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https://www.828ministries.com/articles/Why-Jack-Hibbs-Remains-Wro-by-Anthony-Wade-Faith_God-210528-458.html

May 28, 2021

Why Jack Hibbs Remains Wrong for Reopening His Church Amidst Pandemic

By Anthony Wade

Pastor Jack Hibbs is still trying to defend his decision last year to reopen his church in the middle of a plague. He remains wrong.

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"And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: 'The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation."' I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'" - Revelation 3:14-22 (ESV)

Charisma Magazine

Jack Hibbs is the founder and senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in Southern California. He rose his national platform by being a vocal proponent for reopening his church in the middle of the most lethal pandemic in a century by violating state ordinances against such. This of course made him a darling amongst the apostate church that knows so little about the actual church because of their purpose driven foundations. Defying common sense and science, these alleged church leaders cared more about collecting tithes than the health of their congregants. Make no mistake about it, people died because of actions such as these. People became irreparably sick because of these actions. There is simply no way of getting around the numbers. Many pastors tried to use carnal arguments pretending they knew better than scientists and epidemiologists. One pastor lamented that pastors should know better than anyone when it would be safe for their churches to meet again. That is scientifically and biblically insane.

They behaved so reprehensibly even though pastors have literally died from COVID for such behaviors across this country. Let us not lose sight of what was really at issue last year. Many of these churches, including Hibbs' opened around May of 2020, when the pandemic was in full swing. There have been over two million cases with over 50,000 deaths in this country. The state governments that ordered churches not meet did not "close the church." That is a silly argument. They simply said that large indoor gatherings, such as Charismaniacal church serves, needed to be temporarily suspended. They did not say that the church could not service their congregants, either individually or in small groups. They did not say that pastoral care visits had to stop. They did not say that services could not be virtual. They did not say churches could not find more creative ways to help their communities and spread the Gospel. They just could not pack thousands of people into close quarters. The problem is Jack Hibbs and the cult of personality pastors of today were trained under the Rick Warren Purpose Driven Church model where those hour and a half on Sundays ARE the church. Without them they simply do not know what else to do. More to the point they also lose their primary revenue generation, Sunday tithes and offerings. So they lunched into their two pronged strategy. First attack the government in direct violation of Romans 13. Second was to hide behind bible fragments to pretend their cause was righteous when it most certainly was not. A year later, the pastors that thumbed their noses at authority such as Hibbs are still trying to defend their indefensible behavior. Above is a link to a recent article from Hibbs doing just that. Let us reason once more together.

'"To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write ... I know your works" (Rev. 3:7a-8a). While these words were penned to a specific local church in Asia Minor, they also echo throughout eternity as a reminder for every church throughout the New Testament era. Christ is King and Lord over the churches. He alone has authority over the church. However, in recent years, the church has seemed confused about its holy pedigree, its prophetic place and God's great plan. Sadly, many people are questioning the value and the relevancy of what a church is in our day. This has led people to ask, "What purpose does the church serve today?"' - Jack Hibbs

Hibbs just missed the church from Revelation that more closely resembles where the church is today in America. The key verses may as well have been spoken directly to Hibbs. His works are neither hot nor cold. He thinks he is rich and needs nothing but he cannot see he is wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked. The reason why many question the relevancy of the church today has nothing to do with COVID and everything to do with the NAR dominionism that has taken over the modern church. When your opening position eliminates more than half the population based upon political affiliation, what else do you expect? Then factor in the purpose driven church growth model that reduces church to a mere hour and a half each Sunday and what are you left with? Realize that Hibbs and his ilk were arguing only to be allowed to hold their weekend services. That is not the church! A half an hour of vapid music that centers on man instead of God, followed by a twenty-minute sermonette about how special we are? That is not the church yet that is what Hibbs is fighting for! Growing the Laodicean Church is not the great commission.

"More alarming is the reality that many people have now become comfortable not attending church at all. Sure, people will say they now do church online, but let's be honest--viewing an online service is no different than listening to a radio teaching program while driving down the highway. It may be learning, but it is not church. It will not be church until God's people create the opportunity to meet physically. The truth is that tens of thousands of former church attendees have now found it much more comfortable and convenient to stay home. They have adopted a "wait and see" approach. This is exactly why I believe the Scriptures exhort us to be careful about how we value Christ's church in these days and our meeting together (see Heb. 10:25).

