As Christians head into the Easter weekend, the United States is in a "season in this nation's history where there is a Marxist agenda" infiltrating the church, Rob McCoy, pastor of the Godspeak Calvary Chapel in Newbury Park, California, told Newsmax Friday.
"There are two views of thought, God says or man says, and we believe in absolute truth," McCoy said on Newsmax's "Newsline." "Our founders did. They recognized that that there is something above government and that's God. 'We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights among those being life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' So you know this is a challenging time."
People want to "throw off constraint" while describing their "own truth," the pastor continued.
"We're contending for truth in the public square and there's a battle right now raging," McCoy said.
He also said it is "strange" that former President Donald Trump is being "ostracized" for his promotion of Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" Bible, "as though that's something terrible."
The pastor added, "These are trying times, but the church will rise above it. God is greater than government."
McCoy also discussed the meaning of Good Friday.
"Why would it have the title Good Friday when it deals with the crucifixion of Christ, which was bloody and painful?" McCoy asked. "But it was good in the sense that, you know, the highest virtue is happiness ... A canister that holds water is good if it does what it's designed to do, and Christ came to be the savior of the world. He accomplished that on Good Friday. He paid the penalty for our sins, and the wages of sin is death."
God is "just, but he's also merciful and gracious, and all of it was accomplished on Good Friday. All of it," said McCoy.
He also encouraged people to come back to the church.
"You can take 1,000 steps away from God, but it only takes one step back and he's waiting for you," he said.
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