Update on Pastor James Coates and Tim Stephens

Justin Peters

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00:00

Welcome to the program, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Justin Peters. I hope that you and your family are doing well today.

00:07

I want to thank you very much for joining me, and I've asked Pastor James Coates to come back on the program because there have been some developments and they are a bit confusing,

00:18

I think, for all of us, Pastor James included. And so there's been a little bit of confusion as to where exactly things stand now.

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If you watched my previous interview with him, you know that one of the overall themes there was that even though he's out of jail, he's not out of the woods yet.

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And so we're going to just go right into this. Pastor James, thank you very much for joining me again.

00:49

Yeah, thanks for having me, Justin. Really appreciate it. Yeah, absolutely. So first, just tell us how you and your family are doing.

00:56

Everybody's all in all doing well? Yeah, we're hanging in there. It's one week and one day at a time.

01:04

But yeah, we're doing well. Thank you. Good, good. Well, so James, you've kind of behind the scenes here before we started.

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You explained all of the moving parts here to me. And initially, there was some hope.

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There was some hope because of a court action or a court order that you and all other pastors were more or less in the clear to meet and to have church without any governmental interference with that.

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But as things progressed, in fact, you sent an article to Pastor John MacArthur.

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And at the time when you sent it to him, you thought that was kind of the situation that you had freedom to meet.

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But as you dig down into this, this involves a restaurant called

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Whistle Stop Cafe, I think. And then AHS, the

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Alberta Health Services, they jumped in and put in a major wrinkle to this that none of us could have known about.

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And so it's just all kind of a big, confusing situation here.

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So give us a... Did I set that up okay? Can you kind of take that? Yeah, let me see what

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I can do with that. So the saga, the battle that we've been in is ongoing and hasn't yet come to an end.

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In the midst of the saga was a court order that AHS secured in secret on May 6th, which really was a new wrinkle added to the saga.

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And what that court order was intended to do was to prevent a restaurant owner from having a protest after AHS shut down his restaurant.

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But in addition to that, the court order was written so broadly that basically anyone hosting a quote -unquote illegal gathering could be arrested.

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Now that's unprecedented. Not only did AHS, in the secret of night, as it were, get a court order against the restaurant owner, who wasn't permitted to have any kind of legal representation at the table for, the judge actually granted an order that would have implicated all

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Albertans, including pastors. So all that did to our ongoing saga was actually raise the temperature.

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Because now heading into any given Sunday, we could be in theory arrested arrested on account of that injunction.

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Right. Which would have just been, again, this is just, we've got the ongoing saga already where I've been imprisoned and I've got personal matters in court.

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We've got the ongoing saga of our building being locked up and fenced.

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And then added to that was now this temperature increasing court order that would give authority to police to arrest us as pastors for simply hosting our church service.

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Now, prior to that, you know, they could fine you, for example. I mean, there were things they could do.

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But this court order meant they could just arrest us on the spot for violating that May 6th court order.

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Well, Thursday last week, a really significant development took place. And it's that development that I've shared with Pastor John MacArthur and resulted in his announcement on Sunday.

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And it's a really significant announcement, but it doesn't ultimately change the fact that we still have an ongoing battle with AHS.

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And the announcement is this, that the JCCF, which is the legal firm representing me and our church, they took

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AHS to court to have that order amended, to get it limited to the whistle stop owner.

05:48

Right. So they go to court last Thursday. And in court, as I understand it, agree, the

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JCCF, AHS, and the judge, that the court orders language is going to be amended to be limited to only the whistle stop owner.

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Okay. Which would then, you know, mean it doesn't have any validity for guys like myself or Tim Stevens.

06:20

Right. So we were excited about that, because that meant that looking at the coming

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Sunday, we were in the clear as it related to just an arrest for having a quote unquote, illegal gathering.

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Right. And so both Tim and I honestly went into this Sunday feeling pretty good.

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Yeah. You know, feeling like that takes the pressure off. We're going to be able to meet with our church on Sunday.

