Elevation Church Removed Our Video...

Fight For Truth

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Hey guys, Colin here, and welcome back to the channel where the Bible and critical thinking meet to give you real

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Christian commentary about the things that matter. Thanks so much for watching, let's get into the video.

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So a lot of you guys know that I make videos that are consistently critical of Stephen Furtick and his church,

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Elevation Church. He has an unorthodox view of the Trinity and of the doctrines of the Church as well, but check out my other videos on him for proof of that.

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I have always been very careful to call out Elevation Church in a Biblical way and to encourage my viewers to pray for their repentance.

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One of my most popular videos, which had reached over 100 ,000 views, was entitled,

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This Video Should End Stephen Furtick's Career. Yes, quite a provocative title, I know. And in that video,

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I played an 18 -second long clip of Stephen Furtick, one of his sermons from 2007, in which he says that if someone is a

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Christian, his church is no longer for them, because it is designed primarily to attract unbelievers.

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I noted that this was an unbiblical statement because, by definition, the Church is the gathering of believers, not the gathering and fellowship of unbelievers.

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Yes, the Lord calls us to evangelize, and unbelievers, to a certain extent, should be welcome in our gatherings, but to say that the

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Church is not designed specifically for Christians to glorify God is absolutely incorrect and unbiblical teaching.

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Anyways, despite the fact that my entire video was 10 minutes long and that I clearly responded to this tiny clip of Stephen Furtick placed in that video, they decided to hit me with what's known as a copyright strike.

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Proof of this will be on your screen now. In this copyright strike, it says that, quote, the copyright owner asked us to take down your video because they believe that the material violates their copyright.

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As a result, your video was removed from YouTube and your channel received a strike. If you get three copyright strikes, your account, along with any associated channels, will be subject to termination.

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Here's where it gets interesting. The video was published on May 4th, but the copyright strike was given by Elevation Church on June 30th.

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For those of you keeping score at home, that's 57 days after the video was originally posted.

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Why did it take them so long to figure out that I had apparently violated their copyright? I haven't the foggiest idea.

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But one thing I do know is that this wasn't an automated action done by YouTube. I've had that happen on my channel, and it automatically happens within minutes of the video being posted.

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According to the information I was given, though, by YouTube, someone who works for Elevation Church personally, who was employed by Stephen Furtick, watched the video and reported it to YouTube.

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But let's get into the nitty -gritty of all of this and ask important questions here. Was this handled in a biblical way or a sinful way?

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It's really that simple. Is Elevation Church attacking me in an unbiblical way? And let me offer you one scriptural reason that this was handled in an unbiblical and sinful way.

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And by the way, the reason I am not going to Elevation Church in private to fix this is because they have already taken public legal action against me.

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I believe I do not have an obligation to speak with them in private at this point, although I would like to get things settled outside of the

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YouTube authority. They did not come to me personally, and therefore it is more than safe to assume that they do not care if the issue becomes public.

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Just to establish, I am well aware that Christians should always try to settle their issues without the help of pagan authorities, specifically court systems, as are referred to in Paul's letter to the

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Corinthians. But in this case, A, I am honestly skeptical about whether or not I am dealing with other believers, and so that gives me some pause, and B, I am not the one pursuing legal action through YouTube.

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They are. Anyhow, the first and most important reason that this was a sinful and unbiblical action on the part of Elevation Church is that it definitely falls under the category of bearing false witness against one's neighbor.

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The Bible says in Exodus 20, 16, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. It's a command.

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It's in Scripture. Biblically, bearing false witness is when you claim someone did something unlawful or unbiblical when you do not have any indication or evidence that they actually did that unlawful thing.

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For instance, Mark 14, 56 says that, quote, So when you offer eyewitness evidence against someone that is fraudulent or untrue, that is bearing false witness.

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In this case, Elevation Church has declared that my video used their privately owned content in a way that was not covered legally by fair use.

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Now what is fair use? Pay attention because you're going to hear a lot of legal mumbo -jumbo, which I'll explain. According to YouTube's own website, quote,

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In other words, under certain circumstances, I can use Elevation Church's own content in my video as long as I follow the rules that are called fair use.

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Now the question is, how do I know that my video in particular was covered under fair use?

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Because again, according to YouTube's own standards, the questions that must be asked with reference to fair use are as follows, quote,

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Did the unlicensed use, that's my use of their video, transform the material taken from the copyrighted work by using it, quote, for a different purpose than that of the original, for a different purpose than that of the original, or did it just repeat the same work and the same intent and value as the original?

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Of course, anyone who watched the video would know that my usage of that Stephen Furtick clip that I showed was used for a completely different purpose when compared to the original sermon.

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I was using the clip to criticize the sermon while Stephen was using it to affirm his message. Historically on YouTube, short clips being reviewed, commented on, or criticized have been allowed under fair use.

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So the fact of the matter is this, someone from Elevation Church bore false witness against me by saying that I used their content in a way that was not covered by fair use.

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They know that I use their content legally, and they're fighting against it probably because it was critical.

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So Elevation Church, while I forgive you for your sin here, I ask you to repent of this legal action taken against me, and I ask for a public apology for this slanderous action on your part.

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If you apologize genuinely, I will immediately accept that apology and tell my audience to do the same.

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This whole ordeal stands in complete contradiction of Colossians 3, 9, which says, quote,

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Do not lie to one another. They are lying to me in the way they're handling this situation, saying

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I did something that I did not do. By the way, after waiting 57 days to report my hypothetical misdeeds,

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Elevation Church reported this on the very same day I posted publicly on my channel that I was going on vacation.

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Of course, that could just be a coincidence, but knowing how unbiblically this church operates, I really wouldn't put it past them.

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So here's what I did in response to all of this. I filed a counterclaim through YouTube stating that Elevation are wrong and that my video should be reinstated.

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I will not contact Elevation individually because I believe that they may use our private interactions against me if this goes to a higher authority, which is entirely possible.

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They now have 10 days, Elevation does, to respond to my counterclaim by taking me to a federally recognized court or my video will be fully reinstated to YouTube and they will lose this case.

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Rest assured, I am fighting against these slanderers as hard as I possibly can. They may win in the end, but they will have to go through me first.

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It's time to put that slogan, Fight for Truth, into practice. I am ready to fight, and I am ready to do what it takes.

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And Elevation Church, I want to tell you a message just between me and you right now. Just know, for every video you get removed from my channel,

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I will post 10 more. You are going to regret doing this because I'm going to make even more videos now on Stephen Furtick and Elevation Church and all the unbiblical mumbo -jumbo he talks about.

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This will not be out of anger or revenge because that would be sinful, but instead, I'm really going to do this simply because this situation has shown me how truly dangerous

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Elevation Church is. Their church makes millions of dollars every year and I make

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YouTube videos in my house using my own money. That's what Stephen Furtick would call a

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David and Goliath moment in any number of his nonsensical, exegetically challenged sermons.

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Romans 16 -17 says, I appeal to you brothers to mark those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught.

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You see, those who preach false teaching ought to be exposed and avoided. So Elevation Church, thank you so much for renewing my strength and inspiring me to fight even harder against your unbiblical false doctrine.

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Every week when Stephen Furtick posts one of his silly and unbiblical nonsense sermons, you give me one more video to make refuting you.

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Just to make this clear, I am not angry with Elevation or Furtick, nor do I want revenge against them.

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Again, that would be sinful. I am trying to guard my heart here. I simply now understand their true motivation, their true nature, and I understand that they must be stopped.

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They're preaching falsehood and now they won't even let little people like me with tiny YouTube channels have the right to call them out publicly using the

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Word of God as my foundation. So please folks, I need your help.

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Share this video, support my ministry on Patreon, and if you support me in this legal battle, I want you to comment in the comment section, fight for truth.

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Please comment, fight for truth, if you support me in this battle against Elevation Church. I could really use it.

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And I'll keep you guys updated as this situation develops. Folks, please pray that YouTube would reinstate my video fully, and please pray that Stephen Furtick and Elevation Church, that they would stop this unbiblical attack on me, that they would repent and turn to the

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Word of God. Thank you so much for watching that video. If you want to see more, please like, comment, share, subscribe, and hit the notification bell so that you never miss another video.

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This channel can only happen thanks to generous donations from my amazing patrons. If you'd like to help my channel out, hit the link in the description or go to patreon .com

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You can donate to my ministry there and earn tons of rewards just like these. And until next time, fight for truth, never surrender, and keep your eyes open.