This recent prophecy sounds plausible, but has already proven false

But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?
When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him. Deuteronomy 18:20-22

The description of this video from the YouTube channel Near Death Experiences, posted in late November 2025, reads:

Eva Crawford, a dedicated nurse with 12 years of experience, never believed in dramatic spiritual encounters — until she died for 5 minutes on November 26th, 2025, during a routine shift. In those moments, she experienced a near-death experience (NDE) where Jesus Christ revealed urgent warnings about the mark of the beast system and where believers must never be found when it’s fully implemented.

This life-changing NDE opened her eyes to the urgency of the times we are living in and the importance of staying faithful.

Watch till the end to hear how this experience transformed her and why it’s a message everyone needs to hear.

If you're wondering how people are going to be deceived into worshiping the Antichrist, listen to the part of the video starting at about the 3:05 mark, and notice how certain Ms. Crawford is that she was in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ:

I found myself standing in a place of such great beauty that human words feel totally unable to describe it...a presence so holy, so perfect that I immediately understood that I was standing before God Himself. That's when I saw Him approaching, and every part of my spirit knew who it was before my mind could even grasp it. Jesus Christ, the savior I'd believed in but never truly known, walked toward me with eyes that held the kindness of forever and the urgency of a father warning his children of immediate danger. His appearance wasn't like the paintings in church windows or the movies I'd seen. He looked like a man in his 30s, but there was something eternal about Him, as if He held all of history and all of forever inside Himself. When He looked at me, I felt completely known, completely understood, and completely loved despite every mistake and doubt I'd ever carried.

However, He apparently didn't resemble the most recent physical description of the apostle John's encounter with Him in Revelation 1:13-17:

And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

Ms. Crawford may indeed have had a spiritual experience, and her description of how the system of the Beast will be implemented sounds plausible. However, she gave specific dates for the fulfillment of her alleged vision, and we already have evidence that it fails the biblical test of 100% accuracy in the passage from Deuteronomy cited above. Starting at about the 28:03 mark of the video, we hear and read:

I saw the exact order of events that would start the mark system, and it was much closer than anyone imagined. In January 2026, I watched as a coordinated set of computer attacks crippled the global money system. Banks failed overnight, stock markets crashed with no hope of recovery, and digital money became worthless. The confusion was so complete that governments around the world declared emergency rule and stopped normal laws.

But this wasn't a random attack by enemies or terrorist groups. As Jesus allowed me to see behind the scenes of earthly events, I realized this crisis had been carefully planned by the same powers that had spent decades preparing the mark system. The collapse was done on purpose, designed to create such desperation that people would beg for any solution no mater what it cost. "Watch how they offer salvation through technology," Jesus said. And I saw world leaders appearing on every working screen, announcing the emergency start of a new body-based identification system. This wasn't presented as the mark of the beast, but as humanity's rescue from money collapse and social chaos. The lies were expertly done. Children would be protected from being taken through GPS tracking. Elderly patients would never be without their medical records in emergencies. Workers would have instant access to their job benefits and social help. Everyone would be equal in this new system, no matter their race, class or background. But I could see the spiritual truth behind this attractive idea. The moment anyone accepted this mark, once that choice was made. The plan began with the weak populations that Jesus had shown me. Patients in hospitals were told they needed the mark for their safety and the safety of others. Children in schools were marked as part of required health programs. Elderly residents in care facilities received it automatically with their routine medical procedures. Within weeks, the system spread to include all of society. No one could buy food, access transport, receive medical care, or even enter public buildings without the mark. Those who refused were systematically kept out of every part of normal life, labeled as terrorists and threats to public health and safety.

I watched as the four dangerous places Jesus had warned me about became exactly the death traps he had predicted. The cities turned into spy prisons where unmarked individuals were hunted by complex AI systems that could spot faces, track movements, and guess behavior patterns. The medical facilities became enforcement centers where health care workers--many believing they were helping people--gave the mark as standard practice. The churches proved to be the most heartbreaking betrayal of all. I saw pastor after pastor standing before their groups, Bible in hand, explaining why receiving the mark was not only okay, but actually the loving thing to do. They quoted Bible verses about obeying those in charge and caring for the needs of neighbors. They argued that the mark was simply technology, no different from a driver's license or social security number. But what upset me most was seeing how many sincere believers were carried away by these arguments. These weren't people who fought against God or mocked faith. They were true Christians who had trusted their spiritual leaders more than they had built their own relationship with Christ. When their pastors assured them the mark was acceptable, they followed that advice straight into eternal destruction.

It is now February 2026. The events prophesied for January 2026 didn't come to pass, but the statement that true Christians will take the mark of the beast doesn't agree with scripture. Those who take the mark will indeed go into eternal torment (Revelation 14:11), but they won't be true Christians. The tribulation chapters (6-19) of Revelation indicate that the Church will be in Heaven (which implies a pre-Tribulation rapture). Also, the real Lord Jesus Christ said that those who are His sheep will never be lost (John 5:24, 10:28-30, 17:12, 18:9). Since the prophecies allegedly revealed to Eva Crawford didn't take place by the date predicted, and they contradict statements that the real Jesus made about Himself, it's plain that the "Jesus" who allegedly revealed them to her was a false Jesus and a false prophet.

The most deceptive error is that which is mixed with truth. The scenario presented by Eva Crawford is plausible, but you don't have to receive direct revelation from God in order to see the direction in which things are going. Covid 19 in the early 2020s was likely a dry run, and this blogger can't forget the cowardice and servility toward dictatorship on the part of church leaders.

South Africa's Chief Rabbi blasts Pope Francis and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby for their unbiblical positions on Israel

In striking contrast to Evangellyfish, the Chief Rabbi of South Africa calls a spade a spade; as reported by Etgar Lefkovits of Jewish News Syndicate, August 27, 2024 (photo, bold, links in original, added by blogger):

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby exchanges gifts with Pope Francis at the Vatican on May 2, 2024. Photo by Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images.

The head of the Catholic Church and the leader of the Church of England are effectively rejecting the Bible by supporting policies that negate the connection of the Jewish people to the Holy Land, the chief rabbi of South Africa said on Sunday.

The blunt theological critique comes after the archbishop of Canterbury endorsed a ruling by the International Court of Justice last month that Israel’s presence in the “occupied Palestinian territories” is unlawful, and as the pontiff has sought to thread the needle and maintain strict neutrality during Israel’s war against Islamist terrorists in Gaza.

“At a time when Europe’s future hangs in the balance, its two most senior Christian leaders—the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, and the head of the Church of England, Archbishop Justin Welby—have abandoned their most sacred duty to protect and defend the values of the Bible,” South African Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein wrote in a post on X.

The world is locked in a civilizational battle of values, threatened by terrorism and jihad, the rabbi said.

“Now is the time for religious leaders to come to the defense of society, to speak up for Western values and freedom,” Goldstein said. “Instead, Pope Francis and the Anglican archbishop are silent: indifferent to the murder of Christians in Africa, and to the threat of terrorism throughout Europe, and outright hostile to Israel’s attempts to battle these jihadi forces led by Iran.”

Does the archbishop read the Bible?

The Jewish leader said that the head of the Church of England’s remarks put him in “direct opposition” to the Bible.

“Does the archbishop believe the accounts of the Bible are mere myths?” Goldstein ponders in a 15-minute video address attached to the X post. “How can anyone who believes in the Bible say that Israel is an illegal occupier of the Temple Mount?”

After the U.N. court ruling, Welby said that ending “Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory is a legal and moral necessity.”

Goldstein continued, “If the archbishop reads his Bible, he should know that Jerusalem existed before London and was the capital of Israel before anyone heard of Britain.”

Imploring his fellow religious leaders to “go back to the Bible,” the South African rabbi said that denying Israel’s biblical claims to the Land of Israel was a threat to both the United Kingdom and Europe at a time of rising Islamic extremism.

“Jihadist ideology that seeks to destroy Israel is a clear and present danger to the future of Europe and its value system,” Goldstein said. “If Israel is abandoned to jihadi forces, Europe is next.”

