- ‘The globalist cabal wants to monopolize health systems worldwide, and a stealth attack is already underway in the form of an international pandemic treaty, proposed by the World Health Organization
- The treaty is a direct threat to a nation’s sovereignty to make decisions for itself and its citizens, and would erode democracy everywhere. Not only would the treaty empower the WHO to mandate COVID jabs and vaccine passports globally, it could potentially also expand the WHO’s power to dictate all health care policy worldwide
- The treaty would also give the WHO the power to censor health information worldwide. This would be disastrous, as the WHO has a long history of corruption and health policy failures that are intrinsically linked to conflicts of interest
- When people are harmed by the WHO’s health policies, there’s no accountability because the WHO has diplomatic immunity
- Bill Gates, the second largest funder of the WHO, has also been funding pandemic exercises, including Event 201 and the Nuclear Threat Initiative’s exercise on international response to deliberate biological events. This scenario involved a deliberate release of a genetically engineered bioweapon — a pneumonic plague — for which there is no available treatment. Both exercises were held in 2019′ More detail at https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2022/03/30/who-pandemic-treaty.aspx?ui=5a05e186fc85b30f55c28204f849862c04192d97b134e516f76782809875c086&sd=20211124&cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art1ReadMore&cid=20220330&mid=DM1137112&rid=1447390458
Faith
All posts tagged Faith
When I was a boy growing up in Iowa there was a woodpecker that loved to wake me up early in the morning pecking on a tree outside my window. As a young man I never really gave it much thought other it was annoying but there was more going on than just pecking.
‘If you have ever banged a nail into wood and then tried to extract it you will know how hard it is to overcome the friction that holds the nail into the wood. Woodpeckers are well known for banging their beaks into tree trunks and branches and extracting them at an incredibly rapid rate. Scientists have wondered if the birds’ beaks ever get stuck, and how could the birds extract them. Researchers at the University of Antwerp took high speed videos of black woodpeckers (Dryocopus martius) banging their beaks into wood and it seems their beaks get stuck in about one third of their bangs. However, they are able to quickly extricate them and carry on banging at approximate three pecks per second. The researchers closely studied the video recordings to see how they did this. The birds do not simply wrench their beaks out – they face the same problem as with the banged in nail. Instead, they go through a manoeuvre where they rotate the head end of the beak up, leaving the tip still stuck in the wood. This creates a gap between the upper and lower beak. They then bend their head slightly forward, which pulls the lower beak back, and closes the gap between the upper and lower beak, but leaves a tiny gap between the lower beak and the wood. By sliding the upper and lower beaks along one another the bird is able to “walk” its beak out of the wood. The upper and lower parts of the beak can easily slide on one another as they have smooth keratin surfaces. All this happens in around 70 milliseconds.
Scientists have wondered why woodpeckers have flexible joints between their beak and their skull, as having a rigid skull would make their hammering more forceful. Now we know. The ability to move different sections of the skull and beak is called cranial kinesis and the researchers concluded their study “demonstrates the counter-intuitive value of maintaining cranial kinesis in a species adapted to deliver forceful impacts”.
References: Inside JEB 1 March 2022; Science (AAAS) News 7 January 2022; Journal of Experimental Biology 1 March 2022, doi: 10.1242/jeb.243787.
ED. COM. The scientists were surprised at the high rate of woodpeckers getting stuck, which should lead them to ask: why would a bird take up banging its beak into trees if it was going to get stuck every third bang? Unless, of course, it already had a means of extricating itself. Furthermore, who taught the birds to carry out this precision manoeuvre? It is not just enough to have flexible joints. When it gets stuck the bird has to recognise the problem as well as have the nervous system control to carry out the exact movement needed. It is just as well woodpeckers were designed by the Creator who is smarter than evolution-believing human scientists. Otherwise partly evolved woodpeckers would get jammed in trees and die out in the Darwinian struggle for life.’https://mailchi.mp/creationresearch.net/creation-research-email-news-update-16th-march-1167063?e=ce21bf0337
In the Australian state of New South Wales ‘The new commemorative birth certificates issued in NSW are missing one thing – and one NSW MP is not happy.
