Erin Coates uploaded a wonderful picture to her social media, showing the family embracing after a long separation. We are rejoicing for this family, and honor them for their courage and steadfastness.
While many people have been erroneously claiming that Pastor Coates will have to pay a $1500 dollar fine, or had to pay it as a condition of his release, this is not so. Rather, the judge told Coates that his time spent in custody would count as the entire fine, meaning he doesn’t have to pay anything. In fact, it was covered by day 12. For this reason, the $1500 was designed to be all bark and no bite – to shock and sound forceful and condemning, when in reality it could have been $3000 and he still would not be paying it.
While it is fully expected that Pastor Coates will show up to the upcoming March 27th church service to a raucous and uplifted congregation, he may say a few words, but will not be preaching the sermon. Pastor Coates needs to spend the week with his wife and children and will not be able to prepare a message, and so Pastor Jacob Spenst will be preaching.
With the news of his release, many people were celebrating, including hundreds of churches that have been praying for him worldwide, along with his alma mater, where John MacArthur has personally and publicly prayed for him for weeks now.
We praise God that James Coates, pastor of Grace Life Church in Alberta, Canada, is going home to his wife and children after spending five weeks in prison for obeying God rather than man.
— The Master's Seminary (@MastersSeminary) March 22, 2021
A prominent Southern Baptist leader has declared that white Christians need to “give up power” and “surrender leadership at the table” to ethnic minorities in order to foster kingdom diversity, except he is not volunteering his own positions of prestige to be sacrificed on the altar of white privilege.
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) President Danny Akin, who recently took heat for signing a statement against Critical Race Theory that didn’t really come out against Critical Race Theory, has come to the forefront of the CRT discussion in a recently unearthed 2018 video from the ERLC (color us surprised!) where he pushes standpoint theory and regurgitates every conceivable race-baiting cliche imaginable, particularly his “indigenous to our nature” nonsense.
To the question of “What do white Christians need to be mindful of when speaking out about Racial reconciliation?” he explains:
White Christians need to learn above all things, I think, to be good listeners. Over the last several years as I’ve tried to held build a culture for racial reconciliation and kingdom diversity, which is a core value of Southeastern Seminary, I’ve come to understand more and more that my perspective is not the perspective of my African American brothers and sisters, or my Hispanic brothers and sisters or my Asian brother and sisters.
They really do see life differently. They’re operating out of a different paradigm, a different context that’s very different than mine. And I didn’t really realize that until I stopped talking and began to listen.
So I think one of the things that white evangelicals, in particular, have got to do is become better listeners. In addition to that, we have got to be willing to surrender power, which is again, not indigenous to our nature.
As I often say, not only do we need to invite ethnic minorities in our room and to have a seat at the table, we even need to be willing to surrender leadership at the table if we’re really going to make progress and really help our brothers and sisters understand we see them on an equal plane with ourselves.
Great. He can start with himself and Russell Moore, and take most of the other seminary presidents with them.
The fact is that Danny Akin is overseeing the most rapidly liberalizing anti-revival in the history of any institution of the Southern Baptist Convention. During the tenure of Paige Patterson at SEBTS, it could be counted on to have been a stronghold for conservative principles. Now, its president does ads promoting atheist groups, they do Malcolm X read-ins, promote Black Liberation Theology, and recently hired one of the most extreme leftists in evangelicalism, Karen Swallow Prior.
Akin has been in power for years, ruling his little kingdom with a tiny woke fist, but apparently, he doesn’t want to lead by example and surrender his own power and seat of influence seat to some darker-skinned brothers, all the while enjoining others to do so.
A judge has begrudgingly agreed to accept the joint submission between the Crown prosecutors and James Coates’ defense team, while adding another fine of $1500 for good measure. This ensures the Edmonton-based Gracelife Church pastor is able to leave the prison without having to agree to the previous conditions that were on his release, including not stepping foot on church property. He is expected to be on this side of the bars in a matter of hours.
