Beth Moore Begs Christians to Stop Politicizing Virus

..

Beth Moore Begs Christians to Stop Politicizing Virus:

'Our Sides Are Not More Important Than Lives'

Michael Foust | 

ChristianHeadlines.com Contributor | 

Wednesday, August 11, 2021

 

Christian author and speaker Beth Moore posted a series of popular tweets Tuesday urging Christians to stop politicizing the COVID-19 virus and to consider the lives and needs of others before their own.

Moore posted the comments as several states battle all-time highs in cases and hospitalizations, and as the debate intensifies over the vaccine and masks.

"If we are in Christ, it is unconscionable for us to in any way politicize this virus," Moore wrote. "What on earth are we doing??? Our sides are not more important than lives. We are Jesus people called to serve sacrificially. For the love of God, we gotta love our neighbors. Even our enemies!"

The tweet received 2,000 re-tweets and more than 12,000 likes. Moore, though, wasn't finished.

"For all our Jesus-talk, where on the ever loving earth is our Jesus-walk? If you are not a Christian, I'm not talking to you. But if you are, Jesus wasn't playing when he called us to a whole different ethic from the world," she wrote. "We're not loud mouth boasters. We're servants. We SERVE."

"Stare in the face what some of you are saying: MY RIGHTS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR LIFE. SORRY, NOT SORRY," Moore added.

"If you're not going to get vaccinated, for the love of God, PUT ON A MASK IN PUBLIC PLACES WITH VULNERABLE PEOPLE. Go ahead & unfollow me. I don't care. FOLLOW JESUS."

Jesus was never political! 

Although 71 percent of the adult population in the U.S. has received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, these rates trail many of America's allies, including Canada (81 percent of 12 and older), the United Kingdom (90 percent) and Israel (78 percent of 12 and older).

The Florida Hospital Association says 95 percent of COVID hospitalizations in the state involve patients who are not fully vaccinated. The Texas Department of State Health Services says 99 percent of COVID deaths since February have involved the unvaccinated.

Support of the vaccine among white evangelicals has grown since March. A survey of 5,123 adults by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and the Interfaith Youth Core in June showed that 56 percent of white evangelicals either have received the vaccine or plan on getting it. In March, it was 45 percent.

===========================================================================================

Algeria Orders Another Christian Church to Close as Crackdown Continues

13 months - 13 churches closed

Oran Santa Cruz Chapel in Algeria | Getty Images

By Samuel Smith, CP Reporter

Yet another Christian church has been ordered to shut down in Algeria as the government’s crackdown on houses of worship continues.

The United Kingdom-based Christian persecution advocacy organization Christian Solidarity Worldwide reports that Hope Evangelical Church in Oran city in western Algeria received a closure order issued by a local court earlier this month. 

The church is the latest in a series of churches that have received similar orders under a 2006 law requiring that all non-Muslim places of worship be authorized by a government board called the National Commission for Non-Muslim Worship. 

 “The closure of House of Hope church and the increased government pressure on Christians and other religious minorities in Algeria is a cause for concern,” CSW Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said in a statement.

CSW, which is active in over 20 countries, reports that 13 churches in total have been shut down since last January. 

“The 2006 law is being used as a pretext to clamp down on churches in Algeria despite the fact that the commission it created is yet to meet to consider the requests it has already received,” Thomas stated. “This is manifestly unjust.”

Thomas claimed that if the commission is not willing or able to fulfill its duties under its mandate, then the government should either reconstitute the committee or repeal the 2006 law to ensure religious freedom in Algeria. 

As for Hope Evangelical Church in Oran city, Morning Star News reports that the closure order was supposed to be received last fall when other churches received their orders. However, the church’s pastor, Rachid Seighir, did not receive the order until Jan. 11 even though the order was issued on Nov. 10. 

“This official document was to be delivered by a bailiff appointed by the public prosecutor at the court of Oran [Province], but it wasn’t so,” Seighir was quoted as saying. 

Seighir explained that his lawyer took the initiative to obtain the ruling. 

The pastor said that people affected by church closure orders have just 10 days to appeal. However, he said the judge granted the church an exception because of the delay in getting the order. 

According to Seighir, the province’s then-governor in December 2017 sent the church a notice saying that the congregation was not in accordance with the 2006 law. The province gave the church three months to comply with the law and get approval from the commission that has not met. 

Although the church was closed down in February 2018, it was reopened in July 2018 under the condition that it comes into compliance with the 2006 law, according to Morning Star News. The church contends that it complies with the law because it is a member of the Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA).

“But we all know that these laws are only there to muzzle Christians and other religious minorities,” Seighir said.

According to International Christian Concern, most churches in Algeria are affiliated with the EPA since it was once a legally recognized umbrella group before the passing of the 2006 law. ICC called the EPA “the most secure option for Christians” because it was once approved by the government. 

Algeria ranks as the 17th worst country in the world for Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA’s 2020 World Watch List. 

Open Doors USA, which monitors persecution in over 60 countries, reports that Algeria has seen a rise in “every persecution category over the last year.” The country rose five spots on the World Watch List between 2019 and 2020.

“The most visible example of persecution in 2019 was the seemingly systemic closure of Protestant churches,” an Open Doors fact sheet reads. “In some of these cases, Christians were forcibly expelled by police in the middle of church services.”

Get all the Christians out of Algeria, then the Lord can bring His judgement down upon it.

GOD “ABSOLUTELY” APPROVES OF HOMOSEXUALS - JOEL OSTEEN

The gospel according to Joel Osteen

One of America’s most well-known evangelical pastors, Joel Osteen, recently declared that God “absolutely” approves of everyone, including homosexuals.

The Houston megapastor and best-selling author has been touring to all the talk shows lately to promote his new book, “Break Out! 5 Keys to Go Beyond Your Barriers and Live an Extraordinary Life.”

Osteen, who has been the pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston since 1999, recently talked to the Huffington Post about several subjects, including his thoughts on homosexuality.

HuffPo Live host Josh Zepps quoted from Osteen’s new book: “It doesn’t matter who likes you or who doesn’t like you, all that matters is God likes you. He accepts you, he approves of you.”

Zepps went on to ask Osteen if that included homosexuals.

“Absolutely,” Osteen insisted.

“I believe that God has breathed his life into every single person. We’re all on a journey. Nobody’s perfect,” stated the pastor who oversees a congregation of 45,000 followers, including the likes of Cher and Oprah Winfrey. “The Bible said a sin is pride, a sin is selfish ambition. We tend to pick out these certain things,” he add.

Someone should send this guy a Bible! It's obvious that he has either never read it, or simply doesn't believe anything it says. He has to stop calling himself an evangelical, because evangelicals actually believe the Bible.

Jesus spoke more about Hell than He did about Heaven. There was a reason for that. To listen to Osteen, you would think everyone is going to Heaven by default. Astonishing! What an unbelievable insult to the tens of millions of Martyrs who suffered horribly and died for the faith. In the gospel according to Osteen, they were idiots; they would have gone to Heaven anyway. 

Why do people listen to him?