A group of church leaders has agreed to start a legal challenge of the government’s decision to close church buildings in the new lockdown that started this week in England.
71 church leaders from different streams and traditions have signed the pre-action letter asking the government not to impose a ban on worship services and saying they will pursue judicial review to overturn the ban if necessary.
The new restrictions state that “places of worship will be closed” with exceptions for funerals, broadcast acts of worship, individual prayer, essential voluntary public services, formal childcare, and some other exempted activities.
These restrictions once again make it a criminal offence for Christians to gather for worship or prayer, or to go to church on Sunday.
The group of church leaders includes 25 leaders who initiated legal action against the government against the closure of churches in the first lockdown.
Following the application for judicial review, which received favourable comments from the High Court Judge, Mr Justice Swift, the government backed down and allowed churches to meet, providing guidance with virtually no legal restrictions.
In a separate judicial review of lockdown restrictions, the judge, Mr Justice Lewis, singled out the closure of churches as arguably unlawful and a breach of freedom of religion.
The group involved in the new action also includes Welsh leaders who have already sent a pre-action letter to the Welsh government objecting to the closure of churches over three Sundays for the Welsh ‘firebreak’ lockdown.
This comes after some 885 church leaders signed an open letter to the Prime Minister and First Ministers stating that “we must not be asked to suspend Christian worship again. For us to do so would cause serious damage to our congregations, our service of the nation, and our duty as Christian ministers.”
Also, faith leaders including the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, the Chair of the British Board of Scholars and Imams and the Chief Rabbi have written to the Prime Minister to raise their ‘profound concerns’ over the banning of public worshhip.
Isaiah wrote centuries ago in his address to the people of Israel. In his day there were no chapters but you will find it in our modern-day Bibles Isaiah 24. Whoever believed that we would see a time when the whole world was locked up in its houses, believer and non-believer, that one virus could stop the whole world?
In 1991, there was a book written, which is mentioned by Charles Lawson, that pestilence would hit the earth. If we look into Matthew chapter 24 we will see that only God sends pestilence to judge the nations. In Isaiah’s day, He sent an army from Babylon. We see around the world famine and in China the Yangtze River and the Three Gorges Dam about to burst. We see also nations preparing for war, the CPC destroying churches and arresting believers and throwing them into concentration camps. The word of God tells that there will be a nation that raises the biggest army the world has ever seen. Those nations will attack Israel. Our Lord Jesus Christ told us in Matthew 24 that all these things will take place but they are the birth pangs. In our day, we have seen the lockdown and we are now seeing the conditioning of the people by those in power. Preachers such as Tim Leech from Stoke-on-Trent or Charles Lawson from Tennessee are now saying we are coming to the end of time. Whatever your view on the rapture, I would like you to take time to listen to two sermons, one by Charles Lawson and one by Tim Leech and then make up your own mind where you stand.
I do believe personally that the world is getting ready to prepare us for many of the things that the preacher Barry Smith from New Zealand told us about. We see the banks using this COVID-19 to shut down branches, we see our Prime Minister and those in power now talking about a 60% Brexit, which is no Brexit at all, just another lying bunch of politicians who treat the populace like mushrooms and you know how they feed mushrooms. So if your hope is in your money, your property, your shares and even your pension then you are looking to the wrong place. I do not care if you are a pastor, a leader of a big megachurch or the CEO of a radio station or a Christian TV channel. Your priorities are all wrong. We are coming to a time when you will not be able to buy, you will not be able to sell without the mark which is in Revelation chapter 13. My own view on this is even with the vaccination for coronavirus, as we do understand as my dear friend and brother Noel has come down with COVID-19 and is suffering with it and praise God that though the devil wanted to take him God preserved him, as long as this new vaccination is not a biochip that they want to put in our forehead or our right hand, I see it no more dangerous than the many vaccinations we have to take to travel on holiday or missions. Jesus Himself said, watch, pray, you do not know the hour or the time when I will return. Paul the apostle told us in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 to comfort each other with these words:
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
So, my brothers and sisters, I would like to comfort you as Paul urged us to do. As long as your lamp is full, your wick is trimmed and you are burning for Jesus, you will be like the wise virgins in the parable our Lord spoke about to His disciples. If by chance you are messing around, tampering with sin, doing your own thing, comforted by your religion, following men, sadly you will be shut outside. I have found the only way to know for certain that when the trumpet blows you are going is John 15, abiding in Christ. Your music will not save you, your programmes will not save you, your own form of religion will not save you, only looking unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, so I suggest you check your motives, you repent of any sin, you look to what you are doing, as Jesus said only the Father knows the hour and knows the day. Only you yourself really know whether you are born again or just somebody who attends a church.
