Showing posts with label civil disobedience. Show all posts
Showing posts with label civil disobedience. Show all posts

Thursday, July 9, 2020

THE PLAN: WHAT YOU CAN AND MUST DO NOW – by Mario Murillo

THE PLAN: WHAT YOU CAN AND MUST DO NOW – by Mario Murillo

July 9, 2020
You are awake. You see how the overreach of radical leftists has permanently ruined people’s lives. You have come to realize they aren’t trying save the lives of everyone— just the ‘preferred’ lives—the lives of those who advance their narrative; the lives of those who, in their minds, justify this draconian house arrest, this imposition of undeclared martial law.
You see how lives are being lost to suicide—because people’s jobs, homes, and hopes have gone up in flames. But those losses don’t count. The thousands, who in every economic crash become addicted and overdose, don’t count either. Opioid overdoses are expected to claim 25,000 lives in the U.S., this year.
What would we learn if we could really calculate how many people the lockdown is killing? Even if it’s killing more than it is saving, it would not matter to the Left. What if the permanent damage to our economy is the real horror? We will never know, because that kind of investigation is strictly verboten.
This lockdown is vital to the Left. They need it. They need it because their plan is to topple Trump and make socialism appealing. They need the Deep State-controlled media to keep touting its benefits—it’s their new “inconvenient truth.” It’s their humanitarian camouflage. It’s why they unceasingly shame voices like yours and mine.
Gavin Newsom just confirmed what we suspected. He will oppress the churches in California for months. Banning singing is just the beginning.  This is the abuse of the shutdown to punish the church I predicted. His malice is just starting. Wait’ll Newsom really gets his hands on the church.
In a national crisis, all lives should matter. Logical people would conclude that there will never be a day when there is no risk, and because of that, we must make some hard choices in order to save the most lives. Such logic evaporates under the tyranny of zealots with a raging fever to control every aspect of human life.
But just being aware that America is being destroyed is not enough. If you have fire in your belly, that is not enough either. We must take action, both as Christians and as patriots. So then, what do we do?
We begin with a rude awakening. It was ‘safe church,’ led by impotent shepherds, oozing false politeness and allowing ignorance of both government and the Bible that frittered away our rights as Americans. We were told by those in power to be nice little Christians, when instead, we should have been equipping disciples capable of pushing back the evil.
Next, you need to quit fooling yourself about what it will take to save America. Decades of neglect and apathy have forced God to use strong medicine on us. Trump was a key part of that medicine—medicine that is hard for many to swallow.
So, here are your instructions:
STEP 1. Separate yourself from the carnal church which is aiding and abetting the failure of the Body of Christ to impact this culture.  You must ask yourself: Why is your time, money, and allegiance going to a shell corporation with religious overtones? Why are you sitting under leadership that never mentions repentance, the Bible, the Cross, the Blood, or revival?
How can you expect to pray prayers that prevail unless you are in the company of serious believers who are contending in the Spirit for mercy and revival?
Satan loves the Laodicean churches. He knows they are distracting the people from forming a true army of God.
STEP 2. Preachers must repent.  They need to repent of the fear of losing tithing members and the need for acceptance, so they can lead God’s people to urgent prayer, repentance, and training. This repentance is especially needed among urban minority pastors who know the Democrat party hates Jesus and the Bible, but are too afraid of breaking ranks with tradition and race. The blood of a nation is on the hands of preachers who know better, but refuse to obey the Holy Spirit
STEP 3. Empower those among us who already understand the systemwho are actively engaged in confronting politicians. Churches have vehemently opposed voter registration. How crazy is that?! So many have tried to show us who to call, write or email, but it has been ignored. Men of God, such as Lance Wallnau, Jay Sekulow of the ACLJ, and David Barton of Wall Builders, immediately come to mind. But there are many more worthy ministries in the political arena. Just make sure you find a ministry that has a plan, and not just platitudes.
There are many ministries that are gifted in assisting and organizing the church to be politically active. We need to start listening to them, and get to work.
STEP 4. Civil disobedience. Yes, it has come to this.  We need to understand the ins and outs of illegal laws and prepare to resist them. When it is clear that a law violates the Constitution and the Word of God, we must find ways to refuse to obey those laws. This civil disobedience can be well planned and peacefully executed. We need leadership!
When the left moves to shut down the church, after the pandemic threat is over, that is when we say a loud and collective, “No!” and risk arrest, if necessary. The church which has been a cruise ship for so long must turn back into a battleship.
God will give you courage you never imagined. God will give you wisdom from beyond this world. God is looking for someone just like you to transform this dark situation. It’s your turn to do what heroes of faith have done down through the ages.
Hebrews 11:33-34, “…who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight foreign armies.”

