Two Sundays ago, as I often do, I attended church. As is typical, most people sat toward the back. To me, this connotes disengagement. I sit near the front. I figure that, if I go to church, I might as well be into it. For the same reason, if I go to a concert or a sports event, I move toward the performers. So there I was—unmasked—in the second row, alongside my mask-wearing wife, who is more deferential than I am. The front row was empty.
I was looking on youtube one day for sermons to listen to. One caught my attention. Pastor John Macarthur at Grace Community Church. His sermon "when government rewards evil and punishes the good" he even has a page dedicated to Covid and why his parishioners should not be afraid of covid. I was like you, I never believed for one minute, from the moment they said lockdowns that this was about our health. The day I found his video sermon I've continued to listen and realized how many churches failed. It gave me courage and the strength to keep seeking the truth. When they started banning, censoring and vilifying legitimate doctors, experts, researchers and scientists I knew something was very wrong. Guess who I follow today? Everyone that has been banned, censored and vilified. I have binders full of data, medical articles, publications. If you would have told me two years ago I would no longer trust the cdc, NIH, FDA or my own doctor I would have called you a conspiracy theorist. But here we are. All my conspiracy theories have come true.
MacArthur has been a magnificent exception to the rule. His church will grow. Same with the Canadian-Polish pastor. This is what christians and men are supposed to be.
the church where I used to go closed, then reopened but mask and no singing, maximum 45 minutes in church, no sacrament, and no more than 25 people. I have to drive almost an hour. Imagine if I come there and I am number 26...
Tells you a great deal about the concern your (former) pastor has for "his flock", doesn't it... almost like the a lobbyist on K street in a way, always hop fast and high to the other side of the issue. Christ the great physician OUT, pastor now the virologist, enforcer, medical expert, and protector of the lowly flock who he/she sees as woefully lacking in the ability to make medical decisions for themselves... a sign of the times. Pastors, doctors, teachers, even in many cases smaller community mayors and councilmen, once upon a time all actually cared for (to some degree at least) the people who put their trust in them... now, dark dark times for sure. We need a renaissance in EDUCATION of our peasant class, a "total transformation" of the curriculum of free public education, the only 12 years most will ever get.
That is very sad, HOW can such a church (I assume of the Christian religion ?) even pretend to be a tax exempt organization that exists to "minister" to the needs of people, their fears, their doubts, their LIVES, when they are merely a less (?) menacing looking arm of the federal government (a lot of these types of "churches" and houses of worship throughout HISTORY... go look all of it up. Fear completely dominated the leaders of the church, main objective was to preserve the approval of the "government" at the time. Sad we have to search so hard for a "real church" that is NOT willing to render unto Caesar any more than is ACTUALLY Caesar's ! ! This does not extend to neglecting the needs of the congregation and following the political winds of the time.
Very little organized churches are what they pretend to be. Yes it was a christian church. I have now totally abandoned organized religion and went back to a book I have been reading over and over again since my 20s, the Tao te Ching. Especially the last few chapters are very appropriate - 75 says, why can nobody enjoy thing anymore? The regular people cannot because they are taxed to the nines, the government cannot because they suppress the people, the rich cannot... well you just look around and it is still the same, after 2500 years people have learned nothing.
Dah ! I do think there is great value in group worship, but we are getting like so many countries, like Russia for example, where churches are tolerated, but.... and the "but" is if they meet a very specific set of "rules", this corrupts the clergy of course ! And as you quoted, on we go, same cycles, over and over, no one ever REALLY learns, it's amazing to say the least !
Unfortunately by taking PPP loans they agreed to render unto Caesar. A pastor I listen to out of Arizona warned of this in the very beginning, told pastors not to take them or they would be beholden to them. Much like what's happening in the public schools, they must require masks and the protocols for all the billions they received.
Absolutely correct ! Also, let's think this out all the way: schools are LOCAL responsibilities/control (says the U.S. Constitution), and the federal government has responsibilities/control for other things (military, immigration, border defenses, to name just a few). But, the problem comes in when the federal government collects from the citizens to support these common needs. Unfortunately, they do not make allowances for those local concerns of states (like schools). They collect as if they (the FEDERAL government), must pay for 100% of the responsibilities, rather than that portion of responsibilities assigned to them (federal government). The fallacy of this should be so obvious ! The money, YOU (your community) NEEDS to support schools and other STATE responsibilities, is "gone", sent off to the federal government. The result is many states then levy yet another back breaking tax of the people, a STATE income tax, which to be honest, if probably needed. However, the real answer is the federal government should be collecting ONLY the portion they need to meet their responsibilities. But the "deal" struck was, "we, the federal government, will collect the entire 100% of what it takes to support BOTH federal AND STATE responsibilities. This will give us much more CONTROL. For instance, a lunch program is an expensive item. Many local schools can't make it financially (sent way too much money to the IRS, instead of logically thinking "we are going to need some of the money we earn to support those responsibilities assigned to us in the constitution, so we should only send 75% of of what are do to the federal government, NOT impose ANOTHER TAX on the people because we foolishly gave away what we KNEW we'd need. IF you spend ALL your money at the grocery, 100%, you will not have ANY when you arrive at the gas station to buy fuel or at the department store to buy clothes and shoes ! It's simple. So you reserve, you KEEP, a reasonable percentage. But we the people, have decided the best plan is just to send ALL to the federal government and let "them" decide IF they want to send ANY BACK TO OUR COMMUNITY. So, now the federal government DOES control even those powers reserved for the local communities. Don't require masks in the lunch room because YOUR city/town does not, not good enough, the FEDERAL rule might be, MASKS in lunch rooms. If not enforced, no more lunch program subsidies...in other words, we will KEEP your money if you do not do exactly as we say ! Having problems paying for buses, drivers, fuel and maintenance ? Same thing, wear a mask on the bus, or any other silly unproved thing the federal government comes up with to control... (could even one day come to NO bus transportation for unvaccinated students !) if not obeyed, there goes the hard earned money the people sent to the federal government and that money will go to a school district that "obeys". Yet, people passionately believe this is the best practice, gather all resources in one concentrated federal area, and THEN make decisions on WHO get their money BACK based on compliance... that is the BIG TERM believe me in public school administration C O M P L I A N C E, food, curriculum, facilities, money for new ____ (microscopes ? desks ? etc. then, COMPLY ! Remember, WE choose that. How many would vote for a senator who proposed that a state, any state, name one in this blank ____ , who ran on a platform of reform on the way federal taxes are collected ? If local concerns were determined to be 35% of expenses, and federal concerns 65%, who would support a candidate who proposed that federal incomes taxes be 65% sent off to D.C., and 35% retained at the local level/state. WHAT makes people believe that the present system (sending 100% OUT of the state, and then often facing a shortfall) is an efficient system ? If you KNOW you are going to need some money in cash during the week, then why put your entire salary in the bank and then run to an ATM (sometimes a couple times a day !) all week or month long to get out small amounts for coffee, bus fare, other incidentals... more EFFICIENT, EFFECTIVE, and LOGICAL, keep a % out in cash each payday !
