in preparation for 9/11.
These were the final words of Governor Sarah Palin after a successful week anchoring “On Point” with the One America News.
Governor Palin is a true servant. Her parents, Chuck and Sally Heath, worked at the stinky Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island, New York in January and February 2002 as part of a federal Department of Agriculture program.
In a telephone interview, Mr. Heath said he and his wife had worked to keep sea gulls and rats from scavenging the human remains in the debris. Mr. Heath, then 70, a retired science teacher, and Mrs. Heath, then 68, a retired secretary, had worked for the Agriculture Department for 15 years. They traveled around the world dealing with “nuisance” animals like rats and bears.
“A lot of people just didn’t like the job, it was kind of a morbid thing,” he said of the work at the landfill. “But I thought it was part of history.”
This is the attitude of a servant.
After the 9/11 attack the country got together to rebuild the country again. Many quoted Isaiah 9:10 “The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the fig trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.”
Isaiah 9:10 has been quoted by politicians as a message of resilience and hope. This message was scribbled by President Obama in 2012 on a building near Ground Zero. Other Politicians have quoted Isaiah 9:10. John Edwards quoted it directly on the third anniversary of 9/11, not realizing that the message is not one of hope, but of utter arrogance. Today’s message by President Biden is “Build back better”, same message, one of utter arrogance. It is clear from the context:
What comes before the message that came down on Israel? Of course verse 6 and 7:
Child born: Shows the humanity of Christ
Son given, shows the deity of Christ
It also shows the unity of God, Father, Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counselor, three aspects of God, three in one, the triune God, the Trinity.
This message brings us full circle back to Jesus Christ, the one who died at the original Ground Zero, but rose again. There will be no “build back better” unless there is a revival, a return to God, a great awakening. This present government has by its actions shown that American Exceptionalism is dead, we will do better by abandoning our citizens and allies and negotiate with terrorists who will be fully installed in Afghanistan on 9/11. We will from now on be under Global Governance.
The aim of China is to be the dominant force in the world by 2030. Recent events have made them speed up the time table by at least 5 years after successfully interfering in the last election by openly favoring Joe Biden. The greatest fear of the Chinese Government are the 300 million or so closet Christians, a number that just keeps growing. The other fastest growing churches are the Christians in Iran and Afghanistan. In Myanmar Christians are now openly persecuted and some are killed, in Pakistan many are persecuted for blasphemy. There are now more Christian martyrs than ever in history, and even our own State Department considers evangelical Christians our greatest threat, greater than Taliban.
Pray for a worldwide revival of God’s people and an even greater awakening of Biblical Proportion!
Ephesians 3. “The meaning of the Greek word mysterion is a truth hitherto hidden from human knowledge or understanding but now disclosed by the revelation of God.” With that in mind this chapter reveals the mystery of Christ, its purpose and the appreciation of the mystery.
Isaiah 51 speaks of everlasting salvation out of Zion, via “the rock”. Wake up!
Isaiah 52. God prophetically redeems Jerusalem. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” Verse 13 and forward is the beginning of the prophecy of the suffering servant.
Isaiah 49. A chapter on the servant. Is it Israel or is it Jesus? Isaiah indicated it is both, and “a light to the Gentiles.” Read it and contemplate.
Isaiah 50 continues elaborating about the Servant. The two last verses has meant much in my life: “Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.”
Ephesians 2:1-10. This is the famous chapter explaining that we are saved by grace through faith and brought near by His blood, and, once saved, we are His ‘poem’ (ποιημα).
Isaiah 46 tells of the dead gods of Babylon and other useless idols. Compare that to the living God! “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:”
Ephesians 1. This letter has a wonderful explanation of the Christian Gospel. The Apostle Paul stars out with a greeting, then explains what it means to get redemption in Christ and ends up with a prayer for spiritual wisdom.
Isaiah 44. Israel is the chosen nation, God is supreme, idols are worthless. Sing, for the LORD has done it. God is the one “That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.”
Isaiah 45. Cyrus was God’s instrument. God gave him “the treasures of darkness”, though he did not acknowledge Him. The Lord is the only savior, there is none else. God said: “I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.”
