Rev. Jonathan Fisk has had a significant media presence, at least in Lutheran circles, since the mid 2000’s. He’s contributed a lot to Confessional Lutheran identity for Gen Xers and younger – books, videos, talks, etc. I consider his greatest contribution to American Lutheranism was the voice to avoid the COVID vax. Many Lutheran leaders I used to respect let us down big time on this issue.
Fisk claims he was not clear enough on the topic at the time, but it was clear enough to make me think…..and the thought was “this is not a good idea”.
There was no perfect way to say "thus sayeth the Lord" at early points during the debate on which way to go given the information available. It was kind of like being a citizen of a certain country in the 1930's. You want to believe that you are dealing with people of good will, the government which “we the people” elected has our best interests at heart and will limit themselves to the Constitution....but at some point, it becomes clear they aren't really pushing for your good, it is something else. As a good Christian, you want to follow Romans 13: “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves”. But what if you realize you are being duped, and those whom you are “subject to” are using your own Christian faith to entrap you?
We had a clear indicator when the vaccine came out that this was nothing but a trap: Aborted Fetal Cell Lines. Why is this clear? In a world in which dietary restrictions for Kosher, Halal, vegetarianism, veganism, gluten free, peanut allergy – you name it, or animal testing for cosmetics, are taken as deadly serious – the government wants you, as a God-fearing Christian, to use an experimental product that used aborted fetal cells lines in the production or testing? You will be made a pariah if you don’t go along with it. The idea that they could not make a major "vaccine" without using aborted fetal cell lines and we as Lutherans thought, "ah, it is the only way" or “The Charlotte Lozier institute says…” [1] or “..there is no complicity with the evil of the abortion that occurred decades ago” [2], or Lutheran demographers saying the data shows it is ok for pregnant women[3]. It never was ok. Ever. That is so clear now. Yet, I don't hear anyone with a major platform in Lutheranism saying, "Man, I got that wrong. I was fooled.”
Furthermore, we saw no evidence of the mass doom the experts predicted except for on screens big and small. From January 2020 to mid-2021, I had to take my son every two weeks for infusions to the hospital. This is the foremost university hospital in our region. He had Autoimmune Encephalitis in 2019 and his immune system was attacking his brain. We had to go for two days at a time. The hospital was a ghost town. It was not overwhelmed in any sense of the word. The temporary overflow hospitals they set up in the region were empty and were quickly shut down. Not saying no one died or was injured by COVID. Not saying it wasn’t serious, but the panic we were subjected to in order to force the shot was contrived at best and malicious at worst.
Does Romans 13 apply if your government, which under our system does not rule over us, but is of us, is openly lying to you? We must face this reality. We must face the reality, that the government in the United States of America, that we elect, that must operate within strict constitutional limits, acted in bad faith. It was tyrannical at times and cruel. Federal, State and Local governments violated the First Amendment and State Constitutions [4]left and right during the crisis. When “rulers” become a terror to good works, such as observing the Sabbath, visiting the sick, keeping away from things offered to idols (i.e., aborted fetal cell lines) confessing the faith, Romans 13 does not apply, and we must harden ourselves to this reality. We must resist, and we must encourage fellow Christians in positions of influence and authority to aid this resistance when needed.
God’s Word was not given to us to be enslaved by hard hearted Pharoah, but rather to set us free. We know when we are facing our modern versions of Pharoah: The children are slaughtered for the “benefit of the people” and worship of the One True God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is forbidden. See either and there is no reason to believe your ruler is operating in good faith. That ruler, the spirit of the antichrist and his beast, will punish the works that Jesus calls good.
Now we see the excess deaths[5]. How are several guys I know, younger than me, healthier than me, dying at young ages? And we are all whispering to each other, "I wonder if it was the shot?" And it is whispered because God forbid someone think you are a conspiracy nut.
Resist being called a “conspiracy theorist” on this front. There is no unknown “they”. In the days of Dr. Walter A. Maier and Archbishop Fulton Sheen[6], 15 million listeners weekly were routinely told who the enemy of Christianity and free people everywhere was: Communism/Marxism. Very few would have called this a conspiracy theory. Is it a conspiracy theory to write or say that Globalists have infiltrated our governments and want to separate us from God and our heritage and to follow them into their technocratic Utopia? Make no mistake, they showed themselves. They told you who they are and continue to do so.
Do not let Romans 13 stop you from saying no. Do not let it become an excuse to go back to Egypt and Pharoah. He tends to pop up periodically – Stalin, Mao, Hitler in our grandparents and great grandparents’ generation. Pharoah today likes to pull the strings of governments through NGOs and forums[7]. His magicians like Fauci try to ape the miracles that our Lord did when Moses prophesied to Pharoah.
I write this because we just moved on a bit from Round 1. The Globalists that control our governments are just looking for the right time and opportunity to start Round 2. Please use discernment and know that you are no “subject” under our form of government and Constitution. Know also that Pharoah asks for children to be sacrificed and he will not let you go to worship the One True God. Don’t let anyone twist Romans 13 to make you subject to his rule.
[1] CHART-Analysis-of-COVID-19-Vaccines-02June21.pdf (lozierinstitute.org)
[2] https://issuesetc.org/2021/09/16/2592-covid-vaccines-and-vaccine-mandates-dr-jeff-barrows-9-16-21/
[3] https://issuesetc.org/2021/11/09/3133-covid-vaccines-and-fertility-lyman-stone-11-9-21/
[4] https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/12/politics/michigan-supreme-court-whitmer-covid-emergency/index.html
[5] https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/covid-vaccines-may-have-helped-fuel-rise-in-excess-deaths-since-pandemic-study/ar-BB1nJQDD
[6] https://www.acton.org/religion-liberty/volume-34-number-2/sheen-and-maier-broadcasting-theology
[7] https://www.weforum.org/