A new “genderless” commemorative birth certificate issued by the NSW Births Deaths and Marriages Registry — which removes information about the sex of a baby — has been slammed as “woke nonsense”.
The colourful certificate — featuring specially designed “genderless” cartoon animals — was launched to help “empower” LGBQIA people, the agency says.
NSW Registrar Amanda Ianna said the rainbow certificate was: a “special way for people to celebrate the birth a new family member”.
Anyone can apply for the certificate, which depicts “genderless native animals” to give “rainbow families the freedom to be seen as they wish to be”.
It comes amid a growing push by the transgender community to remove information about the sex of babies on official certificates, with the Tasmanian parliament recently passing a bill to make gender optional.
But One Nation MP Mark Latham — who asked questions about the new $41 NSW certificate in state parliament — says only 12 people have bothered to apply for one and questions why public servants are “wasting time” on “gender politics”.
The agency spent $9257 on commissioning the artwork, producing it and launching the certificates. The agency already has a number of commemorative birth certificates celebrating football teams but they can’t be used as official proof of identity.
“All this virtue signalling in the public sector ends up being a waste of time, a waste of money and for what?” Mr Latham said.
“Twelve people out of 7.5 million people in the state?
“We just want the public sector to do its day job.
“It defies what most people would regard as the point of a birth certificate, to identify the individual, their date of birth and gender.”
Binary spokeswoman Kirralie Smith raised concerns about harms to children over time with gender being erased.
“This is another step in the appropriation of sex and it will cause harm and confusion for our children,” she said.
“Gender ideology is being imposed in all areas of society and ultimately activists want birth certificates, official documents of identity that rely on facts, to be documents that express feelings rather than fact.
“Gender the way activists use the term, is more like personality expression. It has nothing to do with biological reality, it is grounded in a political ideology.”
In NSW, anyone wanting to change the sex listed on their official NSW Birth Certificate must show proof of a medical change of sex.’https://www.facebook.com/MarkLathamsOutsiders/?ref=page_internal
Has God written Ichabod on the West?
‘The Aussie Cossack certainly is a polarising figure.
Otherwise known as Simeon Boikoiv, the Cossack has been making headlines for all of the wrong reasons lately.
Though he’s never far from controversy, the Aussie Cossack’s Russian patriotism and outlandish actions have put him under an even brighter spotlight after Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine earlier this month.
And after his latest run-in with Channel 9’s A Current Affair, the notorious self-proclaimed freedom fighter sat down with The Real Rukshan and I for a grilling about the segment where he was branded a ‘prolific peddler of Putin’s propaganda’.
“There are some parts of the world where what I do is actually revered and there are some parts of Australia, especially in Western Sydney, the work I do is actually respected so I don’t really mind what Tracy Grimshaw or Steve Marshall have to say, they’ve got a job to do … They get paid to discredit anyone who challenges the mainstream media narrative,” Boikov said.
“And that’s the only reason they have targeted me and the reason they are making personal attacks rather than challenge me and attack me for the things I say and the things I promote and the news that I say, they go for my wife!“
While that may ring true for some, one of the biggest criticisms of the Aussie Cossack, even from those within Australia’s freedom movement, is his support for Russia’s authoritarian government, which has shutdown its own citizens from protesting in the streets … Something Boikov himself has protested against in Australia and been highly critical of the Australian government for.
“We can sit here and criticise Putin, but what is the Australian government doing, they’re blocking social media, they’re shutting down people’s YouTube accounts down, shutting people down on Facebook keywords, you speak out you’re blocked…“
“Let’s take a moment to say that I believe in the freedom of everybody, of course, and I respect people even on the Ukrainian side who are fighting for freedom.
“But let’s focus back to what A Current Affair has done here, and why they’re targeting me and calling me a Putin propagandist – If I was so marginalist and out there with my views, obviously people wouldn’t listen to them, obviously it wouldn’t be a threat.”
