Censorship: Is the Church Complicit?

Many ministries basically came to a screeching halt during the 2020 pandemic and the near shutdown of the world’s economy.

Many pastors were beside themselves with confusion, fear, and worry. One day they had viable ministries, yet within a brief time they along with the entire world were closed until further notice.

I have stated from the beginning of this work when I first shared the vision of the tsunami wave of healing that along with this tsunami wave of healing glory is an undertow of strong doubt and unbelief. One of the strong undertows rising is persecution to drown out the voice of the Church—to keep her silent.

The enemy knows the power of the words of the Church, he has been fighting them ever since Adam was created. And now he has millions of spiritual Adams and Eves to contend with. So now he is going after the jugular vein—the supernatural power of the spoken word. It would be a whole lot easier for him to go about his dirty business if our mouths were gagged.

Dear reader, we are the Church, and history has proven we cannot be stopped—but the pressure of persecution can silence us if we let it. Times of persecution are upon us, which is all the more reason to decide once and for all not to be silent!

It’s disheartening to witness how easy it is to silence the majority of the Church. This silence reveals much about how we see ourselves, and what we actually believe and don’t believe.

With the outbreak of COVID-19, we were told to prevent the spread of this disease by not gathering together for a short time. From a good heart to protect one another we complied.

But then we began to see the world declare what they thought were “essential services” such as liquor stores and abortion clinics that remained open, but church services were considered nonessential. Even though society has been on a moral decline and we are often the ones people in need come to for help, as the reports of depression, domestic abuse, and suicide began to increase, our doors remained officially closed. Have you considered the possible reasons why the world says the Church is nonessential? Beside the fact that the devil is a liar and he hates us—the true Church. This is a humbling thought and something we need to take with us to prayer. We must learn how to become the essential component that our communities can’t live without. Allow Holy Spirit to incubate a plan about how to reach the lost before it’s too late.

Some churches were told they were allowed to open if they practiced social distancing, wear masks, and significantly decrease the number of people permitted to attend services. We again complied with all the demands.

Hey, let’s stop and take a good look at all of this. Number one, how can the state government tell us we cannot assemble? Where in the Bible does God give them this right over us? In fact, the very first amendment to the Constitution of the United States, acknowledges the “right of the people to assemble peaceably” and freedom of speech. The First Amendment was adopted in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights, which are the first ten amendments, providing constitutional protection for certain individual liberties including freedoms of speech, assembly, and worship!

And now as I write this, some state governments are saying we can’t sing during our worship services. I pray the Church in the United States will lift up her voice and say, “Enough is enough!” and take back our religious freedom to worship. I don’t see anywhere in God’s Word that we are to keep silent, in fact I see the opposite.

Many know the story of the prophet Jonah. If you don’t know it, open your Bible to the Old Testament and read the Book of Jonah. He was called by the Lord to go to the people of Nineveh, but he didn’t care enough about the people to deliver a message of repentance to the people. He disobeyed the Lord and foolishly thought he could outrun God and escape his destiny. His selfish spirit landed him in the sea and into the belly of a great fish. Jonah eventually repented and went to Nineveh where the people accepted his message and accepted the Lord.

Are we like Jonah, uncaring and merciless for the lost and hurting people of this world? Do we want to go where we want to go, and do the things we want to do? Do we think too highly of ourselves and refuse to go and speak on the behalf of the Lord because the people are too lowly for us? Or the place He wills to send us is below our self-centered status? Is the missionary calling, whether on the other side of the world or in our own community, too insignificant for our vanity? Have we become too important in our own eyes to do the work of the Lord?

If you only knew what I have witnessed hit the mission field in the name of the Lord, you would be appalled! And in the same breath, let us take a good hard look into the mirror of the Word of God and judge our own heart motives and ask ourselves, “Why are we not speaking up?” What is the truth behind our silence?

