Tag: John MacArthur

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Breaking Featured Righteous Defiance

Breaking! Vindication For MacArthur as Judge finds ‘There is no court order’ against Grace Church

Los Angeles County Superior Court announced late Thursday that there is no court order prohibiting Pastor John MacArthur and Grace Community Church (GCC) from holding indoor worship services, despite threats from the county, and rejected the county’s attempt to sanction GCG and hold them in contempt over its defiance of COVID-19 restrictions.

Though Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff ruled in the church’s favor, the next salvo will soon be fired, as the County plans to seek another restraining order against Pastor MacArthur and GCC in a hearing scheduled for Monday.

We reported in an earlier story that the County is seeking $20,000 in fines and sanctions from GCC for 8 separate violations, desiring to hold them in contempt. This ruling by the Judge continues an escalation between the church and the County hell-bent on shutting them down.

Special counsel Jenna Ellis, one of the lawyers representing GCC, said in a statement:

“We are pleased with the outcome today. Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff correctly found there is no court order prohibiting Grace Community Church from holding indoor services. LA County continues to harass and target Pastor MacArthur.

Having failed to get a court order to shut down the church they have sought three times, they’re going to try again by hauling us back into court. Ironically, LA County said in its application for contempt that, ‘Grace Church cannot thumb its nose at the court when decisions don’t go its way,’ yet that’s precisely what LA County is now doing themselves. We will simply continue to defend our client’s constitutionally protected rights because church is essential.”

The battle between MacArthur and the County of Los Angeles was kickstarted when the County sent a letter on July 29, informing GCC that their recent decision to restart in-person services after nearly 5 months closed was a prosecutable violation, as the State Public Health Officer issued an order prohibiting indoor operations at a variety of establishments, including churches and other houses of worship.

The County also threatened them with massive fines if they chose not to comply, which was around the time that they procured legal counsel.

MacArthur, for his part, said that regardless of everything else happening, and no matter what fines are given or who may come against them, they will continue to have their regularly scheduled Sunday morning church service:

We’re not meeting … because we want to be rebellious. We’re meeting because our Lord has commanded us to come together and worship Him.

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Featured podcast Polemics Report

Podcast! Cominterns and Garbage Humans (A Barn-Burner of an Episode)

On this episode of Polemics Report for August 18, 2020, JD examines the Grace Community Church saga and laments that JMAC said the court’s ruling “vindicates the church” right before the ruling was overturned. Does the court now impugn the church’s decision? Then, he goes on to discuss Ed Stetzer (the garbage human) and his attempt to get Christians to vote Democrat in November, moves on to some sincere questions about Steven Anderson and Kinism, and finally discusses Albert Mohler’s “all is well in Zion” podcast on women clergy in the SBC.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 58:26 — 80.2MB) | Embed

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Breaking Church Featured

Breaking: LA County Pursues ‘Contempt of Court’ Charges against MacArthur’s Grace Church, Demand $20,000 in Fines

Los Angelas County is deadly serious about bringing John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church to the knee, moving to hold the California megachurch in contempt after they held three separate morning services on August 16th, defying a last-minute court order that specifically forbade them from doing so, saying that even they must comply with the state’s lockdown restrictions.

The county is alleging that Grace has committed eight separate acts of contempt, to which they owe $8,000 for those acts (at a fine of $1000 each) as well as an additional $12,000 in fines for violating the court orders (at a fine of $1,500 each) – bringing the total owed to $20,000, and growing if they go ahead with any more services, which MacArthur has indicated he intended to do this Sunday.

The order, which lists both Pastor MacArthur and his church as defendants, also rakes them over the coals for flaunting the violation and thumbing “its nose at the court when decisions don’t go their way.”

Jenna Ellis, the lawyer representing MacArthur and the Church, responded in a press release:

“The LA County Board of Supervisors has decided to continue their unconstitutional attack against Pastor John MacArthur and Grace Community Church. They are now asking the court to hold the church in contempt for simply being open for worship last Sunday. Pastor MacArthur is standing firm that church is essential and has no plans to yield to this tyrannical board, which is clearly defying the constitution’s mandate to protect religious liberty.”

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Breaking Featured Righteous Defiance

LAPD Police Chief Tells John MacArthur: ‘We will NEVER Shut you Down’

Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church, a California-based megachurch that has been defying state and local laws and ordinances by having indoor, fully packed, non-socially distanced, non-masked services, announced that he received an internal memo from the Los Angeles Police Department reassuring his congregation that officers would not be showing up to enforce any health department or court ordered mandates that threatened to shut them down.

The good news comes in the midst of a week of high drama for GCC. They initially received threats of fines of $1000 if they did not shut down, then retained high profile legal counsel, then received a court injunction allowing them to remain open, which was then overturned in an appeals court late Saturday night just hours before their services were to commence.

In an interview with conservative commentator Todd Starnes, posted below, John MacArthur begins by explaining part of their rationale for re-opening their Sunday morning services and deciding to join with hundreds of other California Churches that either never shut down or had been reopened for months:

If the constitution didn’t allow us to meet, the bible would still command us to meet. But we have that support for the biblical right in our constitution, which really doubles down on the legitimacy of doing exactly what we did. We’re not violating the law – the people who are trying to keep us out of Church, they’re violating it [the law] by violating the constitution.

