Tag: update

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News

Never Forget: The Steven Furtick Coloring Book+ All the Pages We Have Uncovered

Steven Furtick is the Lead Pastor of Elevation Church. As head of Southern Baptist-associated, 25,000-member multisite campus with 17 locations, he is known for having the term “narcegesis” (narcissistic exegesis) named after him based on his inability to exegete scripture in a way that doesn’t make every story revolve around him, as well as his penchant for wearing outfits that cost more than most mortgages and buddying up to Trinity-Denier T.D Jakes.

Last year, he replaced Kenneth Copeland at the always-heretical TBN, filling the role of the Innkeeper Monsieur Thénardier from the musical Les Miserables (TBN being the Inn), with these “Masters of the house” doing whatever is the theological equivalent of “Charge ’em for the lice/Extra for the mice/Two percent for looking in the mirror twice” in his efforts to promote his brand of prosperity preaching.

He also recently said that ‘God is a Molecular Structure,’ laughed at the notion of ‘Twerking for the Lord?’, went on a Wild, Wild, Willllldd Rant about Betas and Blessings, went on another Rant About Angels that got Weird Quick and screamed ‘I Am God Almighty!’ in a sermon—all that while saying that God Doesn’t Make You into a New Creation. 

Fast becoming one of the most prominent, well-known pastors in North America, positioning himself to possess the same level of prominence as the Franklin Graham’s or T.D Jakes of the world, many have forgotten some of the scandals he has been embroiled in, and none gives perhaps so clear a picture as the infamous’ coloring book’ The Code.

The Code coloring book was created by Ryan Hollingsworth in 2010. At the time, he was a 26-year-old graphic designer but would soon become the Creative Director at Elevation Church. This is where he has spent the last 15 years, now leading a ‘multi-disciplinary team of designers, videographers, social media managers, motion designers, audio engineers, and project managers to design all of Elevation Church’s print and media projects. 

In 2010, he hired artist Whitney Cogar, an artist known as BadWhitney and later as Smashpansy, who was commissioned to create a series of drawings for the book. She did the illustrations for it, as per spec, and the church would later fill in the text, customizing and elaborating on her images.

The book was designed to serve as an easily digestible breakdown of “The Code, ” a set of 12 core values at Elevation Church, which they have since altered and given another name to. It was an internal project, not designed for outsiders or mass publication. Each page contained one of these values, with a bible verse and the message modified to be more kid-friendly and easily understood.

We Act in Audacious Faith – In order to dominate a city with the gospel of Jesus, we can’t think small. We will set impossible goals, take bold steps of faith and watch God move.

We Are a Generation of Honor – We freely give honor to those above us, beside us and under us because of the calling and potential God has placed inside of them.

We Lead the Way in Generosity – Our staff and church will go above and beyond to give sacrificially to the work of God in our city.

We Are United Under the Visionary – Elevation is built on the vision God gave Pastor Steven. We will aggressively defend our unity and his vision.

We Need Your Seat – We will not cater to personal preference in our mission to reach this city. We are more concerned with the people we are trying to reach than the people we are trying to keep.

We Think Inside the Box – We will embrace our limitations. They will inspire our greatest creativity and innovation.

We Dress for the Wedding – We will continually increase our capacity by structuring for where we want to go, not where we are. We will remain on the edge of our momentum by overreacting to harness strategic momentum initiatives.

We Are Ruth’s Chris, Not Golden Corral – Simplicity enables excellence. We place a disproportionate value on creating a worship experience that boldly celebrates Jesus and attracts people far from God.

We Are All About the Numbers – Tracking metrics measures effectiveness. We unapologetically set goals and measure progress through all available quantitative means.

We Eat the Fish and Leave the Bones – We will always maintain a posture of learning. We seek to learn from everyone and incorporate a variety of influences into our methodology.

We Are Known for What We Are For – We will speak vision and life over our people. We will lift up the salvation of Jesus rather than using our platform to condemn.

We Will Not Take This for Granted – What we are experiencing is not normal. This is the highest calling, and we will remain grateful for God’s hand of favor.

