“When I’m wrong, I say I’m wrong.” Those were the words Dr. Jake Houseman (Jerry Orbach) said to Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze) in Dirty Dancing. It was a humbling moment for a father to say to the man pursuing his daughter.
Today, I say those same words.
In March, our worlds seemed to change overnight. “COVID-19” and “coronavirus” would become words we would soon repeat multiple times on a daily basis as we stayed inside our homes waiting for the next right move.
I think many of us had the assumption that this would only be for a couple of weeks, then we’d be back to normal.
So, when states started shutting down and congregations stopped gathering in church buildings, it was only going to be for a little while, so I thought.
In April, I read an article with the headline “Tampa pastor arrested for defying virus orders closes church due to ‘tyrannical government”. As I read the article, I found myself judging Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne for being so irresponsible in the way he was leading his congregation.
I asked myself questions, like:
- How could this man put his congregation in danger in a time like this
- Is he only worried about not losing members?
- Does he know something I don’t know?
- Why would he purposely defy the law over a tiny shutdown?
The article claimed Browne was “defiant” and accused him of not being “shy about generating publicity for himself.”
I then decided to share the article on Facebook, communicating my disdain for this pastor’s decision. Many people followed suit in agreement.
Digging Deeper for the Truth
But a friend reached out to me and asked me a very important question – did I really know all the information? He encouraged me to dig a little deeper and get more information. I wasn’t really interested at first because I had my mind made up, but I trust my friend and decided I would.
A few days later I decided to remove the post considering perhaps I didn’t have all the information. Turns out that was true. Turns out I allowed a news headline to fire me up and lead me to believe an article that was inaccurate.
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I allowed my fear of the unknown, my tired emotions, and my anger for all the craziness around me, to dictate my feelings.
I was wrong. I was foolish. And I needed to do better. And for anyone else I had a part in convincing due to my lack of full knowledge, I apologize. It is never my desire to lead people astray from the truth.
Since then, I have tried to do just that – be better in understanding more information, digging deeper for the truth, and only sharing things I know to be true.
Unfortunately, in the process of that, it’s heartbreaking what I continue to discover.
Since that day in April, I have learned even more about that situation and I believe that Rodney Howard-Browne did indeed know something I didn’t know. I believe he was in tune with Holy Spirit and made his decisions based on that.
And just like the media has been doing with almost every person who doesn’t line up with their agenda, they twisted it to create a story and bring division.
Oh, my heart aches for the foolishness I was a part of.
Sharing the Truth
May I share what I have learned?
Browne was arrested on Monday, March 30, 2020, after holding Sunday worship services at The River at Tampa Bay. He was charged with unlawful assembly and violating the county’s stay-at-home order. He was later released on bail.
The county ended up dropping the case because the church’s constitutional rights to freedom of religion and freedom of assembly were violated. While churches were told to close, liquor stores and big box stores were deemed “essential.”
On Thursday, March 26, Sheriff Chronister gave the church permission to meet on Sunday, March 29, and that he had no intention of shutting it down, and no intention of arresting anyone. He gave these assurances after he was informed of all the precautions the church proposed to undertake, including encouraging seniors or people with predisposed health conditions to stay home, limiting attendance by encoring a 6-foot separation, requiring each person to use hand sanitizers upon entry and installing over $100,000 of high-grade hospital air purifiers. A deputy sheriff also toured the church to inspect the premises the same day.
On Saturday, March 28, the church was thoroughly sanitized. On Sunday, March 29, the church met.
Then on Monday, the same sheriff who gave the green light to meet a few days earlier held a press conference announcing the pastor’s arrest, during which Sheriff Chronister made many false statements.
Following Rodney’s arrest, on Wednesday, April 1, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued Executive Order 2020-91, stating: “Attending religious services conducted in churches, synagogues and houses of worship” is an “essential activity.”
The same day, Executive Order 2020-92 required that his order supersede any contrary local government order respecting essential services and activities. The Hillsborough County order restricting churches was therefore overruled.
Stephen Strang, God, Trump, and COVID-19
That’s a far cry from what the media originally reported, isn’t it? This man was in no way being defiant. He was in no way trying to make a public show. He was simply trying to provide a church service, where the body of Christ could come together to worship, pray, and fellowship in a time when we needed it most.
Yet, in an instant, that right was stripped away from him. And it continues to happen almost daily in our United States of America.
What are we going to do about it?
My friends, let us all pray together for Holy Spirit to show us truth regarding what we read and hear.
To say that the mainstream media is legitimate, I believe makes us all foolish, because they have proved time and time again their agenda is not to report the truth.
And when we choose to believe lies, we hurt ourselves, we hurt others, and we hurt the United States of America, a country built on religious freedom, devoted to allowing us to worship God.
Let’s wake up, America. Let’s keep praying for truth to prevail. Let’s keep fighting in the spirit for our Country, and let’s keep standing up with firm truth when the enemy tries to knock us down.
Awake yet, America?
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