Pastor Joel Tenney Shills For These Persecuting Christians In Armenia – CDM – Human Reporters • Not Machines
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As the son of a Presbyterian minister, who was a powerful man of God in the pulpit, I can recognize preacher bullshit when I hear it.
Pastor Joel Tenney in our view is spewing preacher bullshit in his attempt to cover up the persecution of Christianity in Armenia with his account of the recent prayer breakfast in Yerevan, Armenia. Jim and Tammy Baker come to mind.
The tortured thesis below attempting to dance around the persecution of the followers of Christ by those in power in Armenia, for globalist goals, is revolting in our opinion.
As he mentioned, priests are being arrested, the Catholicos is under threat, the head of the Armenia Orthodox Church. The seat of the church, Etchmiazdin, the site of the first Christian cathedral, is under threat by PM Pashinyan.
Christianity in Christian Armenia is being destroyed in the name of ‘peace’. Pashinyan is telling Armenians to stop being Armenian for ‘peace’. Get rid of that Mt Ararat for God’s sake!
The Christian community IS NOT going back to Artsakh.
The dream of globalists…globally…is for Christians to forget their culture, their history, their past, their God. This is Pashinyan’s dream also.
We have emailed Pastor Joel Tenney weeks ago on his website and have not received a response.
Samvel Karapetyan is still in jail, right?
Christians still rot in prison in Baku, right?
My God, man…stand up for what is right. You may not get invited to the next Pashinyan event but you’ll sleep soundly.
His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, received us with great kindness and dignity, and welcomed a frank dialogue on the history of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the present condition of the nation. I asked His Holiness when and why Christian education and church history were removed from Armenia’s public schools. He explained that church history began to be taught in 2006 and continued until only a few years ago, when it was taken out of the curriculum. I shared my heartfelt longing for the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh, and I reaffirmed that I will continue to urge leaders in Washington to place pressure on Azerbaijan so that the ethnically cleansed may return to their ancestral homeland. The Catholicos and the bishops answered our questions with patience, clarity, and grace.
I am sincerely grateful for the openness shown regarding the arrests of bishops, priests, and laypersons. The tensions between church and state in Armenia are undeniable, and in my humble opinion there are grievances and misunderstandings on both sides that must be healed. Yet in the middle of these wounds, I also saw something else beginning to move. At the inaugural Armenia Prayer Breakfast, the Prime Minister rose to speak, and his words were very different in tone from some of the harsh statements he has made in recent months.
At the Prayer Breakfast and the related events, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan declared that 2025 is a decisive year, because for the first time in Armenia’s 34 years of independence, “peace has been established,” and he spoke of Armenia as “living in a state of peace.”  He said it had been “a long path that we have traveled, perhaps often hearing without understanding, looking without seeing the path that God has prepared for our people and our state.” 
He went further and stated that “it is essential to recognize, see, and build the state’s connection with God,” and emphasized that biblical principles must shape political life and governance.  Speaking about public officials, he added that “integrity is impossible without the presence of God; integrity is impossible without the word of God.”  He concluded that “the path of peace is precisely the path along which God is leading us,” and he finished his speech by reciting Psalm 32 from Scripture. 
The Prime Minister recited the Psalm from memory in Armenian, drawing praise from international Christian leaders who noted that they had rarely heard a head of government quote an entire chapter of the Bible by heart.  In a country where tensions with the national Church have been deep and painful, this was not a small moment.
To see the contrast, we must be honest about what came before. Earlier this year, the Prime Minister issued a series of social media posts that openly attacked the Armenian Apostolic Church and its clergy, and even used vulgar language that shocked many believers.  In one of those posts he insisted that “the Republic of Armenia must have the decisive vote in the election of the Catholicos of All Armenians” and that candidates should undergo background checks.  Church leaders and many faithful saw these words as a direct political intrusion into the life of the Church and a deep affront to the dignity of the Catholicos and the episcopate. The conflict escalated to such a degree that the Armenian Apostolic Church accused the Prime Minister of a “shameful campaign” against it, and international media documented the growing rift. 
Later, under review from the Corruption Prevention Commission for insulting both the clergy and the opposition, Pashinyan issued an apology to the public for those insults, acknowledging that his words had violated the code of conduct expected of officials. This is not yet a full reconciliation, and it does not erase the pain or the arrests that have taken place, but it is a step, however small, toward sobriety and restraint.
Now, at this Prayer Breakfast, we have witnessed the same Prime Minister publicly speaking about the necessity of a “connection with God” for the state, insisting that integrity is impossible without the presence and word of God, and declaring that God Himself is leading Armenia along a “path of peace.” For those who believe in providence, this is not a coincidence. This is exactly how the Lord often begins to work, first by shaking, then by humbling, then by planting seeds of repentance in the words of leaders who once spoke in a very different spirit.
As followers of Christ, we are commanded to see these moments through the lens of Scripture. The apostle Paul exhorts us that “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority,” so that we may live quiet and peaceful lives in all godliness and honesty (1 Timothy 2:1–2). Our Lord Jesus tells us, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). These words apply to how we speak about the Armenian government, and they apply to how we speak about the Armenian Apostolic Church.
I want to say clearly that I hold deep love and respect for the Armenian Apostolic Church and its ancient witness, and I also refuse to hate or vilify the Prime Minister or those who serve in government. There are real grievances, there are serious questions about justice, and there are brothers in Christ who are sitting in prison cells right now. We must pray that, if any crimes were truly committed, they are judged with fairness, and that if any of these clergy and lay leaders are innocent, the truth will come into the light and they will be fully vindicated. “For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light” (Luke 8:17).
Yet even in the middle of this pain, I believe Armenia is moving into the birth pangs of a national awakening. The very fact that the Prime Minister is speaking openly about God’s guidance, about the word of God, about integrity rooted in the presence of God, and about peace as a spiritual path, all while the nation gathers around prayer, Scripture, and honest conversation, is a sign that the Lord is not finished with this land. 
The Bible promises that if a people humble themselves and pray and seek the face of God and turn from their wicked ways, then He will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14). The prophet Joel spoke of God pouring out His Spirit on all flesh, sons and daughters prophesying, old men dreaming dreams, and young men seeing visions (Joel 2:28–29). Isaiah declares, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you” (Isaiah 60:1). These are not dead words for a dead nation; they are living promises for a people who return to the Lord.
In my own life, every trauma and every valley has turned out to be a birth pang, not a tombstone, and I believe Armenia is in that same place. The hostility between church and state, the bitterness on both sides, the grief over Artsakh, the anguish over abortion, the weariness of war and loss, all of it can become the soil of repentance. If Armenia turns from abortion, if Armenians repent of sin and seek the face of Christ, if the Church walks in holiness and the government embraces humility before God, then Jesus will transform the hearts of leaders and people alike. The churches will fill again. Families will grow again. The faith that once shaped this nation will burn brightly again.
So I choose to see this Prayer Breakfast and these remarkable words from the Prime Minister as a first ray of dawn over a long and dark night. The same man who once wrote about having a “decisive vote” over the Catholicos now stands before the world and declares that integrity is impossible without God and His word, and that God is leading Armenia on a path of peace.  That contrast should move us, not to pride, but to prayer.
Let us therefore pray for the Prime Minister. Let us pray for the Catholicos and all the bishops and priests. Let us pray for those who sit in prison, and for those who hold power. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to melt bitterness, to purify motives, to expose lies, and to unite this wounded nation at the foot of the Cross.
I feel The glory that is coming is near. The Spirit of God is stirring. The mountain shadows are thinning. It is no longer the dead of night, it is the first light of day. Armenia is standing at the threshold of revival and awakening, and if the people will turn to the Lord, the glory of God will rise over this land again.
~Rev. Joel Tenney