Dear Rosanna,
Thank you for contacting Alliance Defending Freedom. We have received your correspondence and will review it shortly.
As you may already know, Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building legal ministry that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith. Unlike any other legal organization, Alliance Defending Freedom employs a unique combination of advocacy, training and funding to empower our allies and achieve victory for religious freedom. Thank you again for your interest in ADF and God bless you
In NJ, a family attended a funeral for one of its members.
Of the 12, more than half became ill and four family members died.
Because of the ChiCom Virus. They did not know. We do now.
Sorry folks, I have not posted in a very long time. I realize, I did not post this correctly, hoping the admin Mod can fix it so it is not all one big blob.
April 20, 2019 by RadicalDiscipleship
The Resurrection is Against the Law
An excerpt from Bill Wylie-Kellermann’s classic Seasons of Faith and Conscience (1991).
The sealing of the tomb is, I believe, notoriously misunderstood. I grew up with a Sunday School notion that to seal the tomb was a matter of hefting the big stone and cementing it tight. The seal, in my mind’s eye, was something like first-century caulking–puttying up the cracks to keep the stink in. Not so. This is a legal seal. Cords would be strung across the rock and anchored at each end with clay. To move the stone would break the seal and indicate tampering.
The event conspicuously echoes the story of Daniel sealed in the den of lions. “And a stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel” (Daniel 6:18). As there, this is a legal lock on the tomb door–not air tight, but politically tight. To move the stone and break the seal is a civil crime. The resurrection is against the law.
The seal is also a recurring theme in the book of Revelation. Remember the scroll of history sealed with seven seals? Only One is worthy to break them and look upon or unveil the truth: that One is the Lamb who was slain. The seal is a claim of ownership and authority. Its meaning in Revelation is at least that God in Christ reigns sovereign over all history and in all events.
Caesar, in Pilate, on the other hand, violently disputes the claim. He has set his seal of approval on Jesus’ death, and now he guarantees it with troops. Secured by security forces. When the seal is broken in the resurrection, it stands among the signs that the power of the powers (death in all its forms) has been broken. The dominion of political authority–especially inflated, aggressive–and imperial authority has been cut to the heart.
I worship in the same church used by Hipshot Percussion. No crowds...close to God.
if you just comply, it will only embolden them.
If there are any mosques in the area, it would be interesting to know if they are under the same restrictions.
I posted this on other threads. Fits here too:
It isn’t just a “gathering”. It’s the High Holy Days for many religions. And too many secular powers are dictating that the religious not gather for a day to celebrate a religious “gathering” that is integral to their religion. We are turning into a nation of Sheeple, letting the “powers that be”, many of whom do not have our best interests at heart, dictate the minutiae of our lives. I for one am thoroughly sick of it.
One day this nightmare destruction of our way of life and our economy is going to come to an abrupt end, and that day is soon if President Trump has something to do with it, and he does. It may very well happen all at once. Does that mean the next day when people gather throughout our Country again, that suddenly all at once, it is all right to once again gather, because that is exactly what is going to happen. Not okay one day, okay the next.
Right now we are all being channeled into the few places that are still open, such as the grocery stores as we must eat, right? So we are herded all together into places like Walmart and the like, where we can all infect each other or catch the virus off of all of the stocked food/supplies on the shelves where the virus can live for hours. What fools we are to think that by just wearing a mask, or avoiding each other like the plague is going to save us all from the virus when there is a multitude of ways one can contract it.
Our Country, just like all the other countries around the world, will have to once again mill about with our fellow man, as no economy can sustain closing down for months on end. Let the virus play itself out, as all of them do, take necessary precautions in your own lives to minimize its effects to you and your loved ones, but for heaven sakes don’t destroy your own Country, cause infinitely more pain to your fellow man by destroying livelihoods, causing physical and mental pain to so many, and in the end, life will go on anyhow and we will have to get back to some sense of normalcy.