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And the previous week, I can tell you that Tim primarily went into that one, as well as myself to some degree, believing that it was possible we could be arrested as a result of those gatherings.

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And so this was like a really significant development, because it took the pressure off the individual

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Sunday in front of us, and the ones thereafter. So that was the announcement that was significant, even though it didn't mean that our ongoing saga came to an end, it just took the temperature down a couple of notches heading into this, the next coming

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Sunday. And so hopefully that clarifies that piece.

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Now, interestingly enough, AHS went ahead as if that court order was still valid for just anyone.

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And and so they arrested Pastor Tim Stevens. Yeah. On Sunday, on the ground of that court order, which is amazing in and of itself, because he had never been served with the injunction to begin with, like, he had never been given in his own personal hands that injunction to let him know what had taken place.

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And yet, the Calgary Police Department, as well as AHS have publicly said that he had been served with that injunction and acknowledged receipt of it, that never happened.

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And the reason it didn't happen, as I understand it, is because they serve the wrong guy.

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They pulled the wrong guy over and talk to him like he was Tim Stevens, and sent them on his way.

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And Tim was never the one served with the injunction. So he was never served with it anyway. And that's all bound up in his court hearing.

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But AHS basically went into a court hearing last Thursday with the JCCF, agreed to the amended wording of the court order, which would have limited its validity to just the whistle stop, and then went ahead and arrested

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Tim anyway. And then seem in court now to be saying that the amendment that was put in place on that day, didn't actually render it invalid across the board, because there's other language in the order that implicates every

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Albertan, which is at least disingenuous, if not corrupt.

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I mean, if you go to court, and the purpose of the hearing is to amend a document and limit its validity to particular persons, and you agree to that amendment, all the while, in the back of your mind, you're going, haha, well, they amended this part, but not this part.

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So we're going to move forward as is. I mean, that's corrupt. Yeah, it is. At worst, disingenuous at best.

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So anyway, that's kind of where things stand. So now, as it relates to Tim Stevens, when he goes to court on June 16, that's part of the whole thing, is they're going to have to decide, is this order even valid in arresting him?

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Right. Which is like, shoot now, ask questions later. Exactly.

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Versus, you know, ask questions, and then shoot. And so it's, and I'll just say this, that as we go through this season, when you see the government manipulating the law, and using the law unjustly to make the law do what it can't, that is validating that we are doing the right thing.

10:41

Yes, it is. It is incredibly validating. Yeah. And really, other

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Canadians and Albertans need to consider that. Yeah. That our government is playing with the law.

10:54

Right. To bring about enforcement that the law doesn't actually permit them to bring about.

11:01

Exactly. And they're bringing it about anyway. And they're not too concerned about that.

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Right. Even if it's illegitimate in the end. Right. So. And that's one of the things, as I've seen some of the comments in the video that you and I did last week, you know, a number of people say, oh, he broke the law.

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He broke the law. And no, he, James Coates has not broken any law. The law is being manipulated and made to say something it doesn't say.

11:34

Well, yeah, I mean, I'm living in accord primarily with the word of God. Right.

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But secondary to that, the supreme law of the land. Right. And that law is the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

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And I'm walking in obedience to that law. And the government is trying to use a lesser law to infringe on those charter rights.

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And haven't yet justified that those infringements, those breaches of my charter rights are valid, are justified.

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Yeah. And that's part of, you know, what's happening with respect to my own personal court case and may even tie into what's happening with respect to our building being locked up, which is a separate court case.

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And then there are other court cases going on in our province that are in place to put the government in the witness box to defend their, the science and medicine that supports their lockdown measures.

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Right, right. Yeah. Well, thank you, James. That does help.

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It's a confusing situation, a lot of moving parts. And you sent me that article. And after I read that article,

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I had to read it again. And I thought, man, I'm glad I'm not being tested on this because if I was being tested on this,

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I'd probably flunk the test because it's a confusing situation.

