The 3 - February 16, 2025

This week's edition of The 3, with three stories of relevance to the Christian community, includes the exoneration of employees in San Francisco who did not take the COVID shot on religious grounds. Plus, a Christian college has drawn scrutiny for congratulating one of its alums for being confirmed for the President's Cabinet, then withdrawing it.  And, a student movement made another stop, in which thousands of young adults attended and many gave their lives to Christ.

Large California city ordered to make restitution for employees fired for not taking the COVID shot

The path of destruction caused by the attempt to mandate that individuals take the COVID-19 shot has been rather wide.  Already, the Trump Administration has taken steps to take corrective action for military members who were dismissed for their refusal to take the so-called "vaccine," many of whom did so for religious reasons.  An Executive Order states:

The vaccine mandate was an unfair, overbroad, and completely unnecessary burden on our service members. Further, the military unjustly discharged those who refused the vaccine, regardless of the years of service given to our Nation, after failing to grant many of them an exemption that they should have received. Federal Government redress of any wrongful dismissals is overdue.

And, a federal appeals court has ordered the city of San Francisco to right its wrongs concerning its vaccine mandate.  The Christian Post reported recently: "In a unanimous ruling..., a three-judge panel on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that San Francisco must rehire employees who were terminated from their jobs because they declined to comply with a mandate requiring all city employees to take the COVID-19 injection. The appellants in the case, Selina Keene and Melody Fountila, objected to taking the COVID-19 shot on religious grounds."

Keene and Fountila were joined by over 100 other plaintiffs.

The article also noted that the..

...opinion cited the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, which struck down COVID-19 worship restrictions imposed by the state of New York when asserting that “the Supreme Court has recognized that the loss of protected religious freedoms, ‘for even minimal periods of time, unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury.’”

“Appellants’ coerced decision between their faith and their livelihood imposed emotional damage which cannot now be fully undone,” stated the panel ruling.

Christian college congratulates, then withdraws post on alumnus sworn into Cabinet

Russell Vought, in his confirmation hearings for the post of Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget, or OMB, during the first Trump administration, had to endure a challenge from Sen. Bernie Sanders, who chided the nominee for his written response to a situation at his alma mater, Wheaton College, regarding a professor who had been fired as the result of wearing a hijab to show solidarity with Muslims, a professor who had said Christians and Muslims worship the same God. The Atlantic, back when Emma Green, who was sensitive to religious matters, published a piece she wrote in which she related that Vought had written at The Resurgent, which is Erick Erickson's old website: "Muslims do not simply have a deficient theology. They do not know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ his Son, and they stand condemned."  Sanders railed against Vaught, calling the statement, Isalamaphobic.  Green had stated that Sanders came close to a Constitutional line with his questioning.

Fast forward to 2024: Vought was confirmed as Director of OMB, a position he had eventually held under Trump before. His alma mater posted a statement of congratulations and request for prayer for him, then took it down.  Fox News reported:

Wheaton College apologized for a since-deleted Facebook post calling for prayers for Russ Vought after receiving intense online backlash.

On Friday, the Illinois university posted their congratulations to Vought for being confirmed as the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) after a 53-47 Senate vote.

In removing the post, Wheaton made a statement:

"On Friday, Wheaton College posted a congratulations and a call to prayer for an alumnus who received confirmation to a White House post. The recognition and prayer is something we would typically do for any graduate who reached that level of government. However, the political situation surrounding the appointment led to a significant concern expressed online. It was not our intention to embroil the College in a political discussion or dispute. Our institutional and theological commitments are clear that the College, as a non-profit institution, does not make political endorsements. Wheaton College’s focus is on Christ and His Kingdom..."

Noted economist David Bahnsen posted on X:

"This is just the absolutely lamest, most embarrassing thing imaginable. First of all, you didn’t make a political endorsement - you congratulated an alumnus for receiving a major appointment and said you would PRAY for him. Second, when you say your focus is on Christ and His Kingdom and go on to define that as something which politics are excluded from, you WRONGLY diminish the Biblical definition of Kingdom. Third, admitting you took down a ‘call to prayer’ because people online were mad at you is rank cowardice. Parents should take note of @WheatonCollege boldness and courage when considering your school for their young adult children, because this is seriously pathetic."

Thousands gather, accept Christ at the latest UNITE event 

Meanwhile, at secular universities all across the country, thousands of students have been gathering in arenas to hear the message of the gospel and thousands have been responding.  From its beginnings at Auburn's Neville Arena, to Coleman Coliseum at the University of Alabama, through such SEC strongholds as Athens and Knoxville, even ACC city Tallahassee, the UNITE events are emblematic of what God is doing in the hearts of young people. 

The next one occurs Tuesday night in Columbus, Ohio, the site of a fall meeting that had members of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team in leadership, a team marked by multiple players sharing their devotion to Christ throughout the weeks of the College Football Playoff, which culminated in the Buckeyes winning the national championship. 

The previous UNITE event occurred at the massive Rupp Arena at the University of Kentucky.  Kentucky Today reported:

With more than 7,000 in attendance and 2,000 going to the altar, the Unite Kentucky event in Rupp Arena on Wednesday has continued a growing move among college students and young adults.

It was all part of the larger UniteUS movement that has been to 11 other college campuses since starting at Auburn University’s Neville Arena in September 2023. It has attracted more than 70,000 college students from around the country in the past 17 months.

The article related:

Daniel Johnson, the director of the Baptist Campus Ministry in Lexington on the University of Kentucky campus, was among those gathering. Several in the BCM came with him if they were not already attending with their local church.

“We’re seeing these pop up around a ton of different campuses,” he said. “The spirt is ripe for moving. We are praying that heart change is happening and we will see a ripple effect. It can lead to a different culture on campus. That there would be spiritual fruit from this, and lives are so changed that Kentucky is not seen as a place of darkness as a campus but a place of light."

The report included the statement: "Johnson said the gospel presentation was clear."

UNITE's Instagram page stated: 

We’ve been praying for this night for months, and God met us here again. Over two thousand students flooded the altar to surrender their lives to Jesus, and we know it’s just the beginning of all He has in store.

We ended the night celebrating life change with the coldest water baptisms we’ve ever experienced.

The 3 - February 9, 2025

This week's edition of The 3, with three stories of relevance to the Christian community, includes proclamation and action by President Trump protecting religious liberty, and specifically the rights of Christians.  Also, a Louisiana law has been used to bring criminal charges against a New York abortionist, her company, and the mother of a pregnant minor in a case involving the distribution of the abortion pill.  And, the President signed an Executive Order intended to prevent males from participating in female sports sponsored by organizations receiving federal funding.

Trump demonstrates support for Christians

Last week, the National Prayer Breakfast was held in Washington, DC, and President Trump addressed that crowd, as well as another gathering later that morning.   The Washington Times quoted the President as saying, regarding the assassination attempt in Butler, PA: “I feel even stronger,” adding, “I believed in God, but I feel​ much more strongly about it. Something happened.”

He told the gathering: “Today we join our hearts and prayers, recommitting to putting our country first, we have to put country first, making America stronger and greater and more exceptional than ever before, and we have to make religion a much more important factor now,” Mr. Trump said. “If we do that our job is just going to be much easier.”

Later, at another gathering the Washington Hilton, according to The Washington Times, the President made comments about the establishing of a task force, saying: “The mission of this task force will be to immediately halt all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination within the federal government, including at the DOJ — which was absolutely terrible — the IRS, the FBI and other agencies..."

The article also related:

He also said work will be done to “fully prosecute anti-Christian violence and vandalism in our society and to move heaven and earth to defend the rights of Christians and religious believers nationwide.”

Mr. Trump added, “If we don’t have religious liberty, then we don’t have a free country.”

The task force will work under the authority of new Attorney General Pam Bondi, according to the article, which noted, "The president said he’s reinstating from his first term the White House Faith Office..."

Trump said, "While I’m in the White House, we will protect Christians in our schools and our military and our government, workplaces, hospitals and in our public squares,” he said. “We will bring our country back together as one nation under God with liberty and justice for all.”

Louisiana's abortion law used to charge New York abortionist in abortion pill case

Across America, women are obtaining abortion pills and using them to take the lives of their unborn children, and recently, a New York abortionist has found herself charged with criminal behavior under Louisiana's strong abortion laws.  CBN.com reported:

Louisiana prohibits the killing of preborn children by abortion, and recent law was passed to reclassify abortion pills as controlled substances. Under the measure, if someone knowingly possesses mifepristone or misoprostol without a valid prescription, they could be fined up to $5,000 and sent to jail for one to five years. The law, however, carves out protections for pregnant women who obtain the drug without a prescription to take on their own.

The case involves a minor who obtained the pills. The article notes: "...Margaret Carpenter, Nightingale Medical, Carpenter's company, and the child's mother, who ordered the pills, were indicted Friday with charges of criminal abortion for allegedly prescribing an abortion pill online in Louisiana, which has some of the strongest pro-life laws in the country."

CBN goes on to say:

"She was a minor and ... she was excited," Prosecutor Tony Clayton told WBRZ-TV. "She had planned a reveal party. She had wanted to have this baby."

The girl was reportedly coerced to take the drug and later "suffered complications while alone," Clayton said, adding, "She called 911 and an ambulance rushed her to the hospital and they were able to save her life."

The article says:

Grand jurors at the District Court for the Parish of West Baton Rouge indicted the abortion doctor, her medical clinic, and the girl's mother.

All three were charged with criminal abortion using abortion-inducing drugs – a felony.

While Louisiana goes after this doctor, her company, and the grandmother of the baby, the abortionist has found a friend in a high place: the Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul.  CBN reports:

In a video statement, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called the charges "outrageous" and vowed to defend the abortionist.

"I am proud to say that I would never, under any circumstances, turn this doctor over to the state of Louisiana under any extradition request," she said.

CBN also says, "Carpenter was also sued by the Texas attorney general in December for prescribing abortion-inducing drugs to a Texas resident via telemedicine, but the case did not involve criminal charges."

President signs order protecting women's sports from male intrusion, NCAA acts

Also, last week, President Trump signed an Executive Order, entitled, "Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports," as reported by the website for Alliance Defending Freedom, which quoted ADF CEO, President, and General Counsel Kristen Waggoner, who said: “Schools, activist groups, so-called experts, and politicians demanded that women either celebrate the ’victories’ of males in their sports or stay silent. Those in power told girls that their discomfort with males in their locker rooms amounted to bigotry..." She added: "Trump told our daughters the truth: that men and women are physically different, those differences matter, and women deserve their own sports and spaces. Rather than standing alone in these truths, female athletes now have the U.S. government on their side..."

The Executive Order stated, in part, according to the White House website:

...it is the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy. It shall also be the policy of the United States to oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports more broadly, as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.

Following the issuance of this order, it didn't take long before the NCAA, a large governing body over collegiate sports, weighed in. The Christian Post reported:

National Collegiate Athletics Association has unveiled a new policy prohibiting trans-identified male athletes from competing in women's sports amid the Trump administration's crackdown on gender ideology.

NCAA, a major organization that oversees collegiate athletics in the United States, announced in a statement Thursday that it is changing its participation policy for trans-identified student-athletes. The move follows President Donald Trump's new executive order vowing to cut off federal funds to schools that allow males who identify as female to participate on women's sports teams.

NCAA President Charlie Baker is quoted as saying: "...We strongly believe that clear, consistent, and uniform eligibility standards would best serve today's student-athletes instead of a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions," adding, "To that end, President Trump's order provides a clear, national standard."

The 3 - February 2, 2025

This week's edition of The 3, with three stories of relevance to the Christian community, includes news of an Executive Order signed by President Trump that would serve to restrict surgeries and treatments for young people with the purpose of changing a person's "gender."  Also, an Ohio pastor who opened his church doors to help the homeless has been convicted of criminal activity and sentenced to probation.  And, the President has issued a number of executive actions dealing with issues relative to the sanctity of life. 

President signs order to restrict trans surgeries

The topic has gained steam since the first states, including Alabama, began to pass laws prohibiting gender-change treatments and surgeries, deceptively called "gender-affirming care."  Now, over half of all states have passed some sort of law that would prevent doctors from attempting to change a young person's "gender."

The Christian Post reported last Wednesday:

President Donald Trump has signed a new executive order that seeks to crack down on government funding, coverage and promotion of sex-change procedures on minors as concerns persist about their long-term impacts.

