Andrew Owen, pastor of Destiny Church in Glasgow, fears the clampdown by Facebook and other social media giants after the attack on the US Capitol will lead to the permanent exclusion of Christians from their platforms.

In a letter to church members, the pastor said that while Christians had missed their "taken for granted" freedom to meet together during the pandemic, "all of this may change sooner than we think, and I'm not talking about the virus."

He said the decision by the likes of Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to permamently ban Donald Trump last week marked a "seismic shift" in the world.  

"For the first time, we saw the big tech giants (Google,Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon...) decide that some people's thoughts, ideas, and opinions were not to be shared with the wider world, and blocked tens of thousands of accounts, closing many of them permanently," he wrote.

Owen warned that the values in the Bible and the values of society were "on a collision course", and that Christians must choose between being politically correct and "biblically correct".

"Currently, an anti-God ideology is taking a very firm hold on our planet, and shutting many people, including Christians out of the public arena," he said.

"The cancel culture of too many universities has now reached you and me."

He added: "We have made the most of church online during these lockdowns, but it's now a real possibility that perhaps a year or two from now, Facebook, YouTube, and others may prohibit church online and ban any Christian content."

Owen ended by saying that the end was near but Christians should "stay positive" and use every opportunity to share the Gospel. 

"I have been asked so many times of late, are these things plus a global pandemic the signs of the end of the times," he said.

"The answer is it's the countdown to the end, but Jesus said the real sign of the end will be a global revival, the gospel will be preached with huge success to the ends of the earth.

"Therefore, the real signs of the times will not be found at Google Head Quarters, but at the church – what are we doing with all Jesus said?

"Maximise your opportunity now. We still have basic freedoms, we can still tell people we identify as Christian, we can still tell people about Jesus and we can still invite people to church online, let's not waste it, speak up, invite in, bring someone with you."