People die, most of them old and/or with other underlying ailments; you can’t save everyone while destroying even more people in the process. I am right in the category of those most at risk, older, I have co-morbidities (what an awful concept); I’m right in the ballpark of one who if infected could have a very bad go of it. But I refuse to whine, I have absolutely no desire to ruin our Country for the rest of us in order to save my own hide. I’ll take that risk in order that the Country as a whole doesn’t sink into a Great Depression, with all of its attendant problems, both physical and mental.
Good grief folks, stiffen up those spines and stop being led around by the nose by the “alleged” experts such as Fauci and Birx who are Clinton/Obama lovers with an agenda, and a bunch of models that are proven wrong over and over again. While the MSM/Dems/fascists scare the heck out of what is an increasingly willing to be led around by the nose populace. I for one refuse to subscribe further to such submissive cowering. I will fight for our freedom from those that are using the coronavirus as an excuse to terrorize, bully, and misuse their power in order to control and further subjugate us.
This is not the America I know and love. Time to fight back and retrieve our dignity and sanity against those that would destroy our way of life. There are those amongst us that do not have our best interests at heart while they pretend that they do. Practice further self deception at the risk of you and your Country’s peril.
If you can go into grocery stores and be amongst the general public, and handle numerous products that might have been touched by other people, why can’t you do a drive-in religious service in which people have greater separation than that, and in which you touch nothing outside of your own vehicle?
Some people, especially liberals just hate God and thus His children. Their hatred is so deep its unreasonable illogical and irrational. They must be miserable fighting us. They don’t realize they’re fight God himself.
SECTION 3. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination, shall forever be guaranteed, and no person shall be denied any civil or political right, privilege or capacity, on account of his religious opinions; but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be construed to dispense with oaths or affirmations, excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of the State. No person shall be required to attend or support any ministry or place of worship against his consent, nor shall any preference be given by law to any religious denomination or mode of worship.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)
happy Good Friday to you sister Roseanna, and thanks for this post!
this is a hard one. it is written that we are to assemble, and yet it is written that we must comply when lawful authorities make demands (even foolish ones) that don’t force us to sin—to violate God’s law.
these dilemmas—and cold steel and hot lead—our fellow believers faced in their town squares and the greens of lexington and concord, long ago.
i don’t know the answer for you, but in your words, i feel you and your congregation’s righteous heart to obey Him and obey the authorities under Him. that whatever you decide remember that Love casts out all fear, and that Jesus knows your heart, and if your heart is right with Him, all will be well.
” We will comply, for now. Sheriff Campbell was very polite, professional, understanding and even sympathetic”
They often are when cowards comply.
Google “Jesus, moneychangers, temple”.
Paragraphs?
We are continuing to meet. It is currently against the law in our state. We are being wise about social distancing. Folks at our small church are much safer at church than they are at the grocery store. We believe the scriptural injunction to meet trumps the governor’s order.
Call us what you will, we are being obedient to the Bible.
Talk about a giant lawsuit...
Don’t they have better things to do than micromanage the Density Church? Oh yeah, leftist governments can’t resist the temptation to walk around being the little SS and oppress because it’s fun, it’s what angry little twits live for. They do this while fantasizing how fun it would be if Bernie won and got the presidency for life (oh wait, that’s only 3 years).
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
OK, IMO it's real simple Nobody may interfere with any of the items listed in the text of the 1st Amendment. No if, ands or buts about it.
The problem I see is the 1st Amendment starts with the word : (read the first word in the first sentence of My Tagline). So does that mean it applies ONLY to (see Tagline again) or do the lower level political scumbags think that the power extends to them as well ?
I opine that NOBODY has any authority to decide for Others. Only an individual may choose for themselves. So that means that any President, goobiner, city, town or county council(s) or boards, LEO of any type or Rank, National/State Guard, Code enforcement person, Crossing Guard or Hall Monitorhas any authority over Religious Services.
As a matter of fact the County Sheriff has the Responsablity to be sure that Every Citizens Rights are unincumbered in anyway.
A Fire Marshall may have Jurisdiction ONLY of building capacity & head count for Fire Safety purposes. <---- Doesn't apply in this case since it's an outside gathering.
Now of course I'm sure if anyone checks out the Local Ammunition Depot (aka mosque) things will be normal and no interference by anyone !!!