The great news is that Jesus told the pastor in Philadelphia, "I know your works. Look! I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it" (Rev. 3:8a). No pastor, board of elders, governor, president or ruler in this world has the authority to shut the doors of Jesus' church. Only Jesus has that right." Jack Hibbs

I agree that online viewing cannot replace gathering together to worship God. It can however serve as an interim tool when the world is confronted with a once in a generation plague. Look how callous Hibbs is here. People who are concerned about catching a lethal virus are dubbed as taking a "wait and see" approach! Are you kidding me! It is sad when the sheep know better than the shepherd. They do not need the sermonette and the banal repetitive choruses of how much God loves me. Not at the risk of their very lives. Hibbs needs to give his folks more credit. They are the ones who had it right. They also see right through transparent pastors who hide behind verses out of context to try and guilt the sheep into their woodchipper. Hibbs abuses Revelation 3:8 here. The door is NOT the church door but the Gospel. Hibbs actually cites a verse here that disproves his entire position. The Gospel is not bound by any building. No one can truly shut the Gospel down. They might prohibit your little cul-de-sac Christianity and your microwaved services but the Gospel will march on. It will march on with or without you. The state of California tried to shut the doors of Jack Hibbs' church but Hibbs shut the door on the Gospel. By whining and defying authority he pushed away those he needed to reach. This past year was an enormous opportunity for those who preach the Gospel. The world needed God and pastors everywhere pretended that God only was only available on Sundays from 10 am to 11:30 am. Hibbs and his anti-government and science friends held the keys to the kingdom in their hands and told everyone that God was unavailable unless they got their way. That petulance and disobedience is not lost on the unsaved.

"In 2020, it became evident that what was unfolding was the fact that God, though He didn't cause the COVID issue, was using it to test His church and purify His people. Pastors and Christian leaders shared a genuine concern to protect the welfare and health of their churches and communities. However, this later became a standoff between political agendas and obedience to the Word of God. As we continue through 2021, the next phase of testing will most likely come to the church by way of persecution. The onslaught of societal issues will demand supremacy, trumping a biblical worldview. That thought should not surprise the Western church. In every generation for the last 2,000 years, believers in every age and culture have been appointed to forms of persecution. The result was and will be excellent--a cleansing and purging of the church." - Jack Hibbs

What Hibbs cannot see is that God may have used COVID to expose the hirelings in His pulpits. To expose pastors who are more interested in purpose driven goals and tithes than the safety and well being of the sheep entrusted to them. I will not allow Jack Hibbs to rewrite history here. He reopened his church just a few months into this worldwide pandemic. Tens of thousands of Americans have died since then. His characterization of a standoff between political agendas and obedience to the word is asinine but it is the end product of polluting the church with the politics of this world. His foreboding of persecution is equally stupid. Asking people to avoid situations that could kill them is not persecution. The cleansing and purging of the church is already well underway in response to the great apostasy, of which Hibbs is a part. Don't get me wrong, there is persecution in the world today. The underground church in China or the deaths of martyrs across the Middle East will attest to that. Telling American churches they temporarily cannot hold mega-gatherings for an hour and a half on Sundays however, is not persecution. It was common sense.

"We all love the awesome dynamic biblical accounts of great exploits of faith and victories in the face of certain opposition and even death. Those accounts become our encouragement in trying times like these. The church that is taking a stand and has determined to obey Scripture, to be salt and light, to be the hands and feet of Jesus and to be the voice of hope to a perishing culture--that church will be deemed to be at odds with this world. Humanly speaking, the world will make many good and reasonable arguments as to why the church must stay closed and stand down--to comply in the face of "public safety" or "political correctness"--but its argument comes from its value system, while ours comes from Jesus Christ. I believe we are entering into times of testing. These days of testing must come to prove that the church is neither essential nor nonessential, but rather transcendent. The true church of Jesus Christ will be as a light shining on a hill, a beacon to those who are lost and willing to be hated by the world for the cause of Christ, which is the redemption of the souls of men. Let's take courage by remembering what Jesus went on to say: "For you have a little strength, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name" (Rev. 3:8b)." - Jack Hibbs

Ok, first of all, comparing biblical exploits of faith and victory to stomping your feet like a spoiled child at the government is ridiculous. Holding a service on Sundays is not what it means to be salt and light to a dying culture. Defying the governing authorities is not obeying scripture - it is disobedience. Are the hands and feet of Jesus only accessible at Calvary Chapel in Chino Hills on Sunday mornings? Look how ignorantly he glosses over public safety and conflates it with political correctness. Protecting people from a deadly virus was not "politically correct." Make no mistake about it beloved. Jack Hibbs' arguments for violating law and reopening his church had nothing to do with Jesus Christ and everything to do with Jack Hibbs. A true church of Jesus Christ does not need an hour and a half on Sundays to be essential. The apostate church today is not like the church from Philadelphia. It is in fact the church of Laodicea. Do not allow the Jack Hibbs's of the world rewrite history. He reopened his church in the heart of the worst pandemic in a hundred years and in doing so consigned his sheep to serious illness or death. He had no biblical reason for doing so.

Reverend Anthony Wade - May 28, 2021



Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

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