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YouTube bans John Piper’s Audiobook ‘Coronavirus and Christ’

Published

5 years ago

May 18, 2020

YouTube has censored the audiobook version of Reformed theologian John Piper’s new book, Coronavirus and Christ, claiming it violated “community standards.”

The book offers six biblical answers to the question: What is God doing through the coronavirus?

“This video has been removed for violating YouTube’s Community Guidelines,” reads a message on the now blocked video by Piper, the chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary in Minnesota and the founder of DesiringGod.org.

The video got over 187,000 views within roughly five weeks that it remained on the platform, according to Disrn. It was released on April 8 and blocked last Friday.

An archived version of the audiobook is still available here and on the Crossway Podcast here.

The censorship came amid a call by 22 military chaplains to “discipline” and possibly court-martial a senior army chaplain for sending nearly three-dozen other chaplains an email containing a copy of the e-book, Coronavirus and Christ.

The 22 military chaplains, some of whom are from the LGBT community, had a problem with the book because it says that “some people will be infected with the coronavirus as a specific judgment from God because of their sinful attitudes and actions.”

Representing the 22, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which advocates for a strict separation of church and state within the U.S. military, urged Secretary of Defense Mark Esper to punish Senior Chaplain Col. Moon H. Kim, the command chaplain of U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys in South Korea, the largest U.S. military installation outside of the United States.

The complainants, MRFF said, “do not subscribe to the ultra-conservative/Reformed/evangelical Christian theology of John Piper.”

In a section titled, “Examples of Specific Judgements on Specific Sins,” Piper wrote that one example “is the sin of homosexual intercourse,” citing Romans 1:27 in which the Apostle Paul states that “men committing shameless acts with men” received in themselves “the due penalty for their error.”

“That ‘due penalty’ is the painful effect ‘in themselves’ of their sin,” Piper wrote. “This ‘due penalty’ is just one example of the judgment of God that we see in Romans 1:18, where it says, ‘The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.’ Therefore, while not all suffering is a specific judgment for specific sins, some is.”

A copy of Kim’s email that contained the PDF sent to the chaplains was reviewed by The Christian Post. In the body of the email, Kim wrote to fellow chaplains that he wanted to share the short booklet with them.

“This book has helped me refocus my sacred calling to my savior Jesus Christ to finish strong,” Kim wrote. “Hopefully this small booklet would help you and your Soldiers, their Families and others who you serve.”

MRFF contends that the book was “clearly meant as a full-fledged endorsement and validation of what the book espouses and proclaims.”

Led by Reps. Doug Collins, R-Ga., and Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., they and 18 other Republican House members signed a joint letter asking the Pentagon to protect the religious liberty of service members from the demands of an “anti-religion” group.

Piper also responded to the issue in a 17-minute audio interview posted online.

“I think it would be fair to say that some of my views about what the Bible teaches, even rightly understood, the author of that letter hates. He hates what I think,” Piper said, referring to MRFF founder Mikey Weinstein. “‘They are,’ he says, ‘incendiary,’ ‘bigoted,’ ‘vulgar’ — not just because he misunderstands, but, in part, because he does understand, and that’s how he thinks and feels about some of what the Bible teaches.

“I consider all of those views to be true because they are what the Bible teaches, and therefore, they’re very valuable to know,” Piper stressed. “So I think it’s not just that he misunderstands, but that he gets some things right in those quotes, and he just doesn’t like them.”

Piper said there are three areas where Weinstein seems to misrepresent his stance in either the letter to Esper or an earlier interview with The Christian Post. “For example, when I say that ‘some people will be infected with the coronavirus as a specific judgment from God because of their sinful attitudes and actions,’ he assumes that I know who those people are, or at least what kind of people they are,” Piper said.

“But here’s what I write on page 72. … The coronavirus is … never a clear and simple punishment on any person. The most loving, spirit-filled Christian, whose sins are forgiven through Christ, may die of the coronavirus disease. But it is fitting that every one of us search our own heart to discern if our suffering is God’s judgment on the way we live.”

Sources: Christian Post

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നടൻ മേഘനാഥൻ അന്തരിച്ചു

Published

16 hours ago

November 21, 2024

theendtimenews

കോഴിക്കോട്: മലയാള സിനിമ നടൻ മേഘനാഥൻ(60) അന്തരിച്ചു. ശ്വാസകോശ സംബന്ധമായ രോഗത്തെ തുടർന്നാണ് അന്ത്യം. കോഴിക്കോട് ബേബി മെമ്മോറിയൽ ആശുപത്രിയിൽ ചികിത്സയിൽ ആയിരുന്നു. നടൻ ബാലൻ കെ നായരുടെ മകനാണ്. ഒട്ടേറെ സിനിമകളിലഭിനയിച്ച മേഘനാഥൻ്റെ 1983 ൽ ഇറങ്ങിയ അസ്ത്രമാണ് ആദ്യചിത്രം. ചെങ്കോൽ, ഈ പുഴയും കടന്ന്, ഉത്തമൻ തുടങ്ങി 50ഓളം ചിത്രങ്ങളിൽ അഭിനയിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്.

