There’s A Time to Preach & A Time To Fight: Pastors Warn They Won’t Comply Next Time The Gov’t Tries To Control, Shut Down Services
We will never shut down our churches again! This is what hundreds of pastors from across the country are saying because of how American churches were declared nonessential and treated unfairly when the Rona broke out a few years back.
Some pastors are recruiting other church leaders to sign a document promising to keep their churches open the next time government tries controlling worship or shutting down services. It’s called the Acts 5:29 Statement.
I recently interviewed a few of these godly men who are leading the cause and they all agree: there’s a time to preach and a time to fight! Pastors Bill Cook from Virginia and Stephen Mannion from New York were on Stand Up for the Truth podcast last month discussing a new movement to get church leaders in the U.S. to commit to serving the people, equipping the saints, and keeping their doors open.
These men and other bold pastors declare the government violated the U.S. Constitution during the pandemic by ordering churches to close, and then by limiting where and how-many people could attend services.
Hebrews 10:25 encourages believers to stir up one another and to not forsake meeting together. In other words, keep gathering, keep assembling, keep preaching, and do the work of the church in your community.
Rev. Bill Cook is founder of America’s Black Robe Regiment, an organization of politically active Christian pastors dedicated to preserving “the Blessings of Liberty.” He and Stephen Mannion, pastor of Faith United Methodist Church in Lancaster, N.Y. drafted the statement based on Acts 5:29.
In early church days in Christian history, the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem used their political power to arrest the apostles and demanded they stop preaching about Jesus and His resurrection.
Acts 5:29 KJV – “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.”
Stephen Mannion said this movement of American pastors is a warning to a secular government to not try closing the Church again. “It won’t go so well next time.’”
You might think this is not a big deal, and you may even think churches should be safe rather than sorry. But let’s recall what happens when people who are lost, hurting, afraid, depressed, or worse – and have no place to go for help, prayer, encouragement, or healing.
In 2020 when government(s) closed or severely limited churches, it affected charities, in-person Bible studies, small groups, counseling services, prayer meetings, community outreach, and so much more.
We saw dramatic increases in fear, isolation, and anger, alcohol and drug use including deaths associated with these factors. Depression skyrocketed and suicide rates spiked to record highs, claiming more than 186,000 lives in America alone.
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