No Bible Study Without a Permit

I haven't been on the blogosphere for a while, but I decided to break in for a moment when I read the following article. Many of us have watched our freedoms as US citizens slowly erode over the years and lately, they seem to be in flames as they disappear over the horizon. Furthermore, there is a not so veiled assault on biblical Christianity. When a nation rejects the authority of the scriptures and the God who authored them, they have no foundation on which to stand and anything goes. Whoever thought we would be seriously debating the definition of marriage? Instances of open hostility towards Christianity are becoming more commonplace. Are you ready?


Couple Ordered to Stop Holding Bible Study at Home Without Permit
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Fox News Website

Pastor David Jones and his wife Mary have been told that they cannot invite friends to their San Diego, Calif. home for a Bible study — unless they are willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars to San Diego County.

"On Good Friday we had an employee from San Diego County come to our house, and inform us that the Bible study that we were having was a religious assembly, and in violation of the code in the county." David Jones told FOX News.

"We told them this is not really a religious assembly — this is just a Bible study with friends. We have a meal, we pray, that was all," Jones said.

A few days later, the couple received a written warning that cited "unlawful use of land," ordering them to either "stop religious assembly or apply for a major use permit," the couple's attorney Dean Broyles told San Diego news station 10News.

But the major use permit could cost the Jones' thousands of dollars just to have a few friends over.

For David and Mary Jones, it's about more than a question of money.

"The government may not prohibit the free exercise of religion," Broyles told FOX News. "I believe that our Founding Fathers would roll over in their grave if they saw that here in the year 2009, a pastor and his wife are being told that they cannot hold a simple Bible study in their own home."

"The implications are great because it’s not only us that’s involved," Mary Jones said. "There are thousands and thousands of Bible studies that are held all across the country. What we’re interested in is setting a precedent here — before it goes any further — and that we have it settled for the future."

The couple is planning to dispute the county's order this week.

If San Diego County refuses to allow the pastor and his wife to continue gathering without acquiring a permit, they will consider a lawsuit in federal court.