While his arguments may not convince everyone, A Current Affair’s tactics are par for the course in the mainstream media.
Using personal attacks, digging up as much private information as possible instead of challenging Boikov directly about the issues he presents.
A Current Affair even went on to frame Boikov’s own family members against their will to paint him as an abusive partner and grandson when in reality they say something different.
We may never see eye to eye on the issues relating to Russia’s actions, but believing in free speech means we don’t shy away from asking the tough questions and having robust conversations to better understand each other’s point of view.’https://www.rebelnews.com/unpacking_acas_hit_job_on_the_aussie_cossack?
‘Is evolution compatible with Adam and Eve and the Fall of Man? Keller says it is. This question relates to an article by Time Keller on the Gospel Coalition website. Tim Keller (MDiv, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary; DMin, Westminster Theological Seminary) is founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Manhattan, chairman of Redeemer City to City, and founder of The Gospel Coalition.
Tim Keller was asked: If biological evolution is true and there was no historical Adam and Eve, how can we know where sin and suffering came from?
His brief answer was: Belief in evolution can be compatible with a belief in a historical fall and a literal Adam and Eve. There are many unanswered questions around this issue. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/sinned-in-a-literal-adam-raised-in-a-literal-christ/
Keller followed this statement with a detailed article, which is mainly the opinions of theologians about the style of literature in Genesis followed by Keller’s own interpretation of Romans 5 and I Corinthians 15.
Keller states he believes in an historical Adam and Eve but does not explain how this is compatible with evolution, since Darwin himself described evolution as the “war of nature” and claimed that long ages of famine and death brought about “the production of higher animals”. (Darwin, Origin of Species, 1859) This is the exact opposite of God’s description of the original created world as “very good”(Genesis 1:31).
So we wonder if has ever bothered to compare such processes to what God said in Genesis 1 and 2, or if Keller really understands evolution, and the processes claimed to bring it about, so let us do that.
Modern day evolutionists use less emotive terms than Darwin, such as “selective advantage” but the process is still the same. This is a flat denial of Genesis 1, which culminates with God looking at all that He had made and declaring it to be “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Darwin and his successors also regard human beings as simply “higher animals,” which is another complete denial of Genesis. Human beings are unique creations made in the image of God.
Keller tries to avoid the issue by referring to various theologians who clearly do not believe Genesis 1 and 2. For example Keller refers to Bruce Waltke who claims that forming Adam from dust of the ground could mean “the author might be speaking figuratively in the same way, meaning that God brought man into being through normal biological processes.”
Keller and Waltke (and their followers) should take note: there are no normal biological processes that turn dust into people. It works the other way around, i.e. people turn to dust – it is happening all the time, but that is a destructive death process and the opposite of a creative process.
Keller spends a lot of time naming names such as C. S. Lewis and hiding behind their opinions. After meandering through the opinions of such theologians Keller summarises his section on Genesis: “In summary, it looks like a responsible way of reading the text is to interpret Genesis 2-3 as the account of an historical event that really happened.” If that is what Keller really believes, he should say so straight away and affirm what the text actually states.
So let us clearly state what the Biblical text does says. The first thing we are told about the creation of human beings is they were special creations made in the image God (Genesis 1:27-28). We are then given details of how God did this in Genesis 2. Adam was made from “dust of the ground,” i.e. raw materials, not some pre-existing animal, and Eve was created from tissue taken from Adam. This is either an accurate description of what God actually did or it is a fairy tale. If it is a fairy tale it has no authority, and sceptics, liberal theologians and other unbelievers are justified in scoffing at it.
There is a theory promoted by John Stott and others that God somehow “stamped His image” on a pair of the evolving hominins that had come into being by evolutionary processes, but this cannot be reconciled with the description of the creation and man and woman in Genesis. For more a more detailed critique of this theory see the question: HUMAN EVOLUTION? Does it create any problems for Christians who believe it? Answer here.