Galatians 6. Bear one another’s burdens and at the same time each one should carry his own burden. A man reaps what he sows, be generous and do good, especially to those of the household of faith. Glory only in the cross. After these admonitions Paul gave his final blessings.
Isaiah 43 speaks of the redeemer and the rebirth of Israel, which took place in 1948. It happened in spite of Israel’s unfaithfulness only by God’s mercy, and His promise that He would do a new thing.
Psalm 78, a maskil of Asaph. “This is the longest of the historical psalms. Its lesson is that history must not repeat itself. The people must never again be unbelieving.” (James Montgomery Boice)
Galatians 5: 16-25. “ Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Paul spoke of christian liberty, love fulfills the law and is accomplished by walking in the spirit.
Isaiah 41 waxes eloquent about the helper of Israel. “How firm a foundation” is to stand with God. Compare that to the futility of idols!
Isaiah 42 records the Servant of the LORD as a light for the Gentiles. The sons of Kedar will sing a new song, which is not the doctrine of Islam, as some Muslims claim, but as so often was the case, Israel was still blind and deaf.
Psalm 77, of Asaph. No matter how dire the circumstances the believer can still sing God’s praises and recall God’s wonders.
Galatians 5: 1-15. “ Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Paul spoke of christian liberty, love fulfills the law. Do not be circumcised!
Isaiah 39 tells of Hezekiah’s folly, how he showed all the riches of Jerusalem to the envoys from Babylon, and he said “There will be peace for our time”, like Neville Chamberlain did before WWII.
Isaiah 40. This chapter of Isaiah is very uplifting and has helped me immensely. I will not comment any further. Read it, listen to the music, read it again and let it sink in!
Galatians 4. The Apostle Paul told the Galatians they are children of God and heirs of the promise, but still, he feared for the Church since they preferred the law over the promise. He explained it through two covenants, one in bondage through the law, the other in freedom through the Spirit.
Isaiah 37. Jerusalem’s deliverance is foretold, Hezekiah’s prayer and the word of the LORD concerning Sennacherib is recorded, followed by Hezekiah’s final fall.
Isaiah 38 describes Hezekiah’s illness and how the LORD added 15 years to his life.
I do not normally copy a message in its entirety, but as far as i have been able to check, it is all valid research at today’s state of knowledge, and we’d better wake up!
This might be one of the most important and timely things you’ve ever read. If you take the time to read it, and then you disagree, I’ll reimburse you for your time. I’m not joking.
I’m an attorney. Don’t hate me for it! I’ll suddenly be your best friend on the day you need me, don’t worry. I only mention it because I am a litigating attorney and everything I cite in this article will be something I can prove in court. No conspiracy theories. Most of the data comes from the CDC, the NIH, the FDA, other state agencies, or major American newspapers. I don’t truck in conspiracy theory because, by definition, they’re unprovable.
God gave me a message to give you:
When the Church wakes up, this will all be over.
But if the Church DOESN’T wake up, this will BE all over.
The fact that I don’t have to tell you what “this” is speaks volumes. Let’s get started.
What You Don’t Know About Covid-19
We are now near the lowest point of mortality since the pandemic began.
2. The CDC’s weekly U.S. mortality dashboard reports that deaths are at the lowest weekly point since March 2020:
You didn’t know that, did you? With the “Delta variant” raging and all that. You probably thought that mortality was through the roof. It’s not.
(Update 9/1/2021: Mortality is ticking up again, for reasons that will become clear below, and probably because the southern summer Covid wave is transitioning to the northern states’ fall wave. But the point remains the same, which is (1) you’ve been told for two months that things are dire, and they weren’t, and (2) even now we are still seeing only a fraction of the mortality from the winter 2021 and spring 2020 levels.)