Through the order signed Tuesday, Trump commits to "protecting children from chemical and surgical mutilation," referring to body-mutilating procedures performed on minors under the age of 18 as well as the prescription of puberty-blocking and cross-sex hormone drugs.

"It is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called 'transition' of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit these destructive and life-altering procedures," the order declared.

The order included instruction to a variety of federal agencies, and The Christian Post noted: 

The order directs the heads of executive branch agencies to "take appropriate steps to ensure that institutions receiving Federal research or education grants end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children" and "rescind or amend all policies" that rely on guidance from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, which encouraged the performance of gender transition procedures on minors.

Ohio pastor who opened church to homeless convicted, sentenced to probation

Chris Avell is the Pastor of a church in Bryan, Ohio, called Dad's Place.  Over a year ago, the pastor made the decision to minister to the homeless in his city by opening his church doors to accommodate them.  First Liberty has defended the pastor in court, and on its website, posted a press release, which said:

Pastor Chris Avell of Dad’s Place Church in Bryan, Ohio was found guilty of a criminal charge regarding a fire code violation filed against him by city officials. The year-long battle with the City of Bryan that has continuously attempted to shut down the church, Dad’s Place, resulted in a conviction for the caring pastor. Pastor Avell was fined $200 and given a 60-day suspended jail sentence. The judge stayed his decision for 30-days to allow the Avell’s attorneys to appeal.

The Christian legal organization noted:

For over a year, the City of Bryan, Ohio has been aggressively attacking the church in court, including alleged zoning violations, middle-of-the-night fire inspections, police antagonism, and even criminal charges filed against the church’s pastor. And while city officials demand the church install an expensive fire suppression system, the city does not require all of its motels, most of its apartment complexes, and even a senior living facility to install fire suppression systems in their buildings.

Furthermore, as the website stated: "The Court of Appeals of Ohio, Sixth Appellate District, recently issued a stay against the city in their lawsuit against Dad’s Place, allowing the church to continue operating."

Presidential executive orders protect the unborn

Even though President Trump, in his most recent campaign, was perhaps not as forthright in his support for life as he had been in his winning 2016 campaign, his recent executive actions have demonstrated a commitment to protecting unborn life.

In a piece at the Newsweek website by Erin Hawley of Alliance Defending Freedom, the attorney made mention of "23 men and women prosecuted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act that Trump pardoned on January 23. Among those released: grandparents, mothers of young children, pastors, a Holocaust survivor, and a Catholic priest—all prosecuted and convicted by the Biden administration for their nonviolent protests at abortion facilities."

Hawley also noted that...

...In a subsequent memo issued on January 24, the Trump administration made sure that the FACE Act would no longer be weaponized against pro-life viewpoints. The memo—written by Chad Mizelle, chief of staff to Pam Bondi, Trump's pick for attorney general—limits future FACE Act prosecutions to incidents involving "extraordinary circumstances" or "significant aggravating factors."

The article referred to three cases dismissed by the Department of Justice regarding prosecutions under the FACE Act. 

And, the op-ed piece related:

What's more, Trump revived two additional crucial pro-life policies designed to curtail taxpayer-supported abortions. First, he signed an executive order directing his administration to enforce the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal taxpayer funding for abortion. He also reinstated the "Mexico City policy," which blocks international organizations that provide and promote abortion from receiving U.S. government funding.

But, that's not all; Hawley mentioned: "...the Trump administration has also sent word via the U.S. Mission to the United Nations that the U.S. is rejoining the Geneva Consensus Declaration, of which the U.S. was a founding member. A coalition of 40 governments united around a pro-life policy stance are signatories to the declaration."

Late last week, Life Site News reported: 

Taxpayer dollars will no longer be used to pay for travel expenses of military members heading out of state to obtain abortions, thanks to an executive order issued by President Donald Trump.

It went on to say: "On Wednesday, the Pentagon’s Defense Travel Management Office released a memo announcing it scrapped a policy that had been put into place..." by the former Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin.

The article quoted U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville, representing Alabama, who said on X: “I took a lot of heat when I held senior military promotions for nearly a year over the Pentagon’s illegal and immoral taxpayer-funded abortion travel policy. But as of today, it was all worth it..."