Anyone reading Genesis 1 and 2 will straight away see that it is not compatible with the evolutionary story of how human beings arrived on the planet, and what a ‘non-good’ state the world was in if evolution was true.
Keller claims he believes in a historical Fall of Man but does not go into details concerning Genesis 3 or the chapters that follow, so let us provide them. After judging the serpent and promising a Saviour who would defeat the serpent, God sentenced Adam and Eve to death and cursed the ground. From then on the living world degenerated into violence, disease and general degradation – all things that are not good. If death, disease and struggle had already been in the world, these would not be punishments. Again, there is a clear incompatibility between Genesis and evolution.
Rather than dealing with the actual events of the Fall of Man, Keller goes straight to Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15 and correctly states that Paul believed in a literal Adam and we should too. However, Keller reveals his own “pick and mix” attitude to the Bible when he states:
“The key for interpretation is the Bible itself. I don’t think the author of Genesis 1 wants us to take the “days” literally, but it is clear that Paul definitely does want readers to take Adam and Eve literally. When you refuse to take a biblical author literally when he clearly wants you to do so, you have moved away from the traditional understanding of biblical authority.” (word “days” in inverted commas in original)
What Keller really means is that he doesn’t want to take the days of Genesis 1 literally, presumably so as not to upset those who believe in an old earth and millions of years of evolution.
If Keller wants to use the Bible as the key to interpreting itself, let’s see what it says about the days in Genesis. In Exodus we are told that God spoke and wrote down the Ten Commandments, which include this statement:
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:8-11)
It is clear from the context God is speaking about real days, not some vague long periods or symbolic times. We would also remind Keller that the Creator who spoke and wrote down these words is Christ, who made all things (John 1:3).
For further details see the question: CREATION DAYS: Were the days of creation, as described in Genesis 1, real 24 hour days? Answer here.
Keller goes on to explain how we can benefit from Christ’s death. He states: “We are in covenant with him, not because we are related biologically but through faith.”
This is half-truth. Yes, we are in a covenantal relationship with Christ through faith, but it is only effective because we are biologically related, and Christ is our Kinsman Redeemer. Only a relative can be a Kinsman Redeemer. If we go back through the generations, the entire human race can be subsumed into Adam. All human beings, including Christ in His incarnate form, are descendants of Adam, so we are biologically related to both Adam and Christ, and that is why the covenant applies to us.
Keller skips over the real link between Adam, Christ and us, and completely ignores how death really came into the world. Paul makes it very clear that Adam’s sin brought death into this world, and Christ’s death and resurrection brings eternal life in the next. This is the real basis of Paul’s “one man” principle in Romans 5. One man, Adam, brought sin and death into the world; one man, Christ, paid the penalty, which made forgiveness and new life freely available for all people.
Finally, we have a challenge for Keller and all evangelical Christians who believe that Christ’s death and resurrection will bring them eternal life in a New Heaven and Earth. Think carefully about this question: What will that new world be like? If God created the first earth through a long process of struggle and death, and declared that to be “very good” can we trust Him to keep those things out of the New Heaven and Earth that Christ’s death and resurrection enables us to live in for eternity? Sadly the Gospel Coalition is increasingly characterised by such half truths concerning the gospel. Wake up guys!’https://askjohnmackay.com/tim-keller-on-evolution-adam-is-evolution-compatible-with-adam-and-eve-and-the-fall-of-man-keller-says-it-is/
‘A Friend of mine once said, “And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must need be; but the end shall not be yet.” Therefore, we should not be surprised by what is happening in Europe, but that does not mean we are unconcerned or supportive of an unprovoked war against the innocent.
There are no good guys in the Ukraine-Russia War. Both sides have blood on their hands, but both are victims of determined globalists committed to implementing their socialist/communist agenda. Russia and Ukraine have been sucked into a criminal, complicated, and conspiratorial trap. Franklin D. Roosevelt is credited with saying, “In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.”
