Beloved of God Almighty, I would have you to know that, this is the incontroversable truth that, the God of the Holy Bible, our God has no match, has no competitor and assured has no equal. Said He, and I quote, “REMEMBER THE FORMER THINGS OF OLD: FOR I AM GOD, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me “Isaiah 56:9. Wow! No other God like the God of the Bible. NO GOD BUT GOD!
As concerning the members of His glorious CHURCH, that knows no DEFEAT, HE said, and I quote, “NO WEAPON THAT IS FORMED AGAINST THEE SHALL PROSPER; AND EVERY TONGUE THAT SHALL RISE AGAINST THEE IN JUSGMENT THOU SHALL CONDEMN. THIS IS THE HERITAGE OF THE SERVANTS OF THE LORD, AND THEIR RIGHTEOUSNESS IS OF ME, SAITH THE LORD,” Isaiah 54:17.
There you have it, blessed of the Lord! Worry not and fear not the killer and infectious CORONA VIRUS weapon, neither should you worry nor fear much about the NOISE in the corridors of transitory power, authority and influence. Let us welcome the unnecessary harassments and intimidations from men/women of temporal and religious powers.
There is a song which goes like this: “What a mighty God we serve, what a mighty God we serve. Heaven and earth adore Him and angels bow before Him. What a mighty God we serve.”
Let me, without an apology, emphatically state for the record that, JESUS CHRIST IS THE MIGHTY GOD WE SERVE: 1 Timothy 2:5. There is no other God but Jesus.
It is my considered person view that, the unfolding CORONA VIRUS SAGA is much deeper and larger than the eyes can see: it has vexing and deadly spiritual roots. This unfortunate corona virus saga is satanically/demonically inspired and driven. Ephesians 6:12 is of intrigue in this regard, it reads, and I quote: “FOR we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
Liberia, a nation which is ALLEGED, to have been founded/established on Christian principles, just because the constitution was signed inside a church building, is rapidly descending into horrific spiritual darkness, never like before, as the leaders of the institutional church turn over and play dead.
It is abundantly and regrettably sad, to note that, it was some of the fame religious leaders of this precarious hours, who abruptly loosed down their respective church buildings and urged all of their followers to remain at home, even before the government of the day, who was armed with the facts could have made up its mind, as to what should have been done.
Bishop Kortu Brown, the President of the Liberian Council of Churches is recorded by the Daily Observer Newspaper, VOL 20. NO. 54, Wednesday, March 25, 2020 edition to have said the following, and I quote, “Bishop Brown said at the meeting it was agreed given confirmed cases by the MOH and NPHIL that churches will not shut down services but will be encouraged to carry out multiple services, observe social distancing and keep all health protocols,” end of quote.
“Bishop Brown in a lease said that the immediate closure of churches was not agreed upon during the meeting with the President and the Minister of Health.”
lnspite of the lofty utterances from Bishop Brown, based upon his meeting with the President and others, Sunday, March 22, 2020 went down into our beleaguered history, as one of the darkest and worrisome days for worshippers, as some armed officers of the Liberian National Police under the orders of their determined chief of police, went around demanding churches to close down. Such a drastic governmental action is just too intricate for one to fathom. However, “such is the time and such are the conditions,” as the saying goes.
Never in the recent troubled and perplexed history of our nation has church buildings been ordered closed down. Not during the bloody and murderous April 12, 1980 military coup: Not during the long 1990s running destructive civil war and not the 2014 deadly Ebola crisis. Worshippers by their numbers ran to their respective places of worship and entreated their God, on behalf of the troubled nation and its victimized people and God came to our rescue, as a nation and as a people.
Let me say, to those who are positioned in the transitory corridors of varied powers that, the ekklesia, the called out and faithful will never ever be closed down, not even by itself: History bears amazing witness to this irrefutable and undeniable TRUTH: this “Upper Room Church” unlike all of our famous and historic “Institutional Churches” knows no defeat. It is the church triumphant. It is the glorious church, the “Bride” of Jesus Christ.
This nefarious and murderous corona virus is no match for Jesus Christ, it will sooner than later bow before Him because He has no equal.