Faced with a host of negative criticism once the book was released and images of the book started to leak, Elevation changed the wording of the 4th point, taking it from “We are united under the visionary” to “We are united under one vision.” It was this page that caused the most commotion:



“Unity: We are united under the visionary. Elevation Church is built on the vision God gave Pastor Steven. We will protect our unity in supporting his vision.”

Other pages were more benign, but only because none ever leaked. They have been the discernment ministry’s holy grail, and a decade of emailing, calling, and perusing long-dead and archived links has yet to produce any results. We have contacted its creator, Ryan Hollingsworth, and artist, Whitney Cogar, but they declined to comment on the fabled project.

Here are some of our pages, bringing together all known images. You can see the initial draft and then the final result.

Steven and Holly Furtick moving to Charlotte in pursuit of the visison
New believers getting baptized at Elevation
A snapshot at the diversity at Elevation
Planting trees around their new campus

If anyone has any more images, please send them along. We’d love to restore and recreate this.
As for Elevation, there are no plans for another coloring book, as they would only leave them exposed. They haven’t changed in the last decade, only gotten bigger and bigger. At the same time, Steven Furtick gets further entrenched and emboldened in seeker-sensitive, prosperity preaching, self-help, moral therapeutic deistic affirmations. His sermons have no hard truths, only soft edges of the pursuits of dreams and visions for your best life.

Even now, they continue to unite under the visionary: sold out and bought into the unique vision that God gave their pastor. It’s heresy, but it’s theirs, and this coloring book will forever be a testament to the cult-like figure their leader has ascended to.

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News

Kathy Keller Gives Clarification on Husband’s Pancreatic Cancer

Tim Keller’s wife Kathy co-opted his Twitter feed a few days ago to clarify something the Presyubterian Minister wrote a few days ago. She relayed that while his post made it seem like his prognosis worsened from a form of pancreatic cancer to stage 4, and therefore took a step back, that he in fact has stage 4 pancreatic cancer since March of 2020, but has seen remarkable improvements since then.

This is great news and we continue to pray for his recovery, as stage IV is essentially regarded as incurable. The five-year survival rate is 1% with the vast majority of patients expected to live less than a year- usually around 6 months. The fact that Keller is going on 1.5 years is a mercy indeed, and we thank the Lord for it.

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World News

‘At Least Some’ of the 17 Kidnapped Missionaries are Alive

At least some of the 17 missionaries Kidnapped in Haiti last month are alive according to a senior Biden administration official, who says that the US Government has seen proof of life for a few of the souls.

The group, which includes five children, was abducted after visiting an orphanage in Haiti. According to Children Aid Ministries (CAM), who sent them out and suffered the loss, “The ages of the adults being held captive range from 18 to 48. The ages of the children are 8 months, 3 years, 6 years, 13 years, and 15 years.’

The notorious 400 Mawozo gang is demanding a $1,000,000 ransom per person. Wilson Jospeh, believed to be the leader of the gang, released a video that was uploaded on YouTube where he publicly vowed “I swear by thunder that if I don’t get what I’m asking for, I will put a bullet in the heads of these Americans.”

It is not known at this time how many are alive, or which people have confirmed been shown proof of life for. A statement released by CAM on their website reads:

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him” (Nahum 1:7). On the 25th day since the kidnapping, we cling to God’s precious promises. As our loved ones endure another day in captivity, we again commit them to God and His care. 

We continue to welcome notes of encouragement, written prayers, and stories of God’s faithfulness that we can share with the families of the hostages. You may send your messages to prayers@christianaidministries.org. We sincerely hope that someday the hostages will have the privilege of reading the messages and prayers that were kindly sent during their time of trouble. Even now, we trust they are being lifted and encouraged through the power of your prayers.  

Christian Aid Ministries | November 9, 2021 2:45 p.m.”

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Drive-In Church In-person Church Righteous Defiance

The Underground Church of GraceLife Continues to Gather in Secret

With the long, twisted, sickly, and decrepit arm of the law out in full force in Alberta, issuing fines and arresting pastors who dare to have open church services in defiance of the 15-person indoor maximum, or 5-person outdoor limit, GraceLife Church continues to meet in secret, worshipping their God and having services hidden away from the public view.