P.S. A Special message to all of our friends from Mario Murillo Ministries

Why do we offer you books? It is certainly not to blunt the impact of the message you just read. In fact, these books reinforce the message we are trying to spread. More on that in a moment.  So, why do we offer them to you?
When the pandemic closed our tent crusades, church meetings and rallies, the Holy Spirit commanded Mario to keep our staff on at full salary, and trust Him. He obeyed and God has provided. But another thing the Holy Spirit grants are wise ideas. And we needed one. That is when the War Chest Collection was born.
If you look at the page you will see no advertising. And there never will be. And if you get our newsletter you will see that we have stopped raising money for projects we can’t do right now. But even that was not good enough for us.
In this pandemic we needed something that was truly a win-win situation. We prayed for something that would help the people, and us, that was not a garish fund raiser.
Then, we remembered how John Wesley taught his young preachers to always bring books with them that would help the people. Why not then, at a time when people have time to read, offer them something that will empower them and at the same time keep us strong and ready to go as soon as the door reopens?  
We are amazed at the impact of Vessels of Fire and Glory. That book is not just blessing people—it has started a movement! Critical Mass remains required reading in many Christian schools and has never stopped influencing people who pray for revival. Edgewise offers wisdom for living in the last days. Together they provide you with solid, hard-hitting and encouraging truth. Not a bad thing just now.
The War Chest Collection has handed the enemy a double defeat by empowering God’s people and keeping us strong and ready.
Thank you for listening and get your War Chest Collection today. Turn your summer read into equipping, encouragement, and fire! We are all going to come out of this mightier than ever!   -Mario Murillo Ministries
The War Chest Collection: three powerful books by Mario Murillo for only $27. This amazing offer includes free shipping and a signed copy of Vessels of Fire and Glory. The war chest is an army’s first order for victory. The doors will soon open for tent crusades and we must replenish our war chest. This is a true win-win situation. Not only will you get three excellent books for only $27 but your money will go toward winning souls.
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mariomurilloministries | July 8, 2020 at 10:57 pm 

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Should You Do Your Job or Obey Your Conscience?

What happens when man's law conflicts with God's law?
What  happens when man's law conflicts with God's law? (Reuters)

Should You Do Your Job or Obey Your Conscience?