3. Pediatric mortality from Covid in Florida is below flu levels. For all of 2020, there were 22 pediatric deaths from influenza in Florida. For all of 2020 and 2021 combined, there have only been 15 pediatric deaths from Covid-19:
Those other risks like drowning and suffocation are much more significant for kids than Covid-19. In fact, Covid-19 has been the least likely cause of death for kids in the United States:
4. We are probably well over the summer peak already, at least in southern states like Florida. Northern states probably still have their seasonal fall wave coming. The Harvard/Yale “R-naught” dashboard reports that Florida’s score is in the mid-70’s. R-naught, or “R0,” is the measure of how infectious the virus is. If the R0 is 1, then one infected person in turn infects one other person, and the virus is stable. If the R0 is 2, then one infected person in turn infects two other persons, and the virus is spreading. Here’s the latest dashboard for my county in Florida, in the midst of “Delta variant” hysteria:
You can see where it peaked at around 1.7 in July, but is now down to 0.74. Note the language in the description: “If it’s below 1.0, COVID-19 cases will decrease in the near future.”
Here’s where things start to get difficult. In early August — this month — the CDC announced ominously that Covid-19’s R0 was “the same as chickenpox.” Chickenpox has an R0 of 10.0 — one of the highest recorded viral R0’s of any virus, ever recorded. Comparing Covid to Chickenpox was such a bizarre and blatant distortion of reality that even NPR had to call out the CDC:
So keep this question in mind: If we can’t count on the CDC for accurate information, then who can we count on?
5. We now know that the vaccine immunity is NOT long-lasting.
It’s short-lasting. Even Pfizer and Moderna say so. Dr. Fauci just announced that boosters might be needed every five months:
Every five months. Wow. That’s not very long. And we haven’t known about this short-lasting vaccine problem for very long, either. Just since early this month, in fact:
Three weeks ago the U.S. government was calling for booster shots every eight months. Last week they shortened it to every six months. Now it’s at five months. We’ve lost three months of protection in two weeks. But even worse, in countries that are far ahead of us in vaccination rate, vaccinated people are getting serious Covid-19 in large numbers:
Oddly, Covid-19 infections in Israel (80% vaccinated) are spiking, while Covid-19 infections in the neighboring Palestinian territory (11% vaccinated) are flat:
It’s happening in Britain, too:
Finally, in late August, 2021, CDC Director Walensky admitted that the U.S. will likely see the same types of increasing post-vaccination hospitalizations here, too:
“The data that we’ve been looking at is our international colleagues, who are ahead of us both in the Delta surge as well as, um, have vaccinated large — a few weeks ahead of us in terms of large portions of their population that have been vaccinated. Data that we’ve seen from our international colleagues, specifically and especially Israel, have demonstrated, um, a worsening of infections among vaccinated people over time. And so, um, we are — remain concerned about that. As we see in the context of Delta variant, some breakthroughs that are occurring, um, and decreased vaccine effectiveness that is occurring in the context of infection. Um, we are watching the experience of other countries carefully, and are concerned that we too will see what Israel is seeing, which is worsening infections over time.”
6. But we have also learned that natural immunity IS long-lasting.
Many scientists predicted this, but the CDC initially rejected the idea. In February, 2021, Dr. Fauci said that vaccine-induced immunity was “longer, broader, and more durable than natural immunity.” But now we know that vaccine immunity wanes quickly, and has to be refreshed as often as every five months. But on the other hand, natural immunity is looking very long-lasting:
What does this mean? Maybe we should be focusing on a strategy to protect vulnerable people by sheltering them, while letting the healthy population get through Covid-19 as quickly as possible, treating them for serious cases. Maybe boosting everyone with a brand-new vaccine for the rest of their lives is not the best strategy. Just saying.
7. Vaccines were sold to us on the theory we’d use them to get to “herd immunity.” But that ship has now sailed and fallen off the edge of the Earth.
In late 2020, Fauci, the CDC, and large news agencies were all telling us that the vaccines would help us reach herd immunity, where the virus has nowhere to go because so many people have been immunized:
Whoops. Since we now know that vaccinated people can still get and transmit the infection, there is no way we can ever reach herd immunity through the vaccine:
Back in March of this year, CDC Director Rochelle Walenskey said:
The data suggests that vaccinated people do not carry the virus.
