The song “Fix You” by British rock band Coldplay was written more than 17 years ago, but its emotional lyrics continues to make an impact on culture and society today.
The band made its seventh appearance on Saturday Night Live recently, and for their final performance on the show, they performed an emotional medley of their songs “Human Heart” from 2021 and “Fix You.”
“Fix You,” a song written by the entire band, was inspired by lead singer Chris Martin’s efforts to comfort then-wife Gwyneth Paltrow following the death of her father Bruce, today.com reported.
Some of the lyrics indicate that “Fix You” could be a Christian-based song: “Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones, but I will try to fix you. … Tears stream down your face, when you lose something you cannot replace, tears stream down your face …”
PremierChristian.news reported that Martin was raised in an evangelical home, but has since distanced himself from Christianity, saying he is an “alltheist,” meaning he believes God “is in everyone and is everywhere.”
It has been reported that the Martin family attended the Belmont Chapel in Exeter, where Chris’ parents played a crucial role in the church.
During an interview in 2021 with Howard Stern, Martin said:
“My God, for me is all things and all. God is everywhere and everyone and it’s also the unknowable, the vast majesty behind everything. And it’s just the point where you get to the place where you can’t think any further, that’s where I think God is. I don’t think that God is a man in the sky with a gray beard.”
Watch the video from Coldplay’s Saturday Night Live performance above. You decide whether or not God’s hand was in the writing of this classic tune. {eoa}
“I was there and wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy,” Johnson says. “I don’t care what he did to me. No one deserves that.”
Johnson says the things he saw were, “indescribable,” and that good works won’t get you to heaven as it says in Ephesians 2:8-10, which reads: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, so that we should walk in them.”
“My spirit left my physical body, and I thought I was on my way up [to heaven],” Johnson says. “I thought I did so much good during my life and that I helped so many people. But even so, I went down [to hell]. I entered the very center of the Earth. … It brings up so many difficult feelings when I talk about it.”
One of the things Johnson says he witnessed in hell included a man “walking on all fours like a dog and getting burned from head to toe. His eyes were bulging and, worse than that, he was wearing chains on his neck. He was like a hellhound. There was a demon holding the chains.
“Like telepathically, I knew that the demon was sent in this man’s life to ride him from his childhood to his death.”
Johnson says that “the demon knows if he succeeds in making people not serve God and do bad things, he will overpower them in hell, where they will be his slaves.”
During his trip to hell, Johnson says he was angry with God because he felt as if he undeservedly wound up there. But, he was able to escape and return to earth.
“I rose up out of hell and God spoke to me. He said, ‘You were secretly angry with people who harmed you and you hoped I would punish them. These are not your people. They are My people. I just want you to focus on the task I have given you.’
“A man who cannot forgive is a man who forgot that He was forgiven,” Johnson says. “That is my experience from hell. It is a completely real place.”
Bill Wiese, the author of the New York Times bestselling book, “23 Minutes in Hell,”has also been in hell and came back, and says his message is not a message of condemnation, but one of love.
Wiese said he actually asked God, “Why did you send me to this horrible place?” God told him that it was because many of His own people do not believe that hell is real.
Both Johnson and Wiese tell a markedly different story.
Shawn A. Akersis the online editor at Charisma Media.
Did Mr. Rogers Warn Against Transgenderism?
While he may not have realized it at the time, Fred Rogers, otherwise known as “Mr. Rogers” on the children’s television program “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood,” may have been anti-trans and also prophetic about the culture in America more than 40 years ago.
A devoted Christian, Rogers, who hosted the program on Public Broadcasting Service from 1968 to 2001, sang a song called “Everybody’s Fancy” in several episodes. In the song, Rogers proclaims, “Boys are boys from the beginning, and girls are girls right from the start. Everybody’s fancy, everybody’s fine. Your body’s fancy and so is mine.”
It is a far cry from what is happening in American culture today, as “gender identity” and transgenderism have become popular not only with adults but also with children.
So why is this song suddenly becoming an issue, when culture seems to have accepted transgenderism as the norm in America?