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And understandably, people are confused. Well, I think that even is compounded by the difference in systems between the

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U .S. and Canada. So, you know, I think it's a challenge enough to talk to Canadians about what's happening in Canada.

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And I think, you know, your system there in the U .S. is different than ours. And there's similarities for sure.

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But, you know, to make sure we're speaking the same language and talking about the same thing just requires some extra effort.

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Yeah, yeah. All right. So, ongoing. But good news is that Pastor Tim is home, right?

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He was arrested this past Sunday, which was May the 16th. But he is back home now, correct?

13:49

Yes, he is. He is. And that is such a blessing. I can just speak about Tim in a positive light.

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He is a godly man. The humility of Christ is so evident in his life.

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He's a man of the word. He's a man of prayer. He's a man of the body of Christ, cares for the church.

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I just have an immense amount of love, affection, and respect for him.

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He has been a huge supporter of me and has possibly even lost some friends in the process.

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And so, Tim Stevens is a wonderful brother, and I am thrilled that he's home with his family right now.

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Yeah, we are too. I've not yet met Tim or talked to him, but Lord willing,

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I hope to have that opportunity. But yeah, I did that video. I showed the contrast between you and Pastor Tim and then

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Pastor Art. And just in watching that brief clip of his arrest,

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I mean, it's heartbreaking. You see him embracing his whole family there in the parking lot of the church right as he was being arrested and hauled off.

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And just heartbreaking. His wife holding a little baby, you know. But we rejoice that he is home now.

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Yeah. But like you, not out of the woods yet because he's got a hearing coming up next month in June.

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So this— Well, even before that, he's got Sunday. So, I mean— Yeah, yeah, right, right.

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We're all just trying to figure out how to survive the next Sunday. And that's life right now.

15:38

Yeah. And Grace Life meets in a secret, undisclosed location that is outside, apparently, because I've seen the videos, but you're outside somewhere.

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Well, it just depends because there are multiple locations. So yeah, it just depends where we are. Yeah, yeah.

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Good thing this is May, I guess, and not January. It makes it a little bit easier, but— Yes, it does.

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Yeah. All right. Well, James, thank you very much, brother.

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Thank you for coming back on. Thank you for your witness. Thank you for your love for Christ, your love for His bride, your care for your local flock.

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Thank you. You've been an encouragement and a model to so many of us, and we appreciate you.

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We have— There's a lot of people that love you and your family are praying for y 'all and praying for Pastor Tim Stevens and his family as well.

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And yeah, in the words of your wife, Erin, when

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I interviewed her, I asked her, you know, what would you like to say to everyone or what can people do?

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And she said, open your churches. Open your churches. Have church. So yeah, thank you, brother.

16:55

My pleasure. Thanks, Justin. Appreciate it. Okay. All right. Any final words?

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You know, I just appreciate your ministry and your support and just all the love and affection that you've been showing us.

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And yeah, aside from that, just keep us in prayer, and we're just taking it one

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Sunday at a time right now. Yeah, yeah. Well, you know, all of us in our theological camp, we say we have a high view of God, a high view of the sovereignty of God.

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And it's times like this that often put that belief to the test. And, you know, one of these days, you and I and every other

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Christian, we're not going to stand before a board. We're not going to stand before a committee. We're not going to stand before a denomination and have to give an account.

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We're going to have to stand before Christ. And it is him that we will, to whom we will have to give an account one day.

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And so all of us claim to have a high view of the sovereignty of God. It's just that not all of us always act like it.

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But these kind of things kind of bring our real theology up to the surface.

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So thank you for what you're doing, brother. Thanks. Appreciate it, Justin. Thank you.

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Okay. All right, dear ones, thank you very much for watching. Please continue to pray for Pastor James and his family in Grace Life Church and Pastor Tim and his family in Fairview Baptist Church and all the other faithful pastors out there.

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Just pray for them in this time. The storm has come to Canada.

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It is going to come here in the United States as well. So please do pray for them.

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And until our next time together, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of his