So, it is no accident that Ukraine has a war, and it was planned for someone’s benefit. Who benefits? Not Russia, since the Ruskies in St. Petersburg and Moscow are getting restless, and their leaders are concerned about a lazy, lethargic, and limp NATO awakening with some determination to do their job and protect Europe against the Russian Bear. Moreover, everyone can hear the roar of an angry, injured bear thundering and thrashing and trashing all within reach.
Ukraine can’t benefit since some of its major cities are demolished and its people are displaced, and its economy is destroyed. And its leader is an amiable authoritarian who is a tool of far, far leftists. He is famous as an actor, comedian, dancing in high heels, and playing the piano, not with his hands or even his toes. You can guess or even watch the debauchery.
Zelenskyy may be politically courageous, but he is also personally corrupt. Additionally, he is a graduate of Klaus Schwab’s Young Global Leaders School that boasts other famous (or infamous) graduates such as Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Pete Buttigieg, Justin Trudeau, France’s President Macron, Chelsea Clinton, California’s Gavin Newsom, and others.
Hey, with brilliant people like the above willing to take control of the world, how can we lose?
America can’t benefit as Biden staggers and stumbles, studders and sputters his way through Europe handing out threats and billions of dollars with no guarantees.
NATO can’t win since its leaders want Putin out of Ukraine, but they don’t want to take the lead in tangling with the Russians. NATO officials want to be left alone to attend conferences, consultations, and conflabs in luxurious spots worldwide.
After thousands of innocent Ukrainian citizens are dead and millions are dispersed around the world; after Putin is humiliated and devotes his time to stay in power and stay alive; after America shifts its attention from Ukraine to the next issue that pops up on the horizon; after NATO settles down to shuffling papers, leading cheers promoting their importance for the safety of Europe, and holding collaborations in luxury accommodations; after all that, China will emerge as the collectivist kingpin in the world, for the enslaved and free.
While Americans slept or watched the Gilligan’s Island rerun for the 89th time, the Chinese were dismantling our manufacturing base and developing their national production.
According to Fox News, China controls our health system since it produces 97 percent of our antibiotics and about 80 percent of active pharmaceutical ingredients used in American drugs. We also import about $5 billion in food products from China each year, and the Chinese now own Smithfield, the biggest hog producing company in the world.
China’s chokehold on the American sports and entertainment industry is well known, but few seem to care. Entertainers and athletes whimper, whine, and weep about every injustice in the world except the worst offender—China. But then, hypocrites are accustomed to the double standard when money and prestige are involved.
China’s other almost exclusively produced items include electric blankets, electric toasters, umbrellas, baby carriages, portable radio players and tape recorders, etc.
Americans have been fools to permit a powerful, committed enemy to out-produce and outsmart us.
China’s major cities are teeming with peasants, and the Chinese Communist Party is marching in your direction. They are already in our universities and own much of our land and businesses. Only 10% of land in China is farmable. They are running out of space, and they want your space. That would provide them with millions of acres of arable land to feed their hungry people.
Its cities are packed, and uneducated laborers continue to flood Shanghai, with 23.4 million people, Beijing with 18.8 million, Tianjin with 12.8 million, Shenzhen with 12.7 million, Guangzhou with 11.6 million, Chengdu with 10.2 million, and other cities with 8 million! And they all want to eat, so you’d better like chop suey, and it might be helpful to have a shoeshine kit and know a few words of polite Chinese. Like, thank you, sir, and have a good day, master.
Communists base their strategies on Sun Tzu’s Art of War. Sun Tzu says, “all war is deception,” and the ultimate victory is to win without destruction of enemy cities. Evidently, Putin didn’t read Sun’s famous book. With the present war, the Commies have obviously failed. We must not be deceived or distracted by the smoke and mirrors and must insist on looking behind the curtain to discover who is pulling the strings of the world puppets. Since deception is everywhere, it would be wise to believe only half of what we see and little of what we hear.
