Authored By :
Bill Kochman
Published On :
September 30, 2023
Last Updated :
September 30, 2023
Persecuted For My Faith, Persecuted Online, Don't Be Afraid To Call Out Sin, Preach A Strong Christ-Centered Message, Harassed By the Social Network Moderators And Fact Checkers, Self-Analysis: Should I Tone Down The Message In Order To Reach More People?, Some People Will Be Offended No Matter What, Jesus Was Not Concerned With Offending His Listeners, When Online Users Complain To The Social Network Moderators, We Suffer The Same Online Afflictions, Left-Leaning Social Networks Are Biased Against Conservative Christian Values, Their Modus Operandi: Guilty Before Being Proven Innocent, The Liberals' Toolbox: Hate Speech Homophobia Antisemitism, Moderators' Methods Of Harassment, My Personal Experience, Hypocritical Double Standard Of Social Networks And Liberal Users, We Don't Stand A Chance Of Getting Justice On Social Networks, Isaiah 5:20: Flipped Tables And A Stacked Deck, Persecuted Killed And Hated Of All Nations, Jesus And The Apostles Did Not Pull Their Punches, Wicked World Hell-Bent On Destruction, Rebuke Strongly And Forget The Kid Gloves, A Call To National And Global Repentance, We Cannot Remain Quiet, Isaiah: Sinful Nation In Revolt Laden With Iniquity, Don't Cower In Fear, God Will Hold Us Responsible If We Fail To Warn Them, Don't Be Ashamed Of Your Faith, Bold As Lions
Dear friends, I know a little bit about persecution, both physical and verbal persecution. It is no stranger to me. Over the past fifty plus years, I have been harassed on the street by communists and Catholics, asked to leave certain places due to my constant preaching, ostracized by some of my own family members, and ridiculed due to my beliefs.
Now that I am no longer an active street preacher due to my age and health, my ministry is primarily online. However, persecution has followed me there as well, particularly on the social networks. For the record, to date, I have been permanently suspended -- or banned -- from FIVE different social networks. There is no doubt in my mind that the primary reason why this has been happening to me is because I preach an uncompromising Gospel message. Furthermore, I am not afraid to call out sin. As we are clearly told in the Scriptures:
"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine."
2 Timothy 4:2, KJV
"Them that sin REBUKE before all, that others also may fear."
1 Timothy 5:20, KJV
"This witness is true. Wherefore REBUKE them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;"
Titus 1:13, KJV
"These things speak, and exhort, and REBUKE with all authority. Let no man despise thee."
Titus 2:15, KJV
"Open REBUKE is better than secret love."
Proverbs 27:5, KJV
"Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly CONTEND FOR THE FAITH which was once delivered unto the saints."
Jude 1:3, KJV
So, by God's Grace, I have done exactly that. I have strived to contend for the faith for over fifty years now. As many of you who frequent my social network accounts, or who read my articles directly on the Bill's Bible Basics website, will know, I do not shy away from exposing such things as the LGBTQ+ agenda, the sin of abortion, the lies of the Roman Catholic Church and other cults and false religions, the rejection of Christ by the antichrist Jews, the corruption in Big Business, Big Government and Big Pharma, the violent, evil agenda of the warmongers, the serious compromise within the modern Christian Church, etc.
Of course, all of this is in addition to preaching a very strong Gospel message centered around faith in Jesus Christ, and a lifetime dedicated to serving our Heavenly Father. In my opinion, this should represent the core message of every single Christian everywhere. The rest of the things I teach are really secondary in nature, because calling out sin is of little value, if we are not also pointing people to the solution which God the Father offers us through His Son.
As some of my readers will undoubtedly already know, when it comes to exposing such things, the immediate reaction of the social network moderators is to view such controversial posts as so-called "hate speech". It is like a knee-jerk, Pavlov dog response. They just can't seem to help themselves. Their radar is continuously on the lookout for any post which may be contrary to the liberal mindset. The next thing you know, you have become the victim of the so-called "fact checkers", and a post you made may suddenly be covered, or disappear altogether. Been there, done that, right?
But concerning myself, the bottom line is that I simply do not like compromising the message that I preach. However, at the same time, to be honest, when I stop to consider how many of the social networks have given me the boot, it does make me stop and wonder if it would be wiser on my part to refrain from making so many offensive, controversial posts, and concentrate instead on posting more socially-acceptable, Bible-centric topics. In other words, I have been asking myself as of late if I should leave out the heavier topics which draw the ire of liberal users and moderators on the social networks. After all, the more social networks I am on, the more people I am able to reach, right? Do I have you worried yet?
