Two days before Charlie Kirk was murdered, he called out Pastor Steven Furtick, Senior Pastor of Elevation Church, on social media:
“Hey Steven Furtick- you are the biggest pastor in Charlotte, NC with tens of millions of social media followers
Why haven’t you spoke out against the murder of Iryna Zarutska? You posted to your millions of followers about George Floyd yet won’t mention Iryna
Why?”
Pastor Steven, it is time to respond.
I watched your message from this past weekend as you talked about your fear of someone killing you. Why did Charlie’s murder become about you and your fears?
I watched as you stood in the audience and screamed, “there are more of us than there are of them.”
I watched as you talked about the lies that Jeremiah and Elijah had believed about themselves and the lies the enemy had used against them.
Pastor Steven, it is time to have the courage of Elijah as you preached about in 1 Kings 19. It’s time to come out of the cave and back down the road of Damascus and do what God has called you to do.
In the words of Lauren Daigle’s song, “Still Rolling Stones,” she says, “Rise up!”
It’s time for the evangelical pastors of America to rise up!
Yes, it is time to stop giving into the old lies and fears.
It is time to begin a new loop as you said, Pastor Steven.
It is time for pastors to come out of their caves and stop self-serving their agendas.
The church is Christ’s bride not ours.
The church of Jesus needs courageous pastors speaking the truth in love to the Ahabs and the Jezebels of our day. The prophets of Baal have grown in number, but the power of God is greater still.
There is a growing trend in American evangelical churches to remain quiet about issues of sexuality, gender, and the growing hatred of conservative Christians.
You don’t have to agree with everything Charlie Kirk said to stand with him now. Just as you don’t have to agree with everything about the life of MLK to stand with him now.
Jesus says a hired hand runs, a good shepherd stands and suffers whatever must happen for the sake of the sheep for Jesus. Jesus says in John 10:12, “He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees.”
It is time for shepherds to stand for truth.
Jesus is against sexism.
Jesus is against racism.
Jesus is against sex-trafficking.
Jesus is against same sex marriage.
Jesus is against transgenderism.
Jesus is against sexual abuse in the church at the hands of pastors and ministry leaders who cover it up with nondisclosure agreements.
Jesus is against shepherds that refuse to teach these truths to God’s people.
What kind of shepherd will you be for God’s church?
Will you be an Ezekiel 34 shepherd or a Psalm 23 and John 10 shepherd?
Will you be a self-seeking hired hand that does what benefits your bottom line or will you lead God’s sheep at your own expense, like Charlie.
Ezekiel 34:1 says, “The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 4 The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them.”
We need Psalm 23 and John 10 Good Shepherds and not Ezekiel 34 Shepherds.
Fear of the Lord is good.
When Mary learned she was pregnant with Jesus she sang this song, “His mercy is for those who fear Him.” (Luke 1:50)
The Psalmist says it best in Psalm 23:4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me (Lord).”
Fear of humans is demonic.
God told Jeremiah, “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 1:8)
Pastors, don’t run from social media when it gets hard. Don’t use social media for your own gain and pleasure and then run from it when it gets too emotionally dicey. Use it to disciple your people. Use it to show them how to respond in a godly biblical way to tragedy and stare evil in the face with love, faith, and courage.
Speak faith, show courage.
Speak truth, show grace.
Speak Jesus, show sacrifice.
Speak life, don’t be afraid of death.
God’s Word will stand forever!
Jesus will meet each of us where we are, but the church of Jesus needs shepherds not afraid of the wolves of our day. As shepherds we are called to stand at the gate and keep out the wolves seeking to devour the sheep.
Jesus said in Matthew 10:16, “I send you out as sheep among wolves. Be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”
Jesus said in Matthew 10:27, “What I tell you in the dark, say in the light.”
Jesus said in Matthew 10:34-36, “I didn’t come to bring peace but a sword.”
Jesus said in Matthew 10:28, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Now is not the time to retreat in fear Pastor Steven. Now is not the time for us to worry about someone taking our lives because of our faith in Jesus.
Now is the time like Elijah to come out of the cave!
Now is our time to stand and proclaim the truth and embrace these words from Jesus:
“Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold your reward is great in heaven;” (Luke 6:22-23)
Pastor Steven, you had a chance in your message to address Charlie’s death and his social media post to you, but you alluded to it as “events of the week” but never directly addressed it.
Charlie died because he stood for the truth of Jesus.
The enemy knows hell is real.
The demons know Jesus is God.
The enemy uses fear to get the Ezekiel 34 shepherds to go mute and flee.
But God says through Ezekiel, 7 “Shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 As I live, declares the Lord God, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves and have not fed my sheep, 10 Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds…NO longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.” (Ezekiel 34:7-10)
The good shepherds in John 10 stand between the sheep and the wolves at the peril of their own expense, that is a good shepherd.
Be a good shepherd!
No stronghold will stand against the truth of Jesus Christ and His Word!
Shepherds, it’s time to speak truth to the sheep of Jesus, no matter the cost!
Rise up!!!
Blessings
Pastor Kelly
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