Both Putin and Zelenskyy are totalitarians, one is simply more brutish (at this time) than the other. Still, I feel queasy and very uncomfortable when I discover I am cheering for the same person the far-leftists in Washington and the mainstream media are cheering.
No freedom lover would ban his political opposition as Zelenskyy has done. The Opposition Platform for Life (43 seats in parliament and the largest opposition party in the nation) has been banned by Zelenskyy because of ties to Russia. He also banned ten other political parties. Why isn’t our media screaming about that? That is freedom and democracy? No, but it is what the globalists want for America and free Europe.
Zelenskyy has done what all “strongmen” or tyrants have done—take control of the media. He made all television channels into a single unit that he controls. Would you support such control in the U.S.? But wait, the radical leftists already control most of our media. The far leftists in America think they have the answer, and it is not found in free enterprise, free expression, or vocal opposition, but in their authoritarian control.
Putin, Zelenskyy, and Biden are all puppets, but who is pulling the strings? Decades ago, we would have replied, the Council on Foreign Relations or the Trilateral Commission. Today, it is Bill Gates, George Soros, Klaus Schwab, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and other lesser lights who want America to lose its position in the world and everyone to live under a world authoritarian.
Of course, everyone will be happy—or else, and there will be no racism and no individualism. Everyone will be the same, except the special people at the top. The world will consist of rulers and servants, and you know where you belong, don’t you? In true socialist/communist nations, some are more equal than others.
However, the joy boys Soros, Schwab, Gates, Obama, Clinton will call the shots in Beijing—at least for a while. Long ago, they learned to eat with chopsticks. They will enjoy the perks that go with globalist leadership.
Interestingly, Ukrainians contributed $10 million to the Clinton Foundation, more than any other nationality. Like Gates, Clinton was a guest on 26 trips aboard the “Lolita Express,” even apparently dumping his Secret Service detail for at least five flights, according to Fox News. It appears that the internationalists don’t adhere to the moral code espoused by your grandma.
Bill Gates is a do-gooder who wants to reduce world population although his former wife would disagree with his choice of friends—like pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Gates, the philanthropist has tried to downplay his association with Epstein, the pedophile; however, the New York Times reported they met “many times.” The Daily Beast claims the two men met “dozens of times” between 2011 and 2014. And remember Epstein had already admitted guilt to two Florida charges of “solicitation of prostitution” and one count of “solicitation of prostitution with a minor under the age of 18.”
Strangely, the world’s second-richest man and a convicted pedophile met many times, and inquiring minds want to know why.
It seems money (or world domination) makes strange bedfellows.
Ninety-two-year-old George Soros (“who broke the bank of England”) wants to install a world government headed by the United Nations, and he has given $32 billion to leftist causes such as Black Lives Matter, Defund the Police, etc. In a La Republica interview on August 11, 2020, he called for an American revolution against President Trump! He is ready to replace him with his own ilk.
The biggest bad daddy is Klaus Schwab founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF) who wants to see the philosophical descendants of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, and Joseph Stalin run the world. You know, like the excellent job they did in Russia, Ukraine, Romania, etc.
Schwab describes the WEF’s mission as “shaping global, regional and industry agendas” and “improving the state of the world.” He and his henchmen are not bashful in informing us what they plan to do. Schwab declared, “That it is now far easier to manipulate with precision the human genome within viable embryos means that we are likely to see the advent of designer babies in the future who possess particular traits or who are resistant to specific diseases.”
Dr. Yuval Noah Harari is a spokesman for Schwab and the WEF and is also the most dangerous and devious man I have ever heard. He declared rather nonchalantly, “Humans are now ‘hackable animals’” warning that humans no longer possess “free will” and are set to be “re-engineered” by Bill Gates.
This dude is no minor leaguer since he speaks of “creating non-organic entities.” That means they will make “entities” from non-human matter. Man has always wanted to play God. He can now create! Wow, we have now arrived.
Arrived where?
He and Schwab think grandiosely, grotesquely, and globally declaring, “The (COVID) pandemic represents a rare but narrow window of opportunity to reflect, reimagine, and reset our world.” It will be done over again in their own image. They are often clever but seldom wise.
