Rodney Howard Brown, the darling of the charismatic world who is best known for introducing the blasphemy known as “Holy Laughter” to Christendom some 25 years ago, recently declared from the pulpit that those who temporarily close their churches due to coronavirus fears are “pansies”
In a streamed video, Brown can be seen urging his congregants
“Well I know they don’t want us to do this, but just turn around and greet two, three people. Tell them you love them, Jesus loves them. Amen. Listen, this has to be the safest place. I said this has to be the safest place. If you cannot be safe in Church, you’re in serious trouble…
We are not stopping anything. I’ve got news for you. This church will never close. The only time the church is closed is when the rapture is taking place. This Bible school is open because we’re raising up revivalists, not pansies.’
After which the congregants all laugh and shake hands and embrace each other.
Many churches are choosing to practice social distancing as a temporary measure, and in fact we at Pulpit and Pen are sending free webcams to small churches who might otherwise not be able to gather for a while, but who wish to broadcast their sermons to their congregants.
But these are not the first controversial comments Howard-Browne has made about the coronavirus. Last month, in a now-disappeared Perisocope video, in typical charismatic bravado (and also pure fiction and deception) he bragged that he had plans to stop the coronavirus, because *HE* was the one who stopped the Zika Virus. He claimed he had cursed the Zika virus out of Florida- that he was the cause of it disappearing, and would do the same to this new pathogen.
“And we disturbed it, declared we cursed that thing in the name of Jesus and Zika disappeared. We are doing the same thing with the Coronavirus. We do not need it on these shores, and obviously — somebody said ‘Well what about the rest of the world?’ I can’t be responsible for every city or whatever.”