While I was gingerly on my way to a default position of distrusting governments, regulators, and associations (first big shock to my credulity was understanding 4-5 years ago how the 97% AGW scientific consensus was manufactured), the absolute incompetence, cupidity and malfeasance of the covid containment consortium has shattered my remaining faith in every branch of this anti-democratic attack on our civilization.
I’m with you on AGW (anthropological global warming) for those that haven’t kept up with the ever changing lexicon. “Global warming, climate change, climate emergency, etc” …it is all bunk. A power grab and a grift for the globalist goal of carbon rationing. Attack on our civilization indeed.
The late Michael Crichton was on to this racket long ago (State of Fear is still a timely read).
I'm old enought to remember when the scientific consensus was on the coming "New Ice Age", the first summer when the snow didn't melt. Unlike my clothes in the acid rain that would leave me standing naked in the street, where I would be burnt to a crisp by the UV because there wasn't an ozone layer . . . etc, etc, etc.
On YouTube you can still watch the “In search of” documentary with Leonard Nimoy in which he discusses the coming ice age complete with footage of blizzards on city street in Vancouver or Minneapolis or somewhere north. It’s laughable.
Ah, so that's where our great leaders, the ivy league monarchy we have built and so lavishly reward with the most luxurious life imaginable, actually get their most brilliant "theories" and topic for their books, and their jet setting on their private jets to get thousands for a 40 minute speech ? , From Leonard Nimoy !! I had no idea, thanks for sharing, that explains a LOT. All big Trekkies in addition to all else they are !
One question, are you really an "unacceptable fringe minority", or, just a plain old, odorous, Walmart shopping low brow "deplorable" like the rest of us ? Or, perhaps all of the above ? LOL !
Mostly agree with your comment, with the precision that while Earth's climate has been changing for billions of years – and will continue doing so until the ineluctable death of our tiny, insignificant star – even if current patterns of climate change were an existential threat, and I see no evidence that they are, the human contribution of CO2 (an insignificant, almost-inert gas that is a lagging indicator of temperature) is only an infinitesimal portion of natural CO2, itself only a tiny portion of all greenhouse gases.
There's no need for climate alarmism, which, as you correctly note, is a propaganda campaign run by unelected global elites to corral humans into holding pens, because science, technology and market forces will continue developing ever-cleaner, high-density sources of energy (nuclear is the best option today) and adapting to climate change, as humans and our predecessors have done with magisterial success for three million years.
Greta has some obvious learning and understanding difficulties. In our country those would be addressed in the schools (public and private offer special education). How (her parents ? a political group with an agenda ?) anyone could stoop so low as to use this child as they have.... human beings are capable of the most disgusting acts out of greed and ego ! She may have had only learning disabilities in the beginning, now, she clearly demonstrates (screaming, inappropriate behaviors in various settings) emotional instability (all caused by the adults who used her and she had no idea how abusive this is ?) that may last the rest of her life !
The popular term is anthropogenic, meaning human caused. Since the actual warming is so erratic they changed to "change" and since even change is so slow and non threatening that no rational person worries about it, the proponents had to emphasize the human factor to justify oppressing we sinners. Thus human caused for an undetectable change in what is sometimes warmer, which they say is a bad thing. So you must be punished.
It's just another religion, with its own methods of punishing non believers and squeezing profits from believers.
And state of fear is an exciting story as well as highly informative.
Thanks David. Totally agree. I had intended to put a ? after my autocorrected “A” above since anthropogenic had escaped my memory at the time.
BTW, Crichton’s comments regarding politicized science in the State of Fear appendix is especially haunting today, particularly his discussion of eugenics and Lysenko agriculture in the Soviet Union. This reading led me to the idea that we have our own modern day Lysenko with Fauci.
What do you want to bet Fauci is an admirer of not only Lysenko, but Russian horticulturist I.V. Michurin, and probably Lamark (or was it spelled "Lamarck" ?), either way, the guy with the "theory" of why the necks of giraffes are long ! I remember him, and of course Lysenko from way back in junior high school biology class (doubt THAT is covered any more in the curriculum !) I can see Fauci definitely in that category of "scientific" thought. Would explain all his failures and disasters concerning HIV, other viruses, etc.
Excellent observation Ann Marie. I admit my understanding of any of the aforementioned characters is shallow but I also doubt my opinion will change with further investigation. I have the Kennedy book, “The Real Anthony Fauci” but I can’t bring myself to do more than skim through it. It’s just too sickening.
Surround anyone with the trappings of Fauci’s position in govt and they will invariably be corrupted IMO. Even so the garden gnome appears to have taken it to a new depths of evil.
Yes, LOL , always sounds so ludicrous to talk about "anti-democratic" attacks, and yet, LOL, probably 85% or more of my colleagues, friends, and acquaintances who voraciously support these attacks and the philosophy that underpins it, are dead set against freedom of choice, liberty, in other words, democracy, all choose to CALL themselves "democrats"... such a strange name to choose for a political party ? Juxtaposition ? Mockery ? Purposefully misleading ?
Pastor Rob McCoy at Godspeak Chapel (Thousand Oaks, CA) is likewise a great warrior for Christ who defied Governor Neuselini (his name for Newsom) and a colleague/supporter of Pastor Macarthur. Check him out on Rumble if you're looking for the good word on what's been going on with Covid and how the Word of God stands against this tyrrany. Pastor Rob has been active in Turning Point and has been speaking truth to power every chance he gets.
