HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, February 9, 2026 – Jesus never intended for us to gather in a building to pray and worship. In fact, shortly before his crucifixion, Jesus said that going to the temple in Jerusalem and doing the things that were done there (rituals, rites, sacrifices, etc.) would soon no longer be required, that the temple of stone would be replaced with the temple of his risen body. By “temple”, he meant the Church. As born-agains, we know that the Church is the collective of Holy Spirit-filled believers that exist on Earth at any given time. Even without a building (and especially without a building), the Church will exist until Jesus comes back to take the last of his followers Home.

Paul also, in laying the foundation for the worldly church, never designated certain buildings as prayer and worship sites. When he talked about the church in this or that city or town, he meant people who identified as believers (some were born-again believers, some weren’t) who lived there. He was not referring to a building or (God forbid) a denomination. To Paul, the church was made up of those who believed that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah. Rebirth wasn’t a prerequisite in Paul’s worldly church as it was in Jesus’ Church. If you’re genuinely born-again, you know what I mean.

Then somewhere along the way, the building itself started to be called “the church”, and people rallied around the building instead of rallying around God and Jesus. So when the building a.k.a. church was emptied or demolished, the impression was that the body of believers had likewise shrivelled and died. This is the devil’s doing, to inspire a building to be called a church rather than the body of believers to be called the Church, as Jesus intended. This is the devil’s doing, and he’s been very successful at dividing the falling house of nominal believers through creeds, denominations, and deconsecrated structures.

The demolishing of buildings designated as churches, or their revamping into condos, mosques, or other worldly or spiritual uses, is mainly for optics, like a notch in the devil’s belt or a feather in his cap. Yes, the worldly church, built as it is on the shaky ground of self-identifying belief rather than God-inspired belief, is ultimately destined for destruction, but the Church whose cornerstone is Jesus cannot be destroyed. It is by very definition indestructible. Having its presence solely in the spiritual realm, the Church of genuine born-again believers is fully protected by God through his Holy Spirit and will persist until Jesus comes back in glory to take his remnant Home.

We, the Church built on Jesus, are not called to worship and “fellowship” in a building that is little more than a social club but to reach out to one another constantly in prayer, to support one another constantly in prayer, and to love one another constantly in prayer. Jesus said that’s how we’ll be known, by our love for one another – not for our love for the world, but for one another. I pray for you and you pray for me, even if we don’t know each other by name or know that the other exists. We can rest assured that the Church Indestructible does exist (if it didn’t, none of us would be here), and it is for this Church that we’re to send up our most fervent prayers.

Because as long as the Church exists, the world exists; and as long as the world exists, there is still hope for some. But when the last of us leaves – and God’s Holy Spirit leaves with us – hope will be no more.