സംസ്കാരം ഷൊർണ്ണൂരിലുള്ള വീട്ടിൽ വെച്ച് നടക്കും. ഭാര്യ സുസ്മിത, മകൾ പാർവതി.
Sources:nerkazhcha

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For KING + COUNTRY Stars’ Big Plan to Bring Message of Jesus, ‘Redemption of Humanity’ to People Across America

Published

6 days ago

November 16, 2024

theendtimenews

For KING + COUNTRY, one of the most popular Christian and inspirational bands around, is gearing up for the Christmas season in a big way.

Just months after singers Joel and Luke Smallbone brought their family’s story to the big screen in biopic “Unsung Hero,” the duo are heading back to theaters with a new project, “A Drummer Boy Christmas Live.“

The cinematic experience, which will run from Dec. 5-9, will make For KING + COUNTRY’s popular Christmas show accessible to people across the nation.

And the brothers promise to deliver a “sonic journey that blends the sights and sounds of the season with the musical mastery, heartwarming storytelling, and dazzling production.” Joel Smallbone told CBN News he’s elated to bring the show to audiences:

“One of the things that we love is Christmas tours,” he told CBN News. “And we’ve done one almost every year since the beginning of the band.”

But with the Christmas season so short, he said they came up with another option: bringing the Christmas show to movie theaters so even more people can see it. The band performed a show at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, rallied 12,000 fans — and created “A Drummer Boy Christmas Live.”

“It’s really beautiful,” Smallbone said. “This year, more than ever, I feel like we desperately just need to kind of keep the main thing the main thing, and these great hallmarks of humanity that are love, and joy, and peace, patience, kindness, goodness — let’s put them back in the driver’s seat this Christmas.”

Ultimately, Smallbone said “A Drummer Boy Christmas Live” is all about honoring the true meaning of Christmas.

“This is singing about baby Jesus, and this is singing about the redemption of humanity, and this is singing about BC to AD,” he said.

As for upcoming plans after the theatrical experience, Smallbone said For KING + COUNTRY is, for the first time since the beginning of the band, spending a year away from touring.

“We’re … going away to write and record … and we’re also going away to work on our next feature film that is going to production next fall,” he said, explaining that the band will come back to perform after these upcoming projects.

Sources:faithwire

http://theendtimeradio.com

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Bible Prophecy Playing Out in Israel: New ‘Patterns of Evidence’ Film Seeks to Unpack the Truth

Published

1 week ago

November 13, 2024

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A documentary filmmaker is on a mission to explore the authenticity of ancient Bible prophecies.

Tim Mahoney, whose new film, “Patterns Of Evidence: The Israel Dilemma – Ancient Prophecies,” hits theaters Nov. 13, 14, and 17, told CBN News the events unfolding in the Middle East today are intricately tied to what we see happening in the Old and New Testaments.

Mahoney said the roots of his new movie were set in 2007 when he was working on another project surrounding the Israelites’ fleeing Egypt to head for the Promised Land.

As he navigated that story, he realized a great deal about God’s promises to Abraham had been misunderstood or had gone unknown to some.

“When we look at what happened last October with the attack in Israel, and then, shockingly, what happened with the campuses around the United States with the anti-Semitism, I realized that a lot of people don’t have any understanding of biblical prophecy,” Mahoney said. “The land of Israel was promised to Abraham’s descendants, and, so, that’s what this film is about — what are these ancient prophecies and how should we understand them?”

He said “Patterns Of Evidence: The Israel Dilemma – Ancient Prophecies” explores God’s covenant with Abraham and its establishment at Mount Sinai. Mahoney said he looks in the film for evidence of what’s discussed throughout the Old Testament.

“[Moses] wrote that in the future, these people would have a kingdom,” he said. “So, I’m looking for the kingdom. And secondly, he says that, if you have this kingdom … you need to obey God. And that’s part of the prerequisite — you’ve got to obey God. He says, if you obey God, there’s blessings, and, if you disobey God, there’s curses.”

Mahoney said the Bible also discusses what happens if God is disobeyed — that the people will be scattered and persecuted. And that’s not all.

“Then it says, ‘But God will be merciful to a small group of you, and you will return to the land,’” he said. “So, we’re looking for those five events.”

Ultimately, Mahoney said he wants people to understand the impact and importance of prophecy.

“What I want people to realize is that there are words that have been written down in the past, and, as time has gone on, these events that were foretold are happening,” he said. “And what I want people to see is that God is true to His word, and these prophecies that were given.”
Sources:faithwire

http://theendtimeradio.com