The video of the song recently resurfaced on the popular social media outlet TikTok (see below), and it has garnered more than 308,000 views since being posted in mid-January. Was the iconic and beloved children’s program host “Mr. Rogers” trying to warn society against promoting transgenderism?
TRIGGER WARNING. ⚠️ This is the most upsetting thing you will see all weekend. pic.twitter.com/eVLPZ3J3RI
“Mister Rogers knew something way back in 1980 and tried to warn us. We laughed at him because we thought what he said was silly and nonsense.”
In one episode of the program, outside of the song, Rogers said, “If you’re a boy, you stay a boy.” He also said, “when you are born a girl baby you grow up to be a bigger girl and [then] a woman.
The song also states that, “Only girls can grow up to be the mommy. Only boys can grow up to be the daddy.”
Another Twitter user sarcastically commented, “I trust Mr. Rogers more than Dr. Fauci with my health.”
Charisma News columnist Dr. Michael Brown wrote in a Dec. 2022 article: “This is cultural madness, plain and simple, and I will not tone down my rhetoric in an effort to appear moderate and balanced.”
Rogers stayed true to his beliefs throughout his life, including in this interview with Johnny Carson when he said “Everybody’s Fancy” is important because “sometimes children think they might change—they might have to change after a while. … You know, we laugh about that now, but it’s because we had that concern when we were little.”
Leviticus 18:22 reads, “You shall not lie with a man as one does with a woman. It is an abomination,” while Leviticus 20:13 reads, “If a man lies with another man as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood guilt shall be upon them.”
Whether it was intentional or not, it appears as if Fred Rogers, through the song “Everybody’s Fancy,” prophesied what American culture would be like in the 21st century. And if you couldn’t trust “Mr. Rogers,” who can you trust?
Shawn A. Akersis the online editor at Charisma Media.
Chad Becomes Latest Muslim Nation to Open Embassy in Israel
Chad President Mahamat Deby is in Israel to inagurate his country’s embassy in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan, scheduled to take place on Thursday.
The central African country is the latest predominantly Muslim nation to strengthen ties with Israel. The two countries re-established relations five years ago, and Deby continued the warming relations in response to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s African outreach begun by his father, Idriss Deby, who was assassinated in 2021.
Israel’s leadership stressed the importance of Deby’s visit, as he met Wednesday in Jerusalem with Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency.
The African leader hailed the moment, telling Netanyahu, “Chad and Israel are today at a decisive turning point in their relationship.” It was the president’s first official visit to Israel.
Netanyahu responded, noting the ties with Chad represented a “tremendously important relationship with a major country in the heart of Africa. It is something that we want to carry to new levels, new heights, and your visit here in Israel and the opening of the embassy is a reflection of that.”
WATCH: 12-Year-Old Pentecostal Preacher Delivers Fiery Sermon on God’s Love
The people who are saying the youth movement in the church is dead haven’t listened to 12-year-old Jonathan Williams preach on love.
In a recent sermon at Consuming Fire Ministries in Champaign, Illinois, the pre-teen son of pastors Tony and Ryane Williams delivered a rousing sermon on John 15:12, which reads, “My command is this. Love each other as I have loved you.”
Wednesday is the first day of the celebration of Black History Month. And what a better way to kick it off than for a fiery, young African-American youth to talk about God’s love for us in this amazing video.
“Praise the Lord, everybody,” Williams greeted the congregation prior to his very first sermon. “Can we get some hands clapping for the Lord?
“What is love? Love is an emotion that keeps people bound and committed to one another. If they love each other, they are committed to each other.
“The reason we love is to please God. When we please God, He loves us back. … If you don’t think that God loves you, you must be out of your mind. He sent His own son, Jesus, to die for us.”
Ryane Williams says that, at age five, her son sat his parents down and told them that “God had called him to be a pastor and to preach.” Since that time, he has been consuming the Bible and preparing himself to do just that.
“When he said that, I asked him the question—and he’s very intelligent—’how do you know God has called you to preach?’ He said, “Mom, I feel it in my heart.’ And still today he aspires to be a pastor. So, hopefully we’ll hand it down to him.”
