A federal judge this week ordered a Tennessee school district and its employees not to participate in or promote religion at school activities after the district acknowledged it had allowed certain religious expressions in violation of U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw issued a permanent injunction Monday against the Smith County School System against school-led prayer and school-endorsed religious expression. The order was part of a “consent decree” – an injunction agreed to by the district.

Crenshaw’s order came one year after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Tennessee sued the school on behalf of two families who have children within the system.

“Families should be making the decisions about whether and how to educate their children about religion, not public schools,” said Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the ACLU of Tennessee. “Today’s consent decree ensures that the Smith County schools will be focused on providing a quality education to all students, regardless of their religious beliefs.

The judge wrote that the school acknowledged it had allowed:

– The delivery of prayer over the public-address system at events such as graduations and football games, accompanied by requests for attendees to bow their heads and pray.

– Coaches to participate in prayer with students before and after sporting events.

– The…

CBS sportscaster James Brown says in a new interview that sports can play a role in addressing racial injustice throughout the country but that the “Word of God is still the answer” to the nation’s problems.

Brown, a Christian, is the host of CBS’ The NFL Today and Showtime’s Inside The NFL, and has hosted the Super Bowl on television a record-tying nine times. He is better known among fans as “J.B.”

He made the comments to James Romano of the Sports Spectrum podcast in late August, prior to the NFL launching its season.

Addressing fans who say they don’t want to hear about injustice issues during sports, Brown said, “We wouldn’t have to worry about these issues and [could] just turn to sports for a nice diversion if in fact these issues weren’t persistent and ingrained in our history, etc. So that to me is burying your head in the sand, because it has impacted this generation. … This is a human issue.”

Brown referenced times throughout history when sports collided with real-world issues, such as when the South African rugby team helped heal racial divides. He also mentioned Jackie Robinson and Fritz Pollard, who helped break racial barriers in Major League Baseball and the NFL, respectively.

Later, Brown added, “At the end of the day, the Word of God is still the answer.”

“The real progress has been made whenever there was love, respect for…

Eric Trump, President Donald Trump’s second son, was one of the featured speakers at an outdoor Evangelicals For Trump rally in Cummings, Georgia on Tuesday.

According to Christian Premier News, Eric Trump told attendees how God has bestowed favor on his father throughout his first presidential term and that “God got us here.”

“I really believe that he was a chosen person. In the Bible, it’s always an imperfect person, and my father has said things that have gotten him in trouble time and time again,” the president’s son said.

“I really believe my father was put here for a reason. I believe it was because of a higher deity, entity, I really believe that. I believe it is why the Evangelical community has rallied around him,” he added.

Trump noted that faith played a contributing factor in ensuring his father’s success during the 2016 election.

President Trump’s senior faith advisor Paula White also spoke at the evangelical rally as she touted Trump’s achievements.

Also present was Rev. Tony Suarez, an evangelical advisor, who noted how Hispanic Americans have prospered under President Trump.

A prayer section at Tuesday’s rally opened up with 2 Chronicles 7:14 which reads, “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive…

California pastor John MacArthur said this week he’s willing to go to jail for holding indoor services in defiance of coronavirus health restrictions and that, if arrested, he’ll preach the gospel there, too.

A judge last week upheld Los Angeles County health restrictions and issued an injunction prohibiting indoor worship at MacArthur’s congregation, Grace Community Church. On Sunday, the church held indoor services in defiance of the order.

Although churches in California are allowed to hold outdoor services, MacArthur said Sunday the restrictions on outdoor worship would limit attendance to 350 to 400 people. The church has several thousands members.

“We received a letter with the threat that we could be fined or I could go to jail for a maximum of six months,” MacArthur said on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle. “… My biblical hero, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, is the Apostle Paul. And when he went into a town, he didn’t ask what the hotel was like – he asked what the jail was like because he knew that’s where he was going to spend his time. So I don’t mind being a little apostolic. If they want to tuck me into jail, I’m open for a jail ministry. I’ve done a lot of other ministries and haven’t had the opportunity to do that one, so bring it on.”

The church, MacArthur said, is desperately needed in today’s fear-filled world.

“The church preaches…

A kind citizen left an encouraging note on a police officer’s windshield earlier this week in Huntersville, North Carolina.

Faithwire shared that after getting coffee at a Dunkin’ Donuts, Officer Aaron walked out to his squad car to find a little note written on a Dunkin’ napkin.

“Praying God’s protection over you—today and always!” it read.

Huntersville Police tweeted about the kind regards: “One of our officers was at Dunkin’ getting coffee this morning (ya sure, just coffee) and found this note on his windshield. To whoever left the note, Officer Aaron says thank you and he is going to ride with it in his car from now on! #ThankYou #OneLove #HuntersvillePD.”

The note comes as the nation broils with debate on police reform in the wake of George Floyd’s death by a former Minneapolis police officer in May. Earlier this week, a Tulsa, Oklahoma, police officer was shot and killed and another injured, according to News 6. Faithwire reported two other officers in Los Angeles County were also shot and seriously injured.

Around the country, many cities are draining police funds by millions of dollars in an effort to stop police brutality. The Philadelphia City Council will vote on a reform bill this week that gives citizens input into the next police contract.

“The bill that I introduced on June 11 will require for the first time ever, in the…

The U.S. Department of Defense says new guidelines will be put into place to protect religious liberty rights for military service members.

According to CBN News, the U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper began looking into the issue after hearing that some military members and chaplains were banned from attending worship services off base during the coronavirus pandemic.

The new guidelines, called Instruction 1300.17, say that the DOD must:

• Acknowledge that service members have the right to observe the principles of their religion.
• Accommodate religious practices and procedures for service members.
• Ensure that religious beliefs shall not serve as a foundation for discrimination, loss of promotion, education, training, or assignment.
• Require that military departments implement training and oversee the performance of these policies and procedures regarding the religious practices of service members, commanders, chaplains, and recruiters.

The policy also states military leadership must accommodate “individual expressions of sincerely held beliefs,” adding that “a Service member’s expression of such beliefs may not, in so far as practicable, be used as the basis of any adverse personnel action, discrimination, or denial of promotion, schooling, training, or assignment.”

First Liberty Institute first submitted a letter to Esper in May, asking for “clear DOD…