FRANK TUREK  charisma News
Should Christians ever disobey their government? Some say no. But Kim Davis sides with Martin Luther King Jr. and thinks civil disobedience is justified. Mrs. Davis is the Rowan County Kentucky clerk who spent four days in jail for refusing to put her name on same-sex marriage licenses. Claiming to be a new Christian, Ms. Davis is also a longtime Democrat.
"The court cannot condone the willful disobedience of its lawfully issued order," Judge David Bunning told Davis last week in court. "If you give people the opportunity to choose which orders they follow, that's what potentially causes problems."
Judge Bunning is absolutely right. This is the kind of chaos that results when people do not respect the law. But I'm not referring to Kim Davis—I'm referring to the United States Supreme Court. As I've written before, and the multiple dissents state more eloquently, there is no justification in the Constitution for judicially imposing genderless marriage on every state in the union. Five unelected justices simply imposed their own law on 330 million people.
But does that justify civil disobedience? Where do you draw the line?
Certainly, there is a line somewhere. After all, we laud those behind the Underground Railroad who freed slaves and those who protected Jews in Nazi Germany. While bad marriage laws are obviously not as serious, consider a more equivalent scenario: Suppose the Supreme Court decided to drop the age of consent in every state to 12 years old (a position Ruth Bader Ginsberg supported before she became a Supreme Court Justice). Would you think that Kim Davis should be forced to endorse the marriage of a 75-year-old man who brought a 12-year-old girl into her office? I hope you can see that there is a line and it's not far from Kim Davis.
Liberals believe in civil disobedience—when it suits their causes. Despite chanting, "Do your job!" outside Kim Davis's office, liberals were rejoicing when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered clerks to violate California law and issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in 2004. They certainly were not chanting "Do your job" outside of Attorney General Eric Holder's office when he told the states last year to ignore their own laws that defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman. And liberals were not asking a federal judge to throw President Obama in jail when he refused to do his job by defending the Defense of Marriage Act in Court.
So just 10 minutes ago liberals believed that defying marriage laws was heroic! Now their blatant double standard is all too obvious—they laud civil disobedience when it's used to advance the religion of sex and denounce it when it's used to protect Christian or natural law beliefs.
But on what authority does one defy the government? One man who wanted a same-sex marriage license asked Kim Davis on "what authority" was she not issuing licenses. She cited God.
Yet the question needs to be asked of both sides. By what authority did Newsom, Holder, Obama and other liberal politicians defy the law? They certainly weren't citing God or the Creator cited in our Declaration of Independence who gives us unalienable rights. But without an authority beyond man's law, there is no authority for their actions nor is there any objective standard to ground unalienable rights. Without God, every right claim is merely a human opinion. At least Kim Davis, agree with her or not, is citing an authority beyond herself.
Civil disobedience has rich precedent in the United States. In fact, our country was founded on it largely to secure religious freedom. Civil disobedience also has precedent in the Bible. When Pharaoh ordered Hebrew midwives to murder all Hebrew boys, they disobeyed and even lied to the authorities (Ex. 1). And Daniel and his friends peacefully defied laws that contracted God's commands. Likewise, when the Jewish authorities told John and Peter to stop telling people the good news that Jesus paid for your sins and rose from the dead, they disobeyed, saying that they would obey God rather than men (Acts 4).
Therefore, the principle for Christians is this: Civil disobedience is necessary when a government compels you to sin or prevents you from doing something God commands you to do. You don't disobey the government merely because it permits others to sin—only when it compels you to do so. Kim Davis thinks that line has been crossed.
It's actually not hard to avoid crossing the line. Both parties can be accommodated as Judge Bunning finally figured out when he released Davis yesterday. In North Carolina, we passed a law to allow people like Kim Davis to opt out of endorsing relationships that violated their religious or moral beliefs. Since other government employees are more than happy to issue licenses, no one is inconvenienced or forced to violate conscience. We do this for far more serious issues than weddings. For example, even during a time of war when we draft people to defend the country, we allow for conscientious objectors to opt out. If we can allow exemptions for government employees involved in protecting the very existence of our nation, we can certainly allow exemptions for government employees involved in weddings!
Will the Kentucky legislature act when it returns in January to pass such a law? Unfortunately, I doubt the activists who are always demanding tolerance will tolerate such reasonableness. It seems that some people just can't live and let live. They will not rest until all opposition is crushed and everyone is forced to celebrate what they are doing.
If that's your position, I have a question for you: Why would you want anyone who disagrees with your wedding to have anything to do with it? Go to another clerk, another florist, another photographer. Why force people to violate their conscience when there are so many other people willing to help you and celebrate with you?  After all, isn't this supposed to be a time when "love wins?"
Apparently not. For some liberals, "love wins" as long as everyone agrees with them. Those that disagree will not like the kind of "love" some liberals dish out. Are the same people who are chanting, "Love wins," some of the same people who issued death threats to Kim Davis? It certainly wasn't the Christians.
The truth is Kim Davis and other victims of "tolerance" don't want a holy war. Davis just doesn't want her signature on the license. She suggested other government officials sign, and Judge Bunning finally agreed. But a law needs to be passed to prevent future problems.
North Carolina has led the way. It remains to be seen if liberals in Kentucky will accept that way. If their recent history is a guide, I'm afraid they will demand that every knee bow and every tongue confess the dogma of their secular religion.
Frank Turek is the president of crossexamined.orgcoauthor of I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist and the author of the new book Stealing From God: Why Atheists Need God to Make Their Case.
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Saturday, September 5, 2015

What We Learned From the Arrest of Kim Davis - Dr. Michael Brown

Kim Davis, seen in this courtroom sketch, was arrested and jailed Thursday.

