In The News

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People have been saying that the time would come when pastors' sermons will be censored. That time has arrived. The pastor of a Baptist church in Georgia (USA), had a sermon recently pulled off of YouTube. He had been posting his messages on this social media for quite some time so that someone who was not able to attend services could watch his sermons. There had never been any problems until August 24, 2014.

His congregation had been asking him to preach on persecuted Christians in the Middle East. He called it an "educational sermon" on religious persecution and radical Islam. It was based on Matthew 24:9 that says, "They will hand you over for persecution, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of My name."

In the words of the pastor, "Apparently they didn't like me preaching on radical Islam, so I got booted and banned...This is sermon censorship." His account was immediately cancelled. He concluded it must have been due to YouTube's labeling his sermon as hate speech, because according to their community guidelines they define it as "speech which attacks or demeans a group" based upon their race, origin, or religion. In other words, calling evil, evil, and associating it with a particular group of people is now considered hate speech.

However, what really should be "booted and banned" is the inconsistency and obvious bias of YouTube. At the same time they yanked this pastor's sermon, they allowed ISIS to the show the beheading of James Foley. Bill O'Reilly criticized them for allowing this video to air in words that I will not include here.

Hate speech has gotten to the point of expressing beliefs that others may consider intollerant of opposing views. I recently came across a news item that said it may become "hate speech" to say, "Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life."

This pastor in Georgia was simply teaching the word of God as it applies to current events and to keep his congregation informed. More pastors should be doing what he did. Only time will tell how many more pastors will have their sermons censored and booted. This is a sign of the times. (Edited on 10/15/14. Some pastors in Houston, Texas, USA, are being ordered by city officials to turn over their sermons!)

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