Posts Tagged ‘persecution’
Undesirables in our culture will be permanently cancelled
Those in society presenting a risk will first be marginalized and then eliminated.
I'll never forget the terror I felt watching A Thief in the Night, an apocalyptic movie from the 1970's seen by over 300 million people. Christians who refused to take the Mark of the Beast were led to the guillotine. No resister was spared, not even small children. (Regardless of the timing of the rapture, Christians can and will exist during the Tribulation period.)
We are living in the final moments leading up to times of great trouble in the world. It's true that difficult times are upon us now, but, especially in America, what we are experiencing is paradise compared to the horrors to come.
Many believe once the end-time progression has fully matured, those who resist the mandates of a coming global leader will be mercilessly executed. This certainly includes biblical Christians and others who rise up with guns a blazin' in opposition to tyranny.
EVENTUALLY CHRISTIANS BE CANCELLED PERMANENTLY
Canadian pastor Artur Pawlowski who has resisted the mandates to wear masks and cancel church services was recently arrested on the tarmac at Calgary International Airport.
“They came for me, be sure of it, they are coming for you as well,” he said warning U.S. audiences.
There will be consequences if Americans don't take a stand, he continued: “If you will not do it, you're next.”
This is where it gets interesting, and where we as Believers in Jesus must understand the larger picture. We must also use great wisdom when dealing with the spirit of the age.
News flash: When all is said and done we will lose this fight.
I'm not trying to demoralize anybody nor am I buying into any sort of defeatism. I've read the Book and I am fully aware that martyrdom is very much in the future for many of us. The final victory is not carnal or earthly. After the Great Tribulation period and then ultimately after the Millennial reign, Satan and his hordes will be eliminated. We win, they lose.
But in the not too distant future, we will be permanently cancelled. No type of right-wing rebellion against the tyranny will work. Resistance is futile. Scripture makes that clear. Does that mean we give up and give in? No. Contending for righteousness is always appropriate, and there certainly can and will be important short-term victories. We can and should fight the fight (again, with wisdom) by promoting righteous laws and challenging unrighteous norms.
WE ARE BEING CONDITIONED
Today, social media and politics are the primary tools the enemy is using to force his agenda. Cancel culture is here to stay and it will get progressively more punitive, restrictive and threatening. This is why our strategies must go much further than ranting on Facebook and wearing MAGA hats. God is preparing his church for great persecution and he needs us to accurately discern the signs of the times.
Social media giants are conditioning us, muzzling us and attempting to force us into compliance. What we say, what we believe and what we do will result in affirmation or cancellation. Resisters will resist, but those who are Spirit-driven will be prepared to respond rightly to the evil end-time strategy.
ELIMINATING THE UNDESIRABLES
Ultimately, the plan is for undesirables (you and me) to be fully eliminated. During the Tribulation that may come in the form of a guillotine. In the seasons leading up to that we'll see an increase in propaganda, conditioning, cancellation and shaming aimed at those who voice any measure of opposition to the societal norms.
Do we simply unleash the Ben Shapiro's and Donald Trump's of the world to rage against the machine, or is there another, better response? While I appreciate what Ben and President Trump have done, and I do believe God can and has used methods they have employed, we need to zoom out and look at the bigger picture. This isn't about saving America anymore. This is about preparing for an encounter with the greatest evil the world has ever known.
How many churches are strategically preparing the people for trouble? I'm not talking about stocking up on toilet paper, fighting against liberal lawmakers or sharing the latest memes about Dr. Fauci. I mean, is the church praying, fasting and contending in tears for an outpouring of God's Spirit? Are pastors teaching on the end times? What is the spiritual response to today's crisis?
The Bible makes it clear that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but that seems to be all the church is doing lately. Fighting politicians, fighting mandates, fighting Facebook. Satan is moving in the spiritual realm and manifesting in the natural. All too often, the church is a step behind, reacting in the natural, responding in the flesh and relying on human intuition with no grid for the supernatural.
A Thief in the Night had me disturbed as a child and the truth it conveyed has me disturbed as a 52-year-old adult, though the reasons are very different. Then I was concerned for my own life. Today I'm grieved at the response of the church. In the near future, Christians who are rightfully prepared will stand against the threats and refuse to align with the anti-Christ, even if it means certain death. Those who are not will easily give in to the pressures of being permanently cancelled. No food, water, medical care, electricity or other necessities will be too great a price to pay for many.
SO, WHAT DO WE DO?
Our primary and constant response must be fervent prayer, radical consecration, holy living and devotion to the Word of God.
In the short term I believe it's important that we do engage culture. We can win some of the current battles and push back the agendas of the enemy. If we use supernatural wisdom, we can see laws changed, social media transformed and tyranny confronted. It's a valuable and appropriate fight anytime we push back on darkness, especially when it's attempting to destroy our nation.
We must understand, however, that any victory in this realm will be short lived. Ultimately, the enemy will rage with such strategic precision that all who resist will be eliminated. Are we prepared to die as martyrs? Are we truly living and praying and walking in the Spirit? Are our children ready for overwhelming and terrifying persecution? If not, that must be our focus. It's about to get very interesting in the world, and we must do all we can to be ready to respond.
