Faithwire
  • Watch
  • Go!
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • SCOTUS
  • Life
  • Religious Liberty
  • News
  • Politics
  • Faith
  • Opinion

PETA Slams Nashville Church for Using Live LION as Sermon Illustration

Image source: Cornerstone Nashville
Image source: Cornerstone Nashville
Share Tweet
By Will Maule
Author

August 17, 2018

Animal rights activist group PETA has sent a letter to a Nashville megachurch imploring them to stop using live animals as sermon illustrations.

Beer Delivery Men Use Unlikely Tactic to Save Suicidal Man

In a video of a recent service, Pastor Galen Davis can be seen revealing several different animals, including two different breeds of lion. The first, a mountain lion, is used as an illustration due to its inability to roar. The particular mountain lion is able to “scream,” but cannot produce a throaty roar, according to Davis. The pastor compared this to the voice of the devil and urged those in attendance to understand that fear may “scream” at us, but it does not have the power to rule our lives.

Davis went on to talk about how many people falsely believe that the Bible compares Satan to a lion.

“I was studying scripture and the Bible only refers to one person as a lion,” he continued. “Don’t be confused. The Bible says the Devil roams around ‘like a lion.’ That’s the problem: we don’t know what sound our savior makes and what sound the enemy makes.”

“But there is only one lion of the tribe of Judah that roars,” Davis declared, as he unveiled a fully-grown male lion, caged in a clear perspex box.

“And that lion is something so powerful, it’s so majestic, that when he comes to life..” the pastor then paused to taunt the lion by poking the side of its cage, “he changes things.”

Immediately, the enormous predator leapt up and roared, responding fiercely to the preacher’s provocation.

“He’s in a cage and y’all freaked out,” Davis continued, laughing nervously at his congregation. Those in attendance let out a collective gasp as the lion pounced toward the pastor, held back only by a thin sheet of plastic. Stepping away from the beast, Pastor Davis laughed off the encounter and continued on with his message.

“Let us not confuse the scream of fear as the roar of faith,” he declared.

PETA took issue with the elaborate animal display, and responded with some faith comments of their own.

“All animals are individuals, created by God’s wondrous hand, and they feel joy, sadness, loneliness, and fear, just as humans do,” they wrote in a letter to the church leadership. “Using them in these types of displays undermines what it means to be a good steward of God’s creation.”

PETA also objected to the congregation’s use of creatures from Hollywild Animal Park in Spartanburg County, noting that the facility was fined nearly $19,000 by the Department of Agriculture after an investigation found animals were being held in unsafe enclosures and lacked veterinary care, as reported by Greenville News.

“We hope that, upon reflection, you’ll agree that this cruelty doesn’t reflect the tenets of your church and that you’ll decide to leave animals out of your future events,” the letter concluded.

But Maury Davis, the church’s former lead pastor and the father of Galen Davis, said he sees nothing wrong with using live animals as a means of helping communicate the gospel in an effective manner.

“Certainly, I don’t believe in abusing animals,” Maury Davis said. “But, using animals, to me, is not wrong.”

And while Pastor Davis is happy to talk to PETA about their concerns, he said that it is unlikely that dialogue would be constructive.

“If I thought there could be an intelligent discussion, I would be willing to have that, but just arguing with people that are making really outlandish claims would be a waste of time and energy and fruitless,” he said.

(H/T: Greenville News)

Latest

  • Faith

    CeCe Winans Reveals ‘The One Thing’ She’d Do Differently as a Parent: ‘If I Could Go Back’

  • News

    Hollywood Actor’s ‘Demonic Attack,’ ‘Insane’ God Encounter Shock Him Into Belief

  • News

    ‘God Still Heals’: Mike Signorelli on Fighting the Demonic, Seeing Miracles — and More

  • Faith

    Tim Tebow Foundation, Nonprofit Team Up to Rescue More Than 70 Missing Children

  • News

    School Reportedly Bans Student From Performing Christian Songs at Talent Show — Then Reverses Course


Sponsored
Sponsored

Newsletter
Signup

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Recent Posts

  • CeCe Winans Reveals ‘The One Thing’ She’d Do Differently as a Parent: ‘If I Could Go Back’
  • Hollywood Actor’s ‘Demonic Attack,’ ‘Insane’ God Encounter Shock Him Into Belief
  • ‘God Still Heals’: Mike Signorelli on Fighting the Demonic, Seeing Miracles — and More
  • Tim Tebow Foundation, Nonprofit Team Up to Rescue More Than 70 Missing Children
  • School Reportedly Bans Student From Performing Christian Songs at Talent Show — Then Reverses Course

Archives

  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016

Categories

  • Christian Persecution
  • Coronavirus
  • culture
  • Culture
  • Entertainment
  • Faith
  • Faith
  • Family
  • George Floyd
  • Go!
  • Israel
  • Life
  • Life
  • Lifestyle
  • Media
  • Men
  • Mission Haiti
  • News
  • News
  • Opinion
  • P.O.V
  • Politics
  • Politics
  • Roe
  • Sponsored
  • Sports
  • Virtue
  • Women

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Navigation

  • Watch
  • Go!
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Staff
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

Subscribe to the Newsletter

Sign up to get our newsletter your inbox every day.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Newsletter Signup

Do you want to read
more articles like this?

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.