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) celebrates Transgender Day of Visibility

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Romans 1:24-32

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come... ...Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. II Timothy 3:1,5

If you're not already aware that the United States (not to mention Canada and other Western nations) are increasingly under the judgement of God, the declaration by the administration of alleged U.S. President Joe Biden of March 31, 2024 as "Transgender Day of Visibility" should help to make it clear. The fact that this celebration of perversion is scheduled for Easter Sunday is not a coincidence. Blogger Vox Day addresses this:

Evangelist Justin Peters offers an excellent biblical perspective--much better than I can--on transgenderism:



For more than half a century, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been a hopelessly apostate denomination (see Carl McIntire's 1967 book The Death of a Church for evidence). For current evidence of the PCUSA's apostasy, look no further than the following. As stated by Shea Watts in the Presbyterian Outlook, March 24, 2024 :

In Luke 24, we join two companions traveling the dusty seven-mile road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. As they walk, they grieve the loss of Jesus. Sensing their pain, a stranger approaches and explains how Jesus’ death fulfills God’s promises in Scripture. Amazed, the traveling companions invite the man to dine with them. As the stranger blesses, breaks, and gives the bread, the travelers’ eyes open, and they see Jesus.

In Greek, we’re told here that the disciples recognize (ἐπιγινώσκω) Jesus; they “acknowledge” him. One way of interpreting the story suggests that the men only recognize Jesus when they welcome his presence at the table. In other words, it is not their piety but their hospitality that makes their seeing possible.

This year, Easter falls on the national Trans Day of Visibility (TDOV), allowing us to practice such eye-opening hospitality. We see Jesus whenever we welcome others to the table and acknowledge their presence among us. We see Jesus when we embrace our trans siblings.

According to the PC(USA) Advocacy Committee for LGBTQIA+ Equity, “TDOV is a day that our local churches can embrace and celebrate the diverse identities of transgender and non-binary individuals, affirming their intrinsic worth as creations of God.” This is necessary because transgender persons are the victims of violent legislation and hate crimes. The violence is such that the Human Rights Campaign even declared a National State of Emergency.

Judith Butler (they/them) demonstrates the rise of violence against trans people in Who’s Afraid of Gender? by exploring the anti-gender movement, an umbrella term referring to social movements opposing what they call “gender ideology,” “gender theory” or “genderism.” Examples of the anti-gender movement include efforts to stop talking about gender and sexuality in the classroom and promoting policies to limit trans rights.

Butler writes: “In taking aim at gender, some proponents of the anti-gender movement claim to be defending not just family values but values themselves, not just a way of life but life itself.” Trans people stand at the frontlines of the war on gendered bodies that do not fit the cis-gender, heterosexual standard, says Butler, and they are suffering from the spread of misinformation and rise of hostility. This is why TDOV is important. The fact that it coincides with Easter this year is a coincidence rich for theological reflection.

The paradox of Jesus’ resurrection invites us to look again, think again, and hopefully, live again. Therefore, Easter is an appropriate time to explore our theology of incarnation, embodiment and materiality. One way to understand Christ’s transfiguration is to see Jesus as “a template for other transfigured, transfiguring bodies,” including transgender persons. Cary Howie, a professor at Cornell who writes extensively on gender and sexuality, broaches this idea in his essay “On Transfiguration.” In this line of thinking, recognizing transgender persons allows us to better understand Christ’s resurrection because both Jesus and transgender persons are changed, trans-figured, metamorphosized.

Another way to understand the transfiguration is to think about the impact of being transformed. Howie writes: “To be transfigured is to implicate others in your transfiguration; it is to suggest that ‘luminous glory’ may erupt from, and within, any flesh whatsoever. This implication is part of what makes transfiguration terrifying: no one is untransfigurable, and no one is transfigured alone.” When we see others and acknowledge their transfiguring bodies, we, too, are transfigured and transformed. And the boundaries between “you” and “me” are dissolved until there is only “us."

We see this in the aftermath of Christ’s resurrection in Scripture. After Christ’s revelation to the travelers in Luke 24, he appears to the eleven disciples and friends, opening their minds to the Scripture (Luke 24:45). They become witnesses to Christ’s resurrection and God’s plan for humanity. In Acts, the second book of Luke’s Gospel, we see how they are then charged to tell the story of Jesus to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8) and how the Holy Spirit aids in this task (Acts 2). When we witness a transformation, we, too, are transformed.

This year with TDOV and Easter falling on the same day, we are asked: are we willing to be transfigured and transformed by acknowledging our trans siblings as images of God? Are we willing to acknowledge their wounds? When we do so, Jesus is revealed and the mystery of Easter bursts into our lives again.

To our trans siblings:

Forgive us

for the times we didn’t see you,

the times we failed to love you.

With your permission and God’s help,

we will love you more faithfully.

We see you, and our hearts burn.

As reported by Shani E. McIlwain of Presbyterian News Service, March 28, 2024 (links, photos in original):

Photo by Alexander Grey via Unsplash

In response to a recent General Assembly mandate, the Advocacy Committee for LGBTQIA+ Equity is at work assisting the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in providing full expression to the rich diversity of its membership as described in the Book of Order.

The committee is made up of teaching elders Ashley DeTar Birt, Daniel Hammer, and Omar Gonzalez; ruling elder Tim Haworth; and deacon Salina Brett.

Committee members say they’re proud to announce the commencement of the committee’s mission dedicated to amplifying the voices of LGBTQIA+ Presbyterians within the PC(USA). With its unwavering commitment to fostering inclusivity and equality, the committee aims to build upon the groundwork laid by pioneers like the Rev. David Sindt, whose courageous act 50 years ago marked a pivotal moment in LGBTQIA+ history.

In a bold demonstration of solidarity and visibility during the 1974 General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., Sindt stood on the Assembly floor holding a hand-written sign that read, “Is anyone else out there gay?”

Today Presbyterians can offer an emphatic “Yes! We are here.” This watershed moment reverberated through the decades, inspiring many individuals to embrace their identities and assert their presence within the Presbyterian community.

The Rev. Ashley DeTar Birt

When asked the question, “Why are you here?” DeTar Birt responded, “It’s about feeling so moved and passionate about something — the work, the people, the theology — that you cannot help but be around it.”

As the committee embarks on this transformative journey, committee members seek to honor Sindt’s legacy and those of a host of allies who have championed LGBTQIA+ rights over the years. Their tireless advocacy and unwavering dedication have paved the way for progress.

The committee also recognizes and honors the contributions of LGBTQIA+ people of color, both past and present. There’s no LGBTQIA+ liberation, after all, without people of color, especially trans people of color. Committee members say they honor the intersections of race, gender identity, and sexual orientation, and commit to amplifying the voices of LGBTQIA+ people of color, especially trans people of color, as much as possible.

The committee’s mandate encompasses a broad spectrum of initiatives, including advocacy for inclusive General Assembly overtures, heightened transgender visibility, and structural reforms to ensure equal access to benefits and opportunities for all members of the LGBTQIA+ community. By leveraging the collective power of all voices, the group hopes to create a more inclusive and equitable PC(USA) that embraces the diversity of its members. The committee invites all members of the PC(USA) to join in this historic endeavor to build a future where every individual is valued, respected, and celebrated for who they are.

The Transgender Day of Visibility is being observed on Sunday. The committee has issued this statement:

“Picture a life shrouded in secrecy, where your true essence remains concealed from the world. Your official documents do not reflect who you truly are. Every public appearance demands that you wear a mask, hiding behind a facade that doesn’t align with your inner truth. Imagine facing legal barriers that limit your access to essential health care, participation in sports, and even the use of public restrooms. Amid this oppressive environment, consider the profound significance of discovering a small community of allies who not only accept but celebrate your authentic self, allowing it to shine brilliantly amidst the darkness. This is the significance of the Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV).”

“TDOV is a day that our local churches can embrace and celebrate the diverse identities of transgender and non-binary individuals, affirming their intrinsic worth as creations of God. By providing a welcoming space for positive and genuine representation, a local church can help these individuals feel acknowledged and valued for who they truly are. Furthermore, TDOV serves as a valuable opportunity to dispel misconceptions and promote understanding of the transgender and non-binary experience. Using educational resources and social connections, a local church can foster empathy and solidarity within the broader LGBTQIA+ and PC(USA) communities, thereby creating a more inclusive and supportive environment for everyone.

