Welcome to the Friday Five! Every Friday we share our top five
articles, stories, and quotes for you to read and share with your
friends and church families.
We
would be very grateful if you could make a donation of $100, $50, $25,
or $10 today towards our work producing these Friday Fives and
fighting for your values on the public square!
1. NC VALUES: Celebration of
Carolina Values event rebroadcast video
Yesterday, we held a special Public Rebroadcast of the
Celebration of Carolina Values Virtual Event. Pro-values supporters
virtually joined us and an amazing lineup of political leaders such as
our special guest speaker, Senator Ted Cruz, and our emcee &
honored guest speaker, Congressman Mark Walker, in support of the NC
Values Coalition in a celebration of Carolina Values.
The night of virtual fellowship featured keynote speaker Gianna
Jessen, a pro-life advocate and abortion survivor whose compelling
personal story reminds us of the reality of why we fight for the
rights of the unborn.
2. NC VALUES: One-Stop early
voting in NC has begun. Go out and vote your values!
We wanted to make sure you were aware that YESTERDAY (October
15th) was the first day of early voting!
2020 marks an election year whose importance cannot be
overstated. We want to strongly encourage you to go out and vote early
and in-person today. Although some people prefer to wait until
election day to vote, you just never know what can happen that
prevents you from getting to the polls on November 3rd.
At NC Values, we've organized a NC Values Voter Toolkit to help
you save time at the polls and support pro-life, pro-family, and
pro-religious liberty candidates. You can even enter your address to
easily find the early voting site nearest you and get google mapped
directions:
3. UNC-TV: NC Gubernatorial
debate video
Earlier this week, Governor Roy Cooper and Lt. Governor Dan
Forest squared off in their only debate before the November 3 general
election. Watch the NC gubernatorial debate, hosted by the North
Carolina Association of Broadcasters, here.
4. FOX NEWS: Amy Coney Barrett
answers questions at confirmation hearing without notes holds up blank
notepad
We
wanted to share our favorite moment from this week's Senate
confirmation hearing of Supreme Court Justice nominee Judge Amy Coney
Barrett: "'You know most of us have multiple notebooks and
notes and books and things like that in front of us,' Cornyn said.
'Can you hold up what you’ve been referring to in answering our
questions?'
'Is there anything on it?' Cornyn asked.
Barrett cracked a smile and held up a blank notepad that has been
sitting in front of her." You can catch a summary of the
hearings here,
as well as the scheduled date and time for the vote here.
5. NC STATE BAR COUNCIL: The Council
will be meeting next week to consider adopting SOGI units that would
be disastrous to the religious liberty of NC lawyers
The North Carolina State Bar Council is meeting at 9:00
am next Friday to consider amending the Preamble to their Rules
of Professional Responsibility to include Sexual Orientation and
Gender Identity as protected classes that constrain the speech of
licensed attorneys not only in their professional lives, but in their
personal lives.
Such an addition to the organization
that oversees bar licensing of NC lawyers would be a big blow to
religious liberty and the consciences of pro-values attorneys across
our state. As our executive director Tami Fitzgerald notes in her
letter to the organization—and who herself is a practicing attorney
who would be impacted by the change—"In summary, the proposed
amendment to the Preamble and the proposed comments are
unconstitutional violations of First Amendment rights that every
citizen of the United States holds, including licensed attorneys. This
committee should reject the requested amendments" (read the rest of
Tami's letter summarizing the danger of the SOGI change here,
as well as a second letter she filed with the Council with NC Family
Policy Council here).
We
encourage you to tune in here
to the livestream of their meeting, and to keep this issue in your
prayers.
WEEKLY PRAYER: LIBERTY
LORD, you have blessed us with a spiritual liberty that is so
wonderful and beyond description, that it can only be understood
through experiencing a life-giving relationship with Christ. However,
we also recognize that in your grace, you have blessed our country
with a political liberty that enables us to openly proclaim the
experience of a life lived in the freedom of the Gospel.
LORD, as individuals and as a nation, may we never take the
inalienable right of religious freedom for granted. Right now our
country has faced a rapid increase in the number of attacks made
against this cherished right. We have seen groups across our public
arena increase in boldness and frequency their smears against
religious liberty. They claim it is bigotry, when we know it is the
security of the greatest of all possible loves.
Be with your people and our country as it continues to protect
the constitutional right protected by our nation's Founders. Be with
legislators and the Supreme Court, as they determine through their
actions the protection of this particular and fundamental
freedom.
“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore
keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery."
(Galatians 5:1)
"For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not
turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love
serve one another." (Galatians 5:13)
"Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for
evil, but use it as bondslaves of God." (1 Peter 2:16)
Amen
Will you chip in $100, $50, $25, or even $10 to help
the NC Values Coalition continue to fight for your rights? You can
donate by clicking here.
Sincerely,
North Carolina Values Coalition
|