They are not the only ones. We are aware of at least 4 more congregations in Canada who have proactively chosen to meet in secret, taking the drastic steps before the fines get any worse or before they accrue more scrutiny or attention from the government.

For one church in Central to Eastern Canada that will remain nameless, already being subject to an undisclosed amount of dollars in fines, every Saturday evening congregants receive a text message from one of the three elders informing them where their location will be for the service the next day. Though this church uses basic SMS, we are aware of another congregation whose pastor encouraged all members to install Telegram on their phones, in order to give them better end-to-end encryption while planning their meet-up.

The church has accrued a list of 5 different locations where they are able to meet. Being fairly rural, most of the locations are either farms of members or acreages of friends of members that are sympathetic to the cause. These locations range from about 12 miles away, all the way to 80 miles (130km) though they have not yet had to use that furthest site. The sites are all private and their preferred location requires congregants to travel down gravel roads to get there, ensuring that the 30 or so vehicles that make the trek cannot be seen by neighbors once they turn off the highway, being given coverage by the trees on both sides.

The locations are rotated through at random and are all outside, save one that is inside a barn and is only used if it is raining or on account of inclement weather. Everyone turns off their phones as soon as they leave their home, out of an overabundance of caution.

The church has eschewed instruments and has taken to singing acapella instead, rather than have to run power to their location. They take communion every week, and the pastor raises his voice to preach – the congregation is small enough so as not to require amplification. Everyone sits on lawn chairs or spread blankets out on the ground, where babies flail on their bellies and toddlers will color or crawl around between people, the sermon punctuated by the sound of slapping as mosquitoes flitter around.

The church says they will not gather back at their location until the prosecution eases up and they can gather at 75% building capacity without being harassed, fined, or thrown in jail.

Turning back to GraceLife church, we imagine that they have similar contingencies in place.

That church has been meeting now for the last six weeks in secret, with their last service at their property being April 4, 2021. They have at least two different locations between which they alternate, according to hints from the video, and have taken steps to mitigate discovery that we are not at liberty to mention here, but which warms the cockles of our hearts.

Once the site of hundreds of protesters, the old chained-up church sits empty, with security guards still monitoring the property lest the congregants break in and gather for an illegal service in their absence.

Before, a media maelstrom was upon them, but now, they haven’t been mentioned in the news in over a month, even as the government of Alberta has stepped up their pressure and policing of wayward churches who wish to meet. The province has doubled the fines from $1000 to $2000 and announced they are partnering with several agencies, including Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis, AHS, OHS, and provincial prosecutors to target repeat offenders and those who are refusing to bend the knee to Ceasar.

GraceLife continues to upload videos of their services, still drawing hundreds of parishioners, but they are markedly different now. Gone is the inclusion of worship in their videos, showing which musicians are on stage singing. There are no more tracking shots of the congregants worshipping – something that was a mainstay in previous months, or images of them listening intently to the sermon. Now, their content only features Pastors James Coates or Jacob Spenst in front of a non-descript grey background, the camera cropped to remove any trace of location hints or giveaways.

Last year they were averaging 350-400 viewers person sermon video watched. Now, the last five videos have 14K, 9K, 8.2K, 13K, and 107K views.

Alberta Health Services spokesman Kerry Williamson, the mouthpiece of the chief prosecutor of churches Dr. Dina Hinshaw, told the Edmonton Journal that she’s well aware that the underground Chruch of GraceLife is having services and posting videos of their sermons, but doesn’t have the ability to enforce health measures, noting:

AHS Environmental Public Health can only investigate if we have an address or location. We currently do not have that.

We are glad you don’t have it, and we hope you never will.

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News

Mark Driscoll Church Structure Leak Confirms our Suspicions + Woman Protests His Church

Warren Throckmorton has gotten his hot little hands on a copy of a flowchart showing Mark Driscoll’s church structure, compliments of a former church employee who forwarded it along.

With a heading of “The ministry of The Trinity Church is ruled by God, influenced by Wise Counsel, governed by a board, led by the Senior Pastor, run by staff, and carried out by Team Trinity” we see that there are no elders in sight, confirming what we wrote a few days ago in our “Mark Driscoll Shuns Elders and Accountability at New Church” post where we explained that by not having elders, Driscoll has created a power structure that removed any of the limiting factors that previously constrained him.