“The Advocacy Committee for LGBTQIA+ Equity (ACQ+E) encourages both local churches and presbyteries to continuing our ongoing denominational efforts of diversity, inclusion, and Christian unity by recognizing March 31 as Transgender Day of Visibility.”

Paul puts it this way in his first letter to the church at Corinth: “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. (I Cor. 12:12, 26)

Haworth, who chairs the committee, sums it up like this: “It has taken us 50 years to come to this place where LGBTQIA+ folks are officially given a voice within our denomination. I recognize that milestone with sadness that it has taken so long and with gratitude for those who have tirelessly and successfully advocated for this recognition and validation of LGBTQIA+ Presbyterians.

“I’m a little awestruck by what they accomplished, and I look forward to working with my fellow committee members, our dedicated advocates and staff to make our church fully open and affirming for all.”

As reported by Beth Waltemath of Presbyterian News Service, March 28, 2024 (links, photos in original):

iStock photo

As the International Day of Transgender Visibility falls on Easter this year, Christians wrestle again with the ways that religion wounds those on the margins of society and in what ways the resurrection calls Christians into new ways of seeing, believing and loving.

In a new post for Presbyterians Today titled, “Healing the Wounds of Transphobia,” Dr. Wendy Farley, professor of spirituality at San Francisco Theological Seminary and author of six books published by Westminster John Knox Press, diagnoses our ailment, “in the religious and legal attacks on our trans siblings, we are experiencing a communal wounding — an indulgence in hatred and contempt whose multiple forms no one can evade.”

Dr. Wendy Farley

She appeals to the belief that we are one body and “what wounds one wounds all.” Christians called to the resurrecting power of love must do more than tolerate our human siblings with a trans identity, whom she calls, “tender bearers of the divine image … mutilated in spirit” by our past beliefs and actions.

When it comes to understanding the evolving nature of gender and the current movement of queer theology, Dr. David Jensen, a professor of Reformed Theology at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, says that “we find surprising helpful resources when we dig deeply into our traditions.”

Such was the topic of his talk on March 21 titled “Queering Theology: Gender Trouble and Christian Faith.” The talk was presented as part of the spring series of faculty talks called “Cultivating Ideas,” hosted by the seminary online at noon Central Time on Thursdays.

In his presentation, Jensen covered texts that challenge gender dichotomies, including Genesis 1, Galatians 2, Gregory of Nyssa’s “On the Creation of Humanity” and early rabbinical commentary on the full representation of genders in each human within Genesis Creation accounts.

“Paul says some striking and sometimes rather conflicting things about gender,” said Jensen, who specifically referenced verses 28–29 in Galatians 3, but at the heart of what Paul is saying is this: “that all of our identities — cultural, religious, socioeconomic, whatever our identities are — they are relativized and renewed in the new life that we have in Jesus Christ.”

Dr. David Jensen

The focus on renewal in Christ applies to gender, according to Jensen, as much as it does to any other characteristic that a person might want to claim is fixed and untouchable. Jensen’s teaching and research explore the interconnections between Christian theology and daily living. Jensen, the author of over nine books, has tackled theologies of human sexuality, parenting, childhood and work. For Jensen, God’s grace transforms and is always transforming in all aspects of people’s lives. There is no part of humanity that God’s grace cannot touch and change, including gender. “Gender essentialism blocks God’s grace,” said Jensen.

Jensen looked to the early church theologian Gregory of Nyssa, who cemented the basics of Trinitarian theology and orthodox understandings of the “both/and” nature of Christ as divine and human.

“Gregory says that humanity’s original creation is genderless,” posited Jensen, and “to be human is beyond gender.” Male and female come later and are a concession to reproduction and, in a certain sense, to sin, according to Jensen’s interpretations of Gregory of Nyssa. “For him, the most key insight,” said Jensen, is that “we are to be genderless in the new life in Christ. That is our true nature and our true destiny.”

Jensen also drew on literary scholar Judith Butler’s seminal work, “Gender Trouble,” from 1990, and a more recent theological work, Susannah Cornwall’s “Constructive Theology and Gender Variance,” to further explore the dangers of gender essentialism and the more faithful approach to gender through queer theology and transgender activism. By putting these contemporary scholars in conversation with early Christian thinkers, Jensen argues that Christians go beyond tolerance of transgender people and consider how “trans people help us better live into our basic Christian beliefs about Christ, Creation and eschatology.”

Susannah Cornwall’s book on queer theology imagines the consummation of the Christian life as genderless.

Ending his talk with a discussion of 2 Corinthians 5:17, Jensen invited listeners to see how Christ, who holds his own human/divine nature together, also heals humanity’s competitive categories: “Everything that seemed to be in opposition to one another, whether one gender over another, one culture over another,” Jensen said, summarizing Cornwall, “all of that is healed, transformed, helped together and changed.” Everything old has passed away, and new things have come into being, as the verse in Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth imagines.

“Gender is for humanity, not humanity for gender,” Jensen said as he invited listeners to consider Cornwall’s eschatological claim that “we live in a between time, and in this between time, gender identity is slipping away.” The Christian life is an invitation to connect — parts of ourselves, with each other, with God. “Through gender nonconformity and transgender Christians,” according to Jensen’s summation of Cornwall, “we see an expansion of the ways in which we are called to connect with one another.”

Faculty members of Austin Theological Seminary are offering online talks this spring as part of the “Cultivating Ideas” faculty webinar series.

“At the end of the day, that is a deeply Christian thing — to connect, to be changed, to be transformed by grace — so that we might flourish together with one another, drawing life from the living God, the giver of all gifts,” Jensen concluded.

Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary’s “Cultivating Ideas” series was created to offer “some of the most compelling, fresh ideas from Austin Seminary’s faculty,” according to the seminary’s website. Past lectures including Jensen’s are available in the archives on the seminary’s website.

Anyone with any serious comprehension of Christian doctrine can see that these "scholars" are twisting scripture, and that they and the people whose alleged gender they're celebrating are not Christians; even the liberals whom Carl McIntire was criticizing didn't go so far as to embrace this nonsense.

See also my previous posts:

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) narrowly rejects West Bank divestment (July 6, 2012)

60 years ago: Two liberal denominations combine to form the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (May 28, 2018)

Drag queen serves as "pastor" with the United Church of Christ in Connecticut

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18

Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. Leviticus 18:22

The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God. Deuteronomy 22:5

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Romans 1:24-32

The United Church of Christ has got to be the most hopelessly apostate pseudo-Christian denomination in the United States. The following, including the reporter's nauseating use of preferred personal pronouns, speaks for itself. As reported by Pamela McLoughlin of the Hartford Courant, October 10, 2023 (bold, links, photos in original):

Drag queen minister Marge Erin Johnson, left, with Sandra Montes, dean of of chapel at Union Theological Seminary.

Being a drag queen isn’t a hobby for James Admans. It’s a religious calling.

Marge Erin Johnson, a drag queen who spends most of their life as James Admans, has started a “drag church” organization, Theology Queen, LLC.

Admans calls themselves a “queer minister,” preaches unapologetically and peppers business promotions with phrases such as, “Drag me to church,” and “the most extravagant way to worship God!”

Johnson’s feather rainbow jacket (a nod to Joseph’s coat of many colors ) screams Pride, their eye shadow and fake lashes say it’s OK to be who you are – and the rhinestones on their dress shine like their humor.

Johnson, 33, is a 2021 graduate of Union Theological Seminary in New York City who is very adept at citing scriptures and their history.

In the drag role Admans is hired at churches to take the pulpit on Sundays, in hopes to connect with the LGBTQI+ community, as well as the rest of the congregation. “It provides a nonjudgmental sacred space for people to express themselves proudly,” Admans website notes of his work.

“When you go to a service led by a drag queen it could be spiritually healing,” Admans said. “It’s a celebration of how wonderfully created we all are. You can show up as your authentic self. What God created you to be.”

While the Johnson persona identifies as a she, Admans, 33, a New Haven resident, identifies by the pronouns they, them, their.

Admans is a minister for United Church of Christ who fills in as their male self for ministers who are out for various reasons. Admans also is looking for a full-time job at a church as themselves.

