Banned comment: Agree or disagree with the truckers protesting in Canada, Europe and soon to be here in the US, it is every thinking person's right. However, that is not the point of the article below. It is about how the Church of God International has now blatantly entered the political playing field and are endorsing political actions, figureheads, and causes around them, both from the pulpit and in print. Adrian Davis is now taking this message to Rumble where he is seeking to gain a new following of readers to his pseudo-religious/political message. CGI apparently stepped in and told him to stop using CGI's platforms for his political messages and in a spirit of rebellion jumped into Rumble. Politics has already created division in CGI, just as it has in society around us.
How can any COG member ever trust a minister spouting political crap when they can't even be trusted to be grace-filled leaders that treat members with respect and preach about Jesus?
CGI Canada’s Freedom Convoy
Church of God International Pastor Adrian Davis of Burlington, Canada wants the world to know that the folks in Tyler, Texas are not going to silence him! In defiance of that church’s leadership, Davis delivered Part 3 of his now infamous sermon series “Closer Than A Brother” this past Sabbath (5 February 2022). He announced: “We are trying out a new platform – that is the Rumble platform.” He claims that he was instructed to not use the church’s main platform if he intended to talk about something controversial (He was actually instructed to stop talking about Covid vaccinations and mandates). Hence, his decision to “Rumble.”
For those who may be unfamiliar with the site, Rumble is the preferred platform of folks like Devin Nunes, Jim Jordan, Sean Hannity, and Donald Trump. Why would the Pastor decide to use the preferred platform of Trumpists? As his message continued, the answer to that question became clear. Pastor Davis announced that he wanted to speak about the Covid vaccination mandate protest by Canadian truckers known in some circles as “The Freedom Convoy.” Fortunately, as of this writing, Davis’ long-winded sermon (over an hour in length) had only garnered thirteen “rumbles” (an indication of the post’s popularity).
He began his message by referencing the book Live Not By Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents by Ron Dreher. Davis used the book to draw an analogy to the experiences of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn when he was under the thumb of Soviet totalitarianism. According to the pastor, the Christian church should “refuse to live by lies” (meaning we should resist vaccine mandates and attempts to suppress our lies about them). He went on to compare the situation in the U.S. to the former totalitarian regimes of Eastern Europe. “We are clearly headed towards some kind of totalitarianism,” he warned.
Pastor Davis went on to ask: “What does the Freedom Convoy of 2022 mean to Christians?” He said that elders must resist efforts to suppress them speaking out against mandates – that they must “speak the truth from Scripture.” To underscore his point, Davis referenced Daniel’s behavior when a law was promulgated which forbade the worship of anyone but the King. In other words, according to the pastor, Daniel clearly resisted a government mandate in this instance by continuing to do what he’d always done (praying to God). He said that Daniel was willing to face the consequences of his actions, but Davis never really addressed the subject of whether or not he would be willing to accept any sanctions for his own behavior.
Davis then went on to commend his colleague Murray Palmatier’s diatribe against church leadership’s restrictions on Covid misinformation from the pulpit. From there, the pastor proceeded to decry the “mob rule” of the Black Lives Matter movement, but he chose not to mention what happened on Jan 6, 2021 in the same vein. Davis then proceeded to proclaim that mandates were getting more and more restrictive (this despite the fact that many states have eased restrictions as Omicron numbers have declined). He went on to bemoan the fact that America used to be the “beacon of freedom” in the world, but that Canada had now replaced America as the symbol of freedom in the world (the implication being that the Freedom Convoy had earned them that title). Davis gleefully declared that the convoy which began in Ottawa had now spread around the world – pushing back against those horrible mandates!
From there, the pastor proceeded to bemoan the “post Christian world” that currently exists and gave voice to his longing for the good old days when America and Canada were Christian nations. According to Davis, both of those countries are moving toward a Marxist ethic. As I listened to Davis, I couldn’t help but wonder about the rest of the world! Isn’t he supposed to be part of the Church of God International! I am waiting for the pastor to suggest that they change the name of the church to something less globalist in outlook! Continuing in the same vein, the pastor went on to bemoan the current “assault on logic” – that “a man can be a woman” (the pastor appears to be transfixed by this whole question of gender identity). Before finishing his diatribe, the pastor got in one more jab at the very immoral BLM movement.
Nevertheless, not all is hopeless! It is very clear that the pastor finds great joy and solace in “The Freedom Convoy.” He said that we simply cannot ignore all of those trucks disrupting our supply chain. He claimed that this was justified because mandates are evil. He went on to say that the convoy is breaking the spell created by this mass formation mob which supports vaccine mandates. Davis also made clear that he is mad at Prime Minister Trudeau for calling the truckers a fringe minority. He then proceeded to decry the Prime Minister’s Marxist leanings and said that he should respect the truckers and what they are trying to accomplish. According to Davis, these are good people just trying to stand up for their God-given rights.
In a final gasp of madness, Pastor Davis went on to compare “The Freedom Convoy” protest to the Christian Passover! He underscored their courage and commitment as the very values that underpin that Holy day. For the pastor, it is unconscionable for those carnal truckers to have taken this stand against mandates while Christians meekly do what they’re told to do! If Christians could only find their courage, Pastor Davis mused that the coming Passover could be the most meaningful one ever! He went on to decry the “fear of death” which motivates those nasty mandates; but he never mentions his own fear that the vaccine might kill him, or that he is afraid of government totalitarianism. Clearly, for Pastor Davis, Christians should not fear dying from Covid-19. According to him, we have the resurrection to look forward to, and he compared death to falling asleep (there is no mention of the fact that Scripture also refers to death as our enemy). I have to say that this part of his sermon made me the most nauseous. I felt like saying that many of us on the other side of this issue also have hope in the resurrection!
Pastor Davis concluded his message with more praise for the truckers. He claimed that they should not be compared to those evil BLM people who were trying to burn down cities (even though the truckers are literally trying to burn down the supply chain in an attempt to blackmail the Canadian government into eliminating a vaccine mandate). According to Davis, most of the world lives under the “rule of whim” (implying that there is no justification for wanting to vaccinate everyone). He went on to say that “When the government fears the people, you have democracy.” Davis said that he believes that totalitarians derive their power from Satan (even though Scripture states that God places rulers in positions of authority). According to Davis, if the convoy’s blackmail is successful, they will have pushed back against the advance of Marxist totalitarianism. He finished with a shout-out to the personification of that can do American Spirit, Donald Trump (and his chief supporter Bill Watson), and Davis made clear that his hat is off to those glorious Canadian truckers. Me thinks that CGI has a big problem on its hands!
--Lonnie Hendrix