I personally believe the time will come when church as you know it will not exist. I believe as many do we will go back to the time of Acts where they broke bread, they had all things in common and they loved one another. They gave as there was need and there was no more buying or selling. I believe this is the case for all those who are truly in the body of Christ and will be for those who wake up when the true believers are caught up with Jesus in the clouds. I know the world thinks we are crazy, that we are believing in fairy tales, but we know that Jesus said He would never leave us, He would never forsake us.
So are you listening to the voice of Jesus through the Holy Spirit or the latest YouTube video or even your pastor, who sadly is just a man or in some cases a woman? If you want to know the truth spend precious time with God, the word and prayer and He, the Holy Spirit, will direct your path, not your church, not your denomination or your affiliations, and if your church is on YouTube then you are in trouble as the word of God says they did not forsake the coming together of themselves, they had all in common and the broke bread daily from house to house. I believe 100% before Christ’s return this will happen again. If you would like to know more please see our Organic Church page or check out Neil Cole. We are not heretics, we love the Lord Jesus Christ, we believe He died, rose from the dead bodily, is seated at the right hand of God and is going to return again to take us home and to judge the living and the dead according to what they have done. The Bible says the wages of sin are death but the gift of God is eternal life.
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. (Galatians 6:7)
The rest I shall leave to your own conscience as this world is going to close down. What George Orwell wrote in 1984, Big Brother is here to stay. Satan will be given power for war with the saints and in the words of the song by Larry Norman, I wish we had all been ready. Listen to the words and get ready my dear brothers and sisters. It is time to sow your wealth and not to hoard it as it is no good on this earth unless you have used it, but before you give it, check out those you are giving it to. These mega-ministries are full of selfish, arrogant leaders.
God bless you all and I hope to see you in heaven.
Even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! (Galatians 1: 8)
My Brothers and Sisters in Jesus Christ our Lord,
We are living so close to the end of the world that it is frightening. We are seeing the emergence of the one-world church. We have seen in the UN a major meeting of the world faiths. In this clip from YouTube, we see clearly the major faiths of the world signing a document of unity. There is no mention of the Bible or the word of God. This document has been signed purely for the purpose of world peace.
So we can see now the emergence of the apostasy church. There are preachers around the world who are now saying that there are many ways to Almighty God. Those of us who know the Bible and what Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14: 6), can clearly state that no matter what the Pope or religious leaders say in Christendom or other faiths, there is only one way by which we can be saved. Peter said at Pentecost, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2: 38) and later, “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4: 12). It is so clear to me and those of us who are true believers that the antichrist has infiltrated many megachurches and large ministries.
Just recently, John Hagee said there is no such thing as hell. Jesus spoke more about hell than He did heaven. If you read the gospels, you will see how many times He spoke about Hades and Gehenna. Do your own study.
The Bible also says we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. If you get to heaven, you will not be asked what denomination you were from, what ‘pastor’ you listened to, but you will be judged by your own works, your own walk and whether you listened to the voice of Jesus. Jesus said that He needed to go so that God the Holy Spirit could come and teach us all things appertaining to Jesus. We have compromised in the church. We have exchanged Jesus for Santa Claus and the Christmas tree in many parts of the world. We have exchanged the cross for a chocolate egg and an Easter bunny. The nativity of Jesus Christ has been driven out of our schools and much of our culture. We have pastors and leaders who are so compromised they cannot discipline their own people because of their own condition.
You may have a very good pastor or leader, but I suggest you use this litmus test and see whether your pastor or your church teaches these things as follows:
The deity of Christ – Jesus is very God and very man
Jesus is the way, the truth and the life – there is no other way to God, only through Jesus Christ
Repentance, righteous living and a consequence for sin – a non-compromised life
Holiness/sanctification – this does not mean a religious spirit but a holy nature
The second coming – will Jesus find faith on the earth when He returns?
The infallibility of the Bible – either you believe the whole Bible or you do not
If your pastor or leader does not stand this test my suggestion is to do what the Bible says, get out from amongst them. If you stay with these kinds of ministry, the chances are you will be deceived and the consequences could affect your eternal destiny.
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I love a debate and if you believe this article is not correct, please tell me why. I challenge you.
On Saturday 11 August 2018, I found myself in one of the major cities in the United Kingdom. I did not know why God had sent me there but out of obedience to the Holy Spirit I obeyed God. I saw a scene which I never dreamed I would ever see in my lifetime. They call it gay pride. Notice the emphasis on the word ‘pride’. Was this not the thing that brought Satan himself down? I personally would not call it gay pride. I would call it gay shame as a friend of mine said.