Marge Erin Johnson is a side endeavor for which Admans charges a sliding scale fee of $200 to $500 an appearance, depending on many factors, including the church size and ability to pay, as the main mission is to educate and heal.

Johnson’s fans say they love all Marge brings to the table as a preacher, activist and drag queen.

The church supports the drag ministry.

The Rev. Noah Brewer-Wallin, assistant director of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion for the Southern New England Conference, United Church of Christ, said he’s “very excited” about Admans’ call to drag ministry.

“Because drag is so vilified in our culture right now, even people who want to support drag performers don’t always have a good understanding of what drag is. It can be difficult to parse how drag is both related to and distinct from sexual orientation and gender identity,” Brewer-Wallin said.

“I’m grateful that James offers themself as an educational resource as part of this ministry, giving church attendees the chance to ask questions and honestly explore,” Brewer-Wallin said.

Brewer-Wallin said drag belongs in church because it is “a form of creative expression in which people reflect back the creative nature of God.”

“Drag is often playful and irreverent. Playfulness and irreverence are an invitation to enjoy our God-given bodies that giggle and belly-laugh, and to see the sacred all around us even in the places where we have been taught God and the sacred don’t belong,” Brewer-Wallin said.

He said drag is also a justice issue because “they threaten the ability of all people to express themselves the way they want to…” including issues such as women wearing pants.

Marge Erin Johnson spoke recently at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Bridgeport, in Stratford.

UUCGB is a small lay-led church and also has guest ministers, so after member Emily Prokop met Marge at Pride in the Park in Norwalk this summer, Prokop arranged an appearance.

“I would have loved to have gone to a church where someone like Marge would feel welcome when I was growing up,” Prokop said. “Marge’s service felt like part religious studies discussion, part LGBTQI+ empowerment, part call for spiritually-ship and 100% fabulous and glamorous.”

During an open discussion portion of the service, people shared their experiences, insights and freely asked questions, Prokop said.

Marge answered “thoughtfully and gracefully,” Prokop said.

Prokop said the service brought a new awareness to the congregation about a story from the Bible, Joseph and the coat of many colors. Prokop said the choir got to sing Dolly Parton’s “Coat of Many Colors.”

Admans said: “I love the story of Joseph in Genesis. There is a queer theological interpretation that the coat of many colors is something akin to a princess dress. Scholars aren’t sure how to translate this accurately. It’s its been called a beautiful robe, an ornamental robe.”

Joseph is among several Biblical figures who can be identified as non-conforming, Admans said.

Admans also speaks about how homosexuality appeared specifically in the Bible in later translations, and how they see this perpetuating discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community.

“Prior to this, the passages that we now associate with homosexuality used different terminology and were interpreted in various ways, often focusing on behaviors like temple sex-work or non-consensual sexual acts,” Admans said.

“The introduction of the word homosexual into the Bible was a result of evolving language and societal context. This change had significant implications, as it fundamentally altered the interpretation of these passages and has been used to justify discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community,” Admans said, of their interpretation of the passages.

At the welcoming and affirming Unitarian Universalist church in Stratford, attendees were welcomed, as they always are when Marge is there, with a table of rainbow hats, beads, boas so they could join in the fun.

“So people can participate to make it fun, in a way that’s loving,” they said. “If were going to do it, let’s connect.”

Admans grew up in West Haven where they were a “churchy kid” and Admans thanks their mom and grandmother for taking them to church every Sunday.

Admans graduated from Amity High School in 2008 and later earned an anthropology degree from Southern Connecticut State University before getting the calling and enrolling in seminary. They hold a master’s of divinity degree.

The pandemic and Marge Erin Johnson

Admans got into drag during the pandemic when the days were long. Admans had thought for a while about trying it, but was “intimidated.”

“A lot of people found out about themselves in lockdown. I found drag,” Admans said.

Marge Erin Johnson emerged during Admans second year of divinity school and someone suggested the preaching.

“Someone else saw the potential. She saw how the spirit was at work during that ministry.”

It takes Admans about three hours to transform into Marge Erin Johnson.

Admans chose the name Marge Erin Johnson because it was something “funny yet, friendly.”

“I didn’t want anything too shocking,” Admans said, noting they liked the way Marge Erin sounds like “margarine.” They said they’ve always loved the name Marge.

“I love her. I think she’s fabulous,” Admans said of the Marge persona. “It’s something I feel called to share with other people.”

Sandra Montes, dean of of chapel at Union Theological Seminary was “super grateful,” that Admans was able to do several drag chapels while at the school.

“I am a drag lover and have always wanted to do some kind of drag eucharist or church service,” Montes said. “We all want to be seen. We all want to belong. We turn to religion and faith for comfort, for acceptance. Many of us have been told we’re not good enough, particularly by colonized Christianity that is, unfortunately, tied to white supremacy and white evangelical corruption.”

Montes said if she went to a church and saw Marge preaching or teaching she would say “wow,” in a positive way.

“There are so many churches that call themselves affirming and open to all and welcoming but they usually have a caveat,” Montes said. “So, seeing a minister in full-on gorgeous drag would absolute say to me: this is a place worth looking into.”

“Marge’s message is that there is space for everyone to belong, particularly in faith communities,” Admans said.

“Marge teaches that queerness and faith do not have to be at odds, but can coexist and even be beautifully interwoven to create a profound spiritual life. Marge’s message is one of inclusion and acceptance, promoting the understanding that all are welcome at the table of Jesus.”

Marge is next booked for Sunday, Oct. 29, at Fort Washington Collegiate Church in New York City.

Marge Erin Johnson is a drag queen minister who helps the LGBTQI plus community connect with religion, church. Contributed.

Drag queen minister Marge Erin Johnson outside the Unitarian Universalist Church in Stratford where she recently gave a talk. Contributed.

I had to chuckle when I looked at the website of Fort Washington Collegiate Church. According to a statement issued by the church on February 7, 2023:

We are open, affirming, and accepting to all–no matter where you are on life’s journey. We have been a valuable community resource for generations. We are committed to social justice and making a positive impact in the lives of the residents of Northern Manhattan. We are led by our mantra “Love on the Move.”

It’s true. FWCC is in financial distress and faces risk of closure...

The sooner these churches close, the better. If they don't close their doors, the Lord Himself will do it for them.

An Anglican "church" in Winnipeg hosts an alphabet pervert "reimagination" of Handel's Messiah

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18

Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. Leviticus 18:22

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Romans 1:24-32

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. II Timothy 3:1-5

According to the Anglican Church of Canada's own report from 2019, the church will be dead by 2040. The death will be self-inflicted and well-deserved, evidence of which includes the following, as reported by John Longhurst in the Winnipeg Free Press, December 20, 2023 (updated December 21, 2023) (photos in original):

Messiah Queered — that’s the title of a reimagining of Handel’s classic oratorio performed through an LGBTTQ+ lens.

The oratorio, a staple at Christmas time for many people, will be performed by the Rainbow Harmony Project choir, together with soloists and a 16-piece orchestra made up of professional and amateur players at Holy Trinity Anglican Church Friday at 7:30 p.m.

The idea for the performance came up during a conversation between Nathan Poole, a local violin and piano teacher, and Sandra Bender, music director at Holy Trinity Church.

Bender, who is bisexual and the soprano soloist in the performance, thought it would be a great oratorio for LGBTTQ+ people.

“It’s the story of a transient who hung out with marginalized people, who offered love and self-sacrifice and who experienced rejection and betrayal — something LGBTTQ+ people understand in all too real a way,” she said.

Kathleen Murphy, a student and choir director for Rainbow Harmony Project and the mezzo-soprano in the performance, said doing the Messiah through an LGBTTQ+ lens is “a way to push back expectations.”

That includes who does the solos. In a traditional performance of Messiah, a bass sings the aria, “Why do the nations so furiously rage,” but Murphy is singing the part this time.

“It’s fun to sing such a powerful aria,” Murphy, who is non-binary and a soloist at Young United Church, said.

Bender, meanwhile, will sing The Trumpet Shall Sound, which is also usually a bass part, while tenor Kyle Briscoe will sing Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of Zion, traditionally sung by a soprano.