The pastors at our church are from his seminary. We opened back up before Grace did and were blessed to have a pastor that encouraged us to not live in fear. If we wanted to wear masks or not come back to church that was fine but we wouldn't be "distancing" or requiring masks, we hugged each other and hung out like normal. We were the only church in our town that I knew of that opened back up. I even drove my kids to Grace when they had a huge youth get together so my boys could feel a sense of normalcy amongst a bigger group of teens. It was a tremendous blessing here in California where it's felt like prison.
I changed parishes over COVID. We found a priest who was doing the bare minimum and not requiring masks. Tons of area Catholics started going to this parish. One time he actually said “Covid has been very good for our parish.” Obviously there are a number of people who dislike this man, therefore I’m not saying his name or the parish name. But if you live in my area, and you want a place devoted to Jesus and not fear, then you will find us. Word of mouth yields information of the highest quality.
I found Macarthur sometime during the past two years and have learned so much from him. I listen to his online sermons while I walk my dog. It is truly apparent that most US Christians are Christians in name only. Anybody AFRAID of death has some introspection to do. I can see being afraid of the dying process, which could be long and drawn out painfully, but not death itself.
In times like those, instead of walking out, Jesus would have rebuked the church. Jesus tells us what to do when a brother or sister is sinning (and Fear IS a sin, it is a lack of faith, and the Revelation tells us twice these types of people won't inherit the kingdom of God. It says "the fearful" and "faithless", some translations say "cowards" won't inherit the kingdom.). God says "For we have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power and love and of sound mind".
First you rebuke them in private. Then you rebuke them with two witnesses (as the OT law taught). Finally, you rebuke them with the church. If all of that doesn't work, you are to consider them an unbeliever - they are obviously not a Christian. Most of all, PRAY. The verse specifically says "Where two or more are gathered, there I am also". This is the specific remedy Jesus himself prescribed.
Rebuke evil with the scripture. If the scripture won't make them see they are sinning and REPENT, they aren't Christians, and you certainly shouldn't be in their church.
He is there, in the Blessed Sacrament, literally His body, blood, soul and divinity. He's never left. He loves us enough to stick around even when we're acting like complete morons and total phonies. I don't claim to understand His love. But I do accept it.
Given the sorry performance of churches in this debacle, I agree. Especially wouldn't have been in one that colludes with the satanic agenda by enforcing illegal, immoral mask mandates and hosts poison injection nights.
I will pray for you brother. Jesus loves you, even if you don't love him. I hope one day you will find his peace that surpasses all understanding. God bless you.
We should be thankful for covid; consider what it has taught us: Every single institution that we trusted to guide us and protect us has betrayed us. Every single one of them. I, and millions of others, will never forget. And never forgive.
Yep. Including the medical establishment. I was brought up on all those hagiographic doctor and nurse TV series that showed them as compassionate Gods. How many spoke out over the last few years? Very few.
RN here, 37 years, retired early due to this vaccine mandate nonsense. My own doctor is against it, the one I worked for and her hospital system is 100% still on board. I'll just continue to take care of my immune system and live my life, thanks.
It has been soul crushing, to see that our spiritual leaders have feet of clay and reinforce the government dictates. It has caused me to question whether or not I am attending the right church for me, and perhaps I should look for another church which doesn't require masking. Unfortunately, in my heavily Democrat area, I haven't been able to find one.
Part of my strong desire to "gather together" is wanting to gather with people of similar beliefs, and we all reinforce each other, strengthen each other, comfort each other, validate each other. That is tossed out the window when I am the only unmasked person in a sea of compliance and fear.
I'm still looking. Thank you for writing what I've been thinking and feeling.
It is not beneficial for a tyrannical government to have citizens gathering to “ reinforce, strengthen, comfort, or validate each other......this could end up causing others to join them and then before you know it all the sheep are out of the pens.....🤷♀️
Dani - we are in a similar situation. I live 30 miles east of Seattle in a very blue area. Our church shutdown and for a time only offered online Zoom church. They tried a drive-in service as well, with cars parked 6 feet apart. We quit being fed and ultimately quit attending. Then we heard about a church that never shut down, never mandated masks and kept spreading the good news. It is packed with like-minded conservatives and true believers. It has been the one of the best things to come out of this scamdemic. A large portion of the kids are home schooled and many attend a private Christian school in our area. This weekend one of the members is teaching a Ham radio course (there are quite a few preppers as well). Your church is out there. Don't quit looking. God Bless you and your family.
My dad did Ham Radio when I was kid. He sat and did Morse code for a couple of hours every night. I sure wish I had paid more attention. My mom complained to her dad (my grandfather,) about his time being consumed with such stupid stuff. My grandfather told her she was nuts to complain. He wasn’t out with the ladies and provided us with good living and here she was, complaining. After he told her that, she said she never complained again.
My grandfather loved his ladies, lots of them, although he was married to my grandmother for 65yrs. When my grandmother died, he remarried a yr later. They didn’t have enough time for courtin, he told the minister she was pregnant. My grandfather was a jokester.
I couldn't agree more. I walked out of Buddhist Wat Prathong when they insisted I wear a facemask inside: it seems antithetical to all religions. Oddly now the only place I go to in there is the cemetery, where my first husband, mother in law and father in law are buried. The dead are not concerned. I've told my mother I won't set foot in a Church with a facemask rule either: the Bible admonishes to "fear not" 365 times, one for every day of the year. To me succumbing to irrational authority fearmongering is antithetical to the teachings
Mark, I understand you better now. I too attend a Catholic church. In a state in the middle south. I live in one state and attend church in another. The COVID experience in the two states diverged in approximately June 2020, with my church being in a state that has been more resistant to mass compliance with unscientific mandates. We have had no vax campaigns, we haven't had mandatory masks in months, my priest has had several sermons about the erosion of freedom, my bishop posted a letter on his website about why vaccination is a choice. I have grown closer to my faith, probably because I have felt supported by my faith leaders. When I tell my employer (who denied my request for religious accommodation) that God spoke to me through his word but also from the pulpit at my church, I mean it.
Below, Matthew Hurst said, "I'm pretty sure Jesus would've walked out, too." I so agree. Jesus told us to love the leper and to include everyone. Know that there still exists a faith community that embraces people like you who have made a reasoned and rationale choice to embrace freedom.