Tony and Ryane Williams were both brought up in the Church of God in Christ, and they planted a Pentecostal church in Tennessee 15 years ago. In 2016, the Williams’ moved to Champaign and founded Consuming Fire Ministries, a non-denominational church.
“We believe in the five-fold gifting’s, and we have a Pentecostal-Apostolic feel to our services,” Ryane explained, and that the growing church of 60 members leans heavily upon the movement of the Holy Spirit.
She says that she is very proud of Jonathan and the path he has taken, and that he has clung to God’s Word to lead his life.
“As adults we tend to overlook the children,” Ryane said. “But God can move through anyone. He allows his spirit to move. Our youth department definitely growing, and now we are looking for another building because we have so many youth and teenagers. They are excited about what God is doing.” {eoa}
Shawn A. Akersis the online editor at Charisma Media.
Yes, Jesus Did Address Sexual Sin
Yes, Chris Bryant, Jesus really did address the subject of homosexuality, no matter how much you might want to twist the issue.
After the Church of England recently set down an edict that forbid same-sex couples to marry but that each individual would receive “God’s blessing,” Bryant, a homosexual and a former Anglican minister, addressed the House of Commons and refuted that Jesus ever taught on the subject.
“Is there any biblical teaching that says this is wrong? Any? Really?” Bryant said in this recent video. “Did Jesus say a single word about same-sex relationships or marriage? I don’t think He did.
“He said a great deal about love. The God of Love and St. Paul said in Christ there was neither male or female, nor Jew or Greek, and I think he probably would have also said neither gay or straight.”
In response to a question about divorce, Jesus said in Matthew 19:4-6 (MEV): “He answered, ‘Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man put asunder.”
Clearly, Jesus spoke of a man and a woman being joined as one in marriage. But it is easy to see how that can be misconstrued, considering the problem of gender identity in today’s culture.
Bryant says the Church of England, while having the best intentions, is operating under hypocrisy with its latest mandate about same-sex marriage.
“Imagine if you have gone to church your whole life and devoted your life to, and this is the place where you can’t get married,” Bryant said. “That is terribly painful. And I think there is still a cruelty in what the bishops have brought forward. … I know they are trying to square everything off, but in the end, there is an hypocrisy that would bless the individuals but not the relationship. You can have a celebration, a blessing, but you can’t be married. You can’t refer to your significant other.”
Ben John, affiliated with Wilberforce Academy, a one-week Christian program for young professionals run by Christian Concern, wrote an opinion piece disagreeing with Bryant’s statement in Parliament.
In his op-ed, John said that in Matthew 19, Jesus clearly “roots the nature and institution of marriage in creation. Marriage is marriage because it is the complementarity of a man and a woman.”
John also quoted Matthew 15:18-19, which reads: “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immorality, thefts, false witness and blasphemies.”
In this passage, the author explained, “sexual immorality” is translated from the Greek word “porneia,” which is also referenced by Jesus in Matthew 5:32, 19:9 and Mark 7:21. The term is the origin of the word “pornography,” he wrote, adding that while it might seem unclear to modern listeners, those who heard Jesus speak would have understood the reference to Leviticus 18, which lists various sinful sexual acts, including incest, adultery, bestiality and homosexual acts.
Even liberal scholars who disagree with their message, John wrote, acknowledge that the Bible does condemn homosexuality. John said in the article, quoting Diarmaid MacCulloch: “Despite much well-intentioned theological fancy footwork to the contrary, it is difficult to see the Bible as expressing anything else but disapproval of homosexual activity.”
Revelation 2:20-23 reads, “But I have a few things against you: You permit that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, but she did not repent. Look! I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. I will put her children to death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the hearts and minds. I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.”
John wrote, “Therefore, those who continue in unrepentant sexual immorality do not truly love Jesus, the author wrote, adding that Bryant should be encouraged to repent and receive God’s love and grace through forgiveness.” {eoa}
Shawn A. Akersis the online editor at Charisma Media.