However, if we really stop and think about it, the fact of the matter is that there are certain subjects -- such as the ones I named above -- which no matter how we choose to word our posts, are going to offend some people -- meaning the liberals and false religionists in particular -- because our posts expose their sins and deception. Of course, Jesus was not concerned about what people thought. He spoke the truth, even when He knew that it would offend certain people, and cause some of them to fall away from following Him. I am reminded again of the following incident that is found in the Gospel of John where Jesus spoke about symbolically eating His flesh and drinking His blood:
"Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?"
John 6:60-67, KJV
Of course, concerning the denizens of the online world, if they do happen to take offense by some of the things which we post, some of them are not going to stop there. They are going to take it a step further by complaining to the social network's owners, administrators or moderators; and that is where we Christians run into trouble. If the moderators get enough complaints regarding our posts, it doesn't matter or not whether those complaints are justified. Said moderators will take some kind of action against us; and many of us already know how that will go. I am obviously not alone in being persecuted for my faith. Many of my online friends experience the very same thing. In thinking about this, I was just reminded of the words of the Apostles Peter and Paul:
"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy . . . Whom resist stedfast in the faith, KNOWING THAT THE SAME AFFLICTIONS ARE ACCOMPLISHED IN YOUR BRETHREN THAT ARE IN THE WORLD."
1 Peter 4:12-13, 5:9, KJV
"There hath no temptation taken you BUT SUCH AS IS COMMON TO MAN: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
1 Corinthians 10:13, KJV
Another undeniable truth is that most of the major social networks are very Left-leaning, and thus have a very liberal bent to them. As a result, they are all very heavily biased against Conservatives values, and our Bible-based Christian perspective. What that means is that whether we like it or not, we are on the defense right out the gate. We are guilty before being proven innocent. What a very twisted world we Christians live in!
Thus, due to their very liberal bent, they have all decided, either collectively or on their own, that certain subjects are not allowed to be addressed in any kind of negative or critical manner. Furthermore, they have decided that if we Christians even dare go against their golden liberal rules, they will quickly accuse us of "hate speech", homophobia, antisemitism, and whatever other tools and tactics they have accumulated in their wicked toolbox. Many of you know exactly what I am talking about, right?
Armed with such tools, the liberal moderators feel totally justified in harassing us and persecuting us in a number of different ways. This includes removing our posts, shadow banning us so that very few people -- usually a few dozen at best -- even see our posts, throwing us into their social network jail, forcing us to repeatedly jump through security hoops, temporarily banning us, or permanently suspending us from their networks altogether. As many of you will already know, these are the methods of harassment and intimidation they use to try to oppress us and control our speech.
Speaking personally, I have been on Facebook since February of 2011. As I explain in the article "Why I Am Fed Up With Facebook", during this time -- and more so since November of 2017 when Facebook began tweaking their algorithms -- I have experienced ALL of these things on multiple occasions, and on other social networks as well, but to a much lesser degree.
More to the point, and for the record, literally hundreds of my posts have been taken down over the years. I have been forced logged off many times, forced to change my password dozens of times, been thrown into Facebook jail a number of times for as long as a month, and finally, I've been forced to upload my government-issued ID more than half a dozen times. In fact, in May of 2023 alone, Facebook asked me to upload my ID card six times!
As I explain in the aforementioned article, that is exactly why I finally got fed up with all their nonsense. In fact, I had Facebook delete my account in June of 2023, and then I temporarily left their platform for a period of three months. Yes, I eventually returned, because the simple truth is that I need the exposure which their platform provides, in order to draw more visitors to the Bill's Bible Basics website. Is that not ironic? Sigh.
As some of you will know, the hypocrisy in all of this is that if we Christians complain to Facebook -- or to any of the other social networking platforms -- about posts which we find offensive, more often than not, their content moderators will nonchalantly inform us that the posts in question do not go against their so-called "Community Standards", and that we should simply grin it and bear it. Well, excuse me for stating the obvious, but we most assuredly do not see our accusers and haters grinning it and bearing it, do we? The minute they find something objectionable, they go whining to the moderators to lower the axe on us! Do I speak the truth?
Let me give you one clear-cut example which happened to me personally. Quite some time ago, someone on Facebook -- a very misguided Christian brother, actually -- posted a rather disturbing cartoon graphic of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. In this vile image, the Devil was standing behind Jesus, and he was committing lewd sexual acts on Him. I won't go into detail -- use your imagination -- but trust me when I say that it was very revolting.
Obviously, I found the graphic quite shocking, disgusting, offensive and disrespectful of our faith. So, I reported it to Facebook, fully expecting that the graphic would soon be taken offline. I mean, it was just that bad. Well, surprise, surprise! Guess how Facebook responded to me? They said that while they were sorry that the image offended me, in their view, it did NOT go against their "Community Standards", and that I simply had to respect the views of others, even when those views disagree with me or offend me. I am not joking, my friends. I was totally shocked by their response! I was floored; and in that moment, I realized just how very wicked the social networks are. I recognized that we Christians do not stand a chance of getting justice on the social networks.
