THE WAY THEY HAVE THE CHURCH LOCKED DOWN

by | May 1, 2020 | Christianity Today | 32 comments

The left hates the church. This is fact and not fiction. You can count on them to use the coronavirus in an attempt to damage Christianity. Their ultimate goal is to sell preachers on a future church with a vastly decreased influence on the nation.

They proved both their hatred and their future plans by the way they closed the churches during this pandemic. They should have found a way to keep churches open, and they could have done so, easily: they found a way to keep “necessary businesses” like Planned Parenthood open.

But by not even trying to find a way, they made a very dangerous statement. The First Amendment to the Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

It is illegal to prevent worship. If there was any way possible to allow churches to remain open safely, they were duty bound to find it.

If it is in the Constitution that you can’t create a law which prevents American citizens from meeting for worship in churches, why did they do it? California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) will tell you that it is necessary to close churches for the safety of the public. That is a bald-faced lie. California found a way to keep Walmart, Costco, and liquor stores open, as well as the Planned Parenthood death mills.

But when it came to churches, they didn’t even try. They didn’t even bother to consult pastors about what could be done. California is the epicenter of technology, and they couldn’t find a solution for safe worship? Why would they do this? Could it be they couldn’t find a way to keep churches open for the same reason a burglar can’t find a policeman?

The preexisting hatred for the church emboldened them to ignore their Constitutional priority to allow freedom of religion. This hatred is so blatant and open that Governor Northam of Virginia hideously overruled freedom of religion by passing a law that forces churches to allow men to use the ladies room.

Ever notice how the Left uses the phrase “freedom of worship” rather than “freedom of religion”? They do that on purpose. They use it to justify their bans on churches. They say, “You can worship God in nature, in your car, or in your house.” But “freedom of religion” means something else, entirely. Freedom of religion refers to houses of worship, doctrines, creeds and traditions.

Freedom of religion means you cannot write a law that overrules a religious conviction, but that is precisely what Northam did. He is saying, in essence, “I don’t care what your Bible says, I order you to violate your faith.” Using that logic, they could force Rabbis to eat ham sandwiches…

So why did they do all these things? This, my friend, was merely a dress rehearsal. They flexed their muscles to prove they could close down every church and keep them closed for as long as they wanted. If you think they won’t do it again—and next time, do it with far less justification—you are naïve.

The purpose of the test was to see how America would react. Look carefully at these verses:

Acts 12:1-3, “Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter, also.” Are you seeing a pattern here?

When Herod saw how murdering Christian leaders pleased the anti-Christian crowd, it emboldened him to arrest Peter. Bingo! That is what California and other States are doing. Testing to see how it plays with their base when they persecute the church.

Here is the tragic fact we must face. Millions were okay with the church shutdown because they hate President Trump and they see the church as his ally.

Long after the virus is no longer a viable threat, every State under Democrat rule will keep churches closed as long as possible. And even after they allow us to open, there will be permanent irrational limitations placed on us. Here in Reno, they opened the marijuana dispensaries today, but churches are still forced to remain closed indefinitely. Go figure.

I hate the term ‘wakeup call’ because it is vastly over-used. But, this really is a wakeup call. Just as Paul indicted the Philippian politicos for their gross violation of Roman law in Acts 16, we must take legal action against all the governors who illegally violated the Constitution, and who oppressed the church.

If we fail to come together in unity and act against this tyranny, we will be bitterly failing our children and future generations.

It’s a hard truth, but when it comes to defending freedom of religion, at this point, we can only look to God and ourselves. But if God be for us, who can be against us?

32 Comments

  1. megagenius

    BECAUSE SENTENCE AGAINST A CRIME IS NOT EXECUTED SPEEDILY, THEREFORE IT IS FULLY SET IN THE HEART OF MEN TO DO EVIL. Ecclesiastes 8:11 CHRISTIANITY IS NOT FOR COWARDS. IF THERE EVER WAS A TIME TO ROAR LIKE A LION, THAT TIME IS NOW.
    There was a certain Pastor who had his 501c3 taken from him by the IRS on the basis of false accusations. So he hired a Christian lawyer to get his papers back. It wasn’t working, so he hired a MEAN Christian lawyer and got his papers back. Being a “nice” Christian in this season isn’t going to work.

