Short Take #1: Is This Persecution?

Here is another sort. Take the Christian worldview.

With David we know last year in America. Many who rioted and destroyed property well disobeying cold masking and distancing mandates and my dad arrested and then released right now.

Those who enter the United States illegally are often released into the country.

Apparently, justice has become very selective. Meanwhile in Canada. Our ally to the north in a small town just west of Edmonton. A pastor has been imprisoned for the past month awaiting his trial two months from now. In May his crime, burning and looting, inciting violence well if you guessed holding in person church services in violation of government covert mandates you'd be correct. Pastor James coaches imprisonment has garnered worldwide attention for non-Christians government" experts are their gods so they keep condemnation of the pastor for following biblically-based beliefs. What is surprising, however, is that many professing Christians say or write that pastor Coates isn't really being persecuted because all he had to do was quote comply with covert mandates or just hold his church online pastor Eric Davis of cornerstone church in Jackson, Wyoming went to seminary with pastor Coates.

He's written extensively about his imprisonment and he joins us this weekend to discuss why pastor Coates should be respected and pray for rather than ridiculed for making the decision to meet in person with the church. Why is James Coates being imprisoned and it and is it actual persecution that is certainly huge and being imprisoned because she refused to compromise his conscience, that concern presiding over the gathering of the wonderful great church up there outside of Edmonton a great life church and restricting their their church family gathering nearly 15% capacity. The absolutely out the many pastor have the right to before God and biblically to go with their conscience on that issue. Look another pastor in Canada. I have several friends, your pastors across Canada might with their conscience. They okay I I am going to go with 15% would have six services or whatever it might be and that's okay but biblically speaking, I think what's happening with some people here. Is there imposing their content upon others and God's ideal. Hebrews 1024 25 God's ideal is that the body of Christ would celebrate together with the bowl local body, the whole local family there in corporate worship with all of the body present all the gifts presence of one another. Being right you have to be careful with being so dogmatic that it's not persecution because I wonder what those individuals might have said to someone like Stephen you know the stone that the apostle Paul lost in acts chapter 7 if you have some firm word even been recorded in acts chapter 11 for the Sanhedrin. I mean, he said you know that you you are bitnet are you resisting the Holy Spirit and a stone of the death they bait they kill him to murder him with stones under the guise of abiding by the law and I wonder if people who are coming down so hard on pastor Coates would say well you know, technically, Stephen didn't need to say that they were stiffnecked enough you could. He could have done a more backdoor gracious way and and and and this done like a passive aggressive approach and then he and therefore he could have avoided being stoned and so technically you have Stephen stoning to death wasn't persecution or maybe they would've said that about John the Baptist you know well technically he didn't have to confront Herod on his sexual perversion and technically he could've just taken a more gracious approach. And so since he got his head cut off.

You know that decapitation wasn't technically persecution when in fact John the Baptist held up as the greatest greatest guy ever. Our Lord says in Luke 11 so I think we just have to be real careful about that and I wonder if some of the people making the statements. Not all you know not all but some of them might be compromising in their own conscience behind the scenes that were hard and then imposing that upon others.

I said I think the migration of the real careful about imposing accounts, support and prayer. Even if we disagree that the Christian way.

This is been a short take Christian will be with David. We find out more about the Christian worldview resources make a donation, monthly partner will contact us visit the Christian worldview.org you can also call us toll-free 1-888-646-2233. Write to us at Box 401, Excelsior, MN 5531 that's Box 401, Excelsior, MN 551