This is to ensure that what happened to him at Mars Hill, where he resigned in disgrace after his elder board finally grew a spine and held him accountable for years of abusive behavior, can never happen again.

Instead of elders, we see five other pastors, Brandon Anderson, Eden Fine, Darien Bennett, Carl Steele, and Landon Chase. None of these men function in the office of an elder with the accountability and decision-making process that goes with it. The “wise counsel” he refers to is likely his small corporate board made up of a handful of people like Randall Taylor and Jimmy Evams, some who don’t even go to his church, and others who aren’t even pastors.

As for the reason this matters, Throckmorton explains:

A consequence of Driscoll’s control of the church is the blurring of lines between the church and his personal nonprofit ministry – Real Faith (formerly called Mark Driscoll Ministries). When you go to the Real Faith website, you find all the same sermon content that is also hosted at The Trinity Church. Driscoll uses the material he preaches at the church to raise money for his personal ministry. Last year, according to his 2020 990 IRS submission, Real Faith took in $555,182 in contributions.

Because Real Faith is a nonprofit organization, Driscoll has to file a 990 form which allows public disclosure of some aspects of his tax exempt activities. However, since The Trinity Church is considered a church [is it really, without elders? – Ed.], no such disclosure forms are required. Thus, there is no public accounting of the church finances. According to former staff and members I spoke with, no financial statements are available to church members.

Not only are financial disclosures not available to church members, but the church’s bylaws are apparently not available to congregants either. Add this to the fact that staff members are forced to sign non-disclosure agreements and you have the making of Mars Hill 2. [Editor’s note: the sequel is rarely any better than the original, and this is looking like a perfect-storm level of disaster coming.]

All this has led one woman, Dee Holmes, to show up at The Trinity Church and kick up a storm, blitzkrieging the congregants in a one-woman protest by talking with them and loudly bemoaning Driscoll’s lack of elders while holding a slew of handmade signs. (The first and second signs are a reference to this story, where Mark is alleged to have called authorities on a congregant and kicked the family out of the service because their son shared a consensual kiss with Mark’s daughter.)

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Church Featured In-person Church Righteous Defiance

An Update on the Occupation of GraceLife Church

For the third week in a row, GraceLife Church had their service in secret – an undisclosed location somewhere within a 100-mile radius of the city.

Whereas previously hundreds of protesters attended the rally at their facilities, driving hours to wave flags, give speeches, listen to speeches, pray, and protest the occupation of a Christian church by a tyrannical government, the property now lies empty and has been empty the last two weeks, attended to only by a handful of security guards and RCMP officers.

Meanwhile, at their undisclosed location that is still being attended by hundreds of people, Pastor Jacob Spenst preached the sermon yesterday from Colossians 3, going through some heady passages about dying with Christ and having our lives hidden with Christ in God.


Based on the backdrops they are using to conceal their location, as well as the rippling effects on the screen and the lighting, the clothes they are wearing and the backround noise, it appears that the last two services have been held outside in the sun rather than indoors.

At this point, all indication is Parkland police officers and Alberta Health Services (AHS) have decided to leave GraceLife Church alone. They have not crashed or disrupted their newest gathering, despite having the ability to do so. They have not released any public statement to that effect and no major media sources have asked AHS why they have backed off, thereby keeping it out of the news. There is currently no political pressure to chase them down and there haven’t been constant complaints from neighbors and concerned citizens at seeing them gather openly.

In effect, the people have been assuaged by seeing a building boarded up while the body belts out praise to the Lord away from prying and watchful eyes.

With no large crowds gathering at their facilities, there have been rumors that the church is going to have a service near their church property soon, but that has not been confirmed by anyone and should be taken as mere speculation.

James Coates is expected to be in court Monday, May 3rd to fight his remaining charge of violating the Public Health Act, where the Justice Centre will argue that the government and law enforcement violated multiple Charter rights and freedoms by ticketing, arresting, and jailing the courageous pastor, and therefore need to abandon the last charge.

Continue to pray for GraceLife.