After commenting on how wonderful it was to have the children back in services, along with explaining their reaction to the various court hearings and appeals and why they have chosen to respond as they did, Pastor MacArthur divulged this information:

One footnote, Todd. I got an internal memo from the Police Department, and what it said was it went through the police department, the LAPD, and it said, ‘for the health department and the county, any decisions that you make with regard to sanctions on any church, don’t call us. We will not be involved.’ The chief of police told me there’s no scenario the police will ever come and close down Grace Church.

Macarthur later released another short video where he reiterated the same thing, emphasizing the church’s close ties to the police and that they will never be shut down:

“The police love Grace church. I’ll tell you that. All last week we had them here for training. I talked to the Chief of the police in LA, he said this to me: ‘There’s no scenario that I can imagine, in which the police would ever come against Grace Community Church. We are concerned with the law, not health ordinances.’ They’re our friends, we’ve been their friends for years. I just received another plaque from the LAPD for the service we rendered to them and have for many years.

So they feel like they’re under attack by the politicians who are supposed to be the fathers of the society, but they’re murderous. They’re killing babies at 364 a day in California, in the womb, which is the most obvious case of premeditated murder there is, and they’re turning over every righteous standard in this society they can.

So they have forfeited the right to call themselves a government that protects the good and is a terror to the evil. They flipped that. The police for us are the last agency of that. We’re standing with them as they’re being attacked and with the churches right to continue to meet to be salt and light in the word.

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Featured News Righteous Defiance

John MacArthur and GCC Defy Govt and hold Regular Services after Last Minute Court Order Rescinds Exemption

John MacArthur and the Elders at Grace Community Church defied government orders and held their regular Sunday morning services yesterday, without masks and without socially distancing, after a late-night, last-minute appellate court decision removed an exemption they were given on Friday by Superior Court Judge Gregory Alarcon to have service, so long as they complied with masks and social distancing.

“We’re having church. It’s actually hard to figure out exactly what the city is trying to do, with us and to us, but we know they don’t want us to do exactly what we’re doing right now.”

Said MacArthur, during his opening few minutes, further explaining what was happening and the current state of Grace Community Church as it pertains to the government.

“And we’re not meeting because we want to be rebellious. We’re meeting because our Lord has commanded us to come together and worship him.
There was a court order that granted this church and this church alone the right to meet indoors, and the powers of the city were not happy about that. They were going to be asking us to do two things; social distance and wear masks, that was until yesterday when city…we agreed, look, we’ll comply for a few weeks, they asked that for three weeks. We’re not wanting to be defiant. We will do what is reasonable.

That was not enough for the city, so they went to the appellate court at the last minute on Saturday late and had that order removed.

The California Court of Appeal, led by Judge James Chalfant, issued a stay of the previous judge’s order, ruling that the dangers and risk of catching and transmitting the novel coronavirus outweigh the right to hold services, with the 4-page report summarizing:

“As between the harm that flows from the heightened risk of transmitting COVID-19 (namely “serious illness and death”) and the harm that flows from having to conduct religious services outdoors instead of indoors, the balance at this early stage favors issuance of a stay.”

In a statement, Los Angeles County said it was “pleased that the California Court of Appeal recognizes the vital importance of our Health Officer Orders in protecting the lives and health of our residents as we work to slow the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus.”

The county so far has shown every indication that they will pursue their July 29 cease-and-desist order, where they declared the church would be subject to fines up to $1,000 and 90 days in prison for each indoor service.

Pastor MacArthur continued:

So, the good news is you’re here, you’re not distancing, and you’re not wearing masks. And it’s also good news that you’re not outside because it’s very hot out there. So the Lord knew you needed to be inside and unmasked. So he did us that gracious favor.

They don’t want us to meet, that’s obvious. They don’t want to work with us, they just want to shut us down. But we’re here to bring honor to the lord. They’re not our enemy, we understand that. The bible tells us to pray for their salvation, and we need to be faithful to do that.

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Church Featured News

Judge Rules John MacArthur’s GCC Can Have Indoor Services: Church Agrees to Wear Masks and Socially Distance

A California Court has ruled that John MacArthur and Grace Community Church have a constitutionally protected right to remain open and hold indoor services in their sanctuary, upholding the church’s stance that they are indeed essential, but also imposing some restrictions for mask-wearing and social distancing, which GCC indicated they will comply with.

According to a press released by Grace Community Church

Hours after Grace Community Church filed suit to invalidate Los Angeles County’s unconstitutional restrictions on churches, the County filed for a temporary restraining order to force the church to stop holding indoor services and comply with every unreasonable and over-broad demand. At hearing today in Los Angeles Superior Court, Judge James Chalfant denied almost all of the County’s requests, agreeing with Pastor MacArthur and the Church that it is the County’s burden to show why it should be permitted to infringe on the constitutionally protected rights of churches to freely exercise religion. The judge did also express concern for some safety protocols.