Provincial Judge Jeffrey Champion initially balked at the small fine being paid, declaring it unacceptable and saying it wouldn’t be viewed by the average person as a legitimate deterrent. For this reason, he denied the 100$ fine and instead imposed a $1,500 fine against him, saying in an exasperated voice. “Your decision could have been of danger to the health and safety of those in the community.” and chiding him for being a bad pastor, saying “The shepherd ought to protect his flock”
Nontheless, the judge also told Coates that his time spent in custody would count as the entire fine, meaning he doesn’t have to pay anything.
James will shortly walk out after spending 35 days in a maximum-security prison for the crime of ultimately insisting that Christ is the head of the church who determines what His worship looks like, not the government.
During the hearing, Coates spoke before the court, saying:
The court is aware that I am contesting the legitimacy of that law and so I think that my position is pretty clear, but please make no mistake, this is not a statement that I’m making to society, I’m not trying to make a point, I’m not a political revolutionary. I have a responsibility before God to Shepard the people entrusted to me. I have a responsibility to be obedient to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and it’s simply that obedience that has me here in this place.
While James is free and will be rejoining his family and church very shortly, he will still have to appear for his May 3rd trial, the result of refusing to please guilty to one of the lesser charges that were not dropped. This is by design.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms and Coates are refusing to plead guilty so that they can force a trial. The nature of his trial will be unique, as it won’t so much be Coates on trial, but rather the government’s health orders instead. Here, they will determine whether or not the government violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (contained in The Canadian Constitution).
This would essentially force the provincial government to provide scientific evidence in open court that justifies their health orders and lockdowns, where up to this point they have just been deciding by divine fiat without providing the data.
In particular, they expect to be cross-examining the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, who for the first time since the pandemic began, will be forced to answer some tough questions under oath. This will surely be a change for her, as so far up this point all the questions asked to her over the last 12 months have been softballs lobbed by a pro-lockdown media in a very friendly setting. No longer.
While the win in Alberta would not be binding across any other province, it would be persuasive and have other courts take notice, along with emboldening other pastors to take similar stands and force the issue.
Provincial Judge Jeffrey Champion refused to accept the agreed-upon terms between crown prosecutors and James Coates’ defense team this morning, which would have seen him released with only a $100 fine.
Explaining that such a small punishment was not reflective of the severity of the action, he instead imposed a $1,500 fine against Coates and credited him with time served, explaining “Your decision could have been of danger to the health and safety of those in the community,”
There is no word yet if he has agreed to pay the $1500, but he is excepted to.
In what would be a truly insufferable sermon to sit through, Laura Toggs, Hillsong Church’s “Young and Free Pastor” and daughter to Brian Houston, gave a mother’s day sermon last year where she shared “inspiring scriptures and impactful lessons from the movie to encourage us to make a difference in the world around us.”
A mother’s day sermon based on a movie from a disqualified pastrix? There are few things worse in the world.
Toggs, who goes through bible translations faster than Hillsong Church goes through scandals, initially quotes the Passion translation, then NKJV, then the NIV for John 3:16, then the next verse over, for John 3:17, the Message Bible Paraphrase because apparently, the NIV didn’t say what she wanted it to say in order to make a point not in scripture.
I am so privileged to be able to bring the word tonight. I’m going to bringing a message around the movies, and the movie I have chosen is Wonder Woman…
I’ve been thinking about perhaps the world’s most famous passage of scripture. In John 3:16, ‘God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’ (NIV)
And in verse 17 it says this: ‘God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.’ (MSG)
(Editor’s note: Actual verse 17: ‘For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.‘)
My first point is this about Wonder Woman, she has a conviction of calling. And this is a direct quote from Wonder Woman, she says this: ‘If no one else will defend the world, then I must…’ Do you know that you are called? And our calling is exactly that, to help. To help put the world right again.
Rather than exegeting the scriptures, she is quoting them alongside scripture and exegeting them instead. The scriptures say that God sent Christ to save the world through him…where the MSG says Jesus came “to help, to put the world right again.” These are NOT the same.