This is exactly my experience and why I no longer go to church. Most christians - with some very honorable exceptions - have been pathetic these last few years. Worst of all is are the lies and hypocrisy. Every christian I know who goes along with this say they do so "to protect others". Bull! They do it because they are exactly the same as non-believers: terrified sheep! Institutional christianity will never recover from this.
non-believers aren't necessarily 'terrified sheep'. they pray, meditate perhaps, seek harmony and try to live their lives as best they can. not adhering to a church is not the same as non-believing. GB
Another great article Mark! My heart is broken over the church’s response to the pandemic. Some of my liberal friends/family simply shrug their shoulders over this disappointment. Until I find the house of worship that promotes my conservative beliefs, I will continue to talk to God every day, all by myself.
For Catholics it is the Traditional Latin Mass. I attend a SSPX Church, which "normal" Catholics will tell you is heretical. I don't care. I know where I belong with my conservative beliefs. It's all about worship of Jesus, not man.
Hmmmm Interesting Napoleon. I had to DDGo “SSPX”. I’ll research more. I’m intrigued. My late husband was a devout very conservative Catholic. He’s rolling over in his grave with Brandon and the popes take on abortion/Catholicism/vax.
I only found the SSPX because my ex-parish closed down and I was searching online for churches who were streaming. I noticed an SSPX church streaming and there were, God forbid!, people attending the masses. I found out there was a SSPX church within 45 minutes of me (I am lucky) and starting attending. No masks, or passports ever! God led me there, I know. He is truly disappointed with the mainstream churches and their worship of SCIENCE.
Mark, thanks for another another poignant, thought provoking read! Have to ask how your wife reacted to your abrupt departure?
Oh the mask wars I’ve fought in California! My son finally gets to go to school without wearing one this coming Monday. I feel a bit guilty that I didn’t get him all the way onboard with my anti-mask sentiments, but there is so much peer pressure and misplaced authoritative “guidance” at those public sheep pens. But isn’t that all part of the goal along with forcing compliance - to generate misery / hostility among clear thinkers?
After seeing the pastor and flock at Godspeak Calvary Chapel on TV “news” battling Ventura County “health officials” by refusing to close or wear masks, I went to a presentation there one night over a year ago to listen to firebrand freedom tigress (and devout Christian) Peggy Hall of the Healthy American speak. There wasn’t a mask in sight. People were hugging each other, and the place was packed. Long story short I’ve been going back every Sunday since, and without this church and God in my life, not sure where my spirit would be these days.
BTW the big bad county administrators huffed and puffed, fining our Pastor Rob McCoy hundreds of thousands of dollars for defying their “orders” to close, and later, mask and distance. The fines were later quietly dropped, with changes made in regards to mandates inhibiting houses of worship.
Jesus knew the power of NO. Too bad so many people don’t.
It seems that many (not all) churches do not practice "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and render unto......." It seems that they have married Caesar.
I had a similar experience when my mom died but I wasn't as courageous as you and am still kicking myself over it...it was hard enough having to sit thru the meeting to discuss my mom's funeral arrangements and hear the priest and my sister talking about how it was the fault of the unvaxxed that everything still hadn't ended (my sister knew I was and didn't stop the conversation...the priest didn't know). Then, I made the mistake of going to Mass on Sunday with my sister and her husband who said that unvaxxed were required to wear masks. I did, to keep the family peace at a stressful time, but cried thru the whole Mass, especially when we sang "We are one in this place" as the opening hymn. Really? We are one??? When you force me to wear something completely unnecessary just to mark me as the "unclean" one in your presence??? I walked past the priest at the end of Mass, ignoring him completely, blinded by my tears, as I ripped that offending rag off of my face. Two days later, at my mom's funeral, I refused to put one on and felt slightly vindicated in that decision but how angry it all made me. I've said this before and I'll say it again, I never in a million years would've believed that I would think I had more freedoms in Sweden than I did in the States but that is exactly how I feel right now...
Mar 11, 2022·edited Mar 11, 2022Liked by Mark Oshinskie
Your courage was truly admirable Mark. Sad to learn your fellow garden staters stayed hidden in the “flock.” If only a dozen or so more would have taken off their symbol of compliance and walked out with you…perhaps the new found courage may have spread but sadly no.
You can't set foot inside Vatican City unless you're boosted. A deal brokered by Francis and hierarchy with Bourla to get shots from Pfizer in every arm in Vatican. I wonder what the injury stats are like there.
luckily I don't EVER need to go to the Vatican... Im not getting any shots, boosted or otherwise. Especially to go see a man who decided abortion is ok in a church full of pedophiles....
Mar 11, 2022·edited Mar 11, 2022Liked by Mark Oshinskie
This is excellent. I wrote something similar recently: https://walrusandcarpenter.substack.com/p/the-silence-of-the-church. I hope you can find a faithful church as I was blessed to do last year. It makes all the difference, but sadly they are the exception and not the rule. God bless you.
Mar 11, 2022·edited Mar 11, 2022Liked by Mark Oshinskie
Mark, I love you more with each column. This one is foundational and "biblical" in it's proclamation. Wanna come preach this message in my church some Sunday? (I have, but - you know - a "prophet in his own home town" and all that... the "expert" is the person who came here from more than 50 miles away...)
I was looking on youtube one day for sermons to listen to. One caught my attention. Pastor John Macarthur at Grace Community Church. His sermon "when government rewards evil and punishes the good" he even has a page dedicated to Covid and why his parishioners should not be afraid of covid. I was like you, I never believed for one minute, from the moment they said lockdowns that this was about our health. The day I found his video sermon I've continued to listen and realized how many churches failed. It gave me courage and the strength to keep seeking the truth. When they started banning, censoring and vilifying legitimate doctors, experts, researchers and scientists I knew something was very wrong. Guess who I follow today? Everyone that has been banned, censored and vilified. I have binders full of data, medical articles, publications. If you would have told me two years ago I would no longer trust the cdc, NIH, FDA or my own doctor I would have called you a conspiracy theorist. But here we are. All my conspiracy theories have come true.
MacArthur has been a magnificent exception to the rule. His church will grow. Same with the Canadian-Polish pastor. This is what christians and men are supposed to be.
