Bullseye Collection Agency’s (Bullseye) use of the acronym “WWJD” as part of a business motto has been called “offensive” and “harassing” in a federal lawsuit filed by one of Bullseye’s competitors, Bureau of Collection Recovery, LLC (BCR). Owned by Mark and Sara Neil, BCR claims that Bullseye’s WWJD motto violates the federal Debt Collection Practices Act (the “Act”). Liberty Counsel, which represents Bullseye, argues that WWJD does not violate federal law, and even if it did, the federal law would violate the First Amendment. Keep Reading »

Today Liberty Counsel filed an amicus brief at the U.S. Supreme Court in support of a 75-year-old National World War I Memorial with an 8-foot cross, located in the Mojave Desert of California. In Salazar v. Buono, the ACLU filed suit to remove the cross. Following the lower court ruling, the cross was covered with a cloth and now is boxed in with plywood so it looks like a blank sign. It remains that way pending the Supreme Court’s decision.

The memorial was originally erected in 1934 by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) as a wooden cross with a plaque stating, “The Cross, Erected in Memory of the Dead of All Wars” and “Erected 1934 by Members of Veterans of Foreign Wars, Death Valley Post 2884.” Beginning in 1935, people gathered intermittently at the site for Easter services, and those services became a regular occurrence in 1984.

According to the National Parks Service, those gatherings by private parties somehow transformed the war memorial into a religious shrine of sorts and disqualified it from being included in the National Register of Historic Places. Congress then enacted a series of laws aimed at preserving the monument, including, most recently, a land exchange that would transfer ownership of the land upon which the monument rests to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in exchange for its donation of an equivalent piece of property to the Parks Service. But the ACLU insisted that the cross be torn down.

Liberty Counsel’s brief advocates that the Supreme Court adopt a new test that better comports with the intent of the First Amendment. Under this proposed test, a display that (1) comports with history and (2) does not objectively coerce participation in a religious exercise or activity would be a permissible. Keep Reading »

Nearly 400 graduating seniors at Pace High School stood up in protest against the ACLU and recited the Lord’s Prayer during their graduation ceremony on Saturday. Many of the students also painted crosses on their graduation caps to make a statement of faith. This event follows a lawsuit the ACLU filed against the Santa Rosa County School District, claiming some of the teachers and administration endorsed religion. Liberty Counsel represents Pace High School Principal Frank Lay and school teacher Michelle Winkler. Keep Reading »

President Barack Obama signed a declaration, in the “year of the Lord” 2009 no less, designating June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender month. One group in Charlotte, North Carolina is answering back.

The Coalition for Conscience is organizing a rally in uptown Charlotte in response to the city’s annual gay pride event. More than one thousand believers will be gathering to worship the Lord, intercede in prayer, and proclaim that “God Has a Better Way!” Keep Reading »

Kathryn Kuhlman has made such a major impact on my life. She was a woman of miracles; but she was first a woman of faith. Consider her own words:

“Volumes have been written, more volumes have been spoken regarding that indefinable something called ‘faith.’ Yet in the final analysis, we actually know so little of the subject.” Keep Reading »

I read this in the Christian Post:

“The other day I heard a well-meaning Bible-prophecy radio minister trying to use a very cryptic Bible text to prove that a recent series of terrorist attacks in Israel were specifically predicted in Scripture! These guys read the New York Times and the Jerusalem Post the way a psychic reads tea leaves. And with a rising fever in the air, you get the feeling you need to stay close and stay tuned to hear the latest from their prophetic perspective. You want to make sure you are ready. Keep Reading »

What about your legacy? Will you stand in the face of fear no matter what form it takes? Or will you allow this wicked spirit to outmaneuver you? We must learn to recognize fear at its onset – and we have to overcome or it will overcome us. Maybe you are like me. Maybe you’ve had some run ins with fear that almost took you out of God’s will. Or maybe you’ve failed to receive God’s promises because fear’s subtle voice caused you to doubt He’d do it for you. Or maybe fear manifests through anger, stress or some other emotion. Make no mistake, fear is at the root of many of our ungodly thoughts and feelings.

So how do we overcome fear? Well, the Bible says God has not given us a spirit of fear, but He has given us three things to combat it. He’s given us power, He has given us His love, and He has given us a sound mind. Here’s what the Lord showed me: We overcome fear with the power of the Holy Ghost. It’s with this power that we resist fear and cause it to flee. Our will power alone is no match for the spirit of fear, but the Spirit of Truth is more than capable throwing fear to the mat and keeping it down for the count. God has given us His power, His authority, His anointing. It’s up to us to use it in the face of fear.

Likewise, God has given us His love. God’s love is perfect. It’s the revelation of this love that casts out fear and its torment. When you begin to feel fear (nobody ever said you wouldn’t feel fear but that doesn’t mean we have to act on it) begin to confess God’s love for you. Remind yourself of God’s perfect love for you and you will trade your anxiety for the peace of God that passes all understanding. Finally, God has given us a sound mind. I like to look at it this way: God has given us the sound mind of Christ. Christ feared nothing. The world has tribulation, but we aren’t supposed to fear. We are supposed to be of good cheer because Christ overcame the world. We have the mind of Christ, and this is the victory that overcomes the world – and the fear that runs rampant through it – our faith.

The Bible says: “There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love's complete perfection]” (1 John 4:18 AMP). Keep Reading »

In our last post, we saw that Eve’s fear of God keeping something good from her caused her to disobey God. Let’s strip out the storytelling and say it this way: Fear leads you into disobedience.

Need another witness? Fear caused Saul to disobey God’s established priestly authority. King Saul’s fall occurred just before what looked to be a fierce battle between the Israelites and their archenemy, the Philistines. The Philistines gathered themselves to fight with Israel, with 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude (1 Samuel 13: 5). The Bible says the Israelites were distressed and even trembling with fear.

Saul had his orders. The Prophet Samuel had instructed him to wait there for seven days. Samuel was going to fulfill the priestly duty of sacrificing to God before the battle. Seven days came and went and Samuel didn’t show up at Gilgal. Saul’s army began to give into the fear and scatter. That’s when fear led Saul into disobedience. Instead of waiting for Samuel to show up, Saul took matters into his own hands and offered the burnt offering himself.

Wouldn’t you know it? Just as soon as he’d finished his act of fearful disobedience, Samuel showed up asking for an explanation. As the story goes, Saul admitted he was fearful. Samuel called him foolish and told him his kingdom would not continue. Ouch!

Adam and Eve lost their kingship because Eve bowed to the “fear of.” Likewise, Saul lost his kingship because he gave in to the “fear of.” What about you? How is fear robbing you from the fullness of your kingship? Thank God we are in a time of grace. God is not going to strip us of our kingship for falling into the disobedience based on fear if we repent.

In the next installment, we’ll look at how irresponsibility robs our kingship.

In the last post, we looked at Saul’s fearful disobedience. That leads me to the next strategy of fear: irresponsibility. The same fear that tempted us to disobey will also try to convince us to blame the disobedience on another person or on circumstances. In that way, fear attempts to keep us from repenting so that we continue to walk in darkness instead of seeing the light. Fear, then, continues to have its way. And fear’s way is torment. Keep Reading »