All in preparation for the universal Mark that will facilitate the purchase of gas, food, and all essential items.
All these Big Time Operators (BTOs) effuse wisdom, knowledge, empathy, and all the good stuff; but they only mention God or Jesus in derision and never speak of personal accountability. And they expect us not to laugh when they ask us to trust them with our nation, economy, freedom, Constitution, etc.
I wouldn’t trust these jerks to walk my dog.’https://donboys.cstnews.com/have-the-internationalists-maneuvered-russia-and-ukraine-into-a-plot-to-produce-a-globalist-regime
Prager U’s Will Witt asks others about the high cost of gas. https://www.prageru.com/video/why-are-gas-prices-so-high
To the church at Rome (NOT the Roman Catholic Church) Paul wrote I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service Romans 12:1. Sadly, in this day of mega-churches and easy beliefism that word “holy” is so often neglected either on purpose or ignorance of true Biblical Christianity. It will be interesting to see how much different the following new “church” will be different from the Hillsong group and if it will be a place of carnal worldly entertainment or true Biblical HOLINESS!
‘On his final Sunday as pastor of Hillsong Atlanta, Sam Collier reflected on the crucial role justice, trust and safety play in the health and growth of a church and expressed his confidence in God’s sovereignty as he prepares for the next season of ministry.
“We are living in a new generation. And this generation is focused on justice, on calling out what’s right and what’s wrong, and making sure that we’re living honestly in all of our actions, while in the previous generation, we handled a lot of these ills behind the scenes,” the 33-year-old pastor told The Christian Post.
“Now more than ever, one of the things that the Church can learn is, it’s important to let people know that they can be safe. It’s just so paramount. Justice, safety, trust matters more than anything. People used to assume trust as soon as they came into the church. Now, people are saying, ‘Prove it to me.’”
Collier understands firsthand what it means to be tasked with rebuilding trust in the face of ministry scandals. On Wednesday, Collier, the first-ever African American lead pastor of a Hillsong church, announced he would be stepping down from his position as controversy continues to swirl around the global church and its founder, Brian Houston.
“With all of the documentaries, scandals, articles, accusations and the church’s subsequent management of these attacks it’s become too difficult to lead and grow a young Church in this environment,” he wrote in a public statement.
And after a brief sabbatical, during which Collier and his wife, Toni, plan to reset and rest, the couple and their ministry team will launch a new church, Story Church, on Easter Sunday 2022.
But the pastor acknowledges that rebuilding in the current climate will come with challenges.
“Transitioning into Story Church, so many people have questioned, ‘Well, we hear what happened over here, but what’s going to make you different? What policies are you putting in place?’” the pastor said. “We’re imperfect; somebody is going to make a mistake. But when somebody makes a mistake, what are we going to do to reassure members and congregants that they can trust us with their lives and their investment?”
Ahead of Story Church’s opening, Collier and his leadership team are partnering with a team of experts, including a chief culture officer and fellow pastors, to “really go deep on how we can guarantee that safety.” And like Hillsong Atlanta, Story Church will be focused on racial reconciliation and modeling unity amid division.
“Racial reconciliation is our number one reason for existing besides salvation,” Collier, who is also an author and founder of A Greater Story Ministries, contended.
“There are so many churches within Atlanta; Atlanta doesn’t need another church. But what we believe is that Atlanta needs a church that is focused on uniting our world. In such a polarizing climate, no matter how you vote, no matter how you look, no matter where you come from, there should be a safe place for believers, for believers to gather under one name, and that’s Jesus.”
“We can work out our differences,” he added. “I believe if we all come to the table and become unified about being unified, we can change the world.”
This time, Collier is looking forward to shepherding a young church without the shadow cast by the scandals that have plagued Hillsong over the last two years.
Speaking before hundreds gathered for an emotional final Sunday service, the pastor reflected on the moment in 2020 that Brian Houston and his wife, Bobbi, told the Colliers they’d be launching Hillsong Atlanta in early 2021.
