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Mississippi City Drops ‘Unconstitutional Ban’ on Drive-in Church Services after Federal Lawsuit
The Mississippi city that banned drive-in church services earlier this month due to the COVID-19 pandemic has issued a new order lifting the ban.
The Greenville City Council lifted the ban after a federal lawsuit calling the ban “unconstitutional” was filed by Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys on behalf of Temple Baptist Church. The church withdrew its request for a temporary restraining order against the city Wednesday in light of the city’s changed position.
Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons on April 13 announced that churchgoers will not have to pay the $500 tickets they were issued at an April 8 drive-in church service. But Simmons had not yet officially changed the city’s policy.
Several members of the congregation were cited by Greenville police officers after Simmons issued an executive order requiring all church buildings to be closed for both in-person and drive-in church services due to the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Simmons originally claimed his order was consistent with a statewide shelter-in-place order issued by Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves. The governor’s order, however, includes no such ban and identifies churches as an “essential business or operation.” Reeves also made public statements saying that drive-in church services were acceptable under his order.
The church members were parked in the church’s parking lot with their windows rolled up, listening on their radios to Pastor Arthur Scott’s sermon which was being broadcast on a low-power FM frequency.
Longtime church member Lee Gordon told the Delta Democrat-Times about another small gathering of vehicles happening near the church building.
“There’s 25 cars 200 yards away all in the same place at the Sonic Drive-In,” Gordon said. “What we’re doing endangers nobody.”
The citations issued by the police resulted in a backlash in the national media and on social media. Gov. Reeves also chimed in via Facebook, reminding local municipalities, “Don’t trample the Constitution. Please use sense, everybody.”
The US Department of Justice also filed a statement of interest in the case, Temple Baptist Church v. City of Greenville, agreeing with the church that the ban cannot single out churches while allowing similar types of activities elsewhere, such as drive-in restaurants.
“Public officials are right to care about public health and safety during the coronavirus crisis, but they are wrong when they treat churches more harshly than others in government orders related to it,” said ADF Senior Counsel Ryan Tucker, director of the ADF Center for Christian Ministries.
“We commend Greenville for dropping its unconstitutional ban, which prohibited drive-in church services but allowed similar types of activities, such as eating at drive-in restaurants. That overreaching ban wasn’t necessary to protect health and safety. It only served to unnecessarily violate Americans’ freedoms protected by the First Amendment,” Tucker concluded.
Sources: CBN News
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Nearly 400 People Choose Christ at Mississippi State Fair
Thousands of people flock to the Mississippi State Fair each year to eat fun food, hear live music, and enjoy time with loved ones. This year, fairgoers also got the opportunity to hear the Gospel preached, and nearly 400 people gave their lives to the Lord as a result.
Churches like First Baptist Church in Senotobia make Mississippi Baptist fair evangelism effort possible.
“One of FBC’s members, who is named Mae, began praying that she would be able to tell someone about Jesus,” First Baptist Senotobia Pastor David Haynes told the Baptist Press. “Mae was able to talk and pray with a young man as he placed faith in Jesus. During our four-hour session at the state fair, we had 160 Gospel conversations and 15 of those resulted in salvation.”
Mae was one of 195 volunteers with the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board (MBCB) who attended the multi-day state fair earlier this month.
Last year, the MBCB had 2,524 recorded gospel conversations, and 269 people made a profession of faith in Jesus at the Mississippi Fairgrounds.
This year at the 165th Mississippi State Fair, volunteers had 2,824 Gospel conversations, resulting in 373 decisions for Christ, BP reports. But not all conversions were immediate.
“We had a young lady come in the tent with her family,” Don Lum, MBCB director of evangelism, told BP. “There were three teenagers and a mom and dad. This young lady was holding back. She was kind of not really engaged. I was talking to the guy that had shared with them, and he came back in the tent the next day and said, ‘Look, you’ll never guess what happened last night. At 1 a.m. this morning, the young lady got up, went into her mom and dad’s bedroom and said, ‘I need Jesus.'”
MBCB spokesperson Linda Burris recently shared that the experience also has an impact on the volunteers who gain confidence in sharing their faith.
“They discover that they can do it and it’s not that hard,” she told the Christian Post. “It is rewarding to hear the stories of other believers at the fair and to share with someone hungry to hear the good news of hope.”
Haynes shares how the experience often encourages the volunteers to grow in confidence in their faith.
“Once a person gains confidence in their ability to rely upon the Holy Spirit to guide them in Gospel conversations, then he or she will be more confident when talking with friends and family members about Jesus,” he said.
Burris says although people have made the decision to follow Christ in the tent at the fair, the work of ministry is far from over.
“Our volunteers are assigned a number that they put on the cards of those they share with. A copy of the cards of the ones who received Christ are mailed back to the volunteer who shared with them. They are then able to make contact with them,” she explained. “We sort the cards according to city and town and mail the information to a local pastor so that they can be contacted by a church in their area.”
Lum says the effort is bearing much fruit and that even for those who reject the Gospel a seed is planted.
“You’ve sowed the seed,” said Lum. “You told him about Jesus Christ, and then you’ve given him the opportunity to make the decision. And the decision’s always a personal one. We all get to make the choice to follow Him or not. And so I can’t feel bad about that because we did our part. I tell folks when they come to work, I said, you can’t miss. You can’t lose.”