She then uses these verses which are about Jesus to explain how Wonder Woman also defended the world, and that we are called to do likewise according to the scripture. This demonstrates the inability of Hillsong to treat the scriptures fairly or carefully, giving us a new calling that is not the great commission, but rather helping the world in some vague way. This is particularly blasphemous when we consider the verse is about what God has done, not what we must do.
Explaining that people who are more politically or culturally liberal are more comfortable with uncertainty or with trying new things and who have the excitement of discovery (such as himself) He contrasts this to old homely Cracker Barrel, where the conservatives who go there are “psychologically less comfortable with uncertainty” and rooted in a need for the familiar while “ejecting new ideas.”
PHIL VISCHER: I’ve read research that shows that conservatives, and not Christian conservatives, but just people who are generally conservative are psychologically less comfortable with uncertainty. People that are politically liberal or culturally liberal are also more comfortable with uncertainty or with trying new things.
For example, I don’t know if you saw the statistics, something like 80 percent of Whole Foods stores are in a district that’s represented by a Democrat in Congress. And it’s reverse for Cracker Barrel stores. Eighty percent of Cracker Barrel stores-
KAREN SWALLOW PRIOR: That explains my home, my town here!
VISCHER: Yes. Are in a district that’s represented by a Republican. And so I saw someone who then used that to say, and Cracker Barrel is about the comfort of familiarity. Whole Foods is about the excitement of discovery, of finding something new. A cheese from somewhere else. So that you can kind of use those two to, you know, just those two ideas as: if you are conservative, you like the comfort of certainty.
So I’m wondering how much, you know, because Christianity in America has become so closely aligned with conservative values, which came first: the conservatism or the rejection of new ideas or trying, or going to Whole Foods, basically? How long has Christianity been Cracker Barrel and not Whole Foods and which came first: the Cracker Barrel or the Christianity?
HT to @wokepreachertv for the video and transcript
The fifty-second album in an ongoing series documenting faithful churches gathering for Sunday service in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
One year in, and we’re still doing this.
With some churches still not gathering in-person in these dark times and others being persecuted by the government for being open, these are the congregations who are meeting faithfully at the command of Scripture (Heb. 10:25).
These churches are preaching outside, are back in their buildings having in-person services, or are having drive-through services. Some with masks and social distancing, others without.
All are being safe. All are being obedient to the scriptures. All are loving their neighbors.
The family of James Coates and congregants of GraceLife Church will have to wait a bit longer to see their beloved spouse, father, and pastor, with news that James’ hearing won’t be until Monday morning the 22nd at 9:30am, rather than sometime Friday morning, which many had hoped.
The news comes from wife Erin, who likewise explained that even though the JCCF hoped he would be released early after the prosecution agreed to drop the conditions, that there was no guarantee of his release.
We wrote about this earlier, explaining that with this resolution in hand, the case will go before a judge on Monday, where the prosecutor and defense will submit a joint submission.
While it’s highly likely that the judge will accept it, it is important to note that it’s not guaranteed or a foregone conclusion. While it would be very rare, it is not without precedent that the judge could refuse to accept the joint submission and keep James incarcerated until his trial in May, or until he accepts the conditions that prohibit him from stepping foot on church property. Alberta still considers itself in the midst of a public health crisis, and the judge may be immovable.
His release is not a forgone conclusion. Please continue to keep the Coates family in your prayers.
Erin Coates, wife of imprisoned pastor James Coates of GraceLife Church appeared on Tucker Carlson to do a brief segment on how her husband is doing and their thoughts on what is motivating the government to keep him locked up.
Speaking on how he is handling things, she says that the food issues continue to be a struggle, as he has food sensitivities that the wrong nutrition can exacerbate, but that otherwise, he has other struggles that they are seeking the Lord on.
He’s a shepherd. He’s a Bible teacher. He’s a theologian. He’s not able to shepherd the people he loves. He’s not able to challenge his mind. He’s not able to serve in the way that he loves to serve people, so this is hard on him.
Declaring that his present state is such obvious tyranny, Carlson inquires whether not any authorities or politicians have come to her direct aid, and whether or not she still recognizes her country.