  2. Tina

    Dear brother Murillo, I wanted to tell you , we live here in Indianapolis Indiana . This last Tuesday we received in the mail applications for absentee ballots. My husband and I tore it up !! They are using the Virus as an excuse to try to keep us from voting in person ! It was mentioned in the notice ! This has myself and husband concerned that this is how the Left is going to steal the Presidential election. Please pray that God will expose this. As that’s what I’m praying and hoping will happen.

    Love in Christ Tina Moore

    Sent from my iPad

    >

    • Joshua

      We should be telling all Christians to not give in to the enemy which would have us vote by mail but to do as you did and show our fire for god by ripping up any and all applications for absentee ballots. The devil will flee surely.

  3. Doug Spurling

    This war with coronavirus has killed thousands upon thousands; yet, it’s the surface of an iceberg to warn us, what’s underneath can destroy us. We must highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain.

    There’s a dark and deep civil war within our shores and it’s already pierced a wound so deep, we’re on the verge of annihilation. It’s up to us, you and me, to start right here right now and call on our God, and get to know Him so deep and clear that we can hear His heart beat.

    For I know, whom I believe and am persuaded, that as long as there’s breath in our lungs and God on the throne, there is hope. I pray that this day, here and now, we will stand united and change the world, by changing our world…it must begin, within.

    “Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure… that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” Abraham Lincoln

    “And this, the United States of America, is your country.
    What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people.
    January 20th 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again.
    The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.”
    (Excerpt: Inaugural Address, January 20, 2017, President Donald J. Trump.)

  4. Douglas A Blaylock

    McDonald”s? OK. Hardware store? OK. Pot Store. Abc Store? OK ABORTION CLINIC? OK Mosque? OK. Church? NO WAY! The irony is that the only real answer to this mess is the Church. The silver lining is that believers everywhere are praying,repenting, and seeking GOD. He is hearing us and will heal our land.

  5. Carolina

    Mario has been right all along, because complacency and fear of peer scrutiny has driven too many in church leadership to cave into a worldly patterned mainstream church culture.

    Now that they’re needed so badly to have a pulpit that can speak to political and governmental power about their places of worship having rights. They’re having to stay at home and keep quiet.

    The civil authorities do not believe that such individuals have the intellectual capacity to govern their own congregants and make them follow health and safety protocols. Because they have no respect for these complacent leaders ability to monitor or control their church members conduct.

    That’s what being lukewarm will do for you while claiming to be a Christian or Christian organization in 2020.
    Today insipidity just won’t do.??‍♀️

  6. Gil Zaragoza

    I fully concur!!!!!

  7. maxrush7

    In our daily prayers we Must ask God to show us how to ‘Roar Like Lions’

  8. Tim Price

    And yet you have so called Christians who support the Left tooth and toe nail despite what the Left does to the church and how the Left deems it appropriate to kill the born and unborn.

    We must raise up and fight in Jesus Name!

  9. Mark Stripling

    This was a dry run for the day of the Antichrist. Amazing that the leftist governors, mayors, and police chiefs chose to single out churches for fines and arrests, even when they obeyed the restrictions. This is China and Soviet Union stuff, carried out right here in America. Thank God our governor declared church as essential, or we would have been fined for our parking lot church services. the “church” better get it’s eyes wide open and become soldiers of Christ on our knees in the fight.

  10. Margaret Martinez

    This is our hour-stand, take dominion of your territory, we do mighty exploits as the Royal Priesthood and the End time Church ith the authority we were given!

  11. Michael Okulski

    I understand and agree with the constitutional issues. But consider this if you would. Are we really in a hurry to return Gods people back to all the horrible pastors and religious spirits that have kept them in bondage for so long. Maybe we can use the schemes of the left to our advantage and come up with another way to raise Gods children to be free. Home churches? Home schooling? I’m Just Sayin’!. Thanks from Yuma Arizona!

    • megagenius

      Jesus didn’t say, Go ye into all the houses. He said, Go ye into all the world. Believers do not accommodate bullies. I’m Just Sayin!

