Pastor Sam's Blog
Pastor Sam's Blog
A Pastor's Call to Boldness: Today's Clergy Need To Take A Stand!
Pastor Sam Guido
A Pastor's Call to Boldness: Today's Clergy Need To Take A Stand!
Pastor Sam Guido
(Originally published in 1996, and revised and updated several times through July 9, 2020)
If, to please people, we offer what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterwards defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair. The event is in the hands of God".
George Washington spoke those words to the Constitutional Convention as they set out to write what would become the guiding document of this nation, The Constitution of The United States of America. And he finished with the words 'The event is in the hands of God!'
Thomas Jefferson also said "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent".
In the Declaration of Independence, which was adopted on July 4, 1776, the second paragraph reads: We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness...
(Psalm 33:12) Blessed is the nation whose God is The Lord.
By any examination of our history any person can see that this country was founded on Godly priciples by God fearing men, men of faith and conviction. There are literally hundreds if not thousands of quotes by our forefathers attesting to the fact that this country was founded on the idea of Divine Providence. This nation has been truly blessed. It became the most powerful nation the world had ever seen. Wealth, prestige, influence, charity; a nation of good God fearing people. This country, with its God fearing people have even landed a man on the moon and returned him safely back, not once but multiple times. In times of natural disasters, we banded together as one people and rescued, comforted and rebuilt, even in countries which hate us. We as a nation liberated the oppressed, fed the hungry, stood up to tyrants, and stared down evil despotic rulers. Our churches used to be filled every Sunday, with the congregation being the center of peoples lives, the focal point of the community. Businesses used to be closed on Sundays so that everyone could be together as family and friends and share in worship of our Mighty God and enjoy the rest provided on the Sabbath day.
However, sadly, from such noble ideals, goals, dreams and aspriations of our Founding Fathers, this nation has fallen into a cesspool of filth, moral degradation, degenerecy, and a stench which rises to the heavens above. We have taken God out of our public squares, taken the Ten Commandments out of our courtrooms, prayer out of public schools and as a people allowed Satan himself to set the agenda for our nation. For most of this nation's history, prayers were allowed and even encouraged in the public schools, until the lie of 'separation of church and state' became the 'rule'. Separation of church and state is one of the most clever tools Satan has used in his arsenal of destruction, which has intimidated churches and most specifically, her pastors into silence, lest they lose their 'tax exempt' status, so they are silenced from preaching the truths of the Gospel. By intimidating pastors into 'political correctness', many churches have become nothing more than social clubs or feel good places to go and learn about 'prosperity', or to have 'praise and worship' rock bands, and every other new fad that comes down the pike. Many churches do not even have a Bible in the pews. Some Christian churches are debating whether or not Jesus really existed. I once was invited to attend a bible study in another Lutheran church, and was received with incredulous stares as I walked in with a Bible in hand. Their idea of Bible Study was a book review of The DaVinci Code! Others are allowing openly gay pastors, under the guise of 'enlightenment'. Are the principles spelled out in Romans chapters 1-2 not clear? If a pastor dare speaks out on the sins of the nation, he is ridiculed, called a bigot, delusional, extreme, neo-con, or a myriad of other names designed to marginalize and minimalize the message. Attack the messenger, if you don't like the message. And far too often, the messenger, the pastor, backs down. (Rev3:1-6)
Control the churches, and Satan controls the soul of the nation. And what a fine job he has done. He has done it so cleverly that many who follow him don't even believe he exists. What a sweet gig he has for himself. Like a puppet master, pulling the strings, in near complete obscurity, all the while manipulating mankind into his bidding Satan has deluded this nation into believing lies and forgetting its history. (1John 5:19)
Most Americans would be highly offended if they were told that they were used in the same way the Nazi's manipulated the German people while building their 'perfect society'. But look at the facts. In 1934, Hitler, who was already realigning that society into his new 'national-socialist' agenda called together all of the most renowned preachers of his day and promised that their State subsidies, tax-exemptions and other perks of the State would continue. This was an effort to, (and a very succesful one at that), ensure their silence as he built up his evil empire, in opposition to all that was pure, holy and God fearing.
However, at that meeting of Germany's most revered clergy, a young Lutheran pastor, by the name of Martin Neimuller boldly spoke up and objected directly to Hitler. The rest of the assembled crowd of preachers froze in fear and total silence. Pastor Neimuller went right up to Hitler and proclaimed 'Heir Hitler, our concern is not for the church. Jesus Christ will take care of His Church. Our concern is for the soul of our nation!' He was then grabbed by his fellow pastors and pulled away. No one else dared to speak up. Hitler did have a response to the young preacher, though. Hitler replied " Jesus can have the church.The soul of Germany, you can leave that to me'.
Hitler continued to keep church and state separated and in a few short years, his country was laid waste, its people conquered, its cities in smoldering ruins, and millions upon millions of people were dead.