The word of God is very clear on this subject. In the Old Testament, if you were a Jew, it was unacceptable behaviour. In the New Testament in Romans 1, the apostle Paul calls it an abomination. So as readers of this column, can you tell me why much of the church of Jesus Christ in the United Kingdom has capitulated on this subject? There is only one conclusion I can come to. They have moved from the true gospel of Jesus Christ to a false gospel. Where have all the true men and women of God gone? Are they living in a state of fear? I thank God for people such as the McArthurs who refused to bake a cake even though it could have cost them their livelihood.
I was appalled to see only a handful of Christians who have faithfully served the Lord and have stood outside St Peter’s Church for more than 40 years. I also know there is a pastor David Carr who has faithfully preached the gospel for many years in Chester and has been threatened with imprisonment many times. May God bless this man. Another preacher who is faithful and many would have seen him, his name is Themba. But this small witness is more or less all that is left in the great city of Chester. The church leaders are more like social workers. I believe personally, as I lived in this city, they have compromised the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. My prayer is that they get on their knees and repent and turn back to the true gospel.
But this is not just Chester, this is many cities across the United Kingdom. The church of Jesus Christ has either compromised, liberalised or become entertainment centres. I hear cries of revival, but when I see the revivals of the past I see men and women who were passionate for Christ. When I read of the revivals of old such as John Wesley the founder of the Methodist movement, I see passionate Christians. Today, much of what I see resembles business and circus. God is warning the church, but like in the past the church is deaf.
If this article offends you then I for one am glad, as many of you are sitting in dead, fossilised entertainment centres and it is time as individuals you got on your knees and asked God what you should be doing. I believe there is a revolution coming in the church and I do not believe the leaders of the church today will like it or even understand it. They could turn into the Pharisees and Sadducees of old. When I read the history of the pentecostal movement I see that the established church were not friends with the pentecostal movement. So I for one pray to our heavenly Father that He will shake the church out of their complacency with their radio stations, TV stations that are more like the BBC, ITV and the normal media with a little bit of Christianity on top.
It is time, church, we sought our God. Jesus said, Will I find faith on the earth when I return? He was not talking about the prosperity gospel. He was not talking about the American charlatans, such as Andrew Wommack, Kenneth Copeland, Jesse Duplantis, Morris Cerullo, Joyce Meyer or Joel Osteen, and the list goes on. And He was not talking about a candy-coated gospel. I believe that Lucifer himself has neutralised the church as it now does not preach repentance. Most churches in the United Kingdom and the western world preach ‘come to Jesus and everything will be OK,’ but when I look at what happened to Jesus on that cross, after 30-odd years I still look at my sin with tears in my eyes and I see my fallen state. I thank God for the grace that saved my soul.
My brothers and sisters, I am not looking at the speck of dust in your eyes as I probably have a plank in mine, but I weep and cry over what the church has become. If it was not for the symbolism and the cross on the wall we would not even know that these places represent the Man of Sorrows who died upon the cross. I once asked a church of which I was a pastor, would you take a bullet for Jesus, and I was saddened at the result. I remember when I was in Bible college a godly man called George Canty, whom some of you may remember, told the college if they wanted to see true healing they would have to weep as Jesus did over the sick and the dying before they saw such miracles. This dear, godly man asked for a vote and only two students out of 120 agreed with him. I will put out a challenge to you pastors and leaders of so-called churches: when was the last time you saw anybody saved, baptised in the Holy Spirit or healed, or miracles operating in your buildings? I again would like to challenge you under the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and plead with you to get outside your buildings and outside your comfort zones, and I believe we shall see revival and restoration of our nation. When you stop preaching a message of compromise and saying anything goes, I believe God the Holy Spirit will pour out a blessing that the church will not be able to contain. Jesus Himself said He did not come for the 99 that were in the flock; He came for the one that was lost. While the church is asleep and playing in the shallows, the devil is busy at work destroying mankind. The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are so few.
I hope and pray that this article does offend you (as the gospel is an offence to those who are perishing) and some of you pastors and leaders will stop acting as managing directors and CEOs of companies. Get out into the streets and the towns and the cities and challenge evil. That is the work of the body of Christ.
Please do not shoot me. I am just the messenger. In 2015 I died and by the grace of God He brought me back again. Much of what I am telling you is the message He gave me to give to the body of Christ. As He said Himself, there will be those who are ever listening but never hearing and those ever looking but never seeing. There will always be a remnant of those on this earth who truly believe, but judgment day is coming and then it will be too late.
