Tiphani Montgomery / YouTube, Inset: A.RICARDO / Shutterstock.com

A pastor’s sermon calling R&B icon Beyoncé Knowles-Carter a “witch” has gone viral. The pastor added that anyone who listens to her music and attends her concert shouldn’t call themselves Christian.

Pastor Tiphani Montgomery, who uses the title prophetess and leads the teaching and prophetic ministry Covered by God, compared going to Beyonce concerts to satanic rituals in a sermon. Montgomery preached as the crowd applauded, “Any of you who are going to Beyoncé’s concert, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus. How dare you call yourself a Christian?”

She continued, “I don’t care what pastor you got that’s okay with it. I don’t care what pastor you got that thinks it’s cool. I don’t care what pastor you got that’s singing along to the songs because they want some clout.” Montgomery also referenced rapper Jay-Z, Beyoncé’s husband of 14 years, saying, “Why do you think that man calls himself ‘J-Hova.’

Montgomery also suggested that Beyoncé is a witch, adding that when a witch has a coven, it’s usually a small thing made up of three to seven people. However, she said that when the coven has thousands of people, it becomes known as a “hive,” referencing Beyoncé’s fans, the Bey Hive. Then, she asked the audience, “Y’all are part of that lady’s ‘Bey Hive,’ and you call yourself a Christian?”

Montgomery continued, “May the dealings of the Lord come upon you. You think this is small stuff. You think going to that lady’s concert is not an initiation? You think going to that concert is not a ritual?” She argues that everything about Beyoncé’s concerts is a gateway to serving the devil. She also warned Christians with large social media followings that promoting Beyoncé to their audiences will cause them to face the wrath of God.

Montgomery said, “How dare you call yourself a Christian? I’m telling you, may the dealings of the Lord come upon any Christian with a platform that is using mixture. May the dealings of the Lord come upon you. God is tired of this. I’m telling you about the Spirit of God. He is tired of His people being a mixture. Being a mixture is the same as cheating on your wife. You being a mixture is the same thing as you cheating on your husband.”

Montgomery also believes there’s no excuse for lukewarm Christianity when a believer has made a covenant, saying, “How dare you think it’s just music when the devil was the minister of music. You are blinded if you think it’s okay to go there. You are blinded. You should know that the Holy Ghost is not with you if you have no conviction.

Montgomery closed out her sermon by saying that her warning about Beyoncé is “a corporate warning for the body of Christ” that wasn’t originally part of her speech but received from the Holy Spirit. She said, “If you don’t separate yourself if you don’t begin to be ye separated, because God is tired of you trying to blend in with the world. God is tired of you trying to be liked by the world.”

As the video blew up on social media, some online found a 2014 tweet from Montgomery stating that she went to a Jay-Z and Beyoncé concert, describing it as “amazing.” In response to criticisms, Montgomery clarified that she wasn’t saved until August 2015 and that her tweets before that time were a result of her being “blind.”

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