But this month, on August 6, she told Wolf Blitzer:
Our vaccines are working exceptionally well, they continue to work well for delta with regard to severe illness and death, they prevent it, but what they can’t do anymore is prevent transmission.
They can’t prevent transmission of the virus. Can’t. No herd immunity.
At this point, you might be wondering, what IS the plan now? What ARE we trying to accomplish with the vaccines? Jabbing people every few months forever? I am concerned that there IS NO PLAN now. No plan except to continue doing what isn’t working. And you know what they call that.
8. And, the Covid vaccines are leaky. Leaky vaccines make viruses mutate faster and become more deadly.
A “leaky” vaccine is one that provides some health benefits but doesn’t immunize the patient. So the virus can keep living inside the vaccinated person, and mutating. It mutates to try to “escape” the vaccine’s limited protection. Take a look at what one recent study says about leaky vaccines.
We have known for some time that leaky vaccines push viruses to mutate faster:
9. Forget about mutations and variants. Because the vaccines are leaky, and because animals can catch Covid-19, we can NEVER get rid of it. Never.
In early August a new study of white-tailed deer, which live in 49 states in the U.S., showed that almost half (40%) of them had Covid-19 antibodies. Almost HALF:
We now know of up to 20 species of animals that can catch the virus, including household cats and dogs. The technical terminology for this phenomenon is that the Covid-19 virus has an “animal reservoir.”
Even if we could vaccinate every single man, woman, and child in the world all on the same day, we still couldn’t get rid of Covid. The animals would re-infect us. And you can’t vaccinate the animals, because they don’t respond to shaming or threats of loss of employment.
What does all this mean?
It means this:
Vaccinated folks are probably driving most mutations, not unvaccinated.
Natural immunity is far longer, broader, and more durable than vaccine-induced immunity.
Vaccination will not stop infections or create herd immunity.
Covid cannot be eradicated because of Animal Reservoirs.
Covid is here to stay.
And the Israel experience suggests that, as we increase vaccinations, serious hospitalizations are going to spike here, too. We have a “complicated” future coming soon. What are you going to do about it?
Part II
Covid and the Spirit of Fear
There is a demonic spirit of fear suffocating the Earth. You know I’m right.
The Spirit of Fear is destroying relationships and tearing the Church apart. Unvaccinated grandparents are being told by their children that they can’t see their grand kids and not to come around. Bizarrely, vaccinated members of your church are fearful and distrusting of their unvaccinated brothers and sisters.
But Christians, in particular, are not supposed to fear. We’ll get to that in a minute.
Where is all this fear coming from? Here’s a recent cover from Newsweek:
The “Doomsday Variant.” Doomsday! It asks, “How worried should we be?” How worried. Not “Should we be worried?” Worry is presumed. But when you read the article, it admits there is no doomsday variant. It just says that experts “can’t rule it out.” It’s mere speculation. It might have been helpful to mention that on the cover, don’t you think?
Anyway, I disagree. There IS a doomsday variant. The doomsday variant is fear.
This Spirit of Fear has caused a tsunami of worldwide terror and destruction:
In a huge new study, just published, of FIVE MILLION Covid-19 patients, guess what is now tied for first place as the most likely predictor of mortality once someone goes in the hospital? Fear.
Number one used to be obesity. No surprise there. But feart has crept up the charts, and is now tied for number one, with obesity. Fear and anxiety related disorders:
So, your risk of dying if you are hospitalized with Covid is +30% if you’re obese and +28% if you have any “anxiety and fear-related disorders.” Those disorders weren’t even on the list a year ago. I predict they will take first place soon, if they haven’t already. In other words, I expect fear and anxiety disorders will soon be the NUMBER ONE predictor of mortality if a person is hospitalized with Covid-19, if not already.
The Spirit of Fear is literally killing people.
The scientific literature is BLOWING UP with fear and anxiety-related issues.
Worst of all? The children may be the largest single group of victims of the Spirit of Fear:
Clinically-elevated symptoms of pediatric depression. Clinical levels. In 25% of kids. Think about that for a minute. Kids are wondering what they have to live for. And nobody’s giving them spiritual counseling or — most importantly—hope. What proportion does that have to reach before we start paying attention to that problem? 50%? 75%?
