‘Revival and Reformation Is Needed’: Canadian Pastors Sound Off On New Law That Threatens To Criminalize Evangelism

Ben Zeisloft – January 16, 2022

Days ago, Canada approved a “conversion therapy” ban that condemns Christian doctrine on the sinfulness of homosexuality and transgenderism as “myth.” Indeed, bill C-4 — passed unanimously by both the Senate and the House of Commons — threatens pastors with up to five years of prison time if they remain faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

As thousands of American ministers stand in solidarity with Canadian believers by preaching about biblical sexual ethics on Sunday, January 16, two Canadian pastors — Jacob Reaume of Trinity Bible Chapel and Tim Stephens of Fairview Baptist Church — told The Daily Wire about the implications of C-4 and how Canadian Christians plan to respond.

‘The Church must be a prophetic witness’

While describing C-4, Reaume — whose church incurred over $100,000 in fines last year for refusing to shut its doors in defiance of Canada’s COVID-19 lockdowns — noted that the edict will “make the preaching of the biblical gospel a criminal act.”

“The biblical gospel is a message of conversion, whereby Christ causes sinners to be born-again, thus converting them from sinful propensities to godliness,” he explained. “The bill’s language is vague enough that many think it might criminalize a biblical call to forsake sodomitic propensities to embrace righteousness.”

Stephens — who was jailed in a maximum-security facility last summer for refusing to close his church — added that “the law is overly broad in defining conversion therapy,” thereby enshrining “progressive gender ideology and queer theory as normative.”

https://www.dailywire.com

Canadian Bill Would Jail Christian Parents Who Attempt to Discourage Their Child’s Same-Sex Attraction

Michael Foust – March 19, 2020

A new Canadian bill backed by the prime minister would jail parents who attempt to discourage and change their child’s unwanted same-sex attractions or gender identity.

Bill C-8, supported by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, would make it a crime punishable up to five years in prison to “knowingly” cause “a person who is under the age of 18 years to undergo conversion therapy.” The bill applies not just to therapists but “everyone.”

The bill defines conversion therapy as a “practice, treatment or service designed to change a person’s sexual orientation to heterosexual or gender identity to cisgender, or to repress or reduce non-heterosexual attraction or sexual behaviour.”

The Campaign Life Coalition, a Toronto-based organization, says the bill is an affront to parental rights and religious freedom.

“If you’re a parent with a gender-confused child, you will not be permitted to help that child conform to his/her biological gender,” David Cooke of the Campaign Life Coalition wrote in an analysis of the bill. “… If you’re a pastor or church leader who publicly proclaims the power of Christ to transform homosexuals and transgenders, you may be arrested for ‘advertising conversion therapy.’”

The Trudeau government, he asserted, is “pushing to eradicate the Christian view of sexuality and gender from the public square.”

“They are working to suppress and deny the testimony of countless ex-gays and ex-trans who expose the lies of the LGBT narrative,” Cooke wrote.

https://www.christianheadlines.com