I have been censored on social media before. Why? Because either what I have said or posted has been deemed too offensive, or those who wish to “fact check” it have an agenda to hide (I’ve been told, for example, my videos played music, when not a single note of music was played. It silenced a big chunk of a few videos). I’ve been told in public that I need to keep my preaching in the pulpit, it only belongs in church. I’ve also been warned that if what I preach from the pulpit is offensive, there may be consequences for it (this has not happened from anyone at FCC Murfreesboro, but people have tried to be "helpful" to my ministry throughout it). I’ve been told that if I raise my kids to reason, and especially do so in Christ, I’m indoctrinating them. I’ve also been told that there are things I should not and cannot preach, however Biblical they may be, are just too offensive, and I should not preach them. Let me just say this: I will not bow to Caesar, and, as the apostles told the religious rulers of their day “I must obey God rather than man.” I’m not an insurrectionist or a rebel, but my conviction is to follow Christ and His word, and I will live and die on it. You see, folks, the world does not want us to be Christians anywhere. They want to control what is said, what is taught and what is done. They want to control what we say and how we think. Following Christ is dangerous: it compels us to reason, and to test everything we see, say, do and think against God’s word. To be a seeker and follower of Christ means recognizing the world for what it is: a lawless place where everyone does what is right in his or her own eyes, and if someone gets in the way, they bully, browbeat, and seek to destroy who or whatever is in their way. To be a Christ follower is to recognize that Jesus, and He alone, can save the world, and those who wish to use “save the earth” propaganda to control hearts and minds through fear are vehemently opposed to the idea that anyone but themselves are the solution to all of life’s problems.
This is why I will not bow to anyone but Christ: He has done nearly everything said about Him, has done nearly everything He said He would do, and those things He has not done, are for the time when all will be renewed. Where the world offers only temporary solutions, He offers peace, love, and joy that transcends all understanding. He delivers on all of His promises. There is no source of life and hope but Him. So do what you will to me, for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Philippians 1
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.
Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.
Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.
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