Sure. I think that there are actually some (Members of Parliament) and (Members of the Legislative Assembly) behind the scenes that are trying to help us, but other than that I think their hands are tied…
I think we’re like a boiling frog for a while. I think our freedoms have just slowly been stripped from us so slowly over time that we didn’t even realize it, and so when something like a Health Order is put in place that takes away your freedoms, it’s not shocking to people.
And it really should be shocking to people that there is a pastor in jail right now who’s given his life to sacrifice to love other people, to worship God. That’s not shocking to a lot of people and it really should be.
We are on a dangerous road right now, and just because we’ve been in the pot for so long, boiling, that people aren’t really realizing the danger that we’re facing as a nation.
Tucker closes by asking her if she believed her husband was singled out for arrest because he is a Christian pastor.
Well, I have to believe that the enemy is singling him out. We have a real enemy who really hates the Lord Jesus Christ and really hates the blood-bought body that he purchased on the cross and has given new life to. Yes, we have an absolute real enemy and he uses people to target the ministers of God. We know that through scripture. we know that through church history, and so I really believe that they are being targeted in our country.
Writing on Instagram two days ago, Erin explained that this was not her best interview, being terrified of being on national TV and seen by millions, but that she is confident the Lord will use it to his glory. She writes:
I couldn’t see anything but my own face and Tucker talking in my ear (I do much better seeing peoples faces), I didn’t know the questions before hand and just as I got comfortable with the questions we were finished! Man I have so much respect for people doing those interviews. Such a learning experience for me to get out everything I can even if a question isn’t directed to what I want to say. The interview started with a clip of James’ sermon which made me super emotional. Oh well, I rest in the fact that what I said was ordained before the foundation of the world. I was so nervous I can’t even remember what I said. I pray it glorifies Christ and gets the word out.
A Montana lawmaker who is seeking to bring reverence for God and a respect for the Constitution and cultural totems back into the Big Sky State has introduced a bill designed to instill pride and patriotism into the hearts of the student body, one that passed the house and is now being debated in the Senate.
Republican State Rep. Bob Phalen, a self-described “Christian conservative with strong moral values” who served two tours of Vietnam in the US Navy, and now serves on his church board, sponsored House Bill 543, explaining that “we owe it to each generation to teach in our public schools what it means to be an American citizen.”
The bill is designed to inculcate a love of nationalistic totems and patriotic obligation within the hearts of a student body that has by and large been disenfranchised and disillusioned by the media shouting that their country and constitution are corrupt.
Not only would HB543 ensure that Grade 3 to 12 students would receive instruction on the US constitution, but it would see students across all age brackets stand for the Pledge of Allegiance each day. This is in contrast to the current model, which only has secondary students saying it once a week.
Whereas the current law allows districts to opt for a moment of silence afterward, State Rep. Scot Kerns offered up an amendment that would add a “moment of silent prayer” to the bill.
When pressed why he wanted to include a “moment of prayer” rather than a “moment of reflection,” Phalen explained: (Note, edited slightly for clarity)
Because I think it was 50 years ago, they took God out of school. Maybe it’s not quite 50, but close. But anyway, you can see what kind of Hell our country is going through right now. (But) this is a silent prayer. Or a moment of silence — it doesn’t say prayer right now — but if there’s an amendment added, that would be a moment of silent prayer.
And who knows what you’re gonna say? You might just sit there in a moment of silence! I mean, not everybody’s gonna pray, and they’re not gonna be praying out loud because it says a moment of silence. So, I just think it’s time to get God back in school in some form or fashion…
This is dear to me…I was asked where I got this idea, and it was listening to the David Barton and Rick Green series because Rick Green did it in Texas, and since he done it in Texas, and then several other states followed, then I thought this state [will] follow also.
This naturally resulted in some pushback from democrat lawmakers crying foul over the separation of church and state, up with one witness, Laurie Little Dog, suggesting that while it was good for students to understand the power dynamics at play in pledging allegiance to a flag, she considered the daily recitations to be little more than “upping the ante” of hateful rhetoric, given that the American flag represented to her the “continued genocide” to Native Americans.