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Church Evangelical Stuff Featured In-person Church News Righteous Defiance

Christians Camp out At GraceLife Church, Hold Evening Service + A Convoy is Coming

With news that the police have barricaded GraceLife Church, cutting off all access to the property and pledging to stay present until they cease gathering together as an entire body, protesters are beginning to show up en masse in support for the church and their pastor – the most visible symbol in Canada standing up to a tyrannical government gone awry.

Choosing to occupy the church, Alberta Health Services contracted a local company put out two perimeter fences around the church, one wrapped with a black tarp- essentially putting a mask around it. They brought in porta-potties and set up a command post, digging in for a long haul. There have been as many as 30 officers on site over the course of the day, flanked by a dozen police cars and SUVs.

Thankfully, the landowner next door is a member of the church and has allowed people to gather on his property. They’ve been coming and going throughout the day – both associated with the church and not – protesting, rallying, fellowshipping, and even at some point singing hymns, with someone passing around lyrics sheets to follow. Later in the evening, some of the people even held a small service in a field.

As night fell, several brought out tents and camped out, spending the night in vigil for the congregation and for what they see as the destruction of Canada’s freedoms.

With the exception of Rebel Media, no other reporters are allowed on the neighboring property, and therefore watch from across the street. And while the people protesting this wicked incursion are allowed on the property, these hundreds of people gathered are still in violation of a shutdown order that prohibits outdoor gatherings of more than 10 people. Anyone violating this order could be fined $1200 at any time, but it seems the government isn’t willing to enforce that yet. There has been talk that police are going to close the roads to local traffic only, so that anyone wanting to access the neighbors property who isn’t the neighbor will have to park on the side of the road and walk more than a mile to the site.

And more people are coming. Travelers are coming from both in and out of province to support the church, with a convoy coming from Calgary to lend their moral support, promoted by the niece of a much-loved prominent politician, the late Hon. Ralph Klein. These are not necessarily Christians, but rather freedom-loving Canadians appalled at what the government is doing. With the possible closure of the roads, this may cause chaos on the highway, depending on how many show up.



Thankfully, these provocations have finally led many Members of the Legistlative Assembly (MLAs) to act, with almost 30 percent of them revolting against Premier Jason Kenny, and he in turn threatening to expel anyone from caucus who supports the actions of the church by seeking to contravene his COVID-19 restriction measures or encourage others to do so. Alberta is widely considered one of the most conservative provinces in the country, and a recent poll has 77 percent of Albertans disapproving of the way Kenny has handled the pandemic, the highest of any premiers.

At this time, the elders are still planning on having church on Sunday, but that location has so far been kept a secret. They are going to announce it internally to their own people later this evening or early Sunday morning – the result of shifting plans.

Continue to pray for this congregation.

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Church Evangelical Stuff Featured

Voddie Baucham Update – One Month Post-op – ‘I am No Longer on a Path to a Heart Transplant’

Voddie Baucham has given an update on how he’s doing one-month post-op, explaining that things are doing well and he’s no longer on a path to needing a heart transplant.

Speaking from his car, Voddie shared with his followers that his wife Bridget went back to Zambia, got the kids, and that the whole family is living with them in a bed and breakfast in Jacksonville so they can be close by the Mayo Clinic while he undergoes weekly tests and cardiac rehab, made possible by the nearly $1,500,000 dollars raised on his GoFundMe account.

He explains that he’s been going in once a week for checkups, with yesterday being a whole day from 7:30 a.m. to almost 3:00 p.m. of undergoing a battery of examinations and tests.

Lord willing if everything goes well today, we’ll go from weekly visits to monthly visits for the next couple of months, and if everything checks out, then by the end of may I should be released to go to quarterly visits.

Voddie tells us that “everything looks good,” and that he’s getting stronger every day, walking a mile at a time and doing pushups, situps, and squats, all while waiting for a release from his doctors that will let him do more, push things and see his heart challenged.

While saying, “We have to be prepared for the possibility that there are more [challenges] ahead,” he informed friends and supporters, “The good news is, I am no longer on a path to heart transplant.”


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Breaking News

Breaking! Pastor James Coates is Out after ‘Paying’ $1500 Fine

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.

Let the saints rejoice today!