Mario Murillo Says This Is the Main Issue With ‘So-Called Prophets’
Evangelist Mario Murillo has taken a great deal of heat for a recent blog that he wrote, titled “Mario, Where Have You Been?” In the article, he details why he stepped away from Flashpoint Live, a platform he shared with Lance Wallnau and other evangelists geared toward turning America’s heart back to God.
The first reason was that it was taking him away from his main ministry objective—the saving of lost souls. And, he wrote, “The second reason I stepped away is because I do not want to be on at the same time as a certain other guest. It has to do with his association with two false preachers. I went to him—as Jesus taught, privately. I implored this person to deal with these counterfeit voices. He did not agree with my counsel. One of these false ministers is called a prophet and another that is called a seer. Why am I so adamant about these false prophets? Once again, you will see it has everything to do with preaching the gospel.”
The blog article has caused a major firestorm in the body of Christ on social media, as Murillo called out evangelists Kat Kerr and Robin D. Bullock as “false prophets.” Murillo followed up with another article saying that he would not back down from his original words and would stand by what he said.
In his first blog, Murillo said, “These false preachers say things that are absolutely insane and unscriptural. And therein lies the issue—biblical illiteracy—Murillo told Charisma News’ John Matarazzo in an exclusive interview Monday.
“It is totally the problem,” Murillo says. “And you know, what’s interesting is—and I’ve got to say this real fast—it began in the seeker sensitive model. And that model, for those that don’t, aren’t familiar with church marketing ideologies, is to leave out the offensive aspects of the Bible in order to get a wider hearing and to get people in. The problem is, they’re really not brought in. Their bodies are there but their conversion isn’t.
“So, what we have here is pastors who began to leave the Bible out. And we have individuals who today say things like we need to uncouple Christianity from the Old Testament. Well … Paul said to Timothy, you’ve learned the Scriptures since you were a child, and they are able to correct you and give you life. Well, since the New Testament hadn’t been written yet, what was he referring to? The Old Testament. So, biblical illiteracy is a major issue in the church. But it came from all directions.
“From one section of the church was the marketing scheme; we need a mega church and we need to leave out the offensive part. But on the other side, in the charismatic movement, came people that had out-of-Bible experiences, and they began to feel and get a hearing for the exotic nature of things they said were happening to them. There was no way to corroborate that. There was no way to say, ‘well, that didn’t happen,’ except from the Bible. And since the Bible was not being taught, it opened the door for these prophets that are false to rise up and fill what was a condition of malnutrition in the body of Christ.”
Some in the body of Christ began to label Murillo as “divisive,” while others wondered why he didn’t address this with Kerr and Bullock in private, as the Bible instructs in Matthew 18:5-17, “Now if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, then take with you one or two others, that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every word may be established. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.“
In calling out these individuals, Murillo says he “Obeyed the Holy Spirit and read the Word of God,” and told the truth, which he says was “an act of faith.”
“It is not so much courage as it is faith,” Murillo says. “Because you have to believe that if you tell the truth, no matter what, it’s going to create the ultimate and best outcome. … Winston Churchill said ‘panic will reject it. And those who are in the deception will rail against it.’
“The fact is, there were things that were going on, on some of the shows that I was associated with. I went personally to the individuals that were responsible for my concern about the prophets. And I’m going to name names, Kat Kerr and Robin Bullock. They were identified with this gentleman in his church, and he was a regular guest alongside me. I went to him privately on four occasions and implored him to disassociate himself with false prophets. And not only him, but also other people in the show (Flashpoint). … So, after a while, it became clear that the Spirit of God was grieved by this program. It was pulling people in under a political guise. …
“The part that was an issue was the association, which has now become an even closer association with false prophets that I have named.”
Murillo pointed out that one of his co-hosts of Flashpoint, Lance Wallnau, “is a great man of God who studies the Word and understands.”
Murillo told Matarazzo that many “so-called” prophets “cross the line into something extremely dangerous—distraction.”
“What we’ve developed, and there are other prophets that I could name that are also dangerously to be avoided, that are giving daily prophetic words to people every single day. Now, why is that dangerous? Because I have a rule that I live by. I don’t ask God to speak to me directly until after I’ve studied His Word.