But, one may object, that was Nazi Germany, that is not America. America is a free nation, a good nation, a strong nation. I myself am proud to be an American. I love our country. I love its traditions, its people, its Founding Fathers, its ideals and principles. I get a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat when I hear our National Anthem. I salute our military men and women who volunteer to defend us. But it is a nation who has taken God out of everything it can, and where have we gotten? We as a nation have travelled so far down the road to destruction that we are rapidly approaching the point of no return. Satan has manipulated our society so much that what was once called right is now wrong, what is true is called a lie, and people have turned aside from sound teaching and turned to myths, to have their ears tickled and their degenerate lifestyles justified. (2Tim4:3-4) Since God was removed from our public schools we have lost generations of our young to immorality, a maze of drugs, a life of violence, unwed mothers, broken homes, filthy lifestyles, sexually transmitted diseases,empty churches and overcrowded prisons. The number of ways man has developed in his depraved mind to shock has gotten so bad, that sadly, nothing is shocking anymore. Man has become faint out of fear. The love of the greater number has cooled, (2Tim 3:1-5). Today, mobs run rampant in the streets of our largest cities, claiming to be peaceful protestors, yet denying what we see with our very eyes; violence, chaos and mayhem.
As great an abomination, and as absolutely horrible as the Holocaust was under Hitler, in a country that had a separation of church and state, an even greater holocaust is happening right here in America, a country that also has a so-called separation of church and state. Millions of our most vulnerable, our most precious, our most valuable resource, namely our children, have been aborted at the convenience of a lifestyle that seeks to justify self over any and all other things. People no longer distinguish between love and lust. And the new norm is to 'hook up' where the sex act is just that, an act. No commitment, no feelings, just animal lust. Our entertainment is disgusting. Television and movies portray a perverted decadent society that is akin to Sodom and Gomorah, and it is considered 'normal'. Satan has infiltrated right into the living rooms of our homes, via television, music, videos, radio and now the internet, where pornography can be dialed up in secrecy. And the results of this degeneracy in far too many cases are 'unwanted' pregnancies, that for a small fee, and in many cases, no fee at all, a woman can just pop a pill, and that 'unviable tissue mass' simply goes away. This is what our society has degenerated to: calling an infant in the womb an 'unviable tissue mass'. It is not an 'unviable tissue mass'. It is a human being. How dare we try to justify our sin by marginalizing something as precious as a baby by simply calling it an 'unviable tissue mass!' It is a human being. How can I say that? Because that is what it is. (Psalm 139:13-16) It is a human being and those who abort their children kill them.
Those who perform abortions kill children. (Ex 21:22-23).
A fetus in the womb is a human being because it simply cannot be anything else. And sadly, too many churches and their pastors never dare mention the subject of abortion or immorality from their pulpits for fear of offending someone. Many of our pastors have become cowards. President Obama once said if his daughter got pregnant he wouldn't want her punished by having a baby. And I heard no one speak out from the pulpit about the outrageousness of that statement. A United States senator said just recently that no tax money went to fund abortions, and yet taxpayer money goes by the millions to Planned Parenthood, an organization founded by Margaret Sanger, a person who believed in eugenics, and was a Marxist as well as a racist. Her idea of 'planned parenthood', and abortion on demand was to eliminate the minority population and those who were handicapped or mentally retarded. And this organization is probably responsible for the vast majority of all abortions performed in this country. Who was it that said 'Say a lie often enough and people will begin to believe it'?
A former Secretary of State once stated that the woman she admired most was Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, the organization which has aborted more minority babies than were ever killed during the years of slavery.
The sin of abortion is not just laid at the feet of women either. In order for a woman to have an abortion, she must be pregnant, and that does not happen alone! The father of an aborted child is equally as guilty of sin if he was not married to the woman, and he impregnated her. I have heard time and time again of young men who impregnate multiple partners and have 2 or 3 children or more, with 2 or 3 (or more) women, never marrying any of them, and then walking hand in hand down the street with another, never paying one dime of support, and staying two steps ahead of the sheriff, looking for him and his 'back support'. Years ago abortion, out of wedlock pregnancy, and immorality were looked on with shame. Today it is celebrated on TV, movies and society in general.
Today however, pastors who dare say that sexual relations between a man and a woman are only acceptable in the bounds of marriage, and that marriage is for the procreation of children, and the mutual enjoyment of husband and wife, are looked at as freaks or bigots or even laughed at, ridiculed, mocked and scorned.
Now that God has been removed from the public schools our schools are failing. Drug use, gang violence and mass shootings are common place. The drop out rate is at the highest level ever. Our children dress like characters out of a Mad Max movie. In many schools teachers have simply lost control, as though the inmates were running the asylum. And sadly, the teachers, many of whom themselves were indoctrinated with Marxist ideologies, hand down those lessons blindly to their own students and teach their students to hate America and its founding and guiding principles.
When there have been instances that a bold preacher has stood up to evil, as Martin Neimuller did to Hitler, the preacher was portrayed as unstable, extreme or marginalized as some sort of nut. Pastor Neimuller was eventually arrested and sent to a concentration camp until he was liberated by...American soldiers. But when people like Oprah stand on their soap box and spout New Age wisdom, worldly ideas, and anti-scriptural enlightenment, millions of mind numbed disciples follow her, and give her praise and accolades, even to the point that she is one of the wealthiest women in the world.