Categories
Evangelical Stuff Featured In-person Church Righteous Defiance

Gracelife Church Charged as ‘Entity,’ Erin on Tucker Carlson + Newest Information We Have

Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are badly treated, since you yourselves also are in the body. Hebrews 13:3

The Church has been Charged as an ‘Entity’

Not content to simply insist to keep the pastor in jail, GraceLife Church has now been charged as an “entity” for violating COVID-19 public health order capacity limits, with the church itself being served a summons to attended Stony Plain provincial court on May 5, the last day of Pastor Coates trial.

As for what that means, organizations, corporations, and churches (entities) can be guilty of a public health order offense in the same way that an individual can. If the health orders apply to gatherings, and the church hosts the gatherings, this would make the church guilty and being charged as an “entity” allows it to be held accountable and punished. The consequences for the entity are either fines, seizure of assets, or being physically shut down. Because the entity is overseen by people, this means there may be personal liability for the leadership structure of the church.

John Carpay, president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms – the organization representing Coates in court – said that it’s likely both the Church’s trial and James’ will be amalgamated into one, explaining:

The onus will be on the government to prove that these health orders are valid under the Charter. That’s the No. 1 point about this trial that a lot of people aren’t getting. It will be the government’s health orders that are on trial.

Though the church is charged as an entity sounds ominous, it may be a bit of a ruse. With public outcry against the church rising, this may be a way to satiate critics of the church who are demanding something be done without having to engage in more strong-arm tactics. After all, James remains in prison for being a “public health menace” and “danger to the public” for preaching on Sunday, while the other pastor, Jacob Spenst, has been preaching, in the same manner for the last 4 weeks, all without similar intervention so far.

Police and Alberta Health Services (AHS) employees continue to show up at the church, but do not stay long. They don’t enter the church property, engage with churchgoers or hand out fines, and usually leave after about 20 minutes.

Gregory Harris, a spokesperson for AHS, said they are still monitoring the situation and working on the file:

Grace Life Church continues to create unacceptable public health risks by violating the Public Health Act, Chief Medical Officer of Health Order, Public Health Inspector Order, and a Court of Queen’s Bench Order. AHS continues to work within the legislation and cooperatively with the RCMP.

Appearing on Tucker Carlson

Erin Coates has continued to share about her husband’s imprisonment. She recorded a segment with Fox’s Tucker Carlson, which will be airing tonight. She explains that it took an effort to record the segment, after being barred from one of the studios.

I’m so thankful for local guys who helped me out, originally I was booked at CFRN CTV news studio – I went through all their ‘rona protocols and the studio called the next day telling Tucker’s assistant that they reserve the right to deny any guest and they didn’t feel comfortable with me in their studio. It left us scrambling and pushed taping an extra day. I guess I don’t fit their narrative after they have butchered my husband and church on their media outlets.

James Time in Prison + His Health

Today marks the 30th day Pastor Coates has been in prison, after being arrested on February 16th. Erin shares that his health is struggling, but they are leaning on the provision of Christ to see them through this.

James is out of quarantine and in general population. This gives him about 3 hours out of his cell a day for exercise, showering, talking to the inmates, and calling our lawyer and the children and I.

He gets about three 20-minute calls a day and one 25-minute video call. The prison does not allow visitors so this is the only way we can see him. It’s quite difficult when I have the children because only one person can hear and talk to him at a time. So we get about 8 mins each. It’s about a 45-minute drive for us to head into the city to do this.

In the last year, James has been showing signs of Celiac disease so he eats GF [gluten free] in the jail, the calories in the meals aren’t enough to sustain him but he is able to order what is called a “canteen” to supplement his food. The canteen doesn’t have great options and this food is causing his health issues to surface.

I’ve tried my best to tweak it for him from afar. This has been hard for me; our whole marriage I have taken care of him and now I can’t. My care for him has taken on a different face in this season. I know this is what we need to grow in further dependence on Christ. As @drstevenjlawson said in his #nonshepcon message 2 weeks ago, ‘I supply the weakness, He supplies the power.’ We are learning contentment. Please pray for James. The enemy appears to attack him extra hard on Sundays. He longs to be with us. Not having fellowship for 4 weeks (and potentially until the middle of May) is hard…even the apostle Paul was able to have visitors!

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction. (Philippians 3:11-14)