“Because if I want messages from God, and I’m avoiding the Bible as the standard, I’m liable to hear anything. Sometimes when a person says, ‘well, we need to trust the Spirit more than the Bible.’ There are individuals that have said that. That’s the crowbar for this spiritism to enter the church. But here’s the problem. I’m not really trusting the Holy Spirit at that point. I’m taking the Word of that prophet, that that’s what the Spirit said. Now, if I go to the owner’s manual, I’m going to see the patented absurdity of that statement. Because Jesus said, ‘The Spirit of God would take what I have said, and reveal it to you.’ He won’t contradict the Word of God. So that is essential truth.
“One person commented on my blog, ‘well, you’ve blasted these prophets. So please tell us who are the true prophets.’
“And I said to them, ‘listen to yourself. When did your Christian faith become dependent on meeting a prophet? Who created this new and improved dependency of the church on a prophetic word?’ Other generations never had this. My generation never had it. We had the Jesus movement, without daily prophetic words. I wonder how we made it. The fact is, we are now in an in a setting where the issue becomes, are we going to face the uncomfortable thing? Why are some people, so many people, angry with me? Well, because you received a prophetic word. And I’m gonna give you an example of one that’s very dangerous.
Murillo continued, “One of the people infers that you can get a second chance after you die to be saved. No. And what it does is someone that has a loved one that is passed on, this lady has said this to them, ‘well, I prayed, and when I visited heaven, I saw that Christ pulled them out and gave them a second chance.’ Now, what does that do? If I believe you, I need to repent if I can get a second chance? Is this not the indulgences of the Middle Ages in the Catholic Church? And I’ll show you another indulgence of the Middle Ages of the Catholic Church is to say whenever a prophet stands there and says, ‘You cannot understand the Bible. I have a code that God is getting. They’ve said this. I have a code that God has given me to interpret the Bible.’ So, unless you trust the prophets, you’re not going to get this deeper understanding.”
And Murillo says that it is because of “biblical illiteracy” that many “so-called prophets” have become an affront to the church.
“Now it’s turned into this insane psychodrama that is embarrassing to talk about,” he says. {eoa}
Shawn A. Akersis the online editor at Charisma Media.
Cindy Jacobs: ‘God is Awakening and He’s Bringing Revival’
There is little doubt that Christian persecution is accelerating throughout the globe. People throughout the world are dying every day for the gospel of Christ, while others must endure great hardship because of their faith.
Many Christians leaders have drawn a parallel between the two, and these leaders say it is becoming increasingly crucial for believers to prepare for what is coming—both the good and the bad.
Cindy Jacobs, the co-founder of Generational International, certainly recognizes the persecution of Christians throughout the world, and says we must definitely pray for those who are impacted. But, Jacobs says, revival is also increasing throughout the world, and millions who are hearing the gospel for the first time are embracing the cross of Christ with enthusiasm.
“God is awakening and He is bringing revival,” Jacobs told CBN News. “We are in revival in many places. We may not recognize it, but I mean, literally, millions are getting saved. Millions in Iran. There’s a huge move of God in Iran right now.
“I mean, we’re talking to people, boots on the ground. It’s a very exciting time to live. So, keep your eye on the prize, not the problem.”
Pastor Andrew Brunson, who spent two years in prison in Turkey on trumped-up terrorism and spying charges and was released in Oct. 2018, says persecution and harassment toward Christ followers in America has continued to intensify and, if believers don’t take heed, they won’t be ready for what is coming.
“Jesus said that it would happen. Just as the world hated Him, it will hate His followers,” Brunson told Charisma’s Stephen Strang in 2021. “I’m especially concerned about my charismatic brothers and sisters.
“I think charismatics could be in danger. Jesus specifically warns that the love of many will grow cold, and this is talking about offense in the heart. That distances people from God, and it specifically happens in times of persecution. People become disillusioned with God because of the rise of the amount of wickedness that God allows, the judgments that He will bring and the persecution He allows, but also many people go through that silence of God. Jesus warns that many people will be knocked out. I think this is especially a risk for charismatics because of the heightened expectations that we have.”
