Rev. Spell Speaks On Major Decision By Supreme Court

 In a letter to his supporters, Rev. Tony Spell of Life Tabernacle Church reacted to last week’s Louisiana Supreme Court decision, which found unconstitutional Gov. John Bel Edwards’ mandates against churches and threw out the criminal case against the

pastor.  Here is what he said:

“I am relieved and happy to let you know the Louisiana Supreme Court has rendered its decision in the criminal case against me for the crime of holding worship services during the pandemic.  This case has gotten worldwide attention and been a rallying point for Christians.  Now the results are in and they are stunning! In the case of State of Louisiana v. Pastor Tony Spell, the Louisiana Supreme Court has ruled by a vote of 5-2 that the emergency orders of Gov. John Bel Edwards purporting to limit in-person church services were illegal and unconstitutional. Furthermore, the charges against me have been thrown out, and I am a free man!  The case represents a total victory for Life Tabernacle!  It is final and cannot be appealed.”  

“Our attorneys tell me this 20-page opinion of the Supreme Court is so well researched and so well written that it will be the standard that courts across the nation will likely use to analyze issues of religious liberty for generations to come!”

“On Friday, May 13, 2022, the day the opinion was issued, the Louisiana Supreme Court advanced the cause of freedom in the United States and the world!  In a remarkable, precedent-setting verdict, the court said the executive orders applied to us violate our freedom of religion and are thus unconstitutional.  The court said, ‘No liberty is more essential to the continued vitality of a free society, which our Constitution guarantees, than is religious liberty.’  ‘The most sacred right to practice religious liberty is fundamental and inalienable.’  It must be ‘preserved inviolate by the state.’”  

“Friday, May 13, 2022, was a bad day for socialism, communism, tyranny, and Satan but a landmark day for freedom, religion, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Word of God!  The Supreme Court said, ‘As judges we have no more solemn duty than to protect the fundamental rights reserved by the people from government overreach.’”

“This is the day we have been praying for!  This is the judicial opinion we have been praying for.  However, even in our prayers, we never imagined God would be so good as to give us this unapologetic, unambiguous, and resounding endorsement of religious liberty and support for our rights!”

“The First Amendment said, ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or the right of the people peaceably to assemble or to petition their government for a redress of grievances.’  The Declaration says ‘All men are created equal.’”

“However, for 27 months, equal protection of law was denied to Christians, although it was allowed for liquor stores, abortion clinics and night clubs.”

“Since March 17, 2020, we have held 336 worship services in this sanctuary and have broadcast them around the world! We have preached and sang in church 336 times.  The Governor said we couldn’t assemble or preach or sing in church.  All the while he was letting thousands of babies be killed in the abortion clinics, which he kept wide open!”

“When the enemy thought he could silence the pulpit…when the government thought it could tread on holy ground…when evil tyranny and government powers that are contrary to the American way of life thought they could silence the church, the church may have been afflicted, but the church multiplied and grew!  The church was not silenced.  The church grew louder.  It grew in strength.  The church became more evangelistic.  The church became more sacred.”  

“On March 17, 2020, when the first citation was issued, we were shaken.  The mobs, the District judges, the bad laws, and the illegal mandates shook us to our core.  One of the most egregious things was members of Life Tabernacle being fired by their employers — all for the crime of attending this church!  

Church members had friends walk out of their lives and family members who excommunicated them from their family.  It seemed the entire world had lost its collective mind.  It was all coming from the Governor and the perverse media.  Fear is the most captivating and paralyzing emotion known to man, and they used fear to the ultimate. However, instead of allowing fear to rule them, the people of Life Tabernacle and those who have joined us from all 50 states and around the world, used love to conquer the fear. Where the spirit of God is, there is liberty and courage!  God is greater than all persecution!”

“At Life Tabernacle, we know what it is like to go to a place of business or a courthouse or a job and be denied because we did not have a vaccine in our blood or a mask on our face.  We know what it is to go to a family gathering at Christmas, Thanksgiving or Easter and get the cold shoulder and be put in another room or not even invited to be with our family.”

“The devil sat on our shoulder or in the backseat of our car or in our bedroom on our pillow soaked with tears and told us you’re doing the wrong thing by putting God first.  He tried to convince us