Only fifteen children have died from Covid in Florida in a year and a half. But a quarter of all of them are suffering from clinical levels of fear and depression. Think about that. That is a spiritual problem.
The hospitals are filling up with people who are experiencing life-threatening levels of anxiety. Here’s one example I received recently from a doctor in the largest hospital chain in Massachusetts:
Unprecedented demand for procedural and acute mental and behavioral health services. Unprecedented. In other words, it’s never happened before.
Here’s the thing. A Spirit of Fear is a SPIRITUAL PROBLEM. It’s not a medical problem. It’s not a biological problem. It’s not a political problem. And it’s not a scientific problem. It’s a spiritual problem.
If only we had some kind of worldwide organization that was devoted to addressing spiritual problems. We sure could use something like that, for a time like this. Let me know if you think of one.
Christian Theology Teaches That Fear Is a Sin
Jesus told us not to fear anything. Ever.
Phillippians 4:16
So park that idea for a moment. The Spirit of Fear isn’t just tearing families and congregations apart. There is a major disconnect between the pulpit and the pew:
I’ve already shown you that the vaccines are becoming more questionable by the minute. But a lot of pastors and priests are still pushing the shots from the pulpit. This is increasing fear, not addressing it. A lot of your members don’t want the shot, don’t trust the ungodly people pushing it, and can’t get even their most basic questions answered by anyone in authority. They are coming to the Church for spiritual comfort and leadership — and they aren’t getting it.
You want a recipe for making the Church irrelevant? This is it, on steroids. Pastors, I love you, you are my brothers, but if I hear one more sermon about five takeaways from the Book of Joshua while a Spirit of Fear is crushing the Church, I think I might lose my mind.
The pastor is talking about how wandering in the desert compares to my marriage relationship, and I’m looking around the church and seeing people who are terrified they are going to lose their jobs because they won’t take the vaccine. Parents who are frantic because they promised their kids there would be no more masks this year and now must break those solemn promises. People with chronic health problems who are terrified the hospitals will stop treating them just because they won’t get the jab. Others who are scared because they did get the jab but are now hearing they have to take boosters all the time or they can still catch Covid and die. Which they were promised would not happen.
And, meanwhile, just what are pastors telling all those people seeking spiritual counseling and comfort in your church about all those spiritual and practical fears? Nothing, that’s what. Why not? I’m not sure, but I think it’s because they’re scared too. Scared to take a position. Scared to speak out. The Spirit of Fear is crushing them.
The Church is ASLEEP! WAKE UP!!
Last summer I widely offered to represent any church in my county, for free, to get the churches reopened. Nobody called.
Take a look at the web pages of mainstream Christian magazines. There’s nothing helpful about dealing with Covid-19 and the Spirit of Fear. Not one thing.
Wow. The top article is about medical marijuana. During a pandemic of fear that is literally killing us and tearing the Church apart. And that one article about Covid saying churches shouldn’t write exemption notes isn’t too helpful to alleviate terrified members’ worries about losing their jobs, is it? I’m guessing reading something like that makes folks more terrified.
Great job, Christianity Today.
Here’s the one article in the front page of the Christian Post.
There’s not even anything about Covid close to the top. You have to scroll down the screen to find it:
The “Post-Covid-19 Workplace?” Post-covid? Really? Is the Christian Post in a different dimension in the multi-verse? Could they possibly get any more disconnected and irrelevant? That’s an honest question. We’re not post-anything. Not even close. We’re just getting started.
The world is on fire! Wake up, Christian Post! Vaccine mandates are erupting worldwide and people don’t like it. They are terrified:
Meanwhile, WHERE IS THE CHURCH?? Oh, churches are being so, so careful to toe the government’s line, so they don’t get shut down:
What’s the government’s advice to the Church?
Why is the Church scared of these ungodly men?
Why? That’s not what our Savior said we should be:
DO NOT FEAR THOSE WHO CAN KILL THE BODY. FEAR HIM WHO CAN DESTROY BOTH SOUL AND BODY IN HELL. Come on, Pastors! Wake up! Stop fearing and cow-towing to these petty dictators!