“Nothing musically is altered, but we’re swapping gender roles, subverting them,” said Poole, who is gay and conducting the concert.

For Bender, The Messiah can be seen as “a trans anthem, with its lyrics about people “being changed at the sound of the last trumpet when we will be revealed in our best and truest form. I’m happy to be the one who conveys that message in the concert.”

While singing it, “We can be our full authentic selves, be unapologetic about our queerness,” she said.

The three noted the church at 256 Smith St., which is donating use of the sanctuary for the performance, is a welcoming, safe space for members of the LGBTTQ+ community. That’s important for those who might be cautious about going into a church because of the way they have been treated in the past.

Along with listening to the concert, audience members are invited to bring a score and sing along, said Poole.

“It’s not every day people get to sing with an orchestra,” he said, noting audience members are encouraged to dress in drag if they want.

Tickets for the concert, which is sponsored by the Manitoba Arts Council, can be purchased at the Rainbow Harmony Project site at wfp.to/j44 or with cash at the door. The cost is $25 per person, with all proceeds being donated to Sunshine House, a community drop-in and resource centre focusing on harm reduction and social inclusion.

Bass-baritone Stephen Haiko-Pena takes part in a dress rehearsal Wednesday of Messiah Queered at Holy Trinity Anglican Church. (Brook Jones/Winnipeg Free Press)

Kathleen Murphy, who is a student and choir manager for Rainbow Harmony Project, sings during a dress rehearsal for the upcoming production of Messiah Queered at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Winnipeg, Wednesday. (Brook Jones/Winnipeg Free Press)

Nathan Poole conducts the dress rehearsal of Messiah Queered. The production is a re-imagining of Handel's classic oratorio performed through a LGBTTQ+ lens. (Brook Jones/Winnipeg Free Press)

The reader will note that these agents of Satan can't write their own oratorio, but have to resort to mangling a traditional masterpiece. Some of the perverts of the past were at least capable of producing good music and art, but with present-day perverts, their whole lives seem to revolve around celebrating and promoting their abominations.

Here's an example of a proper performance of Handel's Messiah that you can wash your ears out with:



December 28, 2023 update: If you're wondering why Holy Trinity Anglican Church was hosting this abomination, the following may explain, as reported by Mr. Longhurst in the Winnipeg Free Press, December 27, 2023 (photo in original):

Andrew Rampton, rector at Holy Trinity Anglican Church, is leaving the congregation for another opportunity in Ontario early next year. (John Longhurst/Winnipeg Free Press)

It was a bittersweet Christmas Day for Andrew Rampton, rector at Holy Trinity Anglican Church.

On the one hand, he was looking forward to preaching on that special day in the downtown church’s calendar. But since it was his last sermon as rector at the historic 139-year-old church, it was a sad occasion.

Rampton, 41, and his husband, Adam Dobson, an architectural technologist, will head to Hamilton, where Dobson has new work opportunities, on Jan. 2. Rampton will be taking up a new job as rector at St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church.

Rampton, who was born and raised in Morden, arrived at Holy Trinity in 2020 via a circuitous route.

Although he grew up in a family that notionally claimed to belong to the United Church of Canada, “We went to church very seldom,” he said, adding “I grew up largely neutral or negative when it came to religion.”

While religion wasn’t his thing, he realized in his early teens that he was gay.

Being a gay person in a small town was a challenge, but so was moving to Winnipeg to study at the University of Manitoba in the early 2000s.

“There wasn’t the same kind of LGBTTQ+ community back then like there is now,” he said. “There were gay clubs, but they were private. There was a sense of danger, an underground feeling about it. And most churches weren’t accepting of gay people.”

Going to church wasn’t on his mind until a music teacher told him about an opening in the choir at Holy Trinity Church. Rampton, who had been taking piano and singing lessons, took it — not because he was religious, but because it was a chance to sing and earn a small honorarium.

“It paid half my rent,” he said.

At first, nobody at the church made an issue of his sexuality, but when a new rector arrived things changed.

Rampton admits he was full of opinions about how the church was being run and not afraid to share them — something that didn’t endear him to the new rector. When the rector fired him, “there was no gentle correction or discussion,” he remembered.

“The speculation is it was less about my critique and more about me being gay” he said. “It was a proxy for the real issue.”

His involvement with church didn’t end, though. Almost immediately, St. Luke’s Anglican Church asked him to join them as a singer and organist. Later, he went to St. Paul’s Anglican and then to St. Michael’s and All Angels. where he served as organist and choir master. That is also where he joined the church and fell in love with liturgy.

“The way they did liturgy there really worked for me,” Rampton said. “It was a good place to be. It was a fertile soil for my spiritual soul to grow in.”

Feeling a call to ministry, he left for seminary in Ontario in 2014 where he developed a deep appreciation for the rituals, ceremonies and traditions of the church.

“I’m happy to wear miles of lace, swing incense and sing Gregorian chants” he said.

After graduation, he landed at Holy Trinity, not expecting it would be such a short stay.

One thing he’s loved about being at the church is its ministries, such as the Lunchroom, which serves 250 meals once a week to downtown residents.

“It’s one of the very few food programs downtown where unhoused or precariously housed people can get a meal right away,” he said.

He said he hopes the church, which has between 50 and 60 people in the pews on a Sunday morning, can stay viable and be an active presence downtown.

“The church needs to be here,” he said. “It needs a safe place where people can just be. There aren’t many other places where people can go for free, where nobody wants anything from you.”

As for being a gay priest, his sexuality has “never been an impediment,” to his ministry, Rampton said, but acknowledges not all are comfortable with him being in that role; he’s been called a false teacher and “living in sin.”

He has appreciated the support of Geoff Woodcroft, the Bishop of Rupert’s Land, who has permitted individual Anglican churches to decide for themselves how welcoming and affirming of LGBTTQ+ people they will be.

“Some have never met a gay priest,” he said, of the message his role sends to LGBTTQ+ people who have been hurt by Christianity. Some tell him “If the church accepts you, then I must be OK in God’s eyes, too.”

Rampton’s departure makes Woodcroft sad. But he is grateful for his service.

“His contributions have been outstanding,” Woodcroft said. “He has a rich theology of how to be a priest in the world today.”

He praised Rampton’s work on behalf of downtown residents.

“He knows many of them on a first-name basis,” he said, adding his work as a liturgist has resulted in “solid and alive worship.”

“He is intelligent and gifted, and we are going to miss him,” he said.

I don't know if there are any normal male clergymen left in the Anglican Church of Canada, but there won't be any clergy of any kind in that "church" anymore, the way it's going.

Flashback--1975: Guru offers doubletalk on yoga

The definition of yoga from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1965):

1 cap: a Hindu theistic philosophy teaching the suppression of all activity of body, mind, and will in order that the self may realize its distinction from them and attain liberation 2: a system of exercises for attaining bodily or mental control and well-being

From The Edmonton Journal, November 10, 1975 (bold in original):

He spreads word of yoga

Guru Hariananda wants to spread the true knowledge of yoga.

"Yoga can kill people right away if they don't know what they're doing," he says. "But yoga is a very, very old science, before we had hospitals and doctors, people were still suffering, and how did they get well?"

"They were cured by purifying their bodies with their own bodies. That is the yoga."

The guru (Hari for short) says there are 128 processes in yoga, based on the 8,000-year-old teachings of Yogi Patanjali.

"So many people know of yoga, as standing on their heads, or as a form of exercise, but yoga has a very deep meaning. It's a way of life."

"Yoga makes you fit mentally, physically, spiritually and morally."

The guru came to Edmonton two weeks ago to teach his knowledge of yoga to people in the city. He's been in the city a couple of times before during the past several years, and already has a small number of devotees.

He asks no fees from his devotees, but says he'll take donations to help cover his expenses.

Classes go in in different areas of the city each weekday evening...

...Born in the Himalayas, the 24-year-old Hari has lectured on and taught yoga since he was 13 years old.

In his teaching, he has travelled widely.

Hari stresses that his yoga has nothing to do with Hinduism or any other religion.

"You can stay with your religion. You will reach God. God is within you. You are the God as long as you maintain yourself physically and spiritually.

