Banned

The presence of Jesus in our hearts means that we can rely on Him, fellowship with Him, and walk with Him daily. He has freed us to be obedient to Him, so that we might walk the surrendered life. In Luke chapter 4, we see Christ's bold proclamation of His identity; we can read:
16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."
20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
21 And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

Healing and liberty - those are two of the themes of this teaching in the synagogue by our Lord.  He is the One who is near to us, who wants to set us free from what holds us back in developing a strong relationship with Himself.  He frees us up from the power of sin in order that we might experience His holiness. He comforts us in our time of need and is available to us when we call upon His name.  His Spirit empowers us to walk an overcoming life. 

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All around us, it seems, the responsibility we have to live out our faith faces barriers - some are from the culture, others are from our errors. Paul cautions the Galatians in chapter 5 of the book bearing their name:
1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

Later in the chapter, he writes about not allowing those barriers to hold us back:
7 You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?
8 This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you.
9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

Yesterday, in The Meeting House commentary, I shared the story of a young lady who needed the help of our Savior - she was drug-addicted and looking for answers.  Because a Canadian church had decided to remain open during the pandemic in the face of severe restrictions, she came in and discovered a relationship with Jesus Christ.  Neither the impact of a worldwide virus or the initiatives of hostile government officials can stop the work of the Church.  And, by the way, our freedom to practice our faith is not ultimately granted by government, because, as it's been pointed out, government can take it away.

And, in Canada, overzealous officials have made a decision to ban counseling for people who are dealing with unwanted same-sex attraction. The pastor of the church to which I referred yesterday, Jacob Reaume of Trinity Bible Chapel in Waterloo, commented on what is known as bill C-4 in a piece at The Daily Wire, which said:

While describing C-4, Reaume — whose church incurred over $100,000 in fines last year for refusing to shut its doors in defiance of Canada’s COVID-19 lockdowns — noted that the edict will “make the preaching of the biblical gospel a criminal act.”

“The biblical gospel is a message of conversion, whereby Christ causes sinners to be born-again, thus converting them from sinful propensities to godliness,” he explained. “The bill’s language is vague enough that many think it might criminalize a biblical call to forsake sodomitic propensities to embrace righteousness.”

The article also quoted Tim Stephens of Fairview Baptist Church in Calgary:

Stephens — who was jailed in a maximum-security facility last summer for refusing to close his church — added that “the law is overly broad in defining conversion therapy,” thereby enshrining “progressive gender ideology and queer theory as normative.”

“All societies that live according to the biblical ethic” — in other words, creational norms — “have flourished,” he continued. “This is now called harmful. Ironically, this law promotes a truly harmful type of ‘conversion’ using puberty blocking chemicals, surgeries to remove functioning breasts and sexual organs, regular hormone treatments, and truly harmful counseling that has led to exorbitant suicide rates.”

Pastor Tim Coates of Grace Life Church in Edmonton, who was also imprisoned for defying lockdown orders, made contact with an American pastor out of concern for the new law. That pastor wrote:

I am eager to support our Canadian brothers and to preach on biblical sexual morality on January 16, and I invite you as a faithful pastor to do the same. Our united stand will put the Canadian and the U.S. governments on notice that they have attacked the Word of God. We are all well-aware of the evil power and destructive influence of the homosexual and transgender ideology. Our government is bent on not only normalizing this perversion, but also legalizing it, and furthermore criminalizing opposition to it.

That pastor can be heard weekday afternoon at 1:30pm on Grace To You on Faith Radio - none other than John MacArthur.  And, an estimated 4000 pastors joined Dr. MacArthur in preaching on Biblical sexual morality that day, according to FoxNews.com.  CBN News quoted some of MacArthur's comments that day; he proclaimed:

"There is no such thing as transgender. You are either XX or XY, that's it. God made man male and female. That is determined genetically, that is physiology, that is science, that is reality."

"On the one hand, the reality of that lie and deception is so damaging, so destructive, so isolating, so corrupting that it needs to be confronted, but on the other hand, that confrontation can't exaggerate what already exists, which is a sense of feeling isolated in relationships," he said.

But YouTube removed MacArthur's sermon from its platform and told conservative commentator Todd Starnes that MacArthur's video presentation was "hate speech."

