Top of the Week: Will We Face the ‘Insanity, Tyranny, Hypocrisy’ Australian Christians Face?
An Australian pastor whose videos about former President Donald Trump went viral a few years ago is concerned with how far left Australia has swung in the COVID era, calling what people there are facing an “oppressive mix of insanity, tyranny and hypocrisy.”
I have done several podcasts with Pastor Steve Cioccolanti, and we keep in touch. A few days he texted something that alarmed me and prompted a podcast and this article. He wrote: “As of last Friday I can be fined $21k [Australian, or $15,736 U.S.] for showing up at my own church, and the church can be fined $110k [Australian, or $74,935 U.S.] for anyone not needled [vaccinated]. It’s a dictatorship in Victoria, Australia.”
I’m aware of similar situations in the United States that I wrote about in my new book, God and Cancel Culture. Thankfully it’s not as bad here, and some court decisions have minimized the persecution Americans face if they don’t go along with COVID mandates. In our discussion, Cioccolanti reveals the truth behind his alarming text message.
Dr. Stella Immanuel Reveals the Spirit Behind the Agenda for COVID-19
Have we ever witnessed such a level of global control and exercise of raw power to cause people to conform to a certain agenda as we did starting in 2020? The agenda I refer to is submitting to whatever the government claims about COVID-19 and accepting the vaccines without resistance.
What happened when this agenda exploded in our nation? We saw some people resist, but we saw a lot of people go right along with the agenda as if they were robots. Indeed, they behaved like unthinking machines, accepting whatever the “authorities” said. Worse than that, they worked against people who didn’t go along with the agenda. As pharmacists, they refused to fill prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine or other treatments. As ER doctors, they refused to see patients who didn’t agree to be checked in for COVID-19.
As tech workers at Google, Twitter, Facebook, and Apple, they deleted posts about hydroxychloroquine, or the devastating effect of lockdowns, or stolen elections or anything else not on their global agenda. This happened so quickly and with such uniform obedience from so many that it seemed almost supernatural. Could it be?
IVP author and beloved Regent College professor Dr. Donald Munro Lewis, 71, passed away unexpectedly from cardiac arrest on Tuesday, October 19. Lewis taught and served in various roles at Regent College for 40 years, most notably as professor of church history.
“In the normal hubbub of our college life, Don was a kind of fixed point of reference,” said Regent College professor Craig Gay. “He was always there, always the same steady presence, and you knew that he’d do just about anything for you if he possibly could. He was, in short, the kind of friend that defines the meaning of friendship. His bear hugs have become the stuff of legend. And he was a friend and pastor to so many people all over the world! The scale and scope of his personal network is simply astonishing. And, of course, Don was an exemplary churchman, an excellent scholar and teacher, a trusted administrator, and a devoted husband, father, and most recently grandfather. Don’s is an example to me of a life very well lived. We will miss him dearly.”
Born in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Lewis grew up in the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada and attended Bishop’s University, Lennoxville, where he earned a bachelor’s in history and a diploma in education. He then taught high school in Montreal for three years before going on to study at and graduate from Regent College.
Hours before actor Alec Baldwin fired a fatal gunshot from a prop gun that he had been told was safe, a camera crew for the movie he was filming walked off the job to protest conditions and production issues that included safety concerns.
Disputes in the production of the Western film Rust began almost from the start in early October and culminated with seven crew members walking off several hours before 42-year-old cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed.
The crew members had expressed their discontent with matters that ranged from safety procedures to their housing accommodations, according to one of those who left. He requested anonymity for fear that speaking up would hurt his prospects for future jobs. Rust Movie Productions did not answer emails Friday and Saturday seeking comment.
Traveling with them have been award-winning filmmakers, Joy and Matt Thayer, founders of Spero Pictures. Their task has been to capture the spirit and message of the tour to make it available for the many who were unable to attend the constantly sold-out events. The Reawakening: The Docuseries will be available Nov. 15,with advance sales currently underway offering unique benefits for those who preorder, which helps fund the project.
The Thayers explain their mission: “We believe we are heading into one of the most pivotal times in our nation’s history. That’s why we are hitting the road to capture the action firsthand. Support our filmmaking journey as our family and team travel across America to capture this unfolding drama.” {eoa}
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