  12. kingskid48

    I forward Pastor Mario’s blogs to most of my email list, including unbelievers and I get comments back quite often. Always positive, even from the unbelievers. But I share them also on facebook and most of my “friends” are Christians, and I literally never see any comments on them, except for one Christian relative. I cannot figure out why. They have to be seeing them, at least some of the time. Can my Christian friends really be that asleep? I am looking forward to when we can go to services again, to see if our pastors mention the things that Pastor Marion brings up, at all. I am a little concerned that they are not, and will not, speak about the way the Church is being treated for fear of attracting attention, the kind of attention they don’t want. I know it’s easy for me me to sit here and type out these words at my desk, and the pastors have a lot that they are dealing with and a lot to consider. But I just pray that they have some serious, serious meetings with their Boards and decide they must take a strong stand and count the cost. I just pray they do not ignore this encroaching loss of Christian liberty in America. This is a problem that will definitely increase in intensity if it is ignored. They may lose some parishoners if they speak up and speak out boldly, but if they don’t speak at all, they’ll lose everything, imo.

  13. Annette

    We must boldly stand for our constitutional rights especially about worship and resist their efforts to silence us. All churches should be doing this in solidarity. If we do God will bless us and stand by us.

  14. SHIRLEY ELLSWORTH

    WHEN THE BIBLE TELLS US TO OBEY THE LAWS OF THE LAND, AND THOSE IN HIGH AUTHORITY, COULD WE GO AGAINEST OUR STATES GOVERNOR WHO SIGNED INTO LAW CHURCH LOCKDOWNS UNTIL SHE SAYS SO. WHITMER/ MICHIGAN. AND SHE’S USING THIS PANDEMIC AS HER TOOL TO KEEP CHURCHES LOCKED. I NEED AN ANSWER TO THIS. GO AGAINEST HER SIGNED IN LAW, OR GO AGAINEST WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS.?????

    • mariomurilloministries

      Romans 13 clearly states that no power ordained of God is a threat to the righteous. That means that when powers abuse authority the church must oppose. Acts 5: 28 saying, “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!” 29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men. Psalm 94:20 says Shall the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law, Have fellowship with You? ” This shows us that laws can be evil. After praying, Christian leaders need to obey what God leads them to do. At the very least there needs to be class action lawsuits against states that keep churches closed beyond a reasonable time.

      • carleen taylor

        Totally agree. Has anyone contacted the ACLU??? Let’s do something before its tooo late.

      • MaidInAmerica

        Thank you so much for your insightful articles! They’ve given much food for my husband’s and my soul! And today we went to a wonderful underground church on the west coast. Since Kansas City is cracking down on tracking and surveilling church members, it is time for the church to have a VOICE! What was shocking today, since we have been shut in on Sundays and were out today driving through a few towns, was to see all the empty parking lots at churches. And even though some churches may not be totally on fire for the LORD, a parking lot of cars should be a witness for those driving by to think about. Seeing this clearly, today was eye-opening that THE POWERS THAT BE have done their job in silencing their first priority: the voice of God. But not for long, because the army of the LORD is and will be rising up! Today we heard you cannot not be a house of prayer by watching an online church service! Also we heard about Acts 18 and how Paul and the believers were mutually strengthened only by being in each other’s presence! It was powerful! Blessings to you all! This whole situation is NOT about a virus!

  15. william Gods Friend & Child Forever

    Amen—- Mario–you are right on–and it’s unconstitutional Freedom of Assembly

    Enclosed are a few new Booklets I wrote–Gifts for you–Print up and use anyway you want *Shroud of Turin* and *Happiness or Depression* and *IMG *has a Pic of me the author God bless always! William

    On Fri, May 1, 2020 at 1:30 AM Mario Murillo Ministries wrote:

    > mariomurilloministries posted: “The left hates the church. This is fact > and not fiction. You can count on them to use the coronavirus in an attempt > to damage Christianity. Their ultimate goal is to sell preachers on a > future church with a vastly decreased influence on the nation. The” >

  16. kingskid48

    Pastor Mario is 100% correct and not overstating the situation one iota. I received this article in my email box this morning, in addition to an alert from Liberty Counsel telling hour local government in a town in MO is demanding the names, phone numbers, and addresses of ALL members and attendees. The same goes for all businesses there that are opening. The purpose is to track and monitor people. The excuse, of course, is to protect everyone from Covid. Wake up;, Church! https://www.toddstarnes.com/faith/communion-banned-in-knoxville-tennessee-churches/?utm_source=Todd+Starnes+Newsletter&utm_campaign=b97eb5b07f-May+1+-+afternoon&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_92d26c77ee-b97eb5b07f-112743813

  17. Hardworking Ephesian pastor

    The government took our lampstands.