What We Learned From the Arrest of Kim Davis




Kim Davis, seen in this courtroom sketch above, was arrested and jailed Thursday. (Reuters)
In the Line of Fire, by Michael Brown
It is jarring to write the words "the arrest of Kim Davis," speaking of the Kentucky clerk who was remanded to jail for refusing to issue marriage certificates to same-sex couples, but for years now I and others have been warning that committed Christians could soon face jail time in America for holding to our convictions.
That time is now here, and the only thing that is surprising is that anyone is surprised. How could we not see this coming?
To be sure, there is a healthy debate taking place among both believers and non-believers concerning the rightness of Kim Davis's actions. Should she simply have resigned if, in good conscience, she could not issue those certificates? Does she have any legal, moral or constitutional ground on which to stand?
That is a legitimate debate, and it is one that is sure to continue.
But what cannot be debated is that the national outrage against Kim Davis has nothing to do with her refusing to obey the law and everything to do with her Christian beliefs.
Had she found herself on the opposite end of the conflict and had she stood for "gay rights," refusing to obey a law that she felt discriminated against them, she would be praised from coast to coast.
Instead, she is being vilified in the ugliest terms and has quickly become the target of death threats simply because, in conscience before God, she cannot comply with the judge's order.
Yesterday I tweeted, "It's interesting that gay activists who praised SF mayor Gavin Newsom for illegally issuing marriage licenses now vilify Kim Davis."
Hector Alvarez (@eltoritolociito) responded, "@DrMichaelLBrown how is it interesting? He was for marriage equality, she was an anti gay bigot who wasnt [sic] doing her job."
Doesn't that say it all?
As Andrew (@AKUContraMundum) tweeted later in the day: "Civil disobedience is only cool when it is God's Law that's being broken." Or, as expressed by Sean Davis,writing on the federalist.com, "Kim Davis Uproar Shows That Breaking the Law Is Only Okay When Progressives Do It."
When Gavin Newsom refused to submit to the law in 2004, he was a hero. When Kim Davis refuses to submit to the law, she is a bigot and a monster. (And make no mistake about it: His actions were far more flamboyant and aggressive than hers, and whereas as she is a self-professed "very private person" who does not want the spotlight to the point of being overwhelmed and in tears because of the national attention, Newsom actively sought it out.)
Let's also remember that while Newsom, who was sworn in as mayor under national and state laws that recognized marriage as the union of one man and one woman, violated his oath of office to uphold that law, the exact opposite was true of Davis. When she was sworn in, Kentucky did not recognize same-sex "marriage."
As attorney David French pointed out, while it is true that her act was revolutionary, "she didn't fire the first revolutionary shot. That distinction belongs to a Supreme Court that concocted out of whole cloth a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, using legal 'reasoning' that reads more like a religious tract than a court opinion. Justice Kennedy took the moral sensibilities of five justices and rendered those moral sensibilities the law of the land."
Let's recall that just last year, Jack Conway, Kentucky's attorney general, refused to defend the state's ban on same-sex "marriage," despite his oath of office, explaining that, "Once I reached the conclusion that the law was discriminatory, I could no longer defend it. At that point, being true to myself became more important than the political considerations." (Conway was planning to run for governor of Kentucky.)
Where was the national condemnation of Conway?
And where was the national condemnation of then-Attorney General Eric Holder when he instructed attorneys general nationwide that they were not obligated to defend state laws—meaning, specifically, bans on same-sex "marriage"—if they found them to be discriminatory?
Ironically, liberal websites like the Huffington Post, which are leading the assault on Kim Davis, celebrated Gavin Newsom's actions as recently as 18 months ago in the article, "Ten Years Ago Today, San Francisco Set the Stage for Marriage Equality."
The article begins: "Ten years ago today, San Francisco issued the United States' first same-sex marriage licenses—a move then-Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered of the city clerk after President George W. Bush declared his stance against them in his State of the Union address. The marriages were annulled by a Supreme Court ruling four months later, but the landmark event set the stage for the national fight for marriage equality that's still blazing forward."
And Newsom, portrayed as a champion and icon, is quoted as saying in 2004, "I took an oath of office to bear truth, faith and allegiance to the constitution of the state of California, and there is nothing in that constitution that says that I have the right to discriminate against people on any basis ... And I simply won't do that. And if that means my political career ends, so be it."
What, then, is the difference between Newsom, who did not lose his job and who spent no time in jail, and Davis, who was told by the judge that she would be jailed until she complied?
Newsom stood for redefining marriage, Davis is standing for marriage as God intended it and, more fundamentally, is refusing to violate her conscience as a Christian, and that, not the breaking the law, is the issue at hand.
Make no mistake about it. Following Jesus in America today will be increasing costly until God's people awaken and stand.
The arrest of Kim Davis has made that clear.
Michael Brown is the host of the nationally syndicated talk radio show "The Line of Fire" and is the president of FIRE School of Ministry. His newest book is Outlasting the Gay Revolution: Where Homosexual Activism Is Really Going and How to Turn the Tide. Connect with him on Facebook at AskDrBrown or on Twitter @drmichaellbrown.
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Thursday, April 30, 2015