To address those concerns and after explaining that the County was being unreasonable in its demands, counsel for Grace Community Church offered to comply with mask wearing and social distancing indoors until the matter could be fully heard, rather than the County simply rushing to shut down the Church. The judge agreed this was reasonable, set the full hearing for September 4, 2020, and ordered the Church to have congregants wear masks and social distance between family groups indoors.

Pastor MacArthur said he was pleased with the ruling, commenting

“I am very grateful the Court has allowed us to meet inside and we are happy for a few weeks to comply and respect what the judge has asked of us because he is allowing us to meet. This vindicates our desire to stay open and serve our people. This also gives us an opportunity to show that we are not trying to be rebellious or unreasonable, but that we will stand firm to protect our church against unreasonable, unconstitutional restrictions.”

The church’s lawyer, Charles LiMandri, said:

“This result is indeed a great victory for all citizens’ constitutional right to freedom of religion. Pastor MacArthur’s love of God and country motivated him and all the GCC church elders to resist the unjust government shut-down orders targeting people of faith. Their devotion and patriotism has brought about a result that respects the legitimate interests of both the church and state. This result makes it possible for the thousands of congregants of GCC to continue to gather together in their church to worship, while at the same time honoring the court’s requirement that reasonable and temporary safety measures be observed. This court ruling should stay in effect at least until there can be a full court hearing in this case on September 4, 2020. Please continue to pray that the courts allow this enlightened judge’s decision to stand so that all Californians can soon resume the worship of God in their respective churches.”

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Evangelical Stuff Featured News Religion

John MacArthur’s Attorney: Michelle Obama Would Be Less Depressed if She ‘Found Christ’

(Montana Daily Gazette) In the wake of Michelle Obama’s claim that she has been given ‘depression’ by President Trump, the attorney for a California mega-church pastor has claimed that Mrs. Obama wouldn’t have the malady if she ‘found Christ.’

Dr. John MacArthur ranks as possibly the most respected pastor among serious-minded Christians in America. The dutiful theologian has pastored Grace Community Church in Los Angeles since 1969 and completed preaching verse-by-verse through the New Testament over the course 42 years, during which he published a study Bible, commentaries, and countless books through his ministry, Grace to You. MacArthur has split from mainstream evangelicalism in recent years, much thanks to their widespread liberal drift led by ‘The Gospel Coalition,’ a leftwing progressive organization funded by political dark money, which successfully masqueraded as a Christian ministry for more than a decade before coming out as a tool of the Democratic Party. Now, MacArthur is standing up against tyranny against Christian churches on the part of Gavin Newsom and is being represented by top attorney, Jenna Ellis.

Ellis, who also represents President Donald Trump, made the remarks on Twitter in response to Obama’s self-diagnosis of Trump-caused depression.

Obama claimed on her podcast, “I’m waking up in the middle of the night because I’m worrying about something or there’s a heaviness. I know that I am dealing with some form of low-grade depression. Not just because of the quarantine, but because of the racial strife and just seeing this administration, watching the hypocrisy of it, day in and day out, is dispiriting.”

Ellis’ remarks have infuriated atheists, who claimed, “More to the point, though, ‘more Jesus’ won’t…

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Editors Note. This article was originally published at the Montana Daily Gazette

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Church Coronavirus Featured

Pastor John MacArthur and GCC Represented by All-Star Legal Team

The Thomas More Society announced in a press release that “nationally renowned attorneys Jenna Ellis and Charles LiMandri will represent Pastor John MacArthur and Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, California, as Special Counsel.”

Grace has been the target of unconstitutional religious discrimination by the City of Los Angeles and the State of California, amid the state’s order to cease in-person church assembly indefinitely after they launched an in-person service to a packed crowd two weeks ago, drastically exceeding restrictions placed on houses of worship having indoor services.

We wrote about John MacArthur’s decision to shut down HERE and released a barn-burner of a podcast offering support and criticism of the timing of Graces’ eventual decision to open HERE.

The Thomas More Society has taken on the case in response to the city of Los Angeles issuing a cease and desist letter that threatened Grace Community Church and Pastor MacArthur specifically with a daily fine of $1000 or arrest.

The Thomas More Society is a “not-for-profit, national public interest law firm dedicated to restoring respect in law for life, family, and religious liberty” and has argued all the way up to the Supreme Court.

They have assisted “thousands of clients including some of the nation’s most renowned pro-life and religious leaders: David Daleiden, David Bereit, 40 Days for Life, Lila Rose and Live Action, and many more.”

According to the press release, of the two lawyers:

Jenna Ellis is a constitutional law attorney, Senior Fellow at the Falkirk Center for Faith & Liberty, and an allied attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom. She is the senior legal adviser to the Trump 2020 campaign, private counsel to President Donald Trump, and served on his legal team for the 2020 impeachment trial. She regularly contributes to national media on television and print as a legal analyst.

Charles LiMandri is a constitutional law attorney, religious freedom expert, and Special Counsel for the Thomas More Society. He began the Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund in 2012 and has litigated high-profile cases in California for decades, including the ACLU’s effort to remove the Mount Soledad Cross and San Diego’s effort to force firefighters to participate in a gay pride parade against their sincerely held religious beliefs.