Brunson believes the best way for believers to avoid this is to draw closer to God, quoting scripture, specifically Daniel 11:32: “‘The people who know their God shall stand and accomplish exploits.’ So sometimes we’re really focused on the exploits, accomplishing things, but the priority right now should be know your God, so that as that wave of persecution, wave of pressure comes, we remain standing.”
Heidi Baker, who co-found Iris Global Ministries with her husband, Rolland, lives in one of the most dangerous areas for Christians—Cabo del Gado in Mozambique. Over the last four years, more than 700,000 people have fled violent insurgents in northern Mozambique, with many seeking safety in Pemba and surrounding villages.
Despite the danger, Iris Global Ministries, continues to serve people in the region and continues to prepare for “a protracted season of terror and instability.” Baker says no one wants persecution or terror, but that the Bible says it is definitely coming.
“Get ready for shaking. I know people would like to pray against shaking and there’s obviously … no one wants persecution,” Baker told CBN News. “Nobody wants famines and floods and hurricanes and cyclones. But we read the end of the Book, like things that are happening now and they’re going to increase.”
Jack Hibbs, the founder of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in Chino Hills, California, says we as Christians must hold fast to scriptures like 2 Timothy 2:1-3, which reads, “So you, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Share the things that you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses with faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Endure hard times as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”
Charlie Kirk, the founder and president of Turning Point USA ministries, says many individuals he speaks with say they’re anxious and fearful of the persecution of Christians that happening in America and the world right now. Kirk says they should be looking at the situation in a much different way.
“They say I’m so depressed and so down right now, but this is the time to be more joyful than ever before,” Kirk says. “This is the moment that we are built for. This is the moment of persecution that we are promised and trained for that will test our faith.”
Baker says God’s Word is certainly key, and we must embrace it not only now but in the days to come.
“We read this book, but we have to understand, we have to read the end of it, like we have to have faith in the midst of it,” she told CBN News. “And I want to call people to hold on to the word, like study the word. This is our map here. This is our GPS and [the] Holy Spirit’s going to guide and direct us, but this is like it is written. It is written.” {eoa}
Shawn A. Akersis the online editor at Charisma Media.
Prophetic Dream? Dolly Parton’s New Song Issues Staunch Warning to Believers
Dolly Parton isn’t taking a recent dream she had lightly. The iconic country music star says the dream she received months ago is a staunch warning for believers everywhere.
She composed the song called “Don’t Make Me Come Down There” and, instead of receiving gifts for her birthday on Jan. 19, she wanted to give the new tune as a gift to the world.
“I finished it as things would come to me, and I just felt like I should drop it on my birthday,” Parton says. “It is a song that came to me in a dream and I felt like it was worth putting out there. It’s something special. Well, it’s special to me.”
During a nationally-televised Christmas special in early December, Parton performed her hit song, “Go to Hell,” warning about the reality of Satan. She said at that time, “My brothers and sisters, I’m here to tell you that Satan is real, and he is walking around amongst us, trying to destroy everything that’s good and beautiful. He wants to break our hearts and minds, destroy our dreams and plans. He wants to tear us up into little pieces, brake us down and send us straight to hell.”
Her recent dream, she said, was vivid and real to her.
“Last night I had a dream about God,” Parton said in an Instagram post. “He was standing on a mountain top, looking down on us and in my dream I heard Him say, ‘Don’t make Me have to come down there. My children, you had best beware. If you don’t pay attention, consequences will be dire. Don’t make Me have to come down there.'”
In the song, which you can hear in this YouTube video, Parton said the Lord exclaims, “I’ve told you time and time again. You can’t disobey and hope to win. I am still the boss here, in case there’s any doubt. You know I put you in this world and I can take you out.”
Shawn A. Akersis the online editor at Charisma Media.