You might be thinking, but what SHOULD I be doing? I’m glad you asked.
What Should Pastors With Guts Be Doing?
We need our pastors and priests to get some guts. There might not be a lot of time left. It feels like we’re in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter, and we just realized that we were playing football.
Have you seen all these great Youtube videos of moms, down at the school board, tearing those officials a new one?
Now, that is some entertaining YouTube right there, am I right? Good stuff.
But here’s my first question: Where are the MEN?
Yeah. They’re nowhere to be seen. Why? Because they’re afraid. If they stand up and stand out, they’ll get cancelled, fired, shamed.
Okay. Here’s my next question: Where are these moms’ brothers and sisters from the church? Why aren’t their brothers and sisters down there at the School Board supporting these moms? Huh. I guess we don’t support each other anymore. My bad.
My last, and most important, question: WHERE ARE THE PASTORS??
Pastors, why aren’t YOU down there at the school board supporting your moms? I thought the kids were the future of the Church and all that? Or is that just a marketing slogan? You want the kids to come to the Church, but you won’t go down to the school board and fight for them. Does that seem fair to you?
How about Critical Race Theory, pastor? They are teaching kids that the Church is racist. Do you have any problem with that? Do you think it is good? Just? Virtuous? Do you think things are going to work out well for the Church if that goes on for very long? Are you waiting for the women to fix it for you?
Pastor, I love you, but you have lost your way. Your flock is wandering in the forest.
Okay. That was some tough love. What does finding your way look like?
First, Churches MUST Start Dealing with Covid
We have to start fighting the Spirit of Fear. The Spirit of Fear has to be vanquished from the Church before it can be defeated in the World. You must start at home. You have to immediately start talking about these issues and pointing out the ungodliness and the fearful spirits and encouraging people and bringing your people together.
You have to start leading.
I know, I know. But Jeff, you ask, how do I know what to say? There’s so much misinformation out there. How do I know what is right and what is wrong?
Pastor, I don’t know what to tell you. If only there were some kind of omniscient source of wisdom somewhere that we could tap into. That would be helpful, right? Let’s look around, and see if we can come up with something.
The Church must immediately become relevant.
The only thing people are thinking about right now is Covid. All the problems I’ve already named plus unimaginable fears about what’s coming next. And that’s all you should be talking about, too. All the time. Every day. Until this thing is over. They need to be told not to fear. And they need to be told how not to fear.
But Jeff, you say, I only have them for a few hours on Sunday. Then the world gets them the rest of the time. So I feel like it’s hopeless, there’s nothing I can do.
Pastor, PLEASE. That’s the Spirit of Fear talking. You still aren’t getting the idea, are you? If you’ll go down to the School Board and deliver a fiery sermon, someone will record it, and you’ll be on YouTube and get a MILLION VIEWS. You have to get out of the Church. Go to where the people are. You’ve never had a better opportunity, not ever.
GET OUT OF THE SAFE COMFY CHURCH! GET INTO THE WORLD! DO IT NOW! You have to start publicly pushing back against government overreach, ungodly men, evil, and attacks on people’s freedoms. Why? If you can’t think of a godly reason, how about self-preservation? Once the other freedoms are lost, what do you think will happen to religious freedom? They’ve already shown they are willing to shut your Church and leave the bars, marijuana dispensaries, and strip clubs open. Fight it now before it gets any stronger.
Pastor, what exactly are you waiting for? An invitation? A sign? THIS is your sign. THIS is the message you’ve been waiting for. Now stop waiting, and start acting. God has given you pastors the greatest shield and talent that he’s ever given any ordinary class of human beings.
People — critics— say about me, all the time, “don’t listen to that guy. He’sjust a lawyer.” So let me talk to you as a lawyer.
You are protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution better than any other citizen. There are more 9–0 Supreme Court decisions in favor of religious liberty than any other issue. They will come for you last. You can say just about anything with impunity. They can’t officially touch you. They might send thugs to threaten and intimidate you, but if many of you are activated, they won’t bother. And if you organize your church, you can resist the thugs anyway. That strategy only works to silence the one or two vocal pastors who pop up here and there. If there is a large group, there’s no point to it.
