Fox News reported this afternoon that a California church ordered to pay $1.2 million in fines for violating COVID-19 lockdown measures filed a federal lawsuit today. The lawsuit alleged that Santa Clara County unconstitutionally spied upon and tracked Christian worshipers through secretive “geofencing” using congregants’ cellular telephone data.
Calvary Chapel San Jose and Pastor Mike McClure accused Santa Clara County and the Colorado-based data company SafeGraph of conducting an “invasive and warrantless geofencing operation to track residents.” The surveillance reportedly allowed investigators to track the exact movement of individual worshipers within the church property, including the rest rooms and sanctuary.
The Fox News report may be read HERE.
My brothers and sisters, with recent national rumblings about a new COVID-19 variant of concern and talk of masking requirements popping up again, the timing of this lawsuit is priceless.
As this writer noted in a FGGAM article posted January 1, 2021, regarding the State of New Mexico’s action against Legacy Church in Albuquerque, Romans 13:1-7 is sometimes cited to to claim that persons who might justifiably disagree with an action of the government are therefore unloving of others and failing to reflect Christian values! Just because abortion is authorized by civil government in New Mexico, is it justifiable to the Lord?
It seems that Romans 13:1-7 affirms civil government to assure a moral and orderly society, but not to assert that man has the ultimate say in all matters, supplanting the judgment and wisdom of God! I see no place wherein it provides for civil government to dictate church operations and override scriptural mandates and interpretation by ministers of the gospel and the church itself.
Romans 13:1-7 (ESV)
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore[,] whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore[,] one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.”
Praise Jesus forevermore!