Arthur (still in jail) and his brother David Pawlowski. immense, unnecessary suffering.
My parish in Florida has been mask-optional for a good while and that has produced probably 95% masklessness.
Same in my community in central west Florida
the church where I used to go closed, then reopened but mask and no singing, maximum 45 minutes in church, no sacrament, and no more than 25 people. I have to drive almost an hour. Imagine if I come there and I am number 26...
No singing? As in no worshipping? That's insane.
No hymns, just spoke word. They knew from the beginning that I come for the music! No singing no Ingrid
Tells you a great deal about the concern your (former) pastor has for "his flock", doesn't it... almost like the a lobbyist on K street in a way, always hop fast and high to the other side of the issue. Christ the great physician OUT, pastor now the virologist, enforcer, medical expert, and protector of the lowly flock who he/she sees as woefully lacking in the ability to make medical decisions for themselves... a sign of the times. Pastors, doctors, teachers, even in many cases smaller community mayors and councilmen, once upon a time all actually cared for (to some degree at least) the people who put their trust in them... now, dark dark times for sure. We need a renaissance in EDUCATION of our peasant class, a "total transformation" of the curriculum of free public education, the only 12 years most will ever get.
That is very sad, HOW can such a church (I assume of the Christian religion ?) even pretend to be a tax exempt organization that exists to "minister" to the needs of people, their fears, their doubts, their LIVES, when they are merely a less (?) menacing looking arm of the federal government (a lot of these types of "churches" and houses of worship throughout HISTORY... go look all of it up. Fear completely dominated the leaders of the church, main objective was to preserve the approval of the "government" at the time. Sad we have to search so hard for a "real church" that is NOT willing to render unto Caesar any more than is ACTUALLY Caesar's ! ! This does not extend to neglecting the needs of the congregation and following the political winds of the time.
Very little organized churches are what they pretend to be. Yes it was a christian church. I have now totally abandoned organized religion and went back to a book I have been reading over and over again since my 20s, the Tao te Ching. Especially the last few chapters are very appropriate - 75 says, why can nobody enjoy thing anymore? The regular people cannot because they are taxed to the nines, the government cannot because they suppress the people, the rich cannot... well you just look around and it is still the same, after 2500 years people have learned nothing.
Dah ! I do think there is great value in group worship, but we are getting like so many countries, like Russia for example, where churches are tolerated, but.... and the "but" is if they meet a very specific set of "rules", this corrupts the clergy of course ! And as you quoted, on we go, same cycles, over and over, no one ever REALLY learns, it's amazing to say the least !
Unfortunately by taking PPP loans they agreed to render unto Caesar. A pastor I listen to out of Arizona warned of this in the very beginning, told pastors not to take them or they would be beholden to them. Much like what's happening in the public schools, they must require masks and the protocols for all the billions they received.
Absolutely correct ! Also, let's think this out all the way: schools are LOCAL responsibilities/control (says the U.S. Constitution), and the federal government has responsibilities/control for other things (military, immigration, border defenses, to name just a few). But, the problem comes in when the federal government collects from the citizens to support these common needs. Unfortunately, they do not make allowances for those local concerns of states (like schools). They collect as if they (the FEDERAL government), must pay for 100% of the responsibilities, rather than that portion of responsibilities assigned to them (federal government). The fallacy of this should be so obvious ! The money, YOU (your community) NEEDS to support schools and other STATE responsibilities, is "gone", sent off to the federal government. The result is many states then levy yet another back breaking tax of the people, a STATE income tax, which to be honest, if probably needed. However, the real answer is the federal government should be collecting ONLY the portion they need to meet their responsibilities. But the "deal" struck was, "we, the federal government, will collect the entire 100% of what it takes to support BOTH federal AND STATE responsibilities. This will give us much more CONTROL. For instance, a lunch program is an expensive item. Many local schools can't make it financially (sent way too much money to the IRS, instead of logically thinking "we are going to need some of the money we earn to support those responsibilities assigned to us in the constitution, so we should only send 75% of of what are do to the federal government, NOT impose ANOTHER TAX on the people because we foolishly gave away what we KNEW we'd need. IF you spend ALL your money at the grocery, 100%, you will not have ANY when you arrive at the gas station to buy fuel or at the department store to buy clothes and shoes ! It's simple. So you reserve, you KEEP, a reasonable percentage. But we the people, have decided the best plan is just to send ALL to the federal government and let "them" decide IF they want to send ANY BACK TO OUR COMMUNITY. So, now the federal government DOES control even those powers reserved for the local communities. Don't require masks in the lunch room because YOUR city/town does not, not good enough, the FEDERAL rule might be, MASKS in lunch rooms. If not enforced, no more lunch program subsidies...in other words, we will KEEP your money if you do not do exactly as we say ! Having problems paying for buses, drivers, fuel and maintenance ? Same thing, wear a mask on the bus, or any other silly unproved thing the federal government comes up with to control... (could even one day come to NO bus transportation for unvaccinated students !) if not obeyed, there goes the hard earned money the people sent to the federal government and that money will go to a school district that "obeys". Yet, people passionately believe this is the best practice, gather all resources in one concentrated federal area, and THEN make decisions on WHO get their money BACK based on compliance... that is the BIG TERM believe me in public school administration C O M P L I A N C E, food, curriculum, facilities, money for new ____ (microscopes ? desks ? etc. then, COMPLY ! Remember, WE choose that. How many would vote for a senator who proposed that a state, any state, name one in this blank ____ , who ran on a platform of reform on the way federal taxes are collected ? If local concerns were determined to be 35% of expenses, and federal concerns 65%, who would support a candidate who proposed that federal incomes taxes be 65% sent off to D.C., and 35% retained at the local level/state. WHAT makes people believe that the present system (sending 100% OUT of the state, and then often facing a shortfall) is an efficient system ? If you KNOW you are going to need some money in cash during the week, then why put your entire salary in the bank and then run to an ATM (sometimes a couple times a day !) all week or month long to get out small amounts for coffee, bus fare, other incidentals... more EFFICIENT, EFFECTIVE, and LOGICAL, keep a % out in cash each payday !