Bishop Kortu Brown is heard to have explained that, the “First Church” meaning the Providence Baptist Church, where the nation’s first constitution was signed was the first to have announced the suspension of its worship services. Thus, Bishop Brown is having a rendezvous with the distant past. Is the bishop taking his cue from an institutional church or from the Lord over all lords? He cannot have it both ways.
would have thought that, this acclaimed religious leader and his team would have prevailed upon the civil authorities NOT to completely shut down the church buildings, at such crucial time in our nation’s history. They should have given the governmental leaders hope in the midst of the emerging hopelessness. They should have allowed the light of Jesus Christ to brilliantly illuminate that meeting room. They should have spoken with divine power and authority and with the observable and unquestionable conviction like the apostles fresh from the Upper Room.
On the other, the officials of the government at that meeting, were fully cognizant of one primary obligation, was to keep the majority of its citizens fed. Thus, the government opted for all open air markets, supermarkets, banks, restaurants and cook shops to remain open and for the church buildings to be shut down, for a prescribed period for the fear of the spread of the corona virus.
The government stipulated that, only ten persons at a time would enter a supermarket, bank, restaurant, and cook shop. As for the open market, social distancing was to be the order of the day.
The government was of the stern belief that, the citizens had to be fed daily and indeed this is more than laudable.
One would have thought that, at the said meeting, the anointed religious leaders would vehemently and convincingly but respectfully argued that, the doors of the church buildings, which have never been once closed since July 26, 1847 should be left effectively opened. They should have pleaded with the officials of government, to grant the same opportunity given to supermarkets, banks, restaurants, cook shops and open markets for physical survival of the citizens: that, the spiritual survival of the people of the nation was even more compelling and acutely imperative. That, the church should be allowed, at least ten believers to congregate, observing all of the government’s mandated health protocols, to enable them to faithfully intercede on behalf of the government, and the valued citizens of Liberia, Africa and the entire turbulent world.
In a troubling and a dire situation, such as the corona virus, I am of the steel like persuasion that, it is the church that should be the trail blazer, the divine voice of reason for hope, in the tempestuous storm of hopelessness.
I am of the determined view that, the church has rendered itself irrelevant, insignificant, inconsequential, voiceless and powerless, by its doors been firmly shut in order to halt the spread of the much feared corona virus, and beware, Satan and all of his diabolic agents are extremely delighted, to say, the least.
With the acquiesce of the religious leaders, they are telling the civil authority that, they have not the needed idea, to effect the proper decongesting of their mega churches in order to remain in business and to fiercely war against this disease, in corporate prayer, which carries unbelievable weight. When the committed members of the church gather together to pray to their magnificent God, He takes full notice and kicks into action.
Why has the church been singled out and denied the very privilege, which has been extended to others? Where did the church go wrong? Why is it, that, it appears by and large, to be the members of the church, who have been prohibited from accessing their places of worship, at the threat of an arrest and persecution? Is the church considered as the weakest link in the national chain or is the church the least worthy of trust, to meticulously observe all of the prescribed mandatory health protocols? Is the church considered now, as irresponsible with regards to this nefarious and killer corona disease? Are the members of the church unlike other citizens who are permitted to gather, by tens more pruned to spread the COVID 19 VIRUS?
This unsavory development with reference to the church in Liberia after 172 years of relative independence leads me to 1 Samuel 4:21-22, which reads as follows, “And about the time of her death the woman that stood by her said unto her, fear not; for thou has born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it. And she named the child I’- chabod, saying the glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken Just as the ark of God during the reign of Eli, was the visible symbolic glory/honor of the invisible God Almighty, the church of our time is the visible symbolic glory/honor of Jesus Christ, the only Potent and wise God. When the ark of God was taken away from people of Israel, the glory/honor of God was also taken away, which greatly concerned an unnamed pregnant woman, whose child was named l’-chabod.
It is greatly concerning and disappointing that, at one of our assumed darkest hours, the corona virus has caused for the ark of God, which has been in Liberia for many years to be carried away for a prescribed period with the consent of the religious leaders. Just as it was then, it is now: the glory/honor of God in Liberia has departed, due to the closure of the doors of the church, during such an intricate time, in our nation’s perplexed history.
In my mind, if there had ever been a time for the doors of every church, to stay open for God’s choicest people, to freely and willingly congregate, to seek the precious face of the God of the Bible, THE TIME IS NOW OR NEVER I It is the most appropriate time for the church, to brightly shine its liberating and healing light on this dark corona disease.