"Our team has reviewed your content, and, unfortunately, we think it violates our hate speech policy," YouTube said, according to Starnes. "We've removed the following content from YouTube: 'There is no such thing as transgender. You are either XX or XY. That's it. – Pastor John MacArthur.'"

By the way, MacArthur, who in his stand for the freedom of pastors and counselors to share Biblical truth regarding sexuality, as well as his church's own stand against overzealous civic officials in trying to prevent worship during COVID, has demonstrated by his actions his commitment to religious freedom, according to the U.S. Constitution.  Not according to those who say they champion religious freedom yet seek to curb it.  There has been criticism of the pastor recently because of words apparently taken out of context.  A report at The Daily Wire points out:

A one-minute-and-forty-seven-second clip of influential pastor John MacArthur speaking about religious liberty began circulating on social media Monday. Some critics claimed it proved the longtime teacher of the Grace To You radio ministry doesn’t believe the U.S. should protect religious freedom. Others insisted his words meant he advocates for fascism, state religion, and forced conversions.

The clip was, according to the article, "...was taken from a sermon immediately after President Joe Biden’s inauguration in January 2021. MacArthur shares that he wasn’t impressed by an evangelical publicist who assured him the new administration would uphold religious freedom."  So, he said: “I don’t even support religious freedom,” adding, “Religious freedom is what sends people to hell. To say I support religious freedom is to say I support idolatry. It’s to say I support lies. I support hell. I support the kingdom of darkness.”  He later cautioned against lobbying the government for religious freedom.

Phil Johnson of Grace To You told The Daily Wire:

“MacArthur is certainly not advocating the theonomic notion that Christians today should commandeer governments in order to force Christianity on the world,” Johnson told The Daily Wire. Referring to Matthew 20:25-27 and Revelation 2:27, he further clarified the intent of the clip:

Because Christ is perfectly righteous, He has the right and the authority to rule the whole world without tolerating the kind of spiritual free-for-all that people today call “religious freedom.” But because human governments are run by fallen people who tend to misuse power, we do not believe Caesar should have authority over people’s consciences when it comes to the question of whom and how they worship.

Seems to me that MacArthur exhibited a clear understanding of where rights come from.  And, his actions over the last year or so have clearly shown he embraces what Christians might call "religious freedom."  But, he also realizes that belief systems that are based on anything other than God's Word do not contribute to knowing Christ. 

That didn't stop critics, even those whom you could refer to as evangelical thought leaders, from taking the clip and running with it, taking the opportunity to denigrate the seasoned pastor.  Radio host Erick Erickson wasn't buying it; the Daily Wire story relates:

“He was not talking about the ability of different faiths to worship in a multi-ethnic country of different faiths,” Erickson said. “He was talking about Christians believing Christianity is true and all other religions are false and don’t really give you freedom.”

Erickson went on to point out that secular governments often persecute Christians while claiming they support religious freedom.

Don't have a knee-jerk reaction when you read a story that doesn't quite fit.  Don't draw conclusions without having an understanding of the facts - and consider context!

There is developing news on the religious freedom front - the attempt to share freedom in Christ with people who are struggling with same-sex attraction is under assault, not only in Canada, but in the U.S.  One example: David Closson, Director of the Center for Biblical Worldview at Family Research Council points out, in West Lafayette, Indiana...

...the city council recently proposed an ordinance prohibiting the practice of so-called “conversion therapy” by unlicensed counselors. While these counseling bans are not new, the scope and reach of the proposed ordinance go beyond almost anything we’ve seen previously. By intentionally targeting unlicensed professionals, the ordinance would subject pastors and counselors to hefty fines for having conversations with church members and counselees about what the Bible teaches about unwanted same-sex attraction and/or gender dysphoria.

It can be very easy to be discouraged, but we can really be appreciative of how blessed we are to be able to share our faith and participate in public worship.  It is a gift of God that has been hard-wired into our Constitution.  But, if we buy into the erroneous beliefs that our freedoms are given by humans, we become keenly aware that they can be taken away.  We do have incredible freedom in Christ, which can never be taken away - so we can be encouraged to proclaim it and live it!