Excellent! May every church follow...
Good for them! Tell Comrade Governor to kiss their ass.
God almighty in Heaven, please protect and preserve these two pastors and bring down the evil Newsom and his regime. Amen.
Maybe one of these churches has someone who do an EXORCISM on NEWSOM’S twisted brain and clean him up. Or better yet, just make him disappear....
Some will think such a firm statement is inexorably in conflict with the command to be subject to governing authorities laid out in Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2. Scripture does mandate careful, conscientious obedience to all governing authority, including kings, governors, employers, and their agents (in Peter’s words, “not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable” [1 Peter 2:18]). Insofar as government authorities do not attempt to assert ecclesiastical authority or issue orders that forbid our obedience to God’s law, their authority is to be obeyed whether we agree with their rulings or not. In other words, Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 still bind the consciences of individual Christians. We are to obey our civil authorities as powers that God Himself has ordained.
When any government official issues orders regulating worship (such as bans on singing, caps on attendance, or prohibitions against gatherings and services), he steps outside the legitimate bounds of his God-ordained authority as a civic official and arrogates to himself authority that God expressly grants only to the Lord Jesus Christ as sovereign over His Kingdom, which is the church. His rule is mediated to local churches through those pastors and elders who teach His Word (Matthew 16:18–19; 2 Timothy 3:16–4:2).
Therefore, in response to the recent state order requiring churches in California to limit or suspend all meetings indefinitely, we, the pastors and elders of Grace Community Church, respectfully inform our civic leaders that they have exceeded their legitimate jurisdiction, and faithfulness to Christ prohibits us from observing the restrictions they want to impose on our corporate worship services.
The letter.
In America, We the People are Cezar. The government serves We the People. Many have forgotten this.
Nice to hear a member of the clergy has a spine and stands up for his flock.
By the way, MacArthur is a relative of General Douglas MacArthur.
Maybe God can give Newsom the Nebuchadnezzar treatment.
..good for Dr. MacArthur and any group of believers who understand that government has gone way over the line—Biblically and Constitutionally...
While over at the Catholic Church diocese headquarters throughout California, the wearers of the pointy hats continue to sit on their pompous asses and say absolutely nothing. If they were alive 2,000 years ago, they likely would have sat quietly by as Jesus was condemned to death.
Nice statement by MacArthur and the church here:
When I was first saved the young adults’ bible study I attended used to listen to John MacArthur tape series. Looking back, I am so thankful—learned a lot from him and the Bible-believing, Bible-teaching assembly where I first learned Christ. The most important lesson was to consult the scriptures and to rely upon them for spiritual wisdom and direction.
Now, 34 years later, I continue to value Johnny Mac’s insights. I have forwarded his letter to the elders at the assembly where I fellowship and pray they will follow his example.
It is my belief that the church is being given a test here (a mild one just now, compared to what other believers are facing in the world). As His bride, we must stand for Christ. Is He not deserving of our faithfulness?
I also disagree with such all-ages unequivocal restrictions (though in our MA state I think it was 10 people, and many or most Prot. churches wish they had 50 showing up), but the argument can be that just as the State - in the interest of the safety of the commonwealth - has authority to require building permits in order for places of indoor public (and private) gatherings, so for the same reason it can restrict or forbid occupancy. However, there is not real warrant for disallowing meetings in large places in which couples and families and others can practice social distancing, inside or outside.
Breitbart only does SoCal? The home of FR has a church that is doing services too:
b>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.
"...Those who lock me up will one day be locked up by angels. Those who interrogate me will finally be questioned and judged by Christ. When I think of this, the Lord fills me with a natural compassion and grief toward those who are attempting to and actively imprisoning me. Pray that the Lord would use me, that he would grant me patience and wisdom, that I might take the gospel to them.
Separate me from my wife and children, ruin my reputation, destroy my life and my family—the authorities are capable of doing all of these things. However, no one in this world can force me to renounce my faith; no one can make me change my life; and no one can raise me from the dead.
And so, respectable officers, stop committing evil. This is not for my benefit but rather for yours and your children’s. I plead earnestly with you to stay your hands, for why should you be willing to pay the price of eternal damnation in hell for the sake of a lowly sinner such as I?
Jesus is the Christ, son of the eternal, living God. He died for sinners and rose to life for us. He is my king and the king of the whole earth yesterday, today, and forever. I am his servant, and I am imprisoned because of this. I will resist in meekness those who resist God, and I will joyfully violate all laws that violate God’s laws..."
From "My Declaration of Faithful Disobedience" by Chinese Pastor Wang Yi sentenced to 9 years in prison in December 2019 for preaching the gospel.