Those who wish to learn more about the classes or the guru's philosophy should call 484-8025.

Guru Hariananda's assertion that "his yoga has nothing to do with Hinduism or any other religion" is, of course, nonsense. Yoga comes from the Sanskrit word yunakti, meaning “he yokes.” The yoking is with Brahma, the ground of all being in Hinduism. Patanjali was a Hindu author, philosopher, and mystic whose lifespan was apparently between the 2nd and 4th centuries A.D. Until it became “westernized,” Yoga was mainly about teaching old Hindus how to die. It’s no more about relaxation and relieving stress than Transcendental Meditation, which is also Hinduism. Neither one caught on in the west until they decided to change the marketing approach to appeal to westerners’ priorities, such as financial prosperity, physical health and emotional well-being. It's interesting that Guru Hariananda claims that yoga "can kill people right away if they don't know what they're doing" which could apply to many Westerners who don't realize what yoga acutally is.

Guru Hariananda's statement that "God is within you...you are the God..." is certainly in conflict with the Bible's consistent teaching that we are not God, and that God lives only within those who have saving faith in Jesus Christ. For further reading, I recommend the books Death of a Guru by Rabi Maharaj with Dave Hunt (1977, 1984) and Yoga & the Body of Christ by Dave Hunt (2006), and the article The Basic Spirituality of Yoga by Marcia Montenegro of Midwest Christian Outreach (March 8, 2018). See also my post Christian woman in Manitoba who warns of the dangers of Yoga shows more discernment and courage than the local "Christian" clergy (April 26, 2018).

Elvis Presley offered a good practical view of yoga in the movie Easy Come, Easy Go (1967):

By their vax mandates ye shall know them

As evidence of the deadliness of the Covid-19 "vaccine" mounts, some churches are showing their true colours by making acceptance of the death shot a condition of fellowship. As reported by Israel 365 News, December 29, 2021 (link in original):

During a CNN segment on Christmas Eve, CNN’s ‘faith contributor’ Father Edward Beck declared that “the unvaccinated” should be barred from attending church services.

Yep. I said it. I don’t think unvaccinated people should be gathering in churches for Christmas Eve / Day Masses. “Love thy neighbor,” says the Savior.

“There is no supply chain shortage of love and compassion. I think that what we’re trying to say to people is they you have a social responsibility if you do gather, you know Christian churches many are gathering this evening and some are still not requiring vaccination, which I disagree with,” Beck added.

“I think part of caring for one another, the dictum of Jesus who we celebrate his birthday, is love one another. Show compassion. Show mercy to each other” he said.

“So I think the lesson is that if we want to act like Jesus in these kind of times we take care of each other and if we’re going to gather in celebration we have to do so safely, comfortably and we have to give to one another that gift of peace and part of that is health and feeling like we’re gathering in a healthy environment.”

“I don’t think there’s a reason to say I’m not going to get vaccinated, maybe for a health reason, then you can’t come to church,” he continued.

"Father" Beck is not alone in equating forced submission to an experimental medical procedure, which in the 1940s was punished as a crime against humanity, resulting in the execution of the criminals, with obeying the Lord Jesus Christ's commandment to love your neighbour as yourself. This can also be found in other churches, as reported by John Longhurst of the Winnipeg Free Press, December 21, 2021:

One southern Manitoba church is now requiring proof of vaccination for its in-person Sunday services.

Elim Mennonite Church in Grunthal, located about 28 kilometres southwest of Steinbach, made the decision this month in order to accommodate members who were afraid to join community gatherings amid the COVID-19 pandemic, said lay minister David Wiens.

"We knew of members who wouldn’t come because of fear for their safety," he said, noting this includes elderly people and those with compromised immune systems. One is a resident of a personal care home who is not allowed to go to places where unvaccinated people might be present.

"We wanted to make sure we looked after the most vulnerable in our church," said Wiens, a local dairy farmer, noting everyone who attends the services also needs to wear a mask and follow social distancing guidelines.

While Elim, which is part of Mennonite Church Manitoba, has been doing online services through the pandemic, "That’s not the same as in-person fellowship," he said.

As soon as in-person services were permitted by the province, the church started meeting again, following public health guidelines — but not asking about vaccination status.

That changed at the beginning of December, when members were asked to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 to enter.

Since almost all of the roughly 70 members of the congregation are fully vaccinated, most are very supportive, Wiens said.

However, a few "aren’t happy with our policy," he said, acknowledging the decision will exclude those who have chosen not to be vaccinated.

"We are exploring ways to make it possible for unvaccinated people to be included," he said, noting it might mean alternating between vaccinated and unvaccinated member services. "We don’t want to exclude anyone."

Whatever approach the church takes, "We want to be consistent in our understanding of what is a positive Christian witness," said Wiens. "Right from the start, we wanted to honour and be respectful of the mandates and protect everyone."

At the same time, the church isn’t "trying not to make a big statement about vaccinations. We’re just trying to do what is right for our church. We’re not trying to pass judgement on the unvaccinated."

For Erika Dueck, a deacon at Elim, the decision was about what is best for local seniors.

"They haven’t been able to meet in person, they’re feeling isolated and disconnected," she said. "The pandemic has been very hard on older members."

By going to vaccinated-only, the church wants to "rebuild a sense of community."

While the decision has made most church members happy, reaction outside the congregation has been less so.

Some people "are angry. They think we are rejecting people or in cahoots with the government," Dueck said.

Transitional interim pastor at Elim, Norm Voth, said, as far as he knows, it is the only church (of roughly eight) in Grunthal to move to vaccinated-only in-person services.

"I expect this will be a topic of conversation at the next ministerial meeting," he said, adding Elim’s decision seems to have generated a "fair amount of conversation" in town.

The issue continues to be a lively one in the church, too, he said, noting there is a lot of discussion about ways to "maintain the unity of the congregation."

Through it all, the church’s goal is to "fulfill the commandment to love our neighbour as ourselves," Voth said.

"If we take care of ourselves, including vaccinations, the mask-wearing, the social distancing, then we are caring for others."

The Orwellian use of language by the leaders of Elim Mennonite Church is breathtaking, but is increasingly typical of what passes for North American Christianity in 2021. Look at the phrases used--"we're not trying to pass judgement on the unvaccinated;" "rebuild a sense of community;" "maintain the unity of the congregation;" "fulfill the commandment to love our neighbour as ourselves"--and look at the actions that are taking place. By denying fellowship to those who refuse the vaxx, they are in fact passing judgement on them. To have separate services depending on one's vaxx status would be to create an unbiblical division between believers, which destroys, rather than builds, unity and community.

There are biblical reasons for denying fellowship to professing Christians, such as leading an immoral life (I Corinthians 5) and being a heretic (Titus 3:10, Revelation 2:2-3), but these church leaders want to deny fellowship to people who are healthy and want to remain so. I for one, refuse to allow an experimental toxic substance to be injected into me by people whose motives I distrust. The evidence is mounting that the "vaccine" isn't saving lives, but taking them, and is much more dangerous than the illness it's allegedly supposed to prevent (The blog Vox Popoli, for one, has numerous posts on the subject). The people who've had the shots are the ones who are getting sick and dying, yet those of us who merely want to maintain our health status quo are treated as criminals and threats to public health. For church leaders to say it's "loving your neighbour" to promote a crime against humanity is something that God will hold them accountable for.

Purloined Letter Syndrome

Consider the obvious seriously, for few will see it.
--Isaac Asimov (I don't like to quote him approvingly, but if he was right, he was right.) As 2021 comes to an end, it occurs to this blogger that the time is increasingly characterized by what I call Purloined Letter Syndrome--a term I recently invented, taken from Edgar Allan Poe's short story The Purloined Letter (1844). Just as the letter in question was always in plain view, the same is true of what's going on around us now.

2021 was a year in which recent trends, including the increasing evil of politicians and public "servants," the dishonesty of mainstream media, the fraudulence and lies surrounding the Covid-19 "pandemic" and "vaccines," and cowardice of Christian leaders, became increasingly obvious, but few seem able to see it.

