9/19/2023 0 Comments Pastor james coates![]() I know that my imprisonment has increased your love and unity together. While it is true that many still remain seated, I believe that in due time they will come to see things differently. As with the apostle Paul, my imprisonment has resulted in many of the brethren having greater courage to stand for righteousness. We must count ourselves privileged to be used for this end. ![]() He has been preparing us for this in order to display his glory to the whole earth. We have not only been gifted grace to deliver in Christ, but also to suffer for the sake of his headship over the church, a headship which is inseparable from the gospel. Out of the superabundance of his grace, he has set us apart for this purpose. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has created us worthy to be greatly used in this time of tribulation. To the Church in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ which is at Gracelife: You can watch the full interview in the video embedded above.On March 14, 2021, Pastor Jacob Spenst of Gracelife Church in Edmonton, Alberta, read a letter from Pastor James Coates, their incarcerated pastor who remains locked up in a maximum-security detention center for being unwilling to allow the government to dictate how the worship of the One True Living God is to be conducted. In the letter, he wrote, “Pray for my release, but also that I would be given the opportunity and boldness to proclaim the blessed Gospel, making it clear to the hearers.” Pastor James is facing what not too long ago would have been unheard of.”Īs for Coates, his opportunities to minister to the inmates confirms a letter he sent to GraceLife in mid-March. John Klassen, who set up the fundraiser, described Coates as “a rare and refreshing voice of courage in these times,” adding, “He has stood on the Word of God faithfully, courageously, and uncompromisingly as a man of God when, all around him, men falter and fail. GraceLife is also facing charges for violating COVID mandates, which ordered the church to limit its occupancy to 15% of the church’s total capacity.Ī GoFundMe campaign set up for Coates has raised more than $45,000. He is, though, still facing financial charges for violating health orders. Overall, he said, he had “lots of opportunities to share the Gospel.”Ĭoates was released last Monday, following the Alberta government’s decision to drop its criminal charges against the minister. When Coates sat down with the man at a table in the common area, where they began reading from the New Testament book of John, he said three or four other men joined them. The preacher went on to explain there was an inmate in the cell next door who asked him to lead a Bible study. That happened often, where guys would just come to me.” “We’d be talking through a door to each other, but I would share the Gospel with them. “Once I got into, I would have guys often come to my door and want to speak with me and would share difficulties in their life with me, and I would share the Gospel with them,” he said. In response, Coates said some of the men came to the door of his cell “often.” ![]() Reid asked the pastor if he ever got the opportunity to minister to the inmates inside the jail. ![]() That just gives you a little picture of how they thought toward me and treated me.” “He’s emailed me since then and shared with me that he’ll never forget that moment,” Coates explained. “Just to kind of show the affection that we had for each other, in the moment I was leaving, I turned around … and I lifted up my hand to wave,” he recalled, “and the doors of the pod began to shake as the men in their cells just banged on their doors as a sign of support, love, affection.”Ĭoates said he was with the jail chaplain when it happened. ***As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up for Faithwire’s daily newsletter and download the CBN News app, developed by our parent company, to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.*** After spending a month behind bars for holding in-person worship services in violation of government capacity mandates, Canadian Pastor James Coates was released from jail with thunderous applause.Ĭoates, a pastor at GraceLife Church in Edmonton, Alberta, shared the powerful moment during an interview with Rebel News’ Sheila Gunn Reid. ![]()
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