  18. Mark DuBois

    The church that My wife & I attend is opening up this Sunday.
    Yes, we need to obey God rather than man; I agree, whole heartedly.
    I live in Lakeside, Ca.

  19. Dwayne Desmarais

    This for one thing (not pointing out any individual) shows how feckless the Church as a whole has become. We laid down to easily…I have stated over and over that God was coming to separate the wheat from the chaff, the vile from the precious, the righteous from the pretender. I often wonder if this “lock down” was a welcome relief for those who cringed when Sunday came around because they had to “go to church”

    It’s funny how one man can rip a page out of the Quran, and one million Muslims demand his head! Yet (true story) some time ago, in Afghanistan, 50,000 Bibles were burned by the U.S. Army because it offended the locals! Where was the outcry from the Christians? If we are to stand in these times and do what is right and just, it will most likely be an army like that of Gideon or David. Both were whittled down by God to show He was the authority and not man.

    The Church has given the enemy a foothold and because of apathy on the part of the people, he has made it a stronghold! We can blame the hatred of the Church on the left and the progressives for the condition we re in, but the first century Church was under much greater persecution and yet they thrived! We need to get back to where we got off track, REPENT (personally) and begin taking back territory the enemy stole because of our complacency. We are heading for a crash and burn scenario, and we must confront the darkness with light.

    When light enters darkness, confrontation is inevitable! Let us not shrink back at this critical hour (Heb.10:37-38) the destiny of the Church hangs in the balance…be blessed…..><(("<

  20. Nick Trudell

    Amen,

    We need to let out voices be hear or we will lose our country to the heathen. Yes we wrestle not with flesh and blood, so we need to pray and repent but also vote, Not voting is a vote for the other side. Look at all the christian’s that didn’t vote, million’s, use it or lose it….. Vote Satan’s puppet’s out of office. Do you know what your party’s platform stand’s for? vote for good and not evil.

  21. Robin

    So tell us what to do about it. We are already praying and repentance has been a general theme. Everyone bemoans what has happened, but no one tells us exactly what to do to put an end to it. We are awake. We all know it’s going on. If we don’t get instruction from our Christian leaders, we can’t be in unity to act.

  22. Heather Tremblay

    My husband and I appreciate you and your ministry so much Pastor Murillo. Thank you for boldly speaking out. I wanted to make mention of Rodney Howard Brown’s church, The River, in Florida. He was working with local authorities to comply with requirements so that his church could remain open. They installed many expensive air purifiers, had sanitizer, masks, etc and had met with their local sheriff to confer with him. Long story short, they went to his home with news crews the following Monday to arrest him for keeping the church open. Not sure if he is still closed or not but that’s a pretty clear indicator of what the true agenda has been. Thanks again for sharing.

  23. Janet Lyon

    A post over at theconservativetreehouse by “Michael Fox” made me feel I should post it here because the post says that AA and NA can attend in-person meetings if individuals feel it is necessary to their health and well-being. If this is indeed the case (I don’t live in Calif. to verify this), then your tent meetings should be allowed to resume (seats spaced apart).

    From my Northern California county’s FAQ about the Public Health Officer’s order regarding covid19:
    “Can AA and NA meetings continue?
    Yes. AA and NA meetings are essential to health and are therefore permitted to continue under the Order. Individuals are encouraged to use online AA meetings to the greatest extent possible. If online meetings are not available or individuals feel that an in-person meeting is essential to their health and well-being, they may attend in-person. In-person meetings should comply with social distancing requirements.”
    WE’VE GOT ‘EM !!!
    Our worship service and hearing the word of God are essential to our health; physically, mentally and spiritually.
    If alcoholics and drug addicts are allowed to meet, then certainly we sinners who feel the need to meet should be allowed to meet….This is unequal enforcement of law, aside from targeting and punishing faith based meetings.I would say this is a very strong basis for a lawsuit.
    AND, a basis to have a church service that complies with social distancing requirements.

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