Editor’s Note: This is Part 2 of a two-part article. For Part 1, click here. To read a previous story by Pastor Jim Garlow on the Canadian truckers singing Martin Luther’s most famous hymn, click here.
In Part 1 of this article, I contended that while there are some faithful and bold pastors, there are simply not enough. I am fully aware of the aphorisms “God can work with one” or “One with God is a majority,” but the reality is that the social movements God has most often blessed happen when “critical mass”—not always easy to define—is reached.
If there were enough “biblical applicationalists” (understanding what the Word says on all public policy issues), and pastors who are governmentally astute (recognizing that God created government), sophisticated and articulate (winsomely preaching the Word on God’s view of governmental issues) in the United States, we would not be in the condition we are. If Canada had enough courageous pastors, God would not have needed to spark this movement with truck drivers.
Don’t misunderstand me. God is happy to use the truckers. He can use anyone He wants, anytime and anywhere. But why did He use them? The truck drivers are the ones who said yes to the call of God. But every pulpit in the United States, Canada and any other nation should have been thundering—yes, that is the appropriate word—with the truth of God on these issues. These are not fundamentally political in nature; rather, they are biblical. Yes, they have political implications. But they are, at the core, biblical—or I should say, “biblical-governmental.”
I have asked some leaders in Canada how many pastors have stood firm during the past two years, willing to take on the governmental tyranny. The answer? Five. The true number is likely much more than that, but one fact remains: The number is still far too small.
The protesters at the Canadian truckers’ event in Ottawa, Ontario, held a Jericho March, based on the model of Joshua of the ancient Hebrew Scriptures. Following that pattern, they marched around the Parliament Building around once a day for six days, and seven times on the last day, Thursday, Feb. 17. At 1:07 Eastern time on the final day, the airhorns—the modern version of shofars—sounded for seven minutes. It was stunning.
The good news is that there were some pastors present who provided remarkable spiritual leadership. Take a moment and listen to the exhilarating seven minutes of shofar-sounding, bathed in passionate prayer by Pastor Rene McIntyre. But before you hear her pray, you need to know that tyrannical governmental fiats shut down the building used by McIntyre’s church, Trumpet of Truth Christ Ministries in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada. For over a year, the congregation has met outdoors, recently in the sub-freezing Canadian temperatures, kneeling to pray in the snow. The result? The church is now two to three times the size it was when the congregation had a building. With that backdrop, listen to the cries of this modern-day warrior Deborah:
Lest you think I am belittling pastors, I am not. As noted above, I am one. I have been involved in pastoral ministry for nearly five decades. Only recently did I transition from the local church to a ministry called Well Versed (WellVersedWorld.org), which focuses on members of Congress, ambassadors at the United Nations in New York City, heads of state and governmental leaders in various nations as God opens doors.
Succinctly, I love pastors. My pastor friends love God, desire to honor Jesus, hunger for the Holy Spirit, love the people they serve and desire to minister to their communities. They are men and women of God. I admire, love and respect them.
However, there are not enough of us, and we don’t always stand. It has been a Daniel 5:27 tekel moment for us as American—and Canadian—pastors. Tekel means “weighed.” The last part of the verse in the New Living Translation reads, “you have been weighed on the balances and have not measured up.” That describes American pastors.
I take no joy in saying that. I see the failure of strong pastoral leadership in America’s approximately 344,000 churches and their pastors. Sometimes, I see pastoral shortcomings when I look in the mirror. I pray that I too would be more of what God desires.
In the meantime, God is still at work in remarkable and encouraging ways that I find truly exciting.
Simply put, the Canadian truckers are being used by God to produce some righteous results.
God continues to find persons—flawed as we are—for His cause, not only in the Americas but in all the countries of the world. God looked at:
— Hungary and found Viktor Orban and made him prime minister.
— Brazil and found Jair Bolsonaro and made him president.
— Bolivia and found Jeanine Anez and made her president (until the Communists came back in 2020 and threw her in prison, where she remains under horrific conditions—until we pray her out).
— Guatemala and found Jimmy Morales and then Alejandro Giammattei, and made them president—one after the other.
There are so many more examples like this, where God seemingly looks down upon the earth and says, “I am going to use him,” “her” or “them.”
All of these were and are flawed, as much as you and I, but God found them and used them, in part I believe, because He could not find enough bold and godly pastors to lead in national righteousness.
So God said, “I’ll use the Canadian truckers.” And He did. {eoa}
Dr. Jim Garlow and his wife, Rosemary, are the founders of Well Versed, WellVersedWorld.org, which brings biblical principles of governance to government leaders, in Congress; in Washington, D.C.; to ambassadors at the United Nations in New York City and to the capital cities of other nations.
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