paul carter – Protestia

James Coates: TGC Author ‘Sounds More like Judas than it Does Mary’

Pastor James Coates of Gracelife Church in Edmonton, Alberta, has weighed in on a Gospel Coalition author who has repeatedly rejected the notion that the government has been persecuting the church all the while ripping faithful churches for choosing to rather be persecuted than to shut down.

In the September 12, 2021 sermon, Coates name drops Pastor Paul Carter- an Ontario based-pastor who has been a vocal critic of the faithful men who would not yield and like James Coates of Gracelife Church, Tim Stephens of Fairview Baptist Church, and Jacob Reaume of Trinity Bible Chapel, men who have been fined and/or jailed for refusing to let the government control how they do church.

The Gospel Coalition council member and contributor has repeatedly said that those claiming that Canadian Churches have endured ill-treatment at all during the pandemic need to stop yapping about it, lest they “destabilize” the rest of the body. Months ago, he published an article insisting that while there was “probably” some “overreach,” by and large, Christians have endured no “hostility and ill-treatment because of our religious beliefs,” as he concluded: “I’m not sure how any reasonable person could argue that [there was].”

When he’s not doing that, he’s taking potshots into the ethers, criticizing anyone who might oppose the government and their lockdown happy ways.

During the sermon clips, which is 10 minutes long and worth the listen, Pastor Coates talks about the faithful sacrifices that Trinity Bible Chapel has endured, and explains how Paul Carter is acting like Judas, rather than our example Mary.

“Judas is a virtue signaler. He effectively virtue signals concern for the poor when in reality, he’s concerned about himself. He’s a thief. And he’s looking at the money that could have been sold for that perfume. And he would have had at least a portion of it had it got its way into the money box. That’s where Judas is at.

His apostate heart is now beginning to come out. He doesn’t love Christ. He isn’t committed to the honor and glory of Christ. He was in it for himself. He was beginning to see the writing on the wall. There was no immediate kingdom. He wasn’t going to have an immediate place in that kingdom. There was not going to be a payday in this for him, just a life of self-denial, cross-bearing and obedience to Christ.

By the end of John 13, he’s prepared to betray Jesus for what? 30 pieces of silver. So Mary brings this out. God uses Mary’s worship to draw this out of Judas. Mary lavishly worships the Lord, anointed him with perfume worth about a year’s wages, and Judas deems that a waste and betrays him for 30 pieces of silver.

That’s a stark contrast. It’s a contrast that’s instructive. This is what worship does. When Christ is truly worshipped, it brings the worldliness of the hearts of folks out onto the table, it brings it out into its full expression.

And I think we can see it happening in our day. Because as churches put their money where their mouth is, as we saw a moment ago with Trinity, in their worship of Christ, there are those who speak out against them, and when they do, they sound a lot like Judas. And so either they are a Judas or they’ve been led astray by a Judas like the disciples and have made a terrible miscalculation.
Let me give you an example. This comes from a gentleman named Paul Carter- very outspoken, speaks often for the Gospel Coalition Canada, when it was announced that charges would be brought against trainee Bible chapter, here’s what Paul tweeted:
“What a disaster. This was a major topic of discussion in premier Ford’s press conference today. Whatever this was supposed to accomplish, it has failed more than failed. It is backfired loudly. Publicly, embarrassingly backfired, Please, please, please, reconsider.“
I don’t think that’s aged well. I don’t think that’s going to age well. Trinity has committed themselves to the worship of Christ, and there are naysayers who come alongside and want to ultimately cast embarrassment, scorn and shame upon them. Again, that sounds more like Judas than it does Mary.

TGC Author: Christians Have Endured No ‘Hostility’ or ‘Ill-treatment’ From Govt During Pandemic

A writer for The Gospel Coalition has published an article making the case that Christians haven’t endured any hostility or ill-treatment from the government during the pandemic, but rather have only endured mild hardships since the whole thing began.

Pastor Paul Carter, writing for TGC Canada, explains that while many churches were forced to suspend their main large group gatherings and “normal Christian activities such as singing, taking communion and sharing a meal together was either strongly discouraged or forbidden outright,” he describes the 14 months as only as a “temporary suspension” imposed by the government and not something dastardly or more permanent that is worth getting worked up about.

He argues that the 14-month long tyrannical and ever-increasing virulent edicts against the church (our words) may be a “hardship” it is not persecution. He acknowledges there’s been a few missteps and “probably” some “overreach,” (Probably!?) but that there has been no “hostility and ill-treatment because of our religious beliefs.” He ponders: “I’m not sure how any reasonable person could argue that [there was].”

Carter makes these comments defending the government handling of the pandemic in his country while a church 120 miles south of him is facing 40 million dollars in fines for being open and whose doors were just recently barred by police. Another 25 miles further, Police arrived on the scene to give out fines because a church was having a drive-in service where they didn’t even leave their vehicles and were listening to the sermon through their small FM transmitter.

This drive-in service was declared non-essential, even as marijuana shops and liquor stores have been open as essential businesses the whole time. Across the country, one church congregation has gone underground after their pastor was jailed for a month and a fence was erected around their church while 60 armed police officers showed up with batons and riot gear to ensure there was no disruption. Further west, Black Lives Matter protesters have been allowed to march and hold rallies at will, congregating out in the public, but all indoor and outdoor church gatherings of any size have been suspended, even as restaurants, casinos, and bars remain open for business and socializing.

In fact, the new rules for outdoor services in Brtish Columbia cap the vehicles attending at 50, and anyone attending the drive-in service where they are not allowed to leave their vehicles must not only ensure their cars and trucks are 6 feet apart, but they must pre-register and their personal information captured, lest COVID-19 magically travel from vehicle to vehicle and infect the whole lot of them.

Finally, Carter declares that churches haven’t been unfairly discriminated against because “Churches, by and large, have enjoyed far greater freedoms than health clubs and workout facilities over the last 14 months” and concludes “so this has been hard, it has been crushing for many – but it does not appear to have been motivated by religious hostility or malice. Not everything that negatively affects the church can be categorized as persecution. Not everything difficult can be ascribed to evil motives.”