The 3 - July 27, 2025

LA pastor fired from additional job over pronouns

Luke Ash is a pastor who relocated his family to Louisiana to take a church pastorate. To supplement his income, he took a job at a local public library. That's according to The Christian Post, which reported this past Friday:

In February, Pastor Luke Ash returned to his hometown of Baton Rouge with his wife and their four children to begin serving as pastor of Stevendale Baptist Church. In order to support his family, he also took a job at the Baton Rouge Parish Library.

The controversy began on July 7 during a private conversation with a colleague about a trans-identified trainee who had recently been assigned to his department. Ash told The Christian Post on Friday that he used biologically accurate pronouns when referring to the trainee, who was not present for the conversation.

The article went on to say that the colleague was offended by what Ash had to say, and the next day, according to Ash, "The next day, I was called into the office and shown the inclusivity policy...Whenever the supervisors asked me if I was going to continue to refuse to use preferred pronouns, I told them that I was not going to lie.” Ash was fired on July 10. The article notes that, "A coalition of Baton Rouge pastors, including leaders from the religious freedom advocacy group The Danbury Institute, is drafting an open letter demanding Ash’s reinstatement and protections for religious conscience in public employment."

Formerly gay man in Malta faces possible prison sentence

We recognize that the presence of Jesus in our lives means that we can walk in victory over the power of sin. That is the story of a man in Malta named Matthew Grech, who not only committed his life to Christ, but found freedom from the bondage of homosexuality, according to a Faithwire story. The article relates;

As previously reported, legal problems began when Grech shared his story of leaving the LGBTQ lifestyle and finding Jesus with a local outlet in Malta. He said two presenters with PMnews Malta wanted to know more about the nation’s crackdown on so-called conversion therapy and his take on the matter.

Malta, in 2016, became the first European Union country to ban attempts to “change, repress or eliminate a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression,” leading to fines or even jail time.

As a result of his public pronouncements, Grech was reported by multiple people and has been in court 12 times since then. Faithwire states: "Matthew Grech told CBN News he headed back to court July 16 to continue his quest to avoid a potential five-month jail sentence and fines after being accused of 'advertising so-called conversion practices.' The final verdict in his case is expected to come in October."

Pro-life protections under assault by WHO, US rejects

The World Health Organization is known for attempting to seize power and control over sovereign nations using health as its vehicle for implementing policies, some of which violate Biblical principles. Recently, the US stood against proposed regulations that would promote abortion. Live Action News stated:

On July 18, the Trump administration officially rejected amendments to the World Health Organization’s International Health Regulations (IHR) agreed upon by member nations at the World Health Assembly in June 2024, which could have threatened local pro-life legal protections.

This was announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr. Live Action noted that the U.S. is no longer a member of WHO, but when those regulations were adopted, the country was a member, so it needed to make a "formal rejection." As Live Action notes:

• Though presented as a means to deal with “the international spread of disease,” the IHR makes demands of countries that have nothing to do with disease, and promotes ambiguous ideas that could promulgate pro-abortion and gender ideologies.
• Secretary Kennedy and the State Department warned that the IHR contains threats to national sovereignty, free speech, civil liberties, and more.
• The WHO has long declared abortion to be “essential” and “healthcare,” and the IHR has the potential to override a country’s (or state’s) pro-life laws, ending abortion regulations and even forcing healthcare workers to participate in procedures against their consciences.