In the recent COVID19 pandemic, The Reverend Franklin Graham and his organization, Samaratan's Purse set up a field hospital in Central Park, in NYC free of charge to give aid and to treat the sick and dying. They were forced out by the city because they had 'values that did not coincide with the values of New Yorkers' . What values did the mayor of NY react to? The Biblically sound values of a Christian organization who would have treated any and all people who came to them for help regardless of race, creed or sexual orientation.
It is time that the American church and her pastors stop allowing themselves to be used, manipulated and abused by our political parties. Do not use the excuse of 'separation of church and state' to mute your voice. Do not be in fear of losing your 'tax exempt 501(c)3 status'. You should never have applied for one in the first place! By getting a tax exemption you allowed your churches to come under the laws of 'Caesar' and allowed the government to restrict what you can and cannot say, for the sake of a little luxury enjoyed by your 'tax exemptions'. You should be ashamed! (Jer 17:5) And stop signing God up to your political party either. God is not a Democrat or a Republican, Conservative or Liberal. By putting God in the box of your particular political party is to say that you enlisted Him into your service, not that He enlisted you into His! (James 4:4) Rather than claiming that God is on your side, you had better be asking yourself "Am I on God's side?"
Pastors must stop the practice of 'go along to get along'. Someone must stand up to declare what is right and wrong, and boldly proclaim that this is a Christian nation, founded on Christian principles, and the moral decay and rot that Satan has led us to must be reversed before it is too late. God's people must wake up now and work while it is still light. Because once the darkness falls, no one will be able to work. And how great that darkness will be. (1Thes 5:4)
In the Book of Jonah, God directed Jonah to preach in Ninevah that their evil deeds have reached the end and that The Lord was set to destroy them. Ninevah was so wicked of a place that Jonah went as fast as he could in the opposite direction, only to evetually end up doing what God wanted him to do, that being to preach the Word of God to the Ninevites. And by hearing the Word of God, those people were moved to repentence. How would they have been redeemed and spared God's wrath had no one preached to them? Do you as a pastor even carry a Bible with you everywhere you go, to give an answer to everyone who challenges you? A soldier or police officer would never go on duty without his weapon. Your weapon is a sword- the Word of God, sharper than any two edged sword. That is your weapon. Is it on you?
We as a people must not turn our back to God, we must turn back to God. (James 4:8) We must become the salt and the light of the world.(Matt 5:13) We must stop this spiral of decay, filth and degeneracy. We must get out of this moral morass we are in and repent of our sins as a nation and as a people. We must once again become that shining city on a hill, that beacon of light, that God fearing people that we once were. We must speak out in love and in peace, and with the bold conviction that our forefathers had. There is no separation of Church and State. That is a myth. That myth, foisted upon the American people was the catalyst for Satan's agenda, the beginning of the end of this once great and mighty, and God fearing people. We The People must return to sound Biblical doctrine. And the Pastor MUST lead the way. A revived Black Robe Regiment, if you will. The pastors in George Washington's day were so driven towards righteousness and a belief in the value of freedom and Godly principles that they led the way and were dubbed The Black Robbed Regiment.
Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it. Hitler had his 'separation of church and state', and his country was laid waste. Let us return to God, before it is too late here too. A great evil is rapidly enveloping the world. We must get our own house in order first. The time is now. Everyone knows something is terribly wrong. Most have a gut instinct, but do not know what it is, just that something is amiss. We pastors must stop trying to explain and justify human behavior in worldly terms. Someone needs to say the truth, that we have a wrestling not against flesh, but against the spirit realm, against Satan and his minions! (Eph 6:12) We must show everyone that Satan is a roaring lion ready to devour the whole world. And we must stand firm against him. (1Peter 5:8) Are we too afraid to say that anyone who is not on the side of God is on the side of Satan? Or is the ridicule you may receive from the world too much for you to bear? If it is, leave the ministry today.
Communism and Marxist ideologies have led to the slaughter of countless millions upon millions in the last century, and countless millions of others have been enslaved to their corrupt vision of Utopia. The cancer of Communism has not been eradicated, it has metastasized and is spreading quickly, even while the masses of people are asleep, figuratively speaking.
Open your eyes, take a stand. See the truth that is staring right at you, out in the open, clear as day if you will take a moment to understand.
To the rest of the truly awakened pastors and Christian brothers and sisters, I say "Stand up. Stand up. Stand UP!" Do not allow evil to triumph. Let us stand together as God's people boldly, with our pastors in the lead, as one, with one voice, and declare, the Church is back, God is back, and Satan is no longer in control.
My fellow pastors, no matter your denominational heritage, you must be bold, and use Paul as your example. My brothers and sisters in the ministry, and to all Christians, may your life's work be such that at the end when you stand before The Lord, He will say to you "Well done, my good and faithful servant, well done!"