FWIW (31-03) - https://citizenfreepress.com/breaking/artur-pawlowski-released-from-prison/
While I was gingerly on my way to a default position of distrusting governments, regulators, and associations (first big shock to my credulity was understanding 4-5 years ago how the 97% AGW scientific consensus was manufactured), the absolute incompetence, cupidity and malfeasance of the covid containment consortium has shattered my remaining faith in every branch of this anti-democratic attack on our civilization.
I’m with you on AGW (anthropological global warming) for those that haven’t kept up with the ever changing lexicon. “Global warming, climate change, climate emergency, etc” …it is all bunk. A power grab and a grift for the globalist goal of carbon rationing. Attack on our civilization indeed.
The late Michael Crichton was on to this racket long ago (State of Fear is still a timely read).
I'm old enought to remember when the scientific consensus was on the coming "New Ice Age", the first summer when the snow didn't melt. Unlike my clothes in the acid rain that would leave me standing naked in the street, where I would be burnt to a crisp by the UV because there wasn't an ozone layer . . . etc, etc, etc.
Great username, memorializing one of Trudeau's stupidest moments
On YouTube you can still watch the “In search of” documentary with Leonard Nimoy in which he discusses the coming ice age complete with footage of blizzards on city street in Vancouver or Minneapolis or somewhere north. It’s laughable.
Ah, so that's where our great leaders, the ivy league monarchy we have built and so lavishly reward with the most luxurious life imaginable, actually get their most brilliant "theories" and topic for their books, and their jet setting on their private jets to get thousands for a 40 minute speech ? , From Leonard Nimoy !! I had no idea, thanks for sharing, that explains a LOT. All big Trekkies in addition to all else they are !
One question, are you really an "unacceptable fringe minority", or, just a plain old, odorous, Walmart shopping low brow "deplorable" like the rest of us ? Or, perhaps all of the above ? LOL !
Mostly agree with your comment, with the precision that while Earth's climate has been changing for billions of years – and will continue doing so until the ineluctable death of our tiny, insignificant star – even if current patterns of climate change were an existential threat, and I see no evidence that they are, the human contribution of CO2 (an insignificant, almost-inert gas that is a lagging indicator of temperature) is only an infinitesimal portion of natural CO2, itself only a tiny portion of all greenhouse gases.
There's no need for climate alarmism, which, as you correctly note, is a propaganda campaign run by unelected global elites to corral humans into holding pens, because science, technology and market forces will continue developing ever-cleaner, high-density sources of energy (nuclear is the best option today) and adapting to climate change, as humans and our predecessors have done with magisterial success for three million years.
There are plenty of books stating exactly this! No matter what little Greta screams, she is wrong.
How Dare You!
Greta has some obvious learning and understanding difficulties. In our country those would be addressed in the schools (public and private offer special education). How (her parents ? a political group with an agenda ?) anyone could stoop so low as to use this child as they have.... human beings are capable of the most disgusting acts out of greed and ego ! She may have had only learning disabilities in the beginning, now, she clearly demonstrates (screaming, inappropriate behaviors in various settings) emotional instability (all caused by the adults who used her and she had no idea how abusive this is ?) that may last the rest of her life !
she obviously is being groomed by the WEF, although she seems too young to be part of it, she is listed.
hahaha that is truly funny. thanks !
The popular term is anthropogenic, meaning human caused. Since the actual warming is so erratic they changed to "change" and since even change is so slow and non threatening that no rational person worries about it, the proponents had to emphasize the human factor to justify oppressing we sinners. Thus human caused for an undetectable change in what is sometimes warmer, which they say is a bad thing. So you must be punished.
It's just another religion, with its own methods of punishing non believers and squeezing profits from believers.
And state of fear is an exciting story as well as highly informative.
Thanks David. Totally agree. I had intended to put a ? after my autocorrected “A” above since anthropogenic had escaped my memory at the time.
BTW, Crichton’s comments regarding politicized science in the State of Fear appendix is especially haunting today, particularly his discussion of eugenics and Lysenko agriculture in the Soviet Union. This reading led me to the idea that we have our own modern day Lysenko with Fauci.
What do you want to bet Fauci is an admirer of not only Lysenko, but Russian horticulturist I.V. Michurin, and probably Lamark (or was it spelled "Lamarck" ?), either way, the guy with the "theory" of why the necks of giraffes are long ! I remember him, and of course Lysenko from way back in junior high school biology class (doubt THAT is covered any more in the curriculum !) I can see Fauci definitely in that category of "scientific" thought. Would explain all his failures and disasters concerning HIV, other viruses, etc.
Excellent observation Ann Marie. I admit my understanding of any of the aforementioned characters is shallow but I also doubt my opinion will change with further investigation. I have the Kennedy book, “The Real Anthony Fauci” but I can’t bring myself to do more than skim through it. It’s just too sickening.
Surround anyone with the trappings of Fauci’s position in govt and they will invariably be corrupted IMO. Even so the garden gnome appears to have taken it to a new depths of evil.
Wow how I miss Michael Crichton!! No one else even comes close. I think I’ll go back and re-read State of Fear - thanks for the reminder!
We sure could have used Mr Crichton’s commentary the past 2.5 years!
Absolutely!! Oh how I wish😭 - he was brilliant! Gutsy too👊🏻
worse the "solutions" to agw are ineffective and unsuitable. but they are sold as much as agw fallaciousness.
the parallels between agw religion and covidiocy are stark!
Yes, LOL , always sounds so ludicrous to talk about "anti-democratic" attacks, and yet, LOL, probably 85% or more of my colleagues, friends, and acquaintances who voraciously support these attacks and the philosophy that underpins it, are dead set against freedom of choice, liberty, in other words, democracy, all choose to CALL themselves "democrats"... such a strange name to choose for a political party ? Juxtaposition ? Mockery ? Purposefully misleading ?
Pastor Rob McCoy at Godspeak Chapel (Thousand Oaks, CA) is likewise a great warrior for Christ who defied Governor Neuselini (his name for Newsom) and a colleague/supporter of Pastor Macarthur. Check him out on Rumble if you're looking for the good word on what's been going on with Covid and how the Word of God stands against this tyrrany. Pastor Rob has been active in Turning Point and has been speaking truth to power every chance he gets.
Neuselini 😂
MacArthur is one of my favorites.