So, pastor, what are you doing with this awesome First Amendment talent that God has bestowed on you for a time such as this? I’ll tell you what you’ve done with it. You’ve sealed it in a mason jar, hidden the mason jar in a bushel basket, and buried the bushel basket under the olive groves.
Now, good and faithful servant, what will you tell your Creator on that glorious day when He asks for an accounting of how you used the talents that He gave you? I sure hope you’ll have dug them up and put them to work by then.
Pastor, we are in a war. It’s here. It’s in our cities, our neighborhoods, and our churches. You are a wartime pastor. Start acting like one. What were good and faithful pastors doing in World War I? In World War II? There were lots of people dying during those wars. Did we give up? Hunker down. No. We attacked the enemy head-on, no matter the cost.
The enemy is the Spirit of Fear.
You should be organizing your churches. Get EVERYONE down to the school board meeting, the county commission meeting, the city council meeting. Get your folks to start working together! Lead them!
Start getting ready for what everyone can see is coming. The time for churches to provide widespread medical care is nearly here. Unvaccinated people won’t be able to be treated at the hospitals. They won’t even be let in the front door. It is already happening. The Church will have to take care of them. Are you ready for that?
Your members are going to be fired from their jobs. They may have trouble finding any gainful employment. They’ll need help. A kind of help you haven’t ever dealt with before. And there will be a lot of them.
You are going to be feeding people who will be cut off from food, for one reason or another. Community is going to become a life-and-death issue. Don’t wait for it to get here. Start getting ready now.
You must start calling out evil and ungodliness wherever it appears. And it’s all over the place. It’s a target-rich environment. You saw what happened in Afghanistan. What’s happening over here is Afghanistan on steriods. The same ungodly people who orchestrated the Afghanistan debacle are in charge of the pandemic.
And please stop calling deaths from Covid in your Church a “tragedy.” That is heretical. Christians don’t believe death is a tragedy. Death has been defeated. We celebrate when our brothers and sisters go to their reward, when their time of suffering in this vale of tears is over. It is NOT a tragedy. That is the Spirit of Fear talking.
I leave you with this, two scriptures from the Book of Revelation.
The cowardly are first in the list to be thrown in the the lake of fire. Don’t get me wrong — I’m not calling you a coward. I’m showing you that even in the end times He wants us to fight, to be our best and bravest selves. Better to die in this world than experience the fate reserved for cowards. God doesn’t want us to be cowardly, even if these are the end times.
And, speaking of the end times, there is another heresy to address. Some Christians think that the World is coming to an end, so we can just sit back and wait to be delivered from it, and watch the show. But not so fast:
WAKE UP!!! Strengthen what remains! Some will fall away, but some, a few, have not soiled their garments! God’s not finished with the Church yet! Wake up, as you have been commanded! Do it RIGHT NOW.
I have a live version of this presentation that I give to groups of pastors. If you’ve read down this far, then you know that this is a critical message. Get me a group of pastors of any size and I will present the message to them on Zoom. For a big group I will do it live. I’ll move whatever I have to move in my schedule to do it.
Epilogue
For my whole life, I’ve been troubled by the image of the Lord spitting out the lukewarm church. How could I be not lukewarm? What does that even mean? What do I have to do? Do I have to go become a missionary in Africa? Do I have to hold a sign on the street in New Orleans?
I don’t worry about being lukewarm any more. I am ready to talk to Him now, about all my adventures on His mission. It’s done. I have a feeling of peace and comfort that surpasses all understanding.
And it’s because last year I got into the crosshairs, just as He was directing me, in spite of all my fears and anxieties. I’ve never been a public figure, not ever. But I put it all on the altar. And He has blessed me beyond imagination and given me this platform.
Pastor, this is your time. This is your chance. It’s the best opportunity in our entire lives to be not lukewarm. You are a wartime pastor and I hope that you, like me, will rise and answer the call.
Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment. 