How This Megachurch Pastor Miraculously Survived His Mother’s Abortion Attempt to Preach the Pro-Life Message
Read Time: 3 Minutes 54 Seconds
Jeremiah 1:4-5 has always held a special significance for Jack Hibbs, the lead pastor at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in Chino Hills, California. The Scripture reads: “Now the Word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; and before you were born I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet to the nations.'”
While Hibbs says he wouldn’t hold himself up to be as important as the prophet Jeremiah, the megachurch pastor says he knows for a fact that God has “called me from the womb.”
On Christmas Eve in 1957, Hibbs says his mother “put her two older children to bed in their apartment, boiled a metal clothes hanger and proceeded to lie down on the kitchen floor, where she attempted to abort her third child.” Hibbs told “Calvary Chapel Magazine” that “fortunately, someone came to his mother’s rescue and the abortion failed.” She went to the hospital, and 21 days later, on Jan. 15, 1958, “God saw fit to let me come into a world where I wasn’t wanted.”
Hibbs’ father had left California months earlier to go to work in Alaska, leaving behind a pregnant wife and his two older siblings. He was told that his father was frustrated that his wife was pregnant again and that he wanted to get away. He told her that “when he returned, he didn’t want to see a third child in the home.”
Hibbs’ mother was raised in a Catholic orphanage in Hawaii for most of her life previous to being in California. Hibbs says she “hadn’t received the nurture and love that a young child so desperately needs.” She married Hibbs’ father at a young age, thinking it would be a way out for her and the life she had lived.
“At that time, my mom was living in fear,” Hibbs says on this video from his ministry, Real Life with Jack Hibbs. “Having two younger children, she basically caved into the pressure. She attempted an abortion to end that pregnancy and to end my life.”
And for that, she suffered greatly. She was taken to the hospital when discovered, and it was there in San Diego on Jan. 15, I was born.
“You might think, ‘what a sad story that is,’ but not really, in the sense that God had a plan. Even through the years that I grew up, I had developed a severe stutter. I stuttered from the moment a kid is supposed to start learning how to talk, all the way through to when the Lord touched my tongue, and that was a miraculous thing. I tried to blend in, but I couldn’t because I stuttered, and it was really embarrassing. Of course, I was teased a lot.”
Growing up, he said he never felt close to his dad and felt rejected by him. He grew up an angry child. It was during his teen years that Hibbs overheard his mother telling someone on the phone about the abortion attempt.
“I was a junior in high school and didn’t really care, although I never forgot about it,” Hibbs says.
The rest of his story is history, and he began to be mentored by a young pastor named Greg Laurie in the late 1970s. He gave His life to Jesus, and he says it was then that God really began to work in his life.
Calvary Chapel Chino Hills began as a home Bible study/fellowship church plant from Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa in 1990, and today the church ministers to over 9,000 adults weekly.
The above story is why the pro-life movement is so important to Hibbs, especially during January, designated as the Sanctity of Human Life Month.
“We are insane to murder defenseless babies while God looks on,” Hibbs says. “It is the very same God that commanded us to defend those who have no voice and to protect those who are destined for crushing. This is exactly what we see in the offering of abortion.
“I understand that many women have been talked into abortion and many women have believed it is the right thing to do. My mom attempted an abortion on me because she was scared to death. My dad was gone, and she was simply terrified. She barely spoke English, she was here in America and she was scared.
“I am not condemning any woman. I wouldn’t condemn any woman. I don’t care what she’s done. Regarding abortion, I would never point my finger at her. There is healing and there is recovery. What I’m talking about is moving forward.”
Hibbs says he believes America can still be used by God in a mighty way, but only if its people repent of its ways, including the travesty of abortion.
“I think for America to experience a recovery, I don’t think it’s anything else but us repenting of our offerings to Moloch and getting back to God with repentance,” he says. “We need to own that. I think God would turn this nation around in short order if we said, ‘Lord, please forgive me for allowing this or for me voting for candidates that support abortion.'”
“My God, for me is all things and all. God is everywhere and everyone and it’s also the unknowable, the vast majesty behind everything. And it’s just the point where you get to the place where you can’t think any further, that’s where I think God is. I don’t think that God is a man in the sky with a gray beard.”