Biblical end-time prophecies are increasingly, and more rapidly, being fulfilled, yet there's very little preaching on prophecy--and preaching on the end times too often consists of Calvinist/preterist nonsense; for examples, there are the series of sermons on Revelation at Vernon Alliance Church's Vimeo page from January 26/27-March 30-31, 2019; the Fraser Lands Church's sermon series on Revelation from January 10-July 18, 2021; and the postmillennialism of Gateway Alliance Church lead pastor Martin Trench, as expressed in his book Victorious Eschatology and elsewhere. More than ever, it's necessary for people to be Bereans as the coming of the Lord draws ever nearer.

United Church of Canada holds racially segregated mandatory workshops--for "racial justice"

The United Church of Canada continues to be completely beyond the possibility of satire. As reported by True North Wire, May 25, 2021 (link in original):

The United Church of Canada is holding courses on “racial justice” — with attendees being segregated by race.

According to the United Church’s distance learning website, the church is offering a four part “Racial Justice Workshop,” with two of the parts being segregated into white and non-white classes.

The training is mandatory for all active ministry personnel and open to the public.

“We will be meeting in separate groups according to our racial identities: one group are people who self-identify as Indigenous, Black and other Peoples of Colour (BIPOCs) and another group are people who self-identify as White,” the course description reads.

Ministry personnel in the United Church have been required to take racial justice training since 2006 and have appeared to make combatting racism a priority, going so far as to create a “Dismantling White Privilege Working Group.”

The course description goes into detail trying to justify segregating attendees by race, saying that white people and people of colour have different needs...

From the horse's mouth, i.e., the U.C.C.'s United in Learning page (bold, links in original):

Racial Justice Workshop

Course Description

The racial justice educational sessions take place over four sessions. For sessions 1 and 2, which form the mandatory components, we will be meeting in separate groups according to our racial identities: one group are people who self-identify as Indigenous, Black and other Peoples of Colour (BIPOCs)*** and another group are people who self-identify as White.

Sessions 3 and 4, which are optional sessions, will be in racially mixed groups. Select this link for more details on these sessions.

Why are we meeting in separate groups for these initial sessions? It is because the learning needs of BIPOCs are often different from the learning needs of White people. Because of their lived experiences, BIPOCs certainly have different day-to-day realities than those of White people. At times, in past educational sessions, BIPOCs were often called on to “educate” White people about racism but did not necessarily have opportunities to do their own learnings. And White people have sometimes felt that the need to self-censor because they did not want to say anything “wrong” in front of a BIPOC person, even if they had genuine questions about racial justice. As a result, not everyone was receiving the full educational experience.

The Rev. Dr. Bill Smith, previous Chairperson of the Dismantling White Privilege Working Group, also adds the following, “The White Privilege Working Group realizes that separating into groups along racial lines may be uncomfortable for some and may be seen as an act of segregation.” There is, however, a difference between historical segregation and creating settings by self-identified groups that are beneficial for people to have their own space and conversations. The method used in these racial justice sessions is by self-identified groups and is in response to requests made by people who are Indigenous, racialized, and bi-racial to have their own space for dialogue.

Our churches have a history of occasionally gathering people separately, based on their identities or their learnings needs—many churches, for example, will gather children and youth separately for Sunday school or youth programs (instead of being part of the worship service). Similarly, self-identified women might gather separately as part of the United Church Women. For this particular educational program on racial justice, having groups meet separately who self-identify differently racially can take into consideration the different lived experiences and different learning needs of people’s encounters with race. It offers a safer (or brave) space for people to explore questions with people who may have had similar experiences with as themselves.

*** We want to note that language is ever-changing and evolving, and language is always imperfect. Previously, this workshop has used the term “racialized” to denote a reference to all people of colours. At the moment, we are using the term BIPOC for racialized. We encourage the participants of these workshops to please be mindful not to get hang up on the terms as labels to one’s racial identity. The intent of the workshop is to help us work towards our commitment on dismantling systemic racism in our denomination and local communities of faith.

Mandatory Training

Racial justice training for all active ministry personnel was mandated at the 39th General Council 2006. The proposal came out of a long history of the United Church's engagement with issues of social justice. In 2000, the United Church adopted its Anti-Racism Policy statement; racial justice training is one effort to help the church continue to live out its principles.

As of 2017 we're also opening this program to all members of the church. The Program Committe on Programs, Mission and Ministry notes, "The current form of the racial justice training is receiving very good feedback, and it is therefore particularly commended to people serving in any leadership capacity within the church."

Currently, unlike the Boundaries credential, this credential does NOT need to be refreshed every five years. Those who have done racial justice training previously, either online with United-in-Learning or in a Conference-based course, need not take it again. Ministry Personnel, however, must complete Sessions 1 & 2 of this credential in order to register for Sessions 3 & 4.

Please note that records of online participants since 2011 have been uploaded to www.ChurchHub.ca during the summer of 2019. Records of participants at Conference-based face-to-face programs are still in process. If you participated in one of these programs, and Church Hub does not yet indicate this, don't panic! The records will be completed soon. However, if you require a letter of good standing immediately, and you don't see your participation recorded at Church Hub, you can contact the Office of Vocation Minister at your Regional Council Office and show them a copy of your certificate of completion.

Cost: $49.99 -- $5 discount if you pay online

Dates and Times

Please note the course is divided into two sessions. They are each 2.5 hours long

In order to complete the course you must attend both Session 1 and Session 2; it's best, if possible, to do these both on the same day

the links in the "Session times" show the start times in each of Canada's time zones

Choose Your Dates

For sessions 1 and 2, which form the mandatory components, we will be meeting in separate groups according to our racial identities: one group are people who self-identify as Indigenous, racialized, and/or bi-racial, and another group are people who self-identify as White. Please indicate which category you fall into, to see the available dates

Which category fits you best?
...Select one
White person
Black, Indigenous or Person of Colour
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Waiting List

If these dates aren't convenient for you, click HERE for our waiting list, and we'll email you when new dates are announced.

Trudeaupia's Canada's public health officer wants "faith leaders" to promote Covid-19 vaccine acceptance

"Dr." Theresa Tam, who has consistently represented the interests of the Chinese Communist regime during the Covid-19 "pandemic" rather than the interests of the Canadian people whom she's supposed to be serving, isn't content with offering Canadians ridiculous advice on their sex lives (see here and here); now she wants "faith leaders" to promote acceptance of the Covid-19 vaccine among their congregations. As reported by John Longhurst of the Winnipeg Free Press, January 22, 2021:

Canadian faith leaders have an important role to play in promoting COVID-19 vaccines, including helping their members overcome vaccine hesitancy.

That was the message Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, delivered to more than 1,300 participants of an online information event Wednesday.

The event was arranged by the Canadian Council of Churches, Canadian Interfaith Conversation and Canadian Multifaith Federation, at the request of the Privy Council and Public Health Agency of Canada.

In her remarks, Tam said combatting the novel coronavirus is a "whole of government, whole of society effort."

As "trusted voices" in their communities, faith leaders are "instrumental" in that effort, since they "know the hearts and minds of their members" and are often "called on for guidance."

Faith groups can help battle the virus by sharing credible information about vaccines with their members, she said, including dispelling fears about their safety.

They can also help by staying "vigilant" and encouraging congregations to maintain safe practices (social distancing, hand hygiene and mask wearing).

By doing this, it will not only help prevent the spread of virus, it will also give vaccines a "bit of a runway" to get going, she added.

Tam said faith groups also have an important role to play by supporting members who are struggling due to the pandemic, especially those who are elderly, vulnerable or dealing with mental health issues.

"Maintaining social, and emotional and spiritual closeness is more important than ever," she said. "Your leadership is vital for supporting and building resilience in your communities as we move through this pandemic and beyond."

Noting some communication materials about vaccines might need to be translated or adapted for different faith and cultural groups, Tam said the federal government is open to providing financial support in such efforts.

She also said Ottawa is open to working with faith groups to use their facilities as vaccination sites.

However, she added, it’s not practical now, since the "first two vaccines are tricky to handle... maybe in the future as more vaccines become available."

As to whether clergy might be put on a priority list for getting the vaccine, Tam said it might be possible, if they are involved in supporting people in long-term care homes, homeless shelters or other services to marginal and vulnerable people.