Photo credit: “Guillotine (musée des Souvenirs de guerre, Hô Chi Minh Ville)” by dalbera is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Twitter’s Five-Strike Threat to America
Politics are at the center of the story of Jesus. His historical life ended with a political execution. ~Marcus J. Borg
Under its new guidelines, Twitter users who are deemed to have peddled false COVID-19 information will be given a strike.
Five strikes and you are out. Banned. Terminated. Forever.
Something is abundantly clear to anyone who has been surveying the rapid and sudden eradication of our freedoms: muzzles have been securely adhered to the mouths of Christians and conservatives. The ungodly decision makers of America are pouncing on the opportunity the recent global situation has provided to silence their dissenters.
Jack Dorsey, Mark Zuckerberg and rest of media have been agitated into a frenzy. They are unapologetically attempting to play God by eliminating anything that threatens their humanistic utopia.
THE THREAT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
Jesus proved to be such an extreme threat to the religious and political system of his day that they paid Judas 30 pieces of silver. Then the bloodthirsty political mob killed him. They were willing to do whatever needed to be done to shut down the “propaganda” and to regain control of the narrative.
They failed. An earthquake, several passed out soldiers, a displaced boulder and a missing body created a new and greater threat. Desperate to avoid losing power and influence, the “sleeping” guards, just like Judas, were given a large sum of money to stop the threat. A wicked scheme was put into action and lies were spread to combat the truth of freedom and righteousness.
The body of Jesus was stolen. His disciples were hallucinating. Any excuse would suffice. Even one of their own, Thomas, doubted anything miraculous happened. Jesus was, as the coroner of the land of Oz might say, not only merely dead, he's really most sincerely dead.
WE ARE AT WAR
We must understand this isn't about an attempt to ensure correct information about COVID is being disseminated. It's about cancelling any and all who promote anything that contradicts the personal beliefs of those who control mass communication. We have truly entered into a time when crafty propaganda is manipulating the thoughts of millions. Social engineering is alive and well. Refusal to comply with tech leader's ideologies will result in eradication. Jesus was killed because of his message and influence. Today, Christians and conservatives are being eliminated from social media because of our message and influence. Oh, and don't think that we won't also be killed for our message one day. It's coming.
THE RIGHT TO LIE
I know it's strange and even a little concerning to hear a devoted follower of Jesus promote the right to lie. I'm not suggesting that we as Christians ever actually lie. What I am suggesting is simple: those who are in control of communication in our nation are determining themselves exactly what qualifies for truth and lies.
So, those who are exchanging truth for lies are unilaterally calling good evil and evil good. This means for us to reveal truth, the right to lie becomes indispensable.
Should we not, as free Americans, be allowed to communicate our deeply held personal beliefs no matter who may disagree? Isn't it an American right to promote any variety of conspiracy theory? Are we no longer allowed to suggest aliens crashed at what is now Area 51? Can we not share our views about the Illuminati, the assassination of President Kennedy, the existence of Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster sightings, time travel and other debatable topics? Should we lock up Ben Shapiro? Does the left not have a right to spew hatred, lies and filth about the recently deceased Rush Limbaugh?
Yes we should be able to talk about aliens. No, Ben shouldn't go to prison for being ridiculously balanced and smart. And, no, vile monsters shouldn't be cancelled because they smeared Rush. It's called freedom of speech. Truth and lies should be aggressively scrutinized while completely free of restriction.
“If I had to say something positive I guess I’m glad Rush Limbaugh lived long enough to get cancer and die,” comedian Paul F. Tompkins said.
In another attempt to silence conservatives, any suggestion that the election was stolen has been judged to be an untruth by social media giants. These Goliaths will taunt their enemies and restrict any debate that threatens thier points of view. Anyone who is intellectually honest must conclude that there may have been a possibility of election indiscretion. There's no way it can be definitively determined that zero fraud took place. Yet, today's uncircumcised Philistines overseeing mass communication aren't what you'd call intellectually honest. Their truth is the only truth that matters.
So, whether it's COVID or Trump or masks or riots, many of the messages conservatives and Christians are communicating have been determined to be lies, and subsequently erased from social media. Therefore we absolutely must support the right to lie. If we don't, it's five strikes and we are out.
THE GOSPEL TO BE CANCELLED NEXT?
Truthfully, much of the Gospel has already been cancelled. Just as cultural leaders frantically attempted to modify the truth of the resurrection before it reached the whole of society, the truth of Scripture is being rewritten to meet the strict guidelines of today's censors.
In fact, the Bible has already been censored or outright outlawed in many places around the world. The living truth it contains is as threatening today as it was to the religious and political leaders two thousand years ago.
If the Word of God deals with hot topics such as homosexuality in a manner that runs contrary to today's intellectually awakened humanistic gurus, it's cancelled. Not only cancelled, but whoever embraces what the Bible teaches can have their lives destroyed by today's woke mob.
When love speech is called hate speech simply because people are radically resistant to the type of love the Bible reveals, you know we are in trouble as a nation. God and his methods are not only being rejected wholesale in today's ungodly American culture, but those who have decided to follow Jesus are shamed, despised, ridiculed, hated and cancelled.
We shouldn't be surprised. The Bible we believe and the God we serve have made it clear this would happen. Sadly, if things don't change now, it's only going to get worse.
“Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 10:21–22, ESV)
Photo credit: “Jack Dorsey” by jdlasica is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Originally published by The Stream.