The pastors at our church are from his seminary. We opened back up before Grace did and were blessed to have a pastor that encouraged us to not live in fear. If we wanted to wear masks or not come back to church that was fine but we wouldn't be "distancing" or requiring masks, we hugged each other and hung out like normal. We were the only church in our town that I knew of that opened back up. I even drove my kids to Grace when they had a huge youth get together so my boys could feel a sense of normalcy amongst a bigger group of teens. It was a tremendous blessing here in California where it's felt like prison.
That is a blessing! Thank God for strong biblical pastors.
What a blessing! A true hero for the Lord.
I changed parishes over COVID. We found a priest who was doing the bare minimum and not requiring masks. Tons of area Catholics started going to this parish. One time he actually said “Covid has been very good for our parish.” Obviously there are a number of people who dislike this man, therefore I’m not saying his name or the parish name. But if you live in my area, and you want a place devoted to Jesus and not fear, then you will find us. Word of mouth yields information of the highest quality.
I found Macarthur sometime during the past two years and have learned so much from him. I listen to his online sermons while I walk my dog. It is truly apparent that most US Christians are Christians in name only. Anybody AFRAID of death has some introspection to do. I can see being afraid of the dying process, which could be long and drawn out painfully, but not death itself.
Well stated. Totally agree! (Love your user name too, my friend.)
I really respect JM and have been listening to his sermons for years.
I'm pretty sure Jesus would've walked out, too.
In times like those, instead of walking out, Jesus would have rebuked the church. Jesus tells us what to do when a brother or sister is sinning (and Fear IS a sin, it is a lack of faith, and the Revelation tells us twice these types of people won't inherit the kingdom of God. It says "the fearful" and "faithless", some translations say "cowards" won't inherit the kingdom.). God says "For we have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power and love and of sound mind".
First you rebuke them in private. Then you rebuke them with two witnesses (as the OT law taught). Finally, you rebuke them with the church. If all of that doesn't work, you are to consider them an unbeliever - they are obviously not a Christian. Most of all, PRAY. The verse specifically says "Where two or more are gathered, there I am also". This is the specific remedy Jesus himself prescribed.
Rebuke evil with the scripture. If the scripture won't make them see they are sinning and REPENT, they aren't Christians, and you certainly shouldn't be in their church.
The Lord bless you and keep you.
I agree. with e v e r y single thing you said. Church shouldn't be full of cowards. period.
The best parts of the Bible are the rebuking and the begating.
You mean like the judge did yesterday with Jesse Smolett. That was sooo satisfying......👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Unfortunately rare.
He is there, in the Blessed Sacrament, literally His body, blood, soul and divinity. He's never left. He loves us enough to stick around even when we're acting like complete morons and total phonies. I don't claim to understand His love. But I do accept it.
Amen
Probably wouldn't have been there in the first place.
Given the sorry performance of churches in this debacle, I agree. Especially wouldn't have been in one that colludes with the satanic agenda by enforcing illegal, immoral mask mandates and hosts poison injection nights.
💕🎯💕
I will pray for you brother. Jesus loves you, even if you don't love him. I hope one day you will find his peace that surpasses all understanding. God bless you.
We should be thankful for covid; consider what it has taught us: Every single institution that we trusted to guide us and protect us has betrayed us. Every single one of them. I, and millions of others, will never forget. And never forgive.
Yep. Including the medical establishment. I was brought up on all those hagiographic doctor and nurse TV series that showed them as compassionate Gods. How many spoke out over the last few years? Very few.
RN here, 37 years, retired early due to this vaccine mandate nonsense. My own doctor is against it, the one I worked for and her hospital system is 100% still on board. I'll just continue to take care of my immune system and live my life, thanks.
That stuff is pure poison but highly effective propaganda.
It has been soul crushing, to see that our spiritual leaders have feet of clay and reinforce the government dictates. It has caused me to question whether or not I am attending the right church for me, and perhaps I should look for another church which doesn't require masking. Unfortunately, in my heavily Democrat area, I haven't been able to find one.
Part of my strong desire to "gather together" is wanting to gather with people of similar beliefs, and we all reinforce each other, strengthen each other, comfort each other, validate each other. That is tossed out the window when I am the only unmasked person in a sea of compliance and fear.
I'm still looking. Thank you for writing what I've been thinking and feeling.
It is not beneficial for a tyrannical government to have citizens gathering to “ reinforce, strengthen, comfort, or validate each other......this could end up causing others to join them and then before you know it all the sheep are out of the pens.....🤷♀️
tough luck.
Dani - we are in a similar situation. I live 30 miles east of Seattle in a very blue area. Our church shutdown and for a time only offered online Zoom church. They tried a drive-in service as well, with cars parked 6 feet apart. We quit being fed and ultimately quit attending. Then we heard about a church that never shut down, never mandated masks and kept spreading the good news. It is packed with like-minded conservatives and true believers. It has been the one of the best things to come out of this scamdemic. A large portion of the kids are home schooled and many attend a private Christian school in our area. This weekend one of the members is teaching a Ham radio course (there are quite a few preppers as well). Your church is out there. Don't quit looking. God Bless you and your family.
My dad did Ham Radio when I was kid. He sat and did Morse code for a couple of hours every night. I sure wish I had paid more attention. My mom complained to her dad (my grandfather,) about his time being consumed with such stupid stuff. My grandfather told her she was nuts to complain. He wasn’t out with the ladies and provided us with good living and here she was, complaining. After he told her that, she said she never complained again.
My grandfather loved his ladies, lots of them, although he was married to my grandmother for 65yrs. When my grandmother died, he remarried a yr later. They didn’t have enough time for courtin, he told the minister she was pregnant. My grandfather was a jokester.
a zero-risk life is not living, it’s waiting to die. would have been right behind you, out the door.
"a zero-risk life is not living, it’s waiting to die." Hearting this x1000. So true.
I couldn't agree more. I walked out of Buddhist Wat Prathong when they insisted I wear a facemask inside: it seems antithetical to all religions. Oddly now the only place I go to in there is the cemetery, where my first husband, mother in law and father in law are buried. The dead are not concerned. I've told my mother I won't set foot in a Church with a facemask rule either: the Bible admonishes to "fear not" 365 times, one for every day of the year. To me succumbing to irrational authority fearmongering is antithetical to the teachings
Mark, I understand you better now. I too attend a Catholic church. In a state in the middle south. I live in one state and attend church in another. The COVID experience in the two states diverged in approximately June 2020, with my church being in a state that has been more resistant to mass compliance with unscientific mandates. We have had no vax campaigns, we haven't had mandatory masks in months, my priest has had several sermons about the erosion of freedom, my bishop posted a letter on his website about why vaccination is a choice. I have grown closer to my faith, probably because I have felt supported by my faith leaders. When I tell my employer (who denied my request for religious accommodation) that God spoke to me through his word but also from the pulpit at my church, I mean it.
Below, Matthew Hurst said, "I'm pretty sure Jesus would've walked out, too." I so agree. Jesus told us to love the leper and to include everyone. Know that there still exists a faith community that embraces people like you who have made a reasoned and rationale choice to embrace freedom.
This is exactly my experience and why I no longer go to church. Most christians - with some very honorable exceptions - have been pathetic these last few years. Worst of all is are the lies and hypocrisy. Every christian I know who goes along with this say they do so "to protect others". Bull! They do it because they are exactly the same as non-believers: terrified sheep! Institutional christianity will never recover from this.
non-believers aren't necessarily 'terrified sheep'. they pray, meditate perhaps, seek harmony and try to live their lives as best they can. not adhering to a church is not the same as non-believing. GB
Another great article Mark! My heart is broken over the church’s response to the pandemic. Some of my liberal friends/family simply shrug their shoulders over this disappointment. Until I find the house of worship that promotes my conservative beliefs, I will continue to talk to God every day, all by myself.
many of us do. I tend to see it as another step in our learning-process. GB
For Catholics it is the Traditional Latin Mass. I attend a SSPX Church, which "normal" Catholics will tell you is heretical. I don't care. I know where I belong with my conservative beliefs. It's all about worship of Jesus, not man.
Hmmmm Interesting Napoleon. I had to DDGo “SSPX”. I’ll research more. I’m intrigued. My late husband was a devout very conservative Catholic. He’s rolling over in his grave with Brandon and the popes take on abortion/Catholicism/vax.
I only found the SSPX because my ex-parish closed down and I was searching online for churches who were streaming. I noticed an SSPX church streaming and there were, God forbid!, people attending the masses. I found out there was a SSPX church within 45 minutes of me (I am lucky) and starting attending. No masks, or passports ever! God led me there, I know. He is truly disappointed with the mainstream churches and their worship of SCIENCE.
Mark, thanks for another another poignant, thought provoking read! Have to ask how your wife reacted to your abrupt departure?
Oh the mask wars I’ve fought in California! My son finally gets to go to school without wearing one this coming Monday. I feel a bit guilty that I didn’t get him all the way onboard with my anti-mask sentiments, but there is so much peer pressure and misplaced authoritative “guidance” at those public sheep pens. But isn’t that all part of the goal along with forcing compliance - to generate misery / hostility among clear thinkers?
After seeing the pastor and flock at Godspeak Calvary Chapel on TV “news” battling Ventura County “health officials” by refusing to close or wear masks, I went to a presentation there one night over a year ago to listen to firebrand freedom tigress (and devout Christian) Peggy Hall of the Healthy American speak. There wasn’t a mask in sight. People were hugging each other, and the place was packed. Long story short I’ve been going back every Sunday since, and without this church and God in my life, not sure where my spirit would be these days.
BTW the big bad county administrators huffed and puffed, fining our Pastor Rob McCoy hundreds of thousands of dollars for defying their “orders” to close, and later, mask and distance. The fines were later quietly dropped, with changes made in regards to mandates inhibiting houses of worship.
Jesus knew the power of NO. Too bad so many people don’t.
It seems that many (not all) churches do not practice "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and render unto......." It seems that they have married Caesar.
I had a similar experience when my mom died but I wasn't as courageous as you and am still kicking myself over it...it was hard enough having to sit thru the meeting to discuss my mom's funeral arrangements and hear the priest and my sister talking about how it was the fault of the unvaxxed that everything still hadn't ended (my sister knew I was and didn't stop the conversation...the priest didn't know). Then, I made the mistake of going to Mass on Sunday with my sister and her husband who said that unvaxxed were required to wear masks. I did, to keep the family peace at a stressful time, but cried thru the whole Mass, especially when we sang "We are one in this place" as the opening hymn. Really? We are one??? When you force me to wear something completely unnecessary just to mark me as the "unclean" one in your presence??? I walked past the priest at the end of Mass, ignoring him completely, blinded by my tears, as I ripped that offending rag off of my face. Two days later, at my mom's funeral, I refused to put one on and felt slightly vindicated in that decision but how angry it all made me. I've said this before and I'll say it again, I never in a million years would've believed that I would think I had more freedoms in Sweden than I did in the States but that is exactly how I feel right now...
Your courage was truly admirable Mark. Sad to learn your fellow garden staters stayed hidden in the “flock.” If only a dozen or so more would have taken off their symbol of compliance and walked out with you…perhaps the new found courage may have spread but sadly no.
Pope Francis is a NWO plant exactly the same as Biden was planted into the U S in the fraudulent 2020 election. Coincidence? Nope.
You can't set foot inside Vatican City unless you're boosted. A deal brokered by Francis and hierarchy with Bourla to get shots from Pfizer in every arm in Vatican. I wonder what the injury stats are like there.
luckily I don't EVER need to go to the Vatican... Im not getting any shots, boosted or otherwise. Especially to go see a man who decided abortion is ok in a church full of pedophiles....
Is this true? You have to be boosted to enter VC??
This is excellent. I wrote something similar recently: https://walrusandcarpenter.substack.com/p/the-silence-of-the-church. I hope you can find a faithful church as I was blessed to do last year. It makes all the difference, but sadly they are the exception and not the rule. God bless you.
Mark, I love you more with each column. This one is foundational and "biblical" in it's proclamation. Wanna come preach this message in my church some Sunday? (I have, but - you know - a "prophet in his own home town" and all that... the "expert" is the person who came here from more than 50 miles away...)
Thanks, Rev.
I would preach. It would be a short, heartfelt sermon.
forecheck32 at g mail.