Chicago officials are threatening to close or even bulldoze a church that has continued meeting in defiance of a state order, saying the governor’s action has the “force of law.”

The state of Illinois has banned in-person church services larger than 10 people amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Allison Arwady, the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, sent a letter Friday to Chicago’s Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church, saying she has the power to stop the congregation from meeting by “whatever means are necessary.”

“If you continue to operate in defiance of the Executive Order, the City will pursue all available legal remedies,” she wrote in her letter. “… Any future gatherings conducted contrary to the Order will be considered a failure to abate and the City will take steps necessary to abate, including Summary Abatement.”

“Summary abatement,” as defined by the Illinois Supreme Court, means “to put down or destroy without process.”

“This means the inspector can, upon his own judgment, cause the alleged nuisance to stop on his own authority and effect a destruction of property at his discretion,” the Illinois’ Supreme Court’s opinion in City of Kankakee v. New York Cent. R. Co. read.

Arwady wrote, “if you continue to host gatherings in violation of the Executive Order, the City of Chicago will take all necessary measures to…

Disney Plus debuted a Pixar short film Friday that breaks new ground for the animation studio by featuring an openly gay character and then by showing him kissing his partner.

The nine-minute animated film, Out, tells the story of a man named Greg who is living with his boyfriend, Manuel. The two are packing up for a move to the city when Greg’s parents – who don’t know he is gay – show up at the door to help. A panicked Greg then asks Manuel to sneak out the back door.

“Tell them,” Manuel urges Greg while leaving.

With his parents in another room, Greg confides privately to his dog, “He thinks it’s so easy to look them in the eyes and say, ‘Mom, Dad. … This is my boyfriend.’

Greg tells the dog, “I wish I had your life. I wish I was a dog.” Thanks to a magical dog collar, Greg and his dog then switch bodies. Moments later, Greg – stuck in the dog’s body – learns that his mom already knows he’s gay.

Out ends with Greg and Manuel sharing a brief kiss and both men enjoying hot chocolate with Greg’s parents.

The film is rated PG for “mild thematic elements” and currently is featured in the “new to Disney Plus” stream on the platform. The film’s description reads: “On an average day, Greg‘s life is filled with family, love and a rambunctious little dog – but despite all of this, Greg has a secret. Today is different, though. With some…

President Donald Trump attended two Memorial Day events on Monday as the nation continues to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump first attended a ceremony at the Arlington National Cemetery. Unlike in previous years, where presidents have spoken at the site, Trump gave no remarks to attendees, most of who were in masks. Trump, himself, did not wear a mask.

Trump then attended an event at Baltimore’s Fort McHenry. There he spoke, talking about the coronavirus pandemic. He also thanked those on “the front lines of our war against this terrible virus.”

“Together we will vanquish the virus and America will rise from this crisis to new and even greater heights. No obstacle, no challenge and no threat is a match for the sheer determination of the American people.”

Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young had asked Trump to not visit the Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine and set a “positive example” about stay-at-home orders. White House spokesman Judd Deere said in an emailed statement before Monday’s event that Trump would still visit the shrine.

“The brave men and women who have preserved our freedoms for generations did not stay home and the president will not either as he honors their sacrifice by visiting such a historic landmark in our nation’s history,” he said.

On Monday, Trump also tweeted to North Carolina’s governor, saying…

The lead singer of the Christian contemporary group Hawk Nelson said in an Instagram post last week he doesn’t believe in God and “can no longer stand on stage” and sing the band’s songs because of his new stance.

“After growing up in a Christian home, being a pastor’s kid, playing and singing in a Christian band, and having the word ‘Christian’ in front of most of the things in my life – I am now finding that I no longer believe in God,” Jon Steingard wrote in a lengthy Instagram post.

Hawk Nelson, formed in 2000, is known for hits such as Drops in the Ocean, Diamonds, Words and Live Like You’re Loved. The group released its most recent album in 2018.

Steingard, 36, said in his post he joined the band at age 20 and has been the lead singer and main songwriter since 2012.

He said he “agonized over whether to say this publicly.”

“[I]t didn’t happen overnight or all of a sudden. It’s been more like pulling on the threads of a sweater, and one day discovering that there was no more sweater left,” he wrote. “… I am stunned by the number of people in visible positions within Christian circles that feel the same way as I do. Like me, they fear losing everything if they’re open about it.”

Addressing those who might question his sincerity over the years, Steingard wrote, “The short answer is that I was not lying. I did believe those things at the…

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 26, 2020 (Morning Star News) – Unable to return to her home in western Uganda due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, Rehema Kyomuhendo was in the eastern part of the country when she first heard about Christ.

In March, Kyomuhendo – who is 24 but slight in stature and looks much younger – had accompanied her father, a sheikh (Muslim teacher) on a business trip from Mbarara District to Mbale District, 492 kilometers (305 miles) away. She began listening to Christian programing aired on an FM radio station.

They were still at her aunt’s house in Nawuyo village, Mbale District, on May 4 when at 10 p.m. she called a business friend of her father’s whom she knew to be a Roman Catholic.

“She explained to me about Christ and the way of salvation, and I got convicted and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior,” Kyomuhendo told Morning Star News by phone. “As she was sharing Christ with me, I was so overjoyed, and my father heard my joy and woke up, came from his bedroom furiously and started beating me up with blows, slaps and kicks.”

Her father, Sheikh Hussein Byaruhanga Husain of Mbarara District, shouted at his 45-year-old sister who was sleeping in another room, telling her that his daughter had converted to Christianity and that therefore he was going to kill her, Kyomuhendo said.

He quickly broke a jerrican, lit the pieces with its remaining fuel and began burning…

Churches in California are being permitted to reopen for the first time since closing its doors back in March because of stay at home orders over the coronavirus pandemic.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced new guidelines on Memorial Day in which California churches are able to have in-person services.

As CBN News reports, the new guidelines require places of worship to “limit attendance to 25% of building capacity or a maximum of 100 attendees, whichever is lower.”

Houses of worship, however, must first receive approval from the county public health department 21 days prior to conducting its first in-person services.

Prior to Newsom’s announcement of the new guidelines, on Friday, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 against The South Bay Pentecostal Church’s appeal to end Newson’s church ban.

“We’re dealing with a highly contagious and often fatal disease for which there presently is no known cure. In the words of Justice Robert Jackson, if a ‘court does not temper its doctrinaire logic with a little practical wisdom, it will convert the constitutional Bill of Rights into a suicide pact,” Judges Barry Silverman and Jacqueline Nguyen wrote in a statement according to Politico reports.

On the contrary, Judge Daniel Collins commented in an 18-page dissent that Newsom’s ban violates the First Amendment protection of religious freedom.

“I do not…