She also assured faith leaders no animal products or fetal cells were used in the production of the two current vaccines.

When asked when religious groups might see a return to in-person worship services, Tam noted the decision is up to provincial public health authorities.

Her own view is "right now is definitely not the time," with the pandemic surging in some parts of the country.

"It’s really important to follow local public health advice," Tam said, adding: "The best thing to do is to reduce the number of contacts."

All pandemics come to an end, she said, "and this one will as well."

In remarks at the conclusion of the event, Ian Shugart, Clerk of the Privy Council, noted faith groups can contribute to dealing with the pandemic by "inspiring people to action on behalf of others" while showing "none of us is self-sufficient."

The reader will note the liberalism of the "faith groups" named above. Those in "faith groups" that are ostensibly more conservative would still do well to notice if their own "faith leaders" promote acceptance of the vaccine, providing evidence of whether they're shepherds or hirelings.

This blogger would like to see the vaccine administered to politicians, police, and other beings in positions of authority who have shown so little human feeling and done so much to make people's lives miserable over the last year. With reports of people dying from the vaccine (RIP, Hank Aaron), the disappearance from the scene of these authority figures would be what baseball legend Branch Rickey referred to as "addition by subtraction."

May 17, 2022 update: This is also happening in the United States; as reported by Beth Brelje in The Epoch Times, April 6, 2022:

Many who have chosen not to get the COVID-19 shots have cited religious objections. Now Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s administration wants church leaders to bring vaccination events into churches.

Pennsylvania’s public health leaders want to “harness the power of community trust in statewide faith-based organizations” to convince folks to get a COVID-19 shot. That is according to the mission statement of the Faith-based Organization Coalition, which is being formed under the state’s Department of Health and is expected to launch April 11.

The state aims to reduce vaccine hesitancy through the “Local Innovations in Vaccine Equity in Pennsylvania” project (LIVE PA), which is a grant program that pays churches and nonprofits to speak with their people and persuade them to get vaccinated.

That is, $10 for each person-to-person outreach including direct phone calls, direct text messages, direct social media messages, door-knocking campaigns, and anything that involves one on one dialogue promoting the COVID-19 shot. The church or other nonprofit gets another $10 for each person who gets the shot.

“LIVE PA is a collaboration between the Wolf Administration’s Office of Advocacy and Reform and the departments of Health and Human Services, working closely with United Way of Pennsylvania to fund hyper-local, grassroots nonprofit and faith-based organizations to partner with certified vaccine providers to help the populations they serve overcome barriers to vaccination,” Amanda McNaughton, member services manager and Resilient PA Staff Liaison for United Way of Pennsylvania, told The Epoch Times.

The funding comes federally from the Center for Disease Control with $4 million dollars allocated to nonprofit organizations and $630,000 for faith-based organizations, McNaughton said. Grant applications were open in July 2021 and will continue through the end of 2023. So far, 104 applications have been approved, combining faith-based and nonprofit organizations, and 93 clinics have been hosted.

The LIVE PA program was promoted in a March 24, 2022 training meeting for chaplain assistants at UPMC Health Care System. Usually connected to churches, chaplains visit the sick and offer spiritual services. The Epoch Times obtained a video of the meeting, during which Aubrey Juris, partnership opportunity initiative coordinator for the Pennsylvania Department of Health Office of Health Equity explained its faith-based initiatives and encouraged chaplains to bring LIVE PA to their churches.

She suggested churches and nonprofits get creative in hosting vaccination events. Churches could set aside two hours after the worship service and the state vaccination partner could give entire families shots. A program like Meals on Wheels could have a vaccination nurse ride along on deliveries and offer the shot immediately, right in people’s homes. Or a community block party with food and prizes could be held where vaccines are being offered.

In another program, the state is seeking partners, including churches, to help distribute COVID tests in high-need communities. Participating sites must manage test kit distribution and publicize availability.

Ultimately, Juris said, the state wants to “establish COVID-19 Resource Centers in nonprofit outreach centers and houses of worship that will serve as long term, trusted resources to local communities, paving the way for COVID-19 mitigation as a social norm.”

Of the $630,000 available for faith-based organizations to participate in LIVE PA, only about $16,000 has been spent, Juris said.

McNaughton says working with faith-based organizations has been helpful.

“We have been thrilled to partner with local faith-based organizations because they are often trusted representatives with long, established histories in their communities,” McNaughton said. “The remaining population of people who are not fully vaccinated are experiencing barriers such as lack of trust or lack of access. Faith-based organizations are uniquely placed to have long histories with the populations they serve and have earned mutual trust with them. Their efforts to promote the vaccine to their congregations and the communities they serve through their charity work have been successful at reaching vaccine-hesitant populations.”

As reported by Leo Hohmann, April 7, 2022 (bold, links in original):

...Is your church or favorite ministry one of these organizations sucking up tax dollars to poison and sterilize their congregants and followers? It’s not just local churches, but big ministries that are involved in this evil.

I reported previously that the Vatican was encouraging Catholic churches to partner with governments worldwide to promote the vaccine, and some of the big-name evangelical ministries such as Samaritan’s Purse are doing the same.



I received hateful emails for weeks because folks didn’t want to believe that such a trusted name in evangelical circles as Samaritan’s Purse could be involved in this plan to vaccinate every man, woman and child with an unproven, untested, and now proven deadly serum. If you still don’t believe it, don’t trust me: Read here, here and here.

Many other churches and ministries are involved in this deadly propaganda campaign. My advice would be to check with your pastor and/or the financial records keeping department of your favorite ministries and ask if they have or ever will accept any of these funds.

I did a quick online search and found several examples of churches participating in this.

An ad from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, states: “Bethel AME Church of Ardmore, Love Your Neighbor, Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc. Phi Beta Omega Chapter, VNA, Walmart Pharmacy and ACME Pharmacy will partner with the Montgomery County Immunization Coalition to hold a community vaccination clinic.”

St. Paul’s Catholic Church partnered with Penn Medicine Princeton Health in Princeton, New Jersey, to convert its church into a vaccine clinic last May.

Democrat Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez helped convert First Baptist Church of Corona in New York City into a temporary vaccination center.

You can find hundreds of such examples online of collusion between corrupt churches and the corrupt medical/pharma complex, all feeding off of taxpayer dollars.

I am sure not every one of these churches is being paid to promote this death shot. Some are no doubt doing it for free, thinking they are doing the Lord’s work. There are no more excuses for that kind of stupidity. At this point the data is clear. You just have to look for it, because you won’t find any reporting from the mainstream media on the issue of vaccine safety. They are all bought off.

When the lid finally blows on this story, and the perpetrators of the greatest crime in human history are exposed, every one of these church leaders will be held accountable for their roles in what is quickly becoming a genocide...

...Number one, those churches didn’t become trusted by working with corrupt governments that force experimental medical treatments on their citizens.

Number two, how can this promotional work be considered “charity” if the churches are being paid to do it?

This is not earning trust. This is abusing trust, which is exactly what the globalist elites said they would do when they sat down at the Event 201 conference in October 2019 to run a simulation of the coming global coronavirus pandemic. If you listened to those seminars, they made it very clear that they would tap into “trusted sources” in the community to promote their narrative and destroy competing narratives about the pandemic.

Watch the video below from Event 201 and fast forward to the 19:25 mark. That’s CIA operative Avril Haines speaking in October 2019 about “flooding the zone” with “trusted sources” during an upcoming pandemic. Haines would later become Biden’s director of national intelligence. Another speaker, LaToya Abbott, starts talking at the 23:56 mark about the importance of combatting “anti-vaccine sentiment,” which tells you they already knew (in October 2019 two months before the pandemic was discovered in China) they were going to roll out a first-ever coronavirus vaccine that would be controversial.



Recruiting pastors to entice their flocks to accept a medical treatment they know nothing about is fraud and abuse against the people of God. Only an extremely naive and stupid pastor, or one who is an evil globalist, would agree to work with the government on such an devious plan.

With more data coming out every day on not only the failed efficacy of these injections but the dangers to health and safety, there are simply no more excuses left for pastors to be naive.

God have mercy on any pastor or ministry leader who is participating in this program.