Sources:CBN News
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വൈ എം ഇ എഫ് ഡാളസ് ഒരുക്കുന്ന ഗാനസന്ധ്യ നവംബർ മൂന്നിന്
കാരോൾട്ടൻ (ഡാളസ്): വൈ എം ഇ എഫ് ഒരുക്കുന്ന ഗാനസന്ധ്യ നവംബർ മൂന്നാം തീയതി ഞായറാഴ്ച ആറുമണിക്ക് കാരോൾട്ടൻ ബിലീവേഴ്സ് ബൈബിൾ ചാപ്പൽ വെച്ച് നടത്തപ്പെടുന്നു
ഭക്ത കവി റ്റി കെ ശാമുവൽ ഗാനങ്ങളും ഗാന പശ്ചാത്തലവും വിവരണം ആയുള്ള ഒരു അതുല്യ സംഗീത അനുഭവം ഗാനാസ്വാദകരിലേക്കു പകർന്നു നൽകുന്നത് ശ്രുതിലയ ഗാഭീര്യവുമായി കേരളത്തിൽ നിന്നും എത്തിച്ചേർന്നിരിക്കുന്ന പ്രിയഗായകൻ സ്വരാജാണ് . ബിജു ചെറിയാൻ ലാലു ജോയ് തോമസ് യുകെ എന്നിവരുടെ നേതൃത്വത്തിലാണ് പശ്ചാത്തലസംഗീതം ഒരുക്കപ്പെടുന്നത്. പ്രവേശം സൗജന്യമായ ഗാനസന്ധ്യയിലേക്ക് ഏ വരെയും സ്വാഗതം ചെയ്യുന്നതായി വൈ എം ഇ എഫ് ഭാരവാഹികൾ അറിയിച്ചു
Sources:globalindiannews
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വാറ്റ്ഫോർഡ് വേഡ് ഓഫ് ഹോപ് ബെഥേസ്ഥ പെന്തക്കോസ്തൽ ഫെലോഷിപ്പിന്റെ ആഭിമുഖ്യത്തിൽ ആനുവൽ കൺവൻഷൻ.
വാറ്റ്ഫോർഡ് : ഈ വർഷത്തെ ആനുവൽ കൺവൻഷൻ വെള്ളിയാഴ്ച നവംബർ 1 വൈകിട്ട് 6.30 മണി മുതൽ 9 മണി വരെയും, ശനിയാഴ്ച നവംബർ 2 വൈകിട്ട് 6:30 മണി മുതൽ 9 മണി വരെയും വാറ്റ്ഫോർഡിൽ ഹോളിവെൽ പ്രൈമറി സ്ക്കൂളിൽ ഐ പി സി യു കെ & അയർലണ്ട് റീജിയൻ പ്രസിഡന്റ് പാസ്റ്റർ ജേക്കബ് ജോർജ്ജ് ഈ യോഗം പ്രാർത്ഥിച്ച് ഉൽഘാടനം ചെയ്യും.
അനേക രാജ്യങ്ങളിൽ ശക്തമായി സുവിശേഷം പ്രസംഗിക്കുന്ന കോഴിക്കോട്ടുള്ള കിങ്ങ്സ് റിവൈവൽ ചർച്ചിന്റെ സീനിയർ പാസ്റ്റർ നോബിൾ പി തോമസ് ദൈവ വചനത്തിൽ നിന്നും ശ്രിശ്രൂഷിക്കുകയും പ്രതേക വിഷയങ്ങൾക്കായി പ്രാർത്ഥിക്കുകയും ചെയ്യും. വെള്ളിയാഴ്ച വർഷിപ്പിനു വാറ്റ്ഫോർഡ് ചർച്ചിനോടു ഒപ്പം നാട്ടിൽ നിന്നും വന്നിരിക്കുന്ന ബ്രദർ. സാംസൺ ചെങ്ങന്നുർ നേത്യത്വം നൽകും.
ശനിയാഴ്ച്ച ഉച്ചക്ക് 3 മണി മുതൽ 5.30 മണി വരെ യൂത്തിനുള്ള സെക്ഷനിൽ പാസ്റ്റർ ഏബൻ മാത്യു (യു കെ) വചനം പ്രസംഗിക്കുകയും ചോദ്യങ്ങൾക്കുള്ള ഉത്തരങ്ങൾ നൽകുന്നു.
ഞായറാഴ്ച ഡബ്ലയു ബി പി എഫ് സഭകളുടെ ഒരുമിച്ചുള്ള ആരാധനയും കർത്ത്യ മേശയും രാവിലെ 10 മണിക്ക് മുതൽ 1 മണി വരെ നടക്കും.
പാർക്കിംഗ് & റിഫ്രഷ്മന്റ് ഉണ്ടായിരിക്കും.
സ്ഥലം- HOLLYWELL PRIMARY SCHOOL, TOLPITS LANE, WD18 6LL, WATORD, HERTFORDSHIRE.
കുടുതൽ വിവരങ്ങൾക്ക് : പാസ്റ്റർ ജോൺസൺ ജോർജ് (07852304150) & പാസ്റ്റർ സാം ജോൺ (07435372899) www.wbpfwatford.co.uk
Sources:Middleeast Christian Youth Ministries
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