Sadly, as some of you will know, that is the way it is on ALL the liberal social networks. They ALL practice a rather hypocritical double standard. In a word, it seems that the liberals can say and do just about whatever they want -- including mock our Christian faith in the vilest of manners -- and yet they are given immunity, and go scott-free. In contrast, if we Christians dare to raise our voices and speak the truth from a godly, Biblical perspective, we are framed as being the "haters".
In short, the liberals have totally flipped the tables on us, and they have dealt us a stacked deck. While they accuse us of being the haters, it is they who are in fact the real haters, because so many of them hate God and His holy Word. They accuse us of persecuting certain groups like the gays, lesbians and transgenders, when in fact they are actually harassing us, discriminating against us, and persecuting us, more and more with each passing year. Sadly, as I explain in some of the articles which are listed at the end of this same article, these people have no intentions of stopping until we see things THEIR way, and until they've completely normalized their sins. I am reminded of this group of verses:
"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"
Isaiah 5:20, KJV
"But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived."
2 Timothy 3:13, KJV
"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another."
Matthew 24:9-10, KJV
"But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. And it shall turn to you for a testimony. Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. But there shall not an hair of your head perish. In your patience possess ye your souls."
Luke 21:12-19, KJV
"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me."
John 15:18-21, KJV
"They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service."
John 16:2, KJV
"If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:"
2 Timothy 2:12, KJV
"Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."
2 Timothy 3:12, KJV
"And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect."
Hebrews 11:32-40, KJV
As many of you will know, in the Gospels, Jesus did NOT pull His punches. He told it the way it is, as did the Apostles in the Book of Acts and in the Epistles. In similar fashion, we also know that in the Old Testament, the Prophets gave it to the people straight as well. They called a spade a spade. In other words, they did not hesitate to call out rebellion and sin when God required it of them. For example, consider what Jesus said regarding His unbelieving Jewish persecutors in the twenty-third chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. And if that is not enough, then consider also the following sample verses:
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves."
Matthew 23:15, KJV
"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."
John 8:44, KJV
"I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan."
Revelation 2:9, KJV
"Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee."
Revelation 3:9, KJV
The Apostle Paul likewise had some choice words regarding his unbelieving Jewish brethren who did everything within their power to prevent the spread of the Gospel message, as we can determine by the following group of verses:
"For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews: Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: FORBIDDING US TO SPEAK TO THE GENTILES THAT THEY MIGHT BE SAVED, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost."
1 Thessalonians 2:14-16, KJV
Right now, this wicked world needs to be strongly rebuked for its sins against the Lord, because it is hell-bent on destruction from the hand of the Almighty. This generation doesn't need to be treated with kid gloves, to be pampered, or spoken to with soft words. To the contrary, it is quite evident that rebellious countries such as the United States need to repent before it is too late. Just as the Lord one night spoke to King Solomon, so too, people today need to take heed to this same call to repentance:
"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
2 Chronicles 7:14, KJV
That is why we as Christian believers cannot keep quiet, and why we need to sound the alarm. Our current world is indeed very sick in so many different ways, both physically, as well as spiritually. There is a great need for healing the world over. But it is not time for a Band-Aid, or even for a slight slap on the wrist. It is time for a sharp slap to the face in order to wake up this evil world. Of course, we are the ones who have been elected to do it, whether we like it or not. I am again reminded of the very powerful words of the Prophet Isaiah:
"Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment."
Isaiah 1:4-6, KJV
As I said, regardless of whether we like it or not, it has fallen upon us to deliver this message to the world, just as the Prophets and Christians have been called to do down through the ages. We cannot cower in fear. We cannot hide our light under a bushel. We cannot be ashamed of our faith. We cannot compromise or water down the message. Because if we do any of these things, the Scriptures clearly inform us that God will hold us responsible, and their blood will He require at our hands. Consider the following set of verses:
"Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul."
Ezekiel 3:17-19, KJV
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
Matthew 5:16, KJV
"Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven."
Matthew 10:32-33, KJV
"Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."
Mark 8:38, KJV
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."
Romans 1:16, KJV
"For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day."
2 Timothy 1:12, KJV
"Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf."
1 Peter 4:16, KJV
So as you can hopefully see, rather than water down the message, or yield ourselves to political correctness, or hide in fear and not preach it at all, we need to speak the truth without shame, come what may. We need to stand strong in the faith, and speak or write with courage, conviction and boldness. If the Devil and his crowd walk around as roaring lions, we Christians likewise need to be as bold as lions when it comes to sharing the Gospel message and all that it entails.
Please go to part two for the conclusion of this article.
⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .