Author: Staff Writer

Categories
Breaking Church Drive-In Church Featured In-person Church News Righteous Defiance

GraceLife Church Parking Lot Overflows as they Continue Prohibited Services

While their pastor remained incarcerated in prison, more attendees than ever flooded to GraceLife Church on Sunday, forcing the church to turn some people away as they began to burst at the seams. The continued influx is the result of hundreds of people visiting one of the few churches taking a stand and opening to capacity in the province, including some guests who drove more than 2 hours to attend the service and show their support for the church body that has become a rallying cry across the province to open the churches amid strict COVID-19 lockdowns.

Assistant Pastor Jacob Spenst, a recent Masters Seminary graduate who studied under John MacArthur in California (Pastor James Coates is also a Master’s Seminary grad), preached on Phillippians 1:27-30, which was about striving and suffering for Christ.

He told the congregation that James was doing “fine” and that “more importantly, he wanted to let you know he loves you, he misses you dearly and certainly he’s very concerned for this church. We need to remain strong even as he is remaining strong, even as the Lord strengthens him moment by moment, even as he continues to remain in jail.”

Within 10-15 minutes before the service, the church reached the fire code capacity and had to close its doors. GraceLife set up large speakers outside the building by the door where another 30 people could listen from outside, or could listen to the livestream from the parking lot.

The province currently restricts church services to 15 percent of fire code capacity.

A half-dozen police cars hovered around the church, saying they were there just in case there were any problems with counter-protesters, although none showed up. A spokesman for the law enforcement agency said they were continuing their investigation into the GraceLife Church “as part of and ongoing allegations into the church’s non-compliance with the Public Health Order.” and noting that “observations were made that the church held a service beyond the designated capacity.” 

Fairview Baptist Church, a church in the city of Calgary, likewise announced they were having church services in defiance of the restrictions, explaining in a statement on the church’s website, “It is…Jesus Christ, not civil government, that defines what is essential for the gathered church.” The pastor at Fairview, Tim Stephens, has been instrumental in encouraging the churches to gather and open at their full capacities.

Police in Alberta are consulting with Alberta Health Services over what their next course of action will be – if they will similarly arrest Pastor Jacob Spenst, begin mass ticketing of congregants, such as what Ontario police did a few weeks ago when they issued 47 congregants $880 tickets for violating lockdown orders, or some other action.

Categories
Church Evangelical Stuff Featured News

Voddie Baucham Medical Update ‘I was Within an Hour or so of Death’

Voddie Baucham has provided another update from inside the Mayo Clinic, informing supporters and concerned believers that he is fine for now, with a “clear, aggressive, and promising treatment plan” in place, but that he almost didn’t make it, with the doctor who brought him in telling him he was “in the final stages of a catastrophic event, and within an hour or so of death.”

The beloved teacher and minister flew out from Zambia to the hospital in Florida last week, making a trek that involved a 16-hour flight, 5 layovers, cancelled flights, a once-in-a-lifetime snow storm, and tens of thousands of saints keeping him in prayer.

He wrote this update on his social media pages:

@americanair found our @saddlebackbags and delivered them. Praise the Lord for a burden lifted!

On the health front, I am still at the @mayoclinic and receiving care from some of the top doctors in the world in the field of heart failure.

My condition is much improved, and we have a clear, aggressive, and promising treatment plan. Bridget and I continue to marvel at the Lord’s providence and rejoice in his goodness. According to the doctor that brought me in (actually, his wife picked us up and rushed us to the E.D., but that’s another story for another time), I was in the final stages of a catastrophic event, and within an hour or so of death.

When we look back at the amazing work of the missionary doctor in Lusaka who stabilized me (and saved my life), the GoFundMe, canceled flights, weather delays, my vitals during the Joburg to Doha flight, a last-minute itinerary change to Jacksonville, and the fact that Mayo was expecting and waiting for me upon arrival (including the paramedic who checked me in and said, “I’m trying not to go all fan-girl right now,” 😂 it is impossible to deny the hand of our Sovereign God and the way he shepherded us.

There is much more I could say and a great deal more work to be done, but we are resting and rejoicing in God’s goodness. Even in the ‘little’ things… Like finally getting our bags! Especially when we realize that, if we had waited and taken the same journey our bags did (our original itinerary), we would not have made it to Mayo in time.

#TheyFoundOurBags
#TheBagsWereLateButWeWereNot
#GodIsAlwaysOnTime

Baucham had written a post yesterday regarding their dismay at having his bags lost.

Prior to this health scare, Voddie had been battling chronic illness for years, even as he built his strength through resistance training, martial arts, exercise, and sport, according to a recent article by the Christian Post which features Voddie’s health commitments and routines over the last decade to protect his health and heart, including losing over 60lb’s in 2018.

Categories
abortion Featured News

Tennessee Bill Would Give Fathers of Unborn Babies Ability to Veto Abortion

A controversial bill proposed by two Republican Tennessee lawmakers would give the fathers of unborn children the ability to stop the mother from aborting, giving them veto power in the event the mother chooses to end their pre-born child’s life.

The bill, SB494/HB1079 was introduced by Sen. Mark Pody and Rep. Jerry Sexton. It has been sent to the Tennessee Senate Judiciary Committee and filed for the Tennessee House of Representatives. According to the language, it would:

ermit a person to petition a court for an injunction to prohibit a woman who is pregnant with the person’s unborn child from obtaining an abortion; requires the petitioner to execute a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity that is not subject to being rescinded or challenged. ”

Senator Pody told reporters that he introduced his bill after some of his constituents lamented that fathers do not have any control over the life of the child, and that this would give them some rights.

I believe a father should have a right to say what’s going to be happening to that child. And if somebody is going to kill that child, he should be able to say, ‘No, I don’t want that child to be killed. I want to able to raise that child and love that child.’

Naturally, this has enraged more than a few pro-choice activists, who have decried this as tantamount to forced birth. They say that if enacted, all the women will have to do is deny the involvement of the man, saying they cheated on him or weren’t exclusive, making paternity impossible to prove. One woman grimly said that in the event paternity could be proven, she would take drastic measures.

The Executive Director of ACLU Tennessee, Hedy Weinberg, said in a statement, “This unconstitutional legislation demonstrates the condescending mindset underlying this bill: that men should control women’s bodies. Women are not chattel and this bill needs to be stopped in its tracks.”

Categories
Church Evangelical Stuff In-person Church News Righteous Defiance

Hundreds Rally At Edmonton Prison in Support of Incarcerated Pastor

The Edmonton Remand Center became the hub of a major protest, as hundreds of men and women turned out to a rally in support of imprisoned Pastor James Coates. The GraceLife Church pastor has become a symbol for freedom of religion and opposition to tyrannical government persecution after he was arrested and remains detained for refusing to close down the church he pastors.

Alberta’s Public Health Act limits church gatherings at 15% capacity and imposes a string of further restrictions on masking, singing, and social distancing during services. With GraceLife Church refusing to abide by it, Coates was eventually arrested. According to the RCMP, Coates “was charged with two counts of contravention of the Public Health Act and charged for failing to comply with a condition of his undertaking, under the Criminal Code.”

Coates was given the opportunity to serve his time at home until his trial, on the condition that he does not step foot inside the Church. Believing he would not be able to effectively shepherd his congregation if he could not do this, he remains remanded.

As a result, hundreds turned out in support of the pastor, in contravention to Alberta’s restrictions on social gatherings which limits them to no more than 10 people. On the other side of town, more were gathered at the Legislature building in opposition to the lockdown and also in support of Pastor Coates.

People peacefully sang and prayed, singing Amazing Grace, delivering a message to the Premiere of Alberta Jason Kenny, and encouraging other churches to open. Pastor Henry Hildebrandt of the Church of God in Aylmer, Ontario showed up to share a message. Hildebrant has been engaged with law enforcement for nearly a year over his own church being open, initially fighting to have even drive-in services, up to recently where 47 congregation members were each issued $880 tickets for violating lockdown orders.

Erin Coates, wife of James Coates, described it as a “sweet joy” to see everyone gathered in support of her husband and told the crowd, “I know my husband is fighting for freedom, but more he’s fighting for the lordship of Christ over his church.”

She encourages them to listen to and circulate this sermon preached by her husband on his last Sunday before his arrest, which explains the roles of the church and government in society. As far as what people can do to support them and the church, she said:

Open your churches. Petition your [unintelligible] to open the Churches. Take a stand for the Lord Jesus Christ and take a stand for the people. Love them. Open the doors. That’s what we need to do right now. People are hurting. They need to hear about Christ. They need to hear about him who has paid the penalty for sins so they can be reconciled to God.

And so I hope that happens through all of this. Open the doors of the churches. Sing your hearts out to the Lord. Love one another…and be kind to those who oppose us, because we’re doing this in love. And they’re not going to understand it – they didn’t understand Christ, they won’t understand us either. And that’s ok, because we love them anyway.

So go on my brothers and sisters with boldness. Proclaim the gospel, use every opportunity to share what he has done in your life and who He is because there’s eternal souls at risk right now, and so I just thank you all for being here.

More rallies and protests are planned for next week.



Categories
Drive-In Church Evangelical Stuff Featured In-person Church Righteous Defiance

A Gallery Of The Faithful Gathering For Church Amid Pandemic – Album Forty Eight

The forty-eight album in an ongoing series documenting faithful churches gathering for Sunday service in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

With some churches still not gathering in-person in these dark times, others being persecuted by the government for being open, and others ending services for the rest of the year, these are the congregations who are meeting faithfully at the command of Scripture (Heb. 10:25).

For previous albums: 

Album #1  Album #2  Album #3  Album #4  Album #5  Album #6  Album #7  Album #8  Album #9  Album #10  Album #11  Album #12  Album #13  
Album #14  Album #15  Album #16  Album#17  Album# 18 Album #19  
Album #20  Album #21 Album #22  Album #23 Album #24 Album #25
Album #26 Album #27 Album #28 Album #29 Album #30 Album #31 Album #32 Album #33 Album #34 Album #35 Album #36 Album #37 Album #38 Album #39 Album #40 Album #41 Album #42 Album #43 Album #44 Album #45 Album #46 Album #47

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.

Categories
Breaking Evangelical Stuff In-person Church Righteous Defiance

Christians Rally at the Prison to Support Jailed Alberta Pastor + An Update

Protesters rallied at the Edmonton Remand Center yesterday to protest the ongoing lockup of Pastor James Coates, The GraceLife Church minister who remains quarantined in a maximum-security prison. Coates is the first religious leader to be arrested for preaching in Canada in nearly 200 years, the result of defying a public health order that caps indoor church services at 15% capacity, along with strict social distancing protocol, masking policies, and prohibitions on corporate worship.

After Coates was arrested he was given the opportunity to be released, despite the wishes of the prosecution. With no criminal record and health violations rarely if ever accompanied by jail time, the Judge was primed to set him free, but then put a condition on him that he not step foot on church property, and especially not call his church to worship again from the pulpit.

Refusing to abide by those conditions due to deep religious and personal conviction, Coates was remanded until one of three things happen.

  1. The Crown Prosecutor relents and abandons the conditions.
  2. His lawyer wins a successful appeal at his conditions hearing, which is set for February 24th.
  3. He has his trial , which could be several months away.

Thankfully, it seems he has not wasted his prison time, with confirmed reports that he has been preaching and sharing the gospel with those within earshot of him.

As a result of his confinement, a rally was held at the Remand Center, with shouts of “Free Pastor James” reverberating through the air. These protests and protesters are not affiliated with the church leadership, nor are they endorsed by the elders, but rather are regular folk wanting to be heard and show their support.

https://www.bitchute.com/video/dklHeDx7cEfR/

With news beginning to attract mainstream attention of Pastor Coates’ arrest, so has the outrage that he remains locked up. His story has been covered by all the papers nationally, and it is stiffening the spine of fellow Christians.

A change.org petition has over 7200 signatures and the Premiere of Alberta, Jason Kenney is being hammered mercilessly for this. In light of an onslaught of criticism, the embattled leader and professing devout Roman Catholic still maintained that a pandemic was not time to be delivering “libertarian sermons.” He wrote on his Facebook page:

Just yesterday I joined many fellow believers at an Edmonton Church to participate in Ash Wednesday observances…As a Christian, I call on fellow believers to be guided by the principle of the sanctity of human life in how we act during this pandemic…One or two congregations have chosen flagrantly to violate all public health guidelines. In doing so, they are risking viral transmission that could cost vulnerable lives. That is why I renew my call for all faith communities to responsibly exercise their freedom of worship in a way that shows love for our neighbors and regard for the weak and the vulnerable.”

With the separation of powers, Kenny pointed out in an interview with Danielle Smith that he can’t comment on or interfere with a legal case, and that he doesn’t incarcerate or release people.

That may be true, but his government does control the extent and magnitude of the lockdown and could give churches the freedom to gather tomorrow if he wanted, and the people are not buying his protestations. He may have to let the justice system take its course with Coates, but he can ensure there are no more arrests and jailing of Pastors in Alberta over this ever again.

Consequently, this is not likely to go away soon.

There is a scheduled rally for February 20 at 1:00pm at the prison, with up to 1000 people expected to attend and show their support.


Furthermore, as a result of Pastor Coates being arrested and his prayer that his example might be a seed that is planted in the fertile ground and blooms, several Churches have announced that they too will be opening or broadcasting the fact that they are open in solidarity with GraceLife Church, including Fairview Baptist Church in Calgary that writes:

The church further explains:

This act of worship will be recognized as defiance to many, but it is born out of conviction to honor Christ, stand with our brothers and sisters in this province, and faithfully uphold the truth as the church is called to do (1 Timothy 3:15).

All will be welcome but your involvement is strictly voluntary. I know many will have fear or wrestle with uncertainty. For your encouragement, other churches are planning to also stand in solidarity for Christ and the freedom of the church to worship. Pray that the Lord would add to our number.

And all God’s people said…..?

Categories
cancel culture Church Evangelical Stuff Featured Heresies News

Long-Time Saddleback Church Apologist is Now Gay Apologist

Those who have been doing discernment long term may remember the battles that raged for years between Richard Abanes and Ken Silva of Apprising Ministries, the man many consider to be the godfather of the online discernment ministry.

By way of brief background, for years Ken Silva operated Apprising.org, a theologically sound discernment website where he discussed problematic Christian leaders and trends. One of Silva’s frequently discussed topics was Rick Warren and “The Purpose Driven Life.” This monstrously impactful book had come out a few years earlier and was shaping all the trends in evangelicalism. Silva would catalog the errors and concerns coming out of Saddleback, providing a repository of resources for those who opposed the teaching, and overall helping to shape online discernment ministries.

Silva would collaborate with Chris Rosebrough, who at the time was relatively new to the online discernment ministry and had a blog called “Extreme Theology” before it morphed into Fighting for the Faith and Pirate Christian Radio.

Silva sadly passed away in September of 2014.

On the other side was Richard Abanes. Abanes was a long-time Saddleback Church member, former Church staffer, and author. Describing himself as a 5-point Calvinist and apologist, he used to work for the Christian Research Institute, which was run by Walter Martin and Hank Hanegraaff. Prolific in writing for papers and magazines about the intersection of Christianity and pop culture, Abanes also wrote books against Mormonism, cults, world religions, Harry Potter, and video games.

He also wasn’t a very good discerner, despite the pedigree. He was content to defend the rapscallions of the emergent church movement, such as Rob Bell, Doug Paggit, Tony Jones, and Brian McLaren, complaining that they weren’t that bad as Silva made them out to be, and that he was being mean overly critical when he took shots at them. But more than that, he would rabidly and vociferously defend his pastor from critiques wherever he found them.

He even went so far as to write a book titled Rick Warren And The Purpose That Drives Him: An Insider Looks At The Phenomenal Bestseller. Tim Challies did an interview with him here back in 2005, where they discussed his passion and propensity to defend the purpose-driven pastor.

Consequently, Abanes would trade blows with Silva over this for years, particularly between 2007 and 2009, when things were about as contentious as they come and the battle raged the hottest. At the time Abanes threatened to sue Silva for slander and libel, all the while complaining that online discernment ministries were made up of malcontents who were acting unchristlike. In fact, he showed open contempt for them. (Some things never change.)

It was during this time when Abanes got wound up about an article Silva famously wrote back in 2005 an article titled “A PASTOR’S ASSESSMENT OF RICHARD ABANES.” Abanes believed it to be slanderous and somehow contacted Silva’s Internet Service Provider and asked them to take the page down. When Silva refused the request of his provider, IPower took down his entire website, forcing him to rebuild under a different ISP.

This was a major deal at the time, and might be likened nowadays to getting an army of people to flag every social post as inappropriate, resulting in their antagonist being kicked off the platform. [Editor’s note: Gee, that’s never happened, has it? Oh, wait a minute…]

In short, it was chaotic and messy and Abanes was about as rabid a foil as they come.

But then Richard Abanes pretty much disappeared.

In late 2009 he stopped getting into skirmishes about Warren and Saddleback. He left comboxes alone. Whereas before he wrote some 20 books in 15 years, he stopped writing and hasn’t published anything since. He went back to playwriting some and acting some, but overall has been a ghost, completely removed from this world entirely, with one of the last posts on his now-defunct blog being about how the tv show “Real Housewives of Orange County was “worldly.”

But now he has reemerged, at least a little. Someone recently found his YouTube Channel, which has only 6 subscribers and under 500 total videos. They are mostly of him performing or featuring the plays he’s written, with two in particular standing out.

One is 2016 Broadways Sings for Pride. The event is designed to celebrate the LGBTQ “community” and raise money to meet their needs. The brief snippet shows his coming out in defense of people living in that lifestyle and approving the message.


The second is a play he wrote, produced and directed called 5 Women, which, according to Abanes, was written to:

Enlighten audiences to the struggles women face every day in our society: mother-daughter relationships, sisterhood, sexual harassment/assault, unrealistic media images of beauty, and eating disorders. Also presented throughout ‘Five Women’ is the timely subject of LGBTQ relationships, which is something that must still be positively covered in the arts to further educate the public and dispel harmful myths/stereotypes about persons in the LGBTQ community.

His Facebook page likewise features support for LGBTQ rights, to the point that he even featured a pride flag on his wedding registry and writes that it would be “great” if the cartoon characters Ernie and Bert were gay.

Still claiming to be a Christian, his rabid praising of the Democrats, rants against Trump and the Republicans, support for Black Lives Matter, and his abandonment of God’s word show that he’s devolved into a progressive, liberal “Christian” who still hates discernment ministries and the truth of the scriptures.

#FarewellRichardAbanes.

Categories
Evangelical Stuff Featured Heresies News

Prominent SBC Pastor ‘Strongly Rebukes’ Anyone Who Says V.P. Kamala Harris ISN’T a Christian

A prominent Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Pastor has come to the defense of Vice President Kamala Harris, rebuffing suggestions that she is an unsaved pagan that needs Jesus and strongly rebuking anyone claiming that the rabidly pro-abortion, pro-LGBTQ politician isn’t a Christian.

This brouhaha started yesterday when Pastor and Founders Ministries President Tom Ascol released a video where he said at some point, “Kamala Harris is going to hell without Christ.”

Not content to let theologically sound and biblical faith just sit there unpoked and unprodded, Pastor Dwight McKissic, who has been going to and fro in the earth, and walking up and down in it [see Job 1], retorted that the suggestion that Kamala Harris is lost and needs Christ is “sad” and that he “strongly rebukes Ascol” and anyone who agrees with him.

As proof of her salvation and Christian virtue, he points to the fact that she attends Third Baptist Church in San Francisco, a gay-affirming church that teaches Liberation Theology. He also notes that her church is part of the pro-choice, pro-LGBTQ, progressive National Baptist Convention, insisting that their doctrinal statement is “almost identical to the Baptist Faith and Message (BFM)” as evidence for her faith.

I guess that’s all it takes, huh?

There’s a polemical term that Seth Dunn coined, called “Website Orthodoxy.” It is when a nefarious Bible-twister or false teacher has an orthodox statement of faith on their website but ignores it entirely in their body of work, sermons, books, or teachings.

A good example of this was seen in 2016 when Andy Stanley preached a series of messages that attacked (explicitly) the sufficiency of Scripture and (implicitly) the inerrancy of Scripture. This followed up on a series of anti-Bible interviews, lectures, and comments. When challenged widely throughout evangelicalism, Stanley and the staff at NorthPoint church repeatedly pointed people back to the NorthPoint Church website, which purports a high view of Scripture.

The fact that Harris is bearing orchards of bad, putrifying, green-fuzz-growing, rotten fruit is irrelevant in light of her church membership, according to McKissic.

We would suggest that not only is Kamala Harris the Jezebeliest Jezebel that ever Jezebel Ed (particularly after she officiated that lesbian wedding, or after advancing a particularly nauseating abortion bill that turned ground-up babies bodies into beef tartare), but she is a pagan who does not know the Lord, who should have been excommunicated decades ago from her church, and whose “church” is thoroughly apostate itself. At this point there is no evidence that she is saved – certainly there is no fruit to behold, and unless she repents she will die in her sins.

Of course, because McKissic tends to serpentinely move to and fro by squirming around on his belly, he also tweeted mere hours before this, regarding a lesbian Bishop that he previously compared to Jezebel.


Faison claims the lesbian Bishop is saved because “She got the Ghost” [Editor’s note: The reference is to the Holy Ghost ostensibly, but if the sin of homosexuality is present and approvingly practiced, it isn’t the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead.], but Mckissic rightly points out that she’s an unrepentant homosexual and that 1 Corinthians 6:9 says they will not inherit the kingdom of heaven.

If Faison really wanted to convince McKissic, he should have simply pointed out that “Bishop Yvette Flunder is a member of City of Refuge United Church of Christ in Oakland, a UCM church that ascribes to the Apostles Creed, the same doctrinal Statement as the SBC.” That probably would have done it.

In McKissic’s world, however, being an unrepentant lesbian is still a mark of an unbeliever, yet being an avid proponent, supporter, and marrier of unrepentant lesbians like Kamala Harris is not.

I suppose it’s the same way that being a proud member of the Ku Klux Klan is still a mark of an unbeliever, but being a financial supporter of them, passing bills in support of lynching up black folk, and fundraising on behalf of them is also…not?

Any time you want to answer that one, Dwight, is fine by us.

Categories
Charismatic Nonsense Conspiracy Evangelical Stuff

Kat Kerr Says If You Mess With Her, Her 150-foot Angels Will Literally Murder You

Illustration of angry red eyes on a black background

Well, that’s a side we haven’t seen before. Kat Kerr, our favorite pink-haired, mainstream continuationist, spunky charismatic meme-bot and “Dr. Michael Brown-approved prophetess” is getting a little bit scary, putting her own spin on the frequently cited “touch not the Lord’s anointed” by making open threats to anyone seeking to take her on.

Talking to chief enabler Steve Shultz of ElijahStreams, Kerr explained that no one had better mess with her or “take her down” for her support of Trump, (is anyone doing that?) because if anyone tries to lay a finger on her, she has 150-foot angels on standby, and they will literally kill that person first.

She warns:

I will just say this: I live in Florida. If you’re making noise to come and take me down, you’ll have to face these 150-foot angels who are with me… I always have to give a warning: You will not live in a decision like that… [The Father] told me He’s not gonna let anybody take my life. That’s not a challenge to you; that’s a warning.


Time to slowly back away….

As usual, HT to the give of scum and villainy known as the Friendly Atheist for the link and transcript.

Categories
Evangelical Stuff Featured podcast Polemics Report

Podcast: Why God Hates Illegal Immigration

On this episode of Polemics Report for February 11, 2021, JD answers sincere questions from his listeners, mostly about ecclesiastical or church issues as members struggle with their church’s bad polity. He covers 3 news stories from the day on Critical Theory and “Whiteness” before explaining in quite some detail why God hates illegal immigration and Christians should oppose it. 

To listen to the free, truncated version, click below.

To listen to the full program, support us on Patreon for only $5.95 a month for this and every other full-length, subscriber-only podcast from the #1 Polemics Organization in the world. Not a bad deal, right? Click here to join.