Christian Leaders Threaten Civil Disobedience if Supreme Court Legalizes Gay Marriage

Christian Leaders Threaten Civil Disobedience if Supreme Court Legalizes Gay Marriage


Gay marriage supporters rally outside the Supreme Court.
Gay marriage supporters rally outside the Supreme Court. (Reuters)
"We will not obey."
That's the blunt warning a group of prominent religious leaders is sending to the Supreme Court of the United States as they consider same-sex marriage.
"We respectfully warn the Supreme Court not to cross that line," read a document titled, Pledge in Solidarity to Defend Marriage. "We stand united together in defense of marriage. Make no mistake about our resolve." 
"While there are many things we can endure, redefining marriage is so fundamental to the natural order and the common good that this is the line we must draw and one we cannot and will not cross," the pledge states.
The signees are a who's who of religious leaders including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, National Religious Broadcasters president Jerry Johnson, Pastor John Hagee, and Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan's Purse. 
The pledge was co-drafted by Deacon Keith Fournier, a Catholic deacon, and Mat Staver, the founder of Liberty Counsel. Also involved in the document were Rick Scarborough, the president of Vision America Action and James Dobson, the founder of Family Talk Radio. 
"We're sending a warning to the Supreme Court and frankly any court that crosses the line on the issue of marriage," Staver told me.
He said that once same-sex marriage is elevated to the level of protected status—it will transform the face of society and will result in the "beginning of the end of Western Civilization."
"You are essentially saying that boys and girls don't need moms and dads—that moms and dads are irrelevant," Staver said. "Gender becomes pointless when government adopts same-sex marriage. It creates a genderless relationship out of a very gender-specific relationship. It says that it doesn't matter and that two moms or two dads are absolutely equivalent to a mom and a dad."
Dobson said the legalization of same-sex marriage could fracture the nation.
"The institution of marriage is fundamental and it must be defended," he told me. "It's the foundation for the entire culture. It's been in existence for 5,000 years. If you weaken it or if you undermine it—the entire superstructure can come down. We see it as that important."
And that means the possibility of Christians—people of faith—engaging in acts of civil disobedience.
"Yes, I'm talking about civil disobedience," Staver said. "I'm talking about resistance and I'm talking about peaceful resistance against unjust laws and unjust rulings."
That's quite a shocking statement. So I asked Mr. Staver to clarify his remarks.
"I'm calling for people to not recognize the legitimacy of that ruling because it's not grounded in the Rule of Law," he told me. "They need to resist that ruling in every way possible. In a peaceful way—they need to resist it as much as Martin Luther King Jr. resisted unjust laws in his time."
Scarborough said the pledge was meant to be forthright and clear.
"We're facing a real Constitutional crisis if the Supreme Court rules adversely from our perspective on same-sex marriage," he told me. For me there's no option. I'm going to choose to serve the Lord. And I think that thousands of other pastors will take that position and hundreds of thousands—if not millions of Christians."
Scarborough is urging pastors across the nation to sign the pledge. 
He referenced the "outrageous penalties" being assessed against people of faith simply because they don't want to participate in a same-sex union.
An Oregon bakery is facing a $135,000 fine for refusing to make a cake for a lesbian wedding and a Washington State florist faces fines for refusing to participate in a gay wedding.
"Christians are being declared the lawbreakers when we are simply living by what we have always believed, and by a set of laws that the culture historically has agreed to," he said. "Right now the courts are changing the playing field and declaring that what the natural eye can see and natural law reveals is not truth. ... What will we do, and how will we respond?"
Dobson said there's no doubt that LGBT activists are targeting Christian business owners.
"For about 50 years the homosexual community has had as its goal to change the culture, to change the ideology and if necessary—to force people who don't agree by use of the courts," Dobson told me. "I think there's a collision here and we can all see it, and where it's going to go is anybody's guess—but it is serious."
To be clear—the men and women who courageously signed this pledge did so knowing the hell storm that is about to be unleashed on them—and their families.
"We have no choice," Staver told me. "We cannot compromise our clear biblical convictions, our religious convictions.
Todd Starnes is host of "Fox News & Commentary," heard on hundreds of radio stations. Sign up for his American Dispatch newsletter, be sure to join his Facebook page, and follow him on Twitter. His latest book is God Less America.
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