Saying “gay rights and freedom of speech” can co-exist, a federal judge Friday sided with a Christian photographer in ruling the city of Louisville, Ky., cannot force her to work at same-sex weddings.

The case involved a Christian photographer, Chelsey Nelson, who owns a studio that specializes in photographing, editing and blogging about weddings. She sued Louisville in 2019, claiming its anti-discrimination law would require her to photograph a same-sex wedding and thus violate her First Amendment rights.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Justin R. Walker sided with Nelson and issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the city from enforcing the law against her in her photography and her blogging.

Nelson will likely succeed in her lawsuit, he ruled. Alliance Defending Freedom represented her.

“America is wide enough for those who applaud same-sex marriage and those who refuse to,” he wrote. “The Constitution does not require a choice between gay rights and freedom of speech. It demands both. … Forcing citizens to express ideas ‘contrary to their deepest convictions’ is ‘always demeaning.’ It doesn’t matter if most people agree with the expression the government compels. Free thought ‘includes both the right to speak freely’ and to say nothing at all.”

The city, he wrote, is “attempting to compel religious speech at the core of the First…

Holding indoor services once again in defiance of California’s COVID-19 lockdown orders, Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church on Sunday told his congregation, “We are holding church … because our Lord commands it.” The megachurch met hours after an appeals court blocked a ruling that had allowed it to meet for worship.

“They don’t want us to meet, that’s obvious,” MacArthur said after Los Angeles County secured a stay of the trial court ruling that would have allowed the congregation to meet indoors with masks and social distancing.

“They’re not willing to work with us. They just want to shut us down. But we’re here to bring honor to the Lord,” the pastor continued.

The California Court of Appeal said in its ruling late Saturday, “As between the harm that flows from the heightened risk of transmitting COVID-19 (namely “serious illness and death”) and the harm that flows from having to conduct religious services outdoors instead of indoors, the balance at this early stage favors issuance of a stay.”

MacArthur said he doesn’t know…

Christianity is a faith with a long and detailed history, with numerous events of lasting significance occurring throughout the ages.

Each week brings the anniversaries of great milestones, horrid tragedies, amazing triumphs, and everything in between.

Here are three things that happened this week, Aug. 16-22, in Church history. They include the martyrdom of missionaries during the Boxer Rebellion, John Bunyan preaching his last sermon, and the death of the first president of Dallas Theological Seminary.

Teens and young adult Christians do not like to use certain words, including “converts” and “winning souls,” while talking about the reasons behind sharing their faith with others, a study has found.

Millennials and Gen Z teens are more cautious than older Christians about the words they use when they discuss missions, according to the evangelical Christian polling firm Barna Group, which looked at data from its The Future of Missions report which highlights the way different age groups talk about missions and why teens and young adults lean away from certain terminology.

For example, 35% of young adults and 38% of teens said the word “convert” tops the list of objectionable mission-related words for them. And 31% of young adults and 30% of teens also rejected the term “winning souls.”

It’s not due to embarrassment or shame, the study clarifies. “In some places in the world, calling oneself a missionary isn’t merely socially awkward; it’s a closed door. According to a seminary professor who trains aspiring missionaries, ‘There are places where you cannot get an entry visa to be a missionary. If…

Pastor John MacArthur, whose Grace Community Church had been holding in-person services in violation of the state’s COVID-19 lockdown orders, is celebrating a California court’s vindication of their right to hold indoor worship with no cap on attendance or a ban on singing.

While Los Angeles County was seeking a restraining order to stop the pastor from holding any in-person services, Judge James Chalfant of Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday agreed with MacArthur and his church that it is the county’s burden to show why they should be permitted to infringe on the constitutionally protected rights of churches to freely exercise religion, the Thomas More Society said in a statement.

Attorney Jenna Ellis, who is also a Trump campaign adviser and lawyer, called the ruling a “historic win.”

“FIRST CA Court to recognize #ChurchIsEssential!” Ellis tweeted.

The church’s attorneys argued that the county’s demands to comply with COVID-19 restrictions were…