“We were in,” he said, reflecting on the excitement that came with being affiliated with one of the world’s most well-known churches and the opportunity to realize their vision of a unified church focused on racial reconciliation.
“We would be announced as the first-ever African American couple to lead a Hillsong Church. We were excited to be the Jackie Robinson of the situation.”
But shortly after Hillsong Atlanta was announced, over the next few weeks, Collier estimated “there was probably an article every single week” about a scandal surrounding a Hillsong Church or its leadership.
In December 2020, Carl Lentz, the famed leader of Hillsong Church in New York City, was fired over “leadership issues” and moral failures, including being unfaithful to his wife.
In early 2021, it was revealed that former Hillsong Dallas Lead Pastor Reed Bogard and his wife, Jess, were under investigation for leadership failures when they abruptly resigned in January of that year.
Later that year, Darnell Barrett, who served on the leadership of the church’s Montclair, New Jersey, branch resigned after sending a sexual photo to a church volunteer. Around this time, Hillsong leadership was made aware that documentaries about the church were going to be released.
But amid all the headlines and negative media attention surrounding the church, which has about 80 branches in 21 countries, Collier said he sought to faithfully lead his young congregation.
“I said, ‘Well, God, if I want to ever leave, what’s the sign?’” he recalled. “God said to me, ‘The moment you begin to lose trust, and you cannot continue the growth or the expansion of the vision is the moment that you should leave.”
In August 2021, Brian Houston, who founded the church in 1983, was accused of covering up his father’s crimes against underage boys, and criminal charges were brought against him in Australia. Though he denied the allegations, the charges led Houston to step down as Hillsong’s Global Pastor in January.
At that time, Collier said, Hillsong Atlanta leadership “started to notice that there was a shift that started to happen in our ministry,” adding: “People started to become more and more skeptical of not just the global church, but our church.”
During this time, the pastor said donors, members, and even Hillsong Atlanta staff would tell him, “This is not what we came to church for. We didn’t come to church to continuously go through scandal after scandal after scandal. We’re not sure we can trust this.”
“In that moment, the Holy Spirit reminded me, ‘I told you, the moment you can no longer continue to build the ministry because of the scandal, because of the mistrust, is the moment for you to go,'” he shared.
On Monday, March 21, Collier formally informed Hillsong of his resignation. Two days later, Houston formally resigned as global senior pastor in the wake of recent revelations that two women made serious complaints of misconduct against him in the last 10 years. Collier publicly announced his resignation hours later.
“Between Monday and Wednesday, things did speed up. And why did they speed up? Because, as a global church, we entered into crisis mode,” Collier said. “There’s one goal for me as a pastor, and that’s that you will be able to trust the church you attend and that you will feel safe. And that’s my decision.”
Though the Colliers are leaving Hillsong entirely, the pastor stressed that the global churches “are not our enemies.” He shared a brief video of Phil Dooley — who has taken over for Houston — giving Collier the church’s blessing.
“Hillsong Church is so excited that we’re continuing,” Collier said, adding that he and Dooley “speak almost every day.”
Story Church, he said, will remain in the same location as Hillsong Atlanta, with the same worship team, and likely, the majority of the congregation.
“Same people, same goodness, new name,” the pastor said. “There is a multicultural movement being birthed here. We want you to be a part.”
Collier knows there’s work to do ahead of him — but he expressed repeated confidence in God’s sovereignty over the future of Story Church. He added that coincidentally, the end of Hillsong Atlanta comes a symbolic nine months after its launch.
“Hillsong has been the ground on which the seed is planted,” he said. “[God] does nothing on accident. He used that incubation period to birth somebody new … I believe God for the new.”’https://www.christianpost.com/news/sam-collier-says-trust-plays-crucial-role-in-health-of-church.html
The fruit of Hillsong is evidence that Hillsong was and is not good ground upon which the seed of the Gospel may be planted!
whatyareckon 