During this overreach of the worldly kingdom into the matters of God’s Kingdom, now more than ever the Church needs to stand strong— for Him and for all His children. Let’s pray, “Father God, forgive the Body of Christ. We don’t fully understand the damage our silence has created, the lives lost to the devil and eternal damnation. Forgive us for losing our first love and true purpose on earth today. Help us to redeem the time we have wasted and the souls we have neglected to impact. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.”

Take a Stand

Ah, you may think to yourself, I don’t need to say anything, this will pass. So you think kicking the can down the road will make the enemy stop his attacks of persecution? No, he won’t.

I too believe the pandemic will pass, but what will be the next fear and death tactic the enemy will use against us? He got away with it this time, and he is not going to stop. He will keep pulling the same strings as long as we allow him to get away with it. After all, he caused us to stop gathering together and from listening to the Word preached in a public setting. Corporate worship within local churches came to a screeching halt—and we accepted it all without much of a fight.

The fight to worship God goes back into Exodus. In chapter 7 we can read about the fight the Israelites had with pharaoh, the governing official, for their right to worship their God. Pharaoh, who thought he was a god, was lording over them with his will to keep them enslaved to his ungodly power. But God sent Moses to fight for them, and we read how God’s people won back their right to worship.

We are in the same battle, friend. We have allowed ourselves to become governed by the ungodly. And the Spirit of the Lord says, “No more of this! Use your voice for My glory.”

Let’s look to Psalm 107:2 and remind ourselves about speaking up for ourselves. This Scripture says what we are to voice, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy.” We are the redeemed of the Lord and we are to declare this over ourselves—and to those who need to hear the good news of Jesus. Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, bought and paid in full our deliverance, forgiveness, and freedom with His precious blood. We fully deserve the penalties of sin and the consequences of those sins—sickness, disease, death, hell and damnation. But by the power of His love, He shed His blood to set us free from these eternal consequences.

Our enemy, satan, works hard to condemn us so that we are unable to access our authority over him, and take down his wickedness around us. But our ever-loving Jesus nailed all requirements against us to the Cross.

Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross (Colossians 2:14).

When we begin to declare God’s holy status over ourselves—“I am redeemed”—instead of what the enemy or the religious community would have us say about ourselves—“I’m just an old sinner saved by grace”—we take on the battle cry of the Victorious One who rightly declares that we are more than conquerors. In declaring these words over ourselves we create the atmosphere of victory around ourselves.

When we voice our authority and victory over satan, it scares him to death. He knows that we are no longer pushovers and that we know the true battle plan. His false reports against us don’t stand a chance to destroy us. He is the one on the run—not us.

Why the Church Is Silent?

I woke up to the voice of Holy Spirit speaking to me this morning about why the Church is silent and the dangers that silence will create for us. Let’s discuss these issues now, and then do something about it.

In all honesty, I think the main reason the Church is silent about the injustices taking place against us is the fear of going under financially. There is a fear of losing the support of the members and not having enough to pay the bills or salaries. How about the fear that if they fight the unfair treatment by their local authorities, they could lose their 501c3 status, or be fined for not complying with the antichrist spirit rising up against the Church.

The Holy Bible tells us that we either serve God or we serve mammon (money), and that we cannot serve both at the same time. Let’s read the words from our Lord about this now in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [money].”

Yes, it takes financial means to run the established Church, to pay the mortgage, rent, utilities, and salaries for the pastors and other workers. That’s a normal part of life, but setting these things aside for just one moment, please, let us focus on this portion of Scripture. We need to ask ourselves the hard question, “Who are we going to serve?” Are we going to serve our Lord and Savior, no matter what that will cost us? Are we willing to serve Him even if it means we lose our tax-free status? Will we remain faithful to the faith even if it costs us our buildings? Or will we continue to bow to the spirit of mammon and continue on this path of evil governing control over us that wants to silence our Christian conservative voices?

If we remain silent, we will lose all of our religious freedoms that have been secured under our constitutional rights as being one nation, under God.

We are at a crossroads